Christmas, Kwanzaa, and The New Year

Today's post is just an update.  Nothing too interesting.  

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday! Ours is not quite over yet, we have decided to observe Kwanzaa.  I say observe and not "celebrate" because we aren't lighting the candles, reciting poetry, or wearing the dashikis this year.  We are, however, discussing the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) and attempting to live by them.  My dad has even tried to teach us a Kwanzaa song.

It's different, but next year I think we will actually celebrate it.  It's a beautiful celebration, and it is the first African- American holiday recognized in America.  So there is defintely some history and meaning behind it! It'll be nice to come together for a week and celebrate heritage, education, family, and life.

We still celebrated Christmas, since Kwanzaa doesn't begin until December 26.  We visited all our family on Christmas Eve and ran away on a mini-vactation that night! The kids were spoiled rotten, and so was I. I believe my husband was spoiled a good bit as well.   And our hotel continuously baked fresh cookies.  I enjoyed that perk more than anyone else!  Our Christmas could not have gone more perfect.

Since we took an adventure for Christmas, we will stay home for the New Year.  We will write resolutions, pig out, play games, drink wine, watch TV, light fireworks, and enjoy our family time.  It's the same thing we do every New Year, and it is the best way to bring in a New Year! Together, optimistic, and at home.  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE! 

I will be back on regular schedule January 2, 2017...

Our Trip to the Nursing Home

Doing a Saturday blog, just to share yesterday's experience. 

The boy's got to hand deliver their cards yesterday to every resident of the nursing home.  Skyland had an embarrassing moment, I won't lie.  And after that, he was kind of rude, asked why everyone's hands looked so "old".  (Luckily for me he's 3, and old and cold are interchangeable.  People thought he was asking why it was so cold.)  I'd be a big liar if I didn't admit that there were multiple times I wanted to bolt and abort the entire mission, because it wasn't going as planned.  

But everything doesn't go as planned.  And even though I was embarrassed, stressed, and felt completely idiotic: their faces, their reactions were absolutely priceless. 

I had one lady shake my hand and tell me thank you. 

Another lady, held and kissed all over my boys and cried. ...She.Cried. 

A man tried to sneak them soup for an extra card, we gave him one for free.  

And all around there was smiles and giggles from everyone.  

Despite my son's behavior, everyone smiled, everyone was happy to see them. 

Everyone was happy to get a card.  

I can't explain how incredible it felt to know that my two little people were responsible for bringing all that joy. 

I'm sharing my experience, in hopes that it encourages just one person to deliver cards to their local nursing home.  

It's that important to me, that I'd blog about it twice...Once on a Saturday.

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it." - Proverbs 3:27

Christmas Cards for the Elderly

Let me start by saying: I AM SO PROUD OF MY BOYS! They made 70+ cards in about a month, on top of regular and holiday crafts and activities.  These 70+ cards are for the residents of one of our local nursing homes.

I feel awful for posting this so late. It's 10 days until Christmas.  But I would like to encourage any person to do some goodwill, and to make and deliver at least one card to a local nursing home.

There's a piece of my heart that goes out to those who suffer from anxiety, depression, and/or mental illnesses.  I suffer from a mixture of the three, so I will pretty much do anything I can do to help someone for just a second.  Did you know that there is a serious increase in depression rates among senior home residents during the holiday season?  There's a name for it: Seasonal Affective Disorder.  The holidays can make some seniors feel alone and long for "home".  There are some who don't get many visitors, and they are reminded of that when Christmas comes around.  And there are others who just don't feel the cheer they once had.  Not all residents feel this way, but you'll possibly be bringing a smile to the sad while sending cheer to the cheery if you send out cards.

This day last year, I worked at a day care.  My class alone (of 7 students) sent out over 100 cards to the nursing homes! Although, I never saw their faces, I just know that some of our cards can made an impact.

Even just signing or drawing pictures on store bought cards can make a difference. (Dollar Tree has packs of 20 or 40 for $1!)  So you don't have to be creative, and it doesn't have to be super time consuming.  Any kid or adult can do this.

You never know what one small gesture means to someone.  So I really want to encourage however many people I can, to spread some holiday cheer.  Let some of the local nursing home residents know that they are important, and they have not been forgotten about!

'Tis the season, right?! We'll be hand-delivering our "jolly" tomorrow morning.  

Why We Don't Do Santa

Every year I am asked, "Why don't you do Santa for the kids?" Multiple times.
That's just a decision my husband and I made for our family.  I don't talk down on anyone who does allow their children to believe in Santa.  I don't think there's anything wrong with having Santa, but more than once I've gotten negativity for not choosing to participate.
So I'll explain why Santa is not for us. I AM NOT TRYING TO SWAY ANYONE FROM SANTA, THIS IS JUST AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY WE CHOOSE NOT TO BELIEVE.
Growing up, I did not believe in Santa.  Christmas still happened and it was still magical. We put out milk and cookies, and then consumed some it. We went to take pictures with the man in the beard, we just knew it wasn't real. We knew mom and dad bought our gifts. That made us more grateful for everything we got. As a daycare teacher and as a kid, I've heard too many kids complain about what Santa did or did not get them. I heard to many kids compare their gifts from Santa to other kids. And it really bothers me. As a child I knew mom and dad did the best they could, and they did pretty good! But I didn't cry when I never received an American Girl doll, because it wasn't some magical man slacking. It was something my parents didn't get. It made Christmas a little bit more real for me.
Christmas is great without Santa. I believe it is more honest and  magical. Full of movies and love. We bake cookies, we paint ornaments, decorate the tree, make gingerbread disasters, and the kids tell me what they want. We even went to a parade this year, where we waved at Santa. We watch movies that have Santa in them. So I'm not anti-Santa. But my kids know he's a "bunch of men that get dressed up for Christmas." Trust me, my kids will have a whole discussion with you about Santa.

Did I mention, I'm really bad at Santa? My children ask questions. Like 5, 10 at a time. I'm not doing it. My husband isn't doing it. I don't know how old Santa is. I don't know why the reindeer fly. I have no clue why Santa doesn't wear a seatbelt! He's up in the air, a seatbelt would be ideal. These are questions I've answered about fictional movie Santa's, it would be so much worse if they believed in him.  And that's just not something I want to do, I'd much rather answer questions about Christmas!
Our goal isn't to get my children to ruin Santa for anyone else. We teach our kids to keep the truth about Santa a secret.  They know some kids don't know yet, and they are not ruining it for anyone.  Our goal is just to celebrate the holidays as a symbol of Jesus' birth and to make memories. Our goal is to avoid dozens of questions on a fictional character and to teach our children to be more appreciative at a younger age. The idea of Santa Claus does not help us achieve that. Although, I do hate not being able to whip them into shape with just a threat of "the naughty list" . I do love that we are sticking with our choice for our family.  And the holidays are special and Christmas is magical, with or without Santa Claus. There's no need to try and discourage people for doing what works for their family.

Adding A Little Peppermint

I've been watching a lot of Food Network. A lot!  Last night, they were doing something with peppermints on a holiday edition of some show. Peppermints have been running through my mind All. Day. Long. They are a candy that's "in season".  So here's 20 things that can be made a bit more festive with peppermints, peppermint sticks, or candy canes. 

These are all things I've had . 

1. Chocolate Milk 

2. Tea 

3. Water 

4. Milk (I have not had this, but I put some crushed candy cane in my boys' milk this morning and they've been asking about it all day 

5. Applejuice

6. Applesauce (Especially with cinnamon)

7. Cola - I tried this today, and its my new favorite thing

8. Smoothies

9. Salad -Again, something I did today and it was a really good salad! Especially since all I had handy were candy canes, carrots, croutons, and lettuce. 

10. Orange juice 

11. Hot Chocolate 

12. Coffee

13. Yogurt 

14. Ice-cream

15. Milkshakes

16. On top of waffles

17. In muffins

18. In ice cubes- I eat ice cubes, so you bet I'll freeze a tray of peppermint cubes! Cold and refreshing! 

19. In chocolate cereal 

20. In pumpkin bread! (Or 21. Banana Nut Bread)

21. In oatmeal

Wrapping Paper Silhouettes

I don't know if it's the same for yall, but Christmas means lots and lots and LOTS of wrapping paper. And wrapping paper, because I'm no pro, means plenty of scraps.
So I made a craft with my boys using my many scraps. 

I gave them a red and green sheet of construction paper and let them glue on all the scraps they wanted to. Finding Dory came on, so they didn't really try. But they enjoyed the five minutes they (somewhat) dedicated to the craft. I even got a blurry picture of them trying to show off their finished products.
After they were finished gluing, I outlined a Christmas shape on the back. You can do a star, sleigh, tree (I didn't do a tree because of our ToiletTree  that we still have up), gift boxes, snowflakes, a bell, Christmas hats, holly, snowmen, gingerbread men, a wreath, any silhouette you can think of!  Trace any silhoutte and cut it out. I tried to free hand my bell and star silhouette, and it was not my finest artistic moment.
Because I already had the trees on a toilet paper roll, and we've already made ornaments I didn't make an ornament or stand out of them (but you can!). I also thought about framing them and hanging them up, but didnt feel like finding a frame. Ultimately, I decided to decorate our fridge with them, our kitchen was lacking Christmas cheer anyhow. 

The wrapping paper silhouttes came out cute and they were so easy that I plan on making a few extras. But instead of Christmas silhouttes, I'm going to cut out into their little handprints and we're going to mail them off as bookmarks with our Christmas cards this year. 
Like the ToiletTrees, you don't have to use wrapping paper. You can use glitter, stickers, other construction paper, tissue paper, crayons, anything Christmas-y you have lying around. Flexible crafts are the best crafts!

Kitchen Creations: Beef & Potato Stew

Today I pulled out the crock pot! It's December, it's chilly, and the holidays are right around the corner! So I went for southern comfort, and decided to make beef and potato stew over cornbread and rice for dinner.  Tonight, I'm going to share my stew recipe with y'all. Spoiler alert...in involves wine!!

My recipe is super easy, and I set the crock pot on high so it took about 4 hours. You can set the crock pot on low, and it would take the same recipe about 6 hours. This recipe fed 4 adults and 2 preschoolers...So I'm going to say it feeds 5. But that's just a guess! 

Ingredients: 

Stew beef 

1 1/2 cup of Beef Broth

 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth

Seasonings of Choice

  2 Potatoes

1 Celery Stalk

1/4 cup of Butter 

1/4 cup of Flour

1 Onion (optional)

1/4 cup of Moscato...or any sweet wine, really (optional) 

Salt and Pepper (to taste) 

Directions:
1. Put stew beef in the slow cooker. 

2. Clean and cut the potatoes. (You can skin them, but we don't, We eat the skin. It's good for you!) If you are using real onions, cut those up. Then add them to the slow cooker. 

3. Using the seasonings ( I used basil, minced onion, seasoning salt, pepper, and salt-free seasoning) season the meat and potatoes to taste. (I never measure my seasonings.) And turn the slow cooker on high for one hour. Side note: You do not need minced onion if you're using a real onion.  

4. In a saucepan set on medium, mix the butter with the flour. Beat out all the lumps. Then slowly add beef broth,chicken broth, salt and pepper (to taste) and let it thicken. This takes about 5 minutes. Then add the gravy to the stew. If you are using the wine, add that too.

5. Chop celery stalk into little pieces and add to stew, and let stew simmer for a total of 4 hours. Stirring... and tasting, occasionally.

About 30 minutes, before the stew was done. I baked Jiffy cornbread in a pan, according to the directions. And I boiled  the rice. (Because I used two cans of broth, I boiled the rice in all the leftover broth, instead of water, to give it a bit more flavor.) 

When it was all done, I put a ladle of stew over my cornbread and rice.

It's southern and starchy, but it's most definitely a comfort food. It had us feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It was just right for the weather and the season! 

9 Ways to Do Christmas Year Round

I've found myself in the Christmas spirit, doing a lot of extra stuff. And spending more time doing things with the kids. I feel guilty, to be honest. Christmas shouldn't be an excuse for more kid time, everyday should be. So I out together a list of things I can do even when its not the holidays. This is mostly for me to use as a point of reference, because I'm so lame I go back and read my blogs. But maybe someone else out there could use a reminder too! 

1. Bake cookies, cakes, pies, and brownies. They are available year 'round, we can bake them year 'round! And it'll be just as delicious in May as it is in December.
2. Christmas Movie Night. We have movie night often. But why not randomly have a Christmas movie night on a rainy day in August?! Some of these movies are too good to enjoy only once a year. I vote to set an entire day aside to  completely binge on the Christmas classics in June!
3. Hot Chocolate. We can drink that anytime its cold, and just switch it to chocolate milk when it gets warm. Where has my common sense been?
4. Keepsake Arts and Crafts. Sure ornaments are out the picture, but that doesn't mean we can't make keepsake foot and hand print dough just for kicks. (And for mommy to cry over when their hands grow a little .)
5. Gifts. We can make and mail gifts year 'round. We may as well let our aunt in Iowa and their grandparents in California know we think about them all year long, and not just when it's "time" to! Besides, nothing brightens a day like a surprise package in the mail. And you'll have a valid excuse for getting rid of the crafts you aren't so fond of!
6. Concerts and Games. The schools and communities have concerts and games for things other than Christmas. There's no need for me to wait until December to go searching for them. You may not find a parade, but it'll still be some pretty good stuff going on.
7. Play Dates/Visits. This can be done whenever two adults are free and have the means and the energy. It doesn't have to just be done when you're making your Christmas rounds. Come on, Kayla, do better! Show love to those you love all year long.
8. Christmas music. Because 'Nsync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is an awesome song any time of the year! And if you practice all year, you will be able to sing "The 12 Days of Christmas" effortlessly come next year.
9. Do for Others. We often wait until the end of the year to consider the less fortunate. So I'm going to think of the homeless year round. I'll have the kids visit nursing homes in the Spring. And we're going to just try and give back to the community as much as we can throughout the year, instead of waiting for the holiday season.

Easy ToiletTrees

Horrible name, right? Well my husband thought of it and it was pretty Punny. So I stuck with it. 

Anyway, the week before Thanksgiving the boys and I did a "sit at the table" class, it was our first one in over a month. 

But I had a really cool idea for a craft that I wanted to try out. 

I love trees. Especially when they're bare. I think they're beautiful! Autumn is definitely the time of year to do some tree crafts.  (I know it's Christmas time but stick with me here- this was an in between craft!) 

We all loved doing this one because there were no directions required. 

I handed the boys construction paper. I used yellow and orange. But you can use red or green (since its close to Christmas)! In my mind, red makes the most sense; it would easily fit in with Autumn and Christmas decor. I handed the boys fall colored crayons: deep purple, red, brown, yellow, orange.  They colored the blank papers until their little hearts grew tired. 

I outlined a CHRISTMAS tree. Cut it out. And and glued it unto cardboard rolls.

Simple. Easy. And oh-so-cute. (And you can totally use markers or paint instead of crayons). The craft looks absolutely adorable beside their Autumn Wine Glasses. One tree fell down, and one of my monsters destroyed it before I got a picture of both of them.  But the one I still have is adorable enough to feature. 

During this activity I got the kids to count crayons, review colors, and talk about weather.  So you could even consider it educational art!