Thanksgiving Break

Obviously I haven’t been blogging of late, so get ready for a big update!

I can’t believe that we’ve arrived at the holiday season already. Fall quarter is almost over; finals are coming up. The year is almost over, Christmas is approaching rapidly.

We’ve had the first snow we’ve seen in a year or two. It’s remained on the ground since Sunday night. . . About when Daddy decided it was time to bring out the Christmas tree! Of course, Tarquin has been bouncing off the walls in excitement. . .He can’t wait for Christmas; his Christmas list (which he started this summer) is about twenty items large and growing. It includes a toy bat (the animal), a violin, a mini golf course, a magnifying glass, a sewing machine, a drum set, a pool table and a red jacket. 

At school on Monday, I took two walks around the campus with a friend before our math classes.  The snow was so thick! We attempted to capture it’s beauty on our phones. . . Didn’t even come close! She left after her math class, and I headed to the library as usual, spent an hour studying, then left a little early to take the long way to class. When I arrived at said class, the teacher informed the few students that arrived that the school was now closed. I left class with a quiz, a brother and friend who were kicked out of the library, and an hour of free time on a campus that was shutting down. We played cards and discussed various things while we waited.

We got home snug and safe to find that we had arrived at a battlefield:

“Take this— Wait, Sophie? Can I throw a zno-ball at you?”

On Tuesday, Daddy took the youngest three to the hospital to get their labs drawn. On the way there, he hit ice and the van spun twice then crashed into a sign, denting the door and breaking the window. Everyone was alright, but a little shaken. The van is now in the shop, getting extensive and expensive repair done. I’m still constantly thanking God for His protection of my family that day.

In other news, I’ve finally finished my ball gown. I’ve been working on it off and on since late June.

This is just the skirt; you can’t see the whole thing yet!

My plans for the next few days? Relax, drink tea, draw, and sew. Maybe watch a few costume dramas :)

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

~Sophia

Christmas-y stuff and Peanut Butter Cookies

Well I just wanted to say that I hope you're having a good December!
It may look like I've turned this blog into a holiday version, but I've decided to blame my lack of blogging on Christmas presents, so after Christmas I'll probably be updating more.

We've been doing Christmas-y stuff at our house. My little sister made some cookies (her first time!):

This are really special cookies. My little sisters are allergic to most foods. There was a point where the only thing they consumed was a medical drink. That was two years ago, they can eat a lot more now, and are adding on foods regularly. However, their diet has been lacking in sweets, and it's been hard for them living with a sister who loves to bake. Said sister has discovered and altered a peanut butter cookie recipe for them, so now they can eat cookies, and even bake them themselves. Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
Sugar for rolling (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Oil or parchment paper on baking sheets.
3. Combine ingredients.
4. Drop by tablespoon onto baking sheets. (They won't spread; what you see is what you get : ))
5. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies should be cracked and pale.
6. Cool completely before serving.

The altered recipe to accommodate peanut and egg allergies:

Allergy Cookies

1 cup Sun butter (or other peanut butter substitute. Sun butter is made from sunflower seeds)
1 cup Sugar
1 egg substitute (1 1/2 T oil, 1 1/2 T water, 1 t baking powder)

The follow steps 1-6 on above recipe.


Recently I had an uncontrollable urge to make carrot cake with fresh garden carrots. My mama read that after a frost carrots get a lot sweeter, so this was a great time to harvest them. After bundling up in old (and odd) clothes, we went out to the carrot bed with trowels. It was raining, it was cold and the carrots were frozen into the ground! They were huge carrots too, like store bought carrots, but they were frozen deep into the ground. Luckily we have strong brother who can turn over hunks of earth in a blink of an eye, so he'd turn over chunks and we'd scurry over and grab the carrots and throw the dirty things into a bowl. We originally planned to harvest a few, but after all the trouble we were taking, we decided to take them all out. This little adventure definitely was a cause for cocoa and cake.


I also made some bread with our new baking stone! Baking stones are awesome, they are designed to imitate clay ovens and unless you line your oven with bricks (some people do) then this is the way to go for artisan type bread. Baking stones are the only product I've seen where the directions say: "WARNING: Handle with care. Do not drop. Product may disintegrate with explosive force. "

Anyway, Merry Christmas! Have a lovely Christmas and enjoy your family, enjoy your freedom and enjoy your life. What a wonderful God we have, that He would choose to give His son to us, to let Him die so He could be with us and give life to us forever.
My favorite Christmas song this year is "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More" by Relient K. My favorite line is "I look towards the East and see a star/ Jesus Christ, it's blessed my life to know just who you are. You are my hope"

So, I still have a lot to do today before Christmas! I need to make gingerbread men, pies and presents. I also need to tidy up around the house and wash my hair.

Blessings to all,

Sophia