Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to our family and friends!!

Christmas Goodies

The Christmas season is always one of busy times and demanding tasks.  It is usually not until after we are out on Winter Break that I can take time to breathe and bake.  :-)  This year was a lot of fun; Mark and I were a great tag team on several of these recipes.

Muddy Buddies
This is a treat Mark loves to make anytime he can, but we especially love it at Christmas time.

9 c. Chex cereal (corn, rice, and/or wheat)

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/4 c. margarine

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Pour Chex cereal into a large bowl, set aside. In a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and margarine. Microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 mintues or until smooth, stirring after 1 minute. Stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate mixture over cereals, stirring until all pieces are evenly coated. Pour cereal mixture into a jumbo Ziploc bag with powdered sugar. Seal securely and shake until all pieces are well-coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool.

Turtle Bites
Who knew that three ingredients could lead to something quite so yummy?  All that is needed for Turtle Bites is pretzels, unwrapped Rolo candies (or Caramel Hershey kisses, as I had on hand this year), and pecan halves.  A great tutorial can be found on this site - really, they're so easy and so yummy!

Andes Mint Cookies

I discovered the recipe for these cookies on this blog (via the glories of Pinterest) this year, and I definitely wanted to try them since they seemed SO simple!  They are as delicious (and easy!) as the blogger promised.

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 package of Andes Mints

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-9 minutes. Don't cook any longer than that! You don't want them to be overdone!
Take sheet out of oven and while the cookies are still very hot, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted. Take a spoon and smooth out each mint like frosting.

Dreamsicle Fudge
This is one of my favorites, and I only make it at Christmas.  The recipe is linked here from last year's Dreamsicle Fudge creation.

Class Christmas Party

Will and I got to go in yesterday for his class Christmas Party.  The kids had a blast, including their eating green-frosted cupcakes FIRST, singing, and visiting.  Will had a really fun time with his friends.

Danica entertained everyone with her rendition of "Jingle Bells."  We could tell her favorite part was "HEY"!!

After lunch, everyone lined up to wash his or her hands before naptime.

Everyone was getting ready for their nap after the great party.  We left and had a nap of our own on this rainy day!

Around the House

Things heard and seen around our house lately:

1.  Will has been enjoying singing some new songs lately.  He has learned "Jingle Bells," "Jesus Loves Me," "This Little Light of Mine," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "The B-i-b-l-e," and even a song that Daddy made up called "Tomato Soup."

2.  He has been wearing Daddy out with running, jumping, and treating him like a jungle gym.  He likes to race from the living room to the laundry room and back; he starts each race with "Se----t AND GO!!"

3.  "It's Barney time" OR "I watch Barney." - Let's just say that Mark and I have a love/not-love relationship with Barney. Will LOVES to watch Barney.  Over and over.  He is, however, mesmerized by the show, and we can get a few things done while it is on.

4.  "I make coffee." - Mark and I bought a Keurig coffeemaker as an early Christmas present to each other.  Will prides himself in "making coffee," which means inserting the K-cup and pushing the button.  He squeals with glee when it brews, saying, "Here comes coffee!!!!!!

5.  "You like it??" - After making the aforementioned coffee, he encourages us to drink it, then wants to know if we like it.

6.  "Turn Christmas on!" - Will is enjoying all the Christmas lights, both on his Christmas tree and around the neighborhood.  I love it when he gasps and says the lights are "beautiful"!!

7.  "You want a haircut??" - Last weekend, we took Will for a much-needed haircut.  We have had such a good experience at this salon for kids; he knows haircuts mean lollipops and hand stamps!  Ever since that time, he offers "haircuts" to us, using the Wii joysticks as clippers and hair dryer.  The best part is that we get imaginary lollipops and hand stamps after the "haircut."

8.  "Good job" - Will likes to raise our self esteem by telling us "Good job" when we've done something.  He has done this for a while now, but has added a "thumbs-up" sign to his routine.  As you can tell from the picture, he's also ready to hitchhike whenever necessary.  :-)  We asked him to try a two-thumbs-up sign, and he loved it!!

9.  "Thisaway" or "Thataway" - Will is very knowledgeable about the Chester area and loves to tell us whether to go "this way" or "that way" in the car.  If we ever suffer from early onset dementia, he will enable his human GPS and definitely be able to direct us to all the important places - Meme and Pawpaw's house, Target, Don Pepe, Kohl's, Martins, church, and Food Lion.

Visit with Santa

Last weekend we made the annual trip to visit Santa!  He was at Sapori Italian Restaurant in Chester, and we had a great time.

Will was looking forward to seeing Santa.  We were the first ones there and Will slowly walked up to Santa.  He even whispered to Santa, "I want a truck and a fire engine."

Will didn't like the idea of sitting on Santa's lap (he HAD, in fact, already told him what he wanted!), but he was willing to sit NEXT TO Santa (especially after Santa gave him a lollipop!).

After picture time, Will gave Santa a high five.  Everyone at Sapori was so nice and helped make this a special visit for Will.

Reunion Day

I had a heartwarming visit this afternoon with my AP English class from last year.  We had a "reunion" at Panera, and we were able to catch up with what is going on for everyone.  :-)  I'm proud of these kids - good luck in your second semester!!

Keep Calm

This has been the motto for Mark and me all week.  We're almost there - only a half day of school tomorrow!!

Inside a Toddler's Brain

I've been meaning to post this for about a week.  Thanks to Nicholas Ford for sharing it.

It's true.  So true.

Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was the ultimate birthday weekend.  We went to Trinity's 2nd birthday party Saturday morning, Beatrix's 3rd birthday party Saturday night, and celebrated Pawpaw's (???) birthday, too!!

Trinity had a ladybug theme for her 2nd birthday party.  All the kids received ladybug headbands to wear and all the kids decorated their own cupcakes to look like ladybugs and smeared red icing all over them and enjoyed chomping down on some chocolate chips.  The little ones enjoyed coloring, playing pin the dot on the ladybug, singing and dancing, and hearing Ms. Mary read them stories about ladybugs.  It was also fun to watch Trinity open presents!

Beatrix had a princess theme for her 3rd birthday party.  Will played, played, and played some more.  Even though there was fabulous (and kid-friendly) food to eat, I was lucky to get about five Teddy Grahams in his system the whole afternoon.  He partied.  Hard.  Mark and I (or one of us, anyway) got to watch Beatrix open presents and enjoy her princess cake.  Will finished the party by tickling the birthday girl!

Even after two birthday parties, we definitely still had it in us to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Pawpaw.  We spent some time with him Saturday night (his real birthday) and went out to eat on Sunday.  We love you, Pawpaw!!