Christmas Recap 2011

Hello, friends. Can you believe another year will be coming to an end in just a few short hours? My dad joked this past Monday night, the 26th (the night my family gathered we each other) that another Christmas was less than a year away. By the displays now hanging in the stores we have skipped January entirely and are now celebrating Valentine's Day.

So, before the year comes to an official close (and swimsuits and beach towels begin lining the shelves) I thought I would go ahead and post some pictures from Christmas 2011.

Our Christmas seasons usually begin with a couple dinners shared with extended family. Alas, this year both my mom's side of the family and dad's side of the family ended up scheduling get-togethers on the same night. Which one did we go to? Neither. Why? Because Ren's football banquet fell on that very same night.

Here she is posing for a pic before heading to the school.

...and at the banquet with some of her coaches and buddies. Even though she only dishes out water and towels she absolutely loves being part of this group!

John-Heath celebrated at a class party with friends...

and his teacher Ms. Timberly.

On the 24th it was time for our traditional Christmas Eve gift exchange. The kids are allowed to open two gifts (of my choosing). John-Heath still gets excited about this, but Ren has long since figured out it is always the same gifts...a dated Hallmark ornament and a new pair of pajamas.

Pictures by the tree (which was almost solely decorated by John-Heath) in some NEW P.J.'s. Yaayyyy, Ren!

On Christmas morning, I awakened to John-Heath crawling up in bed beside me to exclaim, "Mommy, Santa didn't bring you anything." What a lonely looking little stocking! lol

FINALLY! After a two year letter writing campaign to the man in red, John-Heath gets his trombone. It's a good thing Santa knows a local band director who happened to be surplusing some old, seen-better-days equipment.

Ren with one of her presents - Law & Order: SVU... the show behind her desire to work in the criminal justice field. If only all crimes could be solved in one hour and all cops were as goodlooking as Stabler.

For a very long time there was a large box under the tree with John-Heath's name on it. When it was time to unwrap his presents from us he grabbed it up quick as a wink! It was taped pretty tight. He would need help from the sis. What could it be? Oh boy! A box full of clothes, guaranteed to kill a six-year-old's excitement in 0.5 seconds.

Luckily, there was a surprise under the tree. Now, Santa has always left his gifts to the kids unwrapped and setting in various locations in the living room. Well, this one was wrapped and tucked deep under the tree. It even came with a note, to which John-Heath grabbed a pen and quickly added a reply. As luck would have it though the contents of this little package were of the wearable varierty, too.

YES! A quick shake brought forth hope with this package...LEGOS!!!

Go Lady Vols!!!

My family on the 26th preparing to eat. I'm hoping I snapped this pic before the blessing actually began. Otherwise, there are a few who may have ended up on a new naughty list.

It's almost time to open presents.

Who wants to play Santa this year? Don't everyone jump at once!

Ren gets a fairy tale ring. Now, she just needs to find her Prince Charming to go with it (and I need to keep quiet when one shows up. You know how it is with teenage daughters and parents...if the parents make too big a splash about liking him, the defiant daughter will make it a point not to).

Last gifts of the night...the Christmas Crackers off the tree.

And everyone gets a crown!

Now, time to figure out how all the new stuff works.

I hope you each had a very merry Christmas! May God richly bless you all in the coming year.

Now, time to go get ready for game night at my parents. I hope my mom knew I was serious when I suggested it last week. I guess I should call and remind her.

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

Easy Caramel Pie

I hope you all had a magical Christmas spent with those you love the most. We did and I'll be sure to get some pictures up in a few days. I'm going to take a semi-break from blogging and enjoy just being home and doing a lot of NOTHING! Nothing is relaxing. Nothing is good. Nothing is the life.

Before I head out into Nothingland for a few more days I want to share with you a recipe, one that could come in handy if you are having friends over, or are needing to take something somewhere, for a New Years evening.


Now you may already be familiar with this one but I just thought it was shear genius. It is super, super, let me say it one more time, super easy. Now you all know how I don't like to cook, so if I say something is easy you can take it to the bank.

Courtesy of my sister-n-law (thanks, Paula)...

Crock Pot Caramel Pie

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

(I used Eagle Brand)

1 graham cracker pie crust

tub of Cool Whip

Whatever other toppings you want

(I used Heath toffee bar pieces and mini chocolate chips)

Crock Pot

Directions:

Peel the labels off the cans.

Place the unopened cans in crock pot and cover with water. I filled mine up.

Cook on low. Paula cooked hers 10 hours. I left mine on 11. I read where others have left theirs on as little as 8.

Remove from crock pot. Allow to cool. I left mine to cool on the counter an hour or two.

After cooling, open your cans and remove your wonderful caramel. Whisk in a bowl just a bit and then fill the pie shell.

Refrigerate.

When cold, top with the Cool Whip, etc.

Make sure you get a piece early, as it will quickly disappear.

Tips:

I think I may have cooked mine a little too long. Had I shaved an hour or two off the cooking time it would have set better. The taste was still heavenly.

Place a piece of parchment paper underneath the cans while in the crock pot. They left rust rings. Oh well, it was time for a new crock pot anyway.

If you have or a flirting with diabetes, you may want to steer clear. It is super rich.

I served this pie yesterday when my family gathered at my house for Christmas. Everyone was in awe of how good it was and surprised at how easy it was. I think this is going to be my new go-to dessert item for potluck gatherings.

Photo via

Christmas Blessings!

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS."

Matthew 1:21

From my family to yours, I hope you have a most blessed Christmas! See you in a few days.

Some Things (and People) Never Change

Somewhere in my mother-n-law's attic, in a box of old Christmas decorations, there is a stocking like the one pictured above. One guess as to which of her children it belonged...

Hot Buttered Rum

"In the dead of winter when the tinsel angels come
You're my sweet maple sugar, honey, hot buttered rum."

"And in the dead of winter if springtime never comes
You're my sweet maple sugar, honey, hot buttered rum."

Santa's Naughty List

Hhhhhhhhhhh! That’s me, my friends, letting out a deep breath that my district is FINALLY, as of 11 a.m. today, off for Christmas break! All the other surrounding counties let out this past Friday. Booooo!!! Of course, I don’t need to complain too much. I know most folks are lucky to get even a day or two. So, I will just shut up and be grateful that I have a job which affords me the same schedule as my children.


Do you remember this? It’s a post I wrote on the mess John-Heath made while sneaking around the house looking for presents last year and how his name was added to Santa’s naughty list for doing such. Well, from that point on he would ask every day for me to check the list to see if he was on it. He seemed to believe that parents had access to this kind of information. Okay, truth be told, I lied to my son and told him that moms and dads know Santa’s secret phone number and how to look at his list twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

I had found the naughty list you see by doing a search of Google images. When I found the one I wanted, I simply saved it to my computer and edited it in Picasa to add an extra line of text (which was my son’s name). I was able to match up the font fairly well. I saved this new list and the original one which didn’t include his name. Then whenever he would ask to see the list I would bring up the one that best fit the situation - if you know what I mean. ;)

Well, it’s a year later and he’s been checking the lists again (I kept the same ones). I can tell my son is a year older because, not only is he taller, he is much more perceptive about certain things and is beginning to ask questions like why are those same kids on the list all the time and, asked with even more puzzling curiosity...Why is Ren’s name not on it?

I wonder if the above will have the same effect on my daughter as it does for my son?

Ren's "Letter to Santa"...2011 Edition

At 16 now, it's been a few years since Ren has actually written a letter to the big guy himself but she always manages to get her list to the right people. Isn't it funny how, as children grow, their toys become smaller but the price tags get pricier!?!
Okay, this picture didn't show up quite as clear as I had hoped so, in case you've already taken out your contacts for the night or don't have your "readers" handy, I'll type it out for you below, too.

A new laptop, camera or Predators tickets

An eclectic assortment of DVDs

Lots and lots and lots of clothes and assessories

Desperate Housewives Season 7

Law and Order: SVU Season 1

Jewelry

Something BRIGHT RED

and...

A Car!!!

(She wants a Volvo or an Audi, and has lately mentioned a Jetta, but told us we could pick for her. Isn't she thoughtful?)

This last one is going to have to be a belated birthday/belated Christmas gift. December has gone by too fast and been waaayyyy too busy to do any car shopping.

I'm sure your children, like mine, have already finished writing their letters to Santa, but more importantly...has Santa finished?

My Little White Church

No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.

The above lyric is from the song "The Church in the Wildwood" written in 1857 by Dr. William S. Pitts. It is a song my congregation still sings from time to time and there is never a time I sing it or hear it that I fail to think of my own church. While we are not in a valley, nor are we brown, we are little and it is most definitely a dear spot from my childhood.

I have many good memories from attending church over these past 41 years but the yearly Christmas play acted out by the children of the church is among the most fond. Most years we did (and still do) some rendition of the original Christmas story. You know, that one found in Luke 2.

Now, as a youngster my favorite role to play was Mary. With a flowing nightgown and shawl, she had the best costume. Plus, Mary never had to memorize any lines (which was good because memorizing anything seemed
too much like school work to me). She just had to sit there by the manger and look good. I always thought having long brown hair, and since I was the Pastor's kid, would make me the obvious choice to play her each year. However, in the name of fairness, we had to switch it up some, so I spent my fair share of time playing an angel, too. I'm also pretty sure I played a shepherd one year - which stunk because in those days all the shepherds ever wore were bathrobes and towels on their heads, although they did get to carry some pretty cool tobacco sticks as their staffs. The wise men had it a little better. They still had to wear bathrobes, but theirs could be more brightly colored, plus they each wore a crown made from tin foil.

This year, one of the plays the kids did was an interpretation of the song "The Friendly Beasts". Ren was Mary and John-Heath was the donkey. Mary was still silent but John-Heath did have a line, which he quickly learned a few weeks ago and said with gusto...

"I," said the donkey, shaggy and brown,
"I carried His mother up hill and down;
I carried her safely to Bethlehem town."
"I," said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

Of course, he did pronounce mother as mudder, which made me think of the camp song "Hello, Mudder. Hello, Fadder".

The other little skit performed tonight was based on the song "The Christmas Guest". I love this song! It's a great song with a great meaning but I love it best when recited by Grandpa Jones, who always reminded me of my Pa Frazier. Anyway, the kids were awesome in this one, too.

In addition to the play itself, an equally fond memory from the evening of the church play is of my father standing by the door passing out sacks to everyone in attendance as they were leaving to go home. In each sack there was always an apple, an orange, and some candy. My father was raised during part of the Great Depression and has always spoke of what a treat it was at Christmas to receive even a piece of fruit, so I think this may have been what prompted him to begin doing this. We still do it to this day. It may seem insignificant but I just can't imagine the night of our Christmas play without those brown paper sacks.

P.S. The story behind the song "The Church in the Wildwood" is quite charming. You can go here to read about it or read about it in the book Then Sings My Soul Vol. 2, which tells the stories behind some of the most loved hymms.

The real Little Brown Church.

Christmas Crackers

The other day a friend and I were reminiscing about the Christmases we remember from our childhoods. During this conversation she also spoke of something her husband remembers from his. Her better half is British and as a child always looked forward to something called “Christmas Crackers”. Of course, having never heard of this before I thought she was speaking of a fancy saltine. Boy, did I feel culturally illiterate!

Turns out, Christmas crackers, a Christmas tradition in the United Kingdom and a few other places, are cardboard tubes filled with little toys and trinkets wrapped in bright paper and tied at each end. The crack in “cracker” comes from the popping sound made when it is pulled apart, which is sometimes done by two people much like pulling apart a wishbone.

Well, I guess you know what project I’m now dying to do with the kiddos around here (if time permits, and that's a BIG "if"). I might even have to make some for my niece and nephews. I’ll for sure post pictures when I do. I can’t wait. I’m going right now and collect empty toilet paper tubes.


P.S. You know, the more I think of it, this sounds like something one of my teachers in grade school would have done with us as a Christmas craft. My 4th grade teacher was a very artsy gal and we were always making crafts and learning about a sundry of things. I think this was also the year we took a field trip to Cheekwood Mansion and Museum to view all the Christmas trees, each decorated that year according to the different traditions and customs of a specific country. If you are in the Nashville area I would highly recommend a trip to Cheekwood during the holidays!

John-Heath's Letter to Santa...2011 Edition

Why a Trip to Wal-Mart Might Never Be the Same

Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, my! I just really don’t even know where to begin this post. First, I guess I should say I don’t normally post shared email forwards or sites via my blog but I just thought some of you might get a kick out of this one. Of course, some of you may block me from your reader or blog roll after this, too.

Are any of you aware of a site called People of Walmart? I had never even heard of it until very recently. A friend who wishes to remain anonymous mentioned it to me. I can’t even remember exactly what we were talking about that led to this (possibly Christmas shopping). All I can state with certainty is nothing surprises me anymore!

I don’t know which part of the whole experience is the saddest commentary on the human race… that the people in the pictures think it is okay to leave the house looking the way they do… the fact that people will whip out their cell phones and take pictures of the aforementioned unsuspecting shoppers at the local Wal-mart…that there is a website dedicated to such people…or the fact that I, an educated person, kept looking?

I blame that last one on my daddy. Like him, I’m just a natural people watcher. I could sit on a bench in the mall for hours and just observe. Okay, maybe not for hours, but I do find myself watching people, at least until the rules of common decorum give me a swift kick and I turn my head to keep from staring.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t turn away from some of these pictures. It was like watching a train wreck. You know it’s going to be awful and that you should look away. But you just. can’t. do. it.

In case you decide to take a peek for yourself I feel a moral obligation to tell you to NOT read the captions under the pictures. Some of the ones I read when I visited the site are laced with profanity, which is completely unnecessary in my opinion. It's like dirty words in an otherwise good movie. You don't need them to get your point across. The pictures say it all.

Oh, one more thing...the only part of this site I have viewed has been the "pictures". I can't speak as what you will find if you click on any of the other tabs on the page. Proceed with caution.