God With Us!

Merry Christmas 

borrowed this from a friends facebook status on Christmas Eve...


"If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: "God with us." We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!"

~ John F. MacArthur, Jr

Merry Christmas


Have a great day with your families!

Merry Christmas

my Christmas came a little early this year
one of my biggest presents was an overheard conversation between my kids at bed
...
and yes, my kids
girl child (10) & boy child (5) share a room...and they LOVE it

boy child-Madison, you're older than me, right?
girl child-Yes, a lot older.
bc-So, you're going to grow up faster than me, right?
gc-yep!
bc-And then you're going to leave before I do....
gc-yep!
bc-I'm going to miss you a lot when you leave!
gc-I'm going to miss you too!

One Mother's Junk Mail

is another mothers answer to boredom

what to do, what to do...

kids and Christmas break

and junk mail overload...

Junk Mail Snowflake Monsters
needed
junk mail (we just used 1 Ford flyer that had about 6 pages inside)
scissors
tape
children

fold junk mail and cut to make snowflakes

cut snowflakes up
tape back together into monster shapes

my kids (ages 5 & 10) spent 2 hours cutting, taping, creating this morning...

monsters all in a row

and then we decorated their bedroom with the snowflake monsters

the Christmas Program

last night was the girl child's debut in a play...

okay so I was a small play...

but it was her first, 

the church has an annual Christmas program that showcases all the different talents from our church body...

the bell choir and the choir are a given

and one of the 'entrys' is usually the kids choir

this year, bless her heart, Mrs. Judy, the kids choir director, decided to try to put together a mini play...

a few short lines in between songs with a few of the kids choir kids

highlighting the 'story of Christmas'...

Madison had the 'led' (for lack of a better term) in the play...

she was excited and nervous

loved the fact that she was going to wear a mic...

and she did great, and had a great time...

but...

but...

with anything that involves animals or children

especially the boy child

you must expect the unexpected...

and well, 

Madison might have had the lead role in the play, but Wilson stole the show!

during the 2nd show he spent the majority of the time showing the audience how HOT the stage lights were by trying to undress...he was wearing a polo shirt with a sweater on top...

he ONLY wanted to take the sweater off...

after a few failed attempts to remove the sweater he decides to just deal and push his sleeves up...

and that works...for about 2 minutes...

and then he returned to the original goal of getting that hot sweater off...

many times he'd get it over his head and realize that he was going to be stuck and then he'd just pull it back on...

finally, he managed to get the sweater off...

and then he noticed that his polo shirt didn't have all the buttons buttoned...

so now for the rest of the show he MUST get those buttons buttoned...

and finally before the last note of the last song, he managed to get it all together!

all this happening in the background while poor Madison in delivering her lines and wondering why the audience (and her parents) are laughing!

and of course I didn't take any pictures or video of it...

Giving More this Christmas

our church is participating in the Advent Conspiracy this Christmas season...
a grass roots movement to change the focus of Christmas
focusing on
[Worship Fully]
[Spend Less]
[Give Move]
[Love All]
and a tag line of
Christmas can [still] change the world

lots of info and don't want to start a sermon here, but I did want to share some ideas....
the whole concept of
spend less-give more...
feels sort of like an oxymoron, but it's not...
the more might be less money,
but more thought,
more emotion,
more of yourself....

this can be kind of a hard thing to do for some...
they might feel like they aren't very creative so they can't create something to give...
well, I just wanted to share some ideas of giving more
....
give the gift of pictures....
    *make a mini photo album for someone....great gift for grandparents or parents
    *frame a special picture for someone
    *give a gift certificate for a photo shoot...
          ~could be a family shoot (multiple generations) or
          ~a gift for a senior in high school or
          ~for new parents
     if you live locally in Redding there are a ton of great photographers...
          but I love Betsey Walton

give the gift of jewelry...okay, just don't freak out here...
*I know jewelry can be pricey, but not all jewelry is spendy, and some can have special meaning
I just gave the girl child a mother/daughter locket for her 10th birthday...it was only $20 at Target, and she LOVES it, I printed of some teeny tiny pictures from our computer of her when she was a baby and one of the two of us together when she was about 18 months old...and put them in the locket...(that was a labor of love, it's tricky getting pictures into those things!)..
*I also have some friends with some great inexpensive jewelry on their etsy sites...check them out....
Mrs. Smith sells fun bottle cap pendents and bird nest necklaces @ TheSmithHotel

this one is on her site...I have two bottle cap pendents
both with my kids names found on maps!

Zizi has some cute little earrings and hair clips that are just so sweet @ The Green Mum

I bought this pair for the girl child for Christmas!

and Lisa also has some great custom pieces...I'd ask Lisa for a gift certificate so your loved one could design their own piece...and because it's probably a little too late for her to make anything custom before Chistmas!...check out her stuff over @ Juella Designs 

such a sweet gift for a mother or grandmother!

the gift of health
sounds hard...but you can do multiple things...
*you can offer to become a work out partner for a family member or friend...
*work out gear (new shoes, new running pants, bike helmet)
*membership to a gym (okay that might be pricey...but it'd be a great gift for someone that might not need much!)
*pay for the entry into some 'event' marathons & triathalon & all of those things cost $$$
*help someone plan healthy meals and menus and offer to take them shopping
*a pass to a National/State Park for a year-to get them out hiking, biking, swimming...

the gift of food
*make a nice meal for someone
*offer to 'teach' someone how to cook that might not know how...maybe give them a few different hand made 'gift cards' with 'for one meal of your choice', 'lesson for one crock pot meal', 'good for one candy baking session', 'redeem to learn the art of pie baking'...you get the idea...
*grocery shopping for a month...sounds crazy...but what a gift to a mom, tell her that you just need cash and a list and you will do her grocery shopping (including unpacking and putting away said groceries) for a month...(make sure you know if they do their shopping every week, every 2 weeks, etc...and do it FOR them however if works best, I know I can't shop for an entire month, my fridge and freezer just can't handle that much food!).  and know their store of choice if you're using THEIR money you need to stay on budget even if that means shopping at a store you wouldn't choose...
*gift card to a grocery store
*gift card to a restaurant
*type up a recipe book of your favorite recipes

the gift of service
*free babysitting
*teaching someone to drive
*lawn/garden service
*housekeeping

relational gifts
these are so varied and so personal but amazing gifts for the person that receives them...
two examples that our daughter just got for her birthday
*daddy gave her a 'gift card' for a date night that included dinner at her favorite restaurant and viewing of a movie that she's been wanting to watch since she was 4 and we told her she had to wait until she was 10 (a 1950's horror flick, Tarantula)...she's still talking about the date!
*her aunt Julie gave her a 'gift card' for a 'spa day'...she took Madison to Target to pick out polish of her choice (in a specific price range, WOW polish can be spendy!)...and then gave her a manicure, pedicure and facial...

Madison felt so treasured by this gift, she knew that her aunt was choosing to spend this time with her and she loved every minute of it!

~~~~~~~
There are so many gifts of MORE out there that have you spending less, but thinking more about the person, and giving more of yourself rather than something that will just end up in the garage or closet....

so I challenge those of you who haven't finished your shopping yet, to step out of the box and figure out how to give more to the people on your list!

Easy Christmas Cookies VI

I was only going to post 5 recipes for the Easy Christmas Cookie Challenge...
but I made this one yesterday and it was so super easy...
and I'm pretty sure it taste good*...I have a major head cold and can't taste anything right now...

anyways...this post was inspired by a fb friend Nikki...we went to school together, pretty sure almost all 13 years...those early years are foggy for me!...anyways...Nikki said that one of her favorite Christmas cookies are peanut butter cookies with a Hersey Kiss in the middle...
we've all seen them...
we've all eaten them...
but for some crazy reason I've never made them...

so yesterday...
when the whole family was taking their Sunday Afternoon nap
and I had taken some version of a 'non-drowsy' cold med and was so tired, but WIRED I decided to try to bake up a batch of these easy cookies.

you can of course use any peanut butter cookie recipe that you have on hand, probably even use a store bought dough...
but to stick to my challenge I found a peanut butter cookie recipe with less than 5 ingredients....
it also has NO flour...for you gluten free peeps out there!...not sure if peanut butter is gluten free...or Hersey Kisses for that matter...


Hersey Kiss Peanut Butter Cookies
1 c. peanut butter, smooth or crunchy (I used crunchy)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sugar
Hersey Kisses (about 2 dozen)

Combine all ingredients except for Kisses. Drop by spoonful into lightly greased cookie sheet, I again used my Pampered Chef mini cookie scoop thing...love it.  Press an unwrapped Hersey Kiss into the middle of your cookie balls. Bake at 350 degrees until done (about 5-7 minutes).  Let cookies cool before taking them off of the cookie sheet, they are pretty crumbly until they're cool...I covered my cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper (or wax paper) and then just pulled the sheet off to cool on the counter.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies....and you can put a lot on a cookie sheet because they don't spread during baking.

just had to post the picture again...don't they look so cute...got me thinking that you could make like sugar cookies and use the red and white striped kisses they have out right now and make them look like sleeping elves or something...

*as for taste...like I said, my taste is gone right now because of a lovely head cold...
and when I asked my family how they tasted all of them said...at different times...
"...they taste like peanut butter...."
really, really...so I make a cookie with peanut butter as the base, call it a peanut butter cookie...and it taste like peanut butter...shocking!
they all did eat more than one...so that had to be good!

Easy Christmas Cookies V

Playing Catch up on the Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes...

and so excited that I decided to do this little challenge because of this cookie!

one of my all time favorite cookies...and totally Christmas in my book...
and totally 100% super duper easy!
yet, I have never ever made them, and now I don't know why!

the Macaroon!
wow, and it meets all the the challenge criteria
*Easy-super duper easy...'can't believe how easy'-easy!
*under 5 ingredients
*Christmasy

Coconut Macaroons
5 cups flaked sweetened coconut
3 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
*2/3 cup dark Chocolate Chips or mini Chocolate Chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with wax paper sprayed with cooking spray. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (if using mini Chocolate chips add them now, if you want to melt the dark chocolate and drizzle it onto leave them out).

Scoop out 1 inch mounds, I used a mini cookie scoop, Pampered Chef, placed about 1 inch apart, on a lined cookie sheet, these cookies won't change shape or anything since they are just basically egg white and coconut.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just turning brown. Cool and store in a sealed container between sheets of waxed or parchment paper. The macaroons will keep nicely for several days.

Variations:
*Melt dark Chocolate chips in a plastic bag in microwave, cut off corner and drizzle over the top of baked macaroons...

*Divide the coconut mixture in half, and add the chips to one half, leaving the other half plain.
Makes about 3-4 dozen macaroons.

told you it was easy!  I even cut this recipe in 1/2 (tricky with the 3 egg whites)...because I only had 2 1/2 cups of coconut in my pantry...I just used 2 egg whites...
and I took pictures during the process...if I took pictures it means super duper easy recipe and I have time to snap pictures...
pictures...and math (cutting the recipe in 1/2)...
from beginning to end this took me less than 25 minutes!

Easy Christmas Cookies IV

Okay...so not sure if anyone but my mom has noticed that I stopped posting Easy Christmas Cookie recipes...
2 reasons...
...I got really busy this week...too busy to bake and then blog about it
...I really don't need any more treats in this house...I can hear myself getting fatter....
...and well...wasn't sure anyone cared because I wasn't getting any responses to my Easy Christmas Cookie posts...oh, woe is me....
guess that's 3 reasons....

so this one's for you mom!
this is a stretch in the 'cookie' department...
and in the 5 ingredient department too....

but I love scones so much and they are so easy...
and the cranberry orange scones just SCREAM Christmas to me...
...I just want to share...
and these are even easier than the normal scone!
I used the Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake mix as a base for the scone, how EASY can it get!

okay...
Scones
3 3/4 cups Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake Baking Mix
1/2 cup salted butter
3 Tbsp sugar
1 cup cold milk
*Mix-ins (listed at the bottom)

add baking mix and sugar to a large bowl.  Using a pasty cutter, cut butter into the mix until lumps resemble coarse meal.  Add milk and stir together until moistened.  Place dough on a floured work space and knead  5 times to form a ball.

...here is where I like to change up the scones...traditional scone shape is triangle wedge...to make the wedge you can form your ball into an 8 inch circle and cut it pie style into wedges...but I like to take a real small biscuit cutter and make small bite sized scones...and I think these bite sized scones are better for the Christmas Cookie alternative, they look nice and sweet on a plate with other Christmas Cookies...

Place scones on a greased sheet pan, bake in a 400 degree oven for 8- 10 minutes...or longer if you are doing the large wedge style, until they are golden brown....serve warm with butter and jam... or glaze with vanilla glaze.

vanilla glaze
mix vanilla and powder sugar together until you get a nice smooth glaze consistency...drizzle over scones...

*mix-ins....this is where the 5 ingredients gets hazy...

I like to make Orange Cranberry scones this type of year...

1 tsp of orange peel zest (finely grated orange peel)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp vanilla

add the orange zest to the baking mix before cutting in the butter
put the cranberries and vanilla into the milk and allow to sit for 5 minutes...pour the milk out and mix it into the baking mix/butter combo...add the milk & vanilla soaked cranberries when you get ready to knead the dough, and just knead them in...

Lemon Scones...just add 1 tsp of lemon zest...and then glaze scones with lemon glaze
lemon glaze (powder sugar mixed with lemon juice until you have a nice drizzling consistency)
add some poppy seeds for a lemon poppy seed scone

Chocolate Chip Scones
add 1 tsp of vanilla to milk
knead in 1/2 cup chocolate chips when kneading dough

so many options for changing these up...just enjoy...

the teacher gifts

okay, so I'm WAY behind on this post...
and it's because
well....
I'm a flake and just finished their gifts today...
and by finished I mean...
stood in the shower and finally forced myself to brainstorm and figure out what in the world I was going to give them!

I have a few 'issues' with the teacher gift...
I want to give something that they will use...
I want to give something that is special
I don't have lots of $$$ to do this with
I also know from having friends and family members 'in the business' the last thing teachers want are another tree ornament or coffee mug or kitschy, clutter up my desk object...

also the 2 teachers (for boy child and girl child) are so totally different that I can't get them the same thing, unless I want it to scream, "I didn't think about this for a second, Merry Christmas!"

and well, okay, so I didn't think about it for the months leading up to Christmas, but I have been thinking about it hit and miss for about 2 weeks now...
and I didn't want to do baked goodies because one teacher is trying to lose weight and the other doesn't seem that interested in food...

so here are my gifts...
teacher 1...
the boy child's kindergarten teacher...and she was the girl child's k teacher also...we LOVE her
*she's sentimental (she still has the girl child's gift up in her class room that she gave her 5 years ago!)
*she likes jewelery
*she's a grandma...
okay random stuff but I wrote her a nice little note about how much she has meant to our family and thanking her for 
blog warning, this is sappy and may make some like my husband gag!
 'giving our children roots so they can soar'
and then made her a necklace with a branch and birds
(get it...roots and soaring...)....

don't ya just love the stain on my shirt while modeling the necklace...classy!

and then I also gave her a sugar cookie kit from Trader Joe's (on sale TODAY for $0.99) so she can do it with her grandkids over Christmas break!

teacher 2...girl child's teacher
she was the hard one...she wears NO jewelery (not even a wedding ring and she's married)...
*she's pretty 'earthy/granola/crunchy' if you know what I mean...she's always taking to the kids about the environment and being healthy ...
*the class just finishing up a unit on the ocean (the just finished reading Island of the Blue Dolphins)
*she's a coffee drinker
so I went to good ol' Trader Joe's and bought her some 'organic free trade' coffee, a box of sea cookies (in the shape of fish and star fish and stuff) and some dried seaweed (she's quirky and will totally love that)...and 'wrapped' it all in a reusable Trader Joe's bag...

so, both totally unique gifts that I know they will both enjoy and it didn't cost me $$$ both gifts were under $10....and they had no idea that I threw the gifts together this morning!

menu dec 15-dec 25th?

okay so I've totally flaked on making a menu for the past...I don't know month at least!

anyways...I was forced to do the worst thing ever today...
grocery shop without  menu or even a list...
I went in KNOWING the important facts
we needed
*coffee (maybe the reason I was shopping without a list!)
*milk....
that was my list!

yeah...but my fridge and pantry are empty....

hmmm...so while shopping without a list
or even a scrap of paper to start a list, I searched my purse for anything to make a list/menu on when I hit aisle 2....but nada nada...so I had to totally make my menu, shop for my menu and try to remember my menu when I got home....
lets see how I did...

Wed-egg rolls and rice
Thu-Sweet-n-Sour beans and corn bread
Fri-meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Saturday-birthday party dinner served there!
Sunday-not sure, the kids have their Christmas program at church...needs to be something light and fast
Monday-lasagna
Tuesday-tacos
Wednesday-patty melts
Thursday-leftover buffet
Friday-Christmas Eve sandwich
Saturday-Merry Christmas-Crab and Ham...YUMMY!

okay, that will hopefully get us thru the next week and a half...don't want to think anymore about menus....

good bye cranberries...hello awesome!

okay, so yesterday I posted about my solution to the annual Christmas card 'issue'....

but in my post I also added that I was ready to change the wooden cranberries for a new look to match my new green theme....

a friend Monica suggested that I just spray paint them...so easy...
she also CRAZILY suggested that I could modge-podge them....ha ha ha!

so I set out to spray paint them yesterday....

only problem...I 'store' my spray paint oh-so-nicely and organized on my not-so-weather-resistant front porch...
so those nice little warnings that say paint needs to be stored between say like 50-90 degrees???
so the paint that was 'stored' on the porch in July and still there in December may have seen some temps a little higher than 90 and a few a little lower than 50....
needless to say, the paint was non too happy with me...
and decided to stop spraying out and rather just drip out...um, it's not drip paint, it's SPRAY paint!

but them I was thinking that it actually gave it a really cool retro 80's splatter paint look ...
    wait...is 80's retro?...wow...I lets just say cool 80's look! ...
and decided to add a few other colors in the mix...so I added some 'metal' color (really that is the color name on the spray can...metal...because metal only has one color???)...and then a lime green that I had...

and here is the final result...and actually really like it...thanks for the suggestion Monica!

before with red cranberries

now with white, 'metal', and green wooden ball things!

close up of the balls and the mistletoe!

hanging down the sides...still need to change
out the clothes pins for paper clips

Easy Christmas Cookies III

okay...the quest for easy Christmas Cookies continues....

this one is totally easy,
and it's good...but maybe because it lacks chocolate and butter I would have to say of the 3 this week this is at the bottom of the list as a favorite for my family...
but it's still good....
and it's 'healthy'...

I was raking my brain for cookie recipes that I had that might have less than 5 ingredients and also fall in a Christmas Cookie category....then I started thinking about the Cake Mix cookie recipe....went to my cupboard and found a spice cake mix...and then googled Spice Cake Mix Cookies....so apparently I was the first to come up with this idea...tons of them are out there...so here you go, my version.

and only has 3 ingredients...
Pumpkin Spice Cake Cookies
1 box Spice Cake Mix
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon or all spice or pumpkin pie spice (optional you can leave these out if you want)

mix all three together and then scoop onto cookie tray, bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes....

simple right!
I didn't measure my pumpkin because I had a bag in my freezer and I just assumed that it was a cup...after dumping it in and mixing together the recipe I felt like it was probably closer to 1 1/2 cups pumpkin and my cookie dough was slightly runny, but it still worked and was good...
add-in's that would be good, raisins, walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips, cinnamon chips
I am also thinking of making a real simple cream cheese glaze to 'frost' them with...I'll keep you posted if I do!

and bonus...I fed these to my kids for breakfast and ate one myself...they taste really similar to a pumpkin muffin!

What to do with those Cards?!?!

Everyone has the same question....
     every year.....
          What am I suppose to do with all the Christmas Cards?

blog edit...I forgot to dedicate this blog to Betsy Fowers...she begged and begged me to make this post...okay, so maybe she just suggested I do it...anyways...thanks Betsy!

we know the time, effort, money, that goes into the cards every year
we shudder to think that our Christmas card is getting tossed into the trash at someone else's house....
....
yet we have no good way to display the cards that come thru our doors....

a few years back...must have been at least 8...
(wow...that's longer than I thought! but I did it in our apartment too, and this is our 6th Christmas in this house...)
I came up with this solution...
clipping them to a ribbon/wooden cranberry hanging thingy...
yep, that's my official term...

I hang the ribbon/wooden cranberry hanging thingy over our entry way into our living room...

at our apartment I used this same thing but hung it on a wall that had a large empty space...

*you could do this over a mantel, 

*somewhere in your entry way, 

*stairways always have some empty spaces...

*if you have an 'open' kitchen to dining room set up but with a bank of cabinets between the kitchen and dinning room you can put them on the back of the cabinets 

*a wall in your dinning room...

then I clip them onto the ribbon using mini clothespins that I picked up in the craft section at WalMart (I think)...I'm thinking next year I need to change it up (to go with my more greenish theme...the new tree skirt and all) and might hit the stores after Christmas to see what I can replace the wooden cranberries with, and I like the idea of changing out the clothes pins for colorful paperclips...

this is a close up of the 'how'...I hang the ribbon/wooden cranberry thing with these 3M removable hook things, I have been using them for 6 Christmas's and have actual never taken them down since they are clear and don't stand out...and then I'm able to use them for other decorations during the year, like birthday banners and stuff!

the girl child's birthday banner hanging from the 3M hanger thingys....

anyways...I think it's a nice way to display the cards that everyone has spent time and money on....

and bonus...EVERYONE that comes over during the season gets to see all the cards, and I always catch someone standing there looking at all the cards, feels good to know that the effort that my friends put into their Christmas cards are being appreciated.

Easy Christmas Cookies II

second installment of
Easy Christmas Cookies....
and they aren't cookies...
they're bon bons...
but hey,
they only have 3 ingredients...
and are amazingly simple and YUMMY
AND you don't bake them...
and you can change them up SO many different ways...love them!

Oreo Bon Bons
1 package Oreo's*
1- 8 oz package cream cheese
1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate, because it's what I always use...but you can use any sort of chip you want, the mint ones, peanut butter, cinnamon chips...have fun with flavor combos)

now you don't NEED a food processor for this recipe but I would highly recommend it...I made the first 2 steps in less than 3 minutes....
1.  dump entire package of Oreo's into food processor and grind into fine crumbs

2.  add block of cream cheese until fully incorporated into Oreo crumbs and creates a glooby gooey ball

3.  using a small cookie scoop (pampered chef) scoop onto wax paper lined cookie sheet

4.  place in freezer until hard (or you remember that you put them there)
5.  melt chocolate in microwave (have no idea the length...I have a 'melt chocolate' button on mine...and that's the button I push!
6.  roll, dip, somehow coat frozen oreo bon bons with melted chocolate...you will have to lick your fingers...so just wait until the last one is done and you can clean the chocolate all off!

7.  stick back in freezer to harden...serve these to impress people...but to properly impress them you should probably wipe the chocolate off your chin (thankful the girl child told me I had some on my chin...and neck!)

*(I used the Mint Creme Oreo's on this batch, I have also used the Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe Joe's before...AMAZING!)

 

The boy child (on the right...looking hopped up on chocolate) and his good friend, Isaac, enjoying the bon bons...and various other goodies...after their music recital on Monday night!

Easy Christmas Cookies I

I am going to try to post an easy Christmas cookie recipe each day this week...

and by 'easy Christmas cookie' I mean

*under 5 ingredients
*the kids can help...if you want them too
*they are fast
*they 'taste' like Christmas without loads of work
*they fall close to the 'cookie' classification...I might have a gray line....

and what's the point of an easy recipe if no one loves it,
so my family has put themselves out there and tried everyone of these recipes...

the first recipe I just found on a recipe exchange just this past week

Dark Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars (so this is a 'bar' but it's also a cookie)
2 cups butter* (4 sticks) softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 cups flour
1-2 cups dark chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350
cut butter into powdered sugar slowly adding flour a little at a time.  just work at it slowly, it will eventually incorporate all the flour (and you just might have made a flour/butter mess all over yourself and the floor!)...it will mix together nicely after all the flour is in and about 2 minutes of mixing.
add the chocolate chips...(and nuts if your family likes)
spray a cookie sheet and spread the dough evenly into the pan, poke with a fork very generously so that the dough will not rise.
bake for 18-30 minutes (yeah, crazy difference, I put mine in for 20 and it was just a bit too long, but the recipe I had called for 30-35 minutes....so just keep an eye on yours), until slightly turning brown, (not burned like mine!)...
cut bars while still warm on cookie sheet using a pizza cutter.  let cool completely on sheet before you remove.

made these last night...so yummy...and these may...or may not be the only ones left!!!

*yes, 2 cups of butter...yikes...but ignore how bad this is for you, and enjoy that you make them once a year!
    

the Nativity

I love all things Christmas
the tree...

my angel

gingerbread houses

check out this cool one from Trader Joes!

...snowmen...I have a minor collection

the jolly ol' elf...like him a bit

love the Santa that my brother in law got us from somewhere in Europe!

but I would have to say the Christmas collection that I cherish the most is the Nativities...
I have a few...

this was my first ever...my mom bought it for me when I was in college at some after Christmas sale...love the simplicity of just  Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

this is our Christmas Tree Angel that Beau got me for Christmas last year...
she is 'the angel' and is holding the star of Bethlehem and the nativity scene is done in relief on the bottom of her skirt! I LOVE it!

a tiny little one that I ordered from some sort of school fund raiser one year...
tiny and sweet...the figures are between 1 1/2-2 inches...

Wilson set this one up this year...
the 3 wise men out front and then everyone else is in the stable facing Jesus...
it's so sweet that I haven't changed it to look more visually appealing...
I know that looking at everyone's back doesn't look right...
but I'm sure that's what it looked like,
everyone focused on the babe!
and Wilson knew that...

oh...and the wise man in the middle...not so wise anymore...he lost his head this year...but we have gently placed it back on top...need to find some glue!

this was a gift to Madison from a Sunday School teacher or someone one year...
it was from the Dollar store...such a sweet little grouping.

 a trio of silver star ornaments, a gift from my mother in law

 an old fashion ornament of just the family unit...

 a wooden one made by the kids

 another Dollar Store purchase.

and a favorite of mine..."What God Wants For Christmas" Nativity...
...watch for a future blog about this favorite!...

all of my Nativities that are in figure form...not ornaments on the tree...
I let the kids 'play' with
set up...rearrange...move about...
hence...the headless wise man!

None of these were 100's of dollars...but even if they were...
doesn't the Nativity scream out for kids to interact with it...
I want my kids to have a hands on interaction with the nativity...
when Madison was 2 she carried one of the Jesus figures around all the time...
she LOVED baby Jesus...we would even tuck him into bed with her at night!
when they are grown I know they will have many memories of Christmas
memories of making gingerbread houses
and snowmen
and Santa...
but I want one of the memories that is close to their heart
that they cherish
to be the Nativities
...of them playing with Jesus...
that mom let them set up all the different nativities...
let them choose the 'scene'...
and that 'Jesus' wasn't off limits because he was too priceless a piece for kids to play with...that Jesus was/is for everyone...does it real matter that a wise man lost his head...not so much!