From old to new

Six years ago I bought these really cheap, shatterproof ornaments from Garden Ridge. They have truly served me well over the years. This year I decided they needed a little freshening up. So I painted them with black chalk board pant. (That's all I had and we are on a budget) And then I had a white Bistro Chalk Marker that I used to write words onto my ornaments.

And this is how they turned out. I thought they were a little to dark to put on the tree but I love them in my trifle bowl with the gold ornaments. My penmanship isn't the greatest but you get the idea.

S'mores Cookies

I love making Chocolate Chip Cookies. And, I have finally found a recipe that I love. So this time I decided to add some marshmallows to the batch and call them, "S'more Cookies". They were so good. They only lasted MAYBE 48 hours. :)

3/4 cup/170 g butter, unsalted and softened

3/4 cup/160 g light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup/50 g granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups/260 g all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons corn starch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

6 oz./150 g semi-sweet chocolate chips

plus I added a handful of marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until creamy.
3. Add egg and vanilla and stir.
4. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips.

 

I cook mine for about 9 mins. And BOOM! cookies!

 

 

Elf on the Shelf + Jesus

We have our very own elf friend in our house this season! It's all so very exciting.
 
We don't really do the whole 'Santa' thing in our house. For one it scares Brother Bear so much. And two I don't want the emphasis of Christmas to be on Santa and gifts. I want the season to center around Jesus's birth and His love for us. But, I still wanted to have a little "Magic" for the kids.
 
So I found the idea of combining Elf on the Shelf with Jesus here.

When I told Brother Bear that an elf friend was going to come to our house for the month of December he was so excited. I still needed to order one so I had him look at the pictures of them and tell me which one he wanted. He decided he wanted "the brown one". So our tan elf, Jingle, arrived from the North Pole.

I typed up a letter from Jingle to Brother Bear and Sister Bear, and I put it in the box with the elf.

Dear Brother Bear and Sister Bear.

My name is Jingle. I am an elf and I came all the way from the North Pole to help you celebrate Christmas and Jesus’s birthday.

I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. As we transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas I want to help you guys to continue to remember to be thankful for ALL your blessings.

During this time of year it’s so easy to get focused on the “I want, I want, I want” and forget about what Christmas is REALLY about. It’s ok to want things, but I’ve seen people get very selfish with all the things they want.

I don’t want you to forget about Jesus as you and your family prepare for Christmas. I want you to enjoy all the fun this season brings, like, hot cocoa, singing Christmas songs, candy, and presents; but I don’t want you to forget about the most important present of all! JESUS…God’s only son.  I want to help you to remember that it’s still important to love others…to be nice to other people…to help other people (even mommy)…to show other people how wonderful Jesus is.

 

I’m going to hang out at your house for the whole month of December to help you remember to:

·         Love each other

·         Speak nicely to one another

·         Help each other. Even your neighbors and friends

·         Give to others that don’t have all the stuff you have

·         God loves you so much. Even more than Mommy and Daddy love you

 

I look forward to helping you learn all about the Christmas story and God’s love for you.

I will add all the photos of all the things our sweet Jingle does each night. So far Brother Bear jut loves to cuddle with him.