Say Cheese!

Christmas pictures each year are a real treat, I sure hope you read the sarcasm in that! It never fails that there is at least one crying, one ready to go, one that doesn't want to stand by the other and one that has that "I'm trying too hard" smile! I enjoy photographing my kids, but I am usually the first to throw in the towel. This year, I just grabbed something out of the kids closets and took them to a local wooded park area. I tried not to pose them, because they always seem to do the opposite of what I would like!

Before leaving, I grabbed my good camera. I don't use it often, but love the photos so much more when I use it over my cell phone. I've become that parent that does everything with my cell phone. Any woo, we get to the park...kids are laughing, acting like this isn't a photo shoot. I take 3 pictures with my camera and it quits...memory card full!!!!  You have got to be kidding me??!! I knew if I ran home to get another card, the moment would pass, so I grabbed my cell phone. I just upgraded to an iPhone from an Android and wasn't sure how well they would come out. Surprisingly, they weren't too bad!

My sweet family!

Sweet Emma

Ethan looking so handsome!

Alex looking cute as ever!

Sweet Aaron

You would never guess they are twins!

I used this one for our Christmas card.
I love they way they automatically line up
in birth order!

When your 13 year old gets your camera!

We can never pass up on a group selfie! Selfie sticks are the best!

Overall, I was please with how they turned out. Maybe since I didn't put up a big fuss this year, it went much smoother. 

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! I am out of work with the kids this week and will try to blog about our Christmas joys!


Until then...

Easy Peezy Popcorn Balls

If you know me, you know that I can not cook!  I am embarrassed to admit just how many times I have pulled things back out of the oven to add ingredients that I missed.  I rock at opening cans and can make a mean box of mac and cheese!  The kids are used to the smoke detector going off and I often hear "Mommy, something is burning!"!!  

I can usually make sweet treats without messing them up too badly...except that one dreadful banana bread incident!!  I like to make things for the kids to give their teachers for Christmas.  I've made the same thing for the last several years and decided to switch up. Maybe not my best thought, but it turned out great! I follow the blog Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I enjoy looking through their blog as some of the recipes they showcase reminds me of my family's cooking in Pennsylvania. I come from a great family of cooks, but it has obviously skipped over me!

This week, they blogged about popcorn balls.  I read through the recipe and it seemed easy enough, even for me.  So, that night, we got out the ol' popcorn maker and set about making them for teachers, coworkers and friends.

So glad I had this popper on hand! 

Movie anyone?

One of my helpers

This step is the one that made me nervous!  I could just hear the smoke detector going off mid process, but it didn't!  The marshmallows cooked down easily.  **Whew, what a relief!**

The marshmallows have been added to the
popcorn. The kids decided to make
them festive and added sprinkles!

We made them smaller than suggested. They were quite sticky to form into balls.  The only thing we did differently was spraying a little cooking spray on our hands to keep them from pulling apart.  
My taste testers give these popcorn balls 2 thumbs up!  If you are interested in making them, I have added the link for the recipe here. We will be making more of these while we are out on Christmas break.

These are a few of my favorite things!

You have to sing the title the correct way!!  Christmas has always had such a special meaning to me. As a child, we would travel every Thanksgiving and Christmas to my Grandmother's home in Pennsylvania. Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around those trips.  We always opened our gifts a few days before Christmas and would head north to see the most amazing Grandmother that has ever blessed this planet and all of our cousins.  I often feel bad for my kids, because they don't have 12 cousins like I did.  I tell them all my stories, but they don't understand how wonderful it is to have lots of cousins!  

As we were putting up our tree this year (and all the past years!), I love remembering where we got our ornaments and the special story that goes along with it.  So, I thought I would show you some of my favorites...pardon all the pics!!

I cross stitched each of my kids a stocking.

Twins first Christmas!

Alex and Aaron's first Christmas ornament

These are spoons that are bent and
painted.  We got them at a local shop
that only sales items made by
senior citizens!

Alex's 1st grade ornament

Raise your hand if you had one of these
growing up!  Ours was very large and green.  I
found this at our local Goodwill and
just about cried in the store when I
found it!  Couldn't wait for Christmas
to come around!

Ornament from my Grandma from 1989

My Aunt made these for us

Emma's first Christmas ornament

Another made by my aunt.

Looks silly, but it's an insulin vial that
Ethan requested to be hung on the light.

Snowman that Adam bought me while
we were dating.  His eyes and smile were
made up of little black dots, but they
have all fallen off.  Pretty sure his
nose is held on with super glue to!

Ethan made these while he was in the
hospital at diagnosis!  They are
so very special to him!

Our selfie ornament, cause we take
lots of selfies!!

I just love the way these sparkle in the evening!

There are so many things I love about Christmas.  I hope that my children will be able to look back and remember what a special time it was and think of all the happy memories we have created.