12th day of Christmas

Today was a day of cooking. Since we are not normally home for Christmas Eve, I wanted to do something special for my family: Make a yummy turkey dinner with all the extras. I even made a pumpkin pie. It's wonderful going to someones home for a lovely turkey dinner, but you never get the added joy of days of leftovers. Ah...this year I had enough leftovers + some to even freeze for later in the winter. Mmmmm.......... I'm psyched!

Anyway, Josh went shopping with Lonnie & the kiddos helped me make a pumpkin pie & the stuffing for the turkey. They were so excited to help. Parents who do not teach their children the value of work by letting them help out (especially in the kitchen), in my opinion, are cheating them of valuable learning opportunities & amazing parent/child time. I do find it stressful to have all of them helping at the same time, so whoever's "day" it is that day, is the one who helps. This particular day though, there was enough to do for the little ones to take turns. They were so proud.

I received an early Christmas gift today too! My final grades are in and I ended with an A (99%) in both of my classes. I am one happy girl! Thank you Heavenly Father for helping me to stay awake all those late nights & for keeping me sane the next day with only little bits of sleep. Merry Christmas Lori :)