Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! As always, mine was very nice. It’s always such an exciting time when your kids are still young, with my youngest being 10, he was still very excited, though I will look forward to the day when we won’t have to be up at 6:30 am 🙂 It was a Star Wars Christmas here again, how could it not be with the stores being inundated with merchandise, lol.
Even though it was a wonderful time and I still have another week off, I am feeling a little like this, especially since it is Monday. (no…this is not my dog…I wish he was, lol)
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Woke up to a wintery mix. I can hear the ice tapping on the windows. Looks like winter has arrived.
WHAT I’M READING/HAVE READ:
I haven’t read too much in the last couple of days. Look for my Special edition link-up with Kate Motaung of Books I Read in 2015 on Wednesday.
LOL CHUCKLES, AND GIGGLES:
RECIPE I WOULD LIKE TO TRY:
I probably should have posted something with some veggies, lol. After all the sweet cookies and Christmas treats, I’m still looking at desserts 🙂 These look really good!!
FAVORITE VIDEO/BLOG POST:
This will be me when it finally snows!! 😀
FROM THE CAMERA:
Usually my daughter sets up a nice picture for Christmas (as all the boys complain, lol) but she didn’t get a chance to this year. Here is her impromptu shot on Christmas Day.
Sharing a post from last year’s Blogmas that I participated in. This was from
Day 2: What Christmas Means to You
Linking up for Blogmas 2014…25 Days of Christmas. Because I LOVE Christmastime…now if it would only snow!! 🙂
When I was growing up, we decorated, baked cookies, had Christmas parties with friends, and did the whole Santa and reindeer thing. But the highlight for me was Midnight Mass. We would spend Christmas Eve at my grandma’s with my mom’s brothers and sisters and all of our cousins, visiting and opening presents. Then we would go home for awhile and try to rest before we went to Mass. It was actually at midnight, which I’m not sure if many churches do that anymore. I just remember the excitement, maybe it was just because I got to stay up late, but as I remember it now, there just seemed to be an aura of peace and joy that night. I would be wearing a new dress, and most everyone at church would be dressed up too. I loved walking into the church and seeing all the decorations, the huge brightly lit Christmas Trees, the wreaths draped with red bows, and the large nativity that was empty through the advent season up until this night. People greeted each other with genuine smiles and well wishes. Then the choir would sing all those beautiful Christmas carols, and for this one night they would add drums and a trumpet. Even though it was the same Mass we sat through Sunday after Sunday, this night, it was different…special. At the end of Mass, the choir’s finale was a resounding “Joy To the World,” that you could feel deep in your soul. At it’s very last note everyone couldn’t help but applaud, which was unheard of back then in a Catholic church…but this night was different…special. We would go out into the still night air, and it would be freezing outside, but you felt warm on the inside, and those occasions when snow would be falling, just made it complete. I knew then that Christmas wasn’t about the fancy decorations, or the presents, or the celebrating with friends and family. It was about the birth of Jesus, and having faith in God no matter what the New Year would bring.
It’s been a long time since I’ve attended Midnight Mass, but as I got older I learned to try to hold on to that special feeling all throughout the year. But it’s always easier at this time, as the year is winding down, and we anticipate the New Year and what it will bring. Even in the midst of the hustle and bustle, it’s a time of year that I feel like I can just breathe for a moment. Because even while in the midst of whatever life is throwing at us, it seems that during Christmastime everything is good and everyone is happy…it’s different…special.
Enjoying my first day of Christmas break. A little gloomy and soggy outside, it rained and rained last night…if only that had been snow!! I cannot believe another Christmas is upon us. My daughter and I shopped for all our wrapping paper, bows and bags. I am looking forward to wrapping all the gifts. I have more fun doing that than shopping!! Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas filled with your heart’s desires!!
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
No white Christmas for us 😦
MOVIE REVIEW:
The Spirit of Christmas on the Lifetime channel. Old haunted Inn, at Christmastime, with a handsome ghost. The story was good, and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. I usually don’t watch many made-for-TV movies, but my mom saw this one advertised and told me about it.
LOL CHUCKLES, AND GIGGLES:
HOLIDAY PREP TO DO:
Help my daughter get things ready for her homemade hot chocolate get together with her friends on Wednesday. I really enjoy seeing all these young adults get together. These are the twin’s friends they grew up with, and the new friends they have met since we moved here 3 years ago. So many different personalities, but they all get along so well, always a fun time.
Wrap presents 🙂
FAVORITE VIDEO/BLOG POST:
I came across this article from Crosswalk.com. Being that I love A Charlie Brown Christmas, and that I am a kindred spirit with Linus because of his blanket, what they point out is truly the real meaning of Christmas. For as many times as I have watched this special, I have never noticed that there is a moment when Linus drops his blanket. They go on to explain it here and it’s significance:
Charlie Brown is best known for his uniquely striped shirt, and Linus is most associated with his ever-present security blanket. Throughout the story of Peanuts, Lucy, Snoopy, Sally and others all work to no avail to separate Linus from his blanket. And even though his security blanket remains a major source of ridicule for the otherwise mature and thoughtful Linus, he simply refuses to give it up.
Until this moment. When he simply drops it.
In that climactic scene when Linus shares “what Christmas is all about,” he drops his security blanket, and I am now convinced that this is intentional. Most telling is the specific moment he drops it: when he utters the words, “fear not.” Looking at it now, it is pretty clear what Charles Schultz was saying, and it’s so simple it’s brilliant.
The birth of Jesus allows us to simply drop the false security we have been grasping so tightly, and learn to trust and cling to Him instead.
But in the midst of fear and insecurity, this simple cartoon image from 1965 continues to live on as an inspiration for us to seek true peace and true security in the one place it has always been and can always still be found. (www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/just-drop-the-blanket-the-moment-you-never-noticed-in-a-charlie-brown-christmas.html)
Spent the weekend baking, but I got it all done!! I baked about 6 different cookies, and did a couple of them each day starting Friday, so it wasn’t too bad. I am so proud that my Roshky/Kolaczki turned out really good this year. Last year I had problems with them opening up when they baked. I told my mom, maybe I needed to put my babushka on, but that wasn’t necessary. My Polish just kicked in this year, and they turned out.
Saturday my daughter, and the two boys and I went to see the reindeer. They basically were just lying around in their pen. I thought we could actually take pictures WITH them, but we could only take pictures OF them, still so cute to see up close. So those pics are at the bottom. The weather was too warm, so the Ice Sculptors have been postponed. Hope everyone is enjoying their preparations for the holidays and not stressing too much. I actually enjoyed decorating the sugar cookies this year. The Christmas carols were playing, and I took some time making them all fancy. It was actually quite relaxing. Last week for me and the boys with school before Christmas break…Woohoo!! (Yeah…the teacher is probably more excited, lol)
WHAT I’M READING/HAVE READ: I finished The Mistletoe Inn by Richard Paul Evans!! It was really good!! Just when I thought I had it figured out…yep…love stories like that!! Five stars and two thumps up!!
1. Mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix well. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate overnight. 2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough 1/4-inch on a surface that has been dusted with equal parts confectioners’ and granulated sugars (not flour), because the granulated sugar will act as ball bearings and help keep the dough from sticking. Cut into 2-inch squares using a pastry cutter. Place 1/2 to 1 teaspoon filling on center of each square. Overlap opposite corners of dough to the center over filling. (I put my apricot and Prune Plum filling in separate zip lock bags and cut the corner off, and use it like a piping bag to put the filling on the center of the square).
3. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or when corners start to brown. Cool and dust with confectioners’ sugar. These tend to become soggy if held for several days, so store them tightly covered (or freeze) without the confectioners’ sugar. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just prior to service.
ON THE TV: I started watching episodes of Quantico, and I am hooked!!
LOL CHUCKLES, AND GIGGLES:
HOLIDAY PREP TO DO: The only thing really left for me will be wrapping the gifts. Got my shopping done (all online) and finished the baking!!
FAVORITE VIDEO/BLOG POST: Elf Yourself…too much fun!! I saw another blogger (Hugh’s News and Views) post one of these, and when I showed the site to my kids, we just had a little too much fun with it!!
FROM THE CAMERA:
We got a smile out of one of them, but other than that…
Even though it was a wonderful time and I still have another week off, I am feeling a little like this, especially since it is Monday. (no…this is not my dog…I wish he was, lol)
Carrie Ann Alexis 