Visit with Santa and the Festival of Trees

We went to our township light up night. They had a tree decorating contest. The one above was done in pink and silver. It was beautiful.

This one was done by the Cub Scouts. It was called "All Tied Up" and was decorated with ropes tied in a variety of knots. I love the red, white and blue lights.

Miss M with Santa Claus

Miss M putting her letter to Santa in his mailbox. We will hear back from him by Christmas!

~blessings~

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday 11.28.11

It's been quite awhile since I've participated in MPM. I'm still menu planning weekly, just haven't had the time to post my menu to the blog. Life is crazy busy, so I don't get as much computer time as I had in the past. Here's the plan:

Sunday~Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Monday~Chicken and Dumplings, Salad

Tuesday~Slow Cooked Beef Tips in Gravy over Egg Noodles, Green Beans

Wednesday~BBQ Pork Stuffed Baked Potatoes (new recipe), Salad

Thursday~Turkey Clubs with Oven Fries

Friday~Dinner Out

Saturday~Ham Pot Pie

Have a great week!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

First Sunday of Advent

We lit the first candle on our Advent Wreath today. We will light it each night during dinner. I used dollar flameless candles and wrapped them with purple and rose ribbon. It makes it safer for the little ones.

Miss M with our Advent Wreath

We also made an Advent Chain to countdown the days until Christmas. Each link has something special written on it to do each day of Advent. Today's link says: "Light the first candle on the Advent wreath." Here's a printable version of my activities that are written on the links:

Advent Chain

On the sheet with the star it says:

Each evening after prayers are said
Take off one loop and hop in bed.
When only the star is left to shine
Then you will know it's CHRISTMAS time!



I found the printable at Catholic Parenting.



~blessings and peace~

Lisa

Pumpkin Gobs

Pumpkin Gobs

Cookies
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 egg
Filling
2/3 cup marshmallow creme (from 7-oz jar)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and flour. Add remaining cookie ingredients; stir until stiff dough forms.
2. Onto ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by 36 rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart. Lightly press tops with floured fingertips to flatten slightly.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
4. In medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer until light and fluffy. For each whoopie pie, spread about 2 teaspoons of the filling on bottom of 1 cooled cookie. Top with second cookie, bottom side down; gently press together. Store tightly covered in refrigerator. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar just before serving.

Enjoy!

My little Gob Monster!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

The Landscaping continues....

We now have shrubs and trees planted in the front of the house. These are pics before more dirt was spread and mulch is put in. That will happen this week. You can see before pics here. We were worried that we would not be able to plant, since it is November, but the nursery said it would be fine and we are trusting that they are correct.

Here's a view from the steps...and with my shadow. The tree is a red maple that won't get much larger than it is right now. I think it looks more like a home with the plants...

Another shot, a bit closer. I can't believe this area was covered in snow last Saturday! DH added in the dirt and put in a few landscape lights later today, but it was too dark to take photos.

Thanks for stopping by!
~blessings and peace~

Lisa

Hunter's 13th Birthday

Happy 13th Birthday to our sweet, intelligent, thoughtful son! We are so very proud of you! You are a blessing to our family and we look forward to the teenage years now upon us!

We celebrated with a small family party for him last night. We had a Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard Ice Cream Cake, Pizza Dip and Chips, and Nachos with Cheese. A good time was had by all...especially the birthday boy who got everything he asked for and more!

~blessings and peace~

Lisa

Give Thanks Calendar

The idea for this Give Thanks Calendar was posted at Comfy in the Kitchen. I followed the instructions in the post. I used a yard of burlap, 10 pieces of felt in 5 colors, and 3 packs of presto felt. To create my numbers, I made tracers using my cricut. Each night at dinner we'll each take a turn sharing what we are thankful for that day. Then we'll write them on the slip of paper inside each day. I'm planning on keeping the slips so we can look back at them in the coming years. Thank you for stopping by!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Halloween 2011

Digital scrapbook generated with Smilebox

We had a spook-tacular Halloween, despite my fight with a stomach bug. We visited the grandparents' houses for trick or treat, ate Mummy Face Pizzas for dinner and then ate Monster Foot cookies for dessert! I had hoped to make some Halloween S'mores using some huge pumpkin marshmallows, but the family filled up on treats instead!

Thank you for stopping by!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa