The Nativity

I collect nativity scenes. Unfortunately, most are not displayed these years... Maybe when the kids are bigger & I'm not worried about balls that aren't supposed to be thrown or twirling blankets bumping my pretties.

When David was a baby, I got the most practical nativity ever - Fisher Price Little People! It been fun the last few years to see who else comes to visit baby Jesus.

The first princess sighting in Bethlehem.

How did the diaper duck end up in the sheep pasture?

Apparently the Wise Men traveled by
camel and monster truck.

Last year pirates were spotted in Bethlehem,
and the year before that Elmo & 4 other guests dropped in.

Welcome to Christmas Week!

For the first time ever, I have dressed 2 little girls in matching dresses with matching bows. They were sooooo adorable!

We've been getting ready since Thanksgiving! The tree is decorated,


the wreath and lights are up outside,


the porch is decorated and ready to welcome guests,


the bathrooms are decorated,

(my toothbrush tree)

presents are almost done.

Tiny Talk Tuesday Welcomes the Newcomer

Tiny Talk Tuesday welcomes newcomer,
Rebekah!

Rebekah: Mama! Mama! Mama! and repeat...
Sweet, sweet sound to my ears! : ) She says it so much now and it's very obvious that she knows what it means, too! She also says Ba Ba, which I think is what she's calling herself.

Mom: Guess who's on your shirt.

Elizabeth: Guess?

Mom: Yeah, guess who's on the front of your shirt.

I turn shirt around and she replies: OH! That's not Guess! That's Cookie Monster!

Elizabeth, while playing with a little Mary doll: This Mary is wearing a blue dress of God.

Elizabeth: Mom, what's this?

Mom: That's a piece of coral.

Elizabeth: Can we eat it?

Mom: No, it's like a rock.

Elizabeth: Oh. Did you get this when you were swimming under the sea?

Mom: Yep.

Elizabeth: Were you scared swimming under the sea?

Mom: No, it was beautiful under the sea.

Elizabeth: Ariel swims under the sea. Mom, I want to watch a princess movie.

David has really enjoyed singing Christmas carols this year:
Frosty, the snowman,

in a one-horse open sleigh

with a corn cob pipe

and a button nose

and two eyes made out of coal.

Santa has been sighted...

Last Thursday I took David to the elementary Christmas party for our home school co-op. We were enjoying ourselves when a special guest walked in!

David had his back to the door, so I casually said, "Oh, look who's here." David turned around & started grinning. He said, "It's Santa!" in a hushed tone. Then he looked at me and asked, "How did he get here?"

That took me by surprise, so I replied that I didn't know, maybe you should ask him.

Santa mingled with the kids for a while, then went & sat down in a comfy chair in front of a cardboard fireplace. Without prompting, the children began to line up, as did moms with cameras... which I had forgotten to bring. : ( Fortunately, another mom was willing to take some pictures for me!

The first thing David said to Santa was, "How did you arrive here today?" To which Santa informed him that he came in his pick-up truck. I think he might have explained why he wasn't in the sleigh, and it was probably weather related, but I didn't hear all he said & David didn't tell me. He asked what David wanted & of course, David told him Legos.

Later, Santa was mingling again. David asked, "Is it ok if I walk around the room with Santa?" I saw no problem with that, so I said ok. They didn't speak to each other, but David just followed Santa around as he mingled. Santa would put his hand on David's shoulder occasionally. Before long, David was first in a line of about 5 kids that were just following Santa as he walked around the room.

I did not realize Santa was going to be at the party, because I left Elizabeth at home for her nap time. But Rebekah was with us. She just starred at him.

I intended to take the kids to see Santa when he stopped by a local bank, but Dad needed to run errands in the city during Santa's hours, so we caught Santa in the city so that Elizabeth could get in on the picture, too.

It was cold, as you can tell! Again, David told Santa he wanted Legos. Elizabeth said she wanted a kitty cat. (That's my girl!) I think she's referring to the pink kitty cat she's been talking about ever since we made the shoebox Christmas gifts.

Note to people who give my kids presents: You don't have to try to meet their Santa wishes... we've got those covered.

The best one yet!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I couldn't resist Elfing again....

I love how Rebekah dances in this one!

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What's in the Sock?

Aunt Sissy asked if I'd found any all natural Christmas candy, so I thought I'd show you & her what I've found so far. At the top is Sweet's Natural Peppermint Candy Cane Taffy*, whose red stripe is colored by red radish! David doesn't usually go for chewy candy (no gummies or Skittles), but he did like this. The large bar is 365 Organic Swiss Milk Chocolate. I plan on breaking that into smaller pieces & repackaging in something more festive. The brown spot is an organic French Chocolate Truffle. Pure Fun makes the Organic Candy Canes. I believe their stripes are colored from berries.** The little white candies are Yummy Earth Organic Candy Drops: Wild Peppermint. The green shiny wrapped candy is Ghirardelli Squares: Dark Chocolate with White Mint Filling and the red one is just dark chocolate. I got the Ghirardelli at Wal-Mart, but the rest from Whole Foods Market.

I got enough to share with the grandma's so they have goodies for the kids stockings at their houses and to trade David when he gets unapproved candy at parties & such. I am also planning on bringing back the lost tradition of fruit & nuts in the stockings as well. Of course there will be toothbrushes and other little goodies in there, too, because Santa cares about your teeth.

*Sweet's Natural Peppermint Candy Cane Taffy was not on the Feingold Foodlist, but appears to be safe based on the ingredients listed. Warning, though, Sweet's makes another (Candy Cane Peppermint Flavor Gourmet Taffy) which includes Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1 (petroleum based food coloring).
**Pure Fun Organic Candy Canes are in Stage Two of the Feingold Foodlist because berries are a natural salicylates.

My Elf Children

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A Walk Down Memory Lane

Yesterday the kids and I went over to Grandma & Grandpa's house. We brought the Christmas cheer when we showed up!

We got Grandma's 4' tree up on the living room table, lighted and decorated. The kids were interested in a few of her ornaments, but it was a walk down memory lane for me.

Here are some of the highlights for my siblings:

Wonder how old that ball is?

I have no idea where this came from & Grandma couldn't remember, either.
It's just always been on the tree.

Sissy made these one year.
Were you in high school when you made them?

Momma thinks she remembers painting these
with Sissy before my time.
Bubba said he remembered helping paint them, too.
Grandmama made the needle point poinsettia in the background.

This was given to me by my friend Jonathan when we were little. Don't remember how old because we didn't think to date stuff back then. His parents had a ceramics workshop and they made this one for me.

Momma said Uncle Jimmy brought these from Mexico.
I remember these always being there, too.
Of course, the cat was my favorite.

She said Bubba made this one at school.
It has a Christmas tree on the other side.

Sissy made these one year when we had a little craft booth
in a craft mall where we sold handmade items.

Grandmama made an assortment of these bead ornaments.

I made that one in elementary school.

The star has always been here, too.
It was from my Granny & Papa's first Christmas together.
And Daddy always puts it on top after the tree is decorated.

We also got the stockings up, with 2 new ones this year!
Now Grandma needs a glitter pen to add
Rebekah's name and Mark's name.

'Tis the Season... for Cookies!

I just finished making cookies for David's Thursday School Christmas party. My sister is hosting her second annual virtual cookie exchange, so I thought I'd chip these in. (pun intended... chocolate chip... get it?) : )

"MY" cookie is chocolate chip. I've been perfecting my recipe for years. Dad loves them (cooked or uncooked). The kids love them. This is not them. If you want to see my version of the chocolate chip cookie, check out last year's cookie exchange.

This year, we are eliminating artificial things from David's diet. My butter flavored Crisco had to go. : ( Sometimes change is a good thing, though, because you find something new that's just as good or better.

This is my recipe made with real butter, added oatmeal and an extra egg. They've been eaten just fine and I have few left to take to the party tomorrow, so I had to wait for the beggars to go to bed & tried a couple of new recipes.

Healthy No Bake Cookies

These are actually pretty tasty. However, the recipe only made 15 small cookies, and as a new recipe, I had to test it out. Now I need David & Dad to test them, too, to see if it's a keeper recipe. That leaves me with only 11 cookies for the party, because Elizabeth will want one, too. Next...

Chocolate Cowboy Cookies

Mmmm... these are good! I did my usual substitutions of double vanilla and milk chocolate chips. Wow. I'm already thinking of ways to make them even better... like getting some mint in there somehow!