Fresh Google Wallpaper: holidays

Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts

Bliss

Doesn't this look like a beautiful spot for an afternoon rest!
xx
Anna

Apple pie is healthy, it has fruit doesn't it?!

I give myself the chance to take a break from exercising regularly and eating healthy around the holidays.

October thru December, I rarely step on the scale.

It's not very healthy, I know,

but I sure enjoy it!

I bake lots of goodies, and keep the holiday trays filled.

We live large…oh, yes!

My husband and I both have a sweet tooth!

We have lots of memories of yummy desserts our mothers used to make for our families.

I also have fond memories of baking with my mom and Nina for the holidays.

Making goodies for the holidays has always been a tradition for the women in my family,

and I intend to carry it on with our girls.

Since I love to bake, we bake all year long, but during the holidays I get to make traditional recipes, and try many new recipes that I don’t during the other months.

So needless to say, when January 1st arrived I was ready to get back into shape!

A few days ago, I finally decided to suck it up

(since I am getting tired of sucking it in :)

and I got on the scale…

I cried some…

Not really!

But I did decide to get right back into a health regime.

Recently, I had my first trip back to the grocery store since the holidays,

I planned to spend more time in the produce section...but I didn’t.

…It’s a process!

You see…

I still had one pie crust left in the fridge.

So I had to buy apples for the pie crust, and vanilla ice cream to go with the apple pie.

(Because that is one of my hubby’s favorite desserts.)

Joc and I hurried home to bake this and surprise Matthew with a yummy after-dinner-dessert,

and the apple pie recipe that we used was delish!

Sweet Apple Pie

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tbs flour

1/4 cup of apple cider

2 tbs butter
4 cups of sliced apples

pie crust

bake at 350 for 90 minutes

Unfortunately, we had leftovers,

so my diet didn't start the next day either,

but it was well worth it!

Christmas The Little Brown Jacket

When I got up this morning, I was alone.

No husband, no kids, no vehicle.

Just me and the quiet of the house.

What to do…what to do…

Oh, I knew exactly what I was going to do!

I put on some holiday music and pulled out the Christmas decorations.

I have been looking forward to decorating for Christmas the last few months.

I love this time of year.

I love creating a festive atmosphere in the home.

Tantalizing our senses with all kinds of seasonal goodness!

For the past few weeks, I have been Christmas shopping

and collecting a few new ornaments.

My husband always thanks me for doing the “wifey” duties.

He is certain that Christmas shopping and decorating is so hard.

Who am I to correct him?

I just smile and act as if I am exhausted,

and usually I can get a kiss and a foot rub out of it. J

Between you and me…

I LOVE Christmas shopping and decorating.

This morning, enjoyed myself as I pulled out the Santa hats, stockings, the snowman cookie jar, plates and mugs.

The nativity sets, the snow globes, village houses and the Christmas trees

(although the trees will be left untouched until the kids come home.)

I hung the mistletoe in the hallway and displayed the new Santa pictures in the kitchen.

To the front porch, I added the little sign that I painted a few weeks ago,

and I loved it.

I love it all.

The gold.

The glitter.

The bright red and green colors complimenting the snowy, fuzzy whites.

I love the glittering star that goes on top of the Christmas tree

and the little Santa that greets our guests.

I love the red bows that hang on our kitchen chairs,

but most of all I love the little brown jacket.

Yes, that little brown jacket is so full of magic.

It isn’t fancy or festive.

It isn’t traditional holiday décor,

but it IS my most favorite Christmas possession of all.

Each year, when I bring out my decorations this little brown jacket comes out with them.

This little jacket takes me back to my childhood.

I will never forget waking up early Christmas day

along with my brothers to look at our gifts from Santa.

My grandparents would always drive to our house early in the morning, long before the sun would come out to watch us open our gifts.

Grandpa and Grandma Romero, Grandma and Grandpa Burke

always sat behind us “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” as we unwrapped our gifts.

That first Christmas without my Grandpa Romero was a hard one.

I was so used to having him there with us and I wasn’t ready for that tradition to stop.

Since moving out of my parents’ house, it has become a tradition for me to pull out Grandpa’s brown jacket and drape it somewhere near my Christmas tree.

It is my way of inviting Grandpa to my house for the holidays.

I like to think that these days on Christmas morning,

Grandpa watches me - watching my kids - open their presents.

When I think of Christmas,

I think of presents, pine trees,

turkey and mistletoe.

I think of cold weather, Jesus,

giving, gathering and family…

and

I think of magic.

The magic of Christmas arrived at my house today,

in the form of a little brown jacket.

When I was looking through my Halloween recipe books a few weeks ago, the girls asked if we could make Hot Dog Mummies. I bought hotdogs and Pillsbury dough in a can. We added sticks to a few of them. After we wrapped the mummies we sprayed them lightly with cooking spray. The oven gets set at 375 for 15 minutes. It was a fast and easy dinner, but the kids loved it!