Wrapping Up

Today I made the Pioneer Woman's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie and it was so good that I had two servings for lunch! I used our leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and substituted corn for peas.  I also had some leftover pie crust too and that made this a quick meal to throw together.    One tip: Put a cookie sheet below pie dish to catch the bubbly goodness. Your oven will thank you!

This week we are wrapping up Christmas. The shopping is done, but I have a few presents left to wrap.  The kids and I have more baking to do and some cleaning is in order before family arrives.  Four out of the five family members have caught a bug and we are trying to kick its' butt before Christmas.  My sister-in-law noticed that I was slacking on blog posts last week and this week will be no different.  I am taking the time to enjoy my family and I did knock out a couple of organizational projects that I can not wait to share in January.  

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Rudolph

I thought I was finished decorating for Christmas and then I saw this:

Source: goodhousekeeping.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

How cute is that?!  I have always admired this version of antlers so this was a good trial run.  Printing the template was easy and cutting the cardboard was not difficult, just time consuming.  I used a little glue to keep everything in place and glitter glue for the nose.  We decided that ours needed blue eyes just for fun!

Get your Bake On

That does not even make sense does it? Well, moving on.  Last week we made snicker doodles.  Mmmm, they are my favorite to make with the kids because they are so easy! I only made a half batch and they did not last long.

Christmas Cookies

Every year the kids and I bake cookies to pass out to friends and family.  We also eat a lot ourselves! This year I plan on baking the following:

Sources

Evening with Santa

Every year Wyatt's school has a shin-dig called "Evening with Santa".  The proceeds benefit the school and it is two hours of games, cookie decorating, letter writing, and meeting Santa and the missus.  Madeline was not keen on talking to Santa.  The boys loved it!  Here are some pictures courtesy of my camera phone.

Wyatt's prize. He was surprised when classmates recognized him!

Snowflakes and Wreaths

See those teeny tiny snow flakes?  The kids were trying to catch some on their tongues, but they really were not big enough.  We are dreaming of a white Christmas!

Here is the door this year. I love my glitter retro bow.  The wreath is glittery too, but it is hard to see.  This is the first year since we were married that I did not put out the Williamsburg wreath with fresh fruit.  Sometimes a little change is nice. 

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2011

Keeping Sane around the Holidays

  With so much hustle and bustle around the holidays there are few things that I have done that have kept me sane so far.

1. Sticking to my deep cleaning schedule
2. Menu planning
3. Using organizational tools for my Christmas purchases

  Here are two of the recipes that I used this week.  Stuffed Green Peppers and Crock Pot Potato Soup.  I just cubed potatoes for the soup rather than using hash browns.  Next time I am thinking of adding bacon (hubby's suggestion).  

Source: tasteofhome.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Source: pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

I hope that you are using tools that work for you and are having a stress free holiday!

Christmas Crafts with the Kids

Two crafts that caught my were salt dough ornaments and a hand print Christmas tree.

Source: christmas.yourway.net via Stephanie on Pinterest

Source: ucreatewithkids.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Here is our version of the tree.  It is in the disaster of a powder room.  I like the tree a lot better than the previous print.  I spray painted the mat with silver metallic paint and popped a 12x12 paper on top. 

Here is our colorful salt dough ornaments. I love Luke's psychedelic gingerbread boy. 

Please excuse the mountain of clean laundry. Sometimes crafts come first.

Shh, Can you keep a secret?

I just can not wait to show you what Matt made for Madeline for Christmas. As you know Madeline LOVES her dolls and plays endless tea parties using her step stool as a table, but there is only enough room for two.  I saw this on Pinterest and knew that we could make our own.  

Our table measures 19"x19". It is big, but we needed it to work for 3 dolls.  Here are some pictures that I snuck while the kids were asleep. I painted it lilac because Madeline loves any shade of purple. 

Isn't that party ware so cute!!! We found them at Meijer in the American Girl craft section for $5. I know that Michael's also carries AG crafts. The spoons are the sample ones from Baskin Robbins.  

If any one is interested in a table I believe that we are going to sell unfinished ones soon. Let me know if you are interested.

Favorite Christmas Song

My favorite Christmas song is God Rest You Merry Gentlemen. I explained to my kids how the kings used the star as their GPS. They thought that was cool.  

Here is a version that I like.

Christmas Lights

Remember when my sweet husband did this?  Well, that was the first Christmas decor to go up!  I bought the stuff last year thinking I could use something battery operated, but that never happened.  Matt picked up this nifty remote control set at Lowes and we were in business!  

These are the same trees from last year. I love the way they look from the outside.

The Nutcracker looks lonely.

My favorite of the tree!