traditions...

Backtracking, just a touch, we had a little celebration for my birthday a couple weeks ago. I got the day off (I don't believe in going to work on my birthday :)) and we had cake and ice cream, which is a must at our house.

31. Ugh. I almost hate to type that. Last year didn't really phase me, but I'll admit to a breakdown or two this year. I'm over it now. I think.

Jon made this awesome marble cake and we had vanilla ice cream. It was delicious. Well, I should say, Jon, Brooklyn, Mason and I had cake and ice cream. Julianne had frosting and ice cream. She is her father's daughter....

On to Christmas. When I was young, my mom used to bake and bake during the holidays. As Christmas got closer, the baking increased. She would make candied nuts, pumpkin roll, chocolate roll with colored marshmallows, pies, cookies, fry pan cookies, suckers, peanut brittle, caramel popcorn and more that I can't think of at the moment. While I'm not that ambitious, I have been slightly nostalgic lately and made some goodies to have around our house (which I'm not sure is the best idea....).
Caramel popcorn. It's a weakness. Popcorn is a weakness, really. This stuff is gooey and caramelly and yummy. I've been munching on it for days.
Oh look, a pic of my birthday cake. See? Doesn't it look yum?
This recipe is one my sister sent me and we decided to do it for teachers and neighbors. It looks pretty cool in jar, I must say. It's hot cocoa and it's made with powdered milk, cocoa, sugar, chocolate chips and crushed candy canes. How can you go wrong?
This morning was the first day we stayed home during Christmas break (yesterday consisted of errands). The kids have been really good to play together. I've told them I won't be referring any fights. I like to pretend they're getting better at working stuff out...

Today I attempted Ginger bread cookies. We don't have men cookie cutters so we improvised. I don't remember my mom making these, but we have to have Hibshman traditions, too ya know? I think they turned out ok. There's a reason there isn't a pic of them after I 'frosted' them. It didn't go well. They never turn out the way they look in my head. Oh well. It's all about the taste, right?
We sent letters to Santa. We mailed these on the same day. Mason and Julianne got a letter back today. Not Brooklyn's yet. We'll be watching the mail for that one...
Finally, my favorite. The pumpkin roll. I could make these all year. How can you go wrong with pumpkin and cream cheese? I practically eat it myself, though. Which turns into the problem. The kids have discovered the yummy deliciousness of pumpkin now, so hopefully they'll help me a little in the eating department.

There are more traditions to come. We'll be making a feast on Christmas eve and leave some cookies for Santa. Sunday morning we'll work out presents and church and relax all day long. It's going to be great!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you feel the spirit in your hearts and home and find comfort there as well. Merry Christmas!!

Happenings

As promised (shockingly), here are some more fun times from the Hibshman House. We bought a real tree this year and I was so excited. Unfortunately, it doesn't smell as good as I was hoping but it is beautiful and I love to sit with the tree lights on at night (when I'm home, anyway). The kids had fun decorating it, although I think it's a little plain. I'm on the lookout for just the right garland. We'll see if that comes to be before Christmas gets here. As you can see below, Julianne has become quite the poser:

Not really sure when she picked this up, but I rarely get a pic of her these days without it.
Here we are decorating, lights, check. Ornaments, check. Now what? Presents, of course!
Before we decorated, Jon's dad was here for the weekend. The kids love love love the weekends when he comes. We love it, too. Him being in MO is the best!! For us, anyway. I won't speak for everyone else in the family. Anyhow, I thought this was a sweet picture and I couldn't resist stealing a snapshot of them.
Oh look, more decorating. I can't seem to get my pics in order these days!

And, turns out, whenever Jon and I plan a night out (more on that later), it snows. Last year we were going to go out for my birthday, got a babysitter lined up (first one ever), and it was the biggest blizzard of the season. Needless to say, we ended up staying home. This year, it snowed the day before and hardly at all so we actually made it out. For a minute or two. But, the kids have enjoyed the snow and I was glad to see it, too. It did make the drive home on Thursday night rather interesting, though.

Bathtime and a tree. How can you go wrong??
For some odd reason, the kids have rediscovered our bouncy balls. And have been bouncing like crazy. Julianne's legs are finally long enough and Mason has figured out how to get some serious air. Brooklyn enjoys them too but these shots are from when she was at school.
I tried to get some action shots but they were pretty blurry so, somehow, I got them to hold still for about 5 seconds...
And, tonight, my Christmas holiday would not be complete without the classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". It was awesome, just as it should be. Bring on the Holiday movies!!

No picture for this last little snippet, but Jon and I went out last night and it was so fun! We found a babysitter (I have stressed about that in the past. Would the kids freak? Would they be good? How much do I pay them? yadda yadda yadda). This girl turned out to be awesome (which is why I asked her) and it was so great to go out, just the two of us, and be together. Unfortunately, just before we headed home, I got a call from our sitter. "Brooke just threw up." Great. So, we ended our date with puke and spent a good portion of the night dealing with it several times over. I felt really bad for the babysitter but luckily Brooklyn made it to the bathroom so she didn't have to clean. Oh well. At least we know we can go out and leave them with her! yay!
Tomorrow's the big day. I venture further into my 30's. We'll leave that ramble for another day....

Christmas beginnings

Last year Jon's mom sent us this great count down calendar. We had it strung across this door with just the icicle string but it kept falling and didn't look very cute. So, this year I got creative. I wanted to get a big board and make the stockings into the shape of a Christmas tree. I figured that I would need a 36" square board something and thought that might be a little spendy. On to plan B. I went to Home Depot and looked at their "remnant" bin (for lack of a better term). I got 3 decent sized boards for $.51 each. Sounded reasonable to me!

Unfortunately, these boards weren't quite big enough for all 24 stockings, but I got up half. I will just switch it as we get through them. Turns out, finding 24 little trinkets and candy for these babies is kind of a pain! I barely had stuff for these 12, so I have 2 weeks to find 12 more! I painted the boards, hot glued the icicles and clothes pins on and hung the boards on the door. I'm enjoying it so far! Hopefully the hooks hold out. They were hooks I bought to hang towels on and they couldn't stick to the door. Oh well. The kids are loving it!
The other thing I attempted today was a chandelier decoration. Sadly, it didn't turn out. Back when I worked at Archiver's a customer came in to buy ribbon and said she was hanging little tiny ornaments from her chandelier at different lengths. I thought it sounded so cute and I've been dying to try it! I found these babies at Target in the $1 section so I snapped them up! Picked up some ribbon and got to work. And, it looked awful! So, down they came. Oh well. I'll find somewhere to string them! They are too cute to pass up.
This was a failed attempt at a delicious cake my friend makes. It has pumpkin and cake mix and other cakey things. To get the pumpkin cooked, I left it in too long and burned the cake. We threw the whole thing out. I was sad but haven't made a second attempt, yet. I will, though. One of these days.

Yesterday wasn't so merry. It marked the 3-year anniversary of my mom's passing. I successfully avoided thinking about it all day and then it hit me as I went to bed. We miss her. We will always miss her. Someday I won't have to miss her anymore. At least I was lucky enough to have her for a few years. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Ugh.

More Holiday merriness to come! Happy Holidays!