Double Duty

Earlier this month I found this absolutely gorgeous wreath!   I knew it would be perfect for our unadorned front door!  It was easy to make and inexpensive...I already had the smallish ornaments (Target) from last year :)

 

  I did use the scented pinecones from Walmart - 2 bags like she said.  I love how when we come home we are greeted by the Christmas-sy fragrance!  Originally I hung it with a creamy ribbon, but that just seemed to melt right into the door ;)  The red gives it a nice color-pop!

  I'm counting this for Ali's Day 12 and for Chari's Finished Object Friday :)  I've been to her little home on the web and have seen some cute FOF entries...you should go have a look, too!

  Christmas is getting closer and closer...are you ready yet?  I'm almost there with the presents :)  Looking forward to having Christmas with my side of the family tomorrow ;)

December Daily Backwards

Since I'm nearly a week behind in posting my December Daily pictures.  I thought it would be easier to start with today and work my way backwards :) 

Day 10

Our first time to attend our libraries Storytime...the book was Jan Brett's "The Gingerbread Man" - love her stories and illustrations!  The perspective in this photo is a little close, but captures perfectly how we were sitting.  For some odd reason, Katie and Courtney decided to be shy and would not get off my lap for the reading :)

Day 9

Today's weather has been overcast, cool and drizzly all day.  Can't believe I'm saying this, but I LOVED it!  It's the closest thing to snow there is in Florida!  I love the way the water droplets lay on the Sweet Pea leaves.  Again, VERY uncharacteristic of our past winters in snowy PA!  Looking forward to seeing if we can actually get the Sweet Peas to bloom!!

Day 8

The girls brought home a tray of Snickerdoodle and Oatmeal cookies they made at Gammy and Grampa's house.  The best part - they're dairy-free, so Courtney can eat them too!  I confess this dairy-free business has slowed my baking w.a.y. down.  It's just not fun to bake and not be able to share with her.  Need to do more dairy-free cookie recipe research!

Day 7

Before bed tonight, you three decorated your little tree that sits in the hallway.  All of the ornaments are handmade by you - with Gammy's help :)  Falling asleep to the glow of the colored tree lights has been a special treat for you all.

 Day 6

Angela came over to help me hang things on the walls and style the end tables - not a Christmas-y activity for sure, but things are looking so much better now - "homey-er" you know?!  And isn't that what Christmas is about  - home and family?!

Day 5

Our Sunday School class enjoys breakfast together on Sunday mornings.  The ladies take turns on bringing in the goodies.  Today was my turn :)  In true "Andrea-fashion" I tried a brand new recipe :) (Jaron just canNOT understand why I would try out a brand new recipe on unsuspecting friends LOL) The Crumb Cake turned out wonderful and recieved lots of compliments!

Source

Day 6

We had absolutely perfect weather for the Hobe Sound Christmas Parade!  Jaron and a coworker built the float that holds all the beach balls that TCI/Rood pass out to the parade goers!  The girls were thrilled-to- pieces to be IN the parade!

Whew...I feel better to be caught up now :)

Day 3, The Nativity

I love that the girls LOVE to play (and fight - don't love the fighting though! HA) with their Nativity.  What's even better though, is that they are "getting" the Christmas story during their play.  It was so sweet to hear them talking about the shepherds and Bethlehem.

 

Day 2

Do you wonder if Christmas would seem less magical without all the twinkling lights?

 

 Being outside tonight, in the cool quietness while stringing the lights...a simple pleasure

December Daily 2010, December 1,

  I'm so excited about Christmas this year!!  This is my 2nd year participating in Ali's December Daily tradition.  This year I'm going with a real simple album.  One night I couldn't get to sleep and laid there sketching out what layout I wanted to do :)

 

(How do they look this old already?!!) 

 Tonight was the first night for the Singing Christmas Tree at our church.  The girls were snow children.  I should say EXCITED snow children!!  :)  They did a fabulous job waving at the crowd, I was pretty proud of them!!  I found their capes on Black Friday and finished making their skirts today.  I used Dana's Circle skirt tutorial.  This was my first time to sew with 'silky' fabric and use the faux fur trim; I love how they turned out!  I did add two layers of tulle under the skirts for a little fluff :)

Back to the Singing Christmas Tree, this is the 12th year our church has offered this program.  Jaron and I were in the tree in college.  We have a 100 voice choir in the tree, snow, and 'flying' angels...just to name a few highlights!  If you are interested in watching, they will be live-streaming on Fri-Sunday evenings at 7 p.m.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions, new or old?

DD - The Tree

Whew...December Daily is fun, BUT finding the time to upload a photo every day...well, you know. hasn't. been. happening!

Day 11

The tree this year has less ribbon and a white bow topper instead of gold. I had really wanted to have a pink/green theme tree, but I really didn't have what I wanted for "the look" and I didn't have anywhere else to put up the artificial tree. So, I am content having this one! and I'll be one of those crazy after Christmas shoppers getting ornaments for cheap ;)

I played around with my manual focus and came up with this....

At night, the room has such a cozy glow! This was the first year for the girls to help me put on almost all of the ornaments! Oh the fun they had!!! There are quite of few "clumps" of ornaments, and I left them that way! Yeah - surprised even myself! :)

Are you tired of "tree shots" yet? Well, this is the last one. I just couldn't pass up the framed reflection!

December Daily x's 3

Day 10

Cold, winter days are perfect for snuggling and watching Veggie Tales.

Day 11

Success...Jaron got his buck!! An 8 pointer, with an 18 inch spread! A few days earlier he also shot a doe. If you have any tried and true venison recipes, would you send them my way? :)

Day 12

I spent the better part of an afternoon, hole-punching and assembling these music folders for our Christmas Cantata at church.

December Daily Catch-Up

Day 5

The girls love to look through Mommy's cookbooks! They have each picked out two new cookie recipes to try. Katrina picked Peppermint Eggnog Wreath Cookies. She has been begging me to making these since October - at least!! We usually make more drop cookies than any other kind, so making these rolled cookies was a new experience for the girls! We also changed the peppermint to vanilla since Katrina doesn't like mint of any kind!

Day 6

I love lighting candles year round. During the Christmas season it seems even more special!

Day 7

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?" - J.B. Priestley

Day 8

My Christmas Cookie jar is very special to me. He is part of a set of Hallmark snowman dishes that Jaron bought for me while we were dating! He went to 8 different Hallmarks to find each piece!!!

Day 9

Jam Thumbprint Cookies. So easy. So tasty. I've already made this recipe 3 times since Dec. 1!!! Although, in my defense the last batch went to the Penn View Choir :)

The recipe:

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup butter at rm. temp.

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/3 cup raspberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter and both extracts; mix until creamy - 1-2 minutes.

3. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour. Continue beating until well mixed.

4. Take a scoop of dough, about the size of a small walnut and roll in into a smooth ball. Place the balls 2 in. apart on baking sheets. With your thumb, make an indentation in the center and fill each thumbprint with 1/4 tsp. jam.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, until light brown around the bottom edges but pale on top. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen

Sugar glaze: Mix 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, 1 tsp. almond extract and 2-3 tsp. water - enough to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over cookies and ENJOY :)

December Daily: Days 3 & 4

Day 3

I love the Fisher Price Little People Nativity! It is so cute to hear Katie sing "Away in a Manger"! I love that it gives them a chance at "hands-on" learning about the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas!

Day 4

It was a treat to hear the Penn View Choir and Orchestra tonight! although Katie would say otherwise! Those big, booming drums scared her to death!