A Quiet (sort of) Christmas

It's Christmas night and 8 minutes after 8.  All three kids are in bed.  They had a full day and so did we.  But we didn't leave the house all day except to go outside and watch Cody ride his new bike.  It was nice.

The kids were the first ones up this morning.  Of course!  No surprise there.  Today was filled with...

Gift opening.

A pancake breakfast.

Beau's maple sugar face.

Apple Pie.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Bathroom cleaning.  (I know, right?!  Who does that on Christmas?  Me, that's who. It needed to be done and my mother was coming!)

Short nap (for me).  Looong nap (for Cory). 

Making cookies with Cody.

Lasagna.

Lots of picture taking.  I'm still trying to figure my newfangled camera out but it's fun.  I heart photography...even though I don't know what I'm doing.


Here are a few glimpses of our day.

My musical one.

A little design work to keep busy.

My mom.

Us

Merry Christmas 2011

"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 

Matthew 1:21

A Few Random Updates

• I know I haven't updated about the house building process but we are still moving forward however slow it may seem.  And it DOES seem slow.  Believe me.  Anyways, the land has been bushhogged (is that a word?) again and Cory is currently getting estimates from "driveway and basement digging dudes."  He met the third one just this afternoon.  So there IS some progress being made.  I know once it gets started though it will go much faster.  Soon.  Very soon. 
• Today is my moms birthday.  She is a great mom and just as great a mother-in-law.  She loves my husband like a son and never puts him down either to his face or behind his back.  She also handed down the making of homemade apple pie to me.  :)  He is blessed I'd say. 

• I am looking forward to Christmas with the kids.  Gifts, Pancakes (breakfast), Lasagna (dinner) and apple pie for dessert. 
• After all of that food talk I now come to a running update (for any of you interested in that sort of thing).  I'm considering a half-marathon in the spring.  Training starts next month.  I've also been doing some cross-training to keep from getting injured...or bored! 
• We are taking a break from homeschooling until the beginning of the year.  I'm going to try some new things.  A new year, a new schedule. 

And that's all folks!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Sugar Cookies continued...

As promised, here is the frosting recipe for the Christmas sugar cookies. 

Vanilla Butter Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tb milk

Mix powdered sugar and butter.  Stir in vanilla and milk and beat until frosting is smooth.  Add food color if desired. 

Enjoy!!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I thought I would share this sugar cookie recipe that my mom used to make every Christmas when I was a kid.  It was at the top of the list as a favorite.  Right up there with the chocolate covered mints and chocolate covered pb balls...oh and the fudge.  Can't forget the fudge!  Russian tea cakes were waaaay down at the bottom of the list.  I think those were the last to get eaten.  I'm still stumped as to why she always made those.  Huh.  Yep, still stumped. 

Anyways, back to the sugar cookies.

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extract.  Then mix in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.  Heat oven to 375.  Divide dough into halves.  Roll each half 3/16 inch think on lightly floured surface. (ok, 3/16?  I just rolled it out as thick or as thin as I wanted).  Then just cookie cutter those suckers up, slap 'em on the baking stone and bake for about 6-7 minutes.  A cooling rack is a must because this will make more than one batch. 

Warning: Things can get a little out of control if little ones are allowed to help.  It's memory making though.  :)

Tip: I allow my kids to taste-test the dough.  It makes it more fun.  Yes, it has a raw egg in it.  And in all of my 31 years of eating raw dough I have never ever gotten sick from raw eggs.  So there. 

It also helps to have a studly helper in a white t-shirt to make sure the cookies don't burn! 

Frosting pictures and recipe to come tomorrow....

Wordless Wednesday

:) :)

Falalalala...la.la.la.la!

My ragamuffin crew and I picked out our Christmas tree this afternoon.  I really like going to this place every year.  It's a family-owned business and they come down from Asheville with their trees.  They are always very friendly and the customer service is great.  The kids always like the HUGE snowman and the free candy canes.  :)

The halls are decked and the kids helped so that means damage control is in order but they had fun.  Emma enjoyed bossing everyone decorating.  She really gets into it.  Cody is more patient with her than I would be and Beau made a mess and pulled more ornaments off the tree than he helped put on. 

Merry Christmas!!