One of K's special gifts

I absolutely love that my Mom had K a baby cradle made. My Mom's cousin is a woodworker and makes wooden toys for sale. He made K a beautiful handmade cradle that Steve can stain if he wants. The care he put into it is amazing and K LOVES it!! 

Peanut Butter Lasagna Recipe

Don't let the name scare you ;) it's actually called lasagna because it's layered. I will tell you it's rich and sure doesn't take big portions!!
1 pkg Nutter Butter cookies
peanut butter
tub of Cool Whip
Box of instant vanilla pudding
Reese cups, chopped up
 Layer Nutter Butter cookies on the bottom. Drizzle melted peanut butter over the top of them. Put a layer of instant vanilla pudding, then a layer of Cool Whip then a layer of chopped up Reese cups. Start layering again starting at the vanilla pudding and top with crunched Nutter Butters and drizzled melted peanut butter. 

Christmas Eve

   We have had a wonderful holiday time. We host Christmas eve and this year we decided to do something a little different. I work on Christmas eve until at least 3 (usually 4) and family starts rolling in at 5! I do alot of prepping the night before and the day of..is always interesting lol This year we did a Cajun pork loin. Steve prepped it the night before and it takes just a couple hours during the day of cooking. It always turns out great! We added potato salad, macaroni salad, homemade ham salad, veggies and other tasty sides to round out the meal. I did a peanut butter lasagna for dessert and it got huge thumbs up! A great meal was had, gifts were exchanged and there was tons of laughter....and even more love! Exactly how a holiday should be! I love my home everyday but I love it even more when it's filled with the kiddos laughter and tons of good conversation!

Teacher gifts

   Getting ready for K's upcoming Christmas party at school. We like to do unique things and just have fun with the gifts. This year K said she wished she could give Mrs. C a red apple that would never rot. We couldn't think of how that would be possible. Then, Steve had a brilliant idea. We'd use an apple gourd and create an "apple that won't rot". He did an excellent job drying it, sanding it and then painting it. It came out really well!!!

Mrs. C was impressed with the gift and loved that we had dried and saved her the seeds from inside it to plant. To round out the gift we made homemade turtle brownies, peanut butter fudge and no bakes. We put them in layers in a really neat plastic bowl with lid that had measurements on the side. We added in a jar of homemade cocoa. This year we made different flavors (we gave the teachers Red Velvet cocoa), did dipped spoons for stirring and created a couple of really nice gift bags :)

Two of my favorite ornaments

Every year I add to our Christmas tree ornaments courtesy of K's yearly ornament from us and her many hand made ones. They all are my faves of course. But two very old ones hold a special place in my heart. The simple little handsewn angle is one my Granny made many years ago and always sat atop her tree. Watching my little ones eyes light up when it goes up on top of the tree....makes my heart smile! The other is the simple piece of red rope right under the angle. It is a family tradition that has been passed down since my great grandma. When her children were grown and left home she split her garland in to three pieces. When they had their children (my Granny and her siblings) the tradition was continued. Then each of my Granny's kids got a piece.  I got mine when I married Steve and it has been on our tree every year. That little red piece of garland has been through the Depression, through moves and different states...and it ties us all together in traditions and love. We try hard to hold onto family traditions and pass them onto Kaya. We also have many traditions that is simply our little families. I hope as K grows and one day starts her own family she will do the many little things we do for the holidays and special moments. 

December has begun!

   December is finally here! Seems like the year has flew along and we went from hot sun to jack o'lanterns to turkey and now Christmas....all in a blink of an eye!
   The weather is odd this year. No snow, unseasonably warm and to be honest my brother in LA has colder temps some evening than we do!!
  Lots in store this month. We always do the first day of Hanukkah, we do lots of baking, story reading, donate to charities, do Angel Tree, Kaya's class projects and so on. 
  When we had Kaya we decided right off that holidays would not be about a huge gift list but more focused on giving, charity and family. Does she always have lots of items she loves? Yep. Does she ask Santa for that one gift she "has to have"? Yep. She's a normal child with wants and wishes but....we balance that out with donations to the local food pantry,shelter etc. 
   I'm also very thankful that her teacher is charity minded and this year they donated sewn blankets to the local women's shelter as well as gently used toys and clothes! The clothes and toys ideas were actually the kid's ideas and that made me very happy. They also donated to the local animal shelter.
   So many face the hustle and bustle of the season with a long to do list, a long gift list and mounting stress. They lose the feeling, the specialness of the season. You cannot divide yourself into a thousand different gatherings, a thousand different projects and still come out feeling complete. If that is your style and how you want to live life, feel free to but.....we don't.
   We bake cookies for the mail lady, we surprise the neighbors with treat tins,we give our dentist office (who treats us like family) a gift box of homemade goodies. We brainstorm and come up with a meaning teacher gift. We donate to a family in need. We read Christmas stories and we often sit in the glow of the tree lights and ...just....be.
  May the holiday season find you full of love, happiness and cheer. May you gain wisdom and gifts that do not have a price tag. May your heart expand and may your hand be uplifting to someone in need. Make memories together and soak in the season!