A few Christmas Morning Pictures...

A few pictures of a few excited girls on Christmas morning!


Before the Madness - what Santa brought. Sarah got a Little People bus (which hasn't been touched yet, by the way), an Elmo book and a sit-n-spin...and a stocking full of stuff. Beth got a Light Bright, a Leapster & 2 games and Bella Dancerella DVD/dance mat. He brought BOTH the girls a new book called Big Sister/Little Sister...which has also not been touched. Oh well...he had good intentions, I'm sure!


Beth excited about the Leapster that Santa brought!




Sarah excited about the donuts that Momma brought!



Beth super excited about the Disney washclothes in her stocking - the kind that are super compact and then expand/grow when put in water.




Sarah LOVED her new Elmo book....here she is just lounging around reading it!

The girls opening up their new Cinderella dresses from mom! They are super cute dresses, by the way!! http://www.littledressupshop.com/

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Murray

Round one of Christmas was last night in Murray and that is always fun! We enjoyed seeing Gramma, Papaw, Aunt Becky, Uncle Tracy, Chase and Jessica! The girls were wonderful and enjoyed watching "Rockin' Santa - A Wiggles Christmas" on the way there! (FINALLY - Sarah will watch the DVD's in the car!) Everyone got what they wanted and the girls have been having fun today playing with their new toys....although Sarah would rather be playing with all Beth's new toys, but that really isn't any different than any other day.

Beth got Cinderella from Gramma - thank goodness! Its going in the Disney Vault in January!

Sarah got the Little Mommy doll (the one I wrote about earlier that looks just like her!) Its crazy - its like they used a picture of Sarah to create the doll! Her Aunt Becky (and crew) also gave her a doll, which she is currently taking a nap with!

(other new doll seen in this picture)

Bob and his nephew, Chase, cheesing it up!

By the way, have I mentioned that Bob got a new job? He will continue being the Facilities Engineer at the plant, but he will now take on all the Safety stuff, too, which is his specialty, anyway...so basically, he has two jobs and a slightly higher salary, so yeah! He just has to work more hours now...which means lots of Saturdays, unfortunately. But, a promotion is a promotion and more hours are expected, so its okay. We're proud of him!

Christmas Pageant

Beth's Christmas Pageant was yesterday. She was the Inn-Keeper and actually had lines to say! She did sooooo well! SUCH a drastic improvement in just one year - I can't believe it! I was working the video camera and still have no idea how to upload the video to my computer, so sorry I can't post the adorable video of Beth singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas! But...I have a few from the pageant. It was SO dark in the sanctuary that "good" pictures just were not happening! Beth is on the far left in the blue robe!

Random Christmas Hoopla

Leia tagged me - so here goes! Here are the rules:
1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla'
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. I absolutely love decorating the Christmas tree and looking at all the ornaments I've collected in the 31 years of my life!
2. I aboslutely HATE the "Christmas" song called The Christmas Shoes. Someone please tell me WHY that song should put ANYONE in the Christmas mood?!?! Oh- and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause (By the Jackson Five) and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas are right there behind it - AWFUL!
3. Having kids has put the magic back into Christmas...and gives me an excuse to watch my favorite Christmas movies like Rudolph, Nestor and The Small One!
4. I could care less if I have any gifts to open on Christmas Day - watching the girls open their gifts is all the "present" I need!
5. I serve powdered donuts & Sister Schubert sausage rolls for Christmas morning breakfast every year!
6. I LOVE LOVE LOVE waking up in my OWN house on Christmas morning!
7. I bake entirely too many goodies every year!
8. I hate sending Christmas cards and I just may not do it this year. Just too much trouble!
9. I love driving around with the girls looking at Christmas lights (we did this last night, in fact!).
10. I wish more people would remember WHY we have Christmas in the first place. The commercialism drives me crazy. On the radio Saturday, I heard a promo that said "all Christmas Music, All the Time, to get you in the holiday shopping spirt!" Why does it have to the HOLIDAY SHOPPING SPIRIT? Why can't it be just plain old CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!?! The Christmas season isn't about shopping...err......
11. I love going to Church this time of year. We go all year...but there is just something about the Christmas season in your Church.....and singing traditional Christmas hymes....love it!
12. I'm SO excited about Christmas morning this year I could bust! I think both girls are going to have a great day!

I'm tagging:
Emily, cousin Katie in Oregon (or Colorado!) and Sarah in Texas!

Breakfast with Santa

We had Breakfast with Santa this morning and it was Crazy! Sarah was WILD and refused to eat and just wanted DOWN. One of us was constantly chasing her. Beth ate a HEARTY breakfast and had a good time seeing all her Nursery School friends. Santa came in and Beth immediately turned shy and Sarah loved him...from a distance...this is what happened when she was PUT on his lap!

And we ATTEMPTED to try to get a family picture. No such luck, but I like this one!

CHEEEEESE!

Why the Craziness?

Why do we insist on making this time of year crazy? I mean really...why? Just over the last 7 days, I have:

Made 5 doz chocolate mint cookies for a cookie swap.
Attended cookie swap.
Made 2 doz choc. reindeer cookies before I decided I didn't like them and didn't make the other 4 doz cookies!
Made 8 bags full of Chocolate Pretzel treats for gift giving.
Ordered 4 additional gifts from on-line retailers.
Ran to nearby town for additional "in store" shopping. Wasn't very successful!
Wrapped 6 more gifts.
Taken both girls for haircuts, which is always a fiasco!
Went to Church.
Painted 9 additional clay ornaments for gift giving tags.
Hosted Beth's special day, which required getting 2 different crafts ready for 15 kids and making 15 cups of homemade "who" pudding.
Going to Walgreens with photo memory card and spending over an hour trying to print pictures!
Decided on 2 more recipes to make for cookie tray gifts - fudge and Oreo Balls and buying the ingredients.
Took Beth out to lunch yesterday.
Got my car's oil changed.
Oh...does cooking dinner each night count? (except last Sat/Sun)
Oh - did I mention Bob was out of town for two days during this? And also not home Sunday (Titan's NFL game with my dad)?

For the next 2 weeks, I fully expect just as much craziness, but it will get nuttier the closer to Christmas we get! Beth's Christmas pageant is next week, which requires making/getting an "Inn Keepers" costume for her, as well as providing a fresh fruit plate/dip for the reception after! Our office party is next week...and that will require coordinating lunch for 7 people and the gift exchange. Oh, and B'fast with Santa is this Saturday, following by an evening Nativity at my parent's church, that Beth really wants to go to. And we promised we take her out one night this week to go look at Christmas lights around town. The Scholastic Book Warehouse sale is also next Mon-Wed and I REALLY do want to go to that! Hum....and I'm still not finished Christmas shopping, but at this point, I'm all about doing it all online. In fact - I still need to order Sarah's gift from me ,too!
I LOVE this website:
www.littledressupshop.com
Their dress-up clothes are really nice and wearable, MUCH better than the actual Disney brand dresses! And they ship free! I'm getting the girls matching Cinderalla dresses.

Sheesh...I'm tired.....

Special Day

Beth's Nursery School "Special Day" was yesterday. We spent the morning at her Grammy's house reading the Grinch, eating who-pudding and making a few Christmas crafts. The weather was also nice enough to go on a "bear hunt" outside. Any excuse to get kids outside this time of the year is a good excuse!

Getting ready to read "God Knows Your Name"

Singing to Beth

Eating "Who-pudding"














And Going on a Bear Hunt:

And lastly - the ornaments the kids made (and recipe to follow in case you would like to make your own!

Baker's Clay
1/3 Cup water (more if too dry)

1/2 Cup salt

1 Cup flour

Mix all ingredients until a dough forms.
Add more water if too dry.
Separate and add food color if desired.

Roll out and use cookie cutters to make ornaments
If you'd like to keep your creations, bake at 275 degrees, for 1 hour.
Varnish, if desired, once cooled.
Insert ornament hooks before baking (or poke a hole to tie a ribbon through later).

***Sorry about the odd look and formatting of this post - I've tried and tried to fix it with no success!

Haircuts at last - THANK GOODNESS!

The girls were starting to resemble shaggy dogs! Beth got her usual cut and trim, but Sarah got her first real "cut" and looks so cute!

Sarah Before:

Sarah After:

Beth Before:

Beth After (or at least the back of her...she was being so squirrely and wouldn't even look at the camera!):

Does anyone know this little girl?

I've seen this doll several times in stores and online and each time, I do a doubletake! And my on-line friend, Sarah, pointed it out again today! Its the "Little Mommy Doll" by Fisher Price! Its like a mini-Sarah Katherine!!

Bob, The Horse...

The girls just LOVE to play piggyback with Bob! Just some normal evening fun around our house!

Cute Christmas Song...

On YouTube. Make sure you have your volume up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Totally made me smile!

Christmas Traditions...

Someone asked me recently what my favorite Christmas tradition was? It started me thinking about what "traditions" we currently have and if there are any I might want to add...hum.....

The things we do each year without fail include:

1. Christmas "Eve" dinner at my parent's house. (sometimes this falls on the 23rd) Its been the same for my entire life. Although the location has changed from my grandmother's house to my mother's house now, its still roughly the same. Its my family, my uncle's family and my grandmother - now that all the cousins are getting married and having kids - I think we are up to 18 people? Everyone dresses up nice, we have a big formal dinner, then the craziness of opening presents begins! We all take family pictures each year. Everyone grumbles about it, but you know, I truly value those pictures. Its so fun to go back through the years and see basically the same "family pose" each each and see how the family has grown or changed, whether it be the birth of a child, the addition of a new spouse, etc. I don't think I realized just HOW MUCH I valued those pictures until I had kids of my own. Generally, they aren't great pictures of EVERYONE (although it HAS happened before) because we are usually trying to hurry because of a squirming child! Here are a few from over the years:

2003 - when Beth was 9 months old:

(Don't know what happened to the 2004 picture!)

2005 -I was pregnant with Sarah:

2006 - Sarah was 8 months old

2. Last year - we started this one:

Each year on Christmas Eve, we gift the girls matching Christmas PJ's and then they curl up with Bob and he reads them The Night Before Christmas, then we put out milk and cookies for Santa and then its off to bed!

3. Christmas Morning has also been relatively the SAME for me, since I can remember, regardless of WHERE it was, with the exception of one year that I can remember. It generally consists of waking up and waiting till everyone was awake. Then we go into the living room and the kids check out Santa gifts and then we open our family gifts. Its just us and its wonderful! We eat the same thing each Christmas morning - powdered donuts...and Sister Schubert Sausage biscuits (and it was Sausage balls when I was growing up). The rest of the day is usually different each year, but that morning tradition means the world to me!

2005 - Beth checking out her stocking!

2006:

4. And at some point during the 2-3 day Christmas festivities, we head over to Bob's family's house and have Christmas there, too! His mom makes some killer cheese dip with sausage that I look forward to each year!

My Sister-in-Law, Becky, and Beth in 2003:

My nephew, Chase, and Sarah in 2006:

What is your favorite tradition?

Our first Christmas picture of the season...

This was taken at Barkley Lake Lodge. Its tradition for us to go eat at their dinner buffet the Saturday after T'Giving with Bob's family. They USUALLY have LOTS and Christmas trees up in their lobby, including a really cute pink, purlple and green on (hence, why the girls have pink and purple on for a Christmas picture), but not this year! GEEZ!!! Oh well...its cute anyway. Sarah is really into looking directly at the camera, breaking out into a big smile and saying CHEESE as loud as she can. Its funny!

Holiday TV Specials

Here is a complete* guide to your favorite kids' Holiday Specials. (*according to TVGuide.com, so I'm not responsible for complete accuracy! Watch your local listings.) All times listed are CENTRAL STANDARD TIME, so adjust to fit your time zone, if needed!

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer - Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. on CBS
Frosty The Snowman - Friday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. on CBS
How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Wednesday, Nov. 28th at 7 p.m. on ABC or Wednesday, Dec. 5th at 7:30 p.m. on CARTOON.
Santa Claus is Coming To Town - Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. on ABC or Friday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m on ABC-FAMILY
Nestor, The Long Eared Donkey (my favorite!) - Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9 a.m. on ABC-FAMILY
Charlie Brown's Christmas - Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 pm. on ABC or Monday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m on ABC-FAMILY.

ENJOY!!

Did you pig out? Sarah totally did!

She loved everything she put in her mouth! She ate 1 1/2 corn-on-the-cobs! And this is her totally devouring the Coconut Cake! YUMMY

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Favorite Thanksgiving Recipe

I started gathering all my recipes last night to start prepping for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a few (some new, some old) that I just LOVE, that are EASY and that I wanted to share. I am making Sweet Potato Crunch, one of the two turkeys, applesauce, and green beans. My mom is making the dressing, corn, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. I'm so ready to eat!

What is your all time favorite Thanksgiving Recipe?

Sweet Potato Crunch

3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potato
½ c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ c butter, melted
½ c milk
½ tsp vanilla

Combine above ingredients and spoon into a greased casserole.

Topping: ½ c brown sugar
1 c pecans, chopped
1/3 c flour
1/3 stick butter, melted

Combine topping ingredients and spoon over potato mixture.
Bake, uncovered at 350 for 35 minutes.

Herb Roasted Holiday Turkey
(using Reynolds Oven Bag – turkey size)

12-24 lb Turkey
1 Tbsp flour
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion – sliced
vegetable oil
1 tspn dried sage
1 tspn dried thyme
1 tspn dried rosemary
1 tspn seasoning salt

Put flour in oven bag and shake to coat.
Add celery and onion to oven bag.
Rinse Turkey and pat dry.
Brush with oil
Combine all spiced and rub the mixture over turkey.
Cook Turkey according to weight/instructions included with Reynolds Oven Bags.

Homemade applesauce

Cut and peel 10 apples, put in crockpot.
Add 1/2 cup water, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1 cup sugar.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Drain and mash apples. Cool. Makes about 2-3 cups depending on size of apples used.

Cracker Barrel Country Green Beans
From CopyKat recipes
Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:
1/4 lb. Sliced Bacon
3 Cans Whole Green Beans (14 1/2 oz cans & do not drain liquid)
1/4 of a medium sized Onion
1 tsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions:In a two quart sauce pan on medium heat, cook bacon until lightly brown but not crisp.
When bacon has browned add green beans.
Add salt, sugar, pepper, and mix well.
Place onion on top of green beans, cover with a lid and bring to a light boil.
Turn heat down to low and simmer beans for 30-45 minutes.
Cooking the green beans for 30-45 minutes on a very low simmer will blend the flavors.

My Little Thanksgiving Pilgrim

Well, Beth survived her Thanksgiving Program this year! YEAH! No tears! NO meltdowns! She did great!!! I didn't have time to "edit" these pictures - I wanted to get them on here ASAP!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Got Books?

If you have children in school or a daycare center, then you are probably more than familiar with Scholastic Books. You probably even remember them from when you were a kid - I do. They are an excellent source of CHEAP books (mainly because they are paperback), but still - I love them. I bought so many "Christmas" books last December that we read a different one for a week leading up to Christmas! ANYWAY - the point of this post is to let you know that they are having their Warehouse Sale SOON! I know the one close to where I live is the week before Chirstmas -PERFECT TIMING! I went through the link below, chose my state and neighboring state and found the one closest to me, registered as a "Parent" and recieved a $10 off $50 purchase and "fast-cart pass" which evidently will let me bypass whatever long line there might be to get in. I'm excited. I think books are one of the BEST gifts for kids. Check it out!

http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/events/warehouse/

(Teresa - if you want to go with me - let me know. I'm thinking of going one of the evenings - see Tennessee for closest location to us)

Attention Target Shoppers!!!

Can you help me? I am looking for the Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket, which is a "Target Exclusive." (but yet I can find it at places like Amazon.com, etc, for TWICE the Target price). ANYWAY - next time you are in your friendly neighborhood Target, will you look for this toy for me? I will GLADLY reimburse you + pay whatever shipping it will cost - just email me or post that you found it in the comments section!

I think its only supposed to be $30-$40 - I can't remember. Amazon is selling them for $80 and I REFUSE to pay that when Target DID have them for half that! UGH! THANKS ALL!!

I made the chocolate one...

...and it sold for $25! Not bad, huh?

I Have to Bake a Cake...

Help me decide which one! I have to take a cake to the Youth Sunday Cake Auction this weekend and I can't decide between these two. Since the Auction is this weekend, I don't see how anyone will keep their cake until TGiving, so I'm leaning more towards the Chocolate Oreo cake, instead of the 4-Layer Pumpkin one, but OHHH...the pumpkin one looks soo good.....but everyone loves chocolate, too...hum......HELP! Niether are very hard to make, so that really isn't a deciding point. Which one would you make? Which one would you BUY, more importantly?

Chocolate-Covered OREO Cookie Cake

OR

Luscious 4-Layer Pumpkin Cake