Merry Christmas!

What child is this, who, laid to rest

On Mary's lap, is sleeping?

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:

Haste, haste to bring him laud,

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,

Come peasant king to own Him,

The King of kings, salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise the song on high,

The Virgin sings her lullaby:

Joy, joy, for Christ is born,

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

God Loves Me More Than That (Review)

I recently received the book God Loves Me More Than That by Dandi Daley Mackall for review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.  This is a beautifully written and illustrated book for kids about a little boy who wants to know how much God loves him.  Each answer of how high, wide, deep, even how heavy God's love is are all very easy ways for children to grasp how much God loves them.  The colorful illustrations by David Hohn bring each of the answers to life and are beautifully done.  My kids loved reading this book together.  Each question and answer got them thinking of other ways to answer and they came up with a lot of them!  Even though it is hard to fully understand the depth of God's love for us, I think this book does a great job of helping do this by looking at it through the eyes of a child.  I highly recommend this book!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Crescent Rolls

A few weeks ago, Melanie at Out of the Miry Clay shared a sweet roll recipe on her blog that can be used for quite a few different things, one being crescent rolls.  I love crescent rolls, but rarely buy them since they cost so much for the few rolls you get in the tube.  So I was so excited to try out this recipe!  If you use all the dough for the rolls it will make a lot of them.  54 to be exact.  The first time I made them, I used 2/3 to make 36 rolls and we ate them all at one meal!  They were so delicious, way better than the store bought ones.  I also used the remaining dough for the crust of an egg breakfast casserole which called for a tube of crescent rolls and it turned out good too.  For other ways to use the dough, be sure to check out Melanie's post.

½ cup warm water (110-115 F)
2 pkg active dry yeast (1 pkg = 2 ¼ tsp)
1 ½ cups lukewarm milk

½ cup sugar

2 tsp salt

2 eggs

½ cup soft butter
half of 7 to 7 ½ cups sifted flour

Mix until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to handle easily. I used my stand mixer and kept kneading for about 2 more minutes, but you could also turn onto lightly floured board and  knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min.). Put in a greased bowl and turn to grease the top. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise in warm place until double (about 1 ½ hr). Punch down; let rise again until almost double (30 min).  Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Roll each 1/4” thick into a 12” circle. Spread with soft butter. Cut into 16 pie-shaped pieces. Beginning at rounded edge, roll up. Place on lightly greased pan, point underneath. Let rise 15-20 min. Bake 10-13 min at 375 F. (You can also shape into clover leaf rolls, twists, etc.)

Sweetie loved helping me roll them up

My mouth is watering just looking at this picture! We might have to make this for dinner tonight! Delicious!

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Laminator is on sale!

Remember the laminator I got a good deal on from amazon and got free with my Swagbucks?  Well, it is on sale again!  It is the deal of the day at amazon and is only 16.99!!!

If you need a laminator, go check it out quick, who knows how long it will last!

Our Property Value Rose Overnight!

Thanks to the Pineapple Express we now have waterfront property!

 Our former driveway

Our former front yard

That should increase our property value, right?

Tasty Tuesday: Favorite Frosted Brownies with a Christmas Twist

I just noticed that it's been a few weeks since I shared a recipe!  Between a newborn, kidney stone, school, and much more I haven't had a lot of computer time lately.  Since most of my kids are gone to Grandma's while I wait for my kidney stone to pass (pain killers work wonders!), I have a few mintues to share a new recipe. A couple days ago, Buddy asked me to help him make some chocolate cookies for Sweetie.  (I thought he was being so sweet and came up with the idea on his own, but have since found out Hubby put him up to it so we would have some cookies in the house.)  We decided to make these heavenly chocolate brownies and we added a twist for the holidays! I am warning you right now though that these are so good that they will be gone fast, so you should hide a few to save some for yourself!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional

FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup evaporated milk (or Twin Brook Creamery Cream will work also!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

3 cups confectioners' sugar
Decorating sprinkles or crushed candy canes, optional

Directions
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Add chocolate chips if desired. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. For frosting, in a bowl, beat the butter, milk and vanilla; add cocoa. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies. Decorate with sprinkles (or candy canes) if desired.


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Shutterfly is Helping With My Mission Impossible

I usually order my photos and cards online from several different places, but I have yet to try Shutterfly.  This year I am hoping to change that!  I have been checking out all their beautiful cards for our Christmas cards and they have a great selection. 

This Snow Flurries Cocoa one is one of my favorites.  But so is this O Holy Night one.  And then there is the Kaleidoscope Stars one.  I am going to have a hard time picking which one I want to use this year!  First I guess I need to get the kiddos together for a picture. That might be even harder than choosing my card! Remember my mission impossible?  I may just have to use that picture even though the kids aren't in their nice clothes!

Shutterfly also has photo calenders, mugs, and books which would all make great gifts!  I've had a photo calender before and loved it, so I might have to look into those for some Christmas gifts this year.

They also have great birth announcement cards and birthday card.

Shutterfly is going to give me 50 FREE holiday cards for sharing this with you.  Check out all the details here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010