Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, may you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the true reason for the season, Jesus Christ, and enjoying memories and fun with those you love.

The Grinch and SomeTinsel - the week of total sickness

This will be the last post about our Grinch and Tinsel activities.  I think as the boys get older (and I'm slightly more organized) this will become an even more fun tradition.

Saturday, Dec 15th
So, I had grand plans for today - it was Christmas Cookie Decorating Day!!!  I had the package of cookie mix ready (don't judge store bought cookie dough with toddlers HA), two cans of frosting and some sprinkles ready to go.  Then . . .I got so unbelievably sick it isn't even funny.  I spent all of Saturday either in bed or on the couch (and my children were fantastic all day) with sinus pressure, coughing, congestion, chills, fever . .. everything that goes along with the true flu. I can honestly say I have not been this sick in years.  I am diligently praying that no one else in the family gets it or we will miss all of the Christmas activities next weekend.  As it is, I had to back out of singing a duet at church on Sunday and singing in our last Lakewood Area Choral Society Concert.

Sunday, Dec 16th through . . the rest of the week
Ok . . .ready - we did nothing because we were all so terribly sick.  The boys ask for chocolate one day so I just gave them some Hershey Kisses.  I had several crafts to do this week and right now, everything has been put on hold.  We'll do them - they will just be done after Christmas. Shoot, as of this moment, we are considering not doing our Christmas with the kids until New Years because we have been too sick to do anything to get ready for it.  So we'll see what happens!!

Here Comes Santa Claus

I love photos with Santa.  They are always so unique and fun - especially when kids cry :-)   Well, sometimes you just have to be flexible to get that Santa photo and that is what we had to be this year.  So, without further adieu, here are the 2012 Santa Photos!

It's ok, you can laugh HA!  I was laying on the couch dying coughing so I couldn't sleep one night last week, saddened that we would not get to see Santa this year but still trying to figure out how to get "that" photo.  We had planned to go visit a Santa and Mrs. Claus at a Michigan Santa House in the next town over.  It's free and you take your own photo.  Then the "sickness" hit our house and that plan when out the window.  I found this gift bag with Santa and totally compromised the whole concept. 

Next year, we will go visit Santa and Mrs. Claus the FIRST night they are open so we don't miss it!!! 

Weekly Menu - Christmas!

 First of all!!  Happy Birthday to our wonderful THREE year old Nathan!!! Yep, today is the day!!!  We'll be celebrating this weekend so photos will come soon! 


Wow.  It's Christmas!  How amazing is that?  When December started, my goal was to get 5 meals in the freezer that I could use between Christmas and New Year's.  Well, guess what?  That so did not happen.  It's been so unseasonably warm here that I kept thinking that it was March, not December :-/

So here's the plan for this next week:

Monday - Christmas Eve - , We'll be heading to my parents house for Christmas.  Our tradition is to have snacks after the Christmas Eve Service so I will be taking Cherry Pie Dip, Bruschetta, Crescent Wrapped Dogs, and Bacon Dip.

Tuesday - Christmas - I don't have to plan or cook!  We are spending Christmas with my parents so my mom is doing all of that fun stuff YEAH!

Wednesday - Dinner tonight will be one of two things - either leftovers from the past weekend  OR Lasagna and garlic bread.

Thursday - Baked Chicken Thighs, Potatoes and Veggie

Friday - Stuffed Cabbage in the Crock, Smashed Potatoes and Salad

Saturday -Chili and Bread

Sunday  - Homemade Pizza for lunch; Baked Coney Dogs and Fries for Dinner

You may noticed that many of these meals are from last week - due to that nasty illness, we never went to the store and just picked up odds and ends throughout the week as we needed them.  This week is kind of recovery week before we hit the New Year :-)

Christmas Cards!

I love Christmas Cards.  I love designing my simple photo card, writing the Christmas letter, stuffing the envelopes, sealing them with stickers and sending them out. I also love receiving cards.  I think it is so sad that so many people have let this tradition go to the wayside and even resorted to sending e-cards or just posting a link on Facebook for a Holiday Greeting.  Christmas Cards are such a neat tradition to take time to let people know you are thinking of them and that you feel like they are worth that stamp and the time it takes to fill out the envelope.   My cards went out in the mail on December 8th - I've learned to send card early because I also know that some people only send out cards to people they receive them from and since I love them so much - I want to receive them!

So, I'll get off of my soapbox now and share my Christmas Card for 2012!!

Check out more cards over at Kellys Korner

Food Friday (yes, it is still only Thursday) - Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies

Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies
adapted from Kevin & Amanda

I am always looking for a new cookie recipes and this one looked extra yummy.  I made them as mini muffins and they turned out perfectly.  

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (11.5 oz) bag milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a standard size muffin tin with cooking spray. Place 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a Ziploc bag, and seal shut. Lay the Ziploc bag flat in the microwave, spreading out the chocolate chips in a single layer. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove bag and flip, microwaving for an additional 10-15 seconds until all the chips are softened. Set aside to cool.

2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Add the remaining chocolate chips (1 cup) and stir to combine.

3. Using half the cookie dough, scoop 1.5-2 tbsp of dough, flatten it out a bit, and place in the bottom of the muffin tin. Repeat for a total of 10 cookies. Cut a small tip in the corner of the Ziploc bag, and gently squeeze a layer of chocolate over the cookie. Scoop and flatten the remaining dough and place on top of the chocolate layer. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are just browned. As soon as they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to make for easy removing later. Cool completely before removing from the muffin tin, running a knife around the edge to help loosen.

These are good as mini muffins, too! Try baking at 350 for 9 mins. Enjoy!

Friends, Fun and a little Christmas Tree

A week or so ago we had a couple of days when we had visitors.  Now, we don't get visitors often so on these special occasions, it is fun!

First, our pastor's wife came over to do some scrapbooking.  She is not a scrapbook person at all but was being asked to create a few pages about their family for a book for a grandparent.  I got an e-mail with a simple message of "HELP!" (ok maybe it was worded with more words but that was the idea).  Once I set her up, I just let her work.  It was fun to watch my boys, especially Josh,  because he loved having her here.  He went into the classroom where she was working and sat on the floor most of the time playing with some stickers I had given him to put on paper.  I would hear him singing (smiggle, smiggle, wittle star) and then talking to Angie.  I always find it interesting to see how my kids act around others.  When it is just us here, they are loud, run around, and are sometimes crazy. I mean, they are boys after all.  When Angie was here, they were quiet, peaceful, and played together (and alone) perfectly.  They listened and obeyed.  Isn't that how we want our children to act?  It's a good reminder that they DO listen when I drill into them about obeying and being kind even if they don't always do it when I ask them to.  Throughout the day, after Angie left, Josh would ask periodically "Where did she go?"  He really enjoyed having her here for the morning.

Second, I babysat for a friend a week or so ago.  She had all day plans to host a Pampered Chef booth at a Bazaar where her husband works and needed someone to watch her girls.  Adding two more kids to the mix didn't seem that big of deal, I just knew it would be a little crazier and didn't plan to get a lot done.  Actually, I had two things I wanted done - our Christmas Cards ready to go in the mail and scanning in photos that belong to my sister-in-law.  Both mindless and fairly easy tasks. (As a bonus - I figured I could do more organizing in the classroom if the kids were all playing)    The kids actually all played well all day and I got the things done I wanted to get done which was really nice.  I really need to get together more with my friend Julie and let the kids hang out.  It's good for all of them to learn to play together.  I did learn one important thing having both girls and boys in my house for a day . . .. are you ready?  Girls are WAY busier than boys.  Holy Moly!!!!  Those girls never stop and the boys just look at them and are like, "Will you just sit down for a minute!" HA!  Don't get me wrong, my boys are busy during the day but they tend to sit and play one thing for awhile and THEN run through the house screaming.  Girls just never stop :-)

Third, are you ready for a fun Christmas Craft to do with your kids?  This would be an easy craft to have supplies on hand to make over Christmas Break - older kids would enjoy using more things to embellish the tree :-)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!!
Idea adapted from All Kids Network

 This craft requires just a few simple supplies - green tissue paper, torn and crumpled; small styrofoam cones; gems (for ornaments); glue - lots, and lots and lots of glue. Did I mention glue?  Oh, and some sponge brushes.

 I forgot to mention some Mocha's from McDonald's to help the parents stay sane while making this craft and playing with  . .glue.  (I just love those "free" drinks that you can earn!)

Then get busy! Paint the cones with glue.  If it is my kids, you'll need a whole bottle for each kid HA!  Once the cone is drenched and dripping in glue, add the torn green paper over top the glue while trying to keep it from becoming adheared to your fingers, the table, and the floor.  :-)   Once the cone is covered, then glue gems all over the cone.

 Nate's finished Christmas Tree. 

 Josh's finished Christmas tree.

Their little Christmas trees are sitting under our dining room tree.  The lights from the tree reflect off the gems and those little trees are so beautiful!

We really all did have fun making this little craft as a family :-)