Christmas face????

Well, now that Christmas is over I'm glad. I love Christmas, but at the same time, it's tiring. I feel like I'm in a brain fog, and the past week is kinda a blurrrrr. I'm glad that we are on home school break. The kids are exhausted and have what my family refers to as "Christmas face". I wanted a nice family picture at my parents, but it didn't happen. Are you kidding me?? The kids are all in a daze and I don't know how it would have turned out! Funny thing I guess that is why people have their picture before Christmas, before all the... you fill in the blanks! My living room looks like Santa's work shop gifts everywhere, no furniture to sit on, and well basically a mess! Tomorrow it's time to get things back in order! The kids love all their new stuff, and have been enjoying them today, after church. I don't think they ate very much today, I think they are still full of all the "food" they ate yesterday. Emma and Rachel have the sniffles, and lets hope that it doesn't get any worse. I bought some more of the worlds best orange juice (it's Florida Natural No Pulp, if you were wondering) today and need to stock up on some vitamin c! Every once in a while I'll call my sister (OK, so almost everyday) and say hey, have you ever tried..... and she'll say no and I'll tell her to go get some next time she goes shopping, and then a few days later she'll call me back and say thank you very much for my new obsession. I giggle and say your welcome. But in all fairness she now returns the favor to me!! We enjoy increasing each others grocery budget! Matthew, myself and a brother in law went to Massachusetts last January to see Joel Salatin at a conference (totally worth EVERY penny we spent to go) and on the way back I wanted to stop at the Cracker Barrel, well it was late and I saw they had Florida Natural OJ on the menu. I ordered a glass and as I gulped some down I almost spit it out in my brother in laws face! It was all pulp! In case you haven't guessed I hate the pulp. Oh I was sooooo disappointed. Matthew tried it and he couldn't even drink it. It must have been most pulp. Sigh. Needless to say when I got home I had a big tall glass of it, no pulp and was a happy girl again! I usually always have oj in my fridge! I know that was kinda "ping" on my part, but that is where my brain is tonight.....
My grandmother gave me some nice yarn and some new knitting needles for a gift this year! I was pleased, now I can maybe try my hand at following a pattern, and have some yarn to do it with. Maybe. You know those winter projects I want to do? I'll carve out some time and make myself do it. I'll have to get some face time with my grandmother and have her show me. I think I might stress her out though! We'll see!
I was a little surprised when Matthew came flying in the house and said I needed to milk Maggie tonight, because he was going to help someone get out of the field, (yup some smuck drove their car into the field and got stuck. Big surprise!)  I got all the stuff together and went out, feeling rushed, and when I  sat down on the stool to milk, Maggie sensed I was tense, and she proceeded to step on my foot and flick her tail in my face. She turned her head back and looked at me with her big brown doe eyes and blinked. Then we both sighed. I needed to chill out and Maggie knew it. I guess that is why she stepped on my freezing foot and hit me in the face with her tail. I started milking and got into the rhythm of it and felt my body relax and the tension leave my body. By the time I was done milking I was enjoying the sounds I was hearing in the cold winter night. Matthew and some other neighbors got the person out of the field and all was well, again.
Well, I've put up some pictures and maybe your mouth will water, or not. Maybe you'll be thankful it's at my house instead of yours. Sometimes while I'm in the midst of all this cooking and baking I wonder why do I do this to myself? Lets call it tradition, and I love it!

My second attempt at fudge. It came out smooth and creamy the way fudge is supposed to be! Yay!

These are the donuts I usually make. More of a cake donut.  Love this recipe, they are so good! I got the recipe from my mother in law. Makes my mouth water just looking at them! 

Some of the holiday treats. Cheesecake, pumpkin bread, fudge,  Reese squares, peanut butter balls, and needhams!

New donuts I tried for Christmas breakfast! Gasp! I broke a long time family  tradition of sticky buns and had yeast donuts, with a glaze instead!! They were a big hit!  I'd never made a yeast donut before and found out just how much they rise, all down the side of the bowl and onto the shelf in the fridge! They popped the cover right off the container! Oops, guess I better split the recipe before I put it in the fridge, or get a bigger bowl!! Oh well, chalk it up to a lesson learned, and a laugh!