"For unto us a child is born"

Picture by Simon Dewey

It is the most wonderful time of the year.  And as far as I know it is the same all over the world.  I spent a Christmas on the other side of the hemisphere where it was the middle of summer and there was still the same Christmasy feeling.  The spirit of Christmas.  The spirit of Christ, the light of the world.  How grateful I am for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Born into the most humble of circumstances but King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I love Handel's Messiah- our Christmas wouldn't be complete without (attempting) to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

I think there is so much I have yet to learn about the story of Christ's birth.  But I have been thinking about a lesson I learned one Christmas when my oldest was a baby.  As part of a church activity for the women we watched a special program that featured the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a portrayal of the nativity story. I have forgotten the particulars of the video but hopefully someday I will come across it again.  (If this sounds familiar to anyone please let me know.)  We were watching it in someone's theater room and when they turned out the lights it was pitch dark.  I felt like I was the only one in the room and all I could see was the story of the nativity unfolding before me.  I felt like I was right there, witnessing it first hand, with the singing angels around me.  And maybe partly because of that, it became so real, so true to me.  More than just a story that we repeat and read every year.

I realized that Mary and Joseph were human beings like us that were given an awesome responsibility.  But life went on.  Everything didn't automatically start going perfectly even though they were bringing the Savior into the world.  They still had to deal with ordinary inconveniences like paying taxes despite the fact that they were righteous and fulfilling a very important prophecy and commandment.  A prophecy of such eternal significance.  Things didn't just work out perfectly and fall into place.

I wondered how Mary must have felt at 10 months pregnant having to travel so far to pay taxes.  Traveling away from her family and this her first experience with pregnancy!  What horrible timing!  And then once they got there they couldn't even find a room to stay in.  How they must have worried!   Or maybe not- I'm sure they had more faith than I do.  I just think about how I feel when I am about to go into labor- the feelings of nesting and wanting everything to be prepared and clean and ready.  I am overly worried about germs and sicknesses.  And they knew who this special baby was.  Did they feel like they were already failing as parents?

Often times when I feel like I'm being taught spiritual things I can't describe what I learn in words.  And a lot of what I learend that night I can only explain as an understanding.  I felt like I understood things that I thought I'd already known but realized I didn't really know.  Does that make any sense?  And at that time one of the biggest lessons for me was that even when we are doing what's right and what we know we should be doing, even when we are doing our very best, things don't always happen as planned or how we would like them to.  But maybe the things we think should matter so much aren't so very important.  We just keep trusting in God and keep trying our best.  And as a good friend of mine once said, "Even if everything is not okay right now, in the end we know it will be."  Thanks to that wonderful baby who's birthday is the most wonderful time of the year!

Healthy Christmas Snowmen

Meet a warmer, more health-conscious Frosty....

With all the junk goodies we've been eating lately I started craving something healthier. I remembered an idea from FamilyFun years ago where they made snowmen out of banana slices and pretzels. I didn't want to take the time to hunt down the whole recipe so we used what we had and created our own edible snowmen.

My boys had these for after school snacks and they kept wanting to make more!

Christmas Treats: Rudolph Cookies

As a Cubscout leader at church I get to come up with fun ideas for about twelve 9 year-old boys.  For the Bear achievement 9f they needed to make a dessert for their family.  I couldn't picture us making a cake or something like that without envisioning a chaotic mess so I adapted an idea from Pillsbury.  And it was a fun, yummy and easy dessert.

(Side note:  Later I laughed as I told my husband the scene in the kitchen at church when we first arrived: one scout was scouring the drawers for knives, some were trying to "skateboard" on the pushable carts for serving, another couple were pushing buttons on the microwave and a few were turning on the fan and blowing things around.  This was IMMEDIATELY as we walked in the door.  These guys are busy!)

These would be fun to make with any group of kids!

All you need for ingredients are:  Oreos (or similar cookie), almond bark, cherry sours, mini-chocolate chips and pretzels.

First, melt the almond bark according to package directions. Then dip the cookies in the melted bark until completely covered in white gooey yum.  Fish them out with a spoon and set them on a plate or wax paper.  Stick on a cherry sour for a nose, mini chips for eyes and pretzels for antlers.  (You can break the pretzels if you like.)

You may need to let them harden before eating or handling. (If you can wait that long!)

Watch out reindeers!  We're mass producing Rudolphs! 

I am linking to these parties:

Christmas Treats- Toffee

For me, it is not Christmas without homemade toffee.  My mom used to make it when I was growing up and now I make it every year.  It is really easy and oh so good! 

 

Here we are on the stove top with a whole lot of sugar and butter. 

 

 Stir, stir and stir until your thermometer reaches 300 degrees.  Pour onto a butter cookie sheet.  Let cool just a teeny bit and then sprinkle with chocolate. 

 Your chocolate will melt and then you can spread that around.  We aren't looking for perfection here because once it is completely hard and dry, you are going to smash it into little bits.

 It doesn't get much yummier than this!  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Toffee

1 1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 lb. butter
chopped or slivered nuts (I like almonds, but I usually just go the plain chocolate route.)

Put all ingredients, except nuts in saucepan.  Heat over high heat while stirring constantly.  Heat until it reaches 300 degrees.  Take off heat and pour onto lightly buttered cookie sheet.  Let harden for a few seconds.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Spread chocolate as it melts.  Sprinkle with chopped or slivered nuts if desired. 

Quilts & pillows for my boys

Last Christmas I made quilts and pillows  for my boys.  We had gotten them bunk beds earlier in the year and painted their room the color of their choice so I thought they needed some matching bedding.  I usually like Pottery Barn stuff so I got some ideas from this set.  I also had some really cute fabric from Joanne's with a Route 66 theme and since my boys love the Cars movies and anything related to cars, I thought I could incorporate that into their decor.  To top it all off, my Mom had an embroidery pattern for classic cars that fit right in with the fabric.  So I put it all together and got this:

I mixed in about 4 or 5 of the embroidered cars.  My boys thought they were really cool!  I got the pattern from Hobby Lobby.

Then I used the Route 66 fabric for the extra pillow.  I didn't get the second pillow done in time for Christmas so I told them I would finish the second soon.  Well...I just finished them this week.  I know, pretty pathetic.  But at least I finished them before this Christmas!  

My Mom taught me how to make pillows by covering piping with fabric and sewing it around the edges of the pillow.  It's really pretty simple and there are a million tutorials online about how to do it, like this one, so I won't go into much detail.  I also knew that I would need to wash the pillowcase every now and then so I used a pillow form and made the outside like a pillowcase with an envelope back.  The two pieces connect with velcro.

When they opened the boxes on Christmas morning they were so excited!!  It kind of surprised me.  But I love sewing for my boys when they like it so much!

Erica's Favorite Things

What a fun party Melissa is having!  Here are some of my recent favorite things. 

 

1.  Nutella - I became a little bit obsessed with this nutty/chocolatey spread this year.  In fact, I've had to cut back a lot because it was not helping my quest to lose my post pregnancy baby weight.  Oh boy is it good slathered on graham crackers and dipped in milk, though!  Yum!

 

 

 

2.  Fiestaware-  Tara has this on her list too.  I think it runs in our family to love and hoard these colorful dishes.  So pretty.  I'm hoping to get some turquoise for Christmas.  Or Lemongrass. Or Flamingo.  Or Cobalt.  Or....

 

 

 

 

3.  Lysol with Hydrogen Peroxide-  This one isn't on here because its pretty.  But I was really excited to try this out.  Hooray for a bleach alternative that I really feel is doing a good job and leaves everything smelling clean!

 

 

4. Samsung Galaxy S2 -  My hubbie recently got me a new phone and I LOVE it. Yes, I'm aware it isn't the latest phone, but it is so fun and so pretty in white.  I sure do love the ability to call, text, surf the blogs, check my email and do a million other things right in the palm of my hand. 

 

 

5.  Herhsey's Candy Cane Kisses- Oh boy!  Here's something else that isn't helping me lose baby weight.  If you haven't tried these and you even remotely like white chocolate and peppermint, you have got to go get some!  Yum!

6.  Magic Tree House books-  I love these because my kids (ages 5 and 8) LOVE them.  My son has read almost all of them and now has my 5 year old daughter super excited about them.  And she isn't even really reading yet.  Hooray for getting kids excited to read!

 

7. Elementary- Tara mentioned her love of the PBS Sherlock series.  I love that one too.  But since she mentioned that one I'm going to mention my other new Sherlock favorite show- Elementary!  Great writing.  Great acting.  (P.S.  I love the fact that Johnny Lee Miller (Sherlock) was Mr. Knightly in a recent PBS production of Emma!  Talk about a talented actor to tackle such different roles!)

 

 

 

 

8.  Once Upon a Time- While we are on the topic of TV...  (Do TV shows count as a 'thing'?)    This is another favorite that my hubbie and I like to DVR and watch after all the littles are tucked into bed.

 

 

 

 

9. Penguin Harcover Classics -  I'm still loving this collection of classics illustrated by Coralie Bickford Smith.  They are so colorful and pretty.  I want my bookshelf to look this pretty and contain all these masterpieces some day. 

 

 

 

10.  Lastly, Blokus - my current favorite game to play with the kiddos.  We got this last year for Christmas and have all loved it.  If you are looking to get a fun family game for Christmas this year, look no farther. 

 

 

Thanks for the fun party, Melissa! 

 

EDITED to add:   In my late night half- unconscious state, I only posted 10 favorite things instead of 12.  So since I ended early and went to bed, I'll say that #11 is my pillow and #12 is my bed.

 

Tara's Favorite Things

Joining my first link party here through this great blog! 

Erica and I both wanted to list our favorite things so you'll be getting 24 from this blog! I tried to stick with my 12 favorite things just from this year. (Things that I've been introduced to this year.)

 So here they are in no particular order: 

 1. Denise Austin's fat-blasting Yoga DVD

I really love doing yoga.  It's helped with my knees and back.  But a lot of times I feel it's more relaxing and for flexibility than a good workout.  Not this DVD!  It is a workout!  I originally checked this out from the library and ended up buying my own copy because I was rechecking it so often.  There's two sections and I can do the first part fairly well.  It's hard but it goes fast and I feel like I'm working out.  I'm still working on the second section! 

 2. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 
This is one of my favorite books EVER.  It is an amazing true story about a pilot in WWII.  His experiences are inspiring.  I won't say anything more because I don't want to give it away if you haven't read it yet.  (I am already giving this for Christmas presents this y
ear.)

 3.  Our Trampoline

This is a life saver with 3 active boys!  We've kind of dragged our feet about getting one because of space and liability issues but we're glad we let Grandma and Grandpa get us one! : )  Our boys love it, too!!

4. Downtown Abbey
I know I'm not the only one that loves this!  I can't wait for Season 3!!!

5. Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds 

I get these from Sams.  They are so addicting!!  But I don't feel too bad about eating them since they're fairly nutritious.

 6. Xyron exLaminator

This was a birthday present and I love being able to laminate things I make that I want to stand up to my children.  Sometimes I even make up things just so I can use it!  It so easy to use and works great!

7. Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louis Riotte

I love to garden and this book is kind of like an experienced gardener's gardening journal.  I feel like she's sharing her secrets of success.  And I find it so fascinating how plants can be beneficial or not for each other- companionship planting!

8. Sherlock Holmes

I just wish there were more episodes!  This is one of the best mysteries I've seen.  You can't ever guess what's going to happen next!

9. My skechers

These were a hand-me-down and they are so comfortable!  Plus I think they look a little more stylish than my beat up sneakers.  My feet are really finicky about shoes.  I can't wear just anything, but no problems with these!

  10. "Christmas Day in the Morning" by Pearl S. Buck

I cry every time I read this to my boys!  My sister gave this to us last year for Christmas and it's such a wonderful story about a son's priceless gift to his father on Christmas morning.

 11. Canon Rebel T3

I just got this camera and I have probably taken close to a 1000 pictures already.  It's so great to take a picture and have it turn out!  And with a 2 year old that will not sit still or pose for the camera, this camera can keep up!  I am excited to learn more about it but in the meantime I can use the automatic setting and the camera knows what to do!

12.  Fiesta Dinnerware!

Technically, this is not new to me this year but for every birthday and Christmas my mom gets us a new set/color of Fiestaware.  There are so many different bright and fun colors!  They make anything on your plate look even better!

Thanks for the party, Melissa!

What are your favorite things?

Christmas Treats- Snowball Cookies

I LOVE making Christmas goodies to share (and to eat). This recipe is for Wedding Cookies but during the holiday I like to call them Snowball Cookies. They are so buttery and sugary and just melt in your mouth. If you are not a nut lover, don't get scared away. I'm not really a huge nut person, but I had no idea these had nuts in them for the longest time.  Just chop them really small. I used walnuts because that's what I had in my freezer.

 The dough is really sandy.  The recipe says to roll it into balls, but really its more like squishing it together.  I abandoned my cookie scoop after this picture.

 Here they are ready to bake.  Do you use stoneware pans?  They are the best.  You can tell I love mine and use it tons, huh?

I didn't get a picture while rolling them in the powdered sugar, but that's easy.  Just roll and then let them cool completely before sharing (devouring). 

The recipe I used is from the Lion House.  Good stuff.

Snowball Cookies (Wedding Cookies)

1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (or just use stoneware pans like I did).  In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar, butter and vanilla.  Add flour and mix well.  Add nuts and mix.  Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheets.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  The tops of the cookies should have slight cracks in them and the bottom edges should be just barely light golden brown.  Roll cookies in powdered sugar while very warm.  Makes 3 doz.