Memory-making in progress...

What a busy and fun month it has been...and will continue to be! Hope you will enjoy these pictures of what's been going on around here!

Here's a picture of my niece, Sarah. In early December she borrowed my house to have a jewelry party with items she either designed and made, or items she repurposed. Sarah is a 3rd year student at nearby Kent State University. She is a sweetheart. It was a fun way to kick off the holiday season and made me hustle to get decorated!

The same day as the jewelry party, in the evening, our small group had our Christmas get-together. Here is a photo of me and Bob that was taken there. Oh and in the morning of that same day was the funeral of Mary Talbot, who I wrote about earlier. (Story here.) So December started off being really busy!

Princess Elylah turns four on Christmas Eve, and she has had a month long celebration already! Her parents gave her a "children's party" (at our house) earlier in the month...

Here she is with her Uncle Jonah, who is 7.

This past Saturday, her Papa and I took her to a children's play at a theater in a nearby town. She got to wear her Christmas dress. Isn't she beautiful? When her cousins get here from SC on New Years Day, along with her little brother Ethan, we will get a picture of all four of them in their matching outfits. (I reserve my right to be an obnoxious grandma!)

After the play, which we attended with friends, we all went to Dairy Queen for ice cream.

Jonathan (5) and Benjamin (3) celebrated with us!

I think this shot is priceless!

Jonathan's and Benjamin's parents, our dear friends, Ken & Jen.

The following day, Elylah had yet another party at our house, this time we were invited! In attendance also were her other grandma (Lola), her great-grandma's (GG and Amma), her great aunt, her mom's cousin and fiance, and her uncle Jonah, her mommy and daddy and little brother, Ethan. Joanna made her princess cake (again!). It was absolutely amazing!

If all this activity wasn't enough, we had a birthday party for JESUS on Monday!

The kids made these darling foam nativity sets from kits I bought at Michael's on sale for only $3.19 each!

They also made these pretty Christmas trees, using ice cream cones, frosting, and decorations.

(Had to sneak in a cute shot of Ethan and Curious George)

The children took turns telling parts of the Christmas story, using the Fisher-Price nativity set. One by one, the pieces were put into place, and we were amazed at how much these little people, ages 5 and under, know already and can tell with such excitement. Please notice the three kings that are placed face down. Without any prompting, Jonathan did that, explaining that they bowed down to worship baby Jesus!

The kids each got to choose a gift from my basket, as we explained why we give gifts on Christmas.

When they come back on Christmas Eve, they will be able to take home one of these rolls filled with candy. (See this previous post for these ideas.)

Tomorrow will be a busy day too. My favorite Santa will be making a surprise visit to some children. Humm...wonder when I will bake, wrap our gifts, finish my newsletters and mail them, finish some gift projects I'm working on, and well, FORGET about shopping for a new Christmas sweater! Also, I'm still trying to decide who to gift with my Christmas Jar (see this post for explanation.)

My journal says that last year on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 I stayed up till 3:00 am to get everything done. That's not going to happen this year...and so I say, Merry Christmas to all, and to all GOODNIGHT!

Christmas Wassail

I have a recipe for wassail that I have used for 30 years, but this year I decided to simplify it. Really, I can't tell the difference. So my "new, improved" recipe is this:

Take a gallon of apple cider (or you can use apple juice). Add a quart (or a large can) of pineapple juice. To that, add about 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of honey. Then I throw in two large cinnamon sticks, a sliced orange, and sprinkle in a little ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg.

We always have this on Christmas Eve, and at any other time we have guests over during the holidays. Everyone loves it, and with all the winter sniffles, it just tastes good and it's healthy too.

You don't want to boil the wassail. Bring it just to the boiling point, then turn the heat down and keep it simmering on the stove. Or put it in a crockpot. Don't put it in punch bowl because it won't stay hot, and it might break the bowl!

If you want to get fancy, you can stud a couple oranges with whole cloves and after baking them with water for about a 1/2 hour, you can float them in the pan instead of the slices. But I decided that it hurts my fingers too much to do that and takes too much time.

This is a family favorite as has been one of our Christmas traditions for years. I hope you will try it! (Any leftovers, just refrigerate and then reheat in cups in the microwave.)

Our Favorite Things!

Here's something my hubby and I did a couple of years ago. I was in the mood to have a little fun and I thought he needed to lighten up a bit too. So we composed this song. We used it for our annual Christmas newsletter in 2007. Try singing it to the tune of "Our Favorite Things" (Hammerstein & Rodgers, The Sound of Music.) Maybe you and your family could sit around the dinner table and hammer out your own words to a familiar tune, just for fun!

(Bob)

Dressing like Santa and fooling the neighbors

Cookie press cookies and resting from labors

Stories of gifts that are carried by kings

These are a few of my favorite things!

(Jacque)

Salvation Armies with kettles and bells

Luke Chapter Two and the message it tells

Stars on the treetops and children that sing

These are a few of my favorite things!

(both)

Railings with garlands and satiny bows

Lights in the windows and candles that glow

All of the blessings the Christ-child brings

These are by far our favorite things!

When our friends come

And our hearts sing

when our family's near

Then we remember our favorite things

And hope we can spread...some cheer!

A couple random ideas for the holidays...

*Save your empty toilet paper rolls!

Around the first of December I start collecting the empty cardboard rolls in a bag until I have 15 or 20 of them. I use them to make candy filled "crackers" by covering them with Christmas wrapping paper. I put pieces of wrapped Christmas hard candy in each one. Leave enough space on each end to tie with a ribbon. Then I put the wrapped treats in a basket in my foyer, and when my holiday guests leave, they get to take one home with them. They can also be used as favors on your Christmas dinner table.

*Something for everyone!

I always seem to have little Christmas odds and ends that accumulate such as small children's books, candles, small toys, inspirational Christmas books, or ornaments. I keep a small basket under the tree filled with these things, unwrapped. You never know when you need an extra gift for someone you didn't know was coming by. Or when my friends pay a visit and bring a child, I always want to have some little thing on hand to give them. Some of these kinds of items can be picked up at sales after Christmas for up to 70-80% off the regular price and saved till the following year. Another idea would be to wrap them, and have a sticky note attached that says boy/girl/adult male/adult female or something like that...or just a description of the gift that can be easily peeled off before handing it to someone.

*What did I do last year?

Keep a simple journal of the Christmas season. I have a little journal book that I purchased for about a dollar last year. It has a cute Christmas snowman on the front so I can easily identify it. It was fun to go back and read the two or three lines I wrote in it each day starting the first week of December. I noted what friends stopped by, what concert I attended and with who, when I did what decorating, what food I contributed to the family Christmas party, etc. I also listed the gifts given and received, and checked off the names as I sent out my thank you cards. It only takes a couple of minutes each day--it's not meant to be a deep spiritual journal, but just a brief record of the things I'd like to remember.

*Toys for the tots

It seems like there is so much around the house at Christmas time that we don't want the little people to be touching. It's hard to keep their sweet little fingers off our fragile ornaments and out of the candy and cookies. Last year I splurged on a Fisher-Price Little People Children's Nativity Set. I found a place in our family room for it, on the hearth of our fireplace so the children can reach it easily. It stays set up and they are free to play with it whenever they want. They can't break it, and they know it's there just for them. OK, I admit it. I really like it too!

*Don't reinvent the wheel!

I finally got smart a couple of years ago and started taking pictures of the Christmas decorating I did that I thought looked pretty good. I don't do the same thing every year, but at least I have some ideas by looking at what I've done before that worked. For example, the picture in my header is last year's. This year I'm going for a more casual look, so I used the same swags on the banisters, leaving the pine cones, but I took out the gold beads and satiny ribbons. Instead I made large bows out of green, red, and cream colored checked cotton ribbon. I'm making bows for the tree out of the same ribbon.

I have also saved the Christmas issues of some magazines and put sticky notes on the pages I want to revisit. Sometimes just looking at one thing in a picture in a magazine gives me an idea of something new to try.

I hope some of these ideas will spur you on to share some of yours as well. What little things do you do to simplify the season and still make it memorable?

Make an Advent Wreath...

Here is a simple (and a bit unconventional) Advent Wreath I made this week. I took less than 45 minutes to put together. I simply took a styrofoam wreath, carefully cut four holes for candles, and covered it with ribbon and a little greenery. I used Stick-Um candle adhesive to keep the candles in the holes, then tied little bows around the candles. It cost under $10 to make.

Instead of the purple and pink candles that are often used, I used dark red candles and plaid ribbon. I'm using this same ribbon throughout the house this year to get a simple and homey feel to the decorating.

We will light one candle each week of Advent, and then I will put white (or cream colored) pillar in the middle of the wreath on Christmas day.

Please share what you are doing with your decorating this year!

Are you getting prepared for His coming?

Those were the opening words of an e-mail I received recently from a friend. I laughed hysterically as I continued reading of how she felt that preparing for her husband's family to spend the holidays with them seemed more daunting. I thought, "you're preaching to the choir, sister!"...oh how well I can relate. For me, "the holidays" are a six week long adrenaline rush that I absolutely love. Still, the words stuck with me: "Are you getting prepared for His coming?"

Well, of course! I love the beautiful carols that speak to something deep within my soul...I love to hear the story of the baby in the manger over and over again...Mary and Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men...all doing their parts...Again: "Are you getting prepared for His coming?"

OK, Lord...I'm listening. Just what is it You are trying to say to me?

Part of the answer came while attending a Christmas concert the other evening. The words of the familiar carol hit me like a bolt of lightning. Everything we do to prepare for the holiday season is all about HIM. We can't even "discover" Him...rather He reveals Truth to us. Can we quiet our hearts long enough to see and hear and feel what He has revealed in sending His Christ, to live and die as one of us? His great love is His only motivation for revealing Himself to us, for offering His great salvation.

Scripture tells us that when He comes again, it won't be as a little babe in a manger stall, but He will come with power and great glory, and every eye will see Him and every knee will bow...and I think we will all sing...

"He rules the world, with Truth and Grace!

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love!"

Are you getting prepared for His coming?

(Reprinted from Stager family Christmas newsletter, December 2001)

making cut-out cookies with Amy & the recipes

My friend, Amy, needed to make some cookies for a project her group was going to present today at school--something about a library open house to promote literacy in children. She is a graduate student working toward a degree in children's library science at Kent State. I was blessed that she asked me to help her. Fortunately it was my day off from babysitting my grands yesterday so we worked on this together well into the evening last night. You can read about Amy here:

lifebetweenthebuns.blogspot.com/search/label/cerebral%20palsy

Amy said she hadn't made home made cookies in years, and she was so excited!

I've never had much help in the kitchen, so it was fun for me too.

Oh my goodness, what a mess we made!

But looky here at the results!

I found these alphabet cookie cutters in a huge container along with two sizes of numbers at Hobby Lobby for $8.99. There are 50 cookie cutters in all.

Here are the recipes for the sugar cookies and the frosting. I've used these recipes for 30 years when making my Christmas cookies!

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

Cream together:

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

2 cups sugar

Beat in two medium eggs with mixer.

Sift together and add to the first mixture:

1 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

4 cups sifted flour

Blend into mixture 1 tsp. vanilla

Note: This recipe will make about 100 small to medium sized cut outs, or about 50 large cut outs.

Butter Cream Frosting

2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup)

8 cups powdered sugar

4 tsp. vanilla

milk

Cream together first three ingredients with beaters. Gradually add milk by the tablespoon to desired consistency. Note: this is a large recipe. It will frost about 100 small to medium sized cut outs, or about 50 large ones. The recipe can easily be cut in half.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17

Christmas Jars

Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I'm crazy about Christmas. That is, I love the entire season, and the true meaning of it all. Christmas Eve is the most special day of the entire year to me...it is mystical, magical, delightful in every way. My heart is full of nothing but love on Christmas Eve as I think of all it means to be celebrating.

I start my Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving. I pick a "theme" every year and decorate one of several trees for fun. I get fully into the spirit of it all and I'm on a high for about six weeks non-stop. Everything I can possibly squeeze in, I do, from making home-made cards, baking cookies, shopping,wrapping, going to concerts, hosting and attending parties, keeping Advent, reading my collection of Christmas books, driving around to see all the lights, and of course, contemplating the miracle of the Christ child which is what the season is really about.

Just recently I heard of a tradition that began in 2005 when Jason F. Wright authored a novel called Christmas Jars. You can read all about it here:

http://www.christmasjars.com/main.php

Currently Christmas jars have made their way around at least 37 States and 6 countries outside the U.S.

I'm getting a late start, but from now till Christmas Eve I am saving all my loose coins (minus pennies) in a mason jar which I will decorate. Between now and Christmas Eve, I will be prayerfully on the lookout for a person or family I want to anonymously bless with my filled jar, and I will find a way to leave it for them as a total surprise. I cannot WAIT to do this!

A friend has offered some additional suggestions to add to the value of the jar:

* hide a gift card in the middle of the coins

* hide a roll of quarters or rolled up bills

* put the jar in a gift bag, and include a copy of Jason Wright's book. (New and used ones can be purchased through Amazon. (Go to the website above and click on Amazon.com)

* enlist your children or grandchildren to join the fun, and teach them the spirit of giving in a very tangible way. Have them help you decorate the jar; have them help you search for "lost coins" around the house, such as under chair cushions or in the car.

Here I thought I had to wait till the day after Thanksgiving to start preparing for Christmas Eve. But the jar on my kitchen counter reminds me daily that the big day is coming. Next year I will use a larger jar, and work on filling it all year long.

I hope you will be inspired to start filling a jar too. Let me know if you come up with additional ideas to make this tradition even more meaningful.

I'm on the waiting list at our local library as all the Christmas Jars books are currently checked out. That's WONDERFUL, isn't it?