Wordless Wednesday :: A 1,000 Piece Challenge
Gingerbread Fun
On Christmas Eve, after attending the vigil Mass and before heading back out to also attend the Midnight Mass, we had most of my family (my parents, three of my sisters, five of my brothers, my sister-in-law and sweet little niece) over for dinner and to decorate Gingerbread Houses!
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Wishing you all…
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Last week I organized a cookie exchange for the girls and their friends. Each girl was to bring three dozen cookies so they could all assemble a couple cookie trays each, one for their family and one to give as a gift.
Chiquita decided to make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (aka: Hershey’s “Peanut Butter Temptations“) as her contribution to the exchange. They turned out so delicious that I picked up a couple more bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups so we can make some for our family Christmas Party!
About 40 (13-oz. pkg.) REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from candies. Optional: Line small muffin cups (1-3/4 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. (We omitted the paper bake cups and they turned out great!)
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy in large bowl. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place one in each prepared muffin cup. Do not flatten.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until puffed and lightly browned; remove from oven. Immediately press peanut butter cup or piece onto each cookie. Cool completely in muffin pan. About 3-1/2 dozen cookies. (Using the small Pampered Chef Scoop, we ended up with almost 4 dozen cookies, though I did have to open a second bag of peanut butter cups.)
Candy Cane Dots for Christmas
Ingredients:
1 bag of pretzels (We used the round “Butter Checkers” by Rold Gold – so the Candy Cane Dots would look like cute little Christmas Ball Ornaments! )
1 bag of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses
1 bag of Christmas colored M&M’s
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 200˚ degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. (I forgot to do this step, but it wasn’t a problem.) Arrange the pretzels in a single layer and add a Hershey’s kiss on top of each pretzel. Place them in the warm oven. Let them bake for about 8 minutes. The white chocolate Kisses will melt quickly, so keep an eye on them. (If you opt for chocolate kisses, they won’t melt completely, just get shiny.) Remove from oven and press an M&M in the top of each soft Kiss. Let them cool and enjoy!
Wordless Wednesday ~ A Reindeer Sighting
A Few More Pictures…
Rose was very excited about the picture books from our visitors…
Our 2010 Jesse “Tea” for Advent
Our family really enjoyed the Jesse “Tea” we had last year, so we decided to do it again this year! Since this year it was just days after Thanksgiving and our road trip to visit my Husband’s parents, we weren’t able to have it on the first Sunday of Advent, but the following week was just as enjoyable! It really could be done anytime during Advent, or you could even serve a little something to go along with your Jesse Tree Ornaments and Readings each day of Advent! Here are some pictures from this years “Tea.”
Since our children are now very familiar with all the Old Testament stories, we all sat around the table and, as we got to each menu item, they took turns telling everyone the story it symbolized. I always love listening to the stories in their own words…
~ The Jesse “Tea” ~
~ Noah’s Ark ~
~ Abraham’s Stars ~
~ Isaac’s Bundle of Sticks ~
~ Jacob’s Ladder ~
(This photo is from last year.)
~ Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors ~
~ The Burning Bush ~
~ Moses’ Tablets of the Law ~
“And after this he said: Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the former, and I will write upon them the words which were in the tables, which thou brokest.” Exodus 34: 1
~ Jonah and the Whale ~
~ The Root of Jesse ~
~ David’s Star Tea Sandwiches ~
~ John the Baptist’s Honey ~
from Amazon for about $14.00, not realizing I would be receiving 384 of them (instead of 48)! I think I am going to have Honey Sticks until my children are grown! 
“For this is he that was spoken of by Isaias the prophet, saying: A voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Matthew 3: 3
~ Angelic Messengers ~
Be sure to visit Cottage Blessings for more ideas, recipes and her shopping list!
Christmas Gift Ideas :: A Few of our Favorite Toys
I posted some of our favorite past Christmas gifts the other day in my Daybook post, but since I have recieved a number of emails regaurding gifts and toys, I thought I would answer a number of questions and mention a few more of our favorites.
Update: I wanted to add that our Christmas celebration does not revolve around the gifts our children receive. They usually receive three each, just like Baby Jesus, and the focus is on attending Mass and giving to others. What you will see below is a combination of many years of gifts from Christmas and birthdays in an attempt to answer many questions all in one place.
One Christmas our girls recieved an adorable Pink Retro Kitchen & Refrigerator. It was during a year in which Hubby told me I had a budget of only $25.00 to spend on each child… I saw the set at Costco and wanted to purchase it so badly, but it was $140. I can’t tell you how excited I was when we went to a St. Vincent dePaul Auction and they had this kitchen set! It was “new” but it did have a little bit of damage to the fridge from the assembly – no big deal! I won the auction for $40! YAY!! Anyhow, I don’t know where to send you all for a steal like that, but Amazon does have it right now at an affordable price.
That same Christmas, a friend of mine crocheted some darling food to go with the kitchen. Since then we have added a number of play food sets, mostly by Melissa & Doug
As for tea sets, we love the little tin tea sets by Schylling
~ Fairies, Castles and Calico Critters ~
! I still can’t believe that it is only $49.99 (50% off!) at Amazon right now! (I think I paid around $60 for ours, and it has been worth every penny!) We also have the furniture to go with the castle, which is also 50% off right now! 
. I just LOVE all the little animal families. We have the Fisher Cat Family
and the Norwood Mouse Family
. My girls love the Kitchen Set
that they have, but I don’t think I will be purchasing any more tiny pieces anytime soon. (Perhaps when the baby is a little bit older, or my girls are better about keeping the little pieces off the floor.) I am thinking about getting the little Carriage
for Twinkle Toes and maybe another family of critters for Chiquita. 
. I just noticed that there are a number of new “furniture” pieces to go along with it including: Fairy Forest Harp, Bathroom Set, Fairy Forest Piano
and Fairy Forest Cooking Hearth! (You can find the new set available here.) They are all SO cute! I might have to order one of them for her. I also might order Safari LTD Fairy Fantasies Tube
since my children enjoy playing with our other Safari Tubes.
and Gotz. For real little girls, a few of our favorites are the 8″ with hat and 8″ blond
Mini Muffin Dolls by Gotz, the 13″ Muffin Doll by Gotz
, and Miss Rose
and Miss Grenadine
by Corolle.
(which we do not own) but you can see the others here. Twinkle Toes also loves her Elizabeth Cloth Doll (which she received on her 6th birthday), but it too seems to have been discontinued! .
My girls also LOVE the Faith Filled Friends they received last Christmas. Many of you have emailed me asking where you can find these dolls… Unfortunately, the only one I was able to find was the St. Therese Doll at Catholic Child which has recently sold out. 🙁
Though I haven’t purchased one yet myself, another lovely option would be the beautiful Zélie Dolls from Family Cloistered Learning Center. Someday I would like to order a couple of these dolls for my girls.
at a local going out of business sale. My children’s stockings were filled with them last year and they are played with all the time! They are so cute and fun and make great little gifts/stocking stuffers. 
I bought last year for this year, and we will give it to either Snuggles or Rose. They would both love it! ~ Lincoln Logs ~
My boys have loved Lincoln Logs
We haven’t yet branched out into Legos (I’m still trying to convince Hubby since he is hesitant about all the little pieces…) but our boys really love their Playmobil
for Good Friday and Easter, and the Nativity Set
for Christmas! I haven’t purchased any of the Egyptians yet… Perhaps in a couple years when we are studying Ancient History again. ~ Board Games ~
We have a lot of board games… In years past each of our children would receive a game on Christmas, and they added up QUICKLY! Last week, I gathered all the games from all over the house – they were in 5 different spots – and moved them all into my hall closet, getting rid of a few that we do not play. Now that we have a pantry in the kitchen, I don’t need this cupboard for food!! Anyhow, our family really does enjoy playing board games together.
Our family favorites are Settlers of Catan
This year the boys will be receiving Carcassonne
Well… That pretty much sums up most of the toys we have in our home at this time – though you’ll run across a bunch of others in my our Alphabet Path posts!
We do have a collection of Little People
{this moment}
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
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