What's Going on in Chambleeville?

Kaelan with multi-colored leaf cookies.

Red maple leaf sugar cookies

Fragrant cinnamon rolls cooling for the freezer

So glad you asked!  We are busily preparing to go on vacation soon.  We are looking forward to spending a week in Gatlinburg soaking up some beautiful fall sights and sounds.  Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows around the campfire, soaking in the hot tub and collecting leaves.  No, we won't be camping, but will be "suffering" in a 4 bedroom cabin with full amenities.  While I know we will enjoy our down-time, there is one thing we won't be doing.... eating out!  There will be nine of us (my mom is joining us) and we are just too cheap (this is where if I knew how I would draw a line through CHEAP and replace it with...) frugal to spend that much money on dining out.  Devin and I have been busy the last few weeks filling our freezers up with main dishes, soups, and desserts to take with us.  So far we have chicken strips, bbq pork,  chili, turkey pot pie, chicken and sausage gumbo, cinnamon rolls, Texas sheet cake, buttermilk pound cake, fall shaped sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies.  We actually have two or three of each of these dishes in the freezer.  I love cooking in bulk!!  The other day, Devin and Kaelan worked on decorating leaf and acorn shaped sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls, while I made a huge pot of pinto beans, a crockpot full of bbq pork and a pork loin roast with veggies for dinner.  The house was smelling oh so good!  What a blessing to have two sets of helping hands to tackle all of our cooking duties!!  We still have various pies, spaghetti sauce, roast, vegetable soup and chicken tortilla soup to go.  We won't be taking all of our goodies with us, but it will be nice to have a freezer well stocked for the busy days when we return and get back to our regular routine.

Tonight Jeff, Jordan, Aaron, and Jackson are camping out with the men and boys in our homeschool support group.  I am worn out helping them get things ready!!!  Next time they can mooch food from everyone else!  They are grilling hot dogs tonight with beans and chips on the side and will bake a peach cobbler on the fire.  They have batter made up for pancakes and bacon in the morning with coffee, hot chocolate and water.  Thankfully, they are just camping at the state park not five minutes from our front door.  Tonight will be the first cold night, so I am worried about my baby Jack getting cold.  Now that he is 5, he was allowed to go on the campout.  I am going to miss snuggling with him in the morning.  He and Caedmon both wind up in the bed with me every morning after Jeff gets up to start his day.  I know that one day they will be big like their brothers and won't snuggle with me any more.  I'll enjoy it for now.  Jackson said he would snuggle with me when he got home from camping, but I have a feeling he will need a thorough bath first!!!

Devin, Kaelan and I, along with Caedmon have a quiet evening planned.  I am sure Devin picked up one or two movies today at the library and she will pick up some Chinese food for our dinner.  We'll probably make a few chocolate chip cookies and veg out in front of the tv.  Or I might just tackle the pile of clothes in my bedroom floor left over from the great Chamblee seasonal clothing swap.  I think they are multiplying!!!

Tomorrow will be a work day to finish up some projects and to complete my lesson plans for next week.  I am also re-thinking my system for chores and school assignments and will work on that as well.  We are constantly re-evaluating and trying to discern God's will in all that we do, even chores!  Our character study will focus on responsibility for the rest of this semester and we all need to do become more responsible.  Developing Godly character is a daily task and we fall short many times.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!!