Christmas at our home

C, G, and E all participated in a live children's nativity

I have often heard people exclaim how much fun it must be at our house on Christmas morning.  One of the advantages of having a big family is that even simple Christmas traditions are big! I must admit, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning are some of the best days ever at my house.  2011 was no exception.  So, I'll share with you some of my favorite pictures from the holiday.  Enjoy!

A decorates the gingerbread house on Christmas eve

Our Family loves Christmas

C tears the sheet off his new bike

M is delighted with his picture book

A opens up an RC truck



Santa gave D some makeup




G is our new Spy Kid

Merry Christmas!

E and A move to the new Xbox game

M is all worn out by the fun



The completed puzzle that E gave Mom for Christmas

Almond Butter Bars

This recipe is a family tradition.  My mother-in-law gave us the recipe and we have made it every Christmas! It wouldn't feel like Christmas without these.  I've adapted the recipe a little and have figured out the easiest way to make them.  So here it is if you ever want to try them:
Cookie Mix 
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp. baking powder
6 cups flour
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (I use my Bosch mixer) until it is fine crumbs.  Store in a covered dish or ziplock bag in the refrigerator up to 4 weeks.  Makes 8 cups. (2 batches of almond butter bars- I make one for Christmas and another on New Year's Eve)

Almond Butter Bars
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp. almond flavoring
2/3 cup butter + 2 TBS  butter, softened
12 oz (1 1/2 pkg.) cream cheese, softened
4 cups cookie mix
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  In a small bowl, combine sugar, almond flavoring and food coloring (red or green) for the filling.  Set aside.
In a large bowl (I use my Bosch mixer) combine 2/3 cup butter, cream cheese and egg yolks.  Blend until smooth.  Stir in cookie mix and 2/3 cup sugar.  Knead on a floured surface about 25 times until pliable like pie dough.  Divide in half.  Using packing tape, tape a sheet of parchment paper slightly larger than your cookie sheet onto the counter, then roll out 1/2 of the dough about 1/2" thick into a rectangle the size of the cookie sheet.  Pick of parchment paper and flip dough onto the foil on the cookie sheet.  Spread butter over the top of the dough, then spread the colored sugar mix on top, leaving 1/4" edge.  Place remaining dough on the parchment paper and roll out to the same size.  Spread with butter, then flip onto the top of the sugar, making a sandwich.  Pinch edges of dough to seal.  Brush the top with egg whites (I like to beat them first) and sprinkle with sliced almonds, pushing them into the dough slightly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  cool completely, then transfer cookie to a cutting board by lifting the foil off the pan. cut into 3" long strips (I use a pizza cutter) and enjoy.

Gingerbread Men

 A has been begging me to make Gingerbread Men with him, so last Friday we went to work.  He had a blast cutting them out and putting on the eyes and buttons.  He really liked his one-legged boy!  After getting them all ready, he tasted one and didn't like it.  After all that work!  He sure is a cutie though.  He loves using face paint and asks me every afternoon to paint his face- hence the Tiger make up in the picture. 

Gingerbread Men Recipe:

4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup molasses

Cookie Frosting:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 to2 TBS milk        food coloring (optional)

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the molasses.  Gradually add the dry ingredients, blending until the flour is thoroughly mixed in.  Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a round, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper). On a floured surface, roll our one half of the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out gingerbread people with a cookie cutter.  Use a spatula to transfer them to the baking sheet. 
Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool.  Make frosting by mixing all the ingredients together and adding more milk if needed to thin.  Place frosting in a sealable plastic bag and cut the tip off the corner. Then decorate by piping the frosting around the cookie and adding M&M candies for the mouth and buttons.

Teacher's Christmas Gifts

 I put together some Christmas gifts for my children's teachers this year. I took big bottles of hand sanitizer, took off the front label, then printed the Hands poem onto transparency, rolled it, stuffed it into the bottle and unrolled it using my sharping tool from my knife set and pressed it up against the front of the bottle. Voila!







A useful and personalized gift. I took the idea from a blog that I enjoy: http://www.mymixofsix.blogspot.com/
She had made them on small bottles of sanitizer, you can also put them in soap bottles. I just enlarged them to fit the big bottles so they would last longer. I love giving gifts that are useful as well as creative and thoughtful.

Kiss My Cookies

Tonight I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Blossoms.  I used Hugs as well as Kisses for a festive look.

Hershey Kisses (or Hugs)
1/2 cup shortening (I used half butter, half shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Unwrap Kisses.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk, vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into butter mixture. 
Shape dough into 1 inch balls (TBS size).  Roll in granulated sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet. 
Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately press a chocolate into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Then cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

So far, I've been choosing cookies that freeze well and I am storing them in the freezer until we are ready to put together our Christmas plates for sharing.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Today I made a double batch of Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.  I chose to make the glaze white, but you can color it with food coloring, or use a bit of Jello powder to make a sprinkled effect in the glaze.   Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 TBS milk
1 TBS melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture and beat until creamy.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls, flatten slightly. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven.  Cool cookies, then dip into the glaze to coat the tops. 
To make the glaze: combine confectioner's sugar, milk, 1 TBS butter, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.  Makes about 36 cookies.

Cookies!

My first cookies this year are Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles.
Our family doubles this recipe so we have lots of cookies for sharing:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum-free)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 TBS soft butter
1 cup of sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup cream cheese (or sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
colored sugar or edible glitter

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and butter.  Gradually mix in the sugar.  Beat in the egg until blended, then the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. 
With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture half at a time, until evenly mixed.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. 
Shortly before baking, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease one or two large cookie sheets (or cover with parchment paper).  Put the decorative sugar into small bowls. 
With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch thick balls.  Roll the balls in the colored sugar and place them on the baking sheets spaced about 3 inches apart.  Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for 15 minutes.  Do not over bake or they will be as hard as rocks.  Let cool.

I hope to make 5 or 6 more types of cookies over the next 2 weeks.  I'll post all the recipes on my blog with a picture of how they turn out.

39 Wonderful Years Have Come to an End

Today is my 40th birthday.  I feel strong, confident, healthy and happy.  I don't feel old, even though when my parents turned 40, they were really old.  I feel energetic, except at the moment my stomach feels distended because we just finished Thanksgiving dinner, followed by cake and ice cream.  It was a delicious Thanksgiving and I'm so grateful to have celebrated both of these holidays in one day surrounded by my family and a family of a close friend.

Now to go over the 39 goals that I set for myself last year.  Before you review them and judge me to be a failure because I did not complete many of them, I need to say that I do believe that because of the goals I set a year ago, I can see how I have changed and even matured in just one short year.  I realize that the things that I thought were so important to do last year might not have really reflected my values and priorities and were more like wishes than goals.  The goals that really were important to me were kept in my heart and I tried very earnestly to complete them, even if I only reached them partway.
Now, to end your suspense here is the report on my goals:

• Add $399 to each of my children's bank accounts We added $500 to each account at the end of 2010.
• Archive old film and prints on a memory stick I have scanned some prints into my computer, but this is a time-consuming project that will have to be completed when all my children are in school.
• Attend 3 cultural events I don't think I went to anything officially cultural the whole year.
• Compile a Family Favorites Recipe Book I continue to think about this and I have an ongoing file on my computer that I will put together at some future date.
• Complete a free on-line class signed up for the class but didn't have time to finish it.
• Do my visiting teaching monthly 100%, even if there were a few phone or doorstep visits, I contacted them all every month
• Do not yell in anger ever again I'm working on this, still :)
• Fast correctly 1 time a month I have been doing this for several months now, and feeling closer to God because of it.
• Finish cross-stitch for Mitchell It is finished and at the framing shop!!!
• Finish scrapbooks for A and M Both are completed, M will receive his for Christmas.
• Get a manicure at least 9 times 2x at the beginning, then I decided I had better things to do with my money
• Get my hair cut every 3 months I had it cut 3x last year, I've decided to grow it out for now.
• Get my weight to 139 lbs I reached my lowest in June at 142 lbs, but then we went of vacation and school started and I had to drop my gym membership, so I'm back to 148 again, but I'm doing a lot better eating healthy and I think that is even more important than weight at this point.
• Go on 3 camping trips with my family We went on 1 small trip and 1 2 week trip.  Our camper needed a lot of repairs, so we weren't able to go as often this year as we had hoped.
• Go on a date with S 2 times a month I haven't been keeping track of this.  But we do go out more often than we used to.
• Go to the temple 9 times We were able to attend 4 times.  The distance and cost of gas has just proved to be a huge factor in attending to this goal
• Have a professional family portrait taken We have an appointment at The Picture People on Saturday, so only 2 days late!
• Help G earn his Arrow of Light He received his Arrow of Light in August!
• Help J earn his Eagle Scout Award Jake has finished the project and is waiting for his Board of Review to have it approved.
• Keep a blog of my 39 goals :) Here it is!
• Make 39 humanitarian kits 12 completed last Christmas and we plan to keep this up as a family tradition
• Only spend $275/week on groceries I'm not very good at keeping track of this, but we haven't bounced any checks.
• Organize a "Friends in the Park" Day Other people have done this and I've been trying to attend
• Read 39 books I have finished 29 books!  I'm giving myself to the end of the year to complete this goal because I started it late.  I plan to list which books I read in the blog once I finish all 39.
• Read the Book of Mormon I'm reading 4 pages a day and hope to finish by the end of the year
• Read the New Testament I've only read passages that inspire me, I still plan to read it cover to cover next year
• Read to my children every day I do not do this every day, but I do it often and with love
• Sew/Make 3 projects or crafts Made Easter Bunnies from water bottles, see volunteer info below
• Spend 30 hours doing community service  I have spent at least 30 hours at my children's school, helping the teachers and as the Craft Club teacher (teaching k-3 students how to do a craft each week)  I've also spent quite a few hours fundraising for our family's Christmas angel, Sophia.
• Take cookies/brownies to 9 people We took 10 plates of Christmas cookies to people. I have also taken random plates of cookies to my neighbors and friends throughout the year, but I didn't keep track of how many.
• Take each of my children on a 1 on 1 "date" J and D are done. 
• Take my children to the zoo 9 times 5x
• Take my family to 9 local attractions.  2
  
• Try 1 new recipe each month I think that I have done this, but I didn't really keep track
  
• Write 1 letter a month to a family member or friend I have written my parents and in-laws a few times but not each month. 
• Write in a journal weekly (my own or one of my children's) I have written in all of my children's journal (except D and J's) as well as my own on a monthly basis, but not weekly 

Follow up on Pie Party

I just wanted to let you know that the Pie Party was great.  We had Stuart's sister's family, 3 of our neighbor families and many of our church friends come. We had delicious pie and I really enjoyed chatting and getting to know everyone a little bit better.  There was $105 donated to Sophia's adoption fund.  So, all of my goals were met, and my family has decided they want to have a pie party every year! 

Pie Party Pot Luck

Tonight is our family pie party.  We have invited all our neighbors, friends and and even the one family member who lives close enough to come.  I have 3 purposes in hosting this party.  1. To celebrate the Thanksgiving season and enjoy the company of people with whom I enjoy spending time.  2. To celebrate my 40th birthday, which falls on Thanksgiving this year.  (Yes, I'm going to report back to you all on my 39 goals that day) and 3) To help raise awareness and funds for the adoption of my Christmas Angel, Sophia M. 
I think about Sophia every day and pray for her and for the hearts of the people I know to be willing to make a small sacrifice on her behalf.  I'm grateful that already, someone (or more) has made a $70 donation.  I still have almost $900 to reach my goal, but if all my friends and family donated just $5 each, I think we could reach that goal easily.  So, if you are reading this, and haven't donated yet, please consider making a small donation (or a big one) so that one little girl can have a better chance for a better life.  She looks so happy in that picture, I would hate to have that smile disappear. 

I'm so grateful for this time of year when I think of my blessings both big and small.  The love of my family (a big one), friends, good neighbors, the gospel of Jesus Christ, a good education for me and my children, my husband's job, a home, vehicles that work well, good health and access to health care, healthy food, and many more blessings come to mind immediately, and of course, PIE!