Christmas Trivia

Saw this over at Clover Lane and thought i would join in. I love Christmas so this is a perfect blog for me

1. Best childhood gift from Santa:  probably a bike. i wanted a bike so bad one year and my nephew said there was no such thing as Santa and i told him if there was i was getting a bike, and i did =)
2. Best Childhood Memory: i am the youngest of 5 kids, the next child (my brother) was 17 when i was born and my oldest brother was 26. so for as long as i can remember my brothers and sisters would come over our house on Christmas eve with there kids and spouses and we would have a big slumber party, we would eat tamales after they were made, us kids would do shows for the parents and we would laugh and have so much fun until we all passed out waiting for Santa to come
3. Favorite Christmas Cookie: well i haven't met many cookies that i didn't like but i think my favorites are no bakes, smore cookies, sugar cookie frosted cut outs, and oatmeal are my favorite of all time but not necessarily Christmas-y (i will share all my favorite recipes through out the month)                                  
4. icky Christmas memory- the first year my parents were separated and the year my moms loser boyfriend got in a fist fight with my brother because he was drunk (the boyfriend not my brother) actually lots of those Christmas's with my moms boyfriend (no longer together PTL) kind of ruined our families Christmas he was so unpredictable when he drank...
5. It's not Christmas without: well since i have never seen a snowy Christmas that is not my answer i would have to say, my moms tamales, Christmas trees, coconut balls (YUM! sharing the recipe on Friday), and fun gatherings
6. Our Church Service: We go to a HUGE church and we have regular Sunday and Wednesday services so we go then. in years past they have had a Christmas worship service i would love to go if they do it this year
7. Christmas Pet Peeve: hmmmm probably when kids in my kids school tell them there is no Santa granted we go to a Christian school but the fact that we have fun with Santa doesn't mean we are bad, there are worse things you know. and for a second one, rude impatient people when you are out shopping...
8. Favorite Christmas CD:  oh these are BOTH great Faith Hill and Casting Crowns. but i LOVE Christmas music i was thinking today it is similar to worship music i love singing about our Lord (although i have a horrible voice)
9. real or fake: well i used to only say real but now i love my fake trees so i say both. i like to decorate early and a real tree dies so fast. So set up the fake and then a little later set up a real in another room
10. I spend Christmas Eve: usually baking or cooking, wrapping last minute gifts etc.. then we go to my in-laws for dinner and gifts there. come home and the kids open there one present for that night (pj's)and also there presents from drawing names amongst each other. take some pictures in our pj's, prayers and bed time...

 

that was fun!!!

Day 2- Appetizers

well it is day number 2 of the Bloggy progressive dinner and it is appetizers yummy! i LOVE appetizers and i certainly think during the holidays especially if you have the right appetizers you do not even have to serve a meal. just drinks, appetizers, and a few desserts. here are a couple of my favorite recipes for apps:

Stuffed Jalapeno's

• cut jalapeno's in half and scrape out all veins and seeds with a spoon (you may want to wear gloves)
• rinse peppers and set on kitchen towel to dry
• while peppers dry combine in bowl the following ingredients
• a block of cream cheese
• finely diced green onion
• sharp shredded cheese
• and crumbled bacon
• mix all items and set aside
• take peppers and fill the inside with cream cheese mixture
• bake at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes until peppers are getting soft

variation: leave bacon out of cream cheese and wrap the raw pepper stuffed with cream cheese in a half piece of raw bacon wrap around and  place on cookie sheet and bake until bacon is done SO yummy!

Holiday cheese ball

i promise this is so good!!!!

• 2 packages of cream cheese softened
• 3-4 tablespoons of very finely chopped bell pepper (i chop this in my pampered chef chopper until it is so finely diced)
• 1 small can of crushed pineapple drained very well
• mix the 3 items and form into a ball (will feel a little wet don't worry)
• roll in chopped walnuts
• place in plastic wrap and set in fridge for a few hours (the longer the better, i usually make this a day before)
• serve with crackers

Super Easy Spinach dip

• 1 container of sour cream
• 1 package hidden valley ranch dip mix
• 1 box chopped cooked spinach thawed and squeeze all liquid out
• mix and serve with sourdough bread pieces and/or crackers

ok last one

7 layered bean dip

• in a 9x13 inch cake plate layer the following ingredients in order
• refried beans (whatever brand you like, 2 small cans)
• shredded cheese (enough to cover beans)
• salsa (i use medium pace)
• sour cream that was premixed with a package of tavo seasoning
• sliced black olives
• chopped fresh tomatoes
• chopped green onion

for lots more ideas go visit Jen i cant wait to see all the ideas for new apps!!!!

Yummy Cranberry Punch

well I saw this Bloggy Progressive Dinner and knew i had to join in! Everyone who knows me knows that i LOVE to entertain and the holidays are by far my favorite time of the year.

  

Today the recipe to share is drinks. my friend Lisa makes this drink and it is SO good, i promise you will love it.

• 1 large can of pineapple juice (the large metal can)
• 1/2 a bottle of cranberry juice
• 3 cans of Fresca (you could substitute sprite or something similar, but if you can get Fresca PLEASE use it.

in a punch bowl mix the pineapple and cranberry juice then add the 3 cans of fresca and serve cold (i put my stuff in the fridge at least the day before way in the back so it all is REALLY cold) you can serve it like so or over ice. (here is a picture of a cookie exchange i hosted and served it last year)

another thing i like to do is fill a crock pot with water and start it up and keep hot water going for hot cocoa, tea, cider. i try to keep everything together so my guests can help themselves

for more great drink ideas go visit Parenting the Tiniest of Miracles. and come back tomorrow for a yummy appetizer recipe!

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Just a sneak peak of one of my pretty chairs i got for my formal living room. IT finally looks like someone lives here because we have furniture after a year and a half. i will post the final room view tomorrow with all my pieces including the table. i have been busy putting up Christmas decor and havent taken final after pictures yet...

It's not to late to be thankful right!!!

Liz made this cute sign to welcome our guests to our home...

We had a great day

We ordered a bounce house the kids loved it! Where we live the weather is great at Thanksgiving (normally) so the kids can enjoy there day and us adults can enjoy visiting...

I started the day with a cup of coffee and some yummy monkey bread i made that morning. i just started drinking coffee recently and i told Johnnie i felt like a grown up since i drink coffee now =) i scoped out all the ads and enjoyed some quiet before the day started.

Johnnie cooks the turkey in a big smoker and it is always fabulous!

now for the thankful

i am so thankful for John for working so hard to take care of us, and so that i can stay home with our kiddos... and that he spent his week vacation ripping out windows, blowing insulation, and painting (which we both hate doing!) in our boys room so that they don't freeze this winter and sweat to death in the summer. i love Johnnie so much!This year i am so thankful that God has blessed us with another daughter. she truly is a great baby and we all Love her so much!

and of course i am so thankful for all my kids, they are amazing, healthy, funny kids....

Front bathroom

When we bought this house the bathroom was painted a hideous color of mustard, this picture does not even do it justice how ugly it was. i hated everything about this bathroom, the color, the tile, the doors on the shower etc....

see what i mean?.... but this is the bathroom my boys use so unless i was planning on tiling it to the ceiling, and putting a drain in the center i wasn't willing to put a ton of cash into until they are much older. BUT the bad thing is this is ALSO the bath that guests use when they come over to visit. believe me we use a LOT of Clorox wipes in here....

so after about 3 coats of primer and white paint i have a blank canvas to work in. i have tried several shower curtains that i haven't liked in the year and a half we have been here but FINALLY found one i think works. i installed the hooks last week to hang these towels on because if it was a rod my boys would try to hang from them and they would be broke the first day, i like them a lot....

one next to the sink for hand towels is good too

i need to switch those dumb light bulbs out the lighting is horrible in there! and the stars on the wall are from when i had a ocean theme and i like them there still lol...

oh and i don't love that little table next to the sink BUT my boys ripped the toilet paper holder out of the wall and i needed a place to set things so this worked for now. i would like to get a sink with a cabinet in there at some point but again that is not at the top of the list for now so this works. overall i am the most pleased with the space since i have lived here...

Weekend

brrrr... it was cold this weekend!

we lit a fire Saturday and that was nice, our house is pretty poorly insulated so it is REALLY hot in the summer and REALLY cold in the winter. we had insulation blown in the attics last year but our walls still need it, John has the week off so he is working on my boys room because it is the coldest room in the house (there room was added on by the people who lived here before us and they did not do a great job)

the family enjoying the warm fire

Jake helping work on the room

and Ms.Lilly, she is 2 months today but i am waiting until after her doctors appointment Tuesday to do a post on her =)

anyway about the weekend..

Friday night i hosted a moms night out for our MOPS group here, we had a coupon class that was presented by Save at home mommy and i think the ladies are excited to start saving there families some money!!! We had a record number of ladies come! i think i had like 32 women in my living room that night! the class was over a little after 8 and about 14 women were here late into the evening i think the last left at 12:15, it was so fun...

Saturday Johnnie worked on the boys room and i just lounged around all day. i never got out of pj's... i did clean a little. John camped put in the Jake's room with all the boys since his room is connected to the room he is working on and is blocked off he didn't want them messing with the plywood blocking the wall.

Sunday (today) i slept in! then hung out until i took Liz to a birthday party for her friend Rachel, she had a fun time. While she was there i ran to Beverly's craft store and browsed around with Lilly, i bought a few things to put on our tree this year. i cant wait to decorate. pics will follow once i do it.. Johnathan is staying at grandmas for 2 days he left today, he was so excited he loves going there and staying with her and since there is no school this week he is ecstatic.

this week i will be getting ready to host Thanksgiving, and doing some stuff with the kids. i will post all about that stuff too

Boys room part 1

this was my boys room before this weekend. There room was very poorly insulated (like there is NONE!!) so John decided that since he was taking vacation for thanksgiving week he would work on this room. i hate the 3 windows, they are old, don't come clean, and are way too high! We decided to replace the 2 windows with bigger windows so the boys can see through them.

here is a pic once they got the Windows out.. aka the point of no return, now he has to finish the job no deciding he will do it later

this is the wall from the outside after the holes are cut to fit the new bigger windows (see David poking his head out)

here is one of the windows up. John has those 2 done and the 3rd John filled in so there will be no window in there.

Part 2 coming tomorrow i hope

Table Re-Do

i bought this table on craigslist for a great deal before we moved here

it has seen better days and was looking pretty shabby. so i wiped it down really good, fixed some loose legs and took it outside to get started.

i primer-ed it with primer spray paint

then i took a free can of red paint i got and started painting BUT it was not looking red it was looking hot pink

so i took a can of trusty black spray paint and got to work

  here is the final result, in my living room with my new couch and rug. this isn't the greatest picture it was getting dark so the lighting was odd.... anyway i love it!!!

Thanksgiving plans

I am so excited the holidays are here. this week is Thanksgiving and we are hosting it at our home, i love love love having people over for the holidays (and anytime) so this is right up my alley. i think including kids we are going to have about 30 people, so no setting a pretty table with china (not that i have china HA!) but will still be fun no doubt

This week Johnnie is on vacation so he is redoing my boys room ripping down walls, replacing the windows, insulating the walls, etc... i cant wait to show you all the pics of the after's, he got me bigger windows because the ones in there were so high the kids couldn't see out of them. now they will be able to and that is going to be cool.

My kids are also off school this week. i am hoping to bake cookies with them on Monday. Liz and Lilly and i are going on a date on Tuesday. and then cooking and cleaning on Wednesday.

For the meal on thanksgiving we are doing the turkey, ham, and i am making the yummiest sweet potatoes and everyone else is bringing everything else. oh and i will probably do some appetizer type things and a dessert too.

What are you doing for thanksgiving? what is your favorite part of the meal?

my favorites are sweet potatoes, ham and turkey and cranberry sauce...

Target Deals

today i scored some great deals at target, all of this cost me $62 and change

i rarely buy shredded cheese but the price was so good on these that i gave in. we go through a lot of cheese here!

i bought a coffee pot so i was so excited to get flavored creamers.

those guess who games are on sale for $20 and i had 2 $5 coupons for each one making the price $10!

those Mr.Potato head Santa were the best price at $1.99 after the dollar coupon, the boys will love these in there stockings!

 

find any good deals lately?

Weekend Update

We had a good weekend. our weekends are usually really low key. we are not usually to on the go John is tired we like to get things done around here and we get funny looks when we pile out of the car with our funny family =)

Friday we stayed home (no surprise lol). i cant even remember what we did or watched on TV it was that exciting..

Saturday John got up and got his oil changed in his car then he came and picked us all up and we headed to costco. Jake woke up hacking a lung so i took him to the store so he could cough all over the carts (JK he didn't cough while we were there...much) we had a lunch of samples there was a ton of yummy samples.

after costco we went to the furniture store and picked up my couch that was finally in! i have not had furniture in this room and we have lived here over a year and a half! here is a picture of the empty room

and here is my new couch

it is black (duh you can see that lol) and it is a little more modern than i normally would purchase but i LOVE it! and it is SOOOOO comfortable. i got a rug for this area which i can pick up Wednesday or Thursday and 2 chairs (that are animal print i cant wait!!) but the chairs wont be here until the first week in December. i am re-painting my coffee table and putting it in here too. i cant wait to show you the final product!

 

Saturday night we went to visit our good friends Josh and Liz and there kids (we took Jake to my moms so he wouldn't cough on there kids) Liz had her twins boys 3 days before i had Lilly and we still have not got together because sickness has been crazy around here. we almost thought we weren't going to get to hang out this weekend but i was so thankful for my mom!!! we got to have dinner and visit which i have missed so much! oh and i finally got to hold the babies oh my gosh they are SO sweet, Lilly wasn't quite sure how to take it all in

i took the picture Liz got to wrangle the kiddos lol, doesn't she look FAB for just having had 2 babies! Ian is the one in her arms and Zachary is sitting right by Lilly (i think HAHA!!!!)

this one cracks me up trying to get 3 babies to pose, and Lilly looking like what is going on

anyhow it was a GREAT night! and Liz and i are going to try to keep our kids healthy so that we can get together with the kids during the week...

 

Sunday (Sorry long post) John took the two older kids to church and i stayed home with the 3 little ones because Johnathan woke up sick.. lovely. i was home all morning then went to my friend Dani's shower i got to help plan it and it was a lot of fun. only 2 weeks until we know what she is having on her baby's birthday! (i am guessing a girl btw)

so that's it in a nutshell

Today

i started Christmas shopping! I LOVE Christmas time everything about it, but i don't like to be rushing around on the week before Christmas looking for something that i cant find anywhere... SO i am going to do a little shopping every week until i am done.

We are cutting back this year on the kids (my hubby is laughing because i say that every year) but we REALLY are this year. Today i got Johnathan one thing he wanted so just a few more things for him and one kid is done yay!

What about you? are you ready for the holidays? started shopping yet?

Train them young

every time we go to the school office Jake finds the broom and he loves to sweep the area. So the other day when we went to Lowe's i saw one and got it for him. as you can tell he couldn't be happier

he has been using it ALL weekend!