Baking Day

Quick post after a LONG baking day!! The kids and I spent the day in the kitchen making all kinds of goodies. For now, we have pumpkin whoopie pies, chocolate whoopie pies, haystacks, peppermint candy bark, white chocolate cranberry cookies, pecan tassies, angel whispers and sugar cookies. I think that we will still make chocolate chip (my brothers' favorite) and maybe one more. I LOVE to bake!! The kids all helped (most of the day!) and after lots of messes, clean ups, dishes (did I mention that my dishwasher is not working right now??!!), more messes, more clean up and lots of delicious smells, we were able to wrap some things up to give away and call it a day.

Cranes Roost Light Show

For the second year in a row, we added something new at Cranes Roost in Altamonte to our holiday events. Cranes Roost is behind the mall and is basically just a lake with a sidewalk around it and some stopping points, benches, etc. Not too long ago, they added a fountain with a light, water and music show.

During Christmas, they play various Christmas songs and coordinate the lights and water to follow along with the music. They do an amazing job! This year the music included the Charlie Brown Christmas song. You know, the one where each character is dancing a certain way and EVERYONE in your family just has to choose a character and jump up and dance like they are! Well, you may have guessed, the girls and I did just that! I think we may have embarrassed Mark a little, but we had fun anyway! Here are some shots of the water and lights:







It was another lovely night together.

Frosted Window Panes

OK, OK, so they are not truly frosted window panes. But, in Florida, in the winter, you take what you can get! It actually got cold enough this week that our window panes looked like this:



I am still dreaming of a white Christmas, though!

A Co-op Party

This week we had our last co-op for 2009. We had most of our regular classes, except that the little group did a couple of fun projects instead of their literature class. In preparation for a special Meals On Wheels delivery this week (more details later!), Dawn had the children make pretzel rods dipped in chocolate for those recipients.

Amber and Delaney work diligently:


Some of the finished products:


Helen, Melissa and I matched - how fun!


Max, Nina's youngest, let me get in some long overdue snuggle time - I just love him!!


After co-op classes, Melissa graciously offered to host a party for the kiddos. We began with a fun game for an inexpensive gift exchange. Here is what we did in case you want to try! Each child brought a gift that was $3 or less (or a baked good). They all sat in a circle holding a gift.


Now the fun begins! I read a version of Twas the Night Before Christmas that was a tad different. Throughout the story, there are a bunch of extra "lefts" and "rights" added in. Each time they heard left, they had to pass the gift to the person on their left and if they heard right, they passed it right. The gifts made their way around and around and back again before we reached the end and they got to keep the gift left in their hands! (or, they could trade if they wanted to!) It is a lot of fun and a neat way to do a gift exchange:


As if all of that wasn't enough fun, we then moved on to gingerbread houses! Each family brought a few kinds of candy and we all shared each others. We just used graham crakers, but we used hot glue to hold them together for better stability.

Here are Corbin, Jonathan and Tyler with their (unfinished) projects:


Caleb, Andrew and Jack show off what they have completed so far:


(From back to front) - Madilyn, Charlotte, Christina, Delaney and Amber show their projects:


MaKenna's creation:


Holly's creation:


Everyone had a great time, their were sugar highs and sugar crashes (didn't even mention the cookies and hot cocoa Melissa served!), laughs, fun and memories made that will last longer than the projects!

Mom Time

This week started with an annual event I have with my homeschool mom friends - our Fuzzy Slipper/Cookie Exchange party. We have done this for several years now and it gets better all the time. Basically, we meet at a host home, bring a munchie, wear our fuzzy slippers (though most of us forgot them!) and bring a 1/2 dozen cookies per mom that they get to take home. Then, we eat, laugh and talk for hours! Such a fun time with like minded people. Although some were missed, we still had a great time with the 7 of us who were there. And, we got to take home a bunch of yummy cookies, too! I am thankful for this group of ladies - some who have homeschooled as long as me, some not as long and some just getting started. We are all on a different part of the same path and have so much to learn from each other. I am blessed to call them friends.

Diane and Melissa, having some pre-party fun:



I can't even begin to explain how long it took to get this next picture. Oh boy!!! So much fun began at the end of the party in trying to get a good shot. My tummy still hurts from laughing so hard! Good ab workout ladies! Left to right - Beth (the little angel!), Dawn, me, Nina, Amber, Helen, Melissa and Diane:



Same time next year?

Christmas Candlelight 2009

Tonight was our annual Candlelight service at our church. What an astounding evening it was. A Night of Christmas was both fun and inspirational and I consider myself blessed to be a part of such an amazing and talented group of people.

Here is a picture of our family from the evening in the lobby:



It wouldn't be Christmas without Brother Urshan singing White Christmas:



Caleb and one of his best friends, Andrew, wait for service to begin:



It was an amazing evening filled with my favorite things - friends, family, music, Christmas and best of all - Jesus! We even had snow!! I hope that your season of advent is full of all the things that you love the most, too.

Walk Through Bethlehem

Another of our family's annual traditions is to go to a wonderful event called Walk Through Bethlehem, put on by a local church. We love including this event in our schedule because it brings the time of Jesus to life in a very real and visual way. The people there do an amazing job with their roles.

We were taken through the town of Bethlehem at the time of the census - including the tax on each person, the Roman guards and all! We were shown the various shops that would have been at their market and the types of goods they offered as well as how they are made, how they live, what their everyday lives would have been like. And all the while, we were hearing rumors of a baby born in a stable - could it be the Messiah, the promised one? Following the path, we found the stable, the baby and his parents and stood in awe at the miracle of the first Christmas gift - for God so loved the world that He gave.

What I love about their production is that they don't stop the story at the manger. They take you to the cross. Because, although it wouldn't be Christmas without a manger and a stable full of hay, Christmas isn't Christmas without the reality of the cross. That is why He came.