Favorite Christmas Memories

I have been thinking a lot about my favorite Christmas memories... there are so many and each one is near and dear to my heart so I thought I would write them down for keepsake:) or at least for me!!

1) Christmas has ALWAYS been about Jesus in my family... we celebrate his birth first then the rest follows. Always with a muffin and singing Happy Birthday Jesus to the King. It is a tradition I keep as I left home and one we continue with John Hunter

2) For some reason my mom and dad have ALWAYS chosen one or two wrapping papers and wrap all the gift in that... it makes wrapping easy and it makes the tree look great!

3) One present on Christmas Eve, dont ask for two or you wont get one.... well at least that is what my mom says:)

if you have minite share with me what your favorite Christmas memory is...

Monster Cookie Recipe

Several of you have asked for the Monster cookie recipe.... I just made ANOTHER batch for Eric to take to work tomorrow. They are some yummy! Today I used chocolate chip and butterscotch along with nuts... I must say they are YUMMY!

Monster Cookies:
3 eggs
8oz brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter melted
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c peanut butter
4 1/2 c oats
8oz chocolate chips

OPTIONAL:
1c. M&M
1c. coconut
1c. nuts (i use chopped pecans)
1c butterscotch morsels

Perfect Saturday Night

This is the perfect Saturday night... we are bummed because we could not go to Cincy for a Christmas party, but we made the best of it. We went and looked at Christmas lights, went to Hamilton Towne Center for a little shopping, in the snow:) And then to the store to fix some dinner!

I made some cookies, cleaned the house, and now we are curled up on the couch watching a movie... let me just say perfect!

Gift Ideas

So here are a few gift ideas I thought I would share. These are mixes that you can make and jar and give out as gifts.

Rich and Creamy Hot Chocolate
4 cups powdered mmilk
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups of sugar
dash of salk

Mix all ingredients together in the place in the container of your choice. Add a tag with the following instructions:

Per cup: Spoon 1/4 cup of mix into a mug. Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir until dissolved...

This gift I put in small bag tied with a cute ribbon, and then placed in a mug I got at a the dollar tree... should have taken a picture (oops)

cappuccino mix that is great as well
1/2 cup powdered creamer
2/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup instant coffee

Add the following ingredients to above mix to make these different flavors:
Orange- 2 orange-flavored hard candies
Mocha- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Cinnamon- 1 tsp. cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until the mixture is a fine powder. Place the mix in your container of choice. Add a tag with the following instructions:

Per Cup: Spoon 3 tablespoons of mix into a mug. Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir!

Sickness Get Behind Me

Well sickness has entered the White House... better this week than next huh? Well, yesterday JH and I were doing a little shopping at Target and all of the sudden he started yelling and holding his head saying it hurt "wrealllly bad" Poor thing. We came home gave him some meds and he took an almost 3 hour nap before we went to Nolan's party (more blogging on that later).

On the way home he asked if we could go and see the doctor because his ears hurt. Of course at this point it was too late. He was running a fever and we check on him throughout the night.... this morning we went to the doctor were we discovered... DOUBLE EAR INFECTION.

Poor thing, we have been laying low today, and have had the best time. He is pretty tired seeing how he didn't take a great nap. But he is chillin on the couch while I make dinner watching a Christmas movie...

Eric too is sick. His started with a sinus infection, the strep, and now it is getting into his chest. Poor babe! He is pitiful when he is sick. But he has gone to work for a bit, and now home for a long winters nap. We just bought a new humidifer, so I am hoping that this puts the sickness behind us! Say a little pray for us...

I am hoping to go do some Christmas shopping tonight after the BOYS go to bed, and set my DVR for the new show, Sing along... I am pumped! What about you, what are you into tonight?

Holiday Pretzel Treats

Here is another fun "cookie" to make!

1 bag of ROUND/ SQUARE pretzels (synder brand sells these)

1 bag of hersery kisses ( used candy cane ones, but whatever, the hugs would be good too, as well as plain kisses)

1 bag of holiday mix M&M's

Preheat oven to 350,

cover cookie sheet with wax paper

Place pretzels down on wax paper (in rows)

Place unwrapped kissed on top of pretzels

Put in oven for 5-7 seven min, or until kiss is melted

Once out of the oven, place an M&M in the middle of the melted kiss and let cool!

So yummy, and super fun to do with a 3 year old in tow!

Christmas Cards 2009

I don't know if you know this about me or not, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE, Christmas cards! I start thinking about them LONG before the tree is up. Although I don't think they need to be anything spectacular in this day and age where we all email, blog, and text, there is something about going to the mailbox and seeing something OTHER than the 20% off bed, bath, and beyond, and bills.

Some of my favorite memories with my Gran where helping her with her Christmas cards. This was a MAJOR undertaking. Hundreds of Christmas cards went out EVERY year, and as she aged the list got smaller, the letter got shorter, but the cards still went out. I get my love of Christmas cards from her. I don't care about cost, I MUST have the Christmas stamp.... I DIGRESS, could the PLEASE make Forever Christmas stamp. This would be so helpful for the people who have the same obsession as me....

Anyhoo... what do you love about Christmas Cards? Do you love them, do you hate them? tell you your thoughts... I would love to hear!

PS... here is our Christmas card this year... and yes, I love the pants