Merry Christmas from the Nelli Kids

Christmas 2017 was a little different than our typical Christmas...  We went to mass on Christmas Eve and opened up presents that night instead of Christmas morning.  Here is my traditional picture of the kids each holding the gift they want to open first.  It annoys them to no end... but they humor me.

Isaac got to open the first gift.  He was so excited about the army guys that all he wanted to do was break them open and start playing right then.  His siblings wanted  to play too... and got to work as soon as the gift opening was done.

 My "big" present:  a knife sharpener.  Yes, a knife sharpener.  I'm a lucky gal.  ;-)

Chris always gets amazing ties from Courtney!

Even though we own the entire Harry Potter series, I had to buy the new illustrated edition because it is so amazing.

A glowing fidget spinner for David... yes!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas for Isaac, of course.

And all my kids playing army guys together.  Yes, my heart is full.

Jed and Lexi visit!

We were super excited to have cousins Lexi and Jed over for a visit right before Christmas.  Lexi is also Isaac's God mother and she made sure to spoil him with presents... he hated every minute of it, let me tell you.  Emily and David played their instruments and it was all very festive!  This little video clip is hilarious on so many levels because so much is happening all at once.  David is playing his clarinet and Isaac is experiencing a whole range of emotions and showing butt crack to boot!  Ah yes, family life!

Fall Colors, Out and About...

Some days it is just too beautiful to stay inside and do schoolwork...  This day was one of those days and we loved seeing all the fall color.

Plum Cake

I buy plums at Costco because Lia likes them so much and so do a other few members of our family.  This one time, however, we had about 6 plums that were overripe and I wasn't sure what to do with them.  Luckily, I came across a recipe for Plum Cake and it was so good!  We especially like it wiht ice cream on top and thought it tasted like cobbler.  So for posterity, here it is:

Late Summer Plum Cake

METRIC  CUP MEASURES

By Jennifer Segal

Servings: 8-10

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 70 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk (low fat is fine)
• 1 pound plums, pitted and quartered

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inchspringform pan. (Alternatively, the cake may be made in a 9-inch cake pan or pie pan and served directly from the pan.)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat on low speed until smooth. (Note: the batter will be quite thick.)
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Arrange the plums on top, skin side up, in a circular pattern so that they mostly cover the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the plums.
5. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until golden on top and set in the center.
6. When the cake is hot out of the oven, run a knife around the edges of the pan and then remove the springform edge, leaving the base in place (if using a springform pan). Let the cake cool on a rack completely. Slice and serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
7. Note: This cake keeps well, loosely covered at room temperature, for several days.

Emily's Band Concert

Band at College Park High School is a big  deal.  There are 4 concert bands, all amazing, I might add.  Emily was selected to be in Concert I, which is the second level of difficulty.  We are also proud to brag that she got 1st chair for flutes!  And this concert dress... isn't it lovely?  I had to hem it myself because I waited too long to get her heels and have a tailor take care of it for me.  How did I do?  I found myself looking at all the girl's hemlines and comparing my work to the other girls at the concert.  That's lame isn't it?  And believe it or not, some girls didn't even hem their dresses... they just carried them when they had to walk.  I'm not so sure that would have worked for Emily because I had to take hers up about 4-5"!  Anyway, I'm glad I got it done and I thought she looked amazing.

See... there she is, first chair!

Here is the music from Frozen:

And some Christmas Carols:

Home School Book Club

I think the formation of this book club was the best thing that happened in our home school this year.  These girls, mostly from our virtue club Little Flowers, meet once a month for book club.  The girls take turns selecting the book and hosting the meetings.  It consists of a little bit of book discussion... maybe 30 minutes, a craft, snacks, and good old fashioned play time.  Lia picked Rascal by Sterling North for our turn and the best part of this meeting was the draw-a-long I found on the internet for an adorable raccoon in two different styles.  All these girls love to read and love being together and that just makes me super-happy!

Here is the link to the drawing tutorial we used:

How to Draw a Raccoon

and

Cute Raccoon Drawing Lesson

Snow!

We had a crazy winter with a few snow days and even some that stuck!  This is a rare sight for us!

Our Advent Wreath

We tried a new technique for our advent candles this year.  We need large candles to last through 4 weeks of candlelit advent dinners and since Chris hates scented candles I have had to buy plain white unscented ones and figure out a way to color them purple and pink.  I have wrapped them in ribbon the last few years, but this year I came across these great glass candle holders that were dirt cheap... about $1/candle!  I learned that acrylic paint adheres to glass so voila... these advent candles came together quickly and for under $5.  The greenery is, as always, from our backyard and lovingly replaced every few days.  Win!

And the Christmas tree elves...

Putting the Christmas tree up takes a while each year as Chris likes to check the lights and replace bulbs section by section.  Of course, Isaac wanted to be part of the action.  I love this little video I took because it shows Isaac with his favorite yellow book, Jesus Shock.  He has been picking this book off our bookshelf since he could toddle over there to get it.  I guess he likes the color or the size of it (there are no pictures) but he always gets the same book and "reads" it on the couch when the rest of us are reading other books.  It is too cute.