have a blessed Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve!

Today's Agenda:

lots of cookie baking

homemade meatballs in the crock pot

gingerbread houses

Christmas pjs for the kids (still have to make those!)

church

and maybe a quick stop at Starbucks for some yummy hot chocolate on the way home :)

(that was my grocery shopping trip last night...everything is made better with hot chocolate! Mmmmm.....)

opening a few presents (the kids always open the present from each other on Christmas Eve)

tracking Santa on NORAD

enjoying Christmas Eve with each other

Have a blessed day!

winter break

Christmas is coming way too fast this year. It's my favorite time of year...I wish it would slow down!

Picked up some vintage ornaments at Goodwill a week ago. Score! And I picked up this cute vintage suitcase at my quilt retreat in October. I'm planning on redoing the inside (one of the many items on my 'to-do' list!)

Some new decorations, some old, some handmade. Can you tell I like Charlie Brown ;)

We went to see Arthur Christmas with friends.

Such a great movie that I'm thinking of taking the kids to see it again next week.

We went to see A Christmas Story playing at the dollar movies. Awesome.

Many hours have been spent on Club Penguin...

Something fun came in the mail...

Project Life for next year...I ordered Clementine for Addie's 2nd year and for our family album. Which reminds me...I realize I haven't been very good at sharing my pages. So next week I'll be sharing Addie's album...I promise :)

I've been working on my December Daily (and so has my oldest daughter). Almost caught up. My friend Theresa & her gang came over yesterday.

The boys...

The girls...

hehe :)

We still have gingerbread houses, popcorn garland, Christmas cookies & a few other holiday crafts to make :)

I have to brave the grocery store today. And possibly Target. My daughter's birthday is just 8 days after Christmas so it makes for an even busier Christmas season. It's nearly noon and I'm still in my pjs. Guess I'd better get going!!

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve!!
 

what I want for Christmas...

I've had this Kitchenaid stand mixer for 11 years. The bowl is missing because it's currently in the dishwasher from making some yummy cookies. And there's probably food on the side of it. It's well loved :)

My hubby bought it for me our first Christmas together. I never asked for it. Somehow he knew...and it's been one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received.


Cause I love to bake. Especially at Christmas time.


But check out this lovely from Kitchenaid...

It's a thing of beauty. A 7 qt bowl-lift residential stand mixer. Seven!! To me that translates into double batches of Christmas cookies. Drool....


You can win one by going to Mom Spotted and entering her giveaway. 


Someone's Christmas is going to get a whole lot merrier!!

mini cinnamon rolls

I made these for breakfast today. Aren't they cute??! I was looking for something quick & easy to make. I didn't feel like making muffins (and a big mess in the kitchen) because the plumber was coming to install my new dishwasher.

{Insert very excited squeal here} 

An early Christmas present. Something that was not asked for but certainly appreciated.

Back to the mini cinnamon rolls...

Found this recipe on pinterest (of course!) and had to try it out. And as luck would have it I had one tube of crescent rolls in the fridge!

I used a very liberal amount of cinnamon & brown sugar. And be sure to spray the pan very well because the brown sugar likes to stick (and cook) to the pan. I'm going to try doing these on a stone next time for easier cleanup. The only thing I would change next time is the frosting...I didn't really taste the maple syrup (and I did use real maple syrup) so next time I'll probably use vanilla extract.

You can be that I'll be making these on Christmas morning along with my crock pot breakfast casserole.

Now I gotta run & go do some dishes...just for the heck of it! hehe

6 months

It is amazing how much this little one has changed...even just in the past month. She has quite the personality and is just so stinkin' much fun!

She loves to babble/talk/blow spit bubbles/grunt like she's filling her diaper (even though she isn't). She can be quite loud when she wants to be.

She loves to grab her toes...and many times will pop that big toe right in her mouth! 

She has the best disposition & is rarely fussy. If she's upset, there's a reason - aka messy diaper/hungry/tired.

She's better about being around strangers...for the most part. She still sometimes gets upset if there's too many people around her that she doesn't know. Like in my older daughter's classroom when all the girls were crowding around her. Kinda freaked her out & she started wailing.

She loves to try and grab everything...my hair, my Coke, my water bottle, my necklace, whatever. She still hasn't quite figured out how to get those hands to work how she wants but she sure is trying. 

She got her first tooth just 2 days after turning 6 months old. She has mastered rolling over & seems very eager to crawl. She is a very observant baby & loves to watch & study everything. 

She loves her mobile & little music/aquarium thingy in her crib. She loves to be sung to. She also loves stuffed animals so we were sure to ask Santa for a Fozzie Bear puppet for Christmas :)

She loves to lift her legs way up & slam them down when she's in her crib. Her big sister used to do the same thing. And now she can wiggle around a bit which means finding her in her crib like this...

I decided to get one of those breatheable bumper pads because she was getting her legs caught in the crib slats. So far I'm really happy with it. It's a lot less bulky than a regular bumper & very easy to wash.

She's a spitter-upper but thankfully {for the most part} she's not as bad as her big sister was. Now there was a super spitter upper!

She weighs just over 17lbs and for the most part wears 6-9 month clothes although some are a little big on her & some of her 3-6 month clothes still fit. Just depends on the maker of the clothes.

So far her favorite baby food is bananas...just like her daddy :)

I wish time would slow down just a bit. We're just having so much fun with her :)

tis the season...

for waiting in line at the post office! This was the scene yesterday...

Strollers come in quite handy when you have a lot to carry!! The last couple years I've been late getting packages out. And actually we have one more to go out. Lots to mail around the holidays with everyone living in different states.

We had fun with those boxes before we packed 'em up :)

Fra-gee-lay...that must be Italian!

I hope your holidays are going well!! We're heading out today to get a few last things, heading to the post office to mail the last 2 packages, & then we can spend some time making yummy Christmas treats :)

sweet & tangy meatballs

I've been making this recipe for probably 15 years...at least. And it's so darn easy you won't even believe it. 

4 ingredients. 

That's it. 

Oh, and a crock pot. And a whisk :)

They're perfect for pot-lucks because there's virtually no prep time. Oh sure, you could make the meatballs from scratch. And I do with my other meatball recipe that I make on Christmas Eve. But this recipe...just stick with the frozen kind. It works just fine.

Place the frozen meatballs in your crock pot. Mix together 1-36 ounce bottle of ketchup, 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce and 3/4 cup packed brown sugar. Pour mixture over the meatballs & stir gently to coat. Then set the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. 

That's it. 

Seriously. 

Told ya it was easy!

Now, don't overcook them or the meatballs will start to fall apart. Usually I'll pop them in the crock pot a few hours before I'm going to have company, then turn it off just before serving. Crock pots temps vary, so you may need to cook yours a little shorter or longer.

I made these for our Christmas party at mom's group last week. I knew I didn't have a ton of time to get them cooked in the morning so I thawed the meatballs the day before. Then I cooked them on high for the first hour & a half, then on low for another hour & they were good to go.

Since there weren't too many left from the party I made more the next day for dinner :)

My kids devoured them. Even the picky kid asked for seconds :)

yesterday's {POTD}

{picture of the day}

Just Addie & me...her snoozing in my lap. At night when everyone else is in bed. My favorite time of day :)

The photo is a bit grainy. The vacuum cleaner is still out. That's ok. That's life. At least you can't see that the dresser is dusty ;)

I love that you can see her little hand. So precious.

This one will probably go in Addie's Project Life album rather than the December Daily but we'll see. 

Today I'm working on the kid's treat bags for their last day of school tomorrow. Probably blizzard bites & pretzel hugs (recipes to follow for sure!)

And catching up on my December Daily. I have the pics printed & ready to go in my book. 

10 more days until Christmas!!

holiday inspiration {via} pinterest

Darn you Pinterest. You are such a drain on my time some days. But oh the inspiration! And now my 'to do' list is oh so long!

(Click on any of the images to take you to the link)

InLinkz.com

If I had the time I would love to use the snowmen cups filled with blizzard bites for my son's class but given my kids only have 3 days of school left I don't think that's gonna happen. Maybe next year.

Definitely going to do the Reindeer Feet...I'm thinking a canvas with all 3 of my kiddos & their feet :)

And when I see those beautiful vintage ornaments it makes me want to scour the earth to get some of my own! Believe me, when I'm at garage sales & thrift shops I'm always keeping an eye open for them.

When am I gonna start looking up these ideas in August so I can be on top of things for the holidays?? Anyone else feel this way?? hehe Oh wait a minute, I had a 2 month old in August this year!

I hope this gives you some inspiration! You can follow me on Pinterest to see some of the other goodies (edible & non-edible!) I have pinned :)