Reindeer and Gingerbread Men ~

Hello there! I hope this monday morning finds you warm and well. I do believe we are getting over all our sickness around here. :o) We stayed warm and cozy by the fire this weekend and watched all the christmas movies on t.v. that we could find. It was relaxing and great. The kids and i got out some paint and made some christmas memories. I love making things with my kids hand and foot prints. We make cards, ornaments, paintings, coffee mugs and t-shirts or pretty much anything i can think of to put their precious prints on. This year i wanted some canvas paintings to hang around the house for christmas time. And what perfect way to paint reindeer using feet and hands. :o) They turned out so cute. Feet for the head...hands for the antlers and thumb print for their red noses. Little girl was so proud of her reindeer. And i am too. I will have this to look at and remember their sweet little hands for years to come. I also wrote their names and ages under each deer but i took this picture before i did that.


Next up we baked up some gingerbread men ornaments.

I used a simple salt dough recipe. And hung them up on the dinning room table tree.

And yes...i'm still having to tell little girl that these are ornaments....not REAL cookies. But i still find her on the table several times a day trying her hardest to eat them. If you have never made salt dough ornaments....here is the recipe.....

SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

What you need:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Straw

Varnish (found at hobby lobby)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.Mix flour and salt well. Gradually add water, stirring with a large spoon. Finish mixing with hands. Knead until soft and pliable.
3.Roll out on floured surface about 1/8 inch thick. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheets. With a toothpick make a hole in the top of the ornament for threading string. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until hard, about 1 hour. Decorate with paint and varnish to preserve.

Now i substituted 1 cup of flour and used 1 cup of cocoa. Why cocoa? Cause i wanted them to be brown gingerbread men and i didn't have a cup of Cinnamon to use so i used cocoa. It worked great and the house smelled like chocolate! If you have a cup of Cinnamon and want to use
it....just substitute for 1 cup of flour.

This is probably the last post i will have before the holidays. Just to much going on for the next few weeks. I have several things to get ready for. Christmas, Our 11 year anniversary, New Years and little girls 3rd Birthday party! WHEW! So i just want to wish everyone SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Fill your bellies with good food and egg nog...enjoy your family and relax.

xoxoxo

Buddy and Christmas Lights~

I took this picture of my little girl last night. She still loves to stand by her "Giant" tree and look at all the ornaments. She just got finished seeing Buddy for the first time yesterday. I kinda let her find him...weather it be first thing in the morning....or when she happens to remember.
Buddy has been a busy little elf. He has been spotted in several places around the house. I try to take a picture every once in a while of where he magically appears. :o) He has be in a few places on the "giant" tree.

He appeared in the bathroom a few times which makes for a great day of using the Potty! On this particular day for some reason little girl kept calling him "Elfvis". Which is hilarious cause she came up with that all on her own! I almost decided to make a name change but the next day she started calling him Buddy again. I do plan on getting another Elf on the Shelf next year. So that when my kids grow up i can pass them along to the grandkids. So next years elf will have the name "Elfvis"! {p.s., how do you like that awesome wallpaper on the walls? HA! I can't wait for that to come off!}

He stayed nestled between these trees in the living room for a few days....he must have really liked it there.

Here he is in another tree in the house.

Staying warm tucked in a stocking by the fire.

Up high in the dinning room.




This week we took the kids to see the christmas lights at a local garden.

This reminded me and the hubby of the "Life Tree".

Most of my pictures ended up like this.....FUZZY!

Well once again i will complain about sick kids. My little boy is sick and i took him to the doctor yesterday he has alot of chest junk. He has to go back to make sure he doesn't get pneumonia. So please keep him in your prayers. He has had enough sickness this season and his immune system is down and this could get bad fast. So i'm off of here to go take care of my little man.

Decorations & Something Sweet ~

I love the way a tree looks when you squint you eyes! So i took a unfocused picture. I happen to love the way it turned out. :o) Nice and sparkly....hehe!

I finally talked the hubmeister into getting a 9 foot {fake} christmas tree. He is and has always been a full fledged REAL tree guy. And i love that about him. He grew up always having a real tree. I on the other hand grew up with a fake tree. I loved the fact that i could at anytime get the tree out and start putting it together. But this year i think he finally realized that it would be not only easier but cheaper to go ahead and get a big one. I looked and looked for a good deal on Craigslist and everytime i found one and emailed about it....it was to late....it was gone. I about lost hope and last weekend told the hubby that we would get a real one at Costco this year since their 8 ft was $34.00. But when sunday rolled around i realized we were in the wrong vehicle to go get a tree {sigh}. I was going to send him after work monday but alas.....i found a tree on CL and it was mine ....all MINE! Same tree i looked at at costco but instead of $299 it was $50.00! New in box and pre-lit! The hubs liked the price but i could tell that his heart wanted a real tree. I went and got it and brought it home. We opened the box got out all 4 pieces and started putting them together. In the end he looked up and said WOW! And in his words he said that is pretty SPECTACULAR! And that makes me happy...he actually likes it. :o) I had to go get more ornaments though. We were out...due to all the other trees in the house. But with one trip to Sams Club i got a "trim your tree" box-o-ornaments and WA-LA....a very big beautiful tree.

My daughter tells everyone we have a giant tree.

Here is another pic of our other tree in the front window of the livingroom. I again decided to take a "squinty eyed" photo.

Mantle......

These red and green pictures of santa were around when i grew up. I don't know how old they are but i remember them always being around. I like the way they look in these open frames i have up.

This weekend we had some wood delivered. It started to snow so we had to cover it with plastic. LOVELY! Not really. While daddy was out stacking it......

.....this little man watched the whole time. Decked out in his santa hat.

And then quickly moved on to his latest project....taking off all the ornaments he can reach. They are slowly moving up the tree and pretty soon it is only going to be decorated half way up. HA!

It is COLD out! I'm kinda over it. But atleast it gives me a good excuse to drink tons of hot chocolate! :o)

Speaking of chocolate.....here is another great recipe.....

Paula Deen's Gingerbread Boys & Girls Recipe

Gingerbread Cookie Dough

3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/2 c. butter (1 stick), softened
2 lg. eggs
1/4 c. molasses

Icing

3 c. confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 tbsp. milk
Assorted food colorings (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare Gingerbread Cookie Dough: In medium bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat brown sugar and butter about 3 minutes or until well blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs and molasses, and beat until combined. With spoon, stir in flour mixture until well blended.

2. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

4. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 disk of dough 1/2 inch thick. With floured 4- to 5-inch gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; wrap and refrigerate trimmings. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on cookie sheet.

5. Bake cookies 10 to 13 minutes or until browned around edges. With wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.

6. When cookies are cool, prepare Icing: In medium bowl, with fork, stir confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth and an easy piping consistency. If you like, spoon some icing into smaller bowls and tint with food coloring as desired. With decorating bag, fitted with small writing tip, pipe icing on cookies to decorate. Set cookies aside to allow icing to dry, about 1 hour.

7. Store cookies in tightly sealed container, with waxed paper between layers, at room temperature, up to 2 weeks or in freezer up to 3 months

Kris Kringle Cookies ~

These cookies are yumm-o and easy!


Kris Kringle Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
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
2 pkg. (6 squares each) BAKER'S White Chocolate, chopped
2 cups chopped PLANTERS Pecans, toasted
2 cups dried cranberries

Make It:

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

BEAT butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate, nuts and cranberries.

DROP rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, 1-1/2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.

BAKE 9 to 11 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 3 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely

Christmas Goodies ~

I haven't had alot of time to post lately. Still trying to get my kids well. And i had a few days were i had not only the stomach virus but strep throat aswell. Came down with both on the same day. Sorry...are you tired of hearing about all our sickness yet? Well then lets get to todays post. Over the years i have made various home baked goodies when the holidays roll around. And every year i try to make something new. So over the next few posts i will be sharing some of my holiday recipes that i have loved. Here is my first recipe to share...sorry no photos.

Chocolate-Pecan Pie Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
4 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups chopped PLANTERS Pecans


Make It:

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BEAT butter, flour, 1/2 cup sugar and salt with mixer until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press onto bottom of 15x10x1-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 20 min. or until lightly browned.

MEANWHILE, microwave corn syrup and 6 chocolate squares in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1-1/2 min.; stir until completely melted. Add remaining sugar, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in nuts. Pour over warm crust; spread to evenly cover crust.

BAKE 35 min. or until filling is firm around edges but still slightly soft in center. Cool completely. Melt remaining chocolate squares as directed on package; drizzle over cooled bars. Let stand until chocolate is firm.


Tips:
Easy Cleanup
Line pan with foil with ends extending over sides; spray with cooking spray, then use as directed. Lift cooled dessert from pan with foil handles before cutting dessert into bars. Not only are the bars easier to cut, but cleanup is also a snap!

Use Your Stove
Prepare and bake crust as directed. Cook corn syrup and chocolate in large saucepan on very low heat just until chocolate is melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Continue as directed.

If you make this let me know what you think! :o)

Happy Thursday!

Momma....Where's "Buddy" ?

First question of the morning! She wanted to see Buddy! I said lets eat our breakfast and then we can go looking for Buddy. No mommy i need to go potty first...i need to go to the BIG potty! WHAT?? Potty?? OH HAPPY DAY! :) Yes, Ma'am lets go. And go she did! I'm so proud of my little ...ahem....Big girl! We are on our way to potty training...yippie!

Now where is Buddy? Is he here....no....is he in here....no. Where oh where is he?

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OH. ...here he is!


He is watching you from the fan. "How did he get up there"? Santa's magic i say! He sent Buddy to make sure you are being a good little girl remember! :) "Momma....i a good girl"! Yes baby you are {most of the time}. ;o)

The fireplace is coming along quite nicely. I snapped this pic as soon as we go the time up.

I immediately put garland up and lights and stockings! :P Still have to paint that brick white. But as for the tile i love it. I will be so glad to show you the whole living room one day. But for now just bits and pieces....sorry. We do have one more tree to go up this weekend. Hubby wants a real one and i kinda do to. I want it by the fireplace. I will be taking our Family Christmas Picture soon. I have such a cute idea for the kids this year. I CAN'T WAIT to see how it turns out.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Family Traditions ~

Last year i purchased "The Elf on the Shelf" in hopes to start a new family tradition. :) I looked and looked everywhere and finally i walked into Barnes and Noble and asked a young guy that worked there if they had any left. He said yes but only one ....AND only because someone just returned it. But it was just a week till Christmas so i just got it and put it away for this year. Which is good cause this year my little girl can actually understand it. I pulled it out the other night and read the story to her and she was so excited to see the little elf. We gave him the name "Buddy". Which i love cause i love the movie "ELF". Anyway...."Buddy" made his debut on our bookshelf this morning. And he is all she can talk about today. I LOVE IT!!

Here he is....isn't he adorable!!?? I can't wait to see if she remembers every morning to look for him. And there you have it....a new family tradition that puts a smile on my face. :o)

We also got up a new tree. It actually went up a week before thanksgiving but i'm just now getting around to posting a few pics. This tree belongs to my little boy. I wanted something simple and rustic for him.

And now looking at the pics i see that it is alittle crooked. I will have to straighten that up. hehe!! But i think it turned out so cute! And no that isn't an animal gone loose in our house....that is his coon skin hat he got in Cherokee back in the summer. :P

Brown reindeer......
Green too......

Blue stockings that someone gave him.

And with the lights off. He clapped when he saw the lights. My heart melted! One the tippy top is the Santa hat that he wore last year for his first Christmas photos. This year it doesn't fit his sweet little head but looks great on the top of the tree. :)

Tomorrow i have some pics to post of our new fireplace surround! Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!! And we'll see where "BUDDY" is hiding.

Black Apple Doll ~

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! My family did. BUT Monday i got a nasty stomach bug...followed by Strep throat Tuesday. Went to the doctor yesterday and got 2 shots and some meds. Feeling pretty crumby! Not to much fun to be had right now. But i wanted to do a quick post to let you know i was still here!

I wanted to give my little girl and my niece a Lalaloopsy doll for Christmas this year. I had one in my hands a few weeks before thanksgiving but put it back for some reason. SHOULD have bought it then! They are no where to be found now! They are made to look homemade with button eyes. Just to cute. If you can find them in a store they will run you about $20 to $25 dollars. IF you look elsewhere {amazon or ebay} they are selling for upwards of $50 0r $60. NOPE won't do it. So i looked around online for a pattern for a homemade doll. I found this cute little doll called a Black Apple doll. I can make her as big as i want. I think i will be making my niece one too. :o)

Aren't they just to cute! I found the pattern here......

I think she will like this doll just as well. And i get the joy of knowing that i made her something to love and play with! I will post my doll(s) as soon as i get them done. I have a few Christmas projects coming up so stay tuned.......

I'm Thankful For ......

Thanksgiving is fastly approaching. This year has flown by. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. Good food and family. I have so MUCH to be thankful for. I have a wonderful husband that is always by my side. He supports me in all that i do. We have been together for a long time and he will ALWAYS be my high school sweetheart! I'm thankful that he has a job that can provide us with what we need and that i can stay home with our children. I have 2 healthy and beautiful children. I prayed for a very long time for children and God blessed me with 2 of the most sweetest babies ever. And for that i am thankful! My cup runneth over! I'm so thankful that we are able to go and visit most of our family over the holiday. I'm thankful for all the memories of Thanksgiving past....memories of family who is no longer with us. I'm thankful for my LORD! My family and I have a lot to be thankful for.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

New Puppy, Sweet Deal and a Recipe ~

This week has been a week of really focusing and trying to get things done and checked of my TO-DO list. Wednesday my cousin called and wanted to get together. She is a beautician so i asked if she could give me and baby boy much needed hair cut. She said come on down. Yippee!! I so need a new do. I usually stay long but this time i wanted something medium length maybe alittle shorter. I looked online to find someone who had what i was looking for and i found this pic of Sophia Bush.


Our hair is almost the same color and i love the style. I have wanted this hair cut for awhile and have asked for it and NEVER got it. I showed her what i wanted and SHE finally gave me what i want. HELLO new hair stylist. :o) I feel so cute now. Hehe!


Next up my little girl wanted to go to Build A Bear workshop so i thought we would go inside and look around. She said Brother needs this. It truly was so sweet. She lovingly picked out a Puppy dog for him for Christmas. I love how much she loved doing this for him.



I got another Christmas tree up last night. The kids helped me with this one. I call it the "Tree of Christmas Past". It's branches hold ornaments from over the years. So it is a mesh of color and memories. I just love that. Nothing to fancy. I did get some mesh garland to use this year. I'm not to sure i like it. I see beautiful trees with it but sometimes the tree kinda disappears with all that stuff. Know what i mean? Anyone out there use it?? Love it...hate it???

Now i have a great deal to share with you. Snapfish (photo printing) has been having some awesome deals the past few weeks. I just made an order yesterday and got 450 prints for $30.00!! The deal is you spend $10 you get 356 prints free. I of course bought more but you get the picture. 365 free prints is a CA-razy deal!! I think it lasts till the 20th of this month so you have to hurry.

I also have a new recipe to share....it is for pumpkin streusel muffins! One word.....YUMMOLISHOUS!

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt

STREUSEL TOPPING:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cold butter

Directions
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, molasses and orange peel. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture just until blended. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
For topping, combine flour and brown sugar; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.



It is friday and this weekend it supposed to be so nice. See you back next week..... have a wonderful weekend!!

Leopard Santa Outfit ~

Today is rainy and cold. Perfect day for building a fort in the living room with blankets and snacking on some popcorn and sipping on hot cocoa. After all the fun the kids went down for their nap. And I went down to sew. First things first. I lined up in order all the unfinished projects I have. They are going to get done! I feel so bad cause a friend of mine asked if i could make something and i said i would try and i still only half of it done. SORRY! I will finish it in the next week or so. :/ I have had several orders to feel the past few weeks and i'm just finishing them up. :) Well first thing i finished today was something that was just needing the finishing touches. I had limited time and this was the quickest. I love making holiday outfits for my kids! And this little outfit turned out WAY TO CA-UTE!! Santa with alittle animal print with some shiny sequins. She is gonna LOVE it!

I can't wait for her to wear this! She may wear it the whole month of December! HA!

I love the santa on this print ....

I do like a small amount of animal print.....

This is the back. The bow is huge but on it looks totally adorable. She has a red turtleneck top that she is going to wear under it. And she also has some red super shiny shoes to go with it too!! :o)

Ok onto other happenings around here. We started preparing the fire place surround for the new tile. I wish you could see the whole room right now....it makes it look SO much better with just the tile "mud"! HAHA! Glad to see some of that red brick go. It just make the room feel so dark. The size of the actual stove is average size....but the mantel make it look smaller. We actually had a fire going last night. LOVE it!!

Here is the travertine we picked out. It is called Rustic Mocha.

Well that is it for today. What are you doing on this wet Monday?