by Sarah | Oct 24, 2011 | Giveaway, Holidays, Reviews
I don’t know about you, but this year just totally flew by in our house. One minute it was February, and now it’s suddenly the end of October! Christmas is coming up fast and I feel totally unprepared for it. I just bought the first couple of Christmas gifts Friday night. Compared to last year at this time when I had it ALL done…I’m grossly unprepared.
One thing I know I’m going to be using to my advantage is Shutterfly.
For the grandparents there are a ton of options. We can dive into the photo gifts shop. There we could find coffee cups, t-shirts and even necklaces that we can add images of their much-loved grandchildren to.
But, I think in the end the best grandparent gift ever is a calendar. 12 months of their precious grandchildren? What grandparent isn’t going to love that?
If they didn’t all read my blog I’d tell you what I am going to end up getting 🙂
For the first time ever this year I’m taking a big-girl step. I’m getting Christmas Cards together. I saw this style at Shutterfly and knew it would be perfect. I had so many great photos of the kids from our photo shoot back in June, that this card let me use a lot of them. And feature all three of the kids without leaving anyone short changed.
Now that I’m finally set on my cards, how would you like some help with yours?
I’m giving away THREE codes for 25 cards from Shutterfly! Put your pictures from this year to great use and get some FREE cards!!!
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment here telling me what your favorite part of the holidays is.
That’s it!
With three prizes to be won, there’s no need for extra entries!
*Giveaway CLOSED
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*For my post I was received free cards. My opinions are my own.
**Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q
by Sarah | Dec 26, 2010 | All About Kennedy, Holidays
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XTi.
For week 12/19-12/25/10
With Angel in the hospital half the week, and dealing with her procedures and at home care I haven’t had a TON of time to take pictures…but I managed to get a few. Not Christmas morning, though…I was content to sit back and watch the action…just happy to have my family all together at HOME instead of in the hospital.
No Touch
Not that it was a problem…she wanted nothing to do with that IV…
‘Boost’ing Our Health
Tired Already
The View
Saved by the Droid
‘Twas the Night
Papa reading to (almost) all the grandkids. Even the oldest listened in
Digging in
Sweet?
See more of my photos over at my flickr account.
That’s all for this week. Head on over to Lotus‘ digs to see more!!
by Sarah | Dec 24, 2010 | All About Kennedy, Cystic Fibrosis, Holidays
I hope your cookies are sweet.
Your trees are beautiful.
Your families are together.
That joy fills your day and your spirit.
We are home.
Our family is together.
And that, in the end, is all that matters.
by Sarah | Dec 18, 2010 | Holidays
I have made a LOT of cookies in my 30+ years. I’ve tasted even more.
When it comes to cutouts, it’s tricky. Too much sugar and it’s just a sugar cookie – too little and they are way too dry.
I used to think my Mom’s were the best…but they always required a ton of frosting to counteract the dryness of the cookie (sorry, Mom) – I stopped making them when I got married and moved out. My aunt’s Christmas cookies, while good – were just never right either (and it’s been so long I can’t remember why).
I tried several recipes in the 8 years I’ve been married – and for the past 3 years I’ve stuck with these. I stumbled on the recipe when I was looking for Polish cookies – and that’s what these were called. BUT, the recipe called for Anise (*gag* *hurl* Blech)…and I was definitely not down with that. So I adapted the cookies to a flavor that was much better.
Let me tell you, this is the easiest dough I have ever worked with and the flavor, when done as I adapted it, is PHENOMENAL.
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The Best Sugar Cutouts
1c. Butter
1c. Shortening
2c. Sugar
5 Large Eggs
7c. Flour
2Tbs. Baking Powder
1/2tsp. Salt
1/2oz. Almond Extract (original recipe called for Anise, this substitution makes deliciousness)
- Cream the Butter, Sugar and Shortening until smooth and fluffy
- Stir in the eggs one at a time until incorporated
- Add almond
- Mix in the first 6 cups of flour
- From here it’s by sight/feel. Add in flour until you get a moist batter. It should seem too sticky to roll, but solid enough to hold together.
- Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. Preferably overnight.
- Once thoroughly chilled, the dough is a dream to work with. Take off a handful and put the remainder back in the fridge while you roll it out for cutting.
- Place a hunk on a floured surface and roll out for cutting (about 1/8″ thick).
- Bake for 12-15 minutes in a 350* oven.
- Frost with frosting of your choice. I love a good buttercream w/ a touch of corn syrup for shine.
- Decorate all out for your holiday fun (and for Santa’s plate).
And that’s it! The strong almond flavor gives and added touch of yum. The cookies are moist enough that you could eat them plain…but really, who wants to? Frosting is 98% of why we eat the cookies, after all…right?
I hope you enjoy them if you try them. My search for the perfect cutout has finally come to a sweet and delicious end!!
by Sarah | Dec 17, 2010 | All of Us, Holidays
In case you didn’t already know it…we are amongst the “have-nots”.
That being said, we have plenty. We have a roof over our heads, we have food on the table, clothes on our backs.
What we don’t have a lot of is “extra” money. At the moment we only have one running vehicle because one broke down and we can’t afford to fix, much less replace it.
We don’t spoil our kids, they hear a lot of “No’s”. At Christmas we try to make up for a year of no’s with a decent amount of presents…definitely not a LOT. Even this year when I have started buying presents back in JUNE in preparation of not having the dreaded empty bank account at the end of the year – and was rewarded with the unusual capability to buy gifts for each other for a change.
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Amidst all the holiday preparations I’ve been shocked by the sudden sense of entitlement about it all.
Riley’s can almost all be explained away by her behavioral issues and the influx of propaganda from school. She is filled with anxious anticipation and impatience. The “now now now” wears down my patience and my nerves.
Brandon is the one that shocks me most. In the past weeks his grades have slipped and he’s completely ignored homework. He flipped out when we didn’t fix his computer (an old, run down, way out of date computer) IMMEDIATELY. Everything he did had to be done NOW. Even now with his cast off and a brace on he excuses his way out of everything. If he’s been asked to do anything, it’s not been done.
Angel is, as always, the most easy going. She is excited for the holidays, for the presents, but is mostly tolerable.
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It leaves us wondering if we did something wrong. By making Christmas a big deal, even when we have little, did we give them the sense of entitlement? Did we make it too commercial? Is there something we can do to correct it?
by Sarah | Dec 15, 2010 | All About Me, Holidays
I have a really bad habit.
I believe I’m Super Woman. I can do EVERYTHING.
Then when it all fails, or life gets in the way (like I forget it has a tendency to do), I crash hard, hate myself a while and wallow in ick.
Two months ago I was ready.
For Christmas.
I’d started to pre-set everything for Christmas. Most of the shopping was done. I’d pre-made cookie (batter) so that baking wouldn’t take any time.
I was sooo good to go.
So I took on a few (dozen) extra projects.
Then life fell apart.
Everyone in the house got sick (including ME twice – and I don’t get sick), had disastrous doctor’s appointments, or decided to stop eating. Our car died. The eldest’s grades went from straight A’s to WTF? Chaos erupted and everything fell apart.
I was still determined to do it all.
Then this morning ONE.LAST.THING. happened. I snapped. Burst into tears on my poor Archie (who was just trying to leave for work and made the mistake of asking if I was okay). I realized I’m exhausted. I’ve been staying up until 3AM every day trying to get it done, and waking up at 5AM to continue getting it all done. It was too much.
So I’ve decided to focus on my family. The other stuff will work out and get done in time.
Now is supposed to be the time for peace. I don’t know what’s going to happen next week, so I’m going to get MY family’s stuff done this weekend…and if nothing comes out of the doctor appointments I will have lots of free time to relax and enjoy the holiday. If we end up with a hospital admission, everything is done and I have no need to panic.
One of these days I’ll learn to leave behind my Super Woman syndrome…I hope it’s sooner rather than later. I don’t want to feel like I have today again for a long time.
For the grandparents there are a ton of options. We can dive into the photo gifts shop. There we could find coffee cups, t-shirts and even necklaces that we can add images of their much-loved grandchildren to.
