recieved this in an email this morning
A time of joy, harmony, and peace, or is it?
Years ago, instead of peace my home was filled with stress, rush, and fatigue. There never seemed to be enough time, money or energy to fulfill my expectations of what a “picture-perfect” Christmas celebration should be.
I remember one particular holiday season, I got this wonderful idea to kick our family celebrations up a notch. My children were no longer toddlers and I thought we were “ready for the challenge.” I had visions of all the things we could do. First, we would make our own Christmas cards, including a lovely family portrait. Next we would wrap our presents in style, and surely we would win the “best decorated house” neighborhood contest. Never tiring, we would make crafts, bake and decorate cookies for all of our family, friends and neighbors. Our home, a mini version of Christmas central, would be filled with all the sounds and all the aromas of Christmas. Peace, joy, and love would ooze from within...
Maybe the celebration would have gone better if I would’ve spent more time planning for it and less time daydreaming about it … or if I would have picked a few kid-friendly activities to enjoy instead of overwhelming my family with projects … and if my husband would not have lost his job right before Christmas!
I learned then that reality seldom matches my expectations, especially during the holidays. How can I be joyous, harmonious, peaceful, or even nice to my family during this busy and hectic season? I learned by painful experience that by simply doing a little homework before the “big test” comes you can preserve the true meaning of the season.
Let me share with you some practical pointers I’ve learned over the years, so that you and your family can enjoy the holidays “Heaven’s Style.”
Let go - Stuff in a big imaginary box all of your unrealistic or unattainable expectations for the holidays, and throw that box away!
Make a list - Gather your family to discuss the things you’d like to do during the holidays.
Check it twice - Calendar in hand, decide together what can realistically be done and jot it down on the family calendar or schedule. Decide ahead of time who will be in charge of, or helping with, each task.
Seek peace - Actively and diligently pursue those things that will guard the peace of your heart and home. Don’t allow yourself or your family to be so busy that you don’t have time to go to church, pray, or read your Bible during this time.
Remember - ‘tis the Season to celebrate! God the Father gave us the best gift in His Son. Let’s strive not to forget (nor let our families forget) what the most wonderful time of the year is all about.
blog give away
fellow stamper and blogger Cindy is having a giveaway. check out her blog, leave a comment to be entered to win. while you are there, take a look at the stunning cards and other goodies she has on her blog
baking frenzy
decided that this year we would do baking to give to all the boys teachers(we have a total of 6 this year not counting J's piano teacher) so today was baking day. found a new sugar cookie recipe from this Christmas' Kraft magazine and they were an absolute hit. so tasty and allot easier to make than other sugar cookie recipes i've used
S'More Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
1 pkg. (250 g) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. coloured sugar
1/3 cup JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
Directions
1 PREHEAT oven to 325ºF. Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Cover. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2 ROLL dough to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into 66 cookies, using 2-inch festive cookie cutters. Sprinkle half of the cookies with coloured sugar. Place all cookies, 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheets.
3 BAKE 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
4 SPREAD bottom side of each of the plain cookies with about 1 tsp. marshmallow creme; cover with remaining sugar cookies, bottom-sides down, to form sandwiches. Drizzle with melted chocolate.
also made a carmel shortbread square(absolute family favorite) and some chocolate balls. now just to keep everyone from eating it all lol!
Caramel Shortbread Squares
Makes 1 9x9 inch pan
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
2 In a medium bowl, mix together 2/3 cup butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 1 1/4 cup flour until evenly crumbly. Press into 9" square baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
3 In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust (warm or cool). Cool until it begins to firm.
4 Melt chocolate and pour over caramel layer. Cover the layer completely. Chill. Cut into squares
S'More Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
1 pkg. (250 g) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. coloured sugar
1/3 cup JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
Directions
1 PREHEAT oven to 325ºF. Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Cover. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2 ROLL dough to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into 66 cookies, using 2-inch festive cookie cutters. Sprinkle half of the cookies with coloured sugar. Place all cookies, 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheets.
3 BAKE 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
4 SPREAD bottom side of each of the plain cookies with about 1 tsp. marshmallow creme; cover with remaining sugar cookies, bottom-sides down, to form sandwiches. Drizzle with melted chocolate.
also made a carmel shortbread square(absolute family favorite) and some chocolate balls. now just to keep everyone from eating it all lol!
Caramel Shortbread Squares
Makes 1 9x9 inch pan
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
2 In a medium bowl, mix together 2/3 cup butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 1 1/4 cup flour until evenly crumbly. Press into 9" square baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
3 In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust (warm or cool). Cool until it begins to firm.
4 Melt chocolate and pour over caramel layer. Cover the layer completely. Chill. Cut into squares
gotta love a sale
Fabricland is having their triple discount sale this weekend. i got some fabric to finish off my impulse Christmas quilt-buy 1m get 1 free(will have pictures tomorrow. i'm just finishing off the applique and just might get it sewn together tonight-for sure tomorrow!) found some of those neat wallies wallpaper shapes-tropical fish for B's room(i put them up and when he went to bed he just freaked out lol) and some cool moose/deer/elk/bear ones for the office. also got a very cool christmas ornament(that broke in the bag on the way home so is currently being glued back together) i haven't been to fabricland since summer and was happily surprised with all the neat home decorating items they have brought in. called Jim from the store and told him he needs to head down there tomorrow to do some christmas shopping for me lol!!
beware-vent ahead
so 10days until Christmas. i'm sitting here with 5 things that HAVE to be quilted for the big day. 1 needs mailed yet so i'm getting into panic mood. can't use the quilting machine. saying mom is backlogged is an understatement. she gets these gorgeous custom work quilts(she creates the quilting pattern specifically for the quilt as she goes along) normal proceduere is for her to have the quilt for a month before the customer expects it back. mom took most of the summer off-didn't quilt between May and September. now she is totally doubting her ability to quilt. as a result, she leaves these quilts until 3 or 4 days before they are due than compeltely panics that she can't do them. as a result, she basically has had to do a quilt every 2 days to catch up. course the power going off every single day this week hasn't exactly helped.
i've talked to her about this. she is a fantastic quilter. if she sucked, would the biggest quilting store in the valley be bringing her quilts to do? would she have people bringing her quilts for the 3rd/4th time? would she be as busy if she sucked? she knows the answer to all those questions. almost every week, i do the mom peptalk. i should embroidery it on a pillow for her.
than this week. she sold her old machine back in June-delivered it to the lady way up north vancouver island. she hasn't even put it together yet. she called mom last week; they were driving home from Calgary and wanted to stop by and have mom show her one or two things on the machine. A-training sessions on the longarm go for $1000 for 3 days(trust me, you get your moneys worth) the woman we bought the longarm business from does the trainging courses. mom, being the kindhearted person she is, said sure. here we are on FRIDAY and this woman and her husband are still at my parents house. they have been staying there since Wednesday morning. supposedly they are going home tomorrow. mom has been training this lady since Wednesday for NOTHING. i'm peeved-can you tell? spent 6 hours at mom's today waiting to use the machine. she promised we would get my 3 most urgent quilts done. i wasn't allowed to do them-she wanted to show this lady some techniques on my quilt. techniques she was to teach me today.
now i have to find some time this weekend to get over to mom's and get these quilts finished. should i mention that mom and dad are gone overnight tomorrow for a chirstmas party? ugh
vent over-wasn't that fun?
i've talked to her about this. she is a fantastic quilter. if she sucked, would the biggest quilting store in the valley be bringing her quilts to do? would she have people bringing her quilts for the 3rd/4th time? would she be as busy if she sucked? she knows the answer to all those questions. almost every week, i do the mom peptalk. i should embroidery it on a pillow for her.
than this week. she sold her old machine back in June-delivered it to the lady way up north vancouver island. she hasn't even put it together yet. she called mom last week; they were driving home from Calgary and wanted to stop by and have mom show her one or two things on the machine. A-training sessions on the longarm go for $1000 for 3 days(trust me, you get your moneys worth) the woman we bought the longarm business from does the trainging courses. mom, being the kindhearted person she is, said sure. here we are on FRIDAY and this woman and her husband are still at my parents house. they have been staying there since Wednesday morning. supposedly they are going home tomorrow. mom has been training this lady since Wednesday for NOTHING. i'm peeved-can you tell? spent 6 hours at mom's today waiting to use the machine. she promised we would get my 3 most urgent quilts done. i wasn't allowed to do them-she wanted to show this lady some techniques on my quilt. techniques she was to teach me today.
now i have to find some time this weekend to get over to mom's and get these quilts finished. should i mention that mom and dad are gone overnight tomorrow for a chirstmas party? ugh
vent over-wasn't that fun?
i'm such a nut
ran out to walmart to get some odds and ends. while in the checkout i spotted a new quilting magazine. it made its way home with me all because of a Christmas tree quilt on the front cover(i did find 3 other things inside i would like to make as well) and here i am, 11days until Christmas madly sewing together a Christmas quilt for moi rofl!!
also got some great mail today. the Joy card is from CarolH and the snow card from DianeD. have to say i love this holidays card exchange! thanx for the loverly cards ladies
what a weird day
came home at lunch to discover we had no power. decided to get the boys from school, no power there either. sat around reading waiting for the power to come back on. couldn't start my cousin's quilt(have to wash the fabric first) couldn't sew. had been planning on going to the movies tonight but didn't want to leave the sitter home in the dark with the boys(i wasn't looking forward to sitting in the dark with them lol!)
just before 5:30, the lights came back on. was able to whip up some dinner(you'd be amazed at how far a splash circle a bottle of soya sauce makes when dropped *sigh*) and head off to girls night at the theater.
had a great time; was nice to get out and relax and yet i feel oddly out of sorts with getting basically nothing done today!
just before 5:30, the lights came back on. was able to whip up some dinner(you'd be amazed at how far a splash circle a bottle of soya sauce makes when dropped *sigh*) and head off to girls night at the theater.
had a great time; was nice to get out and relax and yet i feel oddly out of sorts with getting basically nothing done today!
mmmmm, fabric
been racking my brain thinking of a quilt pattern for my cousin. I've made all my cousins' baby quilts for their little ones and have tried(succeeded so far!) not to copy the same pattern.
i've decided to make a log cabin quilt. Tracy told me the colors she was interested in and off i went to my stash. i found the perfect base fabric but that was as far as i got. nothing was flowing with it. so off to mom's and no luck with her closet full(yes it really is a closet jammed full of fabric!)
so lucky me, i get to wander on over to Hamels tomorrow morning(thankfully all the boys have school tomorrow so no helpers coming with me lol) and pick some fabrics for the quilt. woo hoo!
i've decided to make a log cabin quilt. Tracy told me the colors she was interested in and off i went to my stash. i found the perfect base fabric but that was as far as i got. nothing was flowing with it. so off to mom's and no luck with her closet full(yes it really is a closet jammed full of fabric!)
so lucky me, i get to wander on over to Hamels tomorrow morning(thankfully all the boys have school tomorrow so no helpers coming with me lol) and pick some fabrics for the quilt. woo hoo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
