About this time each year we break out some puzzles and attempt to put them together.  In my opinion working on puzzles seems to be a helpful discipline to training the mind, plus it helps to motivate all the family members to solve a common problem, putting the puzzle together! 

Puzzles (sometimes known as jigsaw puzzles) have been around since about 1760.  In my family I occasionally worked on puzzles when I was a boy, but my Dad is the real puzzle enthusiast.  It seems like he is always working on one, and they tend to be large.

This year almost everyone participated in putting our puzzles together, even 3 year old Kimmy, who got very excited every time she found a piece.

Here is Kimmy and Annie working on a puzzle.

Emily working on her puzzle.

Some of the completed puzzles.

Many of us make resolutions as we approach a new year.  Here is a particularly important resolution all should consider, from a Mom’s Point of View.

Bacteria are microorganisms that live practically everywhere.  There are over 40 million in 1 gram of soil and 5 x 10³⁰ bacteria in the world.

Using this book, Matthew put together a bacteria experiment.

Swabs of bacteria were taken from various places and cultured to see how fast they would grow.  Notice the swab in the middle.  Either we keep a very clean house or very dirty other things; or perhaps, as Matthew read in the book, that was the expected result.

On the day we remembered Advent, Karen and Kathy (with some help from their younger sisters) prepared a special meal for all.

Our traditional breakfast consisted of apple dumplings.

Dinner consisted of the following:

Hors d’oeuvres
   -Herbed Bruschetta
   -White cheddar and Roasted Red Pepper Cream Cheese
   -Champagne
   -Coca Cola
Soup Course
   -Smoked Salmon Chowder with Sea Trout
Fish Course
   -Spicy Tuna Sushi
Entrée Course
   -Raspberry Sherbert
Meat Course
   -Smoked Turkey
   -Potato Casserole
   -Petite Peas
   -Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Dessert
   -Spitzbubens
Cheese Course
   -Cheddar Cubes
   -Jalapeno Cubes
The Perfect Ending
   -Hershey’s Chocolate
 

The cooks consider the menu and preparations.

Abigail helps prepare the apple dumplings.

The final stages.

The table is set with our finest.

The family gathers.

Herbed Bruschetta

Smoky Fish Chowder.

Enjoying the sherbert.

The main course - smoked turkey, cream cheese mashed potatoes, and petite peas.

The Pièce de résistance.

There are special moments in life that stay with you, sometimes for awhile, sometimes forever.  For me some of those moments include my wedding day, the birth of my children, and the homegoing of my grandmother. 

While those events are particular noteworthy, there are others that, while lesser in importance, are just as endearing.  The first tooth, the first ride on a bike, and the completion of an important memory verse are some of those moments.    It seems like the more children with which I have been blessed, the more those moments happen.

They also happen outside the home, with others we love and hold dear.  Here is one of those moments, from a Mom’s Point of View.

A spitzbuben (shpeetz-booben) is a German layered cookie with jam in the middle.  It is also known as a Swiss and Austrian cookie by the same name. It dates back to the Viennese court of the 19th Century.

Making spitzbubens at this time of the year is a Spangler tradition. 

The year is swiftly waning, the summer days are past;
And life, brief life, is speeding; the end is nearing fast.

The ever changing seasons in silence come and go;
But Thou, eternal Father, no time or change canst know.

O, pour Thy grace upon us, that we may worthier be,
Each year that passes o’er us, to dwell in heaven with Thee.

Behold the bending orchards with bounteous fruit are crowned;
Lord, in our hearts more richly let heavenly fruits abound.

O, by each mercy sent us, and by each grief and pain,
By blessings like the sunshine, and sorrows like the rain.

Our barren hearts make fruitful with every goodly grace,
That we Thy Name may hallow, and see at last Thy face.

lyrics by William Walsham How (1823-1897)

Ginger is a spice found in the region of Indo-Malaysia.  The root of the ginger plant was believed to have medicinal properties; it would soothe an upset stomach or prevent a cold.  As early as 2000 B.C. Greek merchants engaged in the buying and selling of ginger.

During the 11^th Century ginger was introduced to Europe.  Soon bread crumbs (flour) was added with other ingredients and gingerbread was born.

Gingerbread found wide use during these times.  Ladies gave gingerbread cakes in different forms to their favorite knights.  Different shapes of gingerbread meant different things, such as a gingerbread heart was thought to ward off evil. Crafting gingerbread shapes evolved into a fine art that in Germany making gingerbread became a recognized profession.  German gingerbread makers had exclusive rights to make gingerbread except on Christmas and Easter.  Gingerbread was sold in fairs throughout the country.  In Nuremburg sculptors, woodcarvers, goldsmiths, and other artisans contributed their talents with the gingerbread bakers in the creation of the most beautiful gingerbread cakes to be found anywhere. In England gingerbread was so prized that Queen Elizabeth I would present her guests with gingerbread caste into their likeness.

These traditions were eventually carried over to the New World, and today America is considered to have the most extraordinary gingerbread creations in the world.

At this time of the year the Spangler family has continued this tradition by the making and decorating of gingerbread houses.

Earlier in the week we assembled and baked gingerbread caste into this stoneware mold.

Kathy begins to assemble the baked pieces of gingerbread.

Additional assembly help by Kimmy Joy.

Matthew reviews his work.

Royal icing is mixed and colored to be used in decorating.

Emily and Annie discuss decorating possibilities.

The crew is busy at work.

Even Dad joined in for some of the work.

Matthew decorates the roof.

Karen makes an evergreen tree out of an ice cream cone.

Getting the chimney just right.

Two finished houses, on the left by Kathy, on the right by Matthew.

Emily’s & Annie’s house on the left, Karen’s is on the right.

The gingerbread artisans with their extraordinary creations.