TTAH Tuesday – Keeping Christ in Christmas
Struggling to find ways to keep your (and your kids’) focus on Christ during this busy season??
One of my favorite traditions we’ve started is having a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve.
We have a ham dinner and usually invite extended family over. For dessert, we have a cake – complete with candles and singing happy birthday to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Then we go to our church’s Christmas Eve candlelight service.
This is a simple way to incorporate into our holiday a reminder of the true reason for Christmas. That God sent his one and only Son to Earth to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the greatest gift ever and we give each other gifts to symbolize that.
It’s great for the kids because a birthday party is such a tangible and familiar way to celebrate. Try it this year!
Merry Christmas!
What else??
Yesterday morning began with a bang. Or rather with a slosh.
I went downstairs in the basement to throw a pair of wet snowpants in the dryer, and a few steps into the basement I heard my feet sloshing. Mind you, we have carpeting in the basement. Not good.
Sunday evening my husband had unplugged the humidifier that is attached to the furnace. We’d been getting some condensation on the windows so we figured we didn’t really need the humidification. This is the first time we’ve ever had a humidifier, so what did we know?
As it turns out, if you want to turn off the humidifier, you’d better also turn off the water going to it, because if you don’t, you end up with a very wet and soggy problem.
To top it off, all of our Christmas presents were conveniently hidden on the floor right next to the furnace. Yep, the presents. All of them. About a third of them already wrapped.
Nothing got ruined, but it’s obvious by the warped packaging that they’ve gotten wet. Which leads us to a very serious problem. What do you tell the children who are supposed to be getting these very soggy presents from Santa? The same kids who also know we had flooding in the basement and heard mom tell Dad’s work voicemail in a panic that the presents were all wet? Hmmm. I tell you, I’ve been working up every angle in my mind. Could I tell them that Santa dropped them in the snow and they got wet, just like the ones from mom and dad that got wet in the basement? Will my seven-year old believe that???
So I’ve got to come up with something. And I’ve got more wrapping to do.
OK. Then on to the next thing.
This morning, my 5-year old and 1-year old were playing. Then they got quiet. You know the quiet. The quiet that once you realize it, strikes terror in your heart.
My 5-year old was giving the one-year old a haircut. With nose-hair scissors. Yes, they are sharp enough. Smart mommy hides the real scissors. I’d never expected that these would be used for misbehavior. (You can’t get anything past the little buzzards, really.) The upside of all this? The little one has so much hair already that you can’t really tell that some is missing.
Then,
after a particularly rotten last 24 hours, I had to run an errand, so I thought I’d take the kids through a drive-thru for lunch. And I told them so. They were excited. So we all got in the car. I scraped the windshield and then proceeded to break the windshield wiper. AWESOME. So ensued a good half hour of whining and crying.
I’m sure someday I’ll look back and laugh at this. But I’m not laughing now. I’m just wondering what else is going to go wrong!
Finally…
Obama has made a good choice.
See here…
TTAH Tuesday – Join BJ’s
Hi everyone!
I’m going to keep this tip short because I’m (literally) up to my elbows in baking.
My tip for you this week – join BJ’s. I have shopped there for years and have definitely saved money because of it. I think I’ve mentioned before that I shop three different places for groceries. At Aldi’s, I get the basic stuff (milk, eggs, cheese) because it’s the cheapest there. Then I shop at BJ’s for stuff that we want for which we are particular about the brand (i.e., Jif peanut butter – I can’t stand anything else). And for meat – it is usually cheaper than anywhere else. Then I go to Tops for the rest.
When I quit working, I was amazed that I cut our monthly grocery bill by at least 30% by shopping this way. Sure it takes longer, but it’s worth it.
And this time of year, they also have toys and other gifts cheaper than I’ve seen at other local stores. Not to mention Christmas candy – bigger bags but way cheaper.
So try BJ’s out – you can usually get a coupon for a free trial period to see if you like it. Enjoy!
TTAH Tuesday – Pop-up Cards
I’m totally stealing this tip.
And so sorry for you, fellow MOPS mommy readers, because you know this already.
But, for those of you who don’t come to our local MOPS group (why not, by the way, because we’re really cool?), your tip to make some very, very, fabulous pop-up Christmas cards is located
Go there. (or don’t, I won’t get my panties in a bunch). But if you do, you will also delight in reading the funny writing of a friend of mine, Pamela.
Enjoy!
Remember When…
Christmas decorating was actually fun??
I’ve always loved the Christmas season – filled with cookie-making, shopping for the perfect gift, awesome music, decorating, and I love, love, love when the ground & trees are covered with a blanket of snow and flakes are softly falling…
ok, back to reality…
I still look forward to decorating every year. But I could do with a little less of this:
L: “He picked the nativity scene? I wanted to do it!” (picture crossed arms, pouty lips, complete with a major whine)
Me: “Well, why don’t we each do a couple of pieces.”
D and L: “I want… I want… She can’t have… Why does he always get to… She hit me…” (and on and on)
Me: “OK, let’s put up the stockings now.”
L: “I want mine to be next to A’s.”
D: “No, I want mine to be next to A’s. But not next to L’s.”
Me: “OK, we’ll put A in between the two of you.” (this appeased them for about 2 seconds, until they realized this meant that they wouldn’t each get their favorite stocking holder, because Mom wants the stocking holders in a particular order – I can be picky, too.)
A: “uh, uh, uh” (that means give me that or I’ll scream)
Dad: snoring on the couch
D: “Can I go get something else out of the box?” (I’d told them that they could get one thing at a time and take turns… I thought it would cut down on the bickering. Ha.)
L: “No, it’s my turn… you just got something.” (Who said less bickering??)
And a few minutes later…
L: “Mom, D dumped out my decoration and he’s not putting his boxes away. D, you better put your boxes back.” (Thank you, my firstborn bossypants tattler.)
And me, by the end of the day: Ahhh, where is that wine?
A Change of Scenery…
Hard to believe, but it’s been over a year since I started this blog. And being the coolest blogger you know, I’ve kept my blog with the same design since day one.
But it’s time for a change of scenery. (That word “change” must have stuck in my head following the recent political race. Dang it, Barack.)
OK, back to the point – come visit and let me know what you think of my new design!
New Words and Other Important Stuff
It’s been a while since I blogged, so I thought I’d just give you a rundown of what’s going on around here. Here’s what I’ve learned in the past week or so.
- A “woofer” in kindergarten speak means a “hot” boy. Just ask my son’s friend Emilee, who told him he looked like one in the shirt and tie he wore to school last week.
- Facebook is kind of like junior high. (i.e. – Will that person invite me to be their friend?? What if they don’t – does that mean they don’t like me?) I’m starting to wonder if the point is just to see who can get the most friends. Or maybe it’s to waste time playing pathwords (guilty!). And what about people level-jumping on our IRL friendship? People from high school or college who didn’t speak to you then now want to be your friend? What’s up with that? Oh, I forgot – the people with the most friends win.
- If you want your husband to put up the Christmas lights outside, then let him go to the store and pick them out. That way there’s no one to blame when things go bad.
- Put the frozen turkey in the fridge to thaw a day earlier than “they” say to, and cook it for at least two hours more than “they” say. Who are “they”, you ask? www.butterball.com
- Kids respond better to positivity than to negativity. Someone recently recommended a book to me – “Transforming The Difficult Child, The Nurtured Heart Approach” (available at www.difficultchild.com) I’ve read it and am trying to apply the principles. The premise is that parents of difficult children need to be energetic and focused on what your children do right and address, but not “energize” their negative behavior. It’s working. But it’s hard. I’m finding that focusing on and reacting in a big way to the bad stuff rather than the good stuff just comes naturally. And for a difficult child, the reaction is what they’re looking for. So I keep trying to change what I’m reacting to. Pray for me!
- Trying to keep the calendar straight for the month of December is a challenge. There’s so much going on! This year I’m trying to schedule in days of rest – with nothing planned – in order to create a sane environment for all of us. I’ll let you know how it goes!
So that’s what’s up around here. Comments / suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. 
TTAH Tuesday – Thanksgiving Hits
Okay, I’m finally back to blogging after all the excitement of Thanksgiving. The family all came here – so last week was a flurry of cleaning and cooking. And just in case you were wondering, “Thanksgiving Hits” refers to really great food, not fist fights at the dinner table (or anywhere else)!
I only host Thanksgiving about once every three years or so. Not really enough to get good at it. The one thing I’ve never perfected (until this year!) is the stuffing. Too soggy, not spicy enough, whatever.
I think I’ve told you before that I’m a tried and true recipe follower. In the past, this was my mistake with my stuffing. I tried to do what my mom and sister do – just wing it with minimal guidelines- and the results were less than fabulous. So this year I stuck to my strengths – following a recipe. And the stuffing was a hit. So just in case any of you are also stuffing-challenged, I thought I’d share the recipe. I’m also including a recipe for candied yams, which are to die for. Thanksgiving is not the same without them. So try these recipes and let me know what you think! I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Walnut Mushroom Stuffing
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 cups cubed day-old bread
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 – 1 cup chicken broth
Saute mushrooms and onion in butter until tender. Stir in the sage, salt, thyme, marjoram, and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the bread cubes, walnuts, and enough broth to reach desired moistness. (If you’re stuffing a turkey, use less broth!!!) Toss to coat. Spoon into a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until lightly browned.
** note that I made a double batch for a 21 pound turkey and it still wasn’t quite enough – we could have used more.
Candied Yams
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cooked yams
Place first four ingredients in an electric skillet and cook until bubbly. Add yams and heat through.
