Christmas Day Heaven

Do you remember waking on Christmas morning before it was even light outside, and shaking with excitement as you saw the front room that had been transformed into a sparkling, positively magical place? Boy, I do.

It was so wonderful watching Chompy open her presents, and love them…

even the clothes! What a good sport of a baby.

Jillian could hardly believe the lovely gifts she received from her dearest friend Sarah–all the way from England!

The bald kid was thrilled with his Russian vocabulary book. Pretty sure that’s going to come in handy–real soon.

Then our April and the “second wave” arrived. Sounds like the name of a band–don’t you think?

The babies were sweet to take turns and tried very hard to wait patiently until their turn to open a present…

but they never understood why we would ask them to come open something else–when they were happily playing with what they already had. Perhaps next year, we’ll take things a bit slower and maybe take a full week or so to unwrap. Don’t know if anyone will agree with me, but wouldn’t a couple of presents every day be great fun–instead of all at once?

Ok, it’s true. We did have our share of meltdowns here and there, simply because…

we didn’t know that a toy drum would be the hit of the land…and there are three kids…and one drum.

Do the math.

But the day was, by farrrr—a mystical, magical thing, with enough squeals and giggling to add a hundred years to this grammy’s heart.

“All of the music
All of the magic
All of the family home here with me.”

I do hope your Christmas was everything that brings you joy!  Thanks for being with us!

 

 

On the Eve…

I’m like a child about Christmas.

I still believe.

To me, the sparkle and the glitter are real,

and the gifts that I receive–

come from the heart.

The season is it’s own excuse for giving,

and I love

the generosity I feel.

The tree,

the ornaments,

the lights

are all for me.

It’s magic, and I feel it

every year.

Maybe that’s because

I still believe.

Rae Turnbill.

 

“Santa!!”

“I KNOW Him!!” No, really. I do.

Or at least, he looks familiar somehow. Hmmm…in fact, he looks remarkably like my cute Dane.

I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.

I’ll tell you this–he is one “right jolly old elf” all right.

In fact, he had a good list/naughty list chat with a ton of kids on Saturday–passing out candy canes and having his picture taken with them all.

This dude assures me that Christmas is looking pretty fabulous for all of us–as long as we’ve been…

good.

Dang.

Knew there was a catch.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Here’s a little slice of Heaven you may just want to sneak into your holiday preparations this year. It has all the right stuff to earn a regular spot on the “Santa plate.”

The elves and I used the Brownie cookie recipe from a few years back and–how shall we say–tweaked it a little. We just sprinkled in–ok, ok, dumped in Andes Mint Morsels with wild abandon, and we haven’t recovered yet.

DIVINE I tell you…di-vine.

So fill up the plate–if there are any left for the old bearded fellow.

Ours are long gone.

Dude’s getting Oreos.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Mint Cookies
 
:
Ingredients
  • 1-1/4 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¾ cup cocoa
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 10oz Andes Cream de Menthe Chips
  • OR
  • 10oz Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients slowly. Stir in Andes Mint Chips and mix well. Drop on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Allow to rest on pan for a minute or two before removing to cool.

 

Shhhh….It’s a Secret!

Tip toe on over here and let me show you something. Oh, wait. I really don’t want my kids to see–so I’ll meet you behind the “Secrets” tab…or just CLICK HERE. You’ll see a bit of what’s up for Christmas in these parts.

:} hee, hee…

 

 

Oh, yes–and Happy Winter Solstice everyone. This day–Tuesday December 21 is an amazing rarity. Find out why–right HERE.  Winter officially begins today at 3:38 pm.  Imagine that!