Gloria’s family has a good week off from school

It's been a good week — a full one, packed with children, ideas, ideals, spills, tears, and much laughter. Christmas vacation had all of us excited with the possibilities of what could be done as a family over the course of a week off from school.

I relished the more leisurely mornings for a change: no school, no lunch buckets, no homework! Not only that, on evenings spent with church family, the children are impressed with the idea of not having to be the first ones going home to get the five school children off to bed in a timely manner.

Sleeping in is something I was never that good at though — if it's not children up with the sun to wake me, I still tend to wake up early, but then that gives me some time with the One who watches over us each night.

I debated as I contemplated various options for what our goals would be for the week. You know that stale feeling of just doing what you want day after day — soon you find that you don't want anything anymore.

Yesterday I told the children that we do have some cleaning I'd like to get whisked off the list, but we also want to have some fun projects and I'll need their input. Passing out yellow sticky notes, I told them to each write down what they would like to do as a family. From the oldest to the youngest they jotted down what they had in mind, then tossed the papers into a mug where I mixed them up.

It was a lazy morning, so I told them to all get dressed before we drew the first slip of paper to see what it said. It was interesting to see what they came up with. I couldn't help but grin over a few of them. Let's just say there was a young boy's desk that got organized, thanks to his siblings and mother for chipping in and helping clean and organize! Joshua chose one of his favorite games, UNO. Julia's paper said, "Make cutout cookies," so that's what we did. In the end there were indoor and outdoor activities done and no one seemed to mind that there were only a few swipes of cleaning done for the day — it'll wait for tomorrow, right?!

In the evening we were invited to the little country store up the gravel road to join the youth and several families, where we took along calculators and clipboards to help take inventory. The evening passed swiftly as we counted, calculated, and jotted numbers. Afterward we were served a yummy meal of chicken tender sandwiches, potato salad, angel food cake dessert, and whipped ice cream.

The rest of our days were spent doing the normal things to keep a family afloat plus some deep cleaning such as washing off walls and ceilings. I told them that if we manage to do a room a week, we'll be close to done with the upstairs by the time school is back in session. Some were more enthusiastic than others, but truth be told, none of them would feel good about being left out, either. I tell my boys I want them to learn to do all aspects of housework well — as my mother would say, "That makes good men!" We'd all hasten to add that it takes much more than being able to keep a house to be a good husband or father, yet how well I remember those days when my time and energy didn't reach to all corners of the house and my husband would kick in and do what needed to be done.

This morning as I'm getting to chat with you, my morning bird, Jesse, grabbed the wall mop and proceeded to start washing off the ceiling in the office. It's something how memories are triggered as events of today remind me of what was in the past. Shortly before Daniel went to heaven he said he would wash off our kitchen ceiling. I knew it would be a major job with farm flies having left their spots, plus all that goes with eight people in the kitchen every day. I can still see the look on his face when he finished. He admitted it had been a rather big job. I was delighted with a clean kitchen ceiling and a husband who not only helped but also knew the effort it took! Now that he's not here anymore I decided we'll do it together. Since the children all enjoy playing Dutch Blitz these days, I incorporated that with scrubbing the ceiling. After each game the children each got a little job to do, with the oldest helping wash off the kitchen ceiling, a section at a time! I still felt the empty spot he left, yet as we did it together, there was a sense of healing.

Now as we turn a new leaf into a new year, I'll wrap up with my key verse for 2026. It is Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." No set of circumstances is beyond the reach of our Creator — if He has our 'yes,' He also has us covered.

Lastly, we enjoyed these cappuccino muffin bars Julia made on school vacation. The coffee flavor adds a unique twist to ordinary baking. We like them best in mini muffin style.

Cappuccino Muffin Bars

2 cups flour

¾ cup sugar

2½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. instant coffee

1 cup milk

½ cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. instant coffee granules

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

½ cup mini chocolate chips

In a bowl dissolve coffee in milk until dissolved. Add butter, egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients and mix with liquid just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool and spread with frosting. Yummy! Can also be baked in muffin pans.

Directions for frosting: Mix coffee granules and milk. Add cream cheese and other ingredients and spread.