Christmas

  • Easy Saltine Toffee Candy

    The Easy Saltine Toffee Candy is one of our favorite treats to make around the Holidays.  It is delicious and super easy to make!  This year we included a bag of Easy Saltine Toffee Candy in our gifts to our  neighbors!  After making it we placed the candy in decorative bags and put a bow.  The Easy Saltine Toffee Candy is always a hit and you probably already have all the ingredients in your kitchen.

    Easy Saltine Toffee Candy

    • 1 sleeve salted Saltine crackers
    • 1 stick butter
    • 1 cup brown sugar
    • 2 cups chocolate chips
    • Sprinkles (optional)

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray jelly roll pan with non-stick spray.  Place a single layer of saltine crackers on the jelly roll pan (1 sleeve).

    Melt brown sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once boiling, let it boil for 3 minutes.   Immediately pour over crackers and bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes (or until bubbly).

    Remove from oven and spread chocolate chips over the top of the crackers.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Use a spatula to spread the melted chocolate.  Shake some sprinkles over the top.  Cool completely in the freezer for 1 hour or until the chocolate hardens.

    Remove from freezer, break into small pieces, and serve .  Store any leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

    The sprinkles are optional.  You can leave the top plain or add many other great items on it (such as nuts or a drizzle of white or red chocolate) to give it an extra special touch.

    Side view of the Easy Saltine Toffee Candy

  • Teaching Our Children: How to Wrap Gifts

    Letting the kids wrap their own gifts

    As I sit in the middle of the floor with little scraps of Christmas wrapping paper around me I have to smile…..  The girls LOVE going to the store to pick out the perfect gift(s) for each person.  They also really like to wrap the gifts!  While they have a tendency to make a mess, use more wrapping paper, put on too much tape, and take a long time wrapping they have a blast doing it.  Although, I have noticed that every year they get a little better and more efficient.

    Each girl starts the gift wrapping activity by picking out their own roll of wrapping paper to use for their gifts.  They use that roll of wrapping paper on all the gifts they have to wrap until there are no more gifts to do or the wrapping paper is gone.  They do the entire wrapping process on their own from cutting the paper to taping and even labeling the gift.

    While we still have the occasional – “Mom, I didn’t cut the wrapping paper big enough” overall they are getting better at the whole process.  At times, I’ve even had problems not cutting the paper big enough!  Typically, we spend an evening or two (depending on the amount of time we have) doing a “wrapping party” while listening to Christmas music.  As they wrap their gifts I will tackle some that I need to do as well.  Everyone has fun and we get a lot accomplished at the same time.

    I love that they take the extra time to not only wrap the gifts but label, add little notes, or draw pictures on the outside of the gifts.  They started doing this on their own last Christmas.  It was so cute reading their notes and talking about their drawings as we opened the gifts.  They were so proud of the gift and the wrapping which they did from start to finish.  Here are some of the sweet drawings and notes we found under our tree last year:

    Silly notes written on the gifts…..made me smile

    Brina even picked out turtle food at the store for the turtles and wrapped it for them.

    Karlie drew a planet, specifically Saturn, on this gift

    I Love You note on the gift

    Brina drew little “heart” people on the outside of this Christmas gift.

    Picture of the sweet sisters on the gift

    While the gift wrap my not win a decorative prize the girls are proud of their work and are excited to share.  They are learning many lessons during this too (hand-eye coordination, measuring, sharing, giving, etc….).  Pretty soon I will have to start delegating more gift wrapping tasks to them! 🙂

  • 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

  • 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

  • Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation

    12 Days of Christmas Appreciation for my Husband

    Last year I did the 12 days of Christmas Appreciation for my husband so this year as I was putting together the 12 Days for the girls I decided to do one with Christmas gifts I had gotten for him.  The one I did last year for him had to be small because he was traveling for work several days prior to Christmas, this year he finished most of his traveling in time to start the 12 days of Christmas.  I debated back and forth about posting it this year because I know he reads my blog and didn’t want him to know in advance all the goodies I had picked up for him so instead I decided to post it a few days into the 12 days a Christmas and list the items that he has already opened.  If you want more details on what I got him or ideas on what to do for your spouse shoot me an email and I can give that to you personally without him seeing it! 🙂

    Here is what Jake’s 12 Days of Christmas includes (at least the first few days):

    Day 1:  Berry Blast & Vanilla Energy Strips (purchased using rewards from CVS & Walgreens)

    Day 2:  Table Topics – Road Trip To Go Card Game for Upcoming 2013 Family Trips (free after a coupon) 🙂

    Day 3:  Spinach & Artichoke Dip Mix (free after coupon)

    The 12 Days of Christmas started on December 13th (the day he came back from one of his work trips).  Every night after dinner he opens his gift for the day.  I used a variety of boxes that the items came in or that I had already at the house.  Once the boxes were wrapped I put a bow on top and waited for him to come home.  He was surprised to see a stack waiting for him to open too.

    If you don’t have time to put this together for Christmas consider doing it for Valentine’s Day (for your “sweetheart”), the month of your anniversary, your spouse’s birthday, or another special occasion.  The point is to express your love and appreciation for your spouse.

    Here’s a picture of the wrapped stacks:

    12 Days of Christmas

    I am grateful for a loving, caring and hard working man that loves me despite all my craziness.  This is just one way to share my love with him during the Christmas Holiday.  It was a lot of fun picking out the gifts, wrapping, and giving them to my man. It is my intention to show appreciation to my husband at least once a day.  Thankful for an extra opportunity to say “I love you” to my best friend and life partner!

  • Born In Me by Francesca Battistelli

    Everything inside me cries for order
    Everything inside me wants to hide
    Is this shadow an angel or a warrior?
    If God is pleased with me, why am I so terrified?
    Someone tell me I am only dreaming
    Somehow help me see with Heaven’s eyes
    And before my head agrees, my heart is on its knees
    Holy is He. Blessed am I.

    Be born in me, be born in me
    Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me
    I’ll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the end
    Every moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem
    Be born in me

    All this time we’ve waited for the promise
    All this time You’ve waited for my arms
    Did You wrap yourself inside the unexpected
    So we might know that Love would go that far?

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    On the back of my office door this SMART sign is hanging.  Some days when I look at it am encouraged while others I have to sigh because while I am continuing to make steps in the right direction there are those weeks that it feels like I am moving at a snails pace (or slower).  Maybe this is the week I can get caught up on some items!  Thankfully Jake is back home from his work travels and everyone seems to be healthy so that’s always good.  I am looking forward to the girls getting off school later this week for the Christmas Holidays!

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Finish Decorating  & Putting up Christmas Bins
    7. Work on Christmas List – working on it, a few more items to get done this week
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings – had a blast doing week 2!

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week – need to get back on track with this goal
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Reading / listening through my Bible – doing the 90 day plan through YouVersion – I FINISHED the 90 Day plan I was working through!!!! So excited that I stick to it! I am already looking forward to the next one!

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Tackle Fall Cleaning & Organization Projects – with all the Christmas activities going on this had to be put on hold temporarily
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Write and Send Out Community Group Email – opps this one fell through the cracks with the busy schedule this past week, we are done meeting until after the Holidays but meant to send out an email to the group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Payoff the Van – working on it
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.) – slowly building it up
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget – need to review what Jake & I spent recently, it’s harder when he is traveling

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Help with the girls School Christmas Parties
    7. Work on Christmas List
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 3)

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Pick out my new YouVersion plan!
    4. Finish reading Significant Work by Paul Rude (super excited about this book!)
    5. Finish reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Finish Wrapping & Prepping for the Christmas Events
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Write and Send Out Community Group Email

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Payoff the Van
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.)
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

  • Fresh Christmas Wreath

    I DID IT!!!!!  I made my first ever fresh Christmas Wreath and it actually looks……like a wreath!  A friend hosted a Christmas Wreath get together recently and a bunch of us put together wreaths.  At first I was not entirely sure why I was there….it seemed like all the women in attendance were crafty and have excellent decorating tastes and then me (the person who has been in the same house for 10 years and still doesn’t have curtains up, gulp).

    I am thankful that Dee took the time to show me how to get started because without her guidance it would have been interesting I am sure.  It was nice catching up with friends (some who I hadn’t seen in months) while I put together my wreath.  It only took me a few minutes to get the base completed but as I was talking I continued stuffing more greens into the wreath and by the end this is what it looked like.

    I am not really sure how or what I did but I was pleased that it at least turned out well enough to hang on the front door especially for a “not-so-crafty” person!  Don’t get me wrong, I love crafts, its just mine rarely turn out looking like the picture or something I would want to hang on the front door!

    It was a fun night of food, fellowship, and wreaths.  I was shocked when I looked a my watch and several hours had gone by!  Guess, its true “time flies when your having fun” or in this case catching up with friends and making wreaths.  I am thankful for an opportunity to get together with some amazing women and for all the greenery people brought to share.  There were piles of greens in the garage, kitchen, dining, etc….  I am not sure exactly where all my greens came from but they are beautiful and smell awesome.  The only thing not fresh on the wreath is the berries.  They did have fresh berries at the party, however, I was told they dry up and will drop on the floor so I decided to use the fake berries because they would not get tracked across the carpet.

    Thanks Dee for hosting and for giving me a gentle shove out of my comfort zone to try something new.  You’re a great teacher!  I love having the fresh wreath on our front door!  While I won’t be teaching professional wreath making classes any time soon I would be more comfortable putting together another one in the future after this experience.

    Brina and Karlie were super excited to check out my wreath the next morning.  When I opened the door and they saw it this was their first responses:

    Karlie -“Wow, Mom that is beautiful!”

    Brina – “The goats would LOVE to eat it!”

    Love my girls, they know how to make my day so much brighter!

    My first fresh Christmas Wreath hanging on the front door!

  • Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 2)

    Fresh Citrus Christmas Potpourri wrapped up and given to friends & neighbors this week

    We into our second week of  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. (Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises).   It has been a lot of fun doing the daily activities and doing our best to be a blessing to those we meet.  Seriously, I feel like we walk away from an activity feeling more blessed then we did going into it.   What a joy it has been participating in intentional acts of kindness during the Holiday Season.

    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.

    Gift bags full of goodies for our Community Group members

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

    • Day 8 – Gave a donation to the Salvation Army at a local Big Lots store.  Brina was the one with me when we put the money into the red container.  It was a great opportunity to discuss what Salvation Army was and why they collect money during this time of year.

    Fresh Christmas Potpourri gift

    • Day 9 –  Put together little gifts (Fresh Christmas Potpourri and a bag of Chocolates) for the families within our Community Group and delivered them at our Christmas Social.  Thankful for the neat people God has placed in our group this year.

    Brina and Karlie helping me put away all the AWESOME food families donated during the Awana Food Drive.  The pantries are restocked and ready to be a blessing to people within our community.  Thankful for the girls help getting everything put away (love those chickadees)!

    • Day 10 – Organized and put away food items into the Alms & Legs Food Pantry after the Awana Food Drive.  I was SUPER EXCITED to see the cabinets full again!  Praying that the food will be a huge blessing on the lives of those who need it.
    • Day 11 – Brought a bag with goodies to the tutor for Christmas to brighten her day and spread some cheer.

    Lasagna, garlic bread & Coke are in the van and on their way to a friend

    • Day 12 – Made and delivered a meal to a friend to help out.  The girls had a lot of fun delivering the meal and playing for a few minutes with their friends.  Praying for our dear friend as she is going through radiation while trying to take care of her family, we hope the meal was a blessing to them this week.

    One of the baskets full of goodies for our neighbors

    • Day 13 – Delivered Christmas goodies to our neighbors.  I made Fresh Christmas Potpourri and homemade sweet treats!  The girls look forward to this activity.  The have a lot of fun delivering the gifts and catching up for a few minutes with each neighbor.  Thankfully our neighborhood is fairly small so we had plenty of time to do it in the afternoon after school.
    • Day 14 – While at KMart checking out I was talking with the cashier asking about her day, if she was ready for Christmas, and such.  Through the conversation I found out that she is a single Mom with a girl the same age as my girls.  I felt led to be a blessing to her.  Even though I paid cash for the transaction I told her to keep the change (which wasn’t a lot) and put it towards something little for her girl this Christmas.  Even though Jake has to travel sometimes I am very grateful for him and everything he does for our family, I cannot imagine how busy it must be as a single Mom.

    One of our favorite verses this week went along with our Day 13 activity.

    This is my commandment, that you have love one another as I have loved you.  – John 15:12

    It has been a lot of fun working on ways we can be a blessing to others.  This verse talked about “loving others” which can be difficult at times because some people are just hard to get a long with.  We talked about why it is important to show love and compassion to those around us.  The girls decided that when we find it hard to love someone we should ask Jesus for help and to adjust our attitude towards that person because there are many days we are not lovely people ourselves yet God always loves us.

    It is fun be to be a blessing to others not because we anticipate any rewards 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.

    Basket full of goodies to deliver with the meal on day 12 – Rice Krispy treats, fruit salad, lettuce salad, and a box of Angry Bird fruit snacks!

    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.

    Neighbors gifts are ready to be hand delivered!  The girls LOVE delivering the gifts and catching up for a few minutes with the neighbors!

    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.

    To learn more about our 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activity and what we have done far check out the links below:

    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:

  • 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.