Christmas with the Hardesty's

After church on Christmas Eve we drove to my parents house and celebrated with them. We love living so close to family and feel so fortunate that we are able to. Hope you and yours had a joyous new year also! Let's eat folks!

Just woke from a nap- are you seriously going to take my picture!

John and Livy with my parents. Although he looks healthy here - John has had it hard this Christmas. Before Christmas he was diagnosed with Bronchitis and a sinus infection. he started to get better, but hen after 9 days of antibiotic everything came back. He went to the doctor today and now he has Walking Pneumonia!! So after 5 more prescriptions and another shot we are praying he is on the mend for good!

The much loved Uncle Ben.

Ethan is joyous over bakagun- the weirdest kid toy ever!

Christmas at Home

So... after a night of anticipation we celebrated Christmas at home on Christmas Eve morning. No one was more excited than Ethan...

Going for the stockings...

Now... where are my "real" presents...

Livy got this doll house...

Ethan got this Batman Castle/ Cave/ Tower thing...

This was BY FAR the biggest hit of the day. St. Nick could have saved himself the variety and gotten all three of my kids a Batman Castle

(even baby doll obsessed Olivia played with it all day).

Livy got her first real dress up outfit - she LOVES it and wanted to wear it out to brunch with John's parents.

After presents and general merriment we ate brunch with John's parents on Christmas Eve, came back to our house to play with new toys, went to Christmas Eve service at our church, and then on to my parents. A busy and fun Christmas Eve!

Waiting for St. Nicholas

St. Nick came to our house on the night of the 23rd.

He said it was fine because he had so much to do the following night- it was nice for him to get some kids scratched off the list early. Here is our house in anticipation of celebration... I think the anticipation is my favorite part of Christmas.

Going to see St. Nicholas

About a week before Christmas we got 6 inches of snow. As is the way in the South, everything got cancelled and rescheduled (to be fair - there was an inch of ice on top of all the snow and the roads were dangerous). "Everything" included church and Sunday School. So instead of another day at home we ventured out to see St. Nick. We debated if this was wise... although we do St. Nick we try hard to make the real focus about Christ and his coming. We heard about this one local guy and thought we would try it...

Anyway- St. Nicholas was awesome. He told the kids to sing his favorite song as soon as they came down the stairs- not to open presents or run to their stockings until they sang his favorite song... any guesses??? What do you think his favorite song is???

It's.... Happy Birthday, he told the kids to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before they did anything else. And, to remember Jesus was more important than St. Nicholas (himself).

Awesome, Santa. Thanks for the help. Really, Ethan keeps talking about how you love Jesus and so does he. But one more favor to ask...

Now next year- can you PLEASE let us take our own picture of you with our camera- it really is unfair that we can only PURCHASE the high priced photo from the (grumpy) photographer. $17 for one 5X7 is really not a deal.

And, one more thing, what happened to the free candy canes you gave out when I was a kid. Is the disappearance of this classic sticky goodness a result of the bad economy or child - hood obesity?? Either way, please bring that back too!

So- there are no shots of our kids with the jolly old guy. But, don't think you would have gotten a great shot anyway- Livy did not want anything to do with him (but has talked about him a lot since).

So here are our cute kids waiting...

Waiting... we got there early and were the first in line.

Playing on the malls "rides".... just waiting.
No we didn't insert a quarter- but they still "rode" them and had fun!

Isaac has started this new thing with refusing to take off his coat. Odd, I know.

Merry Christmas with the Hoots

On Saturday, we celebrated early with the Hoots.

There was plenty of goodies, presents and snow! We are so thankful to live close to family and get to celebrate with them... see the fun for yourself below.

Waiting for the gift giving to begin.

Two grumpy boys and a thoughtful girl waiting...

Still waiting...

Isaac's favorite gift.

Olivia's favorite gift.

Ethan and Gavin's favorite gifts (guitars).

Grandma and Grandaddy with the five grandchildren.

After presents and stuffing ourselves we went out and romped in the snow. The boys loved it - but Livy was content just watching (she does not like to be dirty- the priss!)

Ethan samples the snow.

Trying to find a hill to sled on.

Ethan and Gavin wrestling in the snow.

Stopping at the neighbors "winter wonderland".

Thanks to the Hoots for a wonderful Christmas celebration.

Ethan's Prayers (and snow dance) are Answered

Merry Christmas, Ethan.

You have been praying and begging God for this... hope you enjoy your early present!

Mom and Dad like it too! Isaac and Livy can like it tomorrow - they are down for the night!

A Girl's Weekend

Last weekend, Olivia and I were blessed to travel to Ohio with my cousin Tina, my mom, and my sister. My grandmother turned 81 last weekend and we were there to celebrate, to play cards and to eat caramel squares!! I barely got out my camera- but here is one picture that is proof of our trip...

Olivia and Tina (cousin).

(Also pictured, baby Minnie- Tina brought it from Disney World for Liv- she works for Disney (Tina, I mean;) - but my kids think she actually lives in the park!).

Think we look alike? Most people think we look more alike than my sister and I. Anyway- Tina flew to my house on Thursday (from her home in FL) and then Friday morning all five of us drove to Ohio together. Tina and I were hoping to see snow, but all we had was bone - chilling cold on the way up and a cold rain and tons of fog on the way home.

We had a blast, but the trip was way too short.... Let's do it again next year!

One More Recipe...

Okay - so a couple of people have asked for this recipe for Wassail (sort of like cider- but better!). Hope you enjoy it with your loved ones this Christmas eve.

Christmas Wassail

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white sugar
8 whole cloves
3 cups water
3 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 cup lemon juice
1 gallon apple

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cloves, water, and cinnamon.

2. Bring to a boil, and continue to boil for 10 minutes.

3. Remove from heat, cover, and allow to cool for 1 hour.

4. Stir in the orange juice, lemon juice, and apple juice.

5. Return to the heat, and boil for 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks before serving.

7. Enjoy!

Recipe says it yields 32 servings, but from experience serves about 20 people.

Merry Christmas!

Three Christmas Parties in One Week: Part Three

So... last Saturday night we had our final (in a series of) Christmas Parties. This one is the party I look forward to all year. We have held it annually - for 7 years now! We try to invite everyone we can think of and we crank out some holiday cheer! Here is what I think makes our holiday party a success... 1. Good friends (45 came this year- our biggest ever- yeah!!) 2. Good game (we play Dirty Santa and most people get into it) and 3. Good food and drink (see recipes below). Hope you get to celebrate and rejoice in the Savior's birth as festively as we did.

All the presents waiting to be fought over. The big items that were fought over this year... an LED snake light you wear around your neck as you work with your hands, pajama pants, a multi - tool, a sweatshirt, Attractions books (local book of bogo free coupons), gift cards, bath and body works hand soap... I am sure I am forgetting something...


Brooke makes her selection...

Sorry the lighting is so terrible.

Here was another big hit - not sure who ended up with it - but Amy is holding up a "Give Thanks" tray - super cute.

The dessert table.

Here were the two recipes people asked for and that seemed to be enjoyed by all...

Buckeyes (Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls)

Ingredients:

3 cups creamy peanut butter

1 cup butter softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 cups 10X powdered sugar

2, 12 oz. bag of choc chips

4 tablespoons Crisco

1. Mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla and sugar by hand until you get a smooth dough like mixture. Hint: add the sugar last, one cup at a time, until you reach the desired consistency, I actually only added 7 cups this last time, but it always changes. You don't want the dough sticky (not enough sugar) or crumbly (too much sugar).

2. Refrigerate dough for about an hour.

3. Take dough out of fridge and roll into small balls. You should use about 2 teaspoons per ball. Place balls on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate.

4. Wait about 30 minutes.

5. Microwave the choc chips and Crisco in the microwave. Do 30 increments - stirring each time until thoroughly melted and smooth. (You can throw it back in the microwave if it starts to reharden)

6. Take balls out of fridge- using a toothpick dip the balls in the choc. Leave the tops exposed so that it looks like a buck - eye.

7. Refrigerate until hard (about 30 minutes)

8. Enjoy!

The picked over- "real" food. We used to make all the food - but then we wised up and now everyone brings an appetizer. I made an old classic - the cheese ball. I have made this probably close to a hundred times: good, easy, always a good bet. Here is the recipe...

Party Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

2, 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 Tablespoon chopped pimento

1 Tablespoon onion

1 Tablespoon chopped green pepper ( I usually leave this out - only because i do not want to buy a whole green pepper for 1 tablespoon - still tastes great without it)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

finely chopped pecans

Directions:

1.Combine all ingredients - except nuts. Mix well with your hands- make sure it is thoroughly blended.
2. Chill for about an hour

3. Shape into ball and roll in chopped nuts.

4. Enjoy with crackers of your choice.

Millie and Ida.

Elisabeth, Stephanie, Anna, Kari and Brooke.

Our good friends, Mark and Emily who have lived here for about 6 months. They moved from VA and having them here has been such a blessing. I insisted that we get a new picture of the four of us because all of our pics are from CWR days (when we were so tan and thin and looking at them is just depressing - not because of CWR - but because we are not the tan and thin folks we used to be - well at least not the all of us!).

So that concludes another successful Christmas Party. My advice is to spread yours out a little... three in one week is too many!!

Okay one last recipe... the punch. Several of you have asked so here goes...

Christmas Slush Punch

Ingredients-

3 small packages of jello mix (I used lime this year and it was a huge hit- I have also tried strawberry).

9 cups boiling water

4 cups sugar

9 cups water

2 (46 oz) cans of pineapple juice

2 cups lemon juice

4 (2 liter) bottles of ginger ale

Directions-

1. In an enormous bowl - mix the 3 packs of gelatin and 9 cups of boiling water together.

2. On the stove in a large pot, boil the other 9 cups of water- once boiling dissolve the 4 cups of sugar into it.

3. Add the sugar water to the gelatin mix and mix well.

4. Stir in pineapple and lemon juice.

5. Mix well.

6. Divide the concoction into 4 1 gallon size freezer bags- or in pretty bundt pans to freeze. About 8 - 9 cups of the mixture will go in each bag.

9. Freeze for several days

10. To make punch, remove one of the gallon size bags about an hour before serving. Empty contents into a punch bowl. Add one bottle of ginger ale.

11. Enjoy!

Three Christmas Parties in One Week: Part Two

On Thursday night I hosted the 2nd in a series of Christmas Parties. This one was for Adelphe, a sisterhood of friends I have in my home each week for bible study. For or last meeting of 2009 we had a Christmas party- with games (shown below), good food, hot cider and a little bit of seriousness at the end. So fun to celebrate Immanuel with close friends!! (sorry - the lighting is terrible!)

Playing the Christmas Song game... split the room in two teams. Each group must work together to come up with as many songs with the word Christmas in the lyrics-then the group has to sing the line with "Christmas" in it for the group. It was fun and showed the pathetic and limited knowledge of Christmas Carols among half the group (JK, ;).

So blessed to get to walk through life with these women. Hope you have an Adelphe (sister in Greek) too!