Merry Christmas from Feasting on Joy!

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Christmas Favorites and Quirks

We all kind of do Christmas our own way don't we?  Some people celebrate on Christmas Eve with a big dinner and family.  Some people celebrate Christmas day.  Some enjoy the tradition of Santa Claus and some fill children's boots on December 6 to remember the goodness of St. Nick. As a family, we celebrate advent throughout the whole month of December and remember the real reason we even have Christmas which is the birth of Jesus Christ. They all certainly make good memories and do get passed on from generation to generation.

We had a lot of traditions around holidays growing up.  I don't know that my parents purposed to make traditions, it just happened.  We did mostly the same things for each holiday and we got used to it, liked it and then counted on it. Then these things became traditions.  Out of those family memories came some of my Christmas favorites and Christmas quirks.

Quirk: LOVE Christmas music but like to save it to start after Thanksgiving.  It is fun to blast it in the house and dance around.

Favorite Song(s): Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant, One Small Child by the Tommy Coomes Band sung by Marsha Skidmore

Quirk: Song I can't stand hearing around Christmas, Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses (there are a few more too.)

Favorite: A big Christmas dinner on Christmas day.

Quirk: In keeping with tradition, dinner isn't the same if we don't have prime rib with horseradish for the meat and twice baked potatoes.

Favorite: Mail is so much more fun during this season.  I love getting Christmas cards, especially the ones with the pictures and letters.

Quirk: I always feel sad when a card we sent out gets returned to us because of wrong address.

Favorite: At dinner (or advent devotional time) each night we pray for each family we get a card from in the mail that day.

Quirk: I don't frequent stores that don't allow or say "Christmas."  After all if it weren't for Christmas they wouldn't be getting the extra business during the season. Being "PC" is SO not my thing.

Favorite childhood tradition: We (my brother and I) used to get one "big" gift each year.  Instead of just giving it to us my parents would plan a gift hunt for us.  Each clue was a Bible verse.  One led us to another and to another until we landed upon the big gift! It was so much fun.

Quirk: I still love to go get a REAL Christmas tree. Making a day of finding the perfect three is a great memory and the pine smell is so nice in the house.

Favorite: I love to give the kids an ornament each year so that when they have their own trees later in life they have some ornaments to start with.  Ones that have special memories.

Favorite: I love to make a big night of decorating the tree with Christmas music, hot buttered apple cider or chocolate and yummy goodies. I always remember as a child someone would inevitably step on one of the Christmas tree lights as we were trying to put them up!

Quirk: We don't (and never will) decorate the tree or house before Thanksgiving. It doesn't feel right.

Favorite: We always got to open one gift on Christmas eve.

Favorite Christmas treats to make (we make them every year): Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Gingersnaps, Lemon Bars, Pecan Pie, Chex Muddy Buddies, and frosted sugar cookies which got dropped for a while but have since been reinstated since having children of my own. I can now make all of these Gluten free too!

Quirk: We always give our pets a gift.  I used to love to watch my dog open his present on Christmas.  I remember one time we even got my pet hamster a Christmas gift!

What are your family traditions and quirks? I would love to hear them.  They are so much fun!

I hope you are feasting on joy this Christmas season!

~Merry Christmas~

Happenings this season

This is such a fun time of the year.  I thought I would share a few of the things we have been up too.

I made my first "roll" cake for Thanksgiving. It was a Gluten Free Pumpkin roll that was SO good.  I actually ate some and was tempted to eat the entire thing.  I want to make another one! When I served it, it was on a pretty fall platter and dusted with more powdered sugar.

Cody is in his big boy bed now.  He is very proud.  He has fallen out a few times but we have since remedied that.  Whew!  Such a rude awakening in the middle of the night for all of us.

Every year the kids get an ornament that symbolizes something in their year.  We gave them these the night we decorated the tree.  The festivities were complete with William Sonoma Peppermint Hot Chocolate and this year we had GF pumpkin roll and GF almond cookies along with the Hot Chocolate. I wished I could have all those sweets but did have some hot cocoa made with pure stevia. 

I always look so tired in these photos but that is because I am.  This day we went to church, took family photos, picked out our tree, decorated the house, did the ornaments gifts and decorated the tree. I was pooped!

Spent a day outdoors and time by the river. I got to have my SECOND cup of coffee in 5 months this day. MMMM.... it was so yummy.

We took a road trip and family vacation for one of Steve's long weekends.  It was so much fun and much needed. We enjoyed snow, rain, our hotel room and pool.  We played lots of games and did a lot of exploring and relaxing.  It was a beautiful time.

We did a new thing this year that was so much fun.  After our Sunday family dinner we (all three families and Grammi) decorated gingerbread together!  Each family had something different.  My parents had a gingerbread house.  My Aunt Uncle and Cousins had a gingerbread train and we decorated 4 huge gingerbread people.  We all had dessert and decorated together.  Loved it!

We have also been doing our Advent Devotional which is at the heart of the reason for the season. We look forward to it every night.

I can't wait for our break to be able to do some more of our traditions (like baking) and just do some plain ole' relaxing and playing with the kiddos! 

~Blessings~ 

Tis the season for Joy!

After my post the other day I wanted to share with you some joyful things going on around here.

The sun rises later around here.  Usually in the seven o'clock hour.  Because of that I do sometimes get to see the sun rise.  One morning I caught a particularly beautiful sunrise

While my Mother-in-law was visiting we found this cute little shop and this sign in it.  She bought it for me and now I proudly display it in my laundry room! According to the sign I should make about 3-5k a week!

My Aunt put Rolos on the table this year for Thanksgiving and she also put a peppermint patty on each place setting.  We all had finished eating our meal and gotten up.  Soon after I realized Cody was no where to be found.  I came into the dining room and saw him with a few Rolo wrapper remnants near him on the table.  He looked at me like I scared him and caught him in the act - I DID!  He was sneaking Rolos.  Luckily I caught him before I had a repeat of what child #1 did with chocolate.  When Corbin (child #1) was two and a half he got into the two candy advent calendars we had and ate about 16 pieces of chocolate in one sitting.  He did that after he took a bite out of each cookie on a plate that our neighbor had delivered the day before.  I definitely caught him!

Cody at the table:

Corbin at two years old feeling sick after eating too much chocolate! You can see the remnants on his face and the floor.

We have been enjoying having Steve home. He has been spending special time with the boys.  He took the time to help Corbin build a windmill with scrap wood he had leftover from building shelves in the garage.  Corbin got to paint it himself and they worked together on building it.  It really works!  It was cool too because the day after they finished it was a really windy day so we got to see it in action.

Since it is starting to become a bit wintry around here. I wanted to do a snowman craft with the kiddos.  Cody had never gotten to paint before.  This was his first time.  I was really impressed with how careful he was.  He didn't make a mess at all.  I just had to keep telling him to stop painting the background for the snowman black!  For some reason he liked black the best.  We all made snowmen.  Bet you can't tell who's is whose?

We started advent the first Sunday after Thanksgiving.  This has been a tradition that our family loves.  The boys have to take turns lighting the candles and blowing them out now.  It is really cute.  We updated our wreath too.  It doesn't have as much character as our first one but I like it because it is smaller and fits on our table better.

Each year I surprise the kids with an ornament that represents something in the year for them.  Corbin kept hounding me about when he was going to get his ornament this year!   It will be nice though because when they grow up they will have their own ornament box to take and decorate their own tree with.  Ornaments with sentimental memories are fun!

I got Corbin a Winnie the Pooh/Eeyore "Where's my tail?" ornament because we had watched the movie recently and I hadn't heard Corbin laugh so hard in a long time he loved the newest Pooh movie.  I got Cody a Curious George reading one because he likes to go into Corbin's room and take all his Curious George books down and read them all. Naughty little Monkey!

We always make a big deal about choosing and decorating our Christmas tree.  I usually make hot chocolate or hot apple cider and put Christmas music on and get all the ornaments out. It is a special honor to be able put the angel on the tree once the tree is all decorated.  Usually Corbin does it but this year it was Cody's first turn. Poor Cody.... he tried but just couldn't do it.  The picture below it right before he DROPPED the angel and broke her wings off!  AGGGHH!!  Thankfully Steve fixed her wings.  We later let Corbin have his turn again and he did it successfully.  Maybe next year Cody?

We have to bundle up around here.  When we go out we always have to put on jackets, gloves, and beanies.  The problem with beanies is that the boys always get "beanie hair."

I thought I would leave you with another spectacular sunset.  We get a lot of them around here!  Oh and also I hope you'll like my favorite Christmas song: Breath of Heaven.

Mounds Bars

I started making this dessert for Christmas time last year.  I had it for the first time at one of my MOMS functions at church and I loved them so much.  I happen to really like coconut so this was a winner for me.  These bars are so easy to make and that is another reason I love them.

My friend Camille gave me this recipe and I have adapted it a bit.  They are always a hit!  Try them.

There are three layers to this dessert:

graham cracker crust

coconut layer

chocolate chip layer (sorry its blurry)

Recipe:

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. melted butter
1 can Eagle Brand condensed sweetened milk
4 c. coconut
1 12oz. bag oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper that comes over the sides. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter, and bake in 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 8 min. Mix the condensed milk and coconut together, and spread gently on baked crumbs (this part you might have to do with your fingers gingerly so you don't disturb the crust below.) Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Pour chocolate chips over warmed coconut layer and stick it back in the oven until you see the chocolate chips melting (about 5 minutes.)  Remove it from the oven and spread the chocolate chips evenly over the top of the the whole dessert.  Let it cool and put it in the refrigerator about 2 hours or more.  Once they are completely chilled remove the whole dessert from the pan by pulling the parchment paper.  Set the dessert on a cutting board and with a sharpened butchers knife (the big knife) cut them into squares.  They are rich so don't make the squares too big.

Make these and you will have one happy camper - or many happy campers!  Corbin literally asks if he can have one every hour of the day!



One of the coolest Christmas Gifts

Earlier this week my son Corbin got a really awesome package in the mail sent by his cousins to him.  He knew it was coming and was waiting with great anticipation.  I knew what it was, or at least I thought I knew what it was but I was wrong. It was so much better than what I thought it was.

My cousins told me they were sending him a Lego advent calendar.  So I was thinking one of those chocolate kind like I had when I was a kid where it has a picture on the front and behind the closed doors you open there were chocolates waiting.  I thought this one was like that but with a Lego theme.

Well I am glad I was wrong because to my delight it wasn't a candy filled one at all! It was such a thoughtful gift.  Not only did they send it so it arrived right on December 1 but they wrapped it in Christmas paper and made him a cute Christmas card.  He was thrilled.

Here he is opening it up and looking at it.  By the way, please excuse the poor focus, lighting and exposure of all these shots.  I had to keep up with a 5 year old ripping paper and digging in as fast as he could and the lighting in this area of the house stinks...

Here it is in all it's glory.  My cousins told me that they had always wanted this but never ended up getting it and when they finally could they had outgrown it.  Corbin is just getting into Lego's so this was perfect.

You don't actually open the whole box of Lego's.  The whole box IS the advent calendar.  Instead you open the front flap and it lays on the floor (or counter) and that is where you build your scene.  Each day you take out a piece or part to make the scene in front of the calendar.

What's even more cool about this calendar is that you don't just pull out a Lego man or a Lego tree, you pull out the package that contains the pieces to build that part or piece.  Of course, it wouldn't be Lego's if you didn't get to build it.

An even more unique feature is that on the inside flap of the door just opened are the instructions on how to build the piece that was just pulled out. His first package was a Lego snowman.  How fun!  I would have loved this when I was a kid.  I love it now.  Corbin kept saying - "This is so cool." Everyone that would come in the house he had to tell them immediately about his new calendar and how it worked. My cousins said they got it a Lego store.  Now I realize it may be a bit late for this year but for next year what a great gift for a child ages 5-12.

Thanks so much cousins for making Corbin's week so bright and for your generosity.  He looks forward to opening these doors every day!

Advent Family Devotions

The season is upon us!  The season to reflect and remember Jesus' birth.  What a privilege that our country recognizes and gives us a national holiday to remember this.  Even though it has become ridiculously commercialized and a lot of people don't really know what CHRISTmas is about anymore - (they think it's about) presents, food, etc... the origin is Christian.  I mean Jesus really IS the reason for the season.  This country was founded on Christian beliefs and ideals and I am so grateful for the freedom we have here to celebrate our Lord's birth.

In my family growing up we had a lot of traditions for different parts of the year and when I had kids I wanted to carry on some of those traditions as well as start some new ones.  One of the new ones we started were Advent Family Devotions.  It has been something as a family we look forward to each year and really allows us to keep the focus on Jesus, not the presents or the food or shopping or even family matters.

Advent family devotions can be done a number of ways.  This is what we do...

Starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving we begin.  For our family it works as an after dinner event.  We use this book and we used to use this wreath that I made:

(side note - we used this wreath for a couple of years and after storing it and getting out it started looking pretty shabby.  It was great while it lasted but we have moved on to a more simple wreath.  This is Corbin when he was 3 years old so excited to blow out the candles.)

With this book you can do devotions once a week - one representing each of the four smaller candles and then the Christmas day devotion. You can also choose to do one every night - one week spent per candle and the Christmas day devotion.  We usually do the nightly one but through out the month we do miss some during the week.  It is inevitable.  I accept this now - where before I used to be like a drill sergeant.  "We WILL do every night and if we miss we WILL make it up!" Wow how fun does that sound?  Just keepin it real.  I have grown...

Each candle represents something having to do with the Christmas story.

Week one (candle one) Prophecy

Week Two (candle two) Bethlehem

Week Three (candle three)Praise

Week four (candle four) Jesus

Christmas day (Christmas candle)

The kids (Corbin up to this point) love to help light the candles and blow them out.  We read the story, verses and devotional each night and then at the end we pick a Christmas Carol (they are at the back of the book) to sing. This is a tradition I thoroughly look forward to every Christmas season.  It brings our family together most every night and gets us on the same page thinking about the same things. I think as the kids get older it they will take away different things from each devotion. I know for Steve and I each time we finish an advent family devotion we are taken out of the hustle and bustle of the commercialized season and put back into reflecting on the Lord, His plan and purpose, and his amazing life. 

This year I was a bit sad because the majority of our things are still packed away and not accessible.  Including our Advent devotional book.  I have asked people if they had one I could borrow and had no luck in finding one.  I thought either I am going to have to make it up or just go without.  The thought of going without depressed me!  Praise God, I remembered the name of the woman who created this book (Marilyn Williams) and looked her up on good ole' google.  She had a website and lo and behold I was able to download the book!  For $7!  What a blessing.  We will still be able to have this time of connection this year.

I would encourage you, if you are looking for something for the season with a deeper meaning and fulfilling time then try the Advent Family Devotions.  I think this book that I use (link at the top) is the best one our there (personally.) I haven't seen anything like it even in the Christian book stores.

Let's focus on why we even have Christmas this year and not get distracted by all the distractions.

Merry CHRISTmas