Tis the Season to be Jolly...

Growing up, Christmas time was my most favorite time of the year. The sights and sounds danced across my eyes, filling my heart with such joy it felt as if it would almost explode. Now that I'm an adult and a mama to 5 beautiful girls not much has changed in how my heart feels. It's more the why that's changed. It's no longer about what gifts I receive Christmas morning that make me happy. Instead it's watching my children call out to Jesus, wishing Him a happy birthday. I never did that growing up. It's watching them acknowledge Him and what a gift He was/is to us.

Something else that has changed in me over the years is that I now know that this isn't the only season to be jolly. Every season warrants that kind of emotion.

Our family loves Christmas time. I know some Christian families don't celebrate it because it's become such a commercial holiday and it's not really the day of Jesus' actual birth. God tells us though, not to judge each other as to what days we choose to celebrate Him. In our family we celebrate Jesus every day but on December 25 we celebrate the day of His birth, whenever that really was.

 

 We bake cookies.

We ice them.

 

We sing Christmas carols even when we're sick.

 And we decorate a tree.

This year my tree had it hard. My two year old really loved taking ornaments off and moving them around. She also enjoyed messing up my burlap ribbon. I finally gave up and had my 4 and 7 year olds fix it each time. That alone was amusing. Tis the season to be jolly, right!? lol We don't worship our tree. It's a mere decoration, and apparently I have a future design artist on my hands with my two year old.

 

Christmas in our family isn't about gift giving. Although it sure is fun and we do it when we can.

 

 

 We give all kinds of gifts. We give both bought and homemade ones. This year my twelve year old gave my seven year old a jewelry box that she painted and decorated herself. It was really special!

My two year old got a doll she's been looking at for months in a catalog we get. Her Grandma Debbie bought it for her and she was super excited.

All in all it's about celebrating the birth of God as man. We've had Christmases with lots of presents and some with not so many. It's about how thankful we are that Jesus came so that we could live. Because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross our family can commune with God and we can be together for eternity. We love each other so much, just as most families do and this excites us. When our bodies stop working we know that it's not over. We will be together again. What a gift!

It's Jesus who gave us that gift by taking our sins upon Him and conquering death for us. Because of Jesus, my husband, daughters, and I will live forever reigning with Him in heaven. Now that's something worth celebrating if you ask me.

I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas!

Melt in Your Mouth Peanut Butter Fudge

This world is changing. It's sad but true. It seems that it's getting harder and harder to be able to find and purchase things made without chemicals or weird ingredients, and that my friends includes fudge. Malotodextrin alone has reared its head everywhere. Organic and non-organic. I'm no fan of the stuff and one thing I def. don't want that in is my fudge.

Sugar isn't good for you so I don't make a habit of indulging in sweet treats often but this time of year, there's just something about sharing some yummy goodies with those you love.

This recipe is not healthy. At...all. If you're a Trim Healthy Mama plan user and follow me, this is not for you unless you are splurging a little. Okay, well maybe a lot. lol

Like I said, it isn't healthy but it is divine! And is guaranteed to oooo and ahhhh all those who like peanut butter.

I tried many recipes and found this one to be my favorite years ago, so many so, that I don't have a  clue where I got it. I would assume somewhere on allrecipes.com. I cannot take the credit for this recipe. But I can take credit for this batch that went to the Air Guard base with my husband early this morning. The batch that was devoured before 10am.

Gosh, I can almost smell this fudge through the screen. Would you believe that I made this peanut buttery fudge and chocolate quickies (homemade chocolate fudge with oats) and didn't taste either?! It's true! My kiddos were the taste testers. They didn't mind. ;) lol

This is the second time I have made treats this month and haven't eaten any. I think I won a personal award for self-restraint! Whooo Hoooo...

Of course, I will be making this again soon for my own family and this time I will eat a little. Yum!

Okay... here's the recipe.

*key note* Do not alter the ingredients whatsoever. I have and it changed everything!! You have been warned. ;)

• 1 cup of Jiff Creamy Peanut butter (and Jiff only)
• 1 cup marshmallow cream
• 1 cup of white cane sugar (not all white sugars on the baking aisle are created equal. You want the sugar made from cane, not beets. This is vital! Beet sugar will alter this recipe and it will not be as good.)
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• candy thermometer

If you've made real fudge before, not the stuff from chocolate chips, then you're already familiar with the soft ball stage. This recipe is uber-easy. All you do is mix the milk and sugar and cook on medium (I do mine a wee bit higher but I think my stove is tired lol) and then add all the other ingredients. That's it!

Here it is in detail for those of you who have never ventured into homemade fudge land.

Welcome, friends. :)

1. Pour milk and sugar into medium size saucepan. Get your candy thermometer and attach it to the side of the pan. This will guide you and tell you everything you need to know about where your fudge is in its cooking process.
2. Cook milk and sugar on medium heat until your candy thermometer reaches where it says 'soft ball' If you don't have a thermometer you can check if you've reached this stage buy dropping a small amount of the cooking syrup into cold water. If it's reached that stage it will stick together and you will be able to roll it into a ball with your fingers in the water. This is a pain in my opinion, hence me using a thermometer. But, if you don't have one, you can still make fudge! ;)
3. When it reaches soft ball stage, remove it from the heat and add all the other ingredients and stir until it's mixed well.
4. Pour into buttered 8x8 pan and let cool.
5. Cut into squares and enjoy!!

Thanksgiving Quinn style :)

Turkey is one of those things I am thankful for. My family eats a lot of turkey, typically ground. We use it instead of ground beef. It is cheaper and not as fattening. Even with all the turkey we eat, we don't typically eat whole turkeys until Thanksgiving and we look forward to them all year long. The above turkeys were a blessing from God this year.

Speaking of that... did you notice how expensive turkeys were? Crazy.

This year I had multiple kiddos wanting wings. Hmmm... There are only two on a normal turkey. If there are more than two on a turkey I don't want any part of it. O.O lol

As our loving Father would have it He provided us with two smaller turkeys this year for free. One we got from Albertsons when we spent $100 and the other from a local grocery store because we are a "valued customer." I guess spending money has its perks every now and then. In a perfect world I would have been slaughtering my own turkeys. One day, God willing.

Those two fit perfectly in my roaster. I was worried for no reason. God always knows better than us!

Our day began with a really fattening, yummy breakfast called Cinnamon French Toast bake. I made homemade white bread, a treat for our family, the day before. I don't make a lot of white bread.

It's perfect for Thanksgiving because you prepare it the night before.

It is really good and I repeat... really fattening!

The rest of the day was filled with fun and silliness while the food cooked. Mackynzie, my little two year old, was an actress that day. She is following in her sisters footsteps and is quite the comedian.

 

She asked her sister to put the bandanna on. Kynzie thought she was funny and was purposely not smiling. I tried to get her to smile and she just nodded no, staying in character.

 

 

 

 She cracks me up. And apparently she found herself funny too.

 

 

 

Finally it was dinner time and boy were the girls excited!

 

 

One of my kiddos was trying to decide what piece of turkey she wanted. 

Wing or drumstick? Wing or drumstick? Wing or Drumstick?

 This was apparently very stressful for her. LOL

 

 

 

The day ended with pie and us decorating for Christmas. There are no pictures of the homemade pies I made nor is there any pie left. Hmm... LOL That was some good pie! hahaha And no, it wasn't diet. I don't do healthy on Thanksgiving.

 

And that night was the much anticipated return of Tinsel McBiggles.

 

 

 

 

Let the Christmas Season begin...

 

 

 

Should Christians put up a Christmas Tree?

From the above picture I am going to assume you know what I do beings those are three of my girls putting up my tree. LOL

Once upon a time, I didn't think twice about having a Christmas tree. It was what everyone I knew did and then I found out how pagans worshipped trees and shortly thereafter I met some Christians who didn't celebrate Christmas and surely didn't put up a tree.

After talking and praying about it, my husband and I decided that we would still celebrate Christmas in remembrance of whenever our Savior was really born and we would continue to put up our tree.

So here's why...

We do not worship the tree, never have and never would. It is nothing but a fun decoration. I am a creative spirit and I decorate for every season. I would have a tree up other seasons and decorate it. Maybe not as big as this one, but I totally would.

We still celebrate Christmas because we enjoy it. Our children know the truth about the season including its myths and we're all happy with that. Jesus Himself told us not to let any man judge us as to what days we focus solely on Him and that would include December 25 or 26 or 27. You get the picture.

So now I bet you're wondering if these pictures are this year and the answer is yes.

Think I'm crazy? LOL

Every year in November on my husbands birthday we put up our tree and lights.

It is our little family tradition to decorate the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving night after all of the dishes are done. After a couple of years of putting up the tree, doing the lights that night and then decorating, I decided something had to change. I was way too tired to do that again. Especially on a day I spend on my feet cooking a big meal. The next year we put up the tree and lights in advance and boy was I happy when Thanksgiving came and all I had to do was help decorate! I could rest and enjoy the time with my family. Now, it wasn't work anymore. It was fun!

Of course there are some of us (all my girls) who think that putting the tree up is just the most wonderful thing ever. Clearly they have never put lights on a tree. O.O LOL

And then there are those too little to do much. They tend to find other things to do like try to eat their sisters Magnadoodle pen when Mama isn't looking. O.O Uh oh, busted.

And then there's the wee one who is just content at that moment to be being held by Daddy.

Tis the season to be jolly... fa la la la la, la la la la