Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! We're going to spend the day with friends, then come home and pack to go visit my husband's family for a couple of days. I hope you enjoy your time with family and friends, too.

December Update

December is always a busy month. And in past years, I've made it even more busy by adding tons of activities - advent calendars with daily doings, our Elf on the Shelf alternative, and plenty of crafts.

But circumstances this year have dictated that we scale back on our holiday activities and focus on our family instead. We were vacationing at Disney the first week of December, and now we've traveled to visit my family. The day after Christmas we're traveling again to visit my husband's family. We just realized that every weekend in December, we have been or will be on the road.

I've set aside the twinges of guilt I've let creep in because we missed our church Christmas cantata. We've also missed two church-related Christmas gatherings. My yearly baking, one of my favorite parts of the holidays, has been virtually non-existent. My "usual" holiday preparations have been put aside.

I've come to the conclusion that none of that matters in the grand scheme of things. Are Christmas parties nice? Sure. Is it fun to countdown to Christmas with an advent calendar? Absolutely. But that's not what Christmas is about. Those are just superfluous events our society has added to this season. To make it more fun? More stressful, trying to do too many things in a short time?

 So this year will be our simple Christmas. And while at first I felt guilty and stressed about not participating in all the extras, now I feel liberated. It's okay to focus on family. And most importantly, it's freed me up to spend more time reflecting on the greatest gift of Christmas, God's Son. His birth gives hope to all mankind. That's what I'm celebrating this Christmas, more than I ever have.

Christmas in West Virginia

We spent Christmas - and the week before it - with my family in West Virginia. It's a long drive, about 12 hours depending on how often we stop. Meaning how often I have to go to the bathroom.

It was the first time since my grandmother's funeral in March 2011 that all of us had been together. We were also able to host a family reunion for my dad's side of the family. It was so nice to see aunts and uncles and cousins. Here's the whole group of us.

My brothers, dad, mom and me.

And my parents with all their kids and grandkids.

The kids were all praying for snow and their prayers were answered the weekend before Christmas. Grandma and Papaw have the perfect hill for sledding, too.

The time my kids got to spend with their cousins was their favorite part of the trip! I love that they're making such precious memories.

One of my favorite parts of our trip was eating at a local Italian restaurant, Muriale's. The food was amazing, the decor was quaint and of course, the company was lots of fun!

Now, do you want to see what I got for Christmas? Most of it was cooking related!

My parents and niece got me this nice collection of West Virginia Mountaineer stuff.

My mother also got me some Fiestaware I requested, as well as a couple of cookbooks.

And now I have to brag on my husband. He got me a fantastic set of stainless steel bowls. I already had one and mentioned several times that I'd love to have more. He was listening, apparently, because he got an entire set! Yay for attentive husbands!

We received another blessing while on our trip, too. I got an email from Samaritan's Purse regarding the Operation Christmas Child boxes we donated. Our boxes were sent to the Ukraine, so now we can more specifically pray for the children who received them. The kids were so happy to hear where our boxes went. They're already planning for next year's boxes!

I hope all of you had a Christmas season filled with love and joy. And that something during this holiday drew your hearts and minds closer to Jesus, the reason for the season.

The Greatest Gift of All

This time of year, we're all thinking about gifts. Gifts to give, gifts we might receive.

Some gifts under our tree

But the greatest gift of all can't be wrapped and put under a Christmas tree. It's the unspeakable gift of eternal life, made possible by the birth of Jesus. He came into this world as one of us, a humble man. He lived a perfect life, becoming the blameless sacrifice for our sins. Through Him we can live forever in God's presence.

May you truly know His mercy and love this holiday season. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Cheap Elf on the Shelf Alternative

I have to admit, I love the idea of Elf on the Shelf.  An elf comes to your house and keeps an eye on the children. Then he reports back to Santa. The catch - the elf is often naughtier than the kids!

And that's why I love it. It gives me a chance to be a kid again. But I really wasn't looking forward to paying $30 for a tiny little elf. So I thought, why can't I "make" my own Elf on the Shelf? Only my elf is a snowman.

Meet Melton.

I got him at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. I think I paid $10 for him. A whole lot cheaper than an official Elf on the Shelf that everyone else has! Our guy is unique!

Melton came with a letter, explaining he was there to be Santa's eyes and ears. He would let Santa know who had been naughty or nice. Every morning we'd wake up to find him in a different spot. The kids raced downstairs to see if they could find him first.

Watching a Veggie Tales movie with some other snowmen

Uh-oh! Melton TP'd the tree!

Cutting out snowflakes and making a mess!

Melton used a dry erase marker on our family photos!

Reading to the Barbies

He was super naughty - trying to unwrap presents!

Discussing the true meaning of Christmas with the Nativity figures

The night he left to go back to the North Pole, Melton left us something to remember him by.

He decorated our fridge like a snowman

 Our entire family enjoyed this fun tradition. I will admit, it challenged my creativity quite a bit. But it was well worth it. And I loved that Melton was cheaper than the Elf on the Shelf. And cuter, too!

Cheap and cute definitely Works for Me!

Operation Christmas Child - It's Not Too Late!

This year our family is participating in Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. Every year, thousands of shoeboxes filled with toys, toiletry items and other things make their way to needy children around the world. You can get involved, too.

First, find a shoebox or other similarly-sized box. A plastic shoebox with a lid works perfectly. Then fill the box with items for a girl or boy. You can even choose the age-range of the child. Here are instructions for packing your box, as well as suggestions for what items to include.

We decided to donate online so we could get a barcode tracking number for our boxes. That way we can track our package and see what country it goes to.

A special thanks to my husband who wrapped our boxes. He did an excellent job!

Then you simply take your boxes to the collection center nearest you. You can find out where by putting in your zipcode here. Our drop off location is literally around the corner and down the street from us. November 19 is the last day for collection, so you have almost a week.


If you don't have time to pack a box and get it to a drop-off location. Operation Christmas Child also has an option that allows you build a box online with options to put in each box. Or if you want to help someone who has packed a box but can't afford the shipping donation, you can donate to cover the shipping costs of these boxes.

If you don't have the resources to help monetarily, please pray for this ministry. We've already started praying for the children who will receive our boxes, that God would use our small contribution to reach their hearts for Him. There are so many ways to get involved, so why not help spread God's love and reach these needy children?

Bathe and Brew Shower Coffee Maker?

The strangest gift I got yesterday was this, a Bathe and Brew Shower Coffee Maker (and Soap Dispenser). Have you ever heard of such a thing?


Probably not! Because it's a prank box! Charles thought it would be funny to wrap my real present in a fake box and see my reaction.


My reaction was bewilderment. Ha ha! Charles has been known to get me thoughtful, but less than practical gifts. There was a time when he was traveling a great deal for his work and he had no time to shop. So he perused Sky Mall magazines while flying and found some ummm....interesting selections for me. This bug vacuum comes to mind.

So I was thinking, how can I be gracious and not hurt his feelings? This is the dumbest idea ever! When he started snapping pictures I figured something was up. Then he urged me to open it....and a tab popped stating that my real gift was inside.

He redeemed himself by getting me what I really wanted, a new study Bible. I love that man!

Merry Christmas!

This is what Christmas is all about....Jesus coming to earth so He could die and give us a way to come to God. Thank You, Jesus!

Christmas Means Hope

I was reflecting on how many people I know who have lost loves ones this year. The list is really, really long. My mom will be spending her first Christmas without her mom. My cousin lost her 14-year-old son in a dirt bike accident. Another dear friend lost her 15-year-old son to an undiagnosed heart condition. And several of my friends have lost parents and grandparents, many unexpectedly. At a time of year when families come together, these families will be hurting and grieving their losses.

And yet, in spite of the sadness, there is hope.

Why? Because Jesus came to give hope. Hope of eternal life. Hope of seeing those loved ones again. Hope of comfort and strength when we can't go on. Jesus came to make a way of salvation. For all of us, if we'll simply receive His gift.

So in the midst of the tears, there can still be joy. There can still be peace.

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for leaving Your throne in heaven and coming to this sinful earth. Thank You for making a way for us to live eternally with You.

We'll Have to Cancel Christmas!

Hubby and I have always laughed and laughed at that line from "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" when a blizzard threatens to keep Santa snowed in at the North Pole. Like anything could cause Christmas to be cancelled. It's not about Santa, anyway.

And then yesterday my oven caught on fire. And the idea of cancelling Christmas wasn't so funny anymore. Of course, Christmas can't be cancelled. But all the baking I was doing, yes. Christmas dinner at our house, yes.

I was heating the oven to begin the baking marathon for the day. I heard a pop and a sizzle and looked at the oven to see smoke seeping out. I quickly turned it off and within seconds the fire died down. But not before the bottom heating element had burned completely through. There would be no more baking in that oven. The recipients of my Christmas baking endeavors might have to settle for Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes instead! LOL

I'm fortunate enough to have a double oven.


The top one is a convection oven and I love it. Food cooks evenly and I've never had a problem with temperature variations. It's also the one that caught on fire.

The bottom one is smaller and is very unpredictable. It is definitely usable, but I know I'll have to watch it like a hawk.

The good news is we ordered another heating element and it's already on its way. None of the local home improvement stores had it in stock because the ovens are so old. So by the middle of next week the top oven will be back to normal.

Just in time for Christmas dinner! Yay!

Christmas Activity Advent Calendar

This year we decided to stay home for the holidays. Since our families live out of state, we often travel and spend Christmas away from home. Even though we'll miss the family gatherings, it is important that we establish some of our own traditions. To help take some of the sting out of not being with our families, I've tried to come up with some fun traditions.

So I made an advent calendar with a Christmas activity per day, counting down to Christmas Eve. I was going to use some chipboard or foamboard as the background, but Charles had some plywood left over from another project. He volunteered to cut it to size, then he spray painted and sealed it for me. He attached a picture hook on the back and added some felt to the corners so they wouldn't scrape the wall. Love that man!

I found a template for a library pocket at Homeschool Share, one of my favorite sites to get lapbooking templates. I printed the template out on cardstock, then traced around it on to Christmasy scrapbook paper. I added embellishments and numbers, then glued the pockets to the back board.

Inside each pocket is a Christmas activity for that day. So far, we've hung up our stockings, enjoyed hot cocoa, watched the Polar Express and decorated the kids' bedroom doors. Today we'll make an easy snowman ornament for the tree.

Our other activities will include making a gingerbread house, creating bird feeders from toilet paper tubes for our birdie friends, baking and decorating Christmas cookies, delivering treats to friends and neighbors, participating in our church Christmas program, and singing carols. Our last activity is reading the Christmas story from Luke 2.


Every morning the kids have come downstairs and rushed to see what was on the agenda! They've really gotten into the spirit of things.

Now I'd better go check tomorrow's activity and make sure I have all the necessary components!

Adding...here's the complete list of our activities if you need some ideas to do with your own family.

Hang stockings
Watch The Polar Express (or any other Christmas movie your family enjoys)
Decorate the bedroom doors
Drink hot cocoa by the fire
Make an ornament for the tree
Cut out snowflakes and hang around the house
Go out to eat (one of my faves)
Decorate Christmas cookies
Deliver Christmas cookies to neighbors
Participate in the church Christmas program
Sing carols at the nursing home
Go to the mall to see the Christmas tree displays
Drive around to see the Christmas lights in our jammies
Sleep around the Christmas tree
Shop for your sibling
Wrap presents for your sibling
Make a Christmas craft
Write a letter to Santa
Color a Christmas themed coloring page
Play charades with Christmas songs
Share a Christmas memory with everyone
Build a gingerbread house (I bought a kit with 5 small houses for $10 at Target)
Make bird feeders out of toilet paper tubes, peanut butter and bird seed
Read Luke 2 together

Merry Christmas!

On this night before we celebrate Christmas, may we reflect on the greatest Gift ever given. Though it's important to remember Jesus' birth, it's even more important to remember why He came - to bring us eternal life. Thank you, Jesus!

Make your house smell like Christmas

Oranges are normally on sale this time of year, so I picked some up at the grocery store. After peeling two oranges to accompany our lunch, I threw the peels into a small saucepan of water on the stove. I sprinkled in a little cinnamon and a whole clove or two, then let the pan simmer on the stove all afternoon. Periodically I added a little more water so it wouldn't dry out.

Charles came in the back door and said, "Wow! The house smells like Christmas!" It did, indeed smell very, very good, all warm and citrusy. The cinnamon added just the right spice to the aroma. I think I'll try it with some lemon peels, too.

So put away those aerosol Christmas sprays and simmer some orange peels on the stove instead. Then put the peels down your garbage disposal and freshen it too.

Cutest Snowmen ever! And you can eat them!

Last week for our Sunday School Christmas party, my dear friend Suzanne made these adorable snowmen.
They're almost too cute to eat. Almost. I sampled one. Or two. Okay, I don't remember how many, but they were sooooo good. Pretzels and white chocolate are a fantastic combination.

She got the idea from Family Fun magazine. We'll be having a houseful of family for Christmas, so I'm thinking I'll try these to keep all of the children amused. Maybe I'll let them decorate their own. If we don't have a white Christmas here in the South, at least the kids will be able to make their own snowmen. And eat them too!

Paper Christmas Wreath

I've said before I'm not a crafty person. I like to find ideas and put my own touch on them. That's what I did with the paper Christmas wreath. I found the inspiration here at Sara's Art House. Sara IS very crafty, so I follow her blog to get ideas.

This wreath cost me nothing. I already had all the supplies on hand. I used cardboard from a box that had been delivered (it had my husband's Christmas present in it....shhhh, don't tell) to our house. I already had the scrapbook paper, glue, paper punches, buttons, and duct tape. Yes, I said duct tape. No wreath maker should be without it.

I traced a large circle onto the cardboard and cut it out. I used a big Tupperware bowl as the template. Then I used a smaller Tupperware bowl for the center. I think it's about 12 inches across, roughly.


I punched out circles from the scrapbook paper. The largest punch I had was 1 11/16 inches, which wasn't nearly big enough. So I used a lid from a peanut jar to trace bigger circles. If you don't have any circle punches, look around your house for objects you can trace.

I layered the circles and glued them together first. Then I started gluing them to the cardboard, starting around the outside. It would take too much time to glue them one by one, so I squeezed out a long line of glue and did several at a time.


The first row ended up looking like this.


I repeated the gluing process for the inside row, pressing everything down firmly as I went.


I turned the wreath over and placed a heavy cookbook on top of it so the paper wouldn't curl too badly as it dried. It worked great!


When the glue was dry, I added buttons for a little more texture.


Here's where the duct tape comes in. I needed an easy way to hang this up. So I found some sparkly wire garland, the kind you find in the gift wrap section of the store. I twisted it to form a loop and taped it on the back with duct tape.


The last step - finding a place to hang it!


Yes, that is an intercom on the wall beside the wreath. Yes, it is fun. I love being able to call the kids from anywhere in the house without yelling. And they can't use the "But I didn't hear you" excuse.

This is an easy craft for the kids to get involved in. The inspiration to do this wreath didn't hit me until after they had gone to bed. But I have plenty of paper left over, so I'll let them have a go at making their own. I'll just make their cardboard circles a little smaller, though.

For more frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom's Frugal Friday.

Sunday School Christmas Party

Last night we hosted our Sunday School class Christmas Party. We're part of the Committed Couples class at Trinity Baptist Church. When we bought our house last spring, we hoped to use it as a place of fellowship and friendship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. God has blessed us with a spacious home and we wanted to bless others in return.

Problem was, the party was scheduled on the same day as the SEC championship football game. And Alabama was playing Florida in a rematch of last year's championship. And you know that here in the South, football is a VERY serious part of life. I'm a football fan myself, though the West Virginia Mountaineers are my favorite team, since I was born and raised up a holler in the mountains. So I can understand dedication to one's team.

Anyway, it looked like the party might be a wash. But the game was scheduled for 3 pm local time, so we decided to go ahead with the date and planned to eat around 7 pm. It all worked out wonderfully, especially since Alabama won! Roll, Tide!!! We ended up having 42 people here, including us. It was a little cozy at times but the food and fellowship were so enjoyable.



I prepared 3 pork roasts in my crockpots and electric roaster and another sweet lady brought some turkey. There was more than enough meat! Everything was delicious, from side dishes, salads to desserts. It was wonderful.

I decided to leave the pork unseasoned and let our guests choose their own sauces. I got some sweet, some spicy, some vinegary.


But using those bottles would be messy, so I stole an idea from a local BBQ restaurant. I got squeeze bottles and put the sauce in them. I used Christmas labels to identify the sauces.


It was so NOT messy! I found the squeeze bottles at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $1.99 each. That might not seem frugal, $8 for 4 plastic bottles. But these babies will get plenty of use in the future, believe me. I'll be able to frost cookies and cupcakes like a pro. And who knows how many BBQ's will see these handy helpers being pulled out? Not to mention, I'll be able to give flair and flourish to the fancy dishes I'm thinking about learning how to make someday. Wink, wink!

I also made one of my easy appetizers which I'll share with you. Take a bottle of chili sauce (you'll find it with the ketchup and BBQ sauces in the grocery store) and a 12 oz. jar of grape jelly. Combine them in your crockpot. Dump in two packages of cocktail weiners, cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Easy as can be.


I made some wassail, too. Again, very easy. Here's the recipe if you want it.

1 bottle (96 oz) apple juice
1/2 can pineapple juice (the can is 46 oz but just use half)
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
12 whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks

Combine ingredients in a large crockpot. Set on low for 3-4 hours. Add some ground cinnamon if you need more flavor. The cinnamon sticks I used were leftover from last year and didn't have as much cinnamony aroma or flavor in them as I wanted.

Isn't that pretty? I doubled the recipe so I could use up the 1/2 can of pineapple juice and simmered it on my stovetop for a few hours. Yummy!

Christmas parties are so much fun! Such a blessing to spend time with other believers and celebrate the reason for the season, our Saviour!

Cheap Homemade Ornaments

Years ago when I was in college, I didn't have a great deal of money to spend on Christmas gifts. A friend showed me how to make homemade ornaments with potpourri. I bought a box of glass ornaments - red, I think. Back then you couldn't buy clear glass ornaments. So I soaked the ornaments in water and bleach so the outside paint would come off.

Those plain old glass ornaments had a silver coating on the inside to make them shiny. Sometimes the coating would come off with the bleach, but more often than not had to be scraped out with a Q-tip. It took a great deal of time just to get the color off, plus the smell of bleach wasn't all that pleasant. I would crush up some potpourri so it was small enough to fit through the opening at the top and fill the ornament up. Then I would tie a matching ribbon around the neck of it and attach a hanger. Beautiful! And those ornaments smelled nice too.

Then about 10 years ago someone came up with the idea of selling clear glass ornaments. Do-it-yourself ornaments. Where were these things 10 years earlier when I needed them?

I remember my delight at finding those clear ornaments. Hubby and I were just married and didn't have a great deal of money for Christmas decorations. But we saw all kinds of possibilities with those ornaments! I'll give credit to Charles, because he is much more creative than I am.

Here are a few of the things we did.

By far, the easiest and cheapest! We bought a roll of multi-colored iridescent ribbon, cut off small lengths and curled them with scissors. Then we stuffed them into the ornaments until we thought it was full enough. Boy, oh boy! Do the lights from the tree reflect so prettily from that ribbon! We've nicknamed it "fire ribbon" because it's so colorful and bright.

We've even used the fire ribbon ornaments to decorate our chandelier!


We also made some stained glass ornaments. These were the most expensive to make, but were really fun. Make a pattern on the ornament with liquid leading (this contains no real lead). Let this dry completely. Fill in with your desired stained glass paint colors and allow to dry.

When Charles and I made the stained glass ornaments below, the liquid leading was much more expensive, so we chose to use lead strips (again, no real lead) to make our patterns. The liquid stuff is much easier for intricate designs. We liked using a more traditional "chunky" stained glass look.

This is Charles' ornament. Notice how he glued on rhinestones at the intersections of the lead strips. Very crafty, this husband of mine.

Here's mine. I wasn't as heavy-handed with the paint, so you can see through it better.

Here's an ornament with shiny red, green, and gold ribbons.


And one with shredded iridescent paper, the kind you would use for baskets or packages. How's that for re-purposing?


The fire ribbon ornaments are my favorites, even after all these years. Of course, you can fill your clear ornaments with just about anything - potpourri, beads (although that can get heavy), strips of scrapbook paper curled with scissors, tinsel.
Anything that is small enough to fit through the opening at the top.

Happy Ornament Making!

This post in linked to Life as Mom's Frugal Friday.
Also, head over to Works for Me Wednesday to get some great holiday tips.