Day 23 Let there be light

We have been traveling the area looking at Christmas Lights. I just love looking at them all. I thought I would share some with you.

 

 

This on is my favorite! I love the style of the house with the traditional style Christmas Decorations!It is so homey!

                                     

This next one is one of the ones we went to find. They had their lights in sync with a radio station and the lights went to the beat of the songs!! AWESOME!

 

This one was across the street.... I didn't notice it for a long time. Then all of a sudden a looked across the street and CRACKED up laughing!!!!

 

 

This one was also one that we went searching for... and soooo glad that we did! They also have the lights synced up to a radio station! Every year they take donations for charity during the Christmas lights show. Truly wonderful!

 

2 days left and I hope you are enjoying the season!

 

Day 20 Santa bags

This was a SUPER easy project and I love the way it came out. The burlap adds great charm to anything. If I could, I would probably wrap my walls in it!

I got this idea from http://www.fourmarrsonevenus.com/2012/12/santa-bags.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FourMarrsAndOneVenus+%28Four+Marrs+and+One+Venus%29 . Be sure to check out her blog. She gives the resource for the burlap bags. I ordered mine from the same place.

The only difference is that I painted my initials on. I just cut out stencils from plain paper and used red acrylic paint I had on hand. If you do this, make sure to put a piece of paper or cardboard in the bag, behind your stencil, to catch the excess paint.

This isn't a great picture but look how cute they are!!!!

On Christmas Eve, we will put out the Santa bags for Santa to put all his gifts in! How exciting! Another great tradition started!

Have fun!

Day 19.... I'm Sorry

I am sorry that we have just begun and I have already failed you. I went missing and didn't say a word.

I make no promises but I will try to better.

Fridays tragic events in Connecticut left us broken, overflowing with sorrow, angry. It called for silence. A time for prayer.

We went along doing things to find comfort, to celebrate each moment becuase you never know.....

We baked.

I attempted to make Christmas Wreaths... but I forgot the green food coloring... and didn't have much patience for it. I thought it would be easier to mold together.... not true. But we did our best. I also could not find red hots, so we used mini m&m's.

I think we still did a decent job. Atleast they tasted good.

We found comfort in it.

We made more cookies but I got deep into the baking. I forgot to take pictures. I enjoyed what we were doing....together.

We found magic in the things around us.

Have you ever layed under a Christmas tree and looked up at all the lights? It IS magical.

And on top of all the other things going on, we have a sick munchkin. So we make healthy foods to help little bodies recover.

And we make comforting things to sip on, to warm our bodies and our battered souls.

Things like teas and warm Christmas milk.

I hope you our finding comfort.

Our hearts go out to all those affected by the tragic events of last Friday.

Day 13 a Cookie Exchange!!

Today we met with our Girl Scout troop to have a cookie exchange! It was a lot of fun! You should get some pals together and have one too!!

I have promised a recipe, and if you have your cookie exchange, you should make these. IF you don't have a cookie exchange, you should still make these :)

Everybody Loves Me Cookies
2 sticks butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 white chocolate bar, roughly chopped
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups pecans chopped
2 cups craisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Stir in chocolates, pecans, and craisins. Drop dough by Tbsp, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Make them and let me know what you think. 

Day 12 Hot Cocoa

So today we relaxed with a nice hot cocoa bar and a beautiful fire!

Vanilla sugar is a great addition to the cocoa! Just take a couple vanilla beans, split them and put in a container with your sugar. Shake it up and let it sit a few weeks before using. Super easy, super YUMMY!

Are you finding time to relax?

Yule Tide on Day 11

                                                    Yule Tide Traditions

To be honest, I really did not know anything about the Yule Log tradition until about a week ago. And of all places to learn about this magical tradition, I learned of it from Etsy. Which while we are being honest, I am an Etsy ADDICT! You can find so many wonderful things on there. Whether it be something handmade by a wonderful artist or something old with age and lots of stories to tell... I love it all!

But I have digressed...

So I learned about the Yule Log tradition and fell in love. So today we went outside to our wood pile.... not exactly what the original tradition called for but this is our tradition and it will work for us!

After you pick out your Yule Log you are supposed to tie a red ribbon on it with rosemary. We used twine, I figured this way we could throw the whole thing into the fire. We tied it up with rosemary, cypress and pine. I remember reading that the rosemary is for friendship. Now you are supposed to do this 2 weeks before Christmas and leave it by the mantel. On Christmas Eve, everyone makes a wish on the log and you place it in the fire . Your wishes go up with the smoke to be fulfilled! Magical right???

What traditions do you have? Have you started any new ones?

We also made our first batch of cookies, but I am still making you wait until Thursday for some recipes :P

Day 10 - Clay Ornaments

Wow! It sure is flying by, this Christmas Season! Day 10 already!

Tonight we made clay ornaments. I had this vision of thumbprint heart ornaments... all cutesy whootsie! But..... it needs work.. maybe paint. The prints are not as defined as I would like and the sharpie did not write the names as I wished. I will keep you posted if I jazz them up.

We did a few other designs and I am pleased!

We used some extra cypress we have decorating nooks and crannies around the house, to make imprints in the dough.

 

On a few others we wrote words.

 

Cute right?

After we popped them in the oven (the hanging pics are after they had been baked), we read a Christmas story from my childhood.

And I must share!!! I finally got chalk for my chalkboard cabinet!! What do you think?

 

I love it!

So here is the recipe for the ornaments.

Clay Ornaments

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
cold water (about 3/4's cup)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Mix flour and salt. add water slowly until you have reached a dough consistency. It will seem a little dry just finish mixing with your hand and if needed add more water.

Now you are free to shape anyway you want. We did a ton of ornaments! It makes a lot of dough. Littlest munchkin even did all the pets prints!

The Oldest Munchkin... he left right after this....

Video games were calling... bah hum bug!

Make sure you poke a whole in the top (we used a straw) to hang from.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for around 2 hours depending on how thick they are.

They even make great jazzies for other gifts! This is going to a teacher.

I can't wait until my paper whites open!! But I need a few of these to wait until this weekend for proper gift giving :)

Day 9 Can you say YUMMM!!!

Day 9 -  Let there be scones!

Today we made Christmas Tree shaped scones! Yummy!

The recipe was adpated from Susan Branch's Autumn cookbook, which I LOVE!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup Craisins
1 cup milk

Mix everything together except the milk. Gradually add milk while stirring to incorporate.Gather the dough a knead on a lightly floured cutting board. Pat out to about 1/2 inch thick and cut out with a floured cookie cutter. A metal cookie cutter is probably best. We used a Christmas tree shape. Arrange on a baking sheet about an inch apart. If desired, as we did, sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes.

We ate ours with Devonshire cream...... MMMMMMMMMMMM

I hope you enjoy!

Day 8.... Not as planned

Day 8 A Live Nativity and visit with Santa

or....

not .

So tonight we were supposed to go into town, enjoy a Live Nativity , singing, visit with santa, roast some marshmallows and such. We were going to have a grand old time and Oldest Munchkin was going to play along and spend some time away from video games like a good sport.

Well Littlest Munchkin managed to hurt her finger and the world came to an end... well not really but our night did, pretty fast.

So we stopped in for a short visit of the Nativity, dropped off canned food for charity, skipped Santa and went home early.

Bah Hum Bug!

So instead, i have a great post on Pomander balls for you!

To start you will need the following:

A apple, orange or lemon
Orris Root powder
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Whole Cloves
A bowl

Poke your cloves into the fruit of choice. Leave a little space btween each one, as the fruit will shrink as it preserves. Once your fruit is covered in cloves and your thumbs are raw with pain...( Don't be a sissy! It is tradition and it smells wonderful!) Now mix together you Orris root, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. I eye ball the amounts but a few tablespoons of Orris Root and nutmeg and about a half cup of Cinnamon should be good. I recommend that you buy cinnamon in bulf from somewhere like www.mountainroseherbs.com . It is not only much more cost effective but is of a much higher quality than your local grocery store,as well. they also carry the Orris Root. Roll your fruit in the spice mixture and every few days roll it around in there. In a few weeks it will be preserved and you can tie a pretty ribbon on it to hang up. they last for a VERY long time...like years and years!

Weekend Slacker... Day 7 Shopping for gifts

Yes, I know... I am just starting this blog and already I slacked off for 3 days... YIKES! Will you forgive me? And if you do, please also forgive me for the horrid picture I am about to post too. I am working on my skills... I promise!

So on to Day 7... we went on a shopping trip to pick up gifts for the littlest munchkins gift exchanges at school and Girl Scouts. I am soooo happy that we moved some where that Christmas is celebrated freely, we say Merry Christmas and gift exchanges amongst children, still happens!

So we picked out a really cute Sock puppet kit for the Girl Scouts exchange. The school exchange is specified as coloring books and crayons/markers. Littlest Munchkin is really excited for both parties which are on the 13th! We will also be baking cookies for one party. I will post a recipe or two then :)

Christmas countdown Day 6 - A Christmas Concert

My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior. - Luke 1:47

On Day 6 we celebrated with a concert in town! It was a delightful event! Such beautiful music rejoicing in the Lord!

Are you enjoying the season? I know I am! I really like this daily Christmas activity. It keeps the excitement going with small and large doses of the Christmas Spirit!

Countdown to Christmas Day 5

For Day 5 I wanted us to start to learn, by heart, a Christmas song. My plan is for us to sing it on Christmas Day together.

So after some perusing online I decided on, Away In A Manger. It is such a beautiful song. The littlest munchkin seems happy with it, as she stole borrowed my copy to sing on the bus today :) AWWWWWWW!

Wish us luck!

Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed,
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head;
The stars in the heavens
Looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing,
The poor Baby wakes,
But little Lord Jesus,
No crying He makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus;
Look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
Till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus;
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray!
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care,
And fit us for Heaven
To live with Thee there.

Christmas Countdown Day 4

Day 4 in our Christmas Countdown and we shall sit back and relax tonight. Tonight is dedicated to watching Christmas specials and sipping hot chocolate! Ahhhhh relaxation. Now speaking of Christmas Special, I have a confession.... I am a Christmas Special FANATIC! I love them all. I drool over classics.. although I usually have to watch those by myself. The hubby and the munchkin clan, they are not such big fans of the black and whites. I say BAH HUM BUG! I could watch them all day. It's A Wonderful Life... need I say more.

Tonights feature has yet to be announced. We will contemplate over that later. Although I can assure you at some point in the night The Hallmark Channel will totally be on... Another weakness of mine.

But I am sure you do not care about all of this jibber jabber of mine. Although I am really jibber jabbing to myself. I mean no one else knows I am even here... right?

Well self we shall find some magic tonight in our Christmas Spirit!

On the 3rd Day of Christmas - We Give back

Today we came up with a list of 12 ways we can give back. Simple, thoughtful ways to bring cheer to others. It was sweet to listen to the ideas the munchkins came up with.

We started the list by making cards for Holidays for Heroes. We got a box of Christmas Cards and drew a pictures in each one, wrote a little thank you and signed our names. Our troops sacrifice so much for us, the least we can do is send a card.

Tomorrow we will stick them in the mail to get to the facility before the deadline of December 7th. In the mail box will also be a box of chocolates for our mail lady :)

This season, how will you give back?

Day 2 Crafty Christmas Lamb Ornaments

Since we are bringing Christ back into Christmas, what better way than Lamb of God ornaments? Well if you ask me... I say, you guessed it, none!

Now I say that but.... have I told you as ruler of the munchkin clan, my oldest is a Tween!! GASP! Ouch that hurt to write! Now how thrilled is he with moms new idea of good times??? He turned off the XBOX and dove in with a smile! Now be realistic people.... this was not because he was really thrilled.. he was just keeping me happy. Everyone knows a happy home starts with mom :)

Now to start your Lambs, you will need:

Cardboard or Paper
Cotton Balls
Glue
Crayons
Sticks
Google eyes
Scissors
Twine or ribbon

Trace your munchkins hand onto the cardboard or paper and then cut out the hand print. Poke a hole in the top for hanging. Give said munchkin cotton balls and glue and have them get to dressing that lamb. As you see, the thumb will be the lambs head and the other 4 fingers are his feet. Once the little lamb is dressed, they can color the face and glue on his eyes. I then sent them out to gather sticks. Then glue the sticks for legs. We finished up by tying the twine onto hang from the tree.

We also wrote a verse on the back.

Have fun with your flock!

 



Christmas Countdown Day 1

What better way to start the season than a Parade? None, if you ask me. Now since I am on a journey to simplify, this float says it all. People, CHRISTmas is for a reason and it isn't about fighting over toys on Thanksgiving at 8pm! Don't get me wrong, I have thrown elbows with the rest of them on Black Friday..... but we must draw a line some where. Stores should not be open on Thanksgiving! We should be at home enjoying Thanksgiving with our families and being THANKFUL! Save the throwing elbows with granny for the next day!

Now on our pursuit of simplicity, how does one instill the meaning of Christmas to ones munchkin clan with out being a scrooge. Where is the balance? Any ideas? Please let me know.

Day 1 of Christmas enjoyment starts with a parade!