Fun

  • Gift Giving: Christmas Cookies in Decorative Tins

    Christmas Cookies in a tin with Candy Canes on top

    Our family loves baking Christmas goodies!  In the past we have made large batches of goodies and delivered the items to our neighbors, family, and friends.  Other years we do one or two tins whenever we are baking to give away to friends, family, or to who ever we think it may be a blessing to that week.

    It is a simple gift that has been a big  hit (and fun for the kids to help with too).  All we have to do is bake our favorite cookie(s), put them into a decorative tin, add two candy canes on top, and deliver them.  The girls love putting two candy canes on top of the tin in the shape of a heart.  Making these treats bins are really easy and they always great reaction from those we have delivered the goodies to in our area.

    Christmas Tins

    • 1 Tin Container
    • A  batch of your favorite cookie(s) or candies to fill the tin (or you can do a variety of recipes)
    • 2 Candy Canes
    • 2 pieces of Tape

    You can get any tin or plastic container in any size, shape, and color at your local dollar store this time of year.  I used double-sided tape but regular tape would work too. If you are wanting to make up several tins this is a great gift to do because you can make a large batch of cookies to fill them and do an assembly line with your kids.

    When we deliver items and Christmas cards to our neighbors we bundle up in our coats, put all the goodies in a big basket and walk from door to door (great exercise and fresh air for the whole family).  By the time we walk door to door and spend a few minutes catching up with each neighbor an hour or two or more has gone by but we have had a blast and hopefully were a blessing to those living on our street too.

     Here are some cookie recipes we have used in the past:

    Sour Spiral Cookies

    Oreo Truffles

    Chocolate Crackle Top Cookies

     

    Peanut Butter & Candy Cane Cookie Cups

    Super Chocolate Cookies

  • Introducing……the Newest Members of Our Family – “Coconut,” “Oreo,” & “Snowball”

    The 3 newest family members of our family “Coconut,” Oreo,” and “Snowball”

    If you had asked me even a year ago if I would ever have goats as pets I would have laughed.  Goats, seriously!  I don’t know how to raise goats, what would I do with them…..  Guess what!?  Life has a funny way of changing my perspective.   We have GOATS!  Three adorable, fluffy, social, fun loving, goats that have become such a sweet part of the family!

    This one cracks me up……silly Oreo!

    The girls immediately loved these little balls of fluff…..and as hard as it is to admit it didn’t take long  before they had stolen a piece of my heart too.  They are always thrilled to see you.  I love driving into the driveway and seeing them come racing across the yard to greet us.

    Our little “Oreo Sunday”!  He is the smallest of the 3 but makes up for it with his colorful character!

    The girls are overjoyed to have goats.  They do a pretty good job of taking care of them too.  The goats love it when the girls are outside playing.  All three are very social and are great with kids.  The only thing we are still training them not to do, they’ve gotten better, is to not jump up on people. We have already trained them with several things already.  One of the best things we did for training was to teach them to head into the goat pen for their grain or a treat whenever we  rang a bell rings so when we need to put them into the pen it is really easy.

    Sweet baby “Snowball” coming to say hello!  He is the most timid of the 3 goats and especially in the beginning he would bolt to the pen whenever he saw Skipper or if he was startled.

    It has been over a year in preparation for these little guys.  They are a neat addition to our family or as the girls call it “our small farm”!  It all started with me reading an article on goats.  Followed by months of researching, building a goat house and pen, and finding the perfect critters to adopt into our family.

    Our “Toasted Coconut” chewing happily on some leaves.  Coconut’s our adventurous eater, he’ll try anything before the other two goats (even your hair if you get it too close).

    These little guys have been a fun addition to the family.  Skipper was excited to have more friends in the yard as well.  It didn’t take long to train her not to chase the goats and for the goats to not be scared of the big black lab charging through the yard.  After researching how to train them to stay in certain parts of the yard we decided to get them collars similar to what we use with Skipper (they wear the collars and the wire for their boundary is underground).  After a little trial and error it has worked like a charm.  The goats have their boundaries and Skipper has hers.  The goats are not allowed in the driveway because they would most likely climb on the vehicles or in the front yard (they would eat any of my flowers on the front porch or garden).

    Our twin goats munching on something delicious!

    The whole process has been an experience to say the least.  There was moments of excitement and even some moments of tears…..I will share a little more of that part of the story a little later.

    Curious Oreo, he just had to see what that silver shiny object was in my hands (my camera)!

    The goats are always munching on something.  They like anything from leaves, bushes,  flowers, fruits, vegetables, peanuts, hay, grain, and more.  We feed them grain once a day and in the cooler months make sure they have some hay to eat.  Most days they will spend out in the yard eating or lounging in the sun.  It has been a lot of fun learning what foods they goats love, for example, banana peels are a favorite as are peanuts (whole or just shells).  One of their special grain treats smells like black licorice.  Almost everyday after the girls get home from school they go immediately to see Skipper and the goats (usually bringing them treats).

    Oreo looking over his shoulder to see what was taking Karlie and Brina so long!

    All three goats Nigerian Dwarf Wethers and were born in February 2012 so they are not quite a year old.  Oreo was born in the mountains of North Carolina.  Our twin boys, Snowball and Coconut, were born in the foothills.  When the goats only grow to be about the size of a black lab.

    Buddies…..the girls love playing out in the yard and the goats love having the girls nearby.

    The girls were excited to see meet family members and they have spent hours playing with them.  It took us a few weeks before we came up with their names but everyone agreed on “Oreo Sunday”, “Snowball”, and “Toasted Coconut”.  It has been quite entertaining to have these little guys around.  They have a lot of personality and are always thrilled to see you.

     

    The goats like to climb up onto things….such as fallen tree limbs!  Karlie and Brina hanging out with the “billy-billies” as they call them




    Snack time!

  • Crepe Paper “Surprise” Barricade


    A surprise barricade in the kids doorway on Christmas morning

    It is a lot of fun doing something little to get the girls attention on special days.  Last year on Christmas Eve after the kids were in their room and sound asleep we added this crepe paper surprise barricade across their doorway.  On Christmas morning we woke up to GIGGLES and “MOM! DAD!  WHAT DID YOU DO?!”  They thought it was hilarious! 🙂

    The first time they got out of the room by popping off the bottom row and crawling underneath (they wanted to see what it looked like from outside the room too I guess).  Then they busted through it…..laughing as they ran.

    The whole set up took about 5 minutes and the girls still talk about it!  All you need is some crepe paper (we used three rolls we already had at the house) and tape or sticky tack.  We crisscrossed the crepe paper in front of their closed door using tape to stick it to the door frame and went to bed!

    Jake putting up the crepe paper “surprise” barrier on Christmas Eve

    Adding the final color of crepe paper to the doorway

  • What Are They Building Now!?

    Our family lives on a small quiet street.  All our neighbors are retired so when we start a project, specifically one in the yard, everyone is all “curious” about what we are up to.  One of our neighbors will sit on the other side of the fence in his lawn chair sipping sweet tea and watch us as we work in the yard.  After 10 years of being the entertainment for the neighborhood seeing him pull up his chair just makes me laugh.

    We live on what the kids call a “small farm”.  The property is over 4 acres with a big yard, creek, and woods.  The girls and pets love running and playing in our yard.  We’ve even done camp-outs, paintball games, bonfires, target practicing, and a lot of other activities in our yard.

    Okay…..so back to the neighbors question “what are they building now”?  A little over a year ago I was reading an article about goats, don’t ask me why, just happened to catch my eye during that time.  Now I am not a big fan of goat milk or cheese or meat so that wasn’t what caught my attention it was the part about what the goats ate.

    While the goat’s digestive system is similar to that of cattle, horses, and sheep they tend to prefer brush and trees over grass (they are more like deer).    The reason why that caught my attention was because with our 4 acres we have a lot of trees, leaves, and brush.  My husband and I had been talking a week before about spending some more time cleaning the undergrowth in the wooded area of our property so the article intrigued me.

    With all that being said our kids LOVE animals (dogs, turtles, horses, cats, you name it), it is one area they have in common. They have been asking for years for a horse (I don’t think that’s going to happen, at least any time soon).  A couple months earlier I teased my husband that I was going to get chickens for the girls to raise and so we could have fresh eggs to eat.  He vetoed the chicken idea mainly because we have too many wild animals that go through our property (turkeys, deer, racoons, possums, foxes, coyotes, etc….).  So when I brought up the idea of getting goats (more as a joke) I figured he would just laugh at my suggestion…..well, he didn’t.  He started researching it more and decided that if I was up for it we could consider the possibility in a few months.

    Well, a few months went by and we started preparing for the newest members of our family.  What began with a simple glance at an article turned into building a goat house.  Jake designed and built the whole thing by himself (well, with the help of the girls).  The girls were soooooooo excited!  Here are some pictures of the process:

    Brina hammering away

    Brina and Karlie having fun “working” on the goat house

    Daddy working with his two helpers!

    Brina & Karlie helping Daddy on the roof of the goat house

    Brina, Karlie, Mommy, and Skipper painting the goat house.  The girls picked out the color “candy apple red”!

  • Game: Bean Boozled by Jelly Belly

    Bean Boozled Game

    Some friends of ours introduced us to this game called Bean Boozled by Jelly Belly a couple years ago and it has been a big hit with our family!  We’ve even picked up some boxes to take with us when we traveled to play with extended family and friends.

    There was a local store that carried the game, but the last couple of times I was in the store they didn’t have it in stock.  When I asked about it both times the person working told me that they didn’t know if they would be re-stocking it.  I checked online and Amazon carries it (this would be a great one to add to an existing order so you get free shipping).

    I cannot tell you how many laughs we have had over this game.  It is quite hilarious!  With a group of people you have each person pick out a jelly bean to try.  The is no way to tell if you have a “good” flavored jelly bean or a “bad” flavor, but as soon as you bite into it you’ll know!  The faces of the people biting into the jelly beans is priceless. We even played this game with Jake’s grandparents the last time with visited Vermont.

    Flavors

    • Licorice or Skunk Spray
    • Top Banana or Pencil Shavings
    • Buttered Popcorn or Rotten Egg
    • Berry Blue or Toothpaste
    • Chocolate Pudding or Canned Dog Food
    • Peach or Barf
    • Juicy Pear or Booger
    • Caramel Corn or Moldy Cheese
    • Coconut or Baby Wipes
    • Strawberry Jam or Centipede

    Even though they may “look” the same they taste VERY different. It is a good idea to have a napkin available for each player in case they need to spit out the jelly beans.  If you want to play a trick on your co-workers put these in a bowl on your desk, depending on which one they get they may never snag a candy from your desk again!

    For obvious reasons this game can only be played one time! Once all the jelly beans have been eaten the game is over.  Our kids love this game and can tell you many great memories of when they played it with various family members and friends.

    All the fun flavors, hilarious game!

     The box reads:

    CAUTION  These jelly beans may look alike but they could not taste more different from each other.  Think you can tell them apart?  WE DARE YOU!

  • Snowman Pizza

    Snowman Pizza

    Cool days, Christmas approaching quickly, and pizza just seem to go together really well.  During the Holidays the girls always hope for snow.  I can only remember one Christmas since my time in South Carolina where it actually snowed on Christmas day so that’s a rare treat!

    The nice part about snowman pizza is you don’t actually need snow to make it!  We made homemade pizza and decorated it.  The girls chose black olives for his mouth, a cheese wedge for his nose, pepperoni (with black olives) for the eyes, and two slices of ham for the eyebrows.

    You can use your favorite pizza recipe and make any snowman variation you want.  If you are looking for a pizza recipe here is one of our favorites from Money Saving Mom.  You can get really creative and make three separate pizzas and put them together to make a whole snowman (instead of just the head).  🙂

    Freezer-Friendly Homemade Pizza Dough

    • 2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
    • 2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 4 Tablespoons oil (vegetable, Canola, or olive oil)
    • 5 cups flour (can use all whole-wheat, half white/half whole-wheat, or all white)

    Pour the warm water into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir to dissolve.

    Add the remaining ingredients and mix.

    Dump onto a floured surface and knead dough for two to five minutes until smooth and no longer sticky.

    To freeze: Cut lump of dough in half and place each half in an airtight freezer bag. Freeze for up to 4-6 weeks.

    To bake: Place frozen dough in a greased bowl and thaw at room temperature for at least 3-4 hours. Roll out and shape onto a greased pizza pan.

    Add pizza toppings of your choice. Bake at 500 degrees for around 10 minutes (until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned).

    If you don’t want to mess with freezing the dough, take the kneaded dough and roll out and shape onto a greased pizza pan. Add pizza toppings and bake as directed above.

  • Travel & Vacation: Road Trip Entertainment

    I am so thankful that our girls travel really well.  Since they were little babies we have been doing road trips and they have been real troopers every time.  The longest road trip we took with them was 40 hours (round trip).  They have a blast hanging out together reading books, doing work books, playing games, talking, listening to audiobooks, and when we go on a long trip (5 hours or more) they get to watch a couple movies.  Here are some of the ways we stay entertained on road trips:

    Karlie lounging and talking on the phone as we were driving through Charleston.  They usually keep themselves busy reading, doing workbooks, playing games or resting.

    I hear giggling coming from the backseat….when I look back this is what I see….Brina practicing her flexibility.  Hey at least they are happy on road trips! Goofy girl!

    Karlie smiling as she works on a workbook in the car!

    Brina multi-tasking….snacking and reading a book at the same time while in the back seat of the car.  Thankfully she doesn’t get carsick as often anymore!

    On this trip we stuck the basket of books, workbooks, games, etc….in between the girls.  This was great because it provided accessible entertainment for both girls at the same time and kept them a little separated so they weren’t poking or messing with each other.  They didn’t get to watch a movie on this road trip because it was only 3 hours long, but they still had a lot of fun!

  • Kids in the Kitchen: Colorful Gingerbread Cookies

    Tray full of Gingerbread cookies to share!

    The girls love helping out in the kitchen.  At some point over the Christmas Holidays we try to make cookies.  The girls really enjoy decorating the cookies.  We have done a variety of different cookies from sugar to gingerbread and more.

    We typically turn on some Christmas music, whip up a batch of cookies, and play a game or read a book while the first batch is cooking.  Once the first batch has cooled enough and others are baking in the oven we start decorating.  As you can see from the pictures we used a couple varieties of frosting and decorations.  The girls decorate them however they want and as many as they want (they stick to the decorating until the very last cookie is done).

    It has been really neat seeing their skills improve over the past few years.  You can actually tell what the shapes of most cookies are after they are done decorating nowadays.  Plus, they have learned not to “lick” the frosting or their fingers during the whole process, ha!  🙂

    Starting to fill the tray with colorful Gingerbread cookies.  I especially like the Betty Crocker writable frosting because their easy to use for kids, only a little bit comes out, and you can stack the cookies together once they have dried.

    Just looking at these make me smile!   Some as you can see from the tops of the Christmas trees broke in the decorating process.  Love seeing the girls creative juices get flowing.

    Another rack of delicious gingerbread cookies, decorated with love! 🙂  Thankful for those quiet afternoons that we can spend relaxing and decorating cookies together.

    Next time I need to do better about taking pictures of the kids too.  I only have a couple of pictures of the girls just starting to make the cookies that didn’t really turn out.  Once we got into the cooking and decorating I got swept away with the fun that I didn’t pull the camera back out until all the cookies were done.  Hopefully, next time I will have more kid pictures to share. Does your family like to decorate cookies, if so what kind is your favorite?

  • Game: “Wits and Wagers Party” Game by North Star Games

     Do you have an upcoming celebration or game night?  Are you looking for the perfect party game?  You should check out Wits & Wagers Party by North Star Games!  You can have from 4 to 20 players and it only takes about 20 minutes to play a round.  The rules are simple.  Your guests will have a blast and will insist on playing another round.

    Wits & Wagers Party has over 200 questions that will test your knowledge of various facts.  Every answer is a number such as a year, percent, measurement, and so forth.  You get points for having the closest answer without going over as well as for guessing the best answer (which could be any player’s answer).  While this game is based on facts you don’t need to know all the answers in order to enjoy, participate, or even win the game!

    Here’s 3 more games we recommend (we’ve played them many times):

    Our review of this Wits & Wagers Family Game (easy enough for the kids to play too)

  • Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 1)

    The girls picked up Pop-Up Christmas Stickers to give out to kids!

    We have officially started our 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. (Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises) and in all honesty I think we have been blessed more by doing these activities.  It has been a real joy doing these fun events everyday and it has been a great experience again this year.

    In some cases we get to see who receives our B.L.E.S.S. gift and in other cases we will never know who is on the receiving end.  We pray that whoever receives or finds these gifts will experience joy during this Holiday Season.  Each night we take down the B.L.E.S.S. activity for the next day and read the verse and the activity then pray for those who have and will receive our little BLESS’ings.

    Our Christmas Pop-Up Stickers and B.L.E.S.S. card in a “penguin” bag so we can hand them out easier!

    Here is what we have done so far and a couple pictures to share of our adventures:

    • Day 1 – Handed out “pop-up” Christmas stickers to people we encountered throughout our day, including while we were running errands.  The girls even saw a couple of friends that day to give the stickers to as well (they were so excited).  The stickers they picked out were pretty neat, they have something like a little bubble under each one and when you pushed it down it would pop up within a few seconds making a little clicking noise (quite fascinating for all the kids).  Loved watching the girls give out the stickers and demonstrate how they work.
    • Day 2 – I had to make a trip to CVS Pharmacy to pick up some items.  Since I was in no hurry I decided to let the person behind me in line go first.  She seemed to have a lot of her mind and was in a hurry that day.  She was super sweet and thanked me several times for letting her go ahead of me.

    Donating to the Food Pantry

    • Day 3 – Picked out items to donate to our Church’s Alms & Legs Food Pantry.  The girls Awana is doing a food drive this upcoming Sunday.  The Food Pantry helps people in the local community who are in need of food and encouragement.

    Sharing some Pampers diapers and Clorox wipes

    • Day 4 – The girls were super excited to bring a pack of Pampers diapers and a container of Clorox wipes to our Doctors appointment today.  The Doctor, and his wife, recently had their first baby so we all thought it would be something practical we could share with them.  Brina loved bringing in the diapers and Karlie thought the wipes were an excellent idea especially with all the germs that are around during the Christmas Holidays.
    • Day 5 – While I was at the store today picking up items I noticed there were no carts in the store because they were all sitting on the sidewalks outside the store.  I decided to gather up as many carts as I could and take them back into the store.  It didn’t take much of my time yet it not only helped the store but those wanting to purchase items while they were there.

    Some of the goodies we have picked up for Country Santa this year

    • Day 6 – We picked out and donated gifts to Country Santa today which gives Christmas presents to local children who would otherwise have no gifts at Christmas.  The girls love giving to Country Santa because they get to help make another kid(s) Christmas  special. We pray that these gifts will be a to blessing to the kids that will receive these gifts for Christmas.

    Heart of Christmas – Toothbrushes, Toothpastes, and Pants

    • Day 7 –  Picked up hot pink Junior Pants for a sweet girl, 7 tubes of Toothpaste, and 7 Toothbrushes to donate to the “Heart of Christmas” event.  Our Church collects items for kids in our local schools who need clothing and hygiene items.  Since we were sick last Sunday we were not able to sign up directly, but when I emailed the person coordinating the event she said that these 15 items were still needed

    One of our favorite verses this week went along with our Day 6 activity. 

    Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. – Luke 6:38

    It has been a lot of fun working on ways we can be a blessing to others.  This verse talked about “giving” so it was a great one to discuss with the kids.  We talked about why it is important to share, give, and be to be a blessing to others not because we anticipate any rewards from it or benefits from it, but because we were given the greatest gift of all.  God’s love, grace, and mercy.  He wants us to give cheerfully from the heart.

    Hot pink pants wrapped up with some extra goodies to be given to a teenager in our community through “Heart of Christmas”

    I am super excited to see how great this B.L.E.S.S. activity is going already.  It has been a true joy sharing with others (many of whom we’ll never meet).  It has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing what will happen with our fun adventures this week.

    The main purpose of this activity is to teach our family the joy of giving and sharing to those around us.  I plan to do another update on our fun B.L.E.S.S. adventures next week.  Sometimes it’s the little stuff that can make the most positive impact.  I would love to hear how you are spreading the Christmas cheer this Holiday Season.

    Below are the printable versions of the  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activities, verses, and sheets to handout so here they are for your family to enjoy as well: