Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Christmas Eve

Chrismas Eve we had a beautiful candlelit service at church then headed to the Parks' house for dinner.

Christmas Day 

Christmas morning J and I woke up and opened our presents to each other

We let the dogs open their stocking first...they were so excited to get some new toys and treats.

 Ringo has pretty much already destroyed this little guy

 My hubby is WAY too good to me...he gave me a Kindle Fire!  I've almost finished reading the first of the Hunger Games book on it.

 Then we headed over to the Parks' house for breakfast

 Somehow we usually end up dressing alike!

Jeremy was excited about the smoker we gave him 

Ok, ok...he wasn't THAT excited because this picture is totally posed!  LoL

Later that afternoon we headed to the Nicholson house for Christmas with my family

Our Christmas tradition has been to get everyone together and see a movie.  This year we saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie followed by dessert at my parent's house.

 Nicholson Family

 Parks Family

 Merry Christmas!!

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

                        Isaiah 9:6

Blessings

69.  Christmas drop-in parties to visit with friends
70.  My friend Jessi...we are going to keep each other accountable and read through the Bible in 2012.  There I said it out loud so now all of y'all can keep me accountable too!  :)
71.  Baking...I feel peanut butter cookies coming this weekend
72.  Beautifully wrapped presents under my tree and the ability to be able to give those gifts to our wonderful family
73.  Christmas movie night...aka Home Alone!
74.  Another great Pinterest find...crockpot potato soup that the hubby was a fan of...too bad its 70 degrees out!
75.  The birth of a Savior!!!!  

“And there were in the same country Shepards abiding in

the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the

angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone

round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said

unto them, ‘fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great

joy which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in

the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this

shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in

swaddling clothes lying in the manger.’ And suddenly, there was

with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and

saying, ‘glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good

will toward men.’  That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. ”

-Linus, A Charlie Brown Christmas 

Thumbprint Cookies

Today I got a little domestic and started baking...it doesn't happen often, but when I do feel the itch for cookies I like to make ones that my mom made when I was little.  You all know how I feel about pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in October...but have you ever had Thumbprint cookies at Christmas?
My mom couldn't find THE recipe so I had to google it and see what I could find.

It wasn't quite the way mom made them, but I thought it couldn't be too different.

Why hello Kitchen Aid...it's been a while!

Stir in some poppyseeds...and by all means buy those poppyseeds from the World Direct Market outside of Atlanta...you could never get that many poppyseeds at the grocery store for $.71!

Roll into balls and press your thumb in the middle then bake.

They turned out flatter than my mom's recipe, but still tasty.

Luckily for you...my mom found her recipe!

4 oz Cream cheese

2/3 cup butter (I usually substitute Butter Flavored Crisco for a moister cookie)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1.5 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

poppy seeds (just whatever you feel comfortable with)

Jam

Beat cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Sift (ha!) dry ingredients and add to mixture.  Blend well.  Chill at least one hour.  When chilled, shape into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Press down centers with thumb.  Bake at 375 for 8-10 min.  (if still too high, press down with spoon halfway through baking.  Cool and fill with jam.  I sometimes add the jam before they are completely baked in order to harden the jam, just a bit.

Thanks mom!!!


Now I'll leave you with a little Instagram magic...happy baking!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year!

 Thanks Jessi for designing our beautiful Christmas card this year!

Cookie Jars

Months ago I found a fun project for a Christmas gift on Pinterest.  It was a messy project, and took a couple days to put together but they turned out pretty cute.  

Cookie Jars

 24 mason jars cleaned and ready to be filled

  The "cast of characters," as the Pioneer woman would say

Putting the jars together was a really messy task

Add tags, ribbon and decorative material

Merry Christmas...and thank you Pinterest!

Twenty Nine

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

Today is J's 29th birthday...we are now the same age (although Josh likes to think that I am still older just because my bday is in September)!

Last night we celebrated with friends at Henry's Bar and Grill where J got the Big "T" Burger...two hamburgers with bacon, cheese, mushrooms and onions between two grilled cheese sandwiches.  

Happy birthday to the love of my life and my best friend

I love you with all my heart!

Woo-Hoo!

I just finished and submitted my final exam for the online class I have working on since September...and man does it feel good!  I have so many things I've been wanting to work on but never felt like I had the time because there was ALWAYS a paper that needed to be written or some text book reading to finish.  I have big plans for Christmas break (even though my actual class with my little kiddos has one more week, I feel like my break has officially started)...

• Reading The Hunger Games
• Several sewing projects
• Christmas card addressing (that is after they actually arrive in my mailbox)
• Christmas gift project (a Pinterest find)
• Cleaning!!

And I'll probably add more to the list before my next (AND FINAL) grad school class starts in January.

Blessings

61.  Christmas tree up, house decorated, and ready to celebrate the birth of Christ!
62.  Getting to wear my UGGs again at the start of the cold weather

 63.  Meeting my class at the zoo on Friday night to see the lights
64.  Sister breakfast (at noon) on a Saturday

65.  Shopping at the Junior League Holiday Market
66.  Being ALMOST done with my class...the final opens on Thursday!!!
67.  Plans for some pinterest and sewing projects
68.  This man...

 He was in the mountains over for a guy's weekend and its good to have him home!!!

We can't be serious...

Ok...just one time for mom's sake

But we do come by it honestly...