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!

Easy Bird Treats

Our breakfast area has a floor-to-ceiling window that allows us wonderful access to nature. We love to watch the birds that visit our backyard regularly. It's one of our favorite things to do while we eat lunch.

So to encourage our visitors to stop by often, we made simple little bird feeders from toilet paper tubes, peanut butter, and bird seed. Easy peasy!


Spread peanut butter all over the toilet paper tube. I learned from experience that the peanut butter layer needs to be fairly thick. Now roll in bird seed until the tube is covered.


To hang, simply slide the tube over a branch on a tree or bush. The birds found ours within a few minutes. Here's one of our resident cardinals enjoying his treat.


The kids already have plans to make dozens more for every bush and tree we have! Because they're so easy, why not?

Menu Plan December 11-17

Tonight's Christmas program at church went off without a hitch! We practiced and practiced, praying for hearts to be touched and drawn closer to Jesus. In the end, I know God was glorified. I love this time of year when people's hearts are so open to hear the good news of the Gospel.

I have lots of Christmas baking to do this week, so I'll stay busy. Thankfully hubby is home this week (he was gone all last week and I really, really missed him!) and he'll help keep me on track.

Here's the menu for the week:

Sunday
Turkey rice soup in the crockpot, homemade bread

Monday
Indian Butter Chicken over rice

Tuesday
Sausage lentil soup

Wednesday
Crockpot beef stroganoff, noodles, green beans

Thursday
Baked egg rolls

Friday
Over at some friends' for chili!

Saturday
Sunday School Christmas party

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

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

Menu Plan December 4-10

Three weeks from today!!! Is anyone else excited about Christmas like I am? I'm going to start on my holiday baking this week. I'm hoping to get some cookie dough made and in the freezer for later use. It's going to be a yummy week around here!

Now on to the menu plan for the week.

Sunday
Out with friends after church

Monday
Pizza

Tuesday
Pasta and meatballs

Wednesday
Homemade chicken nuggets, french fries

Thursday
Crockpot potato soup in bread bowls

Friday
Rice lentil burritos, chips and salsa

Saturday
Sausage lentil soup, yeast rolls

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Pizza Soup

We love pizza around here. So when I found this recipe for Pizza Soup, I knew it would be a hit with my family. It was. I played around a bit with the ingredients to tweak it to my family's tastes. Everyone loved it. It was especially good the following day.

Thanks to my early Christmas present, chopping the pepperoni was a snap. The beauty of this recipe is that you can add your favorite pizza toppings to make it uniquely yours. Next time I make this, I'm going to add mushrooms and green peppers.

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb ground turkey or beef, browned and drained
1 pkg pepperoni slices, chopped (I actually used about 1/2 of the pkg)
2 jars (24 oz) spaghetti sauce, your choice
1 carton beef broth
1 TBSP dried minced onion
2 teas Italian seasoning
1 teas garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup half and half
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Croutons and more shredded cheese for garnish

In a large saucepan, combine the browned meat and pepperoni. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, broth and seasonings. Blend in the half and half. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 20-30 minutes. This will help the flavors blend.

Stir in the shredded cheese until all of it is melted. Taste and adjust for seasonings.

Serve with croutons and additional cheese, if desired.

Early Christmas Present!

My husband is so sweet. I've been wanting a food processor for some time now. He researched all he could about which one to get and finally found one he thought was the best for the money. It arrived right before Thanksgiving last week. He let me open it early so I was able to use it to chop all the onions I needed for various dishes. I've used it just about every day since.

This is a package of pepperoni slices I needed to chop so I could make pizza soup (a recipe I'll be posting later).


This is the pepperoni after a few pulses from my Cuisinart Pro Custom 11.



It works so wonderfully and is a huge time saver! Next week I'll be using the dough paddle to mix up some cookie dough and possibly some bread dough.

Thanks, honey!