Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Sunday, January 4, 2009

De-Christmasing

The ornaments are all individually wrapped and put in the ornament boxes. I have wrestled the tree back into its box. The nativity scene is back in all its boxes. I will admit that I had a little trouble getting all the animal back in their right spots, but the Internet helped me out. For some reason I always want to the camel with the wise men, but he goes with stable animals.

The apartment looks different...I love Christmas, but I guess I'll have to wait another 11 months to drag all that stuff back out. I know some people have very strong feelings about Christmas decorations out in January.

Tomorrow brings the alarm going off way too early, a jog, and then back to work. It was all fun while it lasted.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Time Flies

I can't believe that I have been in Texas for 4 days. Time has really flown. I have stayed pretty busy spending time with family and friends. Instead of boring you with details about the past several days, I'll post a few pictures. Before I do, let me just explain that my favorite 5 year-old confiscated my camera on Christmas Eve and discovered the Photo Booth program on my Mac.


He wanted to take a picture of our shoes b/c we were both wearing Skechers.


All I can say is that this is the ceiling and top of the fireplace.


An attempt at taking his own picture?


I have absolutely no clue.


Why not take a picture of the TV!?!?!


If two heads are better than one...what is three?


He did not like it when our pictures looked monster like. He preferred multiple heads.


Or swirly heads.


The only semi-serious one that was taken...I have lots of him sticking out his tongue though!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Home

I made it.

On the 10:00 news tonight they showed Santa getting his physical. What made me laugh was the footage of him leaving a local clinic. He donned his black cowboy hat and climbed into a Tahoe. Only in Texas!!!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

And A Diva Was Born

We live in a world of equal opportunity...and sometimes Baby Jesus is actually a girl!



And sometimes Mary and Joseph are in their 30s!



And Mary's hair is actually red and Joseph, well I won't go there!



And sometimes Baby Jesus prefers "his" feet to hang out of the manger.



She smiled, she cooed, she performed...And a diva was born!



He's also one handsome dude! I can't wait to hang out with these two next week! :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Monday, December 8, 2008

A Christmas Tradition

Over the past few years, I have begun my own little Christmas tradition...I began painting Christmas ornaments and attached them to my families' presents. Each year, I have had an extra, so my Christmas tree benefits. Not only does it give me something special to give my family members, but it gives me a "creative outlet".




2005


2006


2007...Last year I decided they would also serve as the tags for the presents.

The day after Thanksgiving, I found some wooden ornaments at Micheal's. I decided to combine the two idea...an ornament and a tag.



Apparently, from the first picture to the next one of the camera...well, I was very busy! I painted each of the ornaments. My goal was to keep it simple...two colors maximum. I actually also bough two other cutouts that I did not use. One was a present with a box and the other was a bell. They didn't turn out the way I had envisioned them. It took a couple of coats of paint, but I didn't worry to much about making things perfect. Once I was satisfied with the colors, I took some sand paper and "aged" the ornaments. I really worked on the edges so the brown wood would show through.



I was really pleased with the way they all turned out, but my favorite is the candy cane. Because it is so thin, it had to be either for my mom or my dad. There is no way I cold have squeezed "Madeline" in there!



I chose a very basic paper. Originally I had wanted a plaid, but I found this simple blue paper with some holly, birds, and snowflakes at Wal-Mart. My favorite part is that printed on the paper is "We are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3" I kept the bow very simple as well by using brown raffia.






Now, if I would only finish my Christmas shopping, then I could get all these tags attached and hit the UPS store!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Craftiness

There is something about this time of year that makes me want to be crafty. I pulled out my paints earlier in the week and I have been working on a little project this week. I finished it earlier this morning and will try to post some pictures tomorrow. I have another semi-crafty project that I began last night, but I ran out of cloves, so I have to make another trip to the store. I will also post pictures of this project as well. There is a third project that I may pull out of the depths of the closet. It was started two years ago, but never finished. I am beginning to think this might be the year that it gets marked off my "to-do" list.

Does anyone else feel the need to be especially crafty around Christmas?

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The End of 2007

The last several days of my Christmas vacation were spent with family and doing a little shopping. Of course I made sure that I also had some Jacob time. I definitely received a good lesson on Thomas the Train. Jacob likes to use all his train tracks at once to build a big track.


It had been quite some time since I played with Lincoln Logs, but I picked that back up rather quickly. I must admit the pictures made it much easier to mimic what was on the box. Jacob really wanted to use the ladder.


After playing with Thomas and then Lincoln Logs, we headed to the back yard to play with the rocket Jacob received for Christmas.


We are currently in an "I want to wear my hood stage."


On Saturday my family headed to Hankamer, TX to visit my uncle, aunt, cousins, and their families. I hadn't seen my cousin Kayla in about 3 1/2 years. Her husband has been at a church in Alaska and they don't make it back very often. They have three precious little girls. My other cousin, Angie, and her husband also have a little girl. Little girls are definitely very different from little boys, but I was really proud of Jacob for jumping right in and playing.


Jacob and Grace who were in a tickle fight with Grace's dad, Matt.


Stuart and Abby, Kayla and Matt's youngest. I didn't get a picture of their oldest, Kathryn, but she is just as precious as their other two!



I had a great time while in Texas and will miss my family. At the same time it is good to be back "home."

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Day

Christmas Breakfast- Granny's Sausage Roll


For the last several years I have contributed to making a special breakfast for the family. We have always shared Saturday morning breakfasts for as long as I can remember. As teenagers, we begged to sleep late, but my dad insisted that we not "sleep the day away", but rather spend quality time around the table sharing breakfast on Saturday mornings. When we are all in town, my dad still enjoys getting as many of us around the table to share breakfast.

About five or six years ago I decided to try to make my grandmother's sausage roll. She passed away about eleven years ago, and when we would go visit her she would have the sausage roll and cinnamon rolls for us at breakfast. I haven't ever tried the cinnamon rolls, but have perfected the sausage roll. It is one of Roger's favorites and he requests each year at Christmas You actually need to make this the before because you need to freeze it, so it makes his request easy, but you have to plan ahead.

Granny's Sausage Roll


2 c flour
3 T cornmeal
3 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1/3 c oil
Milk to make stiff (about 1/2 c, but up to 1 c)
1 lb sausage

Mix four, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, oil, and milk together. Kneed dough and roll out into a rectangle. I normally roll it to about 9 x 13 or so. Once dough has been rolled out I trim may edges to make it pretty. Then spread the uncooked sausage on top of the dough. Roll the sausage and dough mixture into a roll.


Place the sausage roll in wax paper and foil or a container that can go in the freezer. I just don't have a container long enough to accommodate it. Freeze overnight or longer. About 15 to 20 minutes before you are ready to bake this remove from the freezer and begin to thaw. You want to thaw just long enough that it begins to soften and is easy to cut. Cut the sausage roll into slices. I normally cut mine between 1/4 and 1/3 of an inch wide. Bake about 400 until brown, which is about 25 minutes. Enjoy!





Christmas Day

We began today by eating our special breakfast by the fire.


Then I finished setting the table before I headed back upstairs to finish getting ready for everyone to arrive. I then went and picked up my grandparents. I helped in the kitchen when I returned as the last minute preparations were made. It is one of those times when there are too many people in the kitchen, but no one says anything because it doesn't happen that often.



We enjoyed a wonderful lunch of fried turkey, dressing, loaded mashed potatoes, corn casserole, jalapeno broccoli, cranberry jello salad, strawberry jello salad, and rolls. Fried turkey has become a tradition around here. My dad does a great job of making this delicious part of the meal.


The rest of the day was spent playing with Jacob and visiting with one another. Here is a picture of Uncle Roger and Jacob playing. They also played with Jacob's new rocket, but that was outside and I forgot to take my camera out there.



It was a great day, but now everyone has gone. I'll see more of Stuart, Michelle, Jacob, and the grandparents, but the house is sure a lot quieter without Roger and Alisa!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas Eve

The decorations are in place. Old favorites that make Christmas, Christmas and new ones like a second Christmas tree. With all the gifts finally wrapped, the bows all tied, and the errands complete, our family gathered around the tree. (The eye doctor was uneventful except for the precautions I was given regarding retinal detachment. Apparently I am at risk due to the type of vision loss I have. I did receive a new prescription for glasses. I have a contact lens appointment on Wednesday and then I will have all this behind me.)



Each year Christmas is a little different, and I have decided that is part of our tradition. This year to help with the hustle and bustle of Christmas Day, it was decided that we would exchange our presents on Christmas Eve. This also allows Stuart, Michelle, and Jacob to begin to establish some of their own tradition on Christmas morning, and Roger and Alisa to get back to her family to spend Christmas evening with them.

I remember the days when we would argue with who was going to be "Santa" and pass out the presents. It's isn't that way any more. Thankfully there is a little red headed guy who immediately volunteered and took charge. I think once the person who passed out the gifts had to wear the Santa hat or the reindeer antlers, it wasn't such a popular gig. I must brag on my sweet little nephew. He has started to learn to recognize names and did a stand up job at reading the tags and getting the right present to the right person. Occasionally he had to ask for help, but that was normally do to the giver writing some one's nickname on the tag.


There are a few things that never change at my house. Everyone must watch the one opening the present, though this is getting a little less strict. The fact that there is a certain order to opening presents. You can't open this gift because it won't make sense until you open another gift. This means that it is a two part gift and my mom wants you to open it in the correct order. (Now this was very different from when we were growing up and only could open one gift on Christmas Eve. I specifically remember one year getting a phone jack. I was about 12 or 13. I had actually asked for a phone. I didn't get to open it until the next day which was torture at that age. Or there was the year that Roger received a controller to the Nintendo, and didn't get the actual Nintendo until the Christmas Day.) You can't open that gift until we find Alisa's and Michelle's too. Now this is code for the fact we all got the exact same thing and Mom wants us to open them at the same time. Or there is the always present, now where did I put ___________. Which means my mom forgot to wrap something entirely. It's never dull around our house!



Once the gifts had been opened it was on to a fairly recent tradition of the Christmas Eve tamale dinner. This year we also had pinto beans and cornbread. While it may seem a little odd it was wonderful! We also had several pizzas for those who don't eat tamales.

The rest of the evening was filled with conversation, playing with Hot Wheels (Three guesses for who received those and the first two don't count!), and sitting by the fire.



The house is quiet and the tree is bare- well, the underneath side. The paper and bows that were ripped to shreds have been discarded. The laughter has died and the table has been cleared. The living room has been picked up and preparations for Christmas lunch have already begun. In spite of all the business that this time of year brings, I pray each of us remembers that over 2000 years ago the first Christmas. The announcement of the birth of a baby boy by angels to a group of shepherds. This baby was no ordinary baby, but God wrapped in human skin. Both God and man in the form of a helpless baby. Immanuel, God with us. My prayer for myself, my family, and everyone else is that wonder of this season is fresh this year. That the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ is not forgotten and that we all have the opportunity to awe at the most precious gift ever given.

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Twenty-eight

(I have more pictures to post, but I am having technical difficulties with the uploading...check back later for the complete post.)

While that may be my age (for the next couple of week), it was also the temperature outside when I woke up this morning. I'm definitely not in Florida any more!

I had an uneventful trip to Texas on Friday. Since my arrival, I have spent the majority of my time with friends and family. Saturday was Girls Day and Boys Day. To really understand this tradition you need to know that I grew up in a football crazy family- high school, college, NFL- it doesn't really matter. My younger brother is a high school football coach so I hear a lot about high school football. This weekend is also the Texas high school state championship games, so the boys headed to Waco to catch the 4-A state game at Baylor University. They all admitted they really wanted to go to Dallas to the 3-A game, but the women vetoed that one.

That left the girls at home, but we had out own plans. After a wonderful lunch out at a local dive we headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up supplies for our afternoon project. Of course we also stopped by the g-parents for a quick visit.

Once we arrived back home, the fun began. Both of my sister-in-laws, Alisa and Michelle, had requested a craft lesson while I was home. Michelle wasn't able to join us on Saturday because they were celebrating Christmas with her side of the family. (Don't worry, she is getting a private lesson tomorrow!) Several years ago I "stole" an idea from my friend Jeff over at LandLife. He made his wife a cross out of wire and beads. She loved it so much, she convinced him to make one for me as well. I made one for Roger and Alisa as a wedding present after I heard she planned to decorate a wall of their house with crosses. Last year I made a different and smaller version for all the volunteers at work. I honestly hadn't made any since then, but that was


Alisa working on her cross.


Not quite finished but getting close


This is the one I am working on and will finish when I give Michelle her lesson.

Tomorrow is a trip to the mall to visit Santa...well, not me, but Jacob announced today that he hasn't had a chance to go see him so Michelle and I are taking him in the morning. He also is worried about the candelabra in their fireplace. He says that if Santa sits on that it will be "ouchy". He is too funny! That afternoon we will open our Christmas presents, but it will have to wait until after Alisa and Roger finish their shopping. Yep, that is right, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and they still haven't finished their shopping!

Scratch that visit to see Santa. I just remembered I have a long overdue appointment to the eye doctor. I will be spending my morning at Scott and White. The good thing is that I will be able to see by the end of the week after getting new contacts and glasses!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas! (Weekend Recap)

How many Christmas trees can you put up in one weekend? Well, if you are me, the answer is three. On Friday night I helped my cousin put up my aunt's tree. Since we did the same thing last year, we have decided that this may become a new tradition. On Saturday night I help my friend Blair and her mom put up their tree. Finally, this afternoon my tree went up. It's still "ornamentless", but it is up.

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I had two goals this weekend to accomplish before my roommate returned home: get the Christmas tree up and clean my room.

I got a late start on Friday due to the fact that I stayed up too late on Thursday night. After a little shopping, I ended up meeting my aunt and cousin for dinner and then went back to my aunt's condo to help with their tree and watch a movie. (If you haven't seen "Amazing Grace" I highly recommend it. It wasn't exactly like I expected, but good nonetheless.)

When I got home the Christmas tree was still not up and my room had not cleaned itself. I did get my nativity scene out and put together. This is the first year that I have had all the pieces. I began three years ago with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The next year the shepherds and animals appeared. Last year, the wisemen, angel, stars, and creche appeared. However, I received them for Christmas and my birthday, so they never were unboxed.




Saturday arrived and I began making plans to get the tree up. I moved the chair from under the window and placed it on the long wall where the couch normally goes. I moved the couch and put it under the window. It didn't take me very long to realize that wasn't going to work and moved them back to their original places. I did take advantage of all the furniture moving and vacuumed under both the couch and the chair.

Then I moved the table and the other couch and then moved them back to their original places. Eventually I realized that the answer to my problem was going to require moving the bookshelf to the office , moving the other couch down the wall and the table. With the space finally made to put the tree, I wrangled the tree out of my closet and into the living area. Before I knew it, it was time to go to my friend's house for their post Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas kick off gathering. I had more turkey (yum), put up another tree, and watched "Elf".

All the furniture moving made me quite tired...too tired to actually get the tree out of the box. So, today after church I finally accomplished the task of getting the tree up. After fluffing it's branches I thought I would take a second and take a break. Two hours later, I woke up. Now I am sitting admiring my work and watching it glow in the corner.



Ahhh, I love Christmas! Now the question is should I go work on my room?