Christmastime [was] Here -- Family Traditions Edition

When our first child or two was still very young my husband and I spent some time discussing what traditions we wanted to start for our little family. A few of these traditions go back to those conversations but I've since found that the best traditions are not the ones that you plan but the ones that are such a hit this year that we couldn't imagine not doing them again next year.

This is one of those traditions.

Several years ago our neighbors invited us to their church for Christmas Eve services. Most years my family gets together on Christmas Eve but we decided at the last minute to drag our kids out to the 11:00 p.m. service. Was it the thrill of going somewhere w.a.y. past bedtime? The candle light? The drums and music? I don't really know, but they LOVED it. Every year since they start asking mid November if we can go to church at midnight. This year there was no 11:00 service but we enjoyed the 6:00 service just as much and a certain 7 year old was pretty proud when I handed him my real candle with real fire. Small children are given glow sticks, this was a right of passage moment for sure!

Our tradition of spending Christmas day at home is one that came from my parents. They determined when we were young that we would not be part of the rat race wherein you rip open presents at one Grandma's house so you can run another Grandma's house for more loot. We've done this with our kids too and I think it's my favorite of all traditions. It makes Christmas day relaxing and calm. The very best gift a Mama could get! We usually grill steak and throw some baked potatoes in the oven for a mid afternoon meal. We don't often buy steak, so it's a special meal that requires minimal time in the kitchen.

Stocking stuffers (usually exciting things like toothbrushes or batteries) are torn open with bedheads and pj's. Breakfast is simple, fruit and pastries, (with a side of bacon, by special request this year) and must be cleaned up before "real" gifts are opened.

Someone new read the Christmas story this year and did a pretty fantastic job of it! I don't believe Caesar Augustus is included in the first grade sight words list.

 
The "real" presents were not numerous but they were well received.

Important life skills are being learned here. Gotta teach 'em young!

 

The problem with that whole "White Christmas" dream...
  it makes it hard to break in a new bike.

Mommy was pretty excited about her gift this year too! Not necessarily surprised, but definitely excited!
My husband spoils me! Looks like I'm set up to return the favor now.

Another evolving tradition is that of handmade gifts. This is a good time of year to start searching for ideas if you'd like to make your own gifts this Christmas. I, however, tend to get my best ideas the week or two before Christmas. Here are a few of this year's projects....

Reindeer Root Beer for the guys.

These were super simple and you can never go wrong with food gifts.

Hand painted signs for the ladies...

Slowly convincing my husband that saving the boards from the part of the barn we tore down was a good idea.

I had a lot of fun making these but they were somewhat time consuming.

Maybe I should have started before December 15th.

 ***************

We spent the end of Christmas week with Garry's family. His 2 sisters were here from out of state and the whole family was together for the first time in 2 years. Two brand new baby nieces to be spoiled and loved on. Food. Games. Cousin time. And a round of family pictures. Never a dull moment!

 Somebody was pretty sure she was solely responsible for baby holding and nuk retrieving.

 

  If you happen to notice the blanket behind Little Miss Adorable, it's another last minute DIY gift idea.

I've had several requests for adult sized ones for next year. =)

 Plenty of food. Always.

This picture may or may not have been requested as appropriate compensation for their act of goodwill.

 You guys rock!  Really, you do! 

(Even if you have to remind us...frequently.)

Game time.

It's been 5 years and 5 new grandchildren since our last attempt at family pictures.

It was painful but we endured to the end for the prize.

And yes, bribery during family pictures is one of our favorite traditions too!

Happy Days

I do realize I'm behind the times here but I'm going with better late then never. Our kids had the entire week of Thanksgiving off because teacher conferences landed on the beginning of the week. I had been feeling really 'stuck' in the routine thing...Same old, same old, get up and do it all over again tomorrow kind of stuff...so THIS was just what I needed.

More PJ days than our household has known in all of history I think.

Hot cocoa, cozy blankets and a movie (or 3, or 4...)

The creating of [sugar-loaded] masterpieces.

Good books, more blankets, and life-threatening injuries. [Depending on who's interpretation you hear, of course.] He LOVES to read. I LOVE that he LOVES it!

Lots and lots of rounds of Battleship, Scrabble and Sorry. Bonus: Most of them included Daddy.

Our own little feast, inspired by a free fresh turkey and a couple of refrigerated pie crusts. (Personally, I was really feeling like another PJ day, but of coarse I wasn't sorry that I got off my tush and threw together a little fun for the family. They were appropriately appreciative!)

I am most Thankful for....

{That wreath in the background, a fun project for a friend. It was a perfect fit right there. She's lucky I  parted with it in the end!}

The official 'breaking-out-of-the-Christmas-music. Which led to a little impromptu dance fest.

I think maybe by the time everyone climbed back on the big ol' bus Tuesday morning I was supposed to be ready for some peace and quiet and order but the truth is we could have continued for another week I'm sure. More weeks with 5 Saturdays please!!!

My little buddy had a little trouble adjusting to all of his playmates leaving (Baby Girl spent the day with Daddy) so we had ourselves a Memory and Hot Chocolate Date. No report on who beat who. Let's just say it won't be long before mom will not have to be careful not to get to many matches.

This weekend brought us this...

I hope you're enjoying the Magic of the Season! 

Take time to have a little fun.

{I lasted at least 3 minutes before my toes were frozen and I decided half a dozen pictures was plenty}

Front Porch

One of the things I love most about my old house is my big front porch. It's a lovely place. At least if you can ignore the motorcycles roaring by. I suppose getting up before they do would work too, but that's not a game I'm very good at. Every once in a while I manage to sneak out with my cup of coffee before any little people start running wild. It's a fantastic way to start the day.

The other thing I love about my porch is the picnic table right outside my kitchen door. It's quick and easy to serve the kids lunch out there and we often enjoy dinner out there in the evenings. There is just one problem. The sun likes to beat in right on that corner just about the time I like to serve dinner. We've had one too many squint-y eyed dinners with whining to boot. So I came up with a plan.

I purchased a couple packs of drop cloth from the home improvement store, put in a few simple hems, and wha-la, CURTAINS!

The patient hubs rigged up the wire for me. Not too thick. Not too rough. Not too redneck. Not too loose....fussy much? He did a great job in spite of my help. I dug out the package of little clips from IKEA that I really *needed* two years ago but hadn't open yet. They are perfect for the job. The metal holders, from a yard sale, to keep them tied back, were the icing on the cake.

I finished them just in time for my Mom's birthday celebration. Yup, that means I procrastinated all summer and then crammed the night before so they'd be ready. Sort of the same thing, right?

My other fun projects...

Frame -- yard sale $1
Chicken wire -- yard sale free pile
A couple of staples and 3 minutes later...

Thanks to Clarita's tutorial I was inspired to make pinwheels to add a little pizazz too. So simple. So fun. You should try it. No, not just one. One of every color, in a couple of different sizes!

Food is always a drawing factor, at least for my family.

It's not a birthday party without a cheesecake. I'm usually more of a chocolate, caramel, espresso kind of girl but this vanilla one with fresh peaches was worth every calorie too.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Party is over now, so  if you need me for anything, I'll be out on my porch, the coffee is ready!!

{my favorite} Homemade Granola

It's a perfectly gorgeous 'summer' day here but it started out dreary and rainy so I started it out in the kitchen. At breakfast time yesterday some not very impressed children informed me that the granola was gone. AGAIN, I might add. Two batches in less than two weeks. I've been making granola off and on for years but over the past 6 months I've been tweaking and combining and rearranging recipes and I think I've finally got it right. At least if the {empty} jar on the counter is a fair judge. So today, I'm sharing it with you.

You will need.

8 cups oatmeal (you can use rolled oats or quick oats, I like a combination)
3 cups rice krispie cereal
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped or slices almonds
2 cups shredded coconut
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Measure the first 6 ingredients into a large bowl. Stir.

Create jobs for over-eager little people {as needed.}

In a heavy pan melt butter, brown sugar and sweetened condensed milk over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour syrup over oat mixture and mix well. Spread on two large trays {with sides} and bake at 275 for 1 hour. Stirring every 20 minutes. Cool completely before storing.

.
This recipe makes about 20 {1 cup} servings. I go ahead and triple it so there is some left for tomorrow. Okay, maybe it's not quite that bad but I do wonder were it all goes.

Tomorrow's project--Homemade Yogurt. I'll share that one too because they are best combined into a yummy parfait. Add a few fresh berries and you have the perfect breakfast, lunch, dessert or bedtime snack. So simple you can make them in seconds and so good it's always "just what I'm hungry for!" On second thought, maybe I do know where it all goes...

Now is it Christmas?

We're having a bit of  holiday confusion at our house. First of all, there were presents and cousin time to go along with our deep fried turkey. Since the 'out-of-towners' who came back home this year, did so over Thanksgiving, we had our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration in one big happy day.

Then surely the arrival of the tree in our living room means Christmas is here, right? My kids sure thought so. I explained that we were just 'getting ready' for Christmas but land sakes, that tree is half dead already and it's STILL not Christmas.

Twinkly lights, lots of them. They look so cozy and pretty but even they don't mean it's Christmas.

And believe it or not there is even a few gifts under the tree. Santa never comes to our house so Mom and Dad have taken over. They may be from yard sales but who cares, they are presents just the same, right?

The cookies are baked. Good thing Mom isn't making us wait till Christmas to eat all of them. We should probably find some neighbors and friends to share them with since none of the presents under the tree look big enough to be a treadmill.

Our mailbox is full of pictures of people we haven't seen since last year's picture. We even managed to get our pictures sent out at the beginning of December this year.

If you didn't get a paper copy, We wish you a 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

  too!

The candles are lit.

We've made sweet treats to thank people that we appreciate.

 {While the school boys wrote cards for their teachers the little ones wanted in on the fun too. I gave Kyra a card to write on and when she was finished she brought it to me. "Who is that for? I asked. "For Joseph," she said, I guess she's been listening to some of the story anyway.}

We're counting down the days with this fun project. A wrapped story for each day in December. Just remember, if you plan to use library books for this you should keep track of due dates. I may or may not have learned that lesson the hard way.

While we wait for Christmas to get here we pass the time by playing with our very own Nativity set.
And every time that sweet little voice says, "Mommy, can I play [with] my Jesus Loves Me?" (a.k.a. Baby Jesus)  my heart melts. 

I love the signs that my children are picking up the real meaning of Christmas. In the van today, one of them said, "Mom, this is the Baby Jesus song we sang at church, the one that says 'REmanual'."

 

 Wishing you and yours a Blessed Holiday!

{and if you happen to read a blog where the writer can't decide whether to write in first or third person, just go with it and try not to let it ruin your holiday spirit!}