Day 15 - Aunty x2

So guess what

Guess what

Guess What!!!!!!!!


I am an Aunty times 2. My sister went into labour on December 16th and I now have a little beautiful (and hairy) niece. I have been taking care of my nephew the past couple of days so I haven't really had time to post anything about it. I am so excited to see this wee one grow and develop a personality. And to teach her all the things that Aunties just need to teach the nieces and nephews.

Here she is :) My wee niece Melody Joy Gordon. She is 7 lbs 1oz and 20.6 inches long. And she has so much brown hair like seriously. Look at this.....

This is such a beautiful early Christmas present for my family. 

Day 14 - Christmas Holiday? Sort of 1

So I just found out that I am going to get a week off work :) yeah. From December 14 - Dec 22.



In some ways it is annoying not to be earning a pay check that week, but it is also great to be able to have a week to hang out with my Grandma and brother who will be at my house, hopefully see my new little niece (Due date is the 18th) and so many other things.


Now I just need to make sure that I use my time wisely. My first thought is that I just want to sleep the whole way through it, but that isn't very productive or a valuable use of my time. I should make up a idea list of things that I want to do next week. Maybe I can get some handmade stuff done for Christmas?

Day 13 - Christmas Music on the Radio

So I had an thought while driving home from work tonight. I had found a entirely Christmas music station (we had been listening to it at work earlier as well) and I was wondering why Christian music is even acceptable in today's culture. Sure it has its fair share of Santa and secular Christmas music, but almost have of the songs reference Jesus, Mary, Bethlehem, include some that are straight from the hymn book. My two conclusions were that:

1. People start feeling more "religious" around Christmas time. Maybe it brings back their upbringing or they just think it is the right thing to do so they are offended by something that is clearly from Scripture.

2. They don't actually listen to the words and just hear them as the "classics" of Christmas.


I know this sounds cynical but these were my two thoughts. Then I thought that maybe even if this is something that most people will miss, maybe someone out there will actually listen and wonder about something their hear in a Christmas carol this month. Maybe it will make them curious so they attend a local church and hear more.


My prayer for this month is that people will not just get caught up in the secularism of Christmas and actually hear the words and listen to the story.

Day 12 - Christmas Lights

So on my drive home from work tonight, I noticed a couple of houses that have amazing Christmas lights up. It always makes the drive a little bit more interesting when I can look at all the beautiful lights that I can see around.



I always think the lights that are timed to music are great. (But probably so annoying to their neighbours)

None of the lights on my drive home compare to those but hey....that is what YouTube is for right.

Day 11 - Christmas Traditions

What are some of your favourite traditions during the Christmas season?


I know for my some of the things my family does during Christmas are always the same and it wouldn't feel right without them.

1. On Christmas morning we have a very set way of doing things. We all wake up (later now than we used to) and come downstairs and when we are all ready we open our stockings. Then we clean up from that and have a big and delicious breakfast. After breakfast we go to where the Christmas tree is set up and we read the Christmas story from the Scriptures. Then we sort the presents and we all go around in turns and open one present at a time.

2. Our lunch on Christmas is always what I call the "Cheese Meal". Mom usually for the month of December (and even November) looks for good deals on really fancy cheese like bree and gouda, etc. For lunch on Christmas we have the cheese, cream cheese, crackers, and often soup ( we almost always get cans of soup in our stockings).

3. The last couple of years my Dad has gotten into the habit of hiding a dill pickle in the Christmas tree. And then the hunt is on. We have to hunt in the tree for the pickle and the person who finds it first gets to open the first present.

4. The first "Christmas" tradition of the year in our family actually happens on Halloween. One Halloween night between handing out candy to trick r treaters we have a chip and dip meal while watching It's A Wonderful Life.


These are some of the Christmas traditions that without Christmas would not look the same.

Day 10

So I am really tired tonight so this post will probably be short. Sorry :(


Tonight my church had its annual women to women Christmas meeting. It was nice to have a night that was a slower pace and relaxing while being able to talk with a lot of my girl friends from the church.


We sang some Christmas carols, and did a short table discussion while eating some Christmas goodies. We also made some tags for gifts etc that were really cool. We used either heat applied fabric adhesive, the cuddlebug, and some stamps. They were fun to make especially since I do not do them that often.

It was a good night being able to fellowship with some other Christian ladies. But now it is time for bed. Good night world. And A Merry Christmas

Day 9 - Popular Christmas Hymns

I always find it interesting to have the story behind the hymn or carol. Sometimes they were written for amazing reasons. So I thought I would share with you the story behind some of the more popular Christmas carols.

P.S. I am just going to apologise now for the small history lesson, I absolutely love history and find this kind of stuff fascinating but I know that not everyone does.

Silent Night

Silent night! Holy Night! 

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon virgin mother and Child

Holy Infant, so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.

This hymn was written by Joseph Mohr in 1818 high up in the Alps. After learning that the church organ was broken Mohr decided that he needed to write a Christmas hymn that could be sung without the organ. After writing the lyrics, Franz Gruber the village schoolmaster and organist wrote the music that would be played on the guitar. So a little song written in the Alps went on to become one of the most well known Christmas carols of all time. 

Hark! The Herald Angel Sings!

Hark! The herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled"

Joyful, all ye nations, rise

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th'angelic host proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

Hark! The herald angels sing,

"Glory to the newborn King."

This hymn comes from two very well known hymn writer and composer. Charles Wesley, who wrote more than 6 500 hymns, and is also said to be one of the four most popular hymns in the English language. The five verses teach such spiritual truths as the virgin birth, Christ's deity, immortality of the soul, the new birth, and a concern for Christ-like living. As Eric Routley (an English hymnist said) "These hymns were composed in order that men and women might sing their way, not only into experience, but also into knowledge; that the cultured might have their culture baptised and the ignorant might be led into truth by the gentle hand of melody and rhyme." 

Joy to the World!

Joy to the world! The Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room

And heav'n and nature sing

And heav'n and nature sing 

And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing

This carol was also written by another prolific hymn writer: Isaac Watts. A lot of the hymns that he wrote were to combat the mediocre lyrics and songs that were being sung in his day. This hymn was inspired by Psalm 98 which talks about rejoicing at the marvellous ways in which God had protected and restored the Israelites. 

Day 8 - December 1st Here We are :)

Well it is officially the first day of December....and there is so much happening in this month.


(And we have at least a good foot of snow on the ground which for me doesn't hurt at all.)


Beyond the fact that it is Christmas in less than 26 days, I am going to be able to meet my little niece sometime this month, and I am going to see the Hobbit, and go to the Crystal Buffet (I love Chinese food)...and sing Christmas carols really loudly all the time and no one will look at me as strangely as they do in November.


Speaking of music in public:

I think this is absolutely amazing, even if Ode to Joy isn't exactly Christmas music. 

And there we go a little bit more of Christmas for you. 

Day 7 - Yummy Cracker Snacks

This year we decided to add another recipe to our collection of Christmas goodies. We found this recipe online while looking for something fun to try this year.


Recipe for Yummy Cracker Snacks



This actually worked a lot better than I thought it would. We used Ritz crackers and bought Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate candy coating at Bulk Barn.

If we decide to do them again next year we would probably not add the marshmallow cream. You can't taste it very well and it gets messy to work with. But other than that these snacks work really well.


If you decide to make them, you will want to store them in the fridge or freezer depending how long it takes for you to eat them. The chocolate can melt if they are kept out at room temperature.

Day 6 - Christmas Movies

Sometimes it is just nice to sit downstairs during the evening and watch a movie that you haven't seen in a really long time. This is how I feel about our Christmas movies.


In my family, Christmas movie season officially starts on Halloween and I know that it strange. We were never that big into doing anything for Halloween so my parents started some traditions that we could do at home every year. So we always have a chip and dip meal and watch "It's A Wonderful Life." That is our official start to Christmas movies.


Tonight we decided to watch A White Christmas, which is another one of my favourite classics for Christmas. So here are my top 5 Christmas movies of all time :)


1. It's A Wonderful Life.
2. White Christmas
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
4. A Christmas Story
5. Charlie Brown's Christmas


Christmas movies are great. It is always so much fun to watch them snuggled in a blanket with some candy cane hot chocolate and my cat.


Well Merry Christmas Everybody :)

Day 5 - Decorating Part 1

       Because I have Friday (tomorrow) off, my mom and I decided that it would be a good day to decorate the house for Christmas. Typically, my family does it on the first weekend in December, and since Sunday is December 1st this counts. 

        The last couple of years I have only been around for three weeks or so around Christmas so I haven't bothered to decorate my own room. But this year as I am already home I decided that I should add a little bit more Christmas cheer to my own room. 

     It also hasn't hurt that we have had a couple days of nasty snow squalls (not fun to drive in but so pretty to look at). It is totally a Winder Wonderland out there and that has put me in the mood for Hot Chocolate, Christmas music and Christmas decorating. Too bad the snow is too fluffy for me to build a snowman. 

So first step to decorating my room is to actually clean it. I can be a bit of a slob so this is always my biggest challenge but hey I got it done. 

Is it a little sad that I am a little proud of the fact that I cleaned my room. I don't know.

So the next step was to get out my wee box of Christmas decor (see red box in above picture) and start placing around the room. I think my cat on the bed was excited to see some more of her cuddle buddies coming out of the box. She loves sleeping on the bed with the other stuffed animals. 

So in these before and after photos you can sort of see a little of what I did with the desk. I am not that creative with Christmas decorations but I love little nicknacks for Christmas. I will sometimes re purpose Christmas ornaments that don't fit in with the tree downstairs and just set them around the room as well. 

Finally, in my mind Christmas is not complete without a little winter scene somewhere in my room. I have always enjoyed my wee Christmas tree and put it up in my room every year. I just used polyester craft stuffing to make the snow and there you go. Snow inside that won't melt. 

What are some of your favourite Christmas decorations? More to come tomorrow as we finish decorating the rest of the house. 

Day 4 - Christmas Albums

One thing that I enjoy doing every Christmas is getting or listening to a new Christmas album that I have never heard before. Because I was in N. Ireland last Christmas, I had yet to hear the Getty's Christmas album that my family got last year.  So that is my Christmas album for this year.


All in all I really like it. There are a lot of catchy tunes. It is also not full of the secular Santa Clause songs (which I enjoy in moderation) but has a lot of meaningful songs.


I really enjoy their version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

Probably my favourite song on the album is this one though:

Do you have any suggestions for great Christmas songs? I would love to have more to listen too.  Please comment below :) 

Day Three - Advent Calendar

Hey All,


I love doing advent calendars. I always do a countdown to Christmas and I find that an advent calendar is a fun way to keep track (plus a little reward every day doesn't hurt.)


I am sure that almost everyone has done the classic buy at Wal-Mart gross chocolate ones. This year I think I am going to try to come up with one for my room that has a little bit more character.


We have one downstairs that is a Christmas tree that has little Velcro Christmas symbols on it. And there is a Scripture verse that goes with each day. Then my Mom also does one on the Christmas tree. Each of the kids (pretty much just me at home this year though) has their own personalised little stocking and each day mom puts in a wee treat and a piece of paper that tells you how many days it is till Christmas.


But I was thinking that it would be fun to have one for my own room this year. Still working on the idea though. Anyone have an creative and simple methods of creating an advent calendar? Please share below.



Well here is hoping that I have a good idea tomorrow.


Merry Christmas Everybody.

Day 2= Gingerbreads

Good Morning One and All:


Last night my mom and I finished making some of our traditional Christmas cookies. I one recipe that I would like to share with you is our gingerbread cookies.

We found these online in 2006 after trying unsuccessfully to find a recipe that we liked before. We both are not very fond of gingerbreads that are hard and crunchy. That is where this recipe comes in. It is officially the best tasting and softest gingerbreads that I have ever eaten (although I am willing to try other ones as well I can't get enough of Christmas baking).

Just as a warning....while making these cookies they will not look appetising. The batter looks like spoiled butter that had curdled. That is right, keep going :)

Gingerbread cookies

GINGERBREAD COOKIES RECIPE:

3/4 cup unsalted softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup fancy molasses
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
3 1/4 cups flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until it turns fluffy. Then stir in the molasses and water. In a medium bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, stirring constantly. Divide the dough in half and flatten to a round disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. (You can also freeze this dough if you want to use it later than the next day).

Preheat the oven to 325 and lightly grease (cheat: use parchment paper best invention for cookies ever) your cookie sheets. On lightly floured surface roll out one of the disks (leave the other one in the fridge). Roll to a 1/4 in thickness (add more flour if it is impossibly sticky). Cut the cookies in whatever shapes your want and place about an inch apart on baking sheet. Cook for 6-10 minutes. Cookies should be firm but not browned.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for three minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish.


FROST not if desired, this is the best part so much fun. My mom and I just made a thick mixture of icing sugar and milk, but you can also buy piping icing at grocery stores, or find other decorative icing recipes online. But please don't leave your poor gingerbreads faceless.

Hope you have fun making these. And do you have any fun ways that you have decorated gingerbreads (I am always looking for new ideas.) Please comment below

MERRY CHRISTMAS

31 Days Till.........

As we have already established, I am really bad at updating my blog. But I got a suggestion from my friend JRae to complete a 31 Days of Something Challenge.


PS check out her blog --------------------------->JRae Writes



Anyway....as I was saying I decided to do this 31 Day Challenge and as I realised it is only 31 (or more like 30) days till Christmas I couldn't resist.


So here is my start to posting for the next 31 days....and they are all going to have at least one reference to Christmas. Hope you have fun with me and have a Merry Christmas.