Polar Express Train Ride

 So these were our attitudes kicking off our evening at the Polar Express.

Awesome.  So photogenic and lovely to be around.

After a chat, everyone recovered and got pumped to get on the train!

Yay for friends on our train!!!

Arriving at the North Pole...

And finally, seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus!!!

Everyone crashed hard in the car for a late night drive home.

Upon arrival back at home, the bigs lost their mind to have to wake up and take a bath, 

and we had a totally chaotic 30 min where all bodily fluids were handled minus blood.

Wish it was all as cute as the pictures!

Loved this sermon today to kick off the advent season...because I'm already totally overwhelmed by Christmas card pics, December birthdays, etc.  Perspective check much needed!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started out with the kids racing past their treats...

to see if Santa had left any cookies for them!

They were relieved to find out he did and gobbled them down before heading to their presents!

Everyone got a turn frosting Jesus's birthday cake...

And the favorite presents of the day were Max and Ruby dolls...

And grandpa's popcorn!  We owe him another!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; 

He is Christ the Lord. 

This will be a sign to you: 

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

Luke 2:11-12

Christmas Happenings

Things continue to rock and roll around here.  I feel like this December has been at full speed for everyone!  The kids are loving every minute and had a great time with daddy doing a gingerbread house.  

Note for the future -- hot glue house together night before! 
Everyone has ants in their pants to decorate waiting for the roof not to slide off! :)

Jay enjoyed candy cane play doh our neighbor made during the wait...

Then we lost him to the iPad...

Kirkley loved decorating!

Alex has deemed this cookie to be his favorite Christmas cookie ever.

Don't write them off -- you probably have all of these ingredients so grab some candy cane kisses!

Adapted from this recipe.

Chocolatey Chocolate Chip Peppermint Kiss Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa (used ¼ dark, ½ regular)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 t peppermint extract

2 eggs

½ bag mini chocolate chips

1 c sugar

1 bag candy cane kisses

1.      Preheat oven to 350.

2.      Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

3.      Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy for 5-10 minutes. Beat in eggs and extracts. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

4.      Use small cookie scoop to scoop dough, roll into balls, then roll in sugar.  Put on parchment paper lined baking sheets.

5.      Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set but still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes

6.      Press kisses in after the 2 minutes and carefully remove to wire racks to cool completely.

A friend brought by Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies that were awesome and fairly simple too!

Then we made this pretty effortlessly for my mom's Sunday school class.  A three ingredient hit!

Conecuh Sausage Wreath

2 packs Conecuh sausage

2 cans crescent rolls

1 egg

- Grill sausage on low heat.

- Cut sausage in to bite size/1 inch pieces, drain on paper towels, and cool completely.

- On a large cutting board, cut crescent rolls down the middle making two long, skinny triangles out of each.  Put sausage on larger end and roll up.  Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Don't worry about wreath shape yet.  Continue until all crescent rolls are used. 

- Refrigerate rolls for 15-30 minutes.

- Whisk egg in a small bowl.

- Arrange on baking sheet in wreath shape so they are basically touching/close and pointing the same direction.

- Brush egg over the tops/sides so they will get glossy and golden!

- Bake according to can directions/till golden.

- Shimmy off the parchment paper onto your serving dish.

- Serve with honey mustard, honey, etc.

We also got to get a visit with Aubie Claus...

Cookies for Santa have been made and decorated...

We hope he likes germs...

and sprinkles...

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."

Luke 2:8-10

Play with your Camera!

You might get something fun!  

I saw this little tutorial, and we tried it quickly tonight.  

They would have turned out better 

1) if I knew how to change all the stuff they changed in manual

2) if I'd used a tripod/rested the camera somewhere.  

But happy enough with some sweet pics!

I used my favorite lens, shot in A, changed ISO to 1600, and f/2.8.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said,  

“I am the Light of the world. 

Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, 

but will have the Light of life.”

John 8:12

Jesse Tree & Breakfast

With so many birthdays at the beginning of December, it's just not realistic for us to start our Jesse Tree at the end of Nov.  We've decided to kick it off mid-December and do one in the morning and one in the evening.  So if you haven't started and wanted too, join in!  The printables will  make it come together quickly!

Several people have asked what age to start this activity.  I liked starting it last year when Kirkley was 3 1/2.  She wasn't totally ready for it so it gave us a year to "practice," get acquainted with it, and figure out how we really wanted to do it.  This year, she's super into it, ready to see when an ornament appears on the table, etc.  We make her retell the story before she or Jay gets to open it.

I finally found a way to avoid gift wrapping all of the ornaments -- reusing the same burlap square each time!

These advent ornaments with the names of Christ are precious too.  Maybe this would be good when K is a little older and has the Jesse tree stories down pat?  

We've also loved doing the advent wreath devotions once a week at family dinner.  Instead of doing the 25 ornaments next year, I may do one for each week to hang over the chandelier with the corresponding verse/word for each week.  This was a much easier project to get together at the start of the month!  Love this thought on candlelight dinners in Dec!

For Jesse tree kick-off morning, I happened to wake up at 2am -- a crazy side effect of pregnancy! :)  So I got a breakfast together that turned out to be a hit with the kids.  

Here are two easy, healthy breakfast ideas...

Cranberry Oatmeal Mix
This has been awesome to have on hand to make breakfast quickly and much cheaper than the little packets already ready!  Make your own packets in snack zip bags to save even more time/$!


4 c old fashioned oatmeal
3/4 c craisins (or dried blueberries, cherries, etc)
1 t cinnamon

- Shake all of this together in a container/ziploc.
- For one adult serving/two child, measure out 1/2 c of the mix in a saucepan, add 1 c water, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Turn heat off, stirring until thick. 
- For two adult servings, measure out 1 c of the mix in a saucepan, add 1 3/4 c water, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Turn heat off, stirring until thick. 
- Sweeten as needed.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

This reheats great for breakfast for several days -- Kirkley loves it; Jay, not so much. 

1 10 oz block chopped spinach, thawed in micro

1 16 oz container low-fat cottage cheese

4 eggs

2 egg whites

½ c to 2 c cheddar cheese (depending on how many calories you want to end up with)  :)

¼ t garlic powder

¼ t onion powder

 

- Thaw spinach completely.  Squeeze all water out.  I put in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and push all water out with the back of a spoon really well.

- Mix all ingredients on medium, being sure to break up spinach and eggs well.

- Pour in lightly greased pie dish.

- At this point you can refrigerate overnight or freeze (thaw overnight in fridge then bake)

- Bake at 325 for one hour until set.

- Serve warm. 

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; 

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit."

Isaiah 11:1

Kicking off the break!

Kicking off the break this morning with big plans to stay in our jammies the majority of the day!!!

Found this great recipe for Cinnamon Salt Dough -- 4 ingredients and lots of fun -- from the 400 Christmas Craft Ideas list.

Smelled super good baking up!

Then  the big ones gave our kitchen chandelier some Christmas cheer!

Looking forward to lots of fun over the break.  K worked on her "Christmas Break To Do List" this morn!

Lots of back-blogging to come...

School Christmas Program

Kirkley's preschool Christmas program was precious!

She loves settling in and spotting her family in the audience...

Singing away...

And being a star! :)

Thanks to Lala for keeping Jay occupied...

with snacks of course!

Afterward, we headed back to the classroom to pick up MANY a Christmas craft!  She'd been working on the cutest things!

"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, 

and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them 

until it stopped over the place where the Child was. 

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed."

Matthew 2:9-10

Christmas Parade

We hit the city's Christmas parade and saw all kinds of sights!  Camels, Aubie, Santa, etc!

Jay's attention span made it for a bit then we lost him to a balloon! :)

Afterwards, K got pictures with all kinds of holiday characters...the Grinch and Frosty were both a little shady looking! :)

She asked me later, "Why did Frosty have a hammer in his mouth?"

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 

(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 

And everyone went to his own town to register.  

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, 

to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child."

Luke 2:1-5