Remembering 2009

I can't believe we are approaching 2010. Seems like yesterday we were panicking over Y2k!

Some wonderful things happened in 2009, although January, February and March were fairly quiet (we had some birthdays and an anniversary in there, but nothing so grand I need to recap it!) BUT...

In April, Lefty received a City Scholar Award. That was a proud moment for all of us!

In May, my sister and her family came to visit. We had lots of fun with them!

In June, another sister came to visit me and we had great times with her too! She left the sweetest present for me!

For my birthday in July, sweet little ol' Spirit took me to lunch with his own money (well most of his own money...)

In August we took a 4,300 mile road trip. It was a ton of fun!

September was "sick month" in our house. I got sick. Then Lefty. Pretty soon Spirit caught it. It was horrible and I seriously was bleaching like a mad fool!

October was a great month for building forts out of leaves!

Two of my favorite blog posts from November are this one about Lady Bug and this one about the teacher gift.

December was filled with parties, Disney on Ice, baking, and crafting. But a momentous event happened also! Phew! That was a big one conquered! And let us not forget the horrible root canal I had!

*Crafting part 1 - Snowglobe soaps
*Crafting part 2 - Personalized Totebag
*Crafting part 3 - Silhouette Ornaments
*Crafting part 4 - 4-pack carrier candy holder
*Crafting part 5 - Family Yahtzee
*Crafting part 6 - Handmade Coasters
*Crafting part 7 - Stocking stuffer

I hope you all had a great 2009 and I wish everyone the best for 2010.

New Year's Eve

I think I have mentioned our friend, "MF", who is unable to have children of her own and so she "borrows" my kids when she needs a "kid fix". She used to babysit my kids while Mr. Man and I worked during the day. So every day from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm she watched Spirit (from birth until he was almost 5), Lefty (from birth until almost 4) and Lady Bug (from birth until she was 9 months old). They just adore MF. She adores them too! Periodically she will call me up and ask to take them to a play place, or Chuck E Cheese. Sometimes she wants to keep them overnight and they watch movies and party all night. She is super good with them and they look forward to being with her.

Every year for as long as I can remember, she has taken the kids over the New Year's Eve holiday weekend and that is when she exchanges Christmas presents with them. So this is usually when Mr. Man and I have a little date night. Sometimes we go out to dinner and maybe a movie. Sometimes we just go out to eat at a place the kids hate. But in any event we enjoy spending time together and being able to regroup from the Christmas holiday and plan ahead for the next year.

This year MF is picking up the kids on New Year's Eve and keeping them all weekend. There is a restaraunt we have been dying to try, but aren't sure the kids will like, so we will probably go there for dinner on New Year's Eve and then home to relax in front of the fire and maybe watch a movie. On New Year's Day we are going with some friends to see a comedy show and out to dinner. Nothing too extravagent but will be a good time nonetheless. As for the rest of the weekend we will probably take down Christmas decorations and clean house. Pretty boring stuff.

I am looking forward to regrouping and getting ready for the new year!

HAPPY 2010 to you!

Tooth update:

My dentist's office called me back and said to just continue taking the antibiotic and pain pills and he'd see me in a week. They told me that the numbness would go away in about a week. I wasn't all to comfortable with that answer so I called another dentist who came recommended by a friend and I explained the situation and they said unfortunately this can happen. They called it "temporary paralysis" can happen, especially with a lower root canal like I had and that the "temporary paralysis" can go away in a couple days or it may take months to clear up. Months?? Yikes! They also said that the tool breaking off in the tooth is also common. They offered to see me and look at my x-rays to give me a 2nd opinion of sorts. So I have a call into the dentist's office and I will try to get my x-rays somehow and just get someone else to look, just to ease my mind.

This morning I woke up still in some pain, but it doe appear to be getting better. The numbness, or paralysis, is still about the same.

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 7

I know Christmas has come and gone, but here is a little thing I made for the kids stockings and I didn't get it done and photographed in time to post before Christmas!

Part 7 in the handmade Christmas postings is a personalized activity book.

I wanted to buy them an activity book for their stocking, but before I bought it I had a night where I couldn't sleep so I got on the computer. I decided with all the websites with downloads and the printable color and activity pages I could easily make each kid a customized coloring/activity book.

I printed off the pages and then I covered them in a scrapbook paper cover. I just two-hole punched the tops and tied string to hold the pages together, but I am sure there are a million other clever and pretty ways to attach all the pages together.

Here are some of the websites I really liked for printing pages from:

Crayola

Activity Village

Patterns for coloring - mosiacs

These Alphabet coloring pages are wonderfully detailed from this website I also printed some mazes and a few more coloring pages

ABC Teach has great crosswords and other printable activity sheets

TLS Books has tons of options for worksheets and coloring pages

This site has tons of coloring pages

If I'm a little quiet...

If I am a little quiet, please understand. Last week I ended up needing a root canal (great timing!). This is my first major dental issues...ever! Well the doctor gives me a numbing shot, then after a bit he starts working. I stop him because I can feel it!!! He gives me a 2nd shot which causes my cheek and eye to swell.

THEN, while he is filing out the root his file BROKE INSIDE MY TOOTH. He finished up his work and THEN told me about it. So I have a piece of a file stuck down inside my tooth. I am thinking, "Ok. No big deal, right?" Wrong. Two days after the root canal I wake up at 4:30 am writhing in pain. My face is throbbing, throbbing and I want to cry. When we get up Christmas morning, yes Christmas morning, my face is a little swollen, I am in hoards of pain and I can hardly speak and the scariest thing is that my face is numb and tingly. So I start pumping Advil and manage to get through the day. I tried to put on a happy face for the family, but inside all I wanted to do was go to bed. I was really freaked out about the numbness. THAT can not be normal.

Saturday morning my face is more swollen and I am still in pain so Mr. Man calls the dentist office and they end up calling in an antibiotic and some pain pills for me. I lived on those all weekend and today I am sitting here waiting for dentist office to call me back. My face is still numb and tingly. If I talk too much then my tooth hurts so I just try to stay quiet... which is hard for me to do. I'm sure my husband is enjoying the quiet!

So bare with me if I don't post much this week. I may be in and out of dental offices (and maybe a lawyer's office too!)

Meal Plan - December 26, 2009 - January 1, 2010

Can you believe 2010 is right around the corner? eek! Here is this week's meal plan for my family

SATURDAY:
Breakfast - Country brunch skillet
Lunch - Quesadillas
Dinner - Lasagna and garlic bread

SUNDAY:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Cheesy potato topped meatloaf
Dinner - Grilled cheese

MONDAY:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Left over lasagna / fresh salad / garlic toast

TUESDAY:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Sandwich / chips / fruit
Dinner - Hamburger rice skillet

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Au Gratin Sausage skillet

THURSDAY:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - eating out

FRIDAY:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Sandwich / chips / fruit
Dinner - take out with a movie in!

Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 6

In this part 6 of our handmade Christmas gift postings, I will be showcasing these coasters using tiles bought from Lowe's and then a couple different things to top it off. I got the idea from here.


Things you need:
* 4x4 white tiles bought a Lowe's or Home Depot
* Clear acrylic sealer
* cocktail size napkins with a design of your choice
* cork for the backing
* ribbon to tie up the coasters

Here are the ones we made. The kids helped me glue and seal them. It didn't take long at all to make them.

Our dollar store decorating

I received this very large bouquet of flowers a year or two ago and the vase was too gorgeous to throw out when I tossed out the flowers. Last year at Christmas I dumped some ball-style ornaments in there and used it as a centerpiece. This year I was going to do pine cones and a pillar candle, but didn't get that far before Mr. Man came home with a bunch of dollar store ornaments. We literally dumped them in the vase and called it a day!



I think it looks pretty good!

Baking day!

This past Saturday a couple friends came over and we baked - all.day.long. It was a long day, but fun! We made some munchies to eat while we baked. We talked. We laughed. It was so much fun!

We made sugar cookies with the kids. The kids had a blast! Lady Bug really took her time and carefully chose which sprinkles for which cookie. Spirit also did a very artsy job. The cookies came out as ugly as you can get because there are SO many sprinkles and decorations, but they taste just fine!

We also made pumpkin bread, oreo cookie bark, peppermint popcorn, chocolate covered peanut clusters, Hello Dollies cookie bars, chocolate crinkle cookies, a bunch of covered pretzels using these recipes. We had a busy and sugar-filled day!

I love baking day with friends!


This is Lady Bug showing me what a reindeer looks like:

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 5

Part 5 of our handmade Christmas gifts is Family Yahtzee. Click here to see an awesome tutorial on this.

This was a more time consuming craft then the others I did this year, but well worth it in the end. I used smaller wooden blocks for the dice than she did in the tutorial. I think next time I would go bigger, more like hers. Mine are 1x1 inch that I found at the craft store in a package of 16 wooden pieces for $2.

There is a lot of dry time in between coats. I would do a little then go start something else (like laundry or dinner) and wouldn't pick up again until later or even the next day.

This is a picture of the box I used. I bought a cardboard box that is meant to look like a book. Then I painted it white and covered the front and back with scrapbook paper.

I think it came out really cute! I hope the family that gets this likes it! My kids want to make one for us too! They were actually playing with this game and really got a kick out of it!


When I took the pictures I was letting the top dry before I added a "label" that read "Family Yahtzee" -- then I went on and wrapped the present before I had a chance to take a picture of my label. Shoot. So you don't get to see the end result. Sometimes I wonder where I left my brain!

Meal Plan for December 19 - 25

This is our meal plan for this week:

SATURDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / juice
Lunch - Veggie pizza
Dinner - Quesadillas

SUNDAY:
Breakfast - Cinnamon toast / milk
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Zesty Chicken over Rice

MONDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / juice
Lunch - PB & J / chips / fruit
Dinner - Potato Soup


TUESDAY:
Breakfast - Eggs / bacon / toast / juice or milk
Lunch - Frozen pizza
Dinner - Hawaiian Meatballs / rice

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / juice
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Southwestern Chicken Salad / Fruit

THURSDAY (Christmas Eve):
Breakfast - Pancakes / bacon / milk or juice
Lunch - Meat roll ups / cheese / crackers / fruit
Dinner - My mother and father in law are coming over for supper. My mother in law is bringing her homemade chicken noodle soup (yum!)

FRIDAY (Merry Christmas):
Breakfast - Potato & Cheese Frittata / cinnamon rolls / applesauce / juice or milk
Lunch - With family at my sister in law's house
Dinner - Probably just snacks at in-laws house

Friday Recipe - Smoked Salmon Spread

This is a very yummy appetizer. Serve this with crackers or focaccia bread. I also want to try it with some grilled flatbread (I am in search of a recipe for such...)

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
8 to 12 oz smoked salmon, crumbled
3 dashes Worcestershire sauced
4-5 drops of hot pepper sauce
1 tsp chopped fresh dill
2 Tbls chopped green onion (I usually omit this because I am not a fan of green onion)

In a medium bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth. Add in salmon, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, dill and onion. Mix well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to absorb into each other.

My Secret Santa

I got a secret santa gift in the mail! Look at all the lovely goodies I got! In the adorable totebag there were magazines galore. Patterns for crafty things. Candy. Cookbooks. A fun little wallet. Candy and a little book.


I got a wonderful little totebag - perfect for taking stuff to work in.
This cute little card wallet!


Some candy! I loooooove candy!


A fun little book!


I mean to tell you I made out like a BANDIT!! Woooooohheee!!!

It was such a treasure to come home after working a late night (I worked 10 hours!) and be able to open such a lovely surprise!

And he's done it...

Our middle son is 7 (almost 8) and has been wetting the bed. It used to bother me more than him. Then last summer when he wanted to do sleep overs and when his aunt was taking him camping he would just sob when he thought about the bed wetting problem.

I talked to his doctor and they gave him some pills. Which didn't work. We had worked up to the maximum dose and still it wasn't working. We had tried all different kinds of things up to this point. Nothing to drink after dinner (at one point we even did only half of a glass of milk with dinner and then nothing else). We tried making the responsibility his to change the sheets (it was clearly not a lazy issue and that is why he was wetting, because when I made it his responsibility he would just get up, take the wet sheets off, change his clothes and go sleep on the couch. Poor little guy.) We tried reward charts. We tried just about everything there is to try. The doctor suggested a behavioral specialist.... which I said no to because it wasn't "bad behavior" it was a bladder control issue. Then the doctor said he would run some tests to see if there was something more seriously wrong. Nothing. Doctor assured me it was common for kids, especially boys, to wet the bed and that each year as he grew his chances of "out growing" it became greater. Good news, unless your 7 and want to spend the night somewhere and fear you will pee yourself and that person's bed.

My little Lefty just dealt with it. He wore pull-ups every night and even then sometimes would wet through those. Then, just before Thanksgiving he kept it dry. He continued to keep the pull-up dry for a week. Then it became 2 weeks of dry. And here we are nearly a full month later and he is still dry. He asked last night if he could try underwear. I told him it was totally up to him. He said he wanted to try it, and bless his little heart he told me that if he pee'd he would clean it up. I told him he could come wake me for help and he said "No mom. I can do it. I don't want to wake you up. I will just do it myself."

That made me feel bad that he felt he needed to take on that all himself, but I just prayed it wouldn't come to him needing help. Sure enough he came flying down the stairs this morning at 6:45 and said "High Five mom! I stayed dry allllll night!"

He was so proud of himself and so excited he could hardly stand it this morning.

When he headed up to get dressed he said "Can I just wear the underwear I slept in? Because they are basically clean." *grins*

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 4

Part 4 in this handmade Christmas gift showcase is another really cool neighbor gift. Repurposing a 4-pack Starbucks Frappachino with the cardboard carrier. I have made these before as birthday gifts, but this year I made one for a neighbor and one for a teacher's assistant at Lady Bug's school.

I got the idea here awhile back.

Here is where I posted about the one I made for my friend's birthday.

Below is a picture of one of the ones we made this year. Lady Bug helped me do this. It is so simple and everyone just loves these!

Our handmade Christmas - Part 3

Part 3 in the handmade Christmas is these silhouette ornaments. These are made by the kids, with very little supervision from me. Once I gave them the instructions, they whipped these out and had a blast making them. We made several of these ornaments to give as gifts.

Items needed for this:
- Wooden plaques (I found a 4 pack for $1 at the craft store and it already had a pre-drilled hole in the top. I wanted to get oval shaped ones but couldn't find the right size I wanted. These rectangle ones are about 2 1/2" wide and 4" long)
- paint for the sides of the plaque
- ribbon for hanging
- scrapbook paper
- your silhouette pictures

I probably did this the hard way, but here is what I did:

I took the kids pictures from the side. After I downloaded the pictures on the computer. I used the graphics editor and used the selection tool and cropped the edges of the profile. I deleted the background. Then I printed this and used scissors to cut it out. I made sure to cut the flyaways and the little fuzzy hairs so they show up (Spirit was cracking up at all the flyaways that Lefty had until I pointed out he had a few of his own!!) Anyway, then I traced it onto black paper and cut it out again.



I made some in a frame for my room (5x7 frames), but for these ornaments I used the small plaque. I looked at getting photo ornaments, but they were quite costly.

So, first I printed a version of The Christmas Story using a fancy font. I printed it out and we cut it the same size as the rectangle plaque I am using. I had the kids add a small amount of modge podge to the rectangle and place the verse on top. Then we added a little bit more modge podge over the whole thing.

When that was fully dried, we put a tiny bit of modge podge on the back of the silhouette and carefully placed it in the center of the rectangle on top of the Christmas story. Then carefully covered the whole thing with more modge podge.


After that is fully dried, we took some Christmas scrap book paper and cut it to fit the back side of the ornament You could use paint, but I had some scrapbook paper so I decided to use that on the back. Again, using modge podge to attach it.

After that had dried overnight, we attached a ribbon hanger and the kids wrote their names and the date on the back. I forgot to take a picture of the back. I thought I did, but I can't seem to find the picture and unfortunately all these that we made for people have been sent off, given away or already wrapped up. But the scrapbook paper on the back is red and says Merry Christmas all over it.

BELOW IS A PICTURE OF THE ONES HANGING IN MY ROOM. I WANT TO GET SOME RIBBON TO ACTUALLY HANG THESE FROM, BUT HERE IS THE WAY THEY ARE HANGING NOW.

Meal Plan for December 12 - 18

This week's meal plan (December 12 -18):

SATURDAY:
Breakfast - Huevos Rancheros
Lunch - Chicken nuggets / fries / fruit
Dinner - Lasagna / garlic bread / salad

SUNDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / fruit / milk
Lunch - potluck at church (I think I am going to take Taco Soup)
Dinner - Cheesy Potato Topped Meatloaf / fruit

MONDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / juice
Lunch - meat roll ups / fruit / cookie / chips
Dinner - Chili / cornbread

TUESDAY:
Breakfast - Cinnamon Toast / milk
Lunch - left over chili
Dinner - Creamy Chicken Pasta (bought the stuff for this last week and we didn't get a chance to eat it)

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / juice
Lunch - meat rolls ups / fruit / crackers
Dinner - Quesadillas (Lady Bug has a program at school so we need to eat quick!)

THURSDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal / milk
Lunch - PB&J / chips / cookie / fruit
Dinner - Ranch Broiled Chicken / applesauce / corn / french bread

FRIDAY:
Breakfast - Baked French Toast / fruit / milk
Lunch - meat roll ups / fruit / chips / cookie
Dinner - Hawaiian Meatballs / steamed rice

Friday Recipe - Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies

These are a Christmas tradition in my family. They are one of my favorite cookies! (Notice I said ONE... I have lots of favorites!)

Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies
INGREDIENTS:

2/3 c. shortening
2/3 c. butter
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cocoa
1 c. nuts, finely ground

Mix shortening, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla thoroughly. Stir in remaining ingredients. Turn onto lightly floured board. Shape dough into ball with lightly floured hands, pressing dough into compactness. Cut dough in half. Shape each half into roll 2" by 8". Roll dough onto wax paper, twist ends tightly and place in refrigerator. Cut into 1/4" slices and bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Makes about 90 cookies. Can be refrigerated up to 1 month or frozen up to 3 months.

I like to frost mine after they are cooled. I usually make a simple vanilla frosting, but store bought frosting would work too.

Butter Frosting
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 c unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 c sifted, powdered sugar
1/4 c milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt

In a bowl beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well.

Slowly, beat in the milk, vanilla and the dash of salt. Slowly beat in remaining sugar. Beat in additional milk, if needed, to make it a nice spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired.

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 2

Part 2 of the handmade Christmas gift showcase is a totebag for Lady Bug's teachers. Lady Bug is in Pre-K and learning to write. So I had her take a pencil and write on a totebag (I helped her decide what to write!) Then she and I sat together and embroidered it. We just did a basic back stitch with embroidery thread. She got a real kick out of making this.

We completed this in two evenings. The first night after dinner she wrote on it and we started sewing it. Then we completed it the next night. So again, this was an easy craft and not too expensive. The totebag was only $3 at the craft store. If our time and budget allows I will put in some school supplies in the bag before we wrap it up for the teacher.

Fancy Pretzels - great neighbor gift idea!

I have made all of these recipes before to give as neighbor gifts. I am not sure which ones I will be making this year.

All these recipes use pretzels.

All of these recipes are easy enough that the kids can help make them.

Fancy Pretzels
Recipe from Beth at A Mom's Life
INGREDIENTS:
1 package (10 oz) pretzel rods, broken or cut in half
1 package (14 oz) individually warpped caramels
1 TBS evaporated milk
Bag of minature chocolate chips
Bag of Butterscotch chips
Bag of toffee bits

In a glass measuring cup, melt caramels and evaporated milk in microwave for 3 minutes.

In a shallow bowl or pie pan combine chips and toffee bits.

Dip the cut end of each pretzel piece 2/3 of the way into the caramel mixture.
Allow excess caramel to drip off (making sure not to get too much caramel or when it hardens you won't be able to bite into the pretzel), then roll pretzel into the chip mixture.

Place on waxed paper until set.

Wrap these in plastic wrap and tie up with ribbon for gift giving or store in an air tight container.

**OPTION #2: Follow the instructions above, but after dipping in the caramel you can roll the pretzel in mini M&M candies.

**OPTION #3: Melt white chocolate chips and drizzle the chocolate over the coated pretzel rods. This can be done to either option 1 or 2.

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Reindeer Pretzels
Recipe and image from RecipeGoldMine.com
makes 12
INGREDIENTS:
4 oz chocolate, white or butterscotch almond bark, chopped
12 large pretzel twists
12 pretzel sticks
24 miniature semisweet chocolate chips
12 red and 12 green M&M's
fruit leather

Place almond bark in 1-cup microwavable measuring cup. Microwave uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted.

Dip pretzel twists into melted candy coating. Place on waxed paper. Let stand until coating is set.

If necessary, rewarm coating. Dip top 2 inches of pretzel rod into melted candy coating; attach pretzel rod to bottom of pretzel twist. Place on waxed paper.

To make reindeer, press on chocolate chips for eyes and red candy for nose using melted candy coating. Cut scarf from fruit roll; attach to reindeer using candy coating. Press on green candy for button using candy coating. Place on waxed paper. Let stand until coating is set.

Store coated pretzel rods loosely covered at room temperature no longer than 2 weeks.

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White Dipped Pretzel Twists
INGREDIENTS:
6 (1 oz) squares white chocolate
1 (15 oz) package mini twist pretzels
red and green candy sprinkles (optional)

Melt white chocolate in microwave safe dish, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.

Dip the side of the pretzel halfway into the white chocolate. Roll in sprinkles if desired. Lay on cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Refrigerate for 10 minutes until set. Store in an airtight container.

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Turtle Pretzel Twists
INGREDIENTS:
48 pretzel twists
48 Rolo candies (unwrapped)
48 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 275.

Spread out pretzels on a cookie sheet. Place a Rolo candy in the center of each pretzel. Put on the lowest rack in the oven for about 10 minutes. DO NOT LET CANDY MELT FLAT. You only need candy softened.

Remove cookie sheet and smoosh 1 pecan into the center of the Rolo candy.

Place back in the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes.

Allow to completely cool and then store in an airtight container.

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Pretzel Kisses
INGREDIENTS:
1 bag of square waffle pretzels
1 bag of Hershey kisses
1 bag of M&M's candies

line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place a layer of pretzels onto of parchments paper. Place a kiss in the center of pretzel.

Bake until kiss is melted. Remove and place m&m in center of pretzel.

Let cool until set.

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Candy Coated Pretzels
**Need a candy thermometer for this one**
INGREDIENTS:
1 package miniature pretzel twists
1 cup unsalted butter
2 c brown sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Arrange pretzels in a single layer baking sheet.

Combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Do not stir once the sugar syrup begins to boil. Heat to 244 degrees F (117 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball.

Pour hot mixture over pretzels; toss to coat evenly.

Bake pretzels in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan and stir. Continue to bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and break into individual pieces. Cool on wire rack or parchment paper.

Funny story

So the other day Mr. Man and I stopped at a little convenience store. I sat in the car while he ran inside. I could see him at the checkout laughing and having a good time. When he gets back in the car I jokingly said "Was she cute?"

He looked at me for a minute and then said "Oh pah-lease. She was old. She was probably 50."

This is super funny because Mr. Man turns the big FIVE-O himself in March.

We both just started cracking up.... I think he laughed so hard he cried!

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 1

This year we are doing a mixture of handmade gifts and store-bought gifts. I wanted to start showing off what we have been doing.

Part 1 of our handmade Christmas gifts:

Snowglobe soaps. Click here for the instructions I used.

These are so cute. So fun. And so easy to make. The kids helped me make them and we did two batches in about an hour.

I found some deer in the dollhouse section of the craft store. I also used some fun buttons. I didn't do a very good job placing the items on my first batch and they were hard to see. But I learned and the next batch came out much better!

These little gifts would make great stocking stuffers because they are the size of an ice cube. We are giving these to nieces, nephews and our neighbor kid friends.


Very cute and I highly recommend the craft.

**I took this picture before I wrapped them up. I plan to wrap them in cellophane and tie a ribbon around it.**

Weekend recap

Friday was the last weekday of Mr. Man's vacation and he got stuck sitting home with a sick kid. Spirit ended up with the same thing Lefty had earlier in the week. Probably somewhat of a good thing, that way he was forced to somewhat relax on his last day of vacation.

Friday night my neighbor and I went to a "Dove Chocolate" party at a friend's house. I never thought I would say "I've had enough chocolate." but boy-oh-boy after a plate full of chocolate served with chocolate drinks I was feeling a little sick by the end of it. It was good stuff though!

Saturday morning was errand time. Then Lady Bug had a birthday party to go so after dropping her off we took the boys to see Disney's A Christmas Carol. That was a little more intense than I thought it would be. There were parts that definitely scared the boys a little. I felt bad. I think all is ok now though. No one had nightmares (except me--just kidding!)

It snowed all day Sunday so we laid low and watched some football after church. After dinner we had some hot cocoa with marshmallows and sat by the fire.

Overall it was a great weekend.

I am going to start showing off some of the handmade gifts we are doing this year. I just got to get the pictures organized a little. I will post the first one tomorrow - a great teacher gift.

Meal Plan for December 5 - 11

Saturday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch - Frozen Pizza (I will actually be eating with a friend while the fam eats this! hee hee)

Dinner - Turkey Tortilla Soup (I'm trying this recipe)

Sunday:

Breakfast - Overnight Bubble Bread / Sliced fruit / Milk

Lunch -Left overs

Dinner - Lasagna

Monday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -PB&J / fruit / chips

Dinner - Left overs

Tuesday:

Breakfast - Toast / Juice or milk

Lunch -Meat roll ups (Spirit's latest fave. Deli meat and cheese rolled up) / fruit / chips

Dinner - Creamy Chicken Pasta

Wednesday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -Meat roll ups / fruit / crackers

Dinner - Tacos (This recipe sounds pretty good too!)

Thursday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -PB&J / fruit / chips

Dinner - Spaghetti

Friday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -Meat roll ups / fruit / crackers

Dinner - Quesadillas

Friday Recipe - Chocolate Pecan Bars

I made these for Thanksgiving and I am also making some to give as gifts to neighbors for Christmas presents.

Chocolate Pecan Bars
INGREDIENTS:
2 sticks of butter
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 c flour

TOPPING:
1 stick of butter
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c honey
2 Tbls white sugar
2 Tbls heavy cream
pinch of salt
2 c pecan halves
1 tsp vanilla
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in salt. Slowly add in flour until mixture is crumbly. Press mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Prick with a fork slightly and bake for 17-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Reduce temperature in oven to 325 degrees. While crust is cooling, make the topping. In a saucepan over medium-high heat melt butter, brown sugar, honey, cream and white sugar. Stirring constantly. When mixture is thoroughly combined, remove from heat and add in salt, vanilla and pecans.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of crust and then pour on the pecan mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely. Using a sharp knife, cut into bars. These can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

**NOTE: The chocolate layer can be eliminated if you want. The bars are excellent without the chocolate layer, but I prefer the chocolate layer.

December 2

Here it is December 2nd - I want to say "Here it is December 2nd already!" because I am starting to feel the pressure to get all the Christmas stuff done.

Mr. Man had a week of vacation that the company decided they weren't going to allow him to roll over into next year. Ever since he has worked for them, any vacation, sick or personal time left on December 31 they allowed employees to roll over into the following year. That policy changed this past summer. So he had 5 days left to use this year (none of the rest of us were able to take any time with him, but that's ok) and he is home all this week.

The good news is that he got some Christmas shopping done for me - well not for me, but things I wanted to buy the kiddos! He got all the house decorations done. He made homemade salsa - twice! Now he is taking an overnight trip to a condo in the mountains with a buddy of his. Should be a nice time. Short trip, but just a little get away for him!

The kids and I plan to watch a movie or two and just hang out. We still have school/work to tend to so it won't be all that exciting for us! I plan to work on some more Christmas crafts/gifts. Hopefully be done soon! I am enjoying all of it!

I really wanted to make my own advent calendar this year... ummm, I soooo did not get to it so I guess I will move that to next years list! I did make these pocket advent calendars for a couple friends - they turned out cute and were pretty easy to make! I thought they would be fun for the kids, but they don't sell "kid-friendly" gum (kid flavors) in a 12-piece pack. Oh well. My friends enjoyed them anyway!

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FRUSTRATIONS:
I have talked about a neighbor kid, "J", that can be difficult. He is older than my children, but he is on the immature side. This is the kid that broke a sentimental wagon of ours. Anywhoooo, this past weekend the boys were outside playing with him in the front yard. Pretty soon they came in telling me that J had to go in and do homework for an hour, but that his mom said they could come back in an hour to play again.

When they went back an hour later, unbeknownst to me or to Mr. Man, they took money with them. Spirit paid J $2 for a spiral notebook, granted it was just about new, but still. Spirit also paid $3 along with Lefty another $3, so J got $6. What for you ask? Good question. Neither my husband or I knew about the money until yesterday afternoon. They were again playing out front with J and they told Mr. Man that J was being mean. So Mr. Man went out to see what was going on. They told him they paid J $6 and they didn't understand what for. When J was given the opportunity to explain, he told Mr. Man that he took their money and he was going to show them how he plays his Wii. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Mr. Man told him friends don't charge friends to let them watch a video game. Then J told him that he was going to teach them how to play. Again, Mr. Man explained that friends don't charge each other for things like that and asked why he hasn't showed them anything yet then? J had the nerve to say "that deal was for one day only." Mr. Man was a lot calmer than I would have been, and he said he thought J should give our boys their money back. J took off running. We explained to our boys that #1-they shouldn't spend money without talking to us first and #2-don't pay friends for things like that. Friends shouldn't charge each other to teach or share, etc. Friends should want to help each other out with whatever and however they can.

I am pretty sure we won't see that money. Ever. And I hope the kids learned a lesson. I feel bad for my kids, but at the same time I am FUMING mad at neighbor J!!!