Christmas 2010

This is the quick and dirty summary of Christmas morning in my house.  This is so typical... why do I even bother... ahem... moving on...

First things first, Santa left each {{walking-abled}} child an ornament, which they hung on the tree.  Lulu got a cardinal (the mascot of her cheer team) and Bro got a tractor (because he's gonna be a farmer someday).

Lulu and Brielle proceeded to enjoy the morning and opening gifts.

Bro refused to open his gifts.

I mean r-e-f-u-s-e-d.

Finally, he warmed up to the idea of opening gifts. 

And he finished opening his presents while Lulu hooked her gift up to the computer...

... and Brielle found something to sooth her aching her gums.

Tip:  While you see some wrapped gifts underneath the tree, Santa's gifts (which is most of the gifts) were wrapped in reusable fabric sacks that I made.  This is not only ecofriendly but it really kept down on the clutter and mess to clean up after opening the gifts.  Providing Santa Sacks for Santa to place his gifts in is a secret that needs to be unleashed.  We will always provide sacks for Santa.  There was a noticable difference in our morning because of the lack of mess, paper, and general clutter.

You can make your own Santa sacks or buy them.  Apparently Michaels craft store was selling extra large (and festive too) sacks for $2.99 each.  You can't go wrong with Santa sacks.   

Teacher Gift

So... I have never had a baby in daycare before.  I never thought I would let these daycare people take care of my baby.  I never... well... let's just say... I never thought that any of the daycare stuff would work for me.  Until I met Rita and Becky (names have been changed to protect their identities).  Rita and Becky are Brielle's daycare providers.  I love them so much.  Brielle lights up and starts shaking with glee when she sees them.  Can I even begin to tell you how much this means to me?  No, I cannot.  Can I begin to tell them how much they have made a difference in Brielle's life and in ours?  No, I cannot.  All I can do is make a small token of my appreciation... and so I did.  I made these patchwork quilt scarves for Rita and Becky. 

Each scarf was given to the teacher with this note:

Dear Ms. Rita and Ms. Becky:

These scarves are your Christmas present gift from me.  My mommy made these scarves for you for Christmas but finished them later than expected.  Nonetheless, I want you to explain to you the meaning behind the patches used for this patchwork scarf in hopes that you can see how much you mean to me.

The red patch is for your energy and ability to keep up with me all day long (especially since I only take one nap a day).

The yellow patch is for your sunny temperament which really makes learning a pleasure.

The green is because I am  little sprout and your nurturing helps me to grow each day.

Blue is for the way you shower me with encouragement and love.

Most importantly, your scarf has a patch of hearts on each end to remind you that I love you, not only as a teacher but also as my friend.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Baby Bee

Pictures of Bri modeling the scarf were enclosed.

It's just a small, small, small way to say thanks.

   

Merry Christmas

Hahahahaha!  I took 39 pictures of the kids in front of the Christmas tree and came up with 1 decent picture.  Here are the ones that didn't make the cut.

Brody was posing so well; too bad his hat fell over his eyes.

Can someone get Brielle to look at the camera?

Okay, admittedly, this one is a fairly good one.

However, I settled for this little gem.  Lulu, perfect as usual.  Bro, harassing someone.  Bri, looking dumbfounded. 

Wishing you a season full of peace, love, and joy as we enter a new year.  May the coming days be full of good health, happiness, and prosperity!

Much love,
Napmom, Dear Husband, Lulu, Bro, and Bri

The powers of a working oven.

I am sure that you all remember my no-bake Christmas last year.  It seems like so long ago that I made all of the little treats without the aid of a working oven!  Ahhhhh...

To refresh your memory, last year we no-baked oreo snowmen, oreo truffles and scotcheroos, and mint wafers.

This year my little helper and I made Peppermint Kiss Cookies.

It was very hard to patiently wait for them to come out of the oven.

We topped our cookies with Peppermint Hershey Kisses.  However, it is very hard for these to maintain their shape.  Tip:  Someone else recommended that you place cookies with peppermint kisses directly into the freezer to keep the white chocolate from losing its shape. 

To be honest, the milk chocolate kisses held up much better!

I know that it might be a little late for you to make these cookies for Christmas. 

But the red and white color would be great for Valentine's Day too. 

Still hiding the Elf

Remember the little elf who visited our house?  She visits Santa each night and is hiding in a new spot each morning. 

Most recently, she rounded up Bro's cars and trains and created this little display in the living room.  This didn't go over too well.  I don't think that Bro liked her touching his stuff and rearranging it while he was sleeping.  When he saw this scene he replied, "I want you to get her out of my school bus Mom."

She has also been known to camouflage herself very well in the poinsettia.

And somehow she managed to find a resting place in the wreath over the stairway.

You may be surprised to learn that our elf is a girl.  It never occured to me that "Elfy" is a she, but she is.  How do I know?  Bro told me so.  Luckily, I can buy a skirt for her.  It should arrive in the mail soon.  {{grin}}

How to dispose of bacon grease?

When we make bacon for breakfast, we are always conflicted about how to dispose of the bacon grease. 

Today... after all of these years... Dear Husband mentions that his grandmother used to make homemade bird cakes out of it.  She would add birdseed and then leave the cake out for the birds. Really?  And it only took you SEVEN years to mention this?  Really?

We quickly found a bird seed cake recipe online and started mixing.

I don't have a fancy mixer at home.

But I do have one of these little guys and he's all the help a mom could want.

He mixed until the birdseed looked like this.

Then the we threw the mixture into old containers that we dug out of the recycle bin.

Now, the birdseed cake is hardening in the refrigerator.  We are trying to figure out a way to leave it out for the birds while still keeping the squirrels away.  You know how I battle with those little squirrels.

Do you have a creative way to get rid of bacon grease?

Is that an elf or is that baby Jesus?

Somehow, one of Santa's elves appeared in our home.  Bro spied it from afar and announced... with a gasp... "Look, it's baby Jesus!" 

Um... maybe I need to do a better job of explaining the difference between an elf and baby Jesus.

Santa must have been reading my mind and totally took over.

The very next day Elf (her official name) showed up at our house, sitting in the Nativity, and reading a book about the Christmas Story.  What a sweet surprise.

Nativity

My grandmother made this plastic canvas nativity. It took her years to finish it. I remember she was constantly working on it when I was a child, and every year she added a new piece to the nativity set.

Imagine my surprise the first year of my new marriage when I opened a package from her and found the nativity neatly nestled inside.

My grandmother's plastic canvas nativity is one of my most cherished mementos and I am blessed to be able to share it with you.

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2: 1-18

 
(1) In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

 

(2) This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

(3) And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

(4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

(5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

(6) And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

(7) And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

(8) And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

(9) And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

(10) And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.

(11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

(12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

(13) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

(14) "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

(15) When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

(16) And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

(17) And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

(18) And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

Matthew 2:9-11

(9) After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

(10) When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

(11) And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Look at this little chickens in the hayloft.  Oh the details!

One of the great things about this nativity is that is is not breakable.

Although, I don't necessarily think that we are supposed to be playing with it either.  ahem!

Thanks for visiting.  I hope that you enjoyed seeing my Grandma's nativity. 

This nativity post is part of a Nativity Parade.  Please click the link below to view even more creative and special nativities.  I predict that I will be making the block nativity soon.  Doesn't every household need a toilet paper nativity?   

Do you have a special Christmas memento in your home?

Silence

Cough Cough

Choke Choke

Brush Brush

{{that's just me waking up from my slumber and brushing off the dust}}

Oh - hello there!

Let's pretend that little time we spent away from each other never happened, mkay?

Lookie lookie... I got a new "follower" while I was away too. Oh... meet Ashley... so fun... she is a Chesapeake Bay girl like myself... ah... a book reader... and she can be fashionable on a budget too. Love her!  Everyone, please go over and say "hi!"

Coming soon... plastic canvas nativity.

More Posts from the Pumpkin Pantry

Did anyone notice that my pumpkin to-do list included making a pumpkin pie from my own pumpkin... and I already completed the task?

Dear Husband {{in his infinite wisdom}} insisted that we I make a pumpkin pie from scratch... yep... cooking the pumpkin and everything.   Heaven forbid we just crack open a can of pumpkin and make a pie.

Not pictured:  Lulu.  She was sleeping ALL DAY long because she was literally up the night before ALL NIGHT LONG at an all night bowling event with the church youth group.  ALL NIGHT folks!  That's crazy!

While Sleeping Beauty Lulu slept, Bro, Brielle, and Dear Husband prepped the pumpkin. 

Then Bro scooped the guts out of the pumpkin...

and played in the pumpkin.

Next, Dear Husband divided the pumpkin into wedges so that they could be cooked in the oven.

Cooking the pumpkin in the oven took way too long (after an 1 1/2 hours the pumpkin was still basically raw and hard) so I cut up the pumpkin even more so that I could steam it... in batches.

Finally {{4 hours later}} I had some cooked pumpkin goop...

and I pureed it in the blender.

Meanwhile, while the kids took a nap, Dear Husband carved a jack-o-lantern for us.

Even baby Brielle was able to enjoy some of the pumpkin.

Here is our jack-o-lantern at night.

Here is our extremely delicious pumpkin pie.

Here is some left over pumpkin puree that I put in breastmilk storage freezer bags for Brielle.

How many more pumpkin recipes do I have left to make?  Anyone counting?  Do you have an idea I should add to the list?