Merry Christmas!

What do you do when you want to do a Nativity for Christmas Eve, but you only have 1 baby girl and 7 boys?  You bribe of course.  I offered Owen $5.00 if he would play Mary.  He is smart.  He said he'd do it for $6.00.  He even agreed to wear my princess Lea wig to make it more authentic.  Baby Crew was the perfect baby Jesus and baby Evelyn was a beautiful angel.

This...is Tasty!

Several years ago I discovered Kneaders hot chocolate.  It was divine and I would find myself picking some up regularly throughout the winter. I can't even tell you why it was so good...but it was.  A year or so ago they had the nerve to change their recipe.  How dare they!  And sadly, it is not nearly as good as it once was.  I keep trying it, hoping they would change back, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Since then, I have tried to find a replacement that was as tasty as that hot chocolate and I have yet to find one.  And, I am picky.  If I have to get out of my car and get cold to buy it, then it's not an option.  Have I told you I'm lazy too?   That leaves fancy store bought brands at the grocery store or a drive through.  

But yesterday I found something that is pretty darn good.  Not quite as good as the Kneaders hot chocolate, but pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself.   It calls for these 2 ingredients.

First you need to buy some store bought hot chocolate mix.  I would skip on the Swiss Miss and buy something better than that. Make the hot chocolate according to the directions but don't add as much liquid as it calls for.

Once it is hot and steamy add a little bit of heavy cream.  This is what makes it thick and I've found this is what most hot chocolates out there are lacking.  It doesn't take a lot and it's up to you to decide how thick you want it.

And this is my little discovery.  These delightful mint truffles from Hershey.  Now I'm a big fan of chocolate, but if you line up chocolate brands and I had to choose one, Hershey would not be at the top of my list.  However, these are really good.  So good I can eat them one after another.

Toss one of these babies into your hot chocolate and let it melt.  It adds a bit more chocolate flavor and just a hint of mint.  Delightful.  I'm guessing these are seasonal because I found them in the Christmas candy section.  I plan on buying a load of these and then hiding them from myself only to be used for hot chocolate.

And there you have it!  Enjoy!

This Boy is Changing...

Right before my eyes.  So fast I can almost see it.  These were taken about 11 months apart.  He's not a boy anymore.  He's a young man. 

Creative Writing

Back story  (cliff-notes version)


About a month ago, Tyler and Emily brought their dog Ailee over to play with our dog.  Before they let her into our backyard the boys gathered up the chickens and put them back in the coop.  Unfortunately a chicken was left out and we didn't realize it.  Ailee found her and by the time we noticed, Ailee was beginning to eat her.  We didn't know what to do, so we said a few kind words about Butterscotch, put her in a trash bag and threw her into the trash.  End of story.

Current Story

Chase's teacher sent home a Thanksgiving recipe book.  The book is full of recipes told by her students.  They are all very humorous.  Here is Chase's recipe  for chicken.

"Chicken is better than turkey because you can get gravy on it.  You buy a chicken that is not alive because you get them at stores and I have not seen any chickens that are alive at stores.  We have chickens, and one died, but we are not going to eat it because it still has a little bit of guts in it.  A dog ripped the rest of the guts out, but it still has a little bit of guts in it so we threw it in the trash instead of eating it.   The people at the store kill the chickens and gut them out with gloves.  They take feathers out with their hands.  Then they put the heads in the trash.  The rest is just the white chicken. The rest is all ovaled.  You cook it for 15 minutes until it is not burned.  It looks the same, but it is hot.  Set the table with forks and plates.  Eat the whole thing, but not the bones.  They are not in the chicken."

Loved it.

What I'm Grateful For

The other day I was sitting in our family room.  I can't remember what I was doing, but I was probably avoiding some work that I needed to do and instead was enjoying a book or trying to get to the next level on Candy Crush.

The back door opened and in came Owen from school.  He yelled "Hi Mom!" before he even saw me.  Right after he said that, it kindof struck me as bizarre.  Why would he say hi if he hadn't even seen me?  Then I realized that he knew I was home.  He knows that I am always home when he gets back from school.  He doesn't need to see me to know that.

It was a small little validation to myself that I was doing something right.  I am grateful for many things in my life.  But today, I am grateful that I have been able to stay home with my kids.

Workin' in the Dark

Since this past spring we have been working on one side of our house. You know, the side of the house that no one sees that is full of weeds and anything else that gets tossed over there? Scott has been slowly, but surely building a new chicken coop. Although he still has the trim and some odds and ends to finish, it is functional and our ladies are enjoying their new home. We have even trained them to use a pet door, so we don't have to open and close the little chicken door morning and night.

Last week we decided that we would put some landscape fabric down, buy some rocks and finish the area. I had this grand idea to shovel rocks for FHE and then go out for ice cream after. That is all find and dandy except that it now gets dark at 5:30. We didn't even get out there until 6:30. But we didn't let a little darkness stop us. We put on our coats and hats, turned on the outdoor lights and shoveled away. We finished just in the nick of time. The cold weather is here to stay I'm afraid.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....

Although all my kiddos have been telling me what they want for Christmas for several months, this is my first written request so far.  I found this on my bed about a week ago.

 

This one I found on my bed about 15 minutes later.

 

Luckily, I never take any of these things seriously because they change their minds about weekly.

It's good to know that the stores aren't the only ones that like to start the season as early as possible