Max & Kaylee

Happy Birthday to my dear husband.

I am so thankful for him in my life; for his hard work, for his quirkiness, for his love.

I am blessed to call him husband, daddy, my best friend.  

Tonight, we'll celebrate with a few gifts, handmade cards from the kids, and a fun dinner - roasted duck (oh the story behind that blasted duck, ha!), potato salad, green beans, and of course, pistachio cheesecake with candles.  It might not be a crazy day or super extravagant - it will be simple and filled with love - but all of us here at home can't wait for Daddy to come walking through that door, so we can shower him with kisses and birthday wishes!

 Last year we made cinnamon ornaments, and this year we strung them on a pretty ribbon and tied them above the coffeemaker - it smells good, and adds just a little cheer when I get my coffee each morning! 

Our advent calendar is hung on the back of our laundry room door - we've done some fun activities…cookie baking, a holiday lights parade, painting gift-wrap, coloring christmas coloring pages, clay ornaments, walks at night to see lights, hot cocoa & cookies, reading Christmas books, etc…all fairly easy, cheap activities, but still festive and meaningful, making memories and creating traditions!

Of course, we needed to hang our Tomten picture in the kitchen, and have our Santa/tree out on the counter.  We decided not to put up a tree this year, since we were headed out of town.  It's a little sad not pulling out all our ornaments (although does make for easier clean-up!), so I am glad we have a little tree up - plus, it's cute!

I hung up some lights above our tv.  Since we passed on a tree, I felt we needed some lights.  It's so fun having them on early in the morning, and in the evening.  Adds just the right glow in the house!  

Our nativity has grown over the years (thanks Gma!), and I am loving it!  We had set it out on the trunk in the living room, but little hands couldn't stop playing with it, so it found a new spot on the bookcase - it's perfect, because we can see it, but now little hands can't reach ;)

This weekend, I remember we had a festive red tablecloth, and new Christmas napkins, so out they came!  It added just the right touch at the table!  

I love the Christmas season, and how it teaches us to pause and reflect on waiting for Jesus.  How it reminds us to count our blessings, and give of ourselves.  How we can celebrate His birth, His coming to us, how we cling onto Emmanuel - God with us.  I love the sparkly trees, the twinkly lights, the thoughtful gifts, the piney smells.  I love the weather changes, the crisp air, the festive mood.  I love advent and reflecting on the coming of Christ, the pausing to remember what Christmas is really all about.  It reminds me that there is hope and peace and joy and grace.  And in the midst of busy and hard and demanding, in the bustle of to-do lists and parties, those are much needed reminders.  

Oh come, oh come Emmanuel.  May my heart be turned, may I be waiting patiently and expectantly, for You.

I got a lot of comments on IG, asking about the Sally Ann cookies, so I figured I'd go ahead and share all the recipes. 

Sally Ann's are a type of ginger cookie - soft, chewy ginger-molasses cookie with a crisp icing on top.  Max grew up with them, and loves them, so I make them for him.  I found this recipe a few years ago, and he says they taste just like he remembers!  They are a bit tedious to roll out, cut and bake, and then the frosting takes a bit of time to make, but they really are so, so good!  Totally worth the work!

I got the oreo truffle recipe here.  Easy and quick to put together - the most tedious part is dipping the balls into the chocolate.  This year, I made a plain batch, and a mint batch.  I sprinkled green sugar on top of the mint ones, to differentiate.  

The peanut butter reese's/rolo cookies were made from this recipe.  We had a package of mixed candies, so some cookies have reese's and some have rolo's in them.  

I used a spritz recipe from my mom, but this one is very similar, except that I added 1/2 tsp of baking powder to my dough.  We did some white stars, and some green trees in our cookie press.  The kids had a blast sprinkling/dumping sugar on top before baking. 

And finally, I made frosted sugar cookies, using my Grandma Marilyn's recipe.  It's my absolute favorite sugar cookie recipe, and I grew up requesting them many times!  

Frosted sugar cookies

(makes 2 dozen)

1/2 c butter

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 2 Tbsp. milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add milk/baking soda mixture & vanilla to butter/sugar, and beat together.  Beat in egg.  Add flour and salt, and mix.  You can either roll out the dough, or chill until ready.  Once ready, you roll out dough, and cut out shapes.  Bake at 350 degrees, for 8-11 minutes.  Cool on rack.  

For the frosting, I usually just throw the ingredients in a bowl and mix, so here is a recipe that is similar to what I use.  This year, I just used white frosting, and added color sprinkles to the cookies.  

How about you?  Do you like baking Christmas cookies?  What are your favorites?  What are you baking this year?

  Saturday nap time was spent teaching her to fold these super cute little paper stars - I almost have enough to make a merry little garland to hang in the house! We chatted and folded and drank hot drinks, and it was lovely.  Once the kids were up, we took a walk, ate dinner, and played some good old 'sneaky snacky squirrel'! 

And then!  The kids were put to bed, and we escaped the house, leaving Max with movies and beer.  We headed out to see The Hunger Games, picking up coffee on the way.  We got there a bit early, so were able to walk around the mall, drinking cheery beverages, chatting, and peering into store windows.  The movie was good - it's been a very long time since I've been to a theater to see a movie, so it was fun to be there, to stay out late, to munch on popcorn!

 

 Sunday, we all headed to church, then it was lunch and naps.  Before long, we were taking Alison back to the airport to catch her flight home.  Just under 48 hours, but again, I am so glad she came and spent the weekend with us.  It was busy and fun, relaxing and good for us all.  

I know we get a lot of visitors, as evidenced by the blog, and I am so, so thankful for all the family & friends that trek out here to see us.  I am so glad to catch up with people, to have my kids spend time with those I love, to show them our new home.  But it's sort of a bittersweet thing - having people here so often is lovely, but it also has it's hard parts.  It breaks up our routine and spoils our kids (which can be a good thing!) - I always feel like when our visitors leave, that the kids look at me like I'm super boring and not entertaining anymore!  It's so fun anticipating guests and having them here, but then they leave, and I remember that I feel lonely, and am stuck at home most days, and the days are long by myself with three little ones - and sometimes those feelings get the best of me after saying goodbye to company.  I don't ever want to take for granted the blessing of having people here, loving on us, and us loving on them, but I need to figure out ways to handle their departures better, so that I don't end up with such rough weeks once they leave.

Here we are, this week, Monday.  Coming off a super fun, distracting weekend with my dear cousin-friend, I am trying to find new ways to boost myself up.  We have less than 2 weeks until Max gets a break from school, and we head to AZ to spend Christmas with my parents.  I know these next few days can either be full of adventures and holiday cheer, or full of discouraging, rough moments, depending on what I allow my perspective to be.  And I WANT them to be full of cheer and love and preparing our hearts for Christmas, for Jesus, for peace and joy and hope.  

So, here's what I've come up with so far to help keep my perspective in check: lots of hot coffee/cocoa, playdates with new friends, making Christmas goodies, bundling in cozy, new sweaters (that I found for $5!  woot!), and heaping on the grace and patience to deal with rambunctious little ones.  

Happy Monday, friends!

Last Saturday, when Mark & Amy were here, we packed some lunches, loaded up the vehicles, and drove down to Pfeiffer Beach, past Big Sur.  We went there over the summer, and were eager to go back to enjoy the purple sand and crashing waves once more.  It did not disappoint.  The morning started out a bit chilly, but after awhile, the sun warmed things up, and we shed sweaters and shoes.  

We spent a few hours eating lunch, playing in the sand, appreciating the beauty of the beach, and hanging out with each other.  Mark & Max adventured on rocks, while the kids scooped sand and dumped bucket after bucket.  It was a good day at the beach, soaking up the sunshine, and appreciating the beauty around us.   

 I think I am still in denial that it's actually December already…except that the Christmas music is on super loud, the twinkly lights are sparkling, and we are cutting out lots of snowflakes to hang on our windows!  Our good friends, Mark & Amy, flew into town almost 2 weeks ago, to spend the Thanksgiving holiday here.  We hadn't seen Mark for over a year, before he deployed, so it was awesome to catch up and have them here until yesterday!  We showed them around the Monterey area -  a trip to the Aquarium, finding tide pools, visiting the seals/sea lions at the Wharf, playing at the beach, eating yummy donut treats, watching for whales - and we were able to hang out, play games, drink way too much coffee, and chat about life.  

We did Thanksgiving with them last week.  It was quite the feast!  Turkey and duck, regular and cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, veggies and dig, olives and pickles, green beans, and rye dinner rolls.  Of course, the meal would not have been complete without pumpkin and pecan pie.  Oh, and sweet tea :)

We had a great day, relaxing, soaking up the warm sunshine, and being outside in the afternoon.  After dinner, we wandered into the living room to watch Charlie Brown: Thanksgiving - and the adults proceeded to fall fast asleep - oh that food coma!  Once the kids were in bed, we ended the day with a movie.  Such a good day, spending time with friends that are really family, and thanking God for the good gifts He has lavished upon us.  

I know I'm a few days late, but how was your Thanksgiving?