Holiday Hangover

Christmas at our house lasts weeks, it seems. And this year was even longer since my brother in law's accident delayed their visit. They finally made it up from AK on New Year's Day so Christmas for us didn't end until Saturday when they went home. I finally got the tree down Sunday, when Shan could help. After Christmas, I bought a new artificial one at Sam's so the old one went to Goodwill. I would personally rather have a real tree every year. My husband doesn't like real trees, and since Christmas falls during wrestling season, the chances of getting a real tree are slim and slimmer. A few years ago, we went to get a tree and it was a bit later than usual, but not crazy late. For some reason, the only trees left at the lots were the $50 variety. That didn't fit into the budget so we were going to just use the little one I had in college. A friend from church had a full size one she didn't use and offered it to us. She didn't want it back so we've used it for several years. Last year, I talked Shan into a real one, but it wasn't easy. This year, I knew we would be gone over break so I didn't even try to get a real tree. My mom decided this year to get a pre-lit tree rather than a real one. Not sure why. I met her at Sam's last month and helped man-handle the heavy box into our van, then out again at her house. We put it up and it was gorgeous. It has 1500 lights. FIFTEEN HUNDRED. I was a little jealous when I looked at our sad tree. It is an older style, not pre-lit and not as tall or full. My sister, Mom, and I went to Sam's after Christmas to look at their trees. They didn't have any left in the aisle. They had a few back in the clearance section, but not the one she wanted. We were on our way out the door when my mom spotted one on a cart near customer service. We looked around for someone who claimed the cart. No one. We moved the cart towards the checkout and called our husbands to see who was going to get the tree. My sister's husband didn't want to haul the tree back to Texas so I used my birthday money, saved since October, to buy a tree. It will look fabulous next year. It is put away with all the other Christmas decorations and we are making our way to normal again. Maybe I can get caught up on laundry and cleaning this week.

Praise God

We are really feeling God's hand on us this week. He has been merciful and blessed us tremendously.

1. Seth and Mindy were in an accident, but were within a mile of the best hospital for head injuries in the area. They would have life flighted Seth to this hospital if necessary.

2. DS's injury was pretty minor and he seems to be doing well.

3. No one else was hurt.

4. My sister and her husband were already on their way to Arkansas when we got word, and arrived quickly to lend support and comfort.

5. Seth was moved out of ICU yesterday and into a regular room.

6. Today they had him up and walking around and he got along okay, making two laps around the square.

7. The CAT scan this morning revealed improving conditions.

8. Their house has been on the market for several months, and they put an ad in the paper recently to rent it, and this morning got a promising call, and the people who looked at it will probably rent it.

10. Shan and I went ahead with our holiday plans to his parents and made it ahead of the snow storm that hit our area today.

God is so good. May we all feel His peace and joy at Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

My kids crack me up

Me: I said add a little bit, that is more than enough.

Jo: Mama, did you know that I'm just little and sometimes I don't know what a little bit is?


Oh my goodness. That made me laugh out loud. Isn't she funny?



Letter from Je:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have been good this ye!

Love Je***

Works for Me Wednesday Christmas

I have a few tried and true recipes that I can reliably turn out without fear. I inherited this recipe from my mom. I spent years hearing her talk about how easy it is. And she is right. I looks complicated and difficult, but if you follow the steps it is a snap.

We usually make this at Christmas but it is good at other times. It has a winter and a summer version.

Ice Cream Roll

3 eggs (1/2-2/3 cup)
1/3 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 gallon peppermint ice cream

Beat eggs until thick and lemony (5-10 minutes) Beat in sugar then blend in water and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients, beat till smooth. Line a jelly roll pan (11x 15 inch) with wax paper, pour in cake. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle kitchen towel with powdered sugar. When the cake comes out flip it over onto the towel, then peel off wax paper carefully, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Roll cake up from one end. Let cake cool for at least an hour. Unroll, spread with peppermint icecream. Reroll and freeze. This a great thing to make ahead and have ready. Stores nicely in the freezer for a while. I wrap it in foil and then put in a ziplock if I want to save it for over a week. I usually get about eight slices per cake. To serve, it looks good to drizzle chocolate syrup on the plate and then put the cake on it garnishing it with whip cream. It looks nice with the chocolate cake swirl and pink peppermint ice cream


It takes half of a half gallon box. So I usually make two cakes at a time. The square package works easiest, you can slice off thin slices to lay on the cake. I used about six slices of ice cream per cake. I usually only mix up one cake batter at a time, and bake one at a time. The most important step is beating the eggs. If you don't beat them enough, the cake is not spongy it is flat.

In the spring and summer, I leave out the cocoa and substitute cool whip or whipped cream and 2 cups sliced strawberries. It is fabulous.

If you can't find peppermint ice cream you can use mint chocolate chip. This is a great dessert for those heavy holiday meals, the mint is a nice taste and it isn't heavy. It also has the added bonus of looking fancy and difficult but it really isn't hard. If I can make it then anyone can do this. I promise.


Go check out Rocks in My Dryer for more works for me tips.

What a Great Idea

Lori the Laundry Queen suggested that instead of complaining through this holiday season we should list three good things. I love this idea. She has decided that she will post three good things in each post this month, so that she can focus on them rather than her frustrations. And since it is the holiday season and a very stressful time, it is a good reminder to focus on the positive.

# A nice newish van that is comfortable and roomy for the traveling during this time of year. (Notice I am not complaining about 26 hours in the car in 5 days. Just kidding Sus)

## Sundays a day of rest, the only day my husband doesn’t have wresting practice or tournaments until Christmas.

### My BFF Ellen and her birthday on Sat. which compels us to have a girls afternoon, and thus help entertain my kids on the first Saturday of wrestling season. No Daddy = a very long day.

He Did it!

We've lived in this house six years, and finally he did it. We've been married 10 years (on Thursday) and for only the second time he did it. I am talking, of course of Christmas lights. They are up outside my house, and not just in the bushes or the garland I wind around the railing. On the top of the house. He told me to take a picture for proof since he hates to do it and said this may be my only chance for them for a while. He put them up once in our old house and worried over them for a long time to get them straight. He is anal about getting them straight. So that year, after Christmas, I bought him some plastic track to use the next year. That was seven years ago. Finally this year he made use of them. They have been shoved in the basement storage room so long they have lost some of the key pieces. He improvised with hot glue. So they are pretty straight. The girls acutually begged repeatedly. Whenever they asked me for lights, I directed them to Daddy since I don't do roofs. I do garland and bushes and big blow up snowmen. This was the best of the pictures, it is a little blurry but I think you can see the lights on the house pretty well. Shan had an unexpected day off on Saturday. He went to the JV meet on Friday night and the head coach excused him from Saturday's varsity meet. What a great day! We took the kids to swimming lessons, then out to lunch. Daddy finished putting the lights on the track and attaching them to the house in the afternoon. After supper we took the kids for ice cream so they could see the live Nativity in front of the ice cream store. We drove home and saw the pretty lights on our house. The girls were so excited. Shan has grumbled a bit about them but maybe it'll be okay. Next year, I am going for the whole front of the house, more than just the peak. Of course, beggars can't be choosers.

Santa Claus is Coming

I read a very interesting post over Everyday Mommy. Jules and the many comments posted got me to thinking about the debate over Santa. A lot of what Jules said resonated with me. I have fond memories of believing in Santa. My parents created those memories but never ever let us forget the true meaning of Christmas. So I have stuggled as a parent and as a Christian to know how to honor God with my celebration and keep some kind of sanity over the "santa issue" I don't think it is a hard and fast rule for everyone. My children are still too young to really understand Santa and the implausiblity of his trip. They enjoy the Christmas movies on TV: Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, etc. We have lots of Christmas traditions that reflect the true meaning of the season so they, I think, understand about the birth of Jesus. They put the pieces of the advent nativity on each day, participate in the program at Church, with the message about true reason for the season. I don't want my kids to equate Santa with God, he isn't, nor was he ever. I do want them to have lots of great memories of fun family holidays and all the trimmings. Right now, that includes Santa. I can't remember when I stopped believing in Santa. I used to say that Santa was the spirit of giving that we feel at the holiday. I don't know that I agree with that anymore. I also remember how very careful my parents were to not lie to us, about Santa and the presents. I remember noticing that gifts from Santa appeared under the stockings and were labeled in my mom's handwriting. I remember having to go to the car and wait for my parents who were inside filling the stockings before we left for Christmas eve. One memorable year, we asked for a specific thing for Christmas. Mom very firmly told us she did not buy it for us. Everytime we asked about it she repeated that phrase. Boy were we surprised to open it. Mom said she did not buy it, she didn't say that Daddy didn't buy it. They explained how they pulled it off. If I give my kids gifts and write Santa's name on them, aren't I just pretending to be Santa? I don't really see that as a lie but maybe it is a gray area. What an area for us all to wrestle with in our own homes. It was easier when I was little and my parents had these issues to deal with and I was blissfully ignorant!