Archive for December, 2007

I updated my template. It’s time to say goodbye to Christmas decorations this weekend. I wanted to do a winter theme, but I decided to go season-neutral. I am not sure how I feel about it yet.

Update: 01/01/2008 – I changed the template again. This one I do like.

There’s a big ham bone in my refrigerator and a container of celery and carrot sticks from the crudites platter. What could I possibly make to use up these left overs?

Split Pea Soup.

Fortunately, I even have some split peas left from when I made bean soup jars for gifts.

I use the recipe from my awesome, red-plaid Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, found here, but I add a diced up potato in with the other veggies. I also toss in a handful or two of frozen green peas, when the soup is almost ready, to add color and texture to the soup.

I love the smell of soup on the stove. I can’t wait until dinner!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I wanted to post a Christmas message, but I was busy with family, which I rightfully decided was more important than blogging. Not that I don’t love you all.

This Christmas was really great for me. For whatever reason, it helped me put in perspective some struggles I have been having with my faith. I am going to post about that and some other things that have been going on with me – including an update with The D’s situation – but for now, here is a song that really spoke to me this Christmas.

Relient K, Celebrate the Day

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You’ve touched my life
Because here is where You’re finding me, in the exact same place as New Year’s eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We’re less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I’ll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might really live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life
Pray for You to save my life
Pray for You to save my life

The kids and I made some cute Christmas cookies (or are they candies?) today.

To make these adorable Christmas Mice, gather the following ingredients:
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Hershey’s Kisses
Oreo cookies
Maraschino cherries, with stems
Sliced almonds

Melt the chocolate chips, using whatever method you prefer – a bowl over a pan of hot water, a microwave-save dish, or the really cool chocolate melting thingy the kids got me for Christmas last year.

Meanwhile, separate the Oreos and un-wrap the kisses. (This is a good kid-friendly step).

Drain and rinse the cherries, and spread on paper towels to dry.

Once the chocolate is melted, dip a cherry in, holding it by the stem, and turn to coat. Let the excess drip off, then press an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss bottom-to-bottom with the cherry and set it on the creme-side of an Oreo half. (Use picture as a guide.)

Next, take two almond slices and place them between the cherry and the kiss, to look like the mouse’s ears.

Once chocolate is set, you can make eyes using red decorator gel or, as I did, put the left over melted chocolate in a ziplock bag, snip the corner, and pipe on chocolate eyes.

This was a fun treat for the kids to make. I can’t wait to give them to our relatives on Christmas.

Little E looked at the large group of mice on the table and said, “It looks like a whole army of mousies!” (He does know the word mice, since we have three as pets, but mousies is just so much cuter, so I don’t correct him!)

Army of Mousies

Yesterday was The D’s 11th birthday. I decided that I would let him and Big E use the computer all that they wanted to for the day. Needless to say, they used it all day and I did not get a chance to blog.

With The D’s birthday behind us, I had hoped for a brief reprieve from the madness of excited kids, but no such luck. After all, Christmas is almost here!!! :: Kids running around waving their hands above their heads ::

Anyway, with all of this madness, I am not sure how blog posting will look.

If I can manage to get my exhausted body out of bed one of these mornings, I will be able to post then.

If I can occupy the kids with a pre-recorded Christmas special from the night before for a few sweet moments, I will be able to post then.

If, when the kids go to bed, I can still think straight after a day of wild, crazy, Christmas-anticipating children enough to put together some words into semi-intelligent sentences, I will post then.

Feel free to leave notes of encouragement in the comments, provided that you were able to steal a couple of moments away from your own brood and decided to stop by. I appreciate that. I truly know how precious those moments are.

So, here we are with only 10 days left (after today) to get ready for Christmas. Or in my case, I only have 7 because my mother- and father-in-law are coming up next Saturday to celebrate with us.

::sudden overwhelming feeling of panic sets in::

I have found that the best thing to do when planning for a big event is to take some time to sit down and write out some lists.

Here’s what I am going to go do, after I post this.

• Print out some Christmas stationary. (From this site)
• Make a nice cup of tea.
• Hole-punch the stationary and put it in my binder.
• Make a cleaning list.
• Make menus.
• Gather recipes (or a list of recipes to gather).
• Make grocery list.
• Make a list of gifts for each person (bought and yet to buy)
• Make a list of what I need to make or finish making (for gifts).

Whew!

That may sound like a lot, but once I make my lists (and check them twice?) I know I will have some serious peace of mind.

Here’s mine.

Look out in the yard
Peaceful. Quiet. Soft, white snow
Not for long – snow day!

Go read more, and submit your own for a chance to win a great prize.

I wanted to share a craft project with you that I learned how to do at a local craft store.

I decided that the easiest way would be to make a short “how to” video.

Please excuse the low-quality video equipment.

The project is a magnet. It is made using pictures, decorative paper, or photo-copied pictures. The image is decoupaged onto a craft stone (like these).

Here’s the how-to.

My kids love to make ornaments. This year, the D asked me to buy some of those clear glass ornaments that they sell at the craft store. I did, but I wasn’t sure what to do with them.

One idea is to paint them with stained glass paint. That is a pretty project, but the paint is expensive and Little E is really too young to use them.

Instead, I bought small bottles of fabric paint. It was a project that all of the kids could do. Easy enough for Little E, but the older boys could use it to make more advanced designs.

The ornament on the left I painted and filled with an iridescent tinsel. I had some from years ago, but I am told that they no longer sell it. I think crumpled tissue paper would look nice inside, too. We just left most of ours empty, which also looks nice.

Another fun idea is to fill the ornaments with feathers and glitter. This one I made years ago used pastel feathers, but you could also use red or green to make it more festive.

These ornaments are a fun thing to do because the possibilities are endless and the project can accommodate all ages.

The 102nd Carnival of Homeschooling, The Many Hats of Homeschool Edition, is up over at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths.