Merry Christmas to All

O Christmas Tree...I Want to Eat You!

One of the things I always enjoyed as a stay-at-home mom, was to make crafts, bake, and be creative with my boys and all the other kids who came to our home for a visit. Today I took the day off from work, due to some little visitors we've had for a long weekend (my niece and nephew are with us, while their newlywed parents are celebrating in Jamaica). Today to be creative, we made Christmas tree cupcakes...but it's probably NOT what you are thinking!

I bought ice cream cones--the small variety, although I think sugar cones would be the best option to look like a real Christmas tree. We filled the cones with yellow cake mix, and topped with green frosting and sprinkles.

Here are the directions we followed:

1) Placed the cones in a muffin dish top side up.
2)Make the cake mix as directed on the yellow cake mix box.

3) Filled the cones 3/4 way full and placed them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean when placed in the center of the cupcake.

4) Remove conecakes from the oven, and let cool.

5) Flip over on a plate, frost, and decorate like a tree.

6) EAT & ENJOY! YUMMY!!!

Sunday Funday Blog Carnival

What a fun way to get to know other bloggers...through a Sunday Funday Blog Carnival!
This week's posted topic by Keely is to post a prior Christmas card picture or video (like she did).

Here is last year's

We send our Christmas cards out to over 110 homes of family and friend past and present.  I love sending them and the kids LOVE receiving the mail in return.  It's so fun! :)  Now let's see your's!  Link up and hop around!

When You Wish Upon a Star...or Something Like That...

This week my sister and her husband took their honeymoon to Ochos Rios, Jamaica.  Between my twin brother and I, we are splitting the week and taking my niece and nephew who are 4 1/2 and 1.  To start my portion of the duties, my sister-in-law took my two nieces and myself to see Disney's Princesses on Ice.  

The little princesses themselves dressed up in fabulous princess attire including little petticoats to bring the whole "princess effect" into order.  They were so darn cute, and so in awe of the magic that transpired before them.  Here are some pictures of the evening.

It was a very fantastical evening, and all of the princesses showed up.  You could really hear the sighs and giggles of the little ladies in the audience as each princes pranced across the ice in their amazing costumes.  I was impressed by the sets, props, costumes and acting of the skaters.  The only thing that I was let down by was the less fabulous skating technique, but I'm sure I was the only one hoping for triples, tricks, and fancy footwork.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to take in such "pink" events, since I live primarily in a house of blue.
Maybe. Someday.
When You Wish Upon a Star....
or something like that.

~Amber

How Much IS Too Much?

As a kid, our living room was filled to the brim with presents wrapped in bright shades of red, green and Christmas themed papers, and topped with a jewel-colored bow, you know the variety, peel and stick.

My very giving mom is the same or even more giving than she was while we were growing up.  She buys for myself, my brother, my sister, all of our spouses and each of the lucky grandchildren.  She amazes me with her thoughtfulness and generosity.  Every year my husband shakes his head (in what I would like to think is amazement) at the piles and mountains of Christmas gifts for the family.  She takes such joy in shopping and purchasing just the perfect gift for each member of the family.  Rarely does she ask what we want, it seems she has a notebook in her mind keeping track of things we need, have wanted, or things she thinks would be just right for us.  She just knows.

I, too, have taken to the love of shopping for others, especially for our kids. I love to shop for great deals,  buying them things they need, mixed in with things they don't.  But since I decided to stay home for the last 18 months, finances aren't what they were and money is tight.  It made us re-evaluate what is needed and gave us the desire to scale down, but not necessarily take away.

We've decided to give gifts to our Little Spices based on The Bible and The Christmas Story.  We'll be giving the boys three wrapped gifts based on the Three Wise Men, and the three gifts they gave to Baby Jesus.  The Three Wise Men gave Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, and we'll...well, we'll give them three gifts that are age appropriate.  But, the main idea is to keep bringing the excitement back to the REAL meaning of Christmas, the REAL reason we're celebrating, and the REAL present we were given so many years ago.

~Amber