The gifts are opened and under the tree and we are all enjoying some santa pancakes!  Merry Christmas everyone!  The kids didn’t get up until 7:45am…yeah!!  Gabby woke up with a nasty cold…poor girl.   I’m enjoying a vanilla biscotti flavored cup of java and hubby is cleaning the kitchen.  Life is good!  We’ll be heading over to my parents for a turkey dinner and opening more gifts.  Stay tuned…pictures to come later.  Feliz Navidad!

Later….

What a great day. We had an awesome turkey dinner at mom and dad’s.  Came home and had a nap.  Had chinese food for supper and now I am relaxing with a glass of wine.

: )

santa pancakes…yummm!

gabby wiping her new baby’s nose

waiting to open presents and watching gabby

wiping her nose

braeden got a measuring tape in his christmas cracker…

he was not impressed…haha

The storm knocked out our internet, cable and phone service yesterday. I guess that’s the price you pay when you purchase a bundled pkg.   Anyhoo, with a storm raging outside, I figured it would be the perfect time to get a little baking done.  I finished my chocolate millionaires and made more peppermint bark.

chocolate millionaires before the chocolate.

after the chocolate

peppermint bark

Then we started the gingerbread christmas tree. I messed up the frosting.  added red instead of yellow and blue food coloring.   In the end, I was able to get a somewhat green color for the frosting.  I made some extra stars to give away as gifts and for the kids to eat.  My house was covered in green frosting yesterday.

adding the sprinkles.

our first gingerbread tree.  doesn’t look exactely like the one on the box, but grace loved making it.  I’m thinking I should have doubled up on the stars.

Is everyone ready for Christmas? Me neither!  I only have a few things left.  A book for my parents, some wine for my sitter, a few more stocking stuffers and a little more baking.  I’m really looking forward to our Christmas eve service.  It’s the only thing that relaxes me and puts everything in perspective.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Any one else have the christmas blahs?  I’ve been trying to get in the “holiday spirit” and nothing seems to be working.  I feel awful for the kids.  They are getting so excited and I wish I could share in some of their excitement.  But for some reason, every year when christmas rolls around, I AM a big grump!  Perhaps I need to start playing some festive music or watch a few more christmas specials.  Something to get me in the mood.   Here’s hoping I catch the festive bug soon!

It’s that time of year again…let the bribing begin!  Every year I make a promise to myself that i will get a family pic done to give out with our christmas cards.  And every year, i get caught up in the hustle and bustle and it never happens.  So at the last minute, i stick the kids in front of the tree and bribe them to smile for a few seconds if possible.  It only took me 5 minutes, but i think i have a winner!  Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

I truly believe everyone should have one thing just for themselves.  Mine thing is crafting.  Tonight I went alone to a craft night.  I didn’t know who was going to be there and I didn’t care.  I just wanted to craft.  I’ve always loved artsy stuff such as drawing, painting etc.  I find I’m so relaxed and it makes me very happy.  I really should do more in my spare time.  But spare time can be hard to come by this time of year.  Anyhoo, I had an awesome night.  My cousin’s wife was beside me and I helped her with her craft.

So here is the final product.  So cute and so easy!

i love this one!

I seen the cutest idea at my sitter’s craft fair this year.  She had hot chocolate, mulling spice and party dip mixes layered in icing bags and then tied them off with raffia or ribbon.  I thought they would make the cutest personalized gifts this year.  I wish I had half her creativity!  I’ve also included a site that has dip mix recipes…yummm!  It’s an awesome site.  I came across it when I was browsing for ways to be “frugal”.

Dry Dip Mixes

mulled spice drink

hot chocolate for two

I am so overwhelmed with recipes to make this year, I don’t know which ones to make.  I had a few recipes picked out but then I picked up the taste of home christmas cookies and candies book and I want to make them ALL.  Everything looks so good, my mind is racing…eeek!!!!  The best part is the recipes are all on pull out cards with photos.  I also picked up a christmas family traditions box that holds recipes, 2 music cd’s and holiday party themes.  I’m going to store all the taste of home recipe cards in the box so I will have everything in one spot.  So if you happen to see this book on the magazine stand and you love to bake, for $5.99 it’s a must have in my books.

It’s that time once again to pull out all the Christmas decor.  I picked up a few more this morning at a open house craft sale at my sitters house.  She and a friend have this sale every year and it’s one of the things I look forward to.  I picked up some personalized snowman ornaments for the tree to go with the other homemade ornaments I picked up last year.  I also picked up a mini candle holder that says “believe” on the front.  The thing I like most about her crafts is that they are so simple and so cute.  I try to pick up decorations that I can keep up all year long.  It’s a shame to only have them displayed one month of the year.christmas ornaments ~ i bought the mittens, hearts and stars last year

rustic candle holders..holds tealights. made from blocks of wood.

mantle holder…i absolutley love this…must have one!!

“merry christmas” letters

my grinch