Remember the magic of Christmas when you were a kid? The anticipation all throughout dinner on Christmas Eve, pretending to eat your sweet potatoes but really eyeing all your gifts under the tree?

Well, someone please tell me where that magic went, ’cause this mommy is severely missing it.

Really, I mean, they need to publish a “How to Survive Christmas for Parental Dummies”. Seriously, I.AM.POOPED…. and wondering why Christmas just doesn’t seem as fun as it used to?

Ugh.

Ok, venting aside…

Despite my complaining, our Christmas was wonderful…even through “Mommy Eyes”. Jake is really getting the whole Christmas thing and just had the time of his life. It was so fun to watch him be able to open his own gifts. And my baby girl…it was her first Christmas and I hope she had fun?!? She got gobs of gifts, but all she really cared about was the wrapping….

Anyway, a Recap of our holiday:

Christmas Eve

We drove to Santa Rosa to be with the Wollmer Family at my parent’s house. I love those people! It was so good to be with my siblings and their families…we really missed my brother, Brad, who had to stay in London for the holidays.

My mom’s dinner table for the adults. She has had that apron my whole life. I love it!

We played Bingo and Catch Phrase late into the evening. My mom got prizes and we all fought hard for them! My dad was so excited to win a gift card to his favorite yogurt joint… He said it was the best part about the whole night.

 

Think “hoodies”!
xoxo

We went to the mall last night and here is what I am thinking:

1. Nordstrom’s Christmas decorations are to die for. Seriously made me reconsider my vow to never buy a fake tree cause their flocked ones looked pretty good….please don’t tell Brandon I said that. Ha.
2. Why do I have to love Anthropologie so much? I mean, I could live there. It is my favorite store. ugh.
3. Ok I lied, I could live in Williams-Sonoma too, and oh yes…Target of course.

Anyway, I digress, as usual, sorry. Sheesh…I get so sidetracked.

I said in the last post that I would say more about it, so here goes…Santa and Jesus…. Since I am hoping that someday my kids will take the time to read this blog, and since I’m sure they will really wonder how I feel on this subject {haha}…here’s my thoughts kids:

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birthday {Luke 2}. Never, ever forget that. There is nothing more wonderful than Jesus, God in flesh. Wow…such a powerful concept. He came so that you might have life abundantly- a life full of peace, joy and love. HE is the reason for the season, hands down. If you never remember anything about me, or my writings, remember this…

Jesus is my all, and I hope He becomes yours too. And I pray that every Christmas you take time to stop, remember, and thank Him for coming to earth and dying for us. If you had to choose one gift at Christmas, take the gift of life that Jesus brought with Him when He was born in a manger 2000 years ago. Nothing like it, I promise you.

Ok, as I wipe the tears from eyes….

Now Santa…hmmm. When Jake was born, Brandon and I went back and forth on how to deal with Santa. Whether we like to admit it or not, Santa will come and go every Christmas…he’s pretty much here to stay. Brandon and I were both raised with Santa, but we were raised with knowing that he was a good man who blessed others with gifts in time of need. We both detest how Santa has become the “face” of Christmas…the current Santa is just a symbol or remembrance of the first Santa. As kids, we never really believed that he was real today {did you hear that SIMEON?} or lived at the North Pole, as fun as it was to pretend. We understood the concept of the first St. Nicholas, or Santa, and it really hit home to both of us. St. Nicholas was very Chrsitlike, actually. If you don’t know his story, I encourage you to do some research. Honestly, we feel that Christians should be more like him…he really puts most of us to shame.

ANYWAY {my fave word, I know}

We came to conclusions that we don’t mind talking a bit about Santa, having stockings, or *GASP*…taking the kids to see Santa.

So last night we took the kiddos. And you know what? All Jake wanted to talk about was this:

traced, cut out and then glued together. We added some wobbly eyes and pom pom noses to ours. We had a whole little science project out of it and I think we made reindeer for hours, literally. I have gobs of them all over the house.

Anyway, that’s all Jake wanted to talk about with Santa. And he was more than thrilled when Santa whipped out a photoalbum full of real life reindeer and showed Jake pictures. This teacher in me could have leaped for joy for bringing home our reindeer concept.

So our Santa picture. I must mention that I had a wardrobe malfuction with both kids, neither are wearing what I planned for them to wear…but that’s another long story.

Mashed Potatoes- I’m sorry, I don’t have “real” measurements for this, I just do with whatever I have.

Enjoy everyone! And remember, Jesus is the reason for the season, NOT Santa, Ha!!

It seems this blog is a fantastic way for me to confess things, because I find myself doing that ALL THE TIME. But here goes another one…

I do not have a nativity scene.

This might not be a big deal to you, as it really wasn’t one to me either, until I had Jake. So shoot me, but this family talks about Santa {more on that one in an upcoming post}, has a Christmas tree, sings Christmas carols such a jingle bells, wraps gifts and gives them….but we don’t have a symbol of the one thing that Christmas is really all about…

Jesus. And I want my kids to know Christmas is about Jesus, not all that other stuff, as fun as it is.

So the last couple years, I have gone to pick out a nativity scene, but come back empty handed because the ones I want are sooo pricey. *sigh* Say Italian molded figurenes and you’ll guess how much the ones I want are….Anyway, this year, since money was tight {again}, I told Brandon that we would make one. Ok, I must be honest, Brandon pretty much made this one. I would have not been able to do this on my own. Thanks Babe!

 We worked on it over a course of several days and here’s what we did:

I downloaded coloring pages from different teacher websites of the Holy Family, shepherds, animals, an angel and wise men. I’m sorry I was browsing so much that I forgot what site I got them from! I then let Jake color them at will.

Then we glued them to pieces of cardboard. We used the Pampers box.

So wa-la…I have a nativity scene and to be honest, it hit home so much more to Jake than a store bought one. The entire time we walked him through the Christmas story and he is so fascinated by it all. Oh yes, there are two sheperds because one is Jake and one is Daddy ha!

It’s all so touching that it ALMOST makes me not want a nice one, almost key word here. And it ALMOST, makes me forget this:

Uh, yeah, thats one of the gifts from this post… I guess I should have taken all that advice I got and waited to put them out. And see that calendar? That was the calendar that I gave to Jake to help him understand we had 5 days left until he could open the gifts. I guess he gave up on that concept.

And in closing, Brandon wants me to make sure to tell you all about this…remember the Apple Cinnamon Ornaments from yesterday’s post? Well, last night Jake came into our room with brown crumbs all over his mouth. I thought he had gotten into the chocolate again, but he said, “Mommy, I don’t like my ornaments anymore.” I realized he had EATEN one of his ornaments.

Yup. Thank God Elmers glue is nontoxic! ha

xoxo

Well, another frustrating Sunday for me. We had a jam-packed Saturday, so we all woke up tired, but when Jake crawled out of bed he sounded like a frog…or maybe a horse?…anyway, he sounded horrible and told me “my throat hurts”. Great. So we didn’t make it to church {we as in me, Jake and Evy…Brandon gets to go rain or shine, sick kids or no sick kids…can you hear the frustration in my voice?!?} . Trust me, a “well” Jake is hard enough to handle on Sunday mornings; I was not about to take on “sick” Jake.

Well, after sacraficing my Sunday morning, about one hour passed and he seemed to be just fine, perhaps a little tired, but no signs of a sore throat.

Figures.

Anyway, on to what I REALLY want to tell you all….

I. STILL. HAVE. IT.

Uh-huh, you heard me, apparently that teacher gene is really hard to kill because this last week I pulled out my best Christmas crafts and tried them out on my little booger, I mean, angel and they were a big, big HIT! So TAKE THAT stay-at-home mommy syndrome {yes, that’s the “where is the ‘OLD’ me” feeling that hits this mom on a daily basis}.

Anyhoo….

We all had so much fun with some of these crafts that I thought I would share them. Today, I will focus on two of them….so I apologize in advance for the length {that’s for you SoShawna, ha!} but I hope you can use them with your own kiddos. They are super fun!

Cinnamon Apple Christmas Ornaments

These are super easy and kids love them cause they get to play with  the dough and get all messy. ha. Not to mention that they smell HEAVENLY! Jake made about twenty of them and he is giving them out to his Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, etc, as gifts{if any of you are reading this post, just act surprised when he gives it to you, please… }. He is very proud of them. Here’s the recipe:

This is not my own recipe. It is very popular and you can google it…it will come up on almost all teacher craft sites, like this one. FYI….you can get all these ingredients at the Dollar Tree…

1 C ground cinnamon
1 C applesauce
1/4 C white school glue {I used Elmers all purpose}

I doubled this recipe

Getting ready to start…so excited. Is he not the cutest kid on the planet?!?

Mix them together. If mixture is too stiff, add some water. Knead the clump together and wrap it in plastic wrap to sit for an hour {I conviently skipped this part as it was getting too close to bedtime, haha}.

Roll out dough. I let Jake push and pound on it until it was flat. You want about 1/2″-3/4″ thick. I think it works better thicker.

Then with cookie cutters, cut out shapes.

You can let them dry naturally for 3-5 days, but come on, let’s be honest, who has that much time?…so I baked them at 200 degrees for 2 or so hours until they were dry. REMEMBER TO FLIP THEM…. and by flip them I mean take them out of oven and turn them over so the backsides get baked as well. I forgot to do this so I had to rebake them and burnt them a tad…shhhhh!

Note the gloves from this post, they are still around, ha!

Once dry you can decorate them with glitter, etc., but I usually just add some curling ribbon and a hanger. I feel the beauty is the child’s craft and yummy smell.

The finished product, all wrapped and ready to go…

So there you have a very easy kid gift for your loved ones!

Immediately after we made these, Jake was shipped off to bed and I did a little craft of my own as a STRESS RELIEVER! ha…no really, it was super easy and so rewarding due it’s yummy factor! Monica H., I included this one for you!

I found the recipe on this blog, who had found it from this blog, blah blah, you know how that goes. All I’m trying to say is that its not my recipe, ha! And mine didn’t turn out half as cute as theirs did, but it was SOOO good that I highly doubt anyone will care what it looks like.

And yes, facebook friends, this is what I did with those 4oz Ball jars that I was searching all over Stockton for, thanks so much for your help- OSH had them!

Cinnamon Honey Butter

2 Sticks Butter, at room temperature
1 Cup Powdered Sugar, sifted
1 Cup Honey
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Whip butter. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer which is the ONE kitchen item I absolutely CANNOT live without…

ANYWAY, add, the honey, sugar and cinnamon, whip some more, scrapping sides to make sure you get all the honey. I let the mixer whip for a while until smooth. Then {with Brandon’s help }, I poured the mixture into a large Ziploc bag, snipped off the end, and pipped it into the 4oz jars, like this:

This batch filled 11 of the 12 jars. I used scraps of material I had laying around to decorate the tops and added some Christmas tags. Here it is all dolled up, in my usual simple, no frills way.

PLEASE don’t look too closely at my grout. Someday I will have granite countertops, and hardwood floors, and ….

anyway {AGAIN}…

I had so much fun doing these two “crafts”….they really made me stop and think about what Christmas was all about. I mean, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to finish all my shopping, wrap gifts, etc., that I haven’t once stopped to enjoy the little things, like spending time with my babies or making something I enjoyed. I don’t think Jesus would be very happy with me about that would, now would He? ha.

Anyway, that butter is divine! {The butter is best at room temperature, BTW} I have eaten it the last two mornings on my toast. It makes you want to have three pieces of toast instead of two, but I refrain. Instead I have been helping myself to my chocolate chip cookies that I have been making this weekend. That’s a better choice, don’t you think?

xoxo

Well, ok, not really….

Mom and Dad just worked really hard, that’s all. And we are pretty much done with the kids gifts! They are wrapped and under the tree. Dear Lord, will they last for one more week? It will be very interesting to see how Jake does with the suspense until Christmas. I wonder if these gifts will STAY wrapped? ha!

And here is our little Santa. Oh I love this kid! Last night after his shower and just before bed, he pulled up his little Cars chair, untied his horses bow to make “reins” and said, “Look at me, I’m Santa!” except his “look it” sounds like “book it”…which we love and think is so cute!

So tell me, do you put your gifts out before Christmas, or on Christmas Eve, and if you put them out, how do they fare?

xoxo

How precious is my little baby love? Here she is wearing Target sale items with a Lou and Lee headband. Gotta love Target!

Oh WOW….

That’s pretty much all I have to say at the moment.

Well, ok, probably not ALL I have to say, since you all know, if you have been reading this blog at all, that I have a LOT to say at all times….

But back to the WOW.

MY SON HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A MONSTER….a demon to be exact. And I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. I’m not kidding, this is just waaayyyy too much. So far tonight we have had a refusal to eat, about 5 tantrums, several time outs, lots and lots and lots of screaming, and plenty of tears to fill an ocean. I would love to know what my neighbors think. Ugh.

I had big plans to dedicate this post to my Christmas tree…and all about my Nannie who would play ”Oh Christmas Tree” in German {O Tannenbaum}on her beloved piano during the Christmas season…but after enduring several hours of you-know-what from my demon…er…child, and after attempting to take pictures of my tree and ornaments that never really turned out, I just don’t have the energy.

So here’s my Christmas tree post in a nutshell:

I buy real Christmas trees. My husband hates me for it. Says with the money we spend on one real, flocked tree, we could buy a fake one and invest in our kids college funds or something like that{now doesn’t that make you feel peachy}. I am sure he is right, but I can’t do it, I love my real tree. Sorry everyone. So shoot me for not be economical.

Every year I decorate my tree to the max, but this year, I put on only the ornaments that mean something, and I put them up high, thanks to my child who insists on touching them constantly. Ok, I take that back, he’s actually doing pretty decent with the tree, but I am so mad at him right now I feel like being bitter, so please play along.

Anyhoo….here’s my tree. Please forgive the horrible pictures, I need a better camera….are you listening Santa?

And here’s the ornament that will literally be the death of me. Every year my mom gives everyone a beautiful ornament. This year, Jake got this one. He loves it and is always taking his fire engines up to it and says, “Look Mom, they’re the same!”. This would be fine if the ornament wasn’t GLASS. {Thanks mom}. So I am nervous wreck over this one. Highly doubt it will last another couple weeks…

Ok….even though I am madder than a hornet at this little man right now, is he not the cutest thing on the planet? This was taken the night we went and picked out our tree. Thank you God for this incredible blessing of a child…

and even though he is driving me NUT-SO right now, I know that You will give me the wisdom and strength to love and raise him. Thank you for this treasure.

And as I write, this precious boy is in the shower letting out a PIERCING scream and saying, “Wow, Mom, do you hear that scream? Cool!”

Again I say, wow.

This morning, as I do every Sunday morning, I attempted to go to church.

My alarm went off at 7:15, which should give me plenty of time to get everyone ready for our 9:30 service, but it seems no matter how early I get up and how quickly I get dressed, I am still late.

Today it was because Jake didn’t want to take his pajama’s off.  Hoping it would help, we had a whole conversation about horses and how he was going to wear some on his socks – it took at least 15 minutes to just get him in the mood to take his PJ’s off and allow me to put his dress shirt on, and then another 15 just to get him dressed, another 15 to get him in the car… you get the picture. The kid moves like molasses, seriously.

Brandon has to be at church early, so on Sundays I am a single mom. Once I get the kids, as well as Jake’s church backpack {which are filled with quiet toys that are SUPPOSED- key word here- to keep him preoccupied} and all the rest of the things I need for the morning in the car, I drive like a maniac down Eight Mile Road, passing cars every opportunity I get and praying that I haven’t missed offering time {the most opportune time to enter unnoticed}.

This morning we were actually doing pretty good time wise, only about 20 minutes late….big whoop and holler here for me! It was raining, so we dash into church as quick as possible and to my dismay Jake spies some of the young girls who he LOVES from the youth group. Normally this would be great, and I would pass him off to them, except this morning these girls were sitting ON THE FRONT ROW! Jake pulls away from my hand, runs down the aisle and plops himself down with them, right next to my pastor’s wife. He still had his toggle coat on and his rainbow stripped mittens, and probably the whole church saw him since he was jumping up and down, clapping and waving his little stripped hands right along with the choir.

I was dying.

We have a huge church, and on most Sunday mornings we have around 2,000+ people in attendance. I could see it now- Jake deciding to have a meltdown and my pastor’s wife, right in the middle of the message, having to carry him by his waist in front of all those people back to me. To have him sit there was A BIG NO in my book. I was just so not up for it. ha.

So during offering, I went down to take Jake his $1 he set aside “for Jesus” {so cute} and when we walked it to the basket, I just kept walking him right towards the back pew where I was sitting…but he was not to be fooled.

About halfway up the aisle, he realizes he is not going back to the front row. He looses it and starts screaming, “I want to sit with Kayla {one of the girls}” over and over and then proceeds to throw a tantrum right there in the middle of the aisle. I’m threatening disciplinary actions, which he of course can’t hear through his screaming and the music. When I tried to pick him up, he goes limp, so I end up dragging him out the door to the lobby by his sweater.

I was so embarrassed.

I take him into the Genesis Room, our meet and greet area, which was thankfully empty, and we have a very good chat- that probably the entire lobby heard- which results in Jake sitting in the corner crying and screaming, {thinking it would make me get him out?!?} “I’m tired, Mommy!”

I sat across the room with tears in my eyes thinking, I’m tired too! I’m sick and tired of going to all the trouble getting to church and then end up leaving my precious baby girl with my in laws while I spend the entire service in the lobby disciplining an out of control toddler. I’m tired of trying to hear the message through the cracks in the door and attempting to piece some sort of makeshift service together in my mind from the little that I hear.

Yes, I’m tired too. Maybe I should find a corner and throw a good fit right along with him. Sheesh.

Once Jake calms down, we start walking to the bathroom to wash his hands and face. I run into another mom who had just arrived with her two kids. She was super embarrassed and said, “I’m so ashamed that we are late. Why can’t I get it together?”

I wanted to hug her. I so know her pain. I told her I am late EVERY Sunday. She said, “I would never expect that from you. Thanks for telling me.”

It made me realize something.

All of us moms are so busy with our own kids that we forget to look around and see that all the other moms are in the same boat. None of us are getting much from services, and none of us feel like we have it together. Parenting is REALLY HARD, probably the hardest job I have ever done, and it takes a lot of work, and tons of sacrifice. It takes diligence and perseverance. It takes giving up things that mean a lot to you. I think that is the hardest part.

I know this time will pass, I have been told that over and over. And I know I am doing the right thing by giving myself to my babies, molding them and shaping them, and being consistent. And despite the suggestions from well meaning friends, I will not stop trying to go to church. If I keep at it, someday they will get it. Someday Jake will understand how to behave during service.

So for now, I will continue to grasp the small portions of the Sunday message that I can. And maybe I can lower my expectations a little and understand this is small time in my life. That I only have these precious babies for a little bit and that giving up some of the things I enjoy {like sitting uninterrupted in church } is a small sacrifice in the big picture.

And if you are reading this and have perfectly well behaved children and never struggle in church with them….please don’t tell me! ha! Ok, maybe you can, but only to mention what you have done to get them like that?

Hope your Sunday was blessed and tantrum free! xoxo

Late Wednesday night, I tried to make a cheesecake.

I was very tired and could barely keep my eyes open, but I had special guests coming over on Thursday….

and I knew they would really love a cheesecake.

So I started at 10:30 PM, right after we returned from youth service and I got the kids into bed. I put the cheesecake into the oven at 11:15 PM *I think*. Since the cheesecake bakes for an hour, I figured I would lay down for a little bit, so I set the alarm and went to bed.

I did NOT hear the alarm. I was that tired. In fact, I didn’t hear the alarm until at least 45 minutes had passed and my poor little cheesecake top was burnt to a crisp.

I cried.

Then I regained my composure, scraped off the burnt top, filled it with the sour cream topping and put it in the fridge, hoping that maybe in the morning I was wrong about overcooking.

So why all this trouble?

For these people….

Enjoying some big favorites: bottled root beer, cream sodas and yummy Dave Wongs….

This is the staff of actstwenty9 youth ministry{there are a few people missing}. These people are the ones who hold our hands in battle for the young people of Christian Life Center. These are the people who slave away, week after week, without ever really being acknowledged- they set up our services {we have youth services in our gym, we create a church environment from nothing in just a few short hours}, they pray with our young people, they lead Bible studies, small groups and worship practices. Most importantly, they support Brandon and I. They are our team.

And I happen to know they like cheesecake.

So after the storm settled with my burnt top fiasco, I checked my cheesecake later Thursday afternoon. And you know what? It was still good!! In fact, despite the fact that it looked HORRIBLE, it was so good it was gobbled down in seconds by our staff.

So thank God the cheesecake wasn’t a complete failure.

And thank God for this group of incredible people. I hope you enjoyed the cheesecake! Thank you for joining us for a night of fun. Thank you also for our RAW gift certificate! That was so sweet of you…we will THOUROUGHLY enjoy it!   We love you!

The cheesecake is my mom’s recipe. It’s SUPER easy and very, very good. It was given to her 30 years ago while she was teaching Kinder for Hillsborough Unified School District. I don’t know who gave it to her, so I can’t credit them, but I guess once someone has had a recipe for 30 years it becomes theirs, right?

Mumsy’s Cheesecake Recipe

Crust:
Box of Honey Maid Graham Cracker Crumbs {or any other graham cracker crumb brand will work}
Butter
Sugar

Filling:
4 eggs beaten well {do not overbeat. I lightly beat them with a whisk in a separate bowl}
4 tea vanilla
1/2 tea lemon juice
4  8oz packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 C sugar

Sour Cream Topping:
2 C. sour cream
7 Tb sugar
2 tea vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Follow directions on the graham cracker crumb package. I usually double the recipe on the Honey Maid, since I like a very thick crust. With your fingers, mold the crumbs onto the bottom and the sides of a 9″ springform pan.

Remove from oven, bring to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 12 hours {I try to do a good 24 hrs}.

xoxo