Grandgirl- Mataya Joy 4 months

Children are the heartbeat of Christmas ~

To see with wonder….

to know the joy of His presence.

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” 

Charles Dickens

Sharing Precious Moments

Grandboy Silas Paul Jeffrey- 14 months

We have 7 different nativities- they’re child friendly and at a lower place where children can sit and play with them.   For most children, Christmas is a wondrous time;  the lights, the decorations, the songs, the gifts, the love!

As our grandson, Silas ((14 months) got out of the car- he ran to the outdoor nativity and knelt right before baby Jesus and started talking.  So precious. Then he came in and went straight to the fireplace, sat down and started playing with one of nativity sets! Again talking to them, but also having Mary and Joseph kiss baby Jesus and then each other

Bethany has wrapped her presents for each person and keeps giving us hints.

“Guess what I got you.  It starts with a “s”……. I so excited…….. You wanna know what I got you? Do we have to wait?  I wanna give everybody their presents now!”

Finley is busy cranking out art work to be framed and given, along with various other pinterest projects she somehow thinks we’ll have time to accomplish before the big day.  Her sweet, clear voice warms my heart as I hear her daily practicing her Christmas solo for the church program- Gentle Mary, Humble Mary.

Cohen has questions AND answers.  Each day as we open our Advent devotional book, he asks a different question with his solution to the problem- today it was-

“Nana, why were the shepherds afraid? I wouldn’t be afraid.  I would sit and listen to dem. ” 

Or Why wasn’t der room in the houses?  Why didn’t dey just give dem their rooms?  I would say, “Here- take my room!”

And Beth and Cohen’s latest scheme to raise money for Saige’s forever home. I was asking them to keep praying that God would help us help Saige.

They came up with the fun idea of a lemonade stand- I told them it was too cold but they’re convinced if I just post their “lemonade and water stand” on Facebook and twitter- everyone will want a pretend drink and donate to Saige’s adoption fund.

It was one of the “tamer” ideas, so I posted this pic on FB and twitter.  So far, no one has “donated” but they keep begging me to log on and check on her account. LOL

If you would like to donate click SAIGE

I’d love to know some of your favorite Christmas memories as a child!

Please share some of your favorite songs, traditions, recipes, memories with me!  Enjoy making memories this Christmas!

Surprising Treasure: And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. Gen. 1:31 

salted caramel almond pretzel popcorn
(adapted from Shutterbean)I’ve made this again recently (Oct 2012) & the recipe turned out wonderfully. I was able to get the caramel golden brown with high heat & patience. Once it’s golden, add in the cream and stir well before adding in the marshmallows. Pour the caramel quickly over the mixture and work very quickly as the caramel is super sticky. Press firmly into a buttered dish & voila, I was able to get squares! Good luck 12 – 14 c plain popped popcorn
3 c coarsely chopped small salted pretzels
1.5 c toasted almonds, roughly chopped
2 c sugar
kosher salt
2/3 c heavy cream
2 c miniature marshmallowsButter a 9×13″ pan and set aside. In your largest bowl possible, dump in the popcorn, pretzels and almonds and toss so that everything is evenly mixed.In a large saucepan, melt the sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a half cup of water and bring to a boil. Boil until the mixture turns into a golden caramel shade – about 8-12 minutes. Remove from heat and pour in the heavy cream – watch out, mixture will splurt! Add marshmallows and stir until melted.Pour caramel over popcorn and use a wooden spoon to mix everything together – work quickly because the caramel firms up quick and then you’ll have to use all your arm strength to pry all the tasty bits away from the bowl. Maybe next time I’ll try buttering down the bowl. If you try it, let me know if it works out. Dump the mixture into the prepared pan and press down on using slightly damp hands (helps to prevent stickiness), so that popcorn mixture is completely pressed into pan. Sprinkle with flakey kosher salt and let cool. Cut into bars or break mixture into delicious clumps. Otherwise, just enjoy the sweet, sweet crumbles and watch yourself turn into drooling, blubbering Homer Simpson. Look away because it isn’t pretty.