Go outside..... please.

The kids are so excited to have a white Christmas. Totally white. (Watch, it'll rain hard and warm up big time tomorrow.) They are so looking forward to sliding at Grampie & Grammie's place on Christmas day. But of course we don't wait for that special day to take advantage of the cool weather. This mean mommy makes her kids go outside to play every afternoon. I don't really have to tell the older 3 to go out but little #4 would prefer the warm indoors to a winter wonderland. I don't blame him, I would too. But I'm following in my mothers footprints and sending them out. I now know why she wouldn't let us come in for a long time when we were kids playing in the snow.
"Hey mom, I'm coming in now."
"No you're not."
Out we go again to dig yet another tunnel in a snowbank.
Moms are smart. :)

Here are my 4 explorers today. We'll try to forget about the part when they were all walking back to the house and #4 decides it would be more advantageous to sit down in the snow and scream, yell, and cry about not being able to catch up to the others. Loved that part. Loved it SO much.

A bit of Christmas music for ya'll

Found this video today on another blog. Love it. You'll love it too. Honest!!! :)

Sparrow's Nest Cookie Exchange

Over at the

Sparrow's Nest

Mrs.Wilt is hosting a Christmas cookie exchange. I love cookies!? :) And just because I do love treats so much I'll put in two recipes. Woo hoo!

Graham Cracker Squares
1 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Cocoa
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
30 Graham crackers broken into quarter size pieces

In medium saucepan, whisk together egg and brown sugar.
Whisk in cocoa and vanilla.
Add shortening and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Boil 1 minute. Immediately pour over graham wafers.
Put in 8x8 pan. Press down slightly to smooth top.

Icing:
1 Cup Icing Sugar
2 Tbsp Flour
1 1/2 Tbsp Cocoa
1 Tbsp Vanilla
Lump of Butter
1/4 tsp Salt

Mix with milk to make icing and spread over top of graham wafer mixture.
Put in fridge 1 hour or more to set.

* I must say it is very important to mix the egg with the sugar, cocoa and vanilla before heating!


Peanut Butter Balls
We love baking with peanut butter and this is so easy and tasty it's scary. No actual 'baking' involved. :)
All you need:

1 Cup Peanut butter
1 Cup Icing sugar
1 Cup Rice Krispies
1/4 Cup Butter softened

Mix the butter with the peanut butter and add the icing sugar.
Add the Rice Krispies and mix all up.
Roll into 1 inch balls and then roll in icing sugar to coat.

Another option if you don't mind a little mess is to melt milk chocolate chips and use spoons to dip and cover peanut butter balls and let harden on wax paper. That's the way I usually do them. These never last long around the kids and have become an expected holiday treat. Just remember that you may need to store them in the fridge for a while so they don't get too soft. All thanks to Grandma for this recipe.

Make that 3 recipes. :)
Melt in your mouth Shortbread
You may think you have the best shortbread recipe in the world, and I don't mean to be rude, but you don't. If you want total melt-in-your-mouth shortbread, just like the olden days, then we've got the recipe for you just in time for the holidays. It is pictured just under those yummy peanut butter balls on the cute snowman plate.
I took a whole big tin of this to a little gathering in Ontario and didn't get to bring a speck of it home. Everyone wanted to know who brought the shortbread and where the recipe was.
And believe me, you have to use your hands to do all the mixing. It really does make a difference. Once I was so energetic I mixed it for 20 minutes instead of 10 and it was even better.
Another must with the recipe is to use Splenda whether you need to or not. Using regular sugar just ruins it for some reason.

1 lb Butter, softened
1 pkg Rice Flour
1 Cup Splenda white sugar
3 1/2 -3/4 Cup All purpose flour

Mix all together with hands only 10 - 15 minutes at least. (The longer you mix it the better it is.)
Make into 1 ball and roll out to 1/2" thickness on floured area.
Cut into bars (just like you were cutting squares to serve) and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
Bake at 225 F for about 40 min. Until top is dry and dusty. (It's hard to tell until you've done it once. Just brush it with your finger to see if it's dusty or damp.) It's another one of those times when you take it out when you think they aren't quite done.
Place on cooling rack and taste test as soon as your lips won't get burned. :)

~Shannon

As little hearts ponder.

Warning** The following post is a reprint from back in the day, like last year.**
My daughter was quite deceived as to the man's work ethic.
It was just me and her waiting in the van for the rest of the family to come out of Canadian Tire (hubby's favourite store) and there wasn't anything to do. I had already put all the garbage in a bag, cleaned out my purse and organized a few things, then a man came out to gather the carts for the nearby grocery store. My daughter's comment had something to do with his hard work and I refrained from saying something to the effect of, " He's a lazy idiot is what he is" and tried to find a more suitable way of explaining that she was entirely wrong. Then, because I was feeling perky & organized and ready to take on the world, I figured why not bring up the subject of who she should marry. Boy, did that get her thinking.
My little girl is a very serious little girl, if you knew her well you would know that. She's shy and squishes up her nose if you talk to her and she can be very silly. But, I knew if I brought something like this up she will mull it over time and time again and take it all very seriously.
So we studied that man and how hard he really was working. She started noticing he didn't care about how quickly he got his job done (he was taking his sweet time that's for sure), and how many trips in and out of the store it took him to get the very few carts all put back in order. I started explaining to her about how she needs to study boys like that over the years to know what they are really like so that when she is all grown up and ready to get married she will know if the man will take care of her or not.
We talked about how if a boy works really hard at his job (& quickly), whether he enjoys it or not, then he will be the type of man that will work hard to take care of you and provide for the family. If he is very kind & caring to his mom, sisters, and other girls, then he will be kind and caring as a husband.
We also talked about being the kind of woman that a man like that would want. That part was a little humbling. I had to tell her we would learn together to be like that because I had a lot to learn too. I couldn't say like it says in Prov.23:26 " give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways".
And of course, I realized once again the huge job in front of me of raising 3 boys to be the kind of men that will be 'that good husband'. Oh my, I could get tired just thinking about it. It's terrifying! But one thing at a time. I had a little talk with my little girl and she has another 11 years (at least) to ponder on a few things, and learn to become a psychologist when it comes to finding the perfect man.

Gotta be one to know.

There was one day I wished I weighed a bit more, or was at least 6 months pregnant. Because I'm as skinny as a rake and very un-pregnant I was called upon to ignore my fears and fix the dryer. Yep, I was scared. You see, the dryer won't budge from it's place in it's closet in the bathroom. Just enough space for it.... and me apparently.

It doesn't matter if you 'know' that being a mom is a big lesson in unselfishness, you have to become one to really know what that means. Motherhood has been one of the biggest struggles in my life thus far. The dryer incident being one of the latest trifles to deal with. I love motherhood but it's hard work. Sometimes it calls me totally out of my comfort zone. I'm claustrophobic. So me having to hang upside down in a very small space to fix the dryer while hubby handed tools down to me and explained each step clearly to this dyslexic momma took my breath away a few times. I actually was too panicky to scream most of the time. (Maybe this isn't the best example to give for unselfishness, after all I really wanted to have a dryer back again. But it's the only one I have a picture for.:)

It all starts when you bring that little cutie home and there are no more nurses to take care of it while you rest. It's all up to you. You have discovered a totally new level of tiredness and wonder if you will ever feel perky again. But even then you just don't really get it. I think you need to have at least 2 or three children before you really understand. Having a newborn to feed and diaper and hold and feed and diaper and hold and feed and diaper and hold, along with those other little kids that are old enough to walk around and get into things, and ask a million questions before lunch, and start potty training .... that's when you start to see that this is going to cost you something. It's going to cost you yourself.

My dream growing up was to get married young and have lots of kids and be the perfect family. Me in my apron getting gorgeous tasty meals ready, my kids all freshly bathed and in spiffy outfits waiting for daddy to arrive home for supper. Of course I would always be the epitome of patience and love ruling my little ones with tender correction. Oh yeah, that's me. Whatever. I did get married young, I did have a few kids, I do bath them, we do our best to find spiffy outfits at Frenchy's..... ummm as for the meals, I try to enjoy cooking. Patience, love, and tenderness are slowly becoming part of my life. All this after 9 years of having children to care for.

Big lessons come in ordinary experiences. Just learning to say 'no' to my wants and tend to my families needs instead is a lifelong thing. Most women today, including Christian women, have been brainwashed into thinking they aren't doing anything important if they just stay home and take care of house & home. We're told that you aren't living up to your full potential if a women chooses to hold her family more important than a career. Well ya know what!?!? It takes a whole lot more strength to stay home and stick it out than to escape from our responsibility and spend most of our time away from it. When you stay home you see all the housework that needs to be done and kept up with, you see more of your children and start noticing how much work there is to do with their character and attitudes. Because everyone is home most of the time it creates more housework, and naturally more cooking because there are 3 meals to make and then 3 meals to clean up after. Then we have to fit half a day of schoolwork into the mix and the list goes on and on. Do I sound like I'm complaining? I'm not. I love it. But a lot of my days I start out thinking I'm really not up to the challenge. I'm tired and just want to sleep in, I don't want to make lunch, I'd rather check my email or go visit someone for a cup of tea. I don't want to make sure there is a clean bathroom for everyone to use in the morning. But thats when I pray and the Lord reminds me that this life isn't about all the 'I's', it's all about Him. This is the task He has called me to. This is the life He has blessed me with. Those tired days are the days He will give me supernatural strength for.

I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well, I might trade it for a bigger closet for the washer & dryer. :)

92 year old says "No" to theif!

My mother was telling me about a story she heard. I looked it up and thought I'd pass it along to you. I still want to read my Bible everyday and underlining it when I'm 92. And I want the courage to witness to the very people that put my life in danger too. Check out the video to see what I'm talking about. :)

News clip

The best turkey ever!!

I thought I'd pass along the perfect turkey recipe from Smockity Frocks. She claims that your meal will turn out perfect every time.

Here's hoping!

I haven't tried it yet but it sounds really good. Check it out and let me know what you think. I'll be giving it a try over the holidays myself. :)