Family Christmas Party # 1

It is that time of year - the time for Christmas Parties and Family Gatherings.  Normally, we really don't get that busy but this year we have at least one activity going on every weekend!  This past Saturday was a first for us - Darryl's mom hosted a Family Christmas Dinner.  For a little background, Darryl's grandma, who is 91, was house bound for years and now resides in a nursing home.  Because of that, the family Christmas party on his side has been held, first at his Grandma's house, and now is held at the nursing home.  We never got to have a nice Christmas dinner with just the family with all of the lights and a tree.  Belva, my mother-in-law, really wanted to change that so she planned the family dinner.  It was nice to get together with everyone - we don't do it very often - it was even nicer to not be at the nursing home!  (We will be having our actual family Christmas with his grandma later this month)

We had a very busy day - it started with a trip to the Photo Studio to get Nate's 2 year photos done as well as to do some Photos with Santa (AKA as my husband hahaha).  We had  about an hour to spare so we came back home and the boys all played while I made my "Fancy Green Beans" for dinner. 

Dinner was wonderful - my mother-in-law cooked a big Picnic Ham along with Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows, Garlic mashed Potatoes and Gravy, made by my brother-in-law, Craig.  She also made some type of "Fluff Stuff" but I didn't taste that.  We also had a great spinach salad that my niece made.  For dessert there was Strawberry Rhubarb pie, Dump Cake, Cake Balls, and other fun snacks. 

Other then that, we just all sat around and chatted, played games, or just relaxed.  The boys were fantastic.  I don't know about you, but some days I think that I must be a complete failure as my kids mom because they do NOTHING that I'm trying to teach them.  HA  So, when we go out for a day like we did on Saturday, and I can sit back and watch them play together, be courteous, clean-up and obey everything we ask of them, I realize that I AM getting through to them and at home, it is just different.  Here are a few pictures from our day.  (I must confess, I took very few photos - which is unlike me - I guess I was just too relaxed :-) )

 When we first got there, our niece, Rachel, was working on some puzzles that Charlie (my MIL's husband) had made out of wood.  Josh loves Rachel so he got right down on the floor with her.  It was so cute - she was going to quit the puzzle she was working on and Josh said "It's ok, just try, try again.  You can do it" HAHAHAHA!  I should mention that Rachel is not a huge fan of kids but my boys both adore her and she is actually very good with kids.  :-)

 Nate was just hanging out in the chair.  It was adorable because he would disappear into the spare bedroom where the toy box was and we wouldn't hear anything from him for awhile.  We would check on him, and he would have toys out and all lined up on the floor.  I think he just had a blast being able to play without anyone bugging him.

 Matchbox cars were the toys of choice even at Grandma's house - by boys of all ages.

 Josh playing with cars - he was very intent :-)

 Once again, the boys were glued to Rachel.  She had brought out this little magnetic fish game - the fish open their mouths and you have to try and catch them.  She entertained Josh with that game for probably an hour - then when she was done, he brought it to me and we played it more.  I'm seriously thinking about trying to find that little game to keep on hand when we go places!

My MIL will be unable to attend Nate's birthday party so she gave Nate his gifts.  The boys have figured out "gifts" now so both were very excited to open them.  (We are still working on getting Josh to understand when it is Nate's turn - he likes to think all presents are His!!)

On the way home from the party, we got to look at Christmas lights and Josh loved it.  I would say "Look More Tissmass!!" Then we would be on a stretch of road with no houses and he would ask "Where is all the Tissmass?".  We even drove through a town that had tons of lights up and a large Nativity set up - he loved it all. 

The boys got to do something new on Sunday - check out these photos:

Can you guess what it is?  They had their first candy canes!  Nate inhaled his one crunchy bite after another where Josh ate about half of his and then said "it is sticky" and handed it over to me. HA!

One last little story - today, Josh tattled for the first time.  I've been working with both boys, but especially Josh, on the concept of obeying.  Today, Josh walked into the living room and told me "Eat (Nate) playing with water.  He is not obeying" LOL  And guess what HE WAS RIGHT!  Now, if only I could get Josh to obey all the time - it would be a success :-)

I hope that each of you are enjoying this Christmas season!  My big projects this week are to put the finishing touches on a birthday party for our soon to be 2 year old and to make Christmas Cookies! 

Our Christmas Advent - Week 2

As is normally the case, when something is planned, plans change :-)  Some have changed because I haven't had the time to prepare them and some because I could see what the boys were enjoying and what they weren't.  For example - pulling slips of paper out of our "tree" (above) did not interest them.  They can't read the slips and really don't care about them.  So, I have stopped worrying about those pesky papers.  BUT they do look for our special box each day and get VERY excited to see what is inside.

Days 3, 4, and 5 -
The boys were gone to my parents house on these three days so, obviously we did not do anything

Day 6 -
My original plan was to do an activity on Tuesday but, once the kids got home I had to take Josh to the doctor and found that he had bronchitis.  By the time we got back home and got medicine in him, it really wasn't the best idea to try and pull this off.

Day 7 -

 Our book today was "The Crippled Lamb" by Max Lucado.  I happened to pick up the DVD to this story last weekend and it was a great deal at $3.50.  Instead of reading the actual book, I put the DVD in and the boys loved it.  I think we watched it 20 times that afternoon.

 The activity I picked was a HUGE hit.  I had also picked up the Little People Nativity set for "a steal" this past weekend so I got it out to use with this DVD/Story.  The boys LOVED it.  (Nate's face says "what is up with your hair, Josh" . .well, no one knows.  Josh has hair problems LOL)

 In case you never realized it before, the stable where Jesus was born, was right next to a very busy train track.  It is a wonder they got any sleep ;-) hahahaha

I found this very funny - I looked out in the living room and saw the boys standing like this as the DVD ended.  Yes, they really loved it.  (Excuse the boots - the boys love wearing their boots. .. all day . . every day. )

Day 8

 Today's book was "Counting Christmas" - this is a fun little book that just deals with counting.  I also had made two different Lap Books for the boys to play with. (I must say that the book from today is the FAVORITE book so far - on Friday, Josh and Nate sat together "reading" it and Josh would help Nate say all of the numbers.)

 But I must confess, I'm glad I didn't put a whole lot of work into them because . .. the nativity was still a much bigger hit then the lap books.

 Nate did like pulling all of the stuff off because of the velcro, but he also liked pulling the stuff off that was glued!

 And . . . back to the Nativity.  I put batteries in it today so they loved to make it "sing" and then they would hold the animals and make them dance.  I'm sure the barn animals danced when Jesus was born :-)  Both boys have learned who Baby Jesus is and then know he was born in the Stable.  It's fun to see how quickly they pick up the little details.

You can check out 1 + 1 + 1 =1 for all kinds of Christmas Printables including the items I used in our Christmas Lapbooks.

Day 9

 Our book today is "God Gave us Christmas" and was given to the boys by Nana a few Christmas' ago.  This story is fabulous and I just love the pictures!  Our activity for the day was a Christmas Matching Game.

 I have to admit, the game didn't go over well.  Instead it first became "Rain" as they threw the cards up in the air and then became "Tickets" which reminded the boys about their favorite movie right now - "Boz Abc and 123" which we watched for 5 hours in a row. 

 Nate had a wild hair day :-)  And yes, that is ketchup on his face . .. or maybe BBQ sauce.

I did try to play a matching game by laying out one set of cards and try to had them draw cards to match.  Well, that latest about 2 minutes and the cards became "tickets" again.  Maybe next year

You can find the matching game over at Prepared NOT Scared! .  This blog has some fabulous games and activities that you can download and use.  I'm looking forward to printing LOTS of ideas from this site to use with the boys!
One of the changes I made to my original plan is that we are not doing anything planned items on the weekend.  Today, Saturday,  we had a family party so that was our "activity" and tomorrow, Sunday, will just be family play time :-)
Darryl asked me on Friday if I was discouraged because the boys weren't participating in the activities like I wanted them to and I told him no.  I have figured out that when I see all of the great ideas on other blogs 1 of 2 things are happening - it is all fake when the 1 or 2 or 3 year olds are doing the activities perfectly OR they have older brothers and sisters that help with the activities.  My boys aren't quite ready for a lot of this stuff yet.  But, like I said earlier, they LOVE the "box" - they both ask for it, search for it, and wait for something to 'appear' in it for them to do.  On Friday, Josh asked for more "games" - I asked him if he meant the activities from Thursday and he said "YES!!!".  So, I continue to cut back on my ideas and I've kind of eliminated all crafts for this year (they struggle with crafts right now!) and I'm just focusing on the fun.

Weekly Menu - December 10th.

Last week, I planned a great menu.  Then I went shopping and I forgot to buy eggs.  I thought through our menu for the week and decided that I didn't need them.  I mean, you don't need eggs to make chicken, beans, asparagus, Mongolian beef, QUICHE!!  Seriously.  I figured that mistake out when I went to make the quiche on Wednesday night.  We had grilled cheese instead !!!  Oh well. 

Here's our plan for this week:

Saturday:   We have a family Christmas dinner with Darryl's family.  I'm in charge of bringing . . (drum roll please) a vegetable.  I'm making "fancy green beans".  There isn't a lot of room in the oven so I had to come up with something to make on the stove top :-)

Sunday:  Lasagna Soup (a new recipe) and yeast rolls

Monday: Hot dogs and French Fries

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie and Salad

Wednesday: (Carry over from last week) Easy Ham Quiche and Cinnamon Bread

Thursday: Tacos!!!

Friday: Manicotti, (another new recipe) Garlic Bread, Green Beans



Food Friday - Puerto Rican Roasted Turkey

Well, I've been meaning to share a few recipes from Thanksgiving but haven't had a chance until today.  This week I'm going to share the main course - the fantastic recipe for the Turkey.  I know many families have both Turkey and Ham at Christmas so, if that is you, try this recipe out for something new.

I did not get any pictures of the food (Insane, I know!) but here's our table before we started eating!

Puerto Rican Roasted Turkey
adapted from Jeff McMaster (my brother!)

In 2010, our family went to my brother Jeff's house for Thanksgiving.  My sister-in-law, Nora, is Puerto Rican so through they years he has mastered several Puerto Rican recipes.  We were all amazed how how superb the turkey was and, yes, it was the best turkey I've ever eaten.  Since I was doing Thanksgiving at my house this year, I begged him for the recipe (which he gave up freely!) and tried my hand at it.  The turkey was fantastic.  The biggest thing to remember - the turkey HAS to be thawed by the day before because it has to marinade for 24 hours. 

For every pound of turkey, mix together:
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 black peppercorn, crushed
1/4 cup dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon vinegar

Rub the mixture inside and out of the turkey - use it all up!
Put the turkey in a baking bag and put it in the refrigerator overnight to marinade; Cook according to directions. 

Super easy and SOOOO good.  In case you are wondering about the vinegar - it helps keep the turkey extra moist; don't let it scare you :-) 

What I'm Reading

This may be hard to believe but I really have not have much time to read in the last week.  I did finish the book by Kincaid though.

Christmas Treasures is the latest book in the Cape Light Series.  I love this series and look forward to new books coming out in the series.  In this book, the main story revolves around Reverend Ben, who suffers a heart attack and has to make some tough decisions.  There are also several small stories that take place through out the book as well.  It is truly a great read - I don't want to give too much away :-)  You could read this book on its own and not feel like you are really missing part of the story but, I highly recommend starting at the beginning (because, again, they are THAT good!)

I got wrapped up in the Kincaid book so I actually haven't read any further in this book then where I was last week but I need to pick it back up - I want to have it finished before the end of the year.

 You may remember that I talked about this book, Here Burns my Candle, in a previous What I'm Reading post  . . .. well . . ..

This is book two!  I picked it up because I couldn't wait to continue the store.  I'm enjoying this one even more then the first one.  It is written well and seems to be telling the the story of love and forgiveness very well.  I'm only half way through it but I already have "hopes" of how it will end  . .lets see if I'm right!

That's it for now! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday - Christmas Style

I decided to take a little break from my regular "What I'm Loving Wednesday" and instead share some Christmas music with you.

 First up is "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant.  I sang this song years ago at a Christmas Eve Service and have loved it from the first moment that I heard it.  Someday, I will sing it again :-)

The Second song for today is "Joseph's Song" by Michael Card.  I also heard this one years ago at a Christmas Eve service when my cousin-in-law sang it.  It gave me the chills and still does to this day.

I hope you enjoy these special Christmas songs today!

Too Cute Not To Toot!

I feel like I have posted one of these in awhile - between missing a week due to no Internet and not finding a lot of ideas . . .well, I'm hoping that this one is brimming with ideas! 

I've seen this ebook shared on so many blogs and 1+1+1=1 gives the link to get your own copy as well as photos from there first few days.  (I'm sure that she will share more throughout the month too).  I did get my own copy of "Truth in the Tinsel" and plan on using it in the future.  I think it will be the perfect thing to use as the boys get older.

Another idea from 1+1+1=1 is a Playdough busy box.  I really love this idea and, as she suggests, it would actually make a great gift idea.

Another idea from 1+1+1=1 is her 12 Days of Christmas Printables.  I plan on printing these to add to my December binder to use next year.

One last idea from 1+1+1=1 is her Nativity Printable Set.  This is another great set of activities to do with your kids throughout the month.

This idea from Rockabye Butterfly is such a great craft idea using glue.  It is super easy and, most likely, you have most of the supplies in your home already.

As you well may know, I love handprint/footprint crafts.  This idea from Classified Mom turns a handprint into an elf.  The picture doesn't do it justice so click on the link and see the full tutorial.

This idea for making snowmen out of socks from I heart Crafty Things is so adorable plus I love that she recommends a book to read to go along with the craft.  I am bookmarking this idea (obviously) to use in future Book Advents. 

Here's another Snowman idea from Sew Blessed uses the Coke bottles that are shaped like ornaments - I might need to pick some up this year to use for this craft; it would also be a fun one for the boys to make in the future.

Musings of Me is doing a book advent again this year (She was one of my inspirations from last year) but this year she is focusing on the Alphabet and I really love her ideas.  This link is to her "C is for Cookies and Candy" but you can also find the rest of the ideas on her site throughout the entire month.

This is an idea that a friend actually shared with me a year ago but I couldn't find the clear bulbs to use to make them - Confessions of a Homeschooler gives an easy tutorial to use.

Also from Confessions of a Homeschooler is a great idea for storing your kids creations.  I already planned on doing something that I had seen on another blog but I love the printables that she created to use for each year and plan on printing them out this week.

One last item from Confessions of a Homeschooler - she has two great printable tot packs.  A Christmas Theme as well as a Nativity Theme as well.

Counting Cocounts shares a simple but great idea - "Car Boxes" are boxes filled with things we always need in the car.  Whether it be activities and snacks for the kids to diapers/wipes/ change of clothes for those unexpected accidents kids always have, these really are great. 

This is one of many countdown ideas that I've seen that I like - this one from GlueSticks uses the magnetic tin boxes.  It would fit perfectly on the side of a fridge and she also gives ideas for what she put inside each of the small tins.

Also from Gluesticks is this fairly simple Scalloped Stocking Idea.  If you wanted all of your stockings to match, this would be perfect and you could, obviously, pick out any fabric that you wanted to fit your theme.

I created a Christmas Journal a year ago but I've seen this idea all over the web and I'm actually considering converting mine to something this cute.  You can get lots of printables/ideas from eighteen25.

Yes, I realize Thanksgiving is past but I wanted to save this idea for next year - you can get the printable by going to Making Memories.  I will be printing these off this week too!  (I have lots of printing to do!)

One of the blogs I follow, A Better Mom, posted an ornament craft that would be great for older kids - another idea for my December binder of fun!

A little learning for 2 shares a simple Christmas Tree Craft - I feel like maybe I've shared this before but I can't remember if I did or if I just have seen this idea before.  Either way, I'll share it here, even if for a 2nd time!

This is a countdown activity I saw at one of my favorite blogs, Superchikk, and I think it is probably the one I like the most for doing just a countdown.  It is simple and doesn't take up a lot of space and yes, it is on the list to make before next December.

I mentioned, after making the boys Thanksgiving shirts, that I wanted to make their Christmas shirts and guess what?  I found a great idea (actualy two ideas - one tutorial) over at Vixon Made.  Yeah!

Vixon Made also shares a whole bunch of links to get free printable subway art.  I plan on printing all of them to use next year as decor - I like to replace photos on my walls with Christmas pictures and these are perfect. Here is just one example.

That's a much better line-up of items this week!  (Finally!) 

I usually post a Pinterest Challenge on Tuesdays too but, I don't have one today.  I've been busy working on some holiday things and just haven't gotten to items on my list!  Maybe next week I'll have more to share :-)