The day after Thanksgiving I woke up full of excitement and it wasn’t because of all the Black Friday sales. The Christmas season has officially kicked off! I am probably just as excited as my daughter to drag out the decorations and fill every inch of our home with Christmas cheer. Kids love the holiday with all of the fun activities, gifts, and treats. Christmas is a wonderful time to create family traditions and make long lasting memories for everyone to enjoy. There are a number of activities you can do to make the holiday memorable. Ideas for Spending Quality Time with Family this Christmas Yearly Christmas Scrapbook Scrapbooking is a fun way to record memories of your family’s Christmas each year. Buy an inexpensive photo album or scrapbook and get the whole family together to decorate the cover. Over the Christmas holiday collect the pictures of family and friends, snowball fights, school pageants, and tree decorating and arrange them in the scrapbook with captions capturing … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2009
Basic Cut-Out Sugar Cookie with Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
Yields about 24 cookies Ingredients 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted 2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten 3/4 cup butter or margarine 2 teaspoons vanilla Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until soft, then add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add flour to the butter/egg mixture and stir until dough is well combined and stiff. Divide the dough into four equal parts. On a floured surface, roll out each portion of the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Get your kids to cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Arrange the different shapes on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool slightly, before transferring them onto a cooling rack. Once the cookies are cool, the cookies can be decorated. Icing Recipe: 1/2 cup confectioners’ … [Read more...]
A little kitty taught me: Devotional on facing trials
My daughter was so excited to inform me that a stray cat had come to call. This ball of black and white fur sought shelter from the rain on the comfort of our porch. Just as I was about to swoon I hear the pounding of my dog's paws running down the steps. My dog darted toward the door and pounced with a barking fury. The cat arched her small back and hissed looking directly into my dog's eyes. I'm not sure if I was more afraid for the cat or my dog. Thankfully the screen door still remained between them. We restrained the dog. Feeling sad for the scared but brave kitty, we gathered up some snacks to feed her. Well, that did it! She now thinks our porch is a restaurant. I was reminded of scripture while observing this cat's reactions to the world around her. I wondered if I had the sense of this little cat to seek shelter during storms, face trials head on, all while seeking daily bread. Come in out of the rain. When the storm hits I sometimes make the mistake of … [Read more...]
Reader Comments