Family Friday

This Family Friday was spent on the road back from my Snow Bird in-laws' place in Florida.  Little Man and I had a great time while we were there.  We played loads of games, new and old, like Quirkle (a block game with matching shapes or colors - Little Man loved that one), 

Rummikub (I dont know if Little Man wasn't impressed with it because he doesn't know how to play Rummy or if he was just really tired, but he didnt really like it), 

How To Train Your Dragon board game (of course he was stoked to play that one since he got to be Hiccup and Toothless) 

and I got Grammy and Grandma to play a couple of games of Garbage (MY favorite card game).  I hear that it is a lot like Phase 10...but I think it's better!

Plus there was shopping and eating and excellent wine (from the Biltmore Estate) with dinner...so very fun and relaxing and definitely a good mini-vacation for Little Man and me. 

Plus, Little Man is such a great little traveler.  Now that he is older and his attention span is longer - we can get kid's chapter books on CD and listen to them as we travel.  So we stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way out of town and picked up Rick Riordan's 3rd Percy Jackson book, "The Titan's Curse".  It is so good!  I definitely recommend it.

So after lots of driving the truck, listening to the book and cursing the GPS, we were home...Thankfully!

Thankful Thursday

Some things I have been thankful for this week:

1. The blessings in my life.

2. Time spent with good friends. 

3. Christmas Day.

4. Shopping with my mom.

5. Going to the Zoo.

6. Time spent with my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law.

Wordless Wednesday

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is...to have with them as little political connection as possible.  It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world." ~G. Washington

NewsDay Tuesday

As Irag War Ends,
No Parade Planned For U.S. Troops
Fox News

"Americans probably will not be seeing a huge ticker-tape parade anytime soon for troops returning from Iraq, and it is not clear if veterans of the nine-year campaign will ever enjoy the grand, flag-waving, red-white-and-blue homecoming that the nation's fighting men and women received after World War II and the Gulf War."

 You can read more at the link below:
 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/28/as-iraq-war-ends-no-parade-planned-for-us-troops/?test=latestnews#ixzz1ht0mSZyU

Music Monday

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve!

We had lots of things to do this morning!  Laundry, mop the living room...and...pack for more cooking at Lane's!!!
So we brought our PJs this time instead of wearing them (can't have the pictures look the same, now can we?) along with 2 crock pots, and all the stuff to make Kristie's Krazy Good Cheesy Dip, Lil' Smokies in BBQ Sauce, Deviled Eggs, and Fran's Fantastic Breakfast Muffins.  
BUT FIRST...we needed to e-mail Santa!

Life has been INCREDIBLY busy since Hubby has been out to sea (which has been forever, I do believe) and I have to admit that I was a slacker this year and didn't make sure that Little Man wrote his letter to Santa until the last minute.  BUT - Lane to the rescue - she told me about a wonderful website www.emailsanta.com.  It is so cool!  You fill in some blanks with the important info (name, city, 3 things you want for Christmas...etc...) and not only does Santa get your email, he reads it and emails you back!  That was fun (and a life saver)!
But wait - there's more!  Did you know you could CALL THE NORTH POLE!?!  I didn't!  Again, Lane has introduced me to yet another awesome thing to do on Christmas Eve.  You can call the North Pole (1-877-446-6723) and speak to one of Santa's elves who are tracking him as he delivers all his presents!!  Little Man was SO SURPRISED!

Now on to the important stuff...COOKING!!
Kristie's Krazy Good Cheesy Dip.  I have a co-worker who brought this to a pot luck one day and it is AWESOME!  I hounded her until she sent me the recipe and it is now a party staple.  And it is SO EASY!  (Can you tell that easiness is definitely a factor for me?)    You will need 1 lb pork sausage, 1 can Rotel, 1 large jar of chunky salsa and 2 packages of creme cheese.
Brown the sausage.

Add everything to a crock pot

and turn it on high for hour.  Stir and you are done!

Next up...Lil Smokies!  I realized when I was pregnant with Little Man that I LOVE Lil Smokies done like this.  I remember a New Years Eve Party with Lane and her family where Larry, her husband, specifically made me a crock pot of them!  You will need 1 package of Lil Smokies, 1 jar of BBQ Sauce and 1 heaping tablespoon of grape jelly.  Dump everything in the crock pot and turn them on high for an hour.  YUM!

Then it was time for Lane and I to take a Blog Break!  
The boys had been SO patient with us today, knowing that they had presents for each other, but they couldn't stand it anymore!  So we let them trade gifts a little early.
I left for our church's Christmas Eve Service without Little Man (there was no way I was going to be able to drag him away from his presents) and left Lane to finish up the spread.  Boneless Buffalo Wings, Boneless General Tso's Wings, Carrots & Celery with Ranch.

When I returned, I realized we had forgotten the Deviled Eggs!  While I was gone, Lane's mom had showed up to drop off some presents, so while they were occupied, I finished the eggs.  They weren't as pretty as I would have liked, but it worked and they were good. 

After we ate, everyone changed into their PJs and we all crowded into Lane's van to go look at Christmas Lights.  By the time we got home, Colin was asleep and Little Man was fighting it, but I think Cade is as excited about Christmas as Lane is because he was PUMPED!  So we took a few minutes to help spread Sparkly Reindeer Food on their front yard before we headed home.

Now that the Milk & Cookies and Carrots & Water are set out for Santa & the Reindeer, it is time for bed!  Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a Good Night!

Family Friday

Annual Bake Day!!!  Oh my!  Ms. L and I have been looking forward to this day since BEFORE Thanksgiving!  We were so excited, and our list of things to make was so long, we weren't able to get to everything!  Peppermint Popcorn, Cake Balls, Kissy Cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, and Rice Krispie Treats...and that is just today's baking list.  We have a separate list for tomorrow's food!  YUM!
A and I got there around lunch time in our Christmas PJs (another tradition) and we were ready to go!

First up were the Cake Balls.  Since there are SEVERAL steps to this process, we made other things while we were waiting for the Cake Balls to get cold in the freezer.  
First Step - Make the cake according to the directions on the box, 

crumble, 

mix with frosting,

then put it in the freezer.

At this point we moved on Kissy Cookies while we waited.  They are SUPER EASY and make me think of my Grandmama.  :)  You will need Peanut Butter Cookie dough and Hershey's Kisses (told you they were easy).

Roll the dough into balls,

smile for the camera,

and bake.  When you put them in the oven, start unwrapping the kisses because AS SOON as they come out, you will need to be 'kissing' them.

Viola!

After a couple dozen Kissy Cookies, we decided that we had enough and stopped.  
While they cooled we went back to the Cake Balls.  Take the cake ball mix out of the freezer, 

and make into teaspoon size balls.

This is a fun part!  You have to do it quickly or the mix will begin to warm up and get VERY sticky!  We layered them in a bowl between sheets of wax paper, 

and back in the freezer they go.

Oooo...Now it is time for one of my all time favorite Christmas snacks...Peppermint Popcorn!!  I had never had it until Ms. L made it for me a couple of years ago, and because she LOVES me, she said we could make it this year!  YAY ME!  There are so many versions of this, but we went with the simplest one we could find.  Why make this too hard?  We are here to have fun!  You will need popcorn, peppermints, and vanilla flavored white almond bark.

Layer a cookie sheet that has sides with wax paper.  Pop the popcorn and pour it on the wax paper - don't forget to pick out all the un-popped kernels!  Crush up the peppermints.  We ended up using 3 baggies since Ms. L kept breaking them!  We had peppermints flying everywhere!

Melt the almond bark and add the crushed peppermints (if you can catch it).

And then comes another fun part...mixing everything together with your HANDS!

YUM!

Let it cool and store in an air tight container.
Now back to the Cake Balls!!  
Out of the freezer them come and they are ready for dipping!!

We made Cake Balls last year with chocolate but used Almond Bark this year and we are totally convinced that Almond Bark is the way to go.  It melts faster, is creamier and hardens quickly (no more freezer time!).  We were using TEAMWORK again as I was coating the balls 

and Ms. L was placing them on the wax paper covered cookie sheet.

The YUMMY finished product!

...and no...you're not missing part of my post...Remember when I said at the beginning that we didn't get to everything?  That would mean the Rice Krispie Treats and the Peanut Butter Balls didn't get made (mom had to work and couldn't join us this year).  Ms. L was very sad BUT we had a great time and we have PLENTY more to make tomorrow...which is...CHRISTMAS EVE!! 

Thankful Thursday

A few things I have been thankful for this week:


1. Creative Friends.

2. Community Ministries.


3. Spending time with my son.

4. Christmas Parties!


5. Dunkin' Donuts!

6. Last minute Christmas shopping.

7. No school for 3 WEEKS!

Wordless Wednesday

NewsDay Tuesday

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, 69, Has Died

Well, he actually died several days ago, but North Korea didn't announce it to the world until Monday...

You can read more at the link below:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/18/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-il-6-has-died/