Call Me Crazy

Ok folks, I know it is only November 1st, and you can call me crazy but I have Christmas music playing today while I work on Christmas gifts for the family. I don't usually get the Christmas bug this soon. We typically wait until after Thanksgiving but for some reason this year I am ready for it early. I will have to be sure to turn it off before DH gets home.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a great Christmas! It definitely didn't feel like Christmas here, at least to me. I have been trying to decide if it is because we had 6 less days between Thanksgiving and Christmas or if it is because we were missing three of our loved ones this year. B#1 and his wife weren't here and B#2 is down at my parents in MS spending Christmas with them. In any case it was strange. But as it is with all big families, there is never a quiet moment so we still had a good time. Its funny but DH and I are usually up before the children on Christmas so once we were up we started waking up the ones who weren't up yet.

 

 

You might think with 9 children still at home that Christmas must be mass chaos but we do try to keep things toned down. One thing that helps with that is that we do not go hog wild with gifts for the children. We typically stick to our usual plan of Something to Read, Something to Wear and Something to Share. Although for my little ones who can't read yet we do buy them one toy item instead of a book. Several of the received new rain boots this year and others got some much needed clothes or jackets. The something to share may be a game, or movies or sometimes a big item.

 

One fun item that was received by B#9 from his Secret Sibling was this minion. We are big Despicable Me fans around here and these pudgy little things remind us of our pudgy little B#9 so it was a fun gift to get. Everyone likes him.

 

We do things a bit differently around here than most people...our Christmas dinner is always pizza( a tradition started several years back when Auntie M came for Christmas). We love that it is a relaxing day for us all with a minimal amount of clean-up. We always start the morning off with canned cinnamon rolls. I love the orange ones!

We finished up the day with our birthday cake for Jesus!

 

                               B#10 got some fun toys from his Mamaw and Papaw to chew on.

Christmas Happenings around here

Well my Christmas crafts didn't go quite as planned but I still enjoyed making a few things this year as I had time and I have enjoyed doing our "Christmas Calendar" that I made. The children have enjoyed pulling a new tag out each day to see what we were going to do that day. I will admit to being very unorganized about it all, despite making a list in the beginning. Most mornings found me scrambling to write something on the tag and sometimes even trying to figure out what we were going to do that day. But all in all it has gone well.  Some of the things we have done are....

 
                                                       Make ornaments to feed the birds

 

Celebrate St. Nicholas Day by putting our shoes by the fireplace for treats

 

Make yummy sugar cookies

 

Make baking soda dough ornaments

                                                                 Make Christmas trees

 

 

 

Make Goody plates to share with our gas attendants, Dr.'s office and hospital staff

                      
                                   And make these cute animal pictures with little ones hand prints.

I was talking with the children today about how Christmas presents are a picture of God's Grace....we don't deserve them(as we usually haven't been good all year) but we give gifts out of love. Just as He gives Grace to us, free and unconditional. All we have to do is accept His free gift to us, with joy just as we accept gifts from our family.

Merry Christmas to you all and we pray that if you have never accepted the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life that is offered to you through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that this will be the year that you accept the reason for the season.

Christmas

I am not a crafty person, although I do wish I was. But I do have a hankering to do some crafting around this time of year. Pinterest is a great place to find ideas along with your favorite blogs. Here are a few things I am contemplating...

 

This one is from my favorite blogger, Joy at artfulhomemaking. You can go HERE if you would like to see how she made this beautiful plate for next to nothing. She also has some other great printables as well. I used THIS printable on some brown paper colored cardstock and put it in a black frame. Such an easy and beautiful way to add Scripture to your home.

 

For our Advent calendar this year I am making THIS. I will modify it though and just use posterboard for the backing instead of fabric. I don't mind if it isn't reusable since I enjoy finding something different each year.

 

I also picked up three fake silver platters from the Dollar Tree to make THIS. I just love anything that is chalkboard. I got a can of chalkboard paint for my birthday that I have been trying to find projects for.

 

Anyway, those are a few projects I am hoping to work on and that is about all that baby is going to let me write.

 

Happy Christmas Crafting!

 

 

 

 

 

These are a few of my favorite things

 

My Ting-ting-ting thing

 

                                                
                                                  Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries

 

And Sugar Cookies!

 

I'm in the mood for Christmas!

Gift ideas for large families...or any size family

It is getting to be time to start thinking about Christmas gifts. I ran across the article below on a website called Lotsofkids.com and thought it had some good gift ideas for families, no matter how many children they have. Our families always send us wonderful Christmas gifts but as our family grows larger we do not want them to spend a lot of money buying individual gifts for each child so some of these ideas could be great ways to save money this year. Because we live in the country, we have to pay a yearly fee to use our public library so last year my dear mother in law sent us money to pay for a years fee to use the library. That is such a big deal to us since we use the library constantly. We exceed the book limit every time we go in and ALWAYS have overdue fines. I think the librarians see us as profit everytime we walk in. Anyway, hope this can be of some help to each of you as you start to think about what to do for your families this year. We are trying something new with our children this year...we drew names(which isn't new) and have asked the children to try to have the gift they are giving be something homemade. That can be a bit challenging but they know they can always come to mom if they are stumped for ideas.


Gift Ideas for Large Families


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Family Pass(es) - A yearly pass to a zoo, museum, or other similar place can be a great gift. Sometimes passes are limited to a certain number of people (say 2 adults and 4 children), so this could entail purchasing two passes for a large family. This is a gift that continues to give through the year, as the family who might be limited in outings because of lack of money, can enjoy it regularly. This is also a particularly good gift for families that homeschool and could implement visits to these places as part of their education.

Gift Certificates - If you don't know what you want now, chances are you will in a couple or weeks or months. Asking for gift certificates might not be a lot of fun for the gift-giver, but it will be a practical gift for the LOK parent. Some suggestions are book stores, local discount stores (like Walmart or Target), grocery store (not glamorous, but greatly appreciated when you are short on cash and need to get milk), beauty salon/spa, video store.

Quilts, Blankets, and Other Useables - Quilts, bed sets, and throws can be too expensive to justify buying on impulse, but they make great options for gifts. Even better, if your relative sews or crochets, ask for a handmade items that will have heirloom value, as well as being functional.

Gourmet Gift Sets - This is probably one of my all-time favorite gifts to get. I enjoy coffee, but on our family budget cannot really afford Starbucks on a regular basis. I love to get gift sets with flavored coffees. A gift set with different jellies, jams, and prepackaged mixes for scones and cakes are enjoyed by a family, but are consumed and don't take up a lot of space for an extended period of time. As a child, I always remembered the big gift set of meat and cheese a relative would send. We'd enjoy snacking on the contents for weeks!

Other Consumables - Pre-packages or homemade "recipe" gift sets. One mom made gift sets for special treats, such as cookie mixes. She tied nice bags with different kitchen utensils that would be needed for the recipe (such as measuring cup, measuring spoons, mixing spoon, whisk, rubber scraper, cookie turner, etc.). Parents and kids enjoyed making the confections together. If you don't have a recipe to share, there are many websites listing recipes specifically for this purpose.

Also in the "consumable" category are scented candles, which can be enjoyed for a time, but eventually are used up and discarded. Scented soaps, lotions, and other luxury/pampering items will be appreciated, but don't take up a lot of space and are eventually gone and discarded.

Board Games - They aren't just for kids! Asking for a game that you can play with other adult relatives and friends on special occasions can be a great choice. There are also many games that are created that both adults and kids can play together (having two sets of cards with varying difficulty). Perhaps there is a vintage game from your childhood you'd like to find again. Or you would really like that designer version of your favorite game, say the Star Wars version of Monopoly.

Household Items

Cooking Appliances - After years of catering to "average" size families, manufacturers are now making items for power cooking, cutting preparation times. Large size appliances are available that allow families to cook more food in less time. A 7-quart crockpot can cook a meal for a large group. Large deep fryers (like T-Fal's Maxifry) are enclosed for safer cooking, and can make large batches of french fries and other food items. A large electric or stove top griddle can be a great choice. One mom said her electric version allowed her to cook at one time, 6 pieces of french toast, 8 pancakes, or 10 hamburgers.

Large appliances can also be gift options. A new bagless vacuum with a filter might be a much-appreciated gift. The EuroShark (or equivalent) is great for families, allowing you to pick up everything from dust to wet food like spaghetti, and it works on rugs or bare floors.

Conventional appliances can be great gifts. Sometimes replacing an older item would be helpful but is not a top priority on a family's list. A new blender, food processor, microwave, or other item may be a great gift option. With many of the new features on appliances, these conventional items are often more efficient than their older counterparts. Personally, one of my favorite gifts was an under-the-cabinet coffee maker, which freed up much needed space, and since I make coffee regularly, is one of the most-used appliances in my kitchen!

Utensils - My family thought I was crazy when I asked for cookie sheets and muffin pans. However, these can be great gift options. Ask for cooking utensils that were well-made and would stand up to the heavy use of a large family. While a cooking pan might not be glamourous, I was using it all the time, and really appreciated it long after the holidays had gone. Also consider dishware, cutlery. One mother was estatic to receive a 100 piece tupperware-type set.

Furniture - This is a big-ticket item. Many large families find themselves with used or older furniture that could use replacing. If you want an item that is costly, have family members pitch in, or ask for gift certificates to a certain store where you would like to get a particular piece. If you need a new dining room set, perhaps you can swing getting the table. Ask that each relative to buy a chair.

While working on this article, I found an incredible website that sells inexpensive, assemble-it-yourself furniture. This might be a great gift-giving option since the items can be shipped and offer additional storage, something large families usually need.

Organizers - This can include something as simple as a large calendar to keep track of dates, a PDA-type device to help you get rid of all those pieces of paper, to wicker baskets and other household organizer-type products that will help tame the clutter. Many of those items can be pricey, but are certainly well worth the money and can be invaluable gifts.
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Article by: Michelle Lehmann
2004 - Lotsofkids.com


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Happy Birthday Jesus!

We make a birthday cake for Jesus each year. Don't mind the #9 candle. That just happened to be all we had to put on top. We hope each of you will give Jesus the gift of remembering Him this Christmas and through out all of the new year.

Star Ornaments

Traditionally our family each gets a new ornament for the tree each year but honestly, decent ornaments are becoming more and more difficult to find. I just don't want a race car or an Elvis on my tree. Not to mention the cost of ornaments now. We recently went to a Christmas shop while my family was visiting. We found lots of cute ornaments there but with each one ranging from $5-$10 each and our family being a family of 10 that was just a bit excessive for us. But all is not lost...at our local Joanns craft store I found these plain wooden snowflake ornaments. I bought 8 of them each for about $.50 and the kids painted them white then sprinkled silver glitter on them. So for $2.00 plus the cost of a bit of white paint and glitter, we have our 2009 ornaments.

Merry Christmas

Neighbor Christmas Gift Idea #17 – Pop Top Treats

#17 Neighbor Christmas Gift Idea… How fun will it be for your neighbors to pop the top to some yummy Christmas treats!

You just open the original pop top can from the bottom with a can opener, use the contents, wash it out, fill with treats, glue the bottom back on, decorate, and deliver!
So clever, and oh so very GREEN!!
Thanks Not So Idle Hands for this fun idea and great tutorial on how to make it!

This came from the Fabulessly Frugal Blog that I follow very regulary.