Casting Crumbs

I LOVED CHRISTMAS THIIIIIIS MUCH!!

The other day I bought a pair of jeans that were way too long for me, so I cut them off. Later I heard the boys chattering away in my room, so I stopped to listen. They were saying “Okay, Jaden, I’m Chef 1 and you’re Chef 2. We have so much work to be done, let’s get cookin’!”

“Okay, Julian, I’m Chef 2!”

Here’s what I found. . .

They had my pantlegs on their heads!

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We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season. We certainly did. It’s amazing how time flies. We anticipate Christmas for so long and then it comes and goes so quickly.

The kids had a ball and we had so much fun just watching them. We quickly got up when we heard the kids scampering into the family room to see all the gifts. They exclaimed in hushed little voices not wanting to break the magic in the room. Julian swore he heard Santa and the bells in the night. He got a full-size Superman that he wanted. He picked him up and twirled him around and whispered “I wanted you!”. All of it was so sweet, innocent and magical for them.

Thank you to all our family for the gifts, for spending time with us and for your love. It is truly a very valuable and precious thing in our lives. We love you all!

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In case you are wondering about Julian’s tooth . . .

A couple days after my previous post, Julian came home from school and was excited to say that he could feel a tooth coming in. Sure enough, we can see a tooth under the skin where his right front tooth will be. It still hasn’t broke the skin, but you can see it under there. It amazed him and we are excited to see that puppy break through. Thanks for your prayers. They are being answered!

I have a small request from all of you. . .

In the spirit of Christmas, my kitchen has been turned into a real cooking machine! I have been trying to turn out some scrumptious yummies for the holidays. I thought I would share a couple with you.

Each year when I was a child my Mom made “Strawberries”. I loved them. I would sneak to the fridge and open the container every so often to pop these in my mouth. If you like coconut and a tangy strawberry taste, you will LOVE these. They are easy to make and very pretty to add to a cookie tray.

Strawberries

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After making the strawberries, I had some of the condensed milk left over and wanted to use it in something. I found this yummy recipe on AllRecipes. These are great if you like the salty/sweet factor in a dessert!

Sweet Pretzel Stacks

Pour saucepan mixture over the pretzel/peanut mixture and stir thoroughly until coated. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto waxed paper or foil. Cool or chill until firm. Store in covered container in cool place or in fridge.

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One other recipe that I stumbled upon yesterday was a Quick Quiche. I made this for breakfast Sunday morning and was surprised at how great it was. Sorry I don’t have a picture, I ate the last piece before snapping a picture.

Quick Quiche

** This is how I made the recipe. You can make it with swiss and bacon, add veggies or whatever you want. It was very simple and quick to put together. It was easy without the crust and yet held together very well. I did add some seasonings to mine – garlic powder and pepper.

We did it! We bit the bullet of stressful planning and made an appointment for a family picture. We have dreaded doing this for. . . well, since it was just Tom, me and Julian! That was the last time we had our pictures taken.

Yes, the kids got sick, their lips were chapped, Evely’s eye kept watering – but it wasn’t too bad. I prayed all week that the kids would behave and smile. That we would all get there in one piece with no blood shed and, praise the Lord, we ended up with a few good pictures. I was pleased!

Okay, Amber, here are some pics of the candlelighting service. Not too many turned out too great for me either, but some are good.

Our church has a neat tradition of having a candlelighting service/kids program/holiday cookie night every year. It’s a joyous time for us to celebrate the birth of our King, see our little ones sing and dress up like the nativity, sing Christmas carols and light up the sanctuary in beatiful candlelight. It’s a highlight that we look forward to.

Tom and I this year had the privilege of leading the 5 and 6 graders in a skit. It was our version of The Family Feud and the Holiday Team (Santa and his motley crew) battled it out with the Christmas team (The Biblical Characters of the Christmas Story). Tom was the host of the show and did a great job.

Julian was a Shepard this year. He learned his lines and said them with gusto.

Julian and McKenna loved holding their candles. They kept blowing them out so they could relight them off the others lit candle.

I love this one of McKenna. She looks so sweet in her pink shepard outfit!

And of course, Julian looks “cool”!

Since Tom has worked for CMH, we have thoroughly enjoyed going to the big Christmas party they throw for their employees and families. They have Waldenbooks there to give free books to all the kids, Santa, magic shows, face painting, crafts, lunch and caricatures. We love doing the caricatures and seeing how our little family has grown and what they portray us as. So here are the ones this year. . .

Aren’t we a lovely couple!!

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We seemed to have stepped into a new era with our family. We have always been pushing a big stroller, carrying diaper bags and bottles. Someone was always in terrible need of a nap by the time we left – but not this year. We sported a single backpack and three walking children that stayed with us! What a new season for us and I think it is proving to be more fun than before.

Here are the kids at the Hyatt. Everything was decorated so beautifully for Christmas. They loved the fountains and the escalators.

We went over to Union Station to check it out. They have these really great model trains running. There are many trains, tracks, sets and more. It draws quite a crowd and is free. The kids loved looking at all the fun sets, Thomas is even there in one part.

We took a cat walk that goes from Union Station over to the Center and walked all the way there. The Center was extremely crowded so we didn’t stay long but just walking and seeing all the Christmas decorations was a blast. Here is the family on the walk overlooking Union Station.

So many of our family events usually ends up with someone having a meltdown or some sort of small catastrophe happening – it’s the nature of having young children. This day, however, was extremely fun! It was a 9 1/2 out of a 10 for me. I look forward to more family events now that the kids are getting a little older. What a joy they are!

I always loved a good snow day as a kid. Now I love it when we have a snow day and actually have SNOW! The boys begged to go out yesterday but it was sooo cold. I told them when it started snowing they could go out. So toward evening last night we bundled up and went out to test the first snowfall of the year.