Blogmas Day 5 - Favorite Christmas Food

Honestly, I'm not sure if there is any particular food that I look forward to the most when it comes to Christmas.  As a child we used to go to my grandparents' house for Christmas Eve dinner and they would have a turkey among so many other things to eat.  In recent years we've always had ham; whether we make it here at home or we go to the in-laws for Christmas Day dinner.  Then there are the sides of potatoes, veggies, biscuits and whatever else is decided on.  Then there is dessert.  My sister-in-law makes a dump cake, which I haven't tried.  My husband loves it and begs me to try it but excuse me, I just can't get myself to consume anything named DUMP cake ... lol.  I usually make a chocolate cake and a few years ago my son suggested we turn it into a birthday cake for Jesus so I always make a cake that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS. 

I do make a batch of sugar cookies and use my Christmas shaped cookie cutters.  I'll hold off on that recipe until it's time for the Christmas cookie post.  :-)

I can't wait to read what everyone else eats for Christmas.  

Blogmas Day 4 - My Favorite Christmas Music

I LOVE Christmas music.  My list is long ... but I will pick one song here.

In my house, we are big Duck Dynasty fans.  Last year my husband bought me their Christmas CD Duck The Halls.  It's been in my car since and every time we are driving somewhere (ALL YEAR long) my daughter asks to listen to "Away in the Manger" sung by Sadie Robertson.  So I decided to post the song here.

It starts with Mia, a little girl who reads from Luke 2 (Hey, I posted that the other day).  Then Sadie, Mia's cousin, sings the song.  Such a beautiful voice.

I also enjoy other classics such as Silent Night, O Holy Night, Breath of Heaven to name a few.

Blogmas 2014 - Day 3 My Favorite Christmas Movies

When I was a child I loved watching Miracle on 34th Street.  Every year I looked forward to watching it with my mom.  The movie came out in 1947 (Wow that is the year my dad was born) but I actually enjoy those old classics.  My mom and I used to watch a lot of the old movies together, like Singing In The Rain and some other ones that the titles aren't clicking in my head right now ... but anyway, back to CHRISTMAS movies ...

This movie is about a man who fills in for the intoxicated Santa at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and he is such a hit they hire him to be the Santa for the mall.  He claims he's the real Santa and even ends up going to court because people think he's mentally unstable.  In the end they all find out he truly is the real Santa, including this young girl pictured above (Natalie Wood) who didn't believe in Santa at all before he came along.

I also enjoy National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  Oh, that one just cracks me up each and every time I watch it.

Clark Griswold wants nothing more than a perfect Christmas with his family but everything seems to go wrong for him.

The most recent movie that I enjoy a lot, and my family enjoys it as well, is Elf.  My kids insist on watching it all the time.  When my son was 3 he wanted to watch it throughout the entire year.  That's okay, it never gets old in my opinion.

 After sneaking into Santa's sack at the orphanage as a baby Buddy grew up in the North Pole where he lived with the elves.  But when he grows up and finds out he's a human he takes a trip to New York City to meet his dad and live among other humans.  His dad, who is on the naughty list, is obsessed with his career but Buddy helps him to learn what really matters in life.  If you haven't seen this movie yet I suggest you watch it.  It's cute and humorous. Good for the whole family. 

Blogmas 2014 Day 2 - What Does Christmas Mean To Me

"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. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.  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 that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” -- Luke 2: 4-14

As a child Christmas was all about giving and receiving gifts and spending time with family and loved ones.  Santa left a special present for me under the tree on Christmas morning.  But through the chaos of it all my parents made sure I knew the true meaning of Christmas was about the birth of Jesus.  I always believed it.  Never doubted it.  

Jesus was born into the world to teach people how to live correctly and then died a brutal death on the cross so that our sins would be forgiven and we could have eternal life in Heaven.  Jesus died for each and every one of us.  I don't know anyone who could love us more than that. 

And still, I've passed on many of my childhood traditions to my children.  We leave a gift from "Santa" under the tree and exchange other gifts.  We allow them to have fun picking out what gifts they want and then tearing open each present on Christmas morning but we teach them that the best gift of all is the birth of Jesus.  He is the reason why we celebrate Christmas (and Easter) and that is what this season means to me.  

Blogmas 2014 - Day 1 Your Favorite Christmas Tradition

I decided to participate in Blogmas 2014 created by the wonderful Sandra at The Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom.  I often participate in her Happy Homemaker Monday but haven't been able to do that in awhile.  I will get back to HHM eventually but I am going to give this Blogmas a try.  I don't update my blog often because I never know what to write so this shall be fun.  Hopefully I can find the time every day this month to complete this. 

And wow, can you believe it's December already?  Where did the year go?  Unbelievable! 

Ok, here it is. 

Your Favorite Christmas Tradition

When it comes to Christmas my family has a lot of traditions.  We bake sugar cookies with my Christmas shape cookie cutters, we go to the mall and let the kids pick out a new ornament or two for our tree, we stay home on Christmas Eve to watch as Santa goes by on a firetruck and we take a trip to the nearby amusement park to see their lights display and see Santa.  But I think my most favorite tradition of all is setting up the tree and all the decorations.  Every year it's done the day after Thanksgiving.

I've never been great at dealing with crowds so Black Friday shopping is out of the question.  Plus, before having children when I worked I had the day after Thanksgiving off and my husband took the day off.  It was a perfect day to get the decorating done. 

We have a prelit artificial tree which seems to make things so much easier.  I don't have to worry about stringing lights but I do add a few pieces of garland and the glass balls while the children put the rest of the ornaments on.  They love doing it. 

Then I arrange other decorations around the house, including our ceramic nativity scene and the stockings.  The children also enjoy sticking the window clings to the living room window. 

My husband hangs the lights and decorates the outside of the house.  I didn't take a picture of that yet. 

Happy 7!

Today my oldest child turns 7.  I can't believe it.  Why are the years going by so fast?  I remember finding out I was pregnant, going through the pregnancy, giving birth and holding that tiny newborn in my arms as if it were yesterday.  Now he's a big boy in 1st grade, reading, writing and solving basic math problems.  I went to a parent/teacher conference last week and was told how wonderful he is doing in class and is above average in reading and math.  I'm amazed at this boy.  He does give us some minor challenges at times but it's nothing we can't work out.  He's a great kid and I'm so lucky to be his mom. 

Unfortunately he had to go to school today and this is the first birthday he's had away from me but when he gets home we will celebrate.  My husband took off work and met him at the school for lunch.  He'll be sharing cupcakes with his classmates too.  He picked out what he wants for dinner and then we'll have cake and he can open presents.  He's already spent the money is grandpa and his nanny gave him.  We celebrated on Saturday at a local amusement park.  It was cold but they have it all set up for Christmas. 

I love this boy!

It's Not Winter Yet But It's COLD Outside

Right now my thermostat reads 27 degrees.  As soon as I stepped outside today my hands immediately froze.  I'm not a fan of this weather.  Not at all.  According to the calendar it's not winter yet but it sure feels like it and it's only going to get colder.

Yes, I love this cartoon.  It explains how I feel.  I love the summer and I even love spring and autumn ... but not winter.  I will say, I love being able to wear jeans and a long sleeve comfortable shirt and sip on a hot drink to stay warm.  But I'll quickly exchange all of that for a chance to get back into my shorts, tank tops, flip flops and the warm air.  Oh how I already long for springtime. 

As my daughter and I returned this morning from putting my son on the school bus she said, "I don't like the cold I like the warm."  Smart girl! 

At least we know when the cold weather arrives it means it won't be long before the Christmas season starts.  It seems in a lot of places it has already started.  Some people have started to decorate, you see all the Christmas displays in all the stores and Christmas music is playing on the radio.  I used to complain about the rush of the season.  I mean, we just finished Halloween and I haven't even eaten my turkey on Thanksgiving yet.  It used to bother me so much that everyone wanted to get the holiday started early because it wasn't long before I'd become sick of it.  But this year I'm planning to have a different attitude. 

I mean, what is so wrong with getting an early start on celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior?  It seems as though Christmas comes and goes too quickly anyway.  So I'm going to take the time and enjoy it for as long as possible and it's already started in this house. 

We haven't decorated yet and probably won't until the day after Thanksgiving, as we always do, but we're already listening to Christmas music and have started shopping for presents.  My husband has planned the days he is taking off in the month of December, because he can't carry them over to the next year and he has so much to use.  My favorite part of December is that he's home A LOT with us. 

But of course, as excited as I'm getting for Christmas I have to remember that Thanksgiving is next week and I need to get ready to cook a big meal for my parents.  Also, my son's 7th birthday is next week too.  Yeah, aside from the bitter cold weather this is a really great time of year.  I'm excited for what's to come. 

I'm also excited to participate in a 25 Days of Christmas idea Sandra from The Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom came up with.  I'm always looking for different ideas when it comes to what to add on my blog. 

So that's about it for now.  Stay warm, friends!