What I'm Loving Wednesday - Christmas Song Style

Here are a couple more songs for you to enjoy!

Yes, I will admit, I'm a dork at times which is why I actually love this song.  No, I wouldn't want to listen to it over and over and over again but I still need to hear it at least once each season!




And then, on a more heartfelt note.  I heard this song for the first time last year, I believe, and fell in love with it. It is I need a silent night by Any Grant.  What a great reminder to take a moment to stop in the midst of everything and just listen for that Angel voice.  For my family, we are approaching a very busy weekend with a birthday party and celebrating Christmas with the boys.  It's easy to overwhelmed - this song just helps me focus back on what really matters. 



Enjoy!

Pinterest Challenge

I've been looking through my boards, getting inspiration and deciding what else I want to make.  Well, that isn't true, I find lots that I want to make but I have to pick what I have the supplies for or that I can get supplies for easily.  Michael's and Hobby Lobby are  40 minutes away so making a "quick" trip to get any supplies doesn't happen.  I should also add that with Christmas and an upcoming birthday party, I haven't had time to focus on my little projects/challenge. 

I have not forgotten about my plan to start the quiet books either - but this was not the time of the year to start a big process like a quiet book.  My goal this month is to lay out some more pages and make a list of any needed supplies so that I can everything I need to get started in January.

So, what project did I put together this week?  I worked on this idea from Design Sponge for creating a Calendar.

I've tried starting journals but I don't always do great with that idea; I do try to journal within my Bible Study journal but I'm not always consistant with that either so when I saw this idea for a perpetual calendar, I really fell in love the idea.  I love that after several years, I will be able to see what I did on that same day in previously years.  Just one simple sentence on each day - a pretty easy task. 

This time of year, it is hard to find a fruit basket like shown in the picture so I went digging to find the perfect "holder".  I figure that throughout the year(s), if I find a pretty basket that works better, I can always change out the basket.  I went to the dollar store and picked up a pack of large index cards and then cut them in half.  Instead of postcards, I am going to pick out 12 photos from recent photo shoots and use those to separate the months; eventually I would like to get some postcards or other pretty scenic pictures only so that I don't have to replace photos every year :-)  I also am taking the easy way out and am writing the dates on the cards as I go through 2012.  So, this is my simple version of this great calender :-)   I will post a picture later, probably in another post, because I haven't ordered my photos - I'm waiting until I get the latest pictures from a recent photo shoot !!

I also wanted to share this idea from I love it All for another great journaling idea for 2012.

I'm tossing around ideas of how to make one of these little books to use throughout this next year too.  I don't know if mine will be nearly as elaborate as this book but I think to just incorporate the idea into a special journal - what a treasure for my kids to look at one day. 

One last idea that I like as well and I think I want to work on this coming year are Life Story Binders for each of the boys from All Things Simple.  I like what I see so far but also need to spend time looking at it more closely and decide if it is something that I can keep up with.

So yes, this week's challenge post is more some ideas that I'm looking at incorporating as 2012 starts - I'll have to share what I actually do and how the process works once January is under way!

Too Cute Not To Toot

Welcome to another week!  I've been looking at ideas since I posted the last "Too Cute not to Toot" mostly because so many of them I hope to use next year, or in years to come, and just dont' have time to print the ideas right now (too busy printing OTHER stuff!) so I want to be able to come back here after Christmas, print what I love, and put it in my December binder for next year!

If you have read my advent posts, you know that we are reading books as part of our daily activities so I am looking this year at book ideas for next year since some of our books will be too young for the boys next year.  I saw this post over at Home School Creations and really love that she created printables to go with a specific book.  I will be printing these and picking up the book!

The Monogrammed Ornaments from Confessions of a Homeschooler would make a great craft for kids but they are also a great, simple gift idea.  They could be used as gift tags on gifts for family or even given to neighbors with those trays of cookies!

A Pumpkin and a Princess shares a simple tutorial for making these fabric trees.  Just think of the endless ways you could make them to fit any decor you use in your home.

These fingerprint snowmen are adorable from I HEART Crafty Things and, to make it better, the craft idea goes along with a book they read.  Not that it wouldn't fit just about any book with snow in it but it gives another book idea too!

This was just an idea I saw out on a blog that I thought some of my Photographer friends might like.  It's how to take a Santa photo without Santa.  The idea comes from The Idea Room.

Lines Across My Face is doing quite a few Ornament Posts - this is my favorite so far.  These are fabric Lollipops and they would be fun for older kids to make and hang on the tree.

Over at Creations by Kara, you can snag some adorable Christmas gift tags by just hitting print :-)

This idea for a Name Of Jesus Tree is one that I found last year but have tucked away for future use with the boys.  I wanted to share this idea from KoJo Designs, though, because she shares a great tutorial on how to create the ornaments with your kids AND gives the list of names that they decided to use as well.

Ok, I love this idea from The Well Rounded Mama for a Santa Photo Booth.  I think this would make a great addition to a future birthday party for Nate (who was born on Dec 22nd!)

Sassy Sites is one of my favorite blogs - she shares tons of ideas and I wanted to link up with her recent posts that shares TONS of printables - so head to her blog and start downloading :-)

Here is another link up to Sassy Sites - this one is for TONS of sweets ideas!  I wish I had time to click on all of the links this moment - I will be going back and checking out all of the ideas later!

This is the last link back to Sassy Sites . .. well at least for today . . .but how could I NOT link back to 400 kids craft ideas????  I can't wait to start digging through the links and finding great ideas to use in future years!

This next idea came round about from searching Pinterest - I found an idea that linked me back to Secrets of a Super Mommy and then I found this  idea.  I love birthdays and look forward to future birthdays with my boys when I can do this birthday board with them!

Also from Secrets of a Super Mommy is this birthday pillowcase which goes with the board idea above.

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 :-)