Merry Christmas

Max has been bigger than Santa for quite sometime.  But every year we head to Macy's for my favorite tradition and photos. 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!!

Nativity

Claire volunteered to be in a live nativity scene OUTSIDE at our church.  She bundled up and headed out early on a Sunday morning and was surprised with the role of Mary.  She lucked out and it was in the 20s the day she did it. 

Our church goes all out and there were llamas, goats and sheep.   Claire was super excited and I'm guessing she'd say that was her favorite part.

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite Photo...

Well, it's my 2nd favorite photo this year.  This tree has over 40,000 lights!!  It lights up the whole area and we LOVE it because it reminds us of Disney:)

 

My Fav of 2011

You all know I'm not a big Christmas person, but the two things I like would be the cards I receive and that unexpected "fun" kid moment.

This is the moment from last year that still makes me smile. Alivia. I wish you could hear her saying, "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee".

Reindeer Food

Did you know that the reindeer need some help finding your house? Did you know that if you sprinkle Reindeer Food on your front lawn, they can see it from the sky?

Make a little magic for your kids.

What you'll need:

3 C of Oatmeal
Container of Red and Green Sprinkles
Cooking spray

Spread your oatmeal on a cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle, sprinkle and sprinkle some more. Toss and repeat. Toss and repeat.

Let dry for about an hour and then scoop 1/4 - 1/3 C into a snack bag and share with your friends.


Mix it up
Bagged and ready to share

2010

Santa never disappoints

Gingerbread houses

Decorating the tree

Nana and her babies

Middle of the chaos, Claire stopped to let Alivia do her hair.

If you think this many kids in a small area is not chaos, come on over, we'll pass you some eggrolls

Love this one of Jordan

Sprinkling the reindeer food. Check out the year of the SNOW!!

Oh wait, my bad...it was the year of the UGGS

Max loves anything you buy

Craig comes over Christmas morning

Christmas 2009

PJ day and cookie baking marathon

Max does a photo every year with a bow on his head

The boys

Most of the girls

What?! A photo with me in it??

All the gifts, all the cookies and hustle. We came home on Christmas Eve to falling snow, the perfect temperature and a sky full of stars. We wasted about one minute before we decided to throw on our snow pants and build a snowman. We were outside laughing and playing until after 11. Both kids saying, "that was a BLAST". And, me giving a smile upward because I was pretty sure my Dad had something to do with the lovely evening and gentle reminder to live in the moment.

Christmas 2008

This was the year Alivia joined the family. What a fun Christmas present she was for all of us. Our last baby of the family to spoil with love.

Decorating the tree

Annual Cookie Baking Tradition

Kids all here

In their fancy dresses

Claire so much fun to watch open presents

Max loving his gifts

Happy Birthday Alivia

Alivia is pretty easy to please. She wanted a pink cake with Strawberry Shortcake sitting somewhere (Strawberry was added after I got to her house). I made all the writing and numbers out of chocolate and stood them up for a 3D cake. You can click here to find out how. But I just free handed this time. I really think it gives the cake a little something extra. 

 

She loved it and her party.

 

 

 

My wish today for Princess Alivia is that she has a day as sweet and sassy as she is:)

Happy 18th!!

I was there the morning he was born and I cannot believe that it's been 18 years since I was in that hospital room?!  He's the second oldest grandkid.  He's a senior in high school this year.  He hates having his photo taken.  He's smart.  He's original.  He's our Boo!! 

 

Happy Birthday Cody!!  I hope your day is spectacular!! 

Dragon Fly

I was cleaning off my desktop and came across this photo my friend Lauri took.   A little piece of summer on a wintery day, LOVE IT!

Ginger Cookies

These are a little bigger than my cookies and they are missing the red hot but you get the idea. I will download step by step for next year but until then...you get my Aunt Judy's Yummy Ginger Cookie recipe which is easy enough to follow without the photos.

Ginger Cookies

3/4 C Soft Butter
1 C Sugar
4 T Molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 C Flour
2 t Baking Soda
1 t each cinnamon, ginger and cloves

Cream Butter and sugar. Mix in Molasses and Egg. Mix in Flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

Refrigerate couple hours or over night. Roll into small balls (about 1/2 T of dough). Roll in sugar. Put on greased cookie sheet, bake 7-8 minutes at 375. Take out of oven and immediately press red hot into middle.. Cool and store in air tight container, these are fine in container for a week. And, they freeze well.

iPhone

I begrudgingly bought an iPhone in September because I needed a new phone and a friend figured out it would only cost me $10 more per month if I changed my plan.  So, I justified it as a "Happy Birthday to me" kinda thing and have actually learned to really like it. 

My kids on the other hand, LOVE it and when I'm around said children, I rarely have my phone because they are always playing with it.

Case in point.  I went to download the photos and this is what I found.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These are my son's favorite. Hope you like them too.

What you'll need:

Unwrap a bag of Hershey Kisses so they are ready to go.

1/2 C Butter softened
1 Egg
1/2 C Peanut Butter
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar

Cream together. And then add...

1 1/2 C Flour
1/4 t Salt
3/4 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Baking Powder

Roll into small balls about the size of a medium gum ball. That is bigger than the ones that cost a penny and smaller than the quarter size. Basically you are going to have a bite size cookie when it cooks.

Roll in sugar. Put on pan and bake at 375 for about 7 minutes until bottom is lightly browned.

Immediately put on waxed paper and immediately push a Hershey Kiss in the center. You are not going to be able to move these for at least two hours because the kiss melts and will collapse if you move them. They need to completely cool before you package these.

These freeze well

Magic Cookie Bars

These are MY favorite.


My FAVORITE bar that I make for the holidays. Step by step will not be until the end of the month but you can handle these without.

1/2 C Butter cut into chunks
1 1/2 C Graham Cracker crumbs
14 oz can Condensed Milk
1 C chopped Walnuts
1/2 -3/4 C Coconut
6 oz Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 350. In 13x9 cake pan, melt your butter in the oven a few minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Sprinkle crumbs over the butter, mix it up and press into the pan with your hand or a fork to form the crust. Pour the condensed milk over the crust making sure it covers the entire crust. Top with coconut, chocolate chips and nuts. Press down a bit. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool, cut and serve.Roll graham crackers into crumbs
Sprinkle graham crackers into butter
Drizzle condensed milk
Coconut
Sprinkle Chocolate chips
Chopped nuts
Done