Homemade Christmas Card that kids can make

We decided to make a few homemade Christmas cards last night and I looked up some things for inspiration.  I finally decided on a design and I used the extra ribbon and buttons I had in my sewing closet.  If you would like to make these with your kids I will tell you how we did it.  Older kids could probably do this on their own but younger ones need some guidance.


You will need:

Ribbon or Fabric scraps - preferbly green and brown but you can do other colors
Buttons
A small star or other tree topper
Elmer's Glue
Card Stock

Instructions:

Fold card stock in half.  Cut brown ribbon to fit onto the card stock.  I cut one end straight and the other end at a diagonel.  Glue the ribbon on the middle of the page.

My oldest took this picture of me gluing on the ribbon.

Take your green ribbon or fabric scraps and figure out where you want the ribbon and how you want to cut it.  I just put a bigger piece on bottom and went from there until you get to the top and cut a small triangle out.

Next, glue on your green ribbon.  Then you can decorate it!  We chose to put little buttons on as ornaments.  We used a foam star bead for the topper.

I had the kids pick out buttons and then I put glue on the back and they put it where they wanted to on the tree.

Let the card dry overnight so that the buttons will stay on.  The white glue will dry clear (you probably already know that).  

You can give them to teachers or grandparents, uncles, aunts or cousins.  Also, just open up the card once it is dry and write your personalized message inside.

Merry Christmas!

3 + 1 = 4

You wanna hear a story?  Years ago when I was filling out my senior book (way back in the dark ages) it had a page that says "Where I'll Be in 10 Years".  It had several lines such as "where you will be living", "what you will be doing", "how many kids you will have".  I filled out that I would have 7-10 kids - yes, in 10 years.  This was before I knew anything about the Duggar's. 

The reason I told you that is because I have always loved kids.  I knew I wanted to have them and when my husband and I met we talked about how many we wanted to have and we both pretty much agreed that 3 was a good number.  He had 2 in his family and I had 4 but we all didn't live at the same house at the same time so there was usually 3 of us at a house at a time (divorce - its complicated).

Anywho, back to the story, we agreed on 3.  Now, I do not want to start any kind of disagreement or discussion regarding how many children one should have.  I will leave that in someone else's capable hands.  I will say I don't feel like there is nearly enough written on the subject but I guess that is because it is such a personal decision.

Well, we had a boy, then came a girl and finally another boy.  Three!  We were done.  So we talked and agreed and my husband scheduled his first vasectomy.  Things were okay until it came to the Friday before the big V.  I got cold feet like you would not believe.  The permanency of the procedure hit me like a ton of bricks and I cried and I whined and so my husband cancelled it or he made me do it.  I can't remember.

Now I could breathe, but the question still hung in the air.  My husband is a very gracious and patient man or at least he is now.  He wanted to wait and make sure I was ready so he refused to schedule anymore procedures.  If it was to be done I had to schedule it.  And so I did.  I scheduled a second vasectomy.  And I was fine . . .  for a while.  And then I started thinking again and freaking out and well, you guessed it I cancelled it for the second time.  By this time my husband was beyond embarrassed.  Who wouldn't be? 

I was embarrassed too because I had to explain to my family every time it didn't happen.  People, I am a woman whose indecisiveness knows no bounds.  I actually did it for a third time.  Seriously, I called, I scheduled and I canceled - THREE TIMES!

Then there came a time when I was ready.  I had prayed and prayed and thought and thought and I was finally at peace with the decision.  Right and you can only guess what happened next.  These two little blue lines showed up on this test.

We had gotten rid of every baby item we owned.  I gave away all of my maternity clothes.  The only two things we have left are a crib and pack and play.

Wanna hear the good news?  Well, besides the obvious good news, my husband was wonderful.  When I was going a little crazy he was calm.  When I was unsure how I could do it, he was reassuring.  When I wasn't quite excited, he was over the moon excited.

All of this to say you see how much of a saint my husband is to put up with me?  Yep, he's pretty great and soon he will be the father of four.  And then we can schedule the vasectomy or at least I will.  Fourth times a charm, right?

Worth a Listen

I posted this last year but it is so good I must post it again.  I hope if I am at the mall (which I don't plan on being until after Christmas) I would love it if a flash mob sang the Halleluiah chorus!

Why I Am Not a Big Fan of Beth Moore - Don't Hate Me

Beth Moore, have you heard of her?  She is a Souther Baptist teacher whose Bible studies are in churches ranging from Baptist to Methodist to Lutherans.  She's huge in the Evangelical crowd.  Nonetheless, here I am, Miss Disagreeable, finding myself disagreeing with her teaching or maybe more her method of teaching.

She is entertaining.  I mean who does not love a cute, southern speaking Texas girl?  If you speak Southern I automatically want to be your friend.

To be fair, I have attended some of her studies at my church - Breaking Free, Daniel and I can't remember the other one.

I have stated before that I am not a theologian.  You know this.  So I think I will quote other, more knowledgeable people.

From the Watchman's Bag Pipes:

"I can certainly judge Beth Moore’s claims of direct revelation from God with what the Bible teaches and declare her a false teacher, and even a false prophet, without ever claiming she is not a true believer."

The following are lengthy articles but are worth the read!  introductory article, an article on Moore's claims of direct personal extra-Biblical revelation


Beth Moore's Dangerous Bible Teaching (it is actual audio).  Be aware there are some sarcastic remarks in this one.

Her claims of special revelation from "Breaking Free" from the Watchman's Bagpipes. 

Personally my biggest problem with Beth Moore is how she says she receives things from the Lord.  She speaks as if the Lord spoke directly to her and obviously as a Christian I believe the cannon of Scripture is closed and that God does not audibly speak to us.  He only speaks to us through His Word.  (Does God Still Give Revelation) - 1 Timothy 4:1 Revelation 22:18-19

'God told me' is a dangerous and heretical motto for anyone to take because it opens to chaos, confusion, mysticism, subjectivism, demons and deception. All Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is profitable. It is completely profitable. It is so profitable that the man of God is made perfect by it thoroughly furnished unto all good works, right? The Scripture is sufficient; we need nothing more than this. And once you introduce any more than this, the chaos is irretrievable.

The bottom line is this, as Christians we need to know how to study the Bible.  We need to be discerning.  We need to check everything we hear against Scripture whether it is said by your pastor or a blond haired lady from Texas.

A Christmas Tradition - My Grandma Betty's Fudge

I just feel like I should post this every year.  I hope you don't mind.  Since we lost my Grandma last year, this post just makes me happy.  Plus you have to try this recipe.  It will melt in your mouth.

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Tonight I asked my Grandma to walk me through how to make her fudge.  It immediately brought back very good memories.  This is why I wanted to share the recipe with you.  Mind you my grandma RARELY measures anything, but she did actually have measurements for me tonight.  She wasn't sure about the amount of cocoa but it worked out fine.  I do realize this is my second week in a row with giving a Grandma Betty recipe, but I want to have them written down before she forgets what is in them.  The evening started with her playing with my son.

Then we started making the fudge.

Ingredients:
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of milk (we used whole milk)
1/3 cup of cocoa (we used 1/4th and thought it needed just a touch more)
1 stick of butter
1 t. vanilla
dash of salt
Directions:
Mix cocoa and sugar in saucepan, pour in milk.  Sprinkle the dash of salt.  Heat mixture until boiling then turn down to medium low.

Boil for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Test fudge by dropping a few drops into a glass of water.  If it "balls" up then it is almost done.  You could also drop it in and then empty the water glass and touch the fudge and see if it is semi hard.  If it is, you are good to go.  Add the vanilla - it will bubble up.

Remove saucepan from heat and beat in the stick of butter.  My grandma says you have to beat it until it is solid and barely still pourable.  When you get to that point the fudge will be very thick and starting to harden.  I tried to take a better picture of this happening but my grandma was yelling at me to put the camera down and stir or the fudge wouldn't turn out.

Quickly pour this into a greased 8 x 8 pan and allow the fudge to cool completely.  Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Netflix Christmas Movie Recommendations

We have Netflix.  We don't have cable.  I do love that Netflix is on demand and also has no commercials.  I asked a friend (and relative) to recommend some good Christmas movies that they have on there and she gave me this list.  They are mostly all Christian movies with a very good message. 

The Secrets of Jonathon Sperry
The Lost & Found Family
The Christmas Cottage
Mrs. Miracle
Borrowed Hearts: A Holiday Movie
Letters to God 
Christmas with a Capital C (I loved this one)

Do you have any good Netflix movie recommendations?

Menu Plan - 12.11.11

Hello all!  This week I will be making cookie dough in preparation for doing some cookie decorating with my cousins.  Not too much baking going on around here right now.  I am thinking I might bake some actual gingerbread and maybe my peppermint cookies for the freezer but we will see.

Menu Plan

Now onto my menu, as usual I keep breakfast and lunches simple.  We eat the same thing week after week for breakfast and lunch and still no complaints.  I do some things on the weekend to make it easier for the week.

Breakfast:

 

• Homemade breakfast sandwiches (these are a hit!) and applesauce
• Blender Batter Waffles
• Breakfast Casserole in the Crockpot  and peaches
• Cereal and Milk

Lunch:

You can read how my lunch experiment worked here.

• Homemade uncrustables, grapes and carrots
• Soup and crackers
• Leftovers and applesauce
• Clif Protein Bars (for me)

Supper:

• 15 Bean Soup with ham bone and Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
  
• Sixteen bean and beef burritos, corn and tortilla chips
• Pizza, salad and peach cobbler
• Baked potato bar (maybe using leftover chili and whatever else we find)
• Beef stew and whole wheat bread
• Leftover Buffet