Countdown to Christmas - Day 4

Bible Verse:

Psalm 8:3-4

Prayer:

Dear God, Your world is so big and I am so small. Yet, You know exactly what I need. I am grateful. Amen.

Today's Theme:

Heaven and Stars

Today we will be making a star ornament and enjoying the rest of those yummy molasses-spice cookies. I will share the recipe with everyone shortly. If you have not yet put up your Christmas decorations, maybe tonight could be the night. Make this a new tradition in which the STAR is placed on the tree (or where ever else you may have stars). 

Countdown to Christmas - Day 3

Bible Verse:  

Psalm 138:3-5

Today we learn about

Prayer:

I see the moon and the moon sees me. 

God bless the moon and God bless me.

(I remember this prayer from ages ago. My grand-daddy, an Episcopal priest, told me this one when I was little.)

Today's Theme: 
The Night Sky

We are going to have an apple for a snack after naptime today. I love how you can cut an apple and poof! there is a star hiding in there.

We are also going to have Molasses Spice Cookies after dinner! I have been wanting to make these cookies for a while. Only tonight, we will cut them into star shapes.

Other ideas:
Make constellations out of straws.
Sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
If it isn't too cold or cloudy, go look at the stars.
Star marshmallows - I think Kraft makes these.

Have fun!!

A Month in Photos - October

OCTOBER WAS FABULOUS!!!

1. Rachel and I met the fabulous Paula Deen!!
2. We took Andrew and Alex to the Pumpkin Patch
3. We had many lovely Saturday mornings at the park.
4.Andrew and Alex BOTH sit in the car-cart at Publix - FUN! They love driving! :)
5. Happy Halloween from Dino Dan and his baby brother, T-Rex!

DAY 1 & 2 Complete!

I cannot believe how behind I am on the posts. I guess that is what the holidays and traveling will do to you! Oh, and nightmare traffic. It is supposed to take us 4 hours to get home...not 7... Yeah. Oh, and it is supposed to snow tonight, too. :) Crazy world here in the South!

Anyway! I hope you are joining us in our Advent Celebration. Day 1 carried the theme of angels. We chose to start off easy - LOL I forgot I had a 7 month old. Alex was NOT fond of me putting paint on his hands. Well, I take that back. He HATED it at first. Then he saw Andrew doing it and thought it was ok after all. Boys. Too funny! Here are the boys' angels :) Aren't they cute!?

 Andrew was pretty excited about making his angel. Alex...you can see which hand he was not excited about LOL and then the change of heart with the other hand. Don't' you love Mommy's mad art skillzzz?! I had no idea I could draw an angel. :)

Now since we got home late last night, we did Day 1 AND Day 2 today. So Day 1 was done after nap time. Day 2's theme of sheep was done after dinner with the help of Jason. You are probably looking at the sheep wondering how a toddler and a baby could draw and glue so well, right? I have little geniuses - what can I say? Well, my little crafty boys were happy to hear the story and "say" the prayer with Mommy and Daddy, but Mr. Andrew - who uses glue at school without fuss - was SO NOT going to make a sheep. So, I asked if I could draw his hand...I drew mine first and then he said OK. Oh, the "fleece" was done by Daddy. GO TEAMWORK! :)

After Andrew saw what his hand had made, he said, "AMEN!" and left the kitchen table! HA! Love it! 

Get ready for tomorrow's theme - NIGHT SKY!

This Week at the House

{Family/Friends}

 Make Advent Wreath (if it doesn't snow tonight, then I'm going to Hobby Lobby in the morning!)

Daily Advent Activity (here)

Plan Cookie Exchange Playdate

{Personal}

Continue listening to The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Rosary

(Home}

Laundry - ew...why is there no Easy Button for this?

Take down all Fall decorations

Put up all the Christmas decorations!!

{Quote for the Week}

"Baby, it's cold outside!" ~ Leon Redbone

Merry Thanksmas!

Ok, just a note about that greeting: Jason and I switch the holidays off with my family and his. It makes life easier since neither side live in the same state anymore. So, when we go to my family's home for Thanksgiving, we also celebrate Christmas (since we will be with Jason's family for Christmas). My mom started saying "Merry Thanksmas" as a joke a few years ago and it just kinda stuck. It is just too funny to not let go of that one! 

I hope you have your glass of sweet tea handy - you will be here for a bit. Enjoy the pictures!

 On the road to Florida! 

 

 Thanksgiving morning - All the decorations for Thanksgiving AND Christmas are up and gorgeous! I love my parents house during the holidays! :)

The Simple Things

Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here. A MONKEY!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 2

Today, we will read Matthew 2:6 with our children where we learn about the coming of the Good Shepherd.

Dear Jesus, because You are the Good Shepherd, I know You will take care of all of my needs. I am safe and sound. Amen.

Today's theme is SHEEP. Ask you children about how a shepherd takes care of his sheep. We will be making a sheep ornament today. What will you create? Here are a few ideas for Pinterest:

Have fun!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 1

If you missed the introduction post, click here. 

Welcome to Day 1 of Getting Ready for Christmas!!

Today, we will read Luke 1:26-32 with our children where we learn about the angel, Gabriel, visiting Mary.

Thank you God for your special plan for Mary. 

Thank you God for your special plan for me. 

In Jesus' name, Amen.

To continue the theme of angels, make an angel craft with your children or food item. Anything you want! If you are lucky enough to get snow, bundle up and start making snow angels. If you haven't already, get the Christmas tree up and put your angel on top. You can also do double duty here and practice the letters in "ANGEL." The things to do/make are endless, especially with kids!

I have collected a bunch of crafts and recipes on Pinterest. Here a a few that I think we may do:

Hand and Foot Angel - very cute and could double as a Christmas present to grandparents :)

Hand print angel ornament

Paula Deen's Angel Biscuits (you didn't think I would leave her out, did you? lol)

Have fun! We will be back later with our "show and tell" post of today's activity. 

To get your imagination going, tomorrow's theme:

SHEEP

Happy Thanksgiving!

The House wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

My mom beat us in the getting up early category.  She was up at 5 to put that 24-lb bird in the oven. Alex and I got up a bit later.

Don't forget to join us on Sunday, the 27th, for a countdown to Christmas! We will be featuring recipes and crafts to do with your children Advent season. Until then...

Gobble gobble!!!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Lambeau Leap into the Crowd

The Pack's version of Party Rock Anthem! Awesome :)

The Simple Things

Andrew taking care of the "babies" before Sunday School starts.

This Week at the House

{Family/Friends}

 Make Advent Wreath

 Eat lots of amazing food!!

Enjoy the love and warmth of family!!

{Personal}

Teach Growing with God class

Continue listening to The Best of Me 

(ha! only got 29 minutes this week. there are 9.5 hours!)

Start reading Something Blue (the next book after Something Borrowed)

Rosary

(Home}

Clean house before Thanksgiving

{Quote for the Week}

"In everything give thanks." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Countdown to Christmas

The House is counting down to Christmas!! 

Join us on November 27th as we celebrate the Advent season. We will be working with the prayers and activities in this book:

Click here to purchase. It may be available at your library, too.

If you would like to share your projects, you will be able to do so at the end of each post. If you would like to be a guest blogger or have your project featured, please contact me at:

heather.woyak {at} gmail.com

Let's get ready for Christmas!!

Football Day at Preschool

I totally forgot to check the calendar to see what "thing" will be going on at Andrew's school. I love that the teacher's send a calendar home with the project of the day. It makes asking him about his day a lot easier!

Anyway, Thursday was Football Day. And, if you live in Alabama, then you either choose Alabama or Auburn. Personally, I don't care too much about college football and I'm not that big into the NFL either. But, I'm told by random people I cross paths with that I have to choose a team. My choice is Auburn. Jason has chosen Alabama. But, again, since we don't really "do" college football, we haven't really said much to Andrew on the topic.

But can't I just tell you how excited I picked up my child from school and he had chosen a team!!! And, guess what he chose:

WAR EAGLE!!

 

WOOT! Thank you, dear, for choosing well!

Disclaimer: I am not against Alabama. Just their fans. Ok, fans of any sport in general are obnoxious. However, we have decided that (down the road, obviously) whichever school - it could even be Florida cough hint cough - gives him more money in scholarships is the school we will become root for.

 

Thanksgiving Treats Menu

Have y'all been into Target lately? To the Dollar Spot? You know, the black hole where your wallet gets sucked into because of all the amazing goodies for super cheap. It's amazing isn't it? Well, Disney's Family Fun has their mini holiday book for Christmas in the Dollar Spot. YAY! So from that little book of amazing ideas, I will be make 2 treats for our Thanksgiving with my family. If you don't have the book, don't worry. Click here or here. Enjoy!

Mini-Menu Plan

Since we are headed out for the Thanksgiving holiday, here is what I will be cooking up before we leave:

Wordless Wednesday

 

When You Laugh...

...it means that you are happier than usual." ~ Small Potatoes, Disney Junior.

Holiday Comforts #clevercomforts #spon

This post is sponsored by Tempur-Pedic, the brand millions of owners trust to deliver their best night’s sleep every night. Enjoy our Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer now and give the gift of custom comfort to someone you love.


Traditions
When my brothers and I were growing up, we couldn't wait to eat the amazing meal that my mom worked on since 5am (seriously!). The biggest turkey ever - I have 5 brothers who love to eat! Candied Yams. Stuffing. Cranberry Sauce. Green Bean Casserole. Yeast Rolls. Pumpkin Pies. Cookies. I'm starving now! It is amazing.

After the feast and clean up, we would be staring at our parents waiting for the green light on Christmas decorating! There are a lot of trees in my family's home to decorate, too. I remember that it was more fun once we were all a bit older and we had "races" to finish the trees. That was so much fun. I don't think Mom was too thrilled with the end product though. LOL! Good times.

Somehow over the years, a new tradition between my brothers, my husband and I began. Nerf Gun war. I mean all out war in the year. We divided into 2 teams and terms from Halo and Call of Duty are thrown out. Exciting stuff!

Christmas Cards
I love the mail. Jason and I started sending out Christmas cards after we were engaged, I think... I can't remember. But I do know that we have grown in the number of Christmas cards that are received and mailed out. I sent out like 45 cards last year! Now with our two children, we have made more friends and have teachers. I love it though. I really do! It is so much fun to see all the cards and read about how everything is going. It's nice to go back to the times before e-cards and whatnot. I'm thinking about how to display the cards, too. Year after year they were on the mantle, but they overflowed last year. So I am not sure what I will be trying out. Maybe I will just stick them in the tree!

Christmas Magic
There are really no words to explain this. Even though being woken up by my little brothers at 5 am was NOT cool when it was Christmas break...seeing their eyes light up when they saw what Santa had left was priceless. Now, I get to continue the magic with our boys. Last year, Andrew's face was so sweet. I can't wait to see what this year will be like with 2 little boys!

Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic's Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Oh. The. Joy.

My mom always makes these cookies this time of the year. They are the best. A perfect combination of sweet cranberry and white chocolate. And, I'm not even a white chocolate fan! Dark chocolate all the way! But these, they must be sprinkled with holiday magic. That is the best I can figure.

 Image courtesy of Ocean Spray

Do you have a bag of craisins lying around? Then you probably have the recipe and didn't even know it. Turn the bag over! If you are lucky, you found this recipe on the back:

OATMEAL CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 5-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.


YUM!!


This post is not sponsored in anyway by Ocean Spray. I just really love these cookies and had to share! :)

This Week at the House

{Family/Friends}

 Make Advent Wreath

Work on number puzzle with Andrew

Playdate

{Personal}

Finish reading Between Heaven and Mirth 

(btw - did you see Fr. Jim on the Colbert Report?! awesome!)

Continue listening to The Best of Me 

(ha! only got 29 minutes this week. there are 9.5 hours!)

Training for Extraordinary Minster of Holy Communion Monday!

Rosary

(Home}

 Fence pricing

Window gets fixed 

(why are these things still on the list?!)

{Quote for the Week}

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" ~ Johnny Mathis

The Simple Things

Gotta love chunky little baby legs :)

Only thing though...I wish I had thought to take a picture of Andrew when he still had chunky little baby legs. Time flies. So keep taking those pictures!!!!

House of Elfs

Have you "elf'd" yourself or your family yet? We did! Enjoy!

To make your fun video, go here! :)

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Packers Wreath

GO PACK GO! 

I have never had a real football fan wreath. I put up a door banner last season, and it was too much for my taste. I'm one of those that gets annoyed with the over-the-top fanatics. It's awesome to be a fan and loyal to your team/school/etc, but when your outfit matches your car, house, decor, food, pet, window treatments...it's a little much. We get it.

Anyhoo! Here is a NOT in-your-face football wreath! Super easy to make!

My inspiration came from this fabulous blog - Homemaker in Heels! :)

Supplies:

Grapevine wreath - always super cheap at Hobby Lobby. This was $4, I think.

Felt in team colors (in the kids crafts section at HL)

Wooden Football (in the wood section at HL)

Glue gun and lots of glue sticks (esp if you have the mini glue gun!)

1. To make the rosettes just cut out spirals in multiple sizes. Then roll em up! Easy! Go here, if you want pics. I couldn't find my camera earlier... :/

2. Figure out where you want everything placed. You can put the rosettes all over, just one spot, 2 spots. However you like - it's your wreath! Just don't forget the football!

3. Hang up your wreath and start cheering! :) WOOT!

Linking up with:
Skip to My Lou
Home Stories A to Z
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Tip Junkie

Heather vs. the Chicken

Paula Deen, what have I gotten myself into?

I go to make the Chicken Rice Soup (page 69). Um, yes, I did buy the whole chicken. No, I have never cut up a whole chicken. Yes, it freaked me out a bit. No, I will not be doing that again.

First, ew. Thanks for the bag of nasty that I had to pull out of the chicken. Awesome.

Second, do they make a how to cut a whole chicken app? When I get an iPhone, I will need it. Apparently, I may have to do this again.

Third, ok. It really wasn't that bad. The first 1/2 of the chicken, I was all, like, "What the hell?" And, I was laughing my butt off in the kitchen, talking to this chicken. Oh, the boys were both asleep. Max was in our room. Yes, I am the crazy chicken lady. Did I mention that our yard guy was walking around the backyard, too? Super. The second 1/2 of the chicken, I got the hang of what to cut and where and all.

It was a interesting experience.

But, a few good notes about this:

I learned how to cut up a whole chicken!

Paula's Chicken Rice Soup was SOOOOOOOO GOOOOODDD!!! She's right about those chicken bones :) You will just have to get the book to see what she says.



By the way, cough cough hint cough, have you seen this amazing Paula Deen Cookware? The Oatmeal color is just lovely, don't you think? ;) Gorgeous, y'all!

Wordless Wednesday

"I likes to climb." Alex

10 Goals

Time for another week of goals :) Let's see how last week worked out:


Last Week:

Family/Mothering:

1. Bedtime story

2. Bedtime prayers

3. Continue working on ABC/123s

Personal: 

1. Finish The Reapers are the Angels. Start Between Heaven and Mirth  Reapers was such a good book!!

2. Eucharistic Ministry

3. Keep up the work out!!

4. Keep getting to bed by 11 - I've been good at this so far.  

Home: 

1. Fix Andrew's window - Kind of. Jason called around for pricing, I think.

2. Pantry light repair - I'm thinking I may have to just call someone else to fix this LOL.

3. Yard 

This Week:

Family/Mothering:

1. Get an Advent Wreath - Advent starts November 27th

2. Bedtime story from "Stories for Boys" 

3. Bedtime prayers.

4. Alphabet and numbers.

5. Christmas gift for the remainder of the list. Just the men. It is so much easier to shop for the women of the family.  

6. Playdate
7. Write to the girls we sponsor.

 

Personal:

1. Finish reading Between Heaven and Mirth. Start listening to The Best of Me (yay! excited I finally got my hands on this!)

2. Eucharistic Ministry - I am calling as soon as I hit the publish button! I had to find the contact information. Ok fine...I was being a procrastinator!

3. Work out

4. Rosary once a week.

 

Home:

1. Fence pricing (Woot! Going to finally get away from a nasty view. I will share later. Maybe...)

2. Pantry light

3. Andrew's window - hopefully this will get fixed this week. 

4. Thanksgiving decorations 

I feel like there is a LOT more to get done this week. But, I think with the holidays coming up it will only get longer. Who is ready for the holiday season? YAY! 

The Simple Things

It's amazing what a $6 Halloween costume will do. Rachel and I were digging in the clearance section at Target looking for things for our kids (for playing dress up and whatnot) and us (fun things for the next year or even everyday items). Well, Andrew was LOVING this costume after naptime. He even got a little bit serious about being a fireman. LOL Smokey would be proud. 

"Gotta make sure I look good before heading out to fight the fires."

"I think I see a troublemaker."

"Well, aren't you silly!"

"This fire business ain't a laughing matter, son." 

"That little guy is going to go to fire school!"

"Time to learn about being safe!"

 "My big brother is so funny!" 

"Hmm...he is just to silly for fire school...." 

Good times!

Paula Deen Week at the House!

Now, y'all remember when Rachel and I met the fabulous Paula Deen and her hubby, Michael, right? Well, I had to finish up October's menu plans before I could start eating my way through Paula's new cookbook.

The time has finally come! WOOT! Have you read/watched "Julie and Julia?" Well, Paula is my Julia. I still can't believe I met the woman though! Anyhoo! Are you ready for the menu this week? I included the page numbers, if you want to join me in the kitchen.

Doesn't that menu just wanna make you grab a glass of sweet tea and gossip with your friends while enjoying some good old-fashioned Southern cooking? Well, grab your ingredients and get to cooking!

But wait! You didn't think I forgot about Freezer Cooking Fridays, did you? Nope. I've got that covered, too. I am making Paula's Biscuit Doughnuts (page 293) on Friday. Also, I'm cheating a bit, but I am making  double batch of the Chicken Rice Soup on Tuesday and a double batch of the Baked Egg Crisps on Saturday.


Do you have a favorite chef? Have you eaten your way through their cookbook(s)?

Build a Fort Day

Ok, really this is almost everyday! This is part of the "Hands On Play Challenge" I found through a favorite blog of mine, Praises of a Wife and Mommy.

The idea of this challenge is to play WITH your kids with NO interruptions. To become more involved with them. To just have fun! And, fun - we definitely had a blast with this!

Click the picture to make it bigger! :)

Andrew, of course, LOVED this idea! Alex really was not sure about the whole thing until he saw his brother laughing uncontrollably in the tent. Only then did he realize that thing Mommy made really was cool. LOL. I hope my coolness lasts. Come on, it should last for a while. I did have basketball going on in the living room one day.

We ended up playing for a long time! They woke up from their nap around 3-ish. We (mostly me, but Andrew helped a bit) made this and played long after Jason got home. I was trying to get the boys to quite so we could scare him when he got home, but Andrew and Alex were laughing and giggling like crazy! It was sooo funny!

Ah, forts. I love forts! I remember when one of my brothers, James, and I built forts together. We had all these insane ideas. We would even beg to go to Lowe's or something just to imagine the amazing forts we could make with PVC pipes and all those other things that look awesome when you are 8 and 4 years old. LOL Good times.