Christmas in July

My parents are visiting us in the Arctic this week. We've been looking for things to do, and I figured since one of my favorite childhood memories is decorating Christmas cookies with my mom, why not share the memory with my children. Audrey was the most excited about Christmas in July and kept asking, "We're really making Christmas cookies? When it's not even Christmas??"

She was so excited, she sorted through and played with all of the Christmas cookie cutters last night, discussing the merits of each one with Grandma. She couldn't wait to cut the dough.

I set the mood with some Christmas music:

And even the boys who were busy building a treehouse with Dad took a break to come in to decorate.

Although we were all in the presence of the Master Decorator,

the kids still did things in their own style: a la lots-o-icing.

And that's only because a la lots-o-icing tastes so delicious.

Smiling's My Favorite

Today is December 1. Two fun Christmas things happen on December 1: advent calendars and Buddy the Elf. Oh, and Muddy Buddies, but I guess that would make it three things.

I asked the kids the other day what their favorite family Christmas tradition is. Surprisingly, they said it was the advent calendars with the little pieces of chocolate behind each window. Thankfully, I had four advent calendars with the little pieces of chocolate behind each window stashed away upstairs. I wrapped them last night and placed them under the tree.

We've had a little bit of a problem getting the children out of bed every morning. This morning all I had to do was tell them there was a present for each of them under the tree, and they all hopped out of bed. No pleading. No cajoling.

The advent calendars may be the kids' favorite part of the year. My favorite part? Or at least one of my favorite things? Watching Elf with the kids. It doesn't matter that we've watched it every year since it came out. It's still hilarious to us.

Of course the best complement to the movie are Muddy Buddies. A yummy snack! They may not be all that Christmasy, but they're tradition, so they stay on the menu.

The Day After Thanksgiving

One of my favorite days of the year is the day after Thanksgiving. It's the day I get to unbox all of the Christmas memories. The day everyone humors me and lets me blast my Trans Siberian Orchestra and - dare I say it? - my Kenny G holiday tunes. And the day whose end finds our home decked out in all sorts of Christmas regalia. Most importantly, it's the day I get to hang out with my family, fulfilling all kinds of traditional rituals.

First, there are the annual ornament gifts.


I try to select a meaningful ornament for each child that captures some memory from the year. For example, this year Audrey received a replica of one of her favorite books of the year.


Naturally, the decorating comes next. As usual, the Princess is the only one who ever cooperates for any photos.







After decorating is the all-important hot chocolate. It must be thick. It must be chocolaty. And it must have a maximum number of marshmallows topped by gobs of whipped cream.








I was surprised that my favorite part of the Day After Thanksgiving this year was the reading of A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree.


I was worried there would be some eye rolling, some snickering, and some "Are we really going to read this baby book again?" comments. But there weren't. Everyone sat expectantly while I retrieved the book. And they listened with rapt attention.

I hope they never get too old for the reading of A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree.

Holiday Spirit

I have to admit. I wasn't feeling an ounce of holiday spirit when Thanksgiving day dawned this year. This is the first Thanksgiving we have celebrated with just the six of us. I started the day with the thought that if I don't have 30 people sitting down to share our meal, it is not Thanksgiving. But, you know what? It turned out OK, and I would venture to say the day turned on the holiday spirit more than any other Thanksgiving past.

We started our day in a relaxed sort of way. I didn't have to worry about cleaning the bathrooms or vacuuming the floors. We weren't rushing around trying to get turkeys basted and casseroles heated on a timetable. In fact, we didn't even have turkey. The kids helped us make our family menu, and they chose chicken over turkey. Mark threw in a pork roast too, just to spice things up a bit.

We had a lovely dinner together after which we settled down to watch our first Christmas movie of the season. It started to feel a whole lot like Christmas! Watching Charlie Brown sit down to a dinner of toast and jelly beans added to the festive feeling in the air.

And of course nothing says holidays better than Black Friday. Ever since we got married, Mark and I have made Black Friday an almost-all-night date night. Our move to the Arctic kind of threw a wrench in that tradition since we do not have family to spend the night with the kids. Last year the tradition was saved by a friend who graciously agreed to be just crazy enough to attack the huge New York mall with me. She couldn't make it this year, though. I was bummed. Then on a whim, I asked my oldest if she wanted to go. Of course she did! Sometimes I forget she isn't five anymore.

Unfortunately, despite the addition of a new partner in crime, this year may have marked the end of my 17 year run on Black Friday. I'm sure the retailers are kicking themselves for not coming up with the brilliant idea of opening the stores late Thursday instead of in the wee hours of Friday. Staying up late instead of dragging oneself out of bed? Much easier on this night owl. And apparently much easier on, like, 10 million of my closest shopping buddies.

You know I despise crowds. So we only made it to two stores. BUT I had an awesome time with my girl. Great time with someone you love...that's what makes an experience worthwhile, so it certainly was worth the hassle to venture out last night.

With all this holiday spirit coursing through my veins, I'd say it's time to corral the family and get out the door to find a Christmas tree.

My Favorite Things (aka You Capture: Holiday Favorites)

Kids in new PJs

and looks of surprises,
bright colored gifts in all shapes and all sizes,

big chocolate bar, oh the joy that it brings...

These are a few of my favorite things!

Traditional Christmas morn’ cinnamon sweets,
precious lil' princesses doling out treats,

big brother doing his sister's assembling...

These are a few of my favorite things!

The Best Day Out

My husband and I are competitive people. So when he takes the boys out for a Boys' Day Out, and I venture out with my sweet girls for a Girls' Day Out, there has to be a little competitive edge thrown in. Just for fun. Not that we set out this morning to make it a competition, but I guess I perpetuated it by sending friendly text messages to my husband throughout the day that said something like, "I bet we're having more fun than you." Because, honestly, who doesn't want to be the cool parent the kids all want to hang with?

So who won? Well, you can be the judge.

First, we breakfasted at Starbucks where the girls enjoyed some divine Hot Chocolate paired with scrumptious donuts and cinnamon rolls.





Then we were off to the mall. First stop: the salon where we all had manicures, which included festive designs painted on our nails.





Following the salon, we did a little shopping, including a stop at Bath and Body Works where the girls chose their favorite scent and left with luxurious bath products in that fragrance.

Our tummies were rumbly at this point, so we lunched at one of our favorites: California Pizza Kitchen. Only problem? My recently birthdayed 11-year-old is no longer on a kids' menu. So a new era in our lives begins.



A girls' day is not complete without chocolate, so our next stop was at the Rainforest Cafe where we ate way too much of a Volcano.





A little more fun shopping for last minute Christmas gifts, and we headed home.

Around this time, I texted my husband "See? More fun!!" accompanied by this picture:


He texted me back with this "picture":



Something about breakfast, haircuts, lunch, and video games.

Seriously. Is there even a contest?

Quick Goody Bites

There are times that call for a shortcut. Let's say, for example, that you have a Christmas cookie decorating party one day, and there are a lot of leftover cookies. And let's say that you could use those leftover cookies to make pretty Christmas goody trays for your neighbors. But then suppose you your greedy children eat all of those leftover cookies, and there is nothing left for the neighbors. And let's further suppose that you have procrastinated and not made any other goodies.

Of course that's just a hypothetical, but it really could happen. Really it could. And if it did, you would need a quick, easy solution: homemade chocolate covered pretzels. OK, so the pretzels are not homemade, but these have a nice homey touch anyway.

Here are the simple ingredients:


Why, yes, that is a 72 oz. bag of chocolate chips. I do see how some might think my relationship with chocolate unhealthy. In my defense, we made a trip to Sam's this past weekend.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. I actually prefer using a large glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. The glass bowl is wider and therefore easier to bathe the pretzels in. Plus, it does not have that obnoxious groove all of my double boilers have had; the groove is so difficult to clean.



Then submerge the pretzels in the chocolate. Lucky pretzels.



(Sidebar: According to something I saw sometime on Food Network, there is a spa in Hershey, PA, which offers a chocolate bath. I've joked about bathing in chocolate before. Now that I live in the Arctic, I am so close to Hershey, PA, it is actually a possibility. I just need to convince my husband to fork over the hotel points so I can spend a day (or two) in the chocolate city.)

Using a skewer or some other tool that will get the job done, fish the pretzels out of their chocolate bath and let some of the excess chocolate drip off. It is entertaining to watch all of the chocolate designs the drips form in the bowl. Isn't chocolate divine?



Let the bathed pretzels drain and dry.



Now it's ready to decorate. You need two pastry bags for each color of chocolate you will decorate with. I use the disposable ones because who wants to try to clean chocolate out of a pastry bag in order to reuse it? Not me. You also need chocolate wafers in the colors of your choosing. You can get these at Michaels or Hobby Lobby (I miss Hobby Lobby). Most normal Wal-Marts that are not the Wal-Mart down the street from me carry them also.

Place the chocolate wafers in one bag and place that bag in the second bag (this will keep water from getting into the chocolate filled bag). Fill a glass with very hot water and submerge the double bagged chocolate wafers. Give it a few minutes so the chocolate can melt, then snip off the very tip of the inner bag that contains the chocolate. Now, with a flick of your wrist, swirl the chocolate all over the pretzels. It's very technical.



Well, not so much.



Had I not been working so hard to fend off hungry little fingers, I would have a picture of the finished product in the cute little goody boxes...

You Capture - Sweet

We had a sweet field trip lined up for the afternoon: a Gingerbread House display followed by an opportunity to decorate a personal gingerbread boy (or girl). We got shoes and socks on, hair brushed, coats on, and headed out to the car where everyone buckled in.

I turned the key over.

Nothing.

I wasn't surprised. Someone (*cough* me) left the dome light on for several hours yesterday.

We got unbuckled, went back inside, took off our coats and our shoes. Not a very sweet predicament to be in, missing a field trip and all.

So we turned our missed outing into our own sweet field trip. We got out the gingerbread house kit we purchased yesterday, and contruction began.

Sweet, precious children hard at work.









Sweet little fingers placing candy atop the icing roof.



Mischeivous little ones sneaking sweet treats, though I could never catch them in the act.



And, in the end, a sweet house!



For more Sweet captures, visit I Should Be Folding Laundry.