Xmas–Joydare

When I was a little girl, I once wrote out the word Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas.  I remember clearly and never forgot when my mom told me it’s not Xmas, it’s Christmas and it’s wrong to use the abbreviation.  I’ve always been careful to spell it out.  It’s important to keep Christ in Christmas!

This year as I watched the transformation…
The trees are trimmed with silver and gold. 

Beautiful twinkling lights brighten our neighbors homes. 
Santa arrives in all the stores, even our favorite pets are getting their pictures with Santa. 
The “Christmas” radio station plays its holiday songs that tell of sleigh rides, mistletoe kisses, and even hippopotamuses…

The garland is strung, the cookies are made, the gifts are wrapped, yet…I realized something is missing. 

It is happening all around us.  The world is celebrating Xmas instead of Christmas.  They’ve X-ed Christ out of the holiday.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE everything about Christmas, but we’ve got to remind the world that it is Christmas we are celebrating.  We need Christ back in Christmas.   Store clerks are only allowed to say “Happy Holidays.”  Our beloved Christmas trees are being sold as holiday trees.  When did the word “Christmas” become unacceptable.  Do we not realize that there would be no Christmas holiday were it not for God come down to earth as a baby.  So, this year what will you celebrate…Xmas or Christmas?

JOYDARE

 

265.  Twinkling lights

 

 

266.  Christmas decor

267.  A nativity handed down

268.  Snowflakes

 

 

269.  Ice crystals

 

270.  Peppermint mochas 

271.  Pretty packages

272.  Christmas music

273.  Memories on branches

 

274.  Christmas cards that remind us of friends around the world

275.  Bluebirds in the holly

276.  Silly pictures

277.  Kitties snuggled under Christmas trees
278.  Marshmallows
279.  Sacrifice
280.  Grace
281.  A Savior’s Birth



Thanksgiving

We anticipated our week with Beth and Steve and their kids.  Looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with them, we started preparing for the holidays and making plans.  I got most of the Christmas decorations up before they arrived and finished trimming the tree while they watched a Christmas movie.  Steve was gracious enough to help John with some projects around the house, so now I have some heat in the basement and deck stairs that aren’t going to fall apart from rot.  I was excited that Beki was coming home.  She was able to get her shifts covered at work and since the sorority house was closing for the weekend, she was coming home.

This year was the first annual Garden Glow show at the Missouri Botanical Garden and we were looking forward to taking them to see.  A little cold, but it was fun! 

 

We had an awesome Thanksgiving meal and everyone pitched in to help. 

 

 

We spent the evening watching movies and eating pumpkin pie.  On Friday, we visited St. Charles, MO for their Christmas Traditions.  We shopped, talked with some of the Christmas characters, and ate dinner at the Trailhead Brewing Co. 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Glow

For the first time, the Missouri Botanical Garden presented “Garden Glow,”  Christmas light display.  We reserved tickets in advance.  We took Beth and Steve, Megan and Nicholas, and Beki.  It was well worth the trip.  They had several beautiful displays as well as an outdoor concert with a DJ in a snow globe.  There were fire pits along the way and hot chocolate stands to help keep warm. 

 

 

Going Fake

Christmas trees…those beautiful, wonderful smelling, green things we bring into our homes every year and decorate with sparkly lights and glittery ornaments.  Ours usually gets picked out the day or so after Thanksgiving and stays put until the branches are stiff and half the needles have gone missing!  For many years, my hubby has tried talking us girls into a fake tree.  Oh, you know…

less mess, 

no clean up, 

won’t die, 

save money

…the list goes on.  Traditions are hard to break, so we’ve stood our ground and not given in.  Well, with both girls gone this year, I lost the battle and gave into the fake tree.  Then came home and cried over the fact that 46 years of tradition just flew out the window.

 The week before everyone was coming home for Thanksgiving, I wanted to have the decorations all up and the tree decorated.  Our first Christmas hauling up the huge box of Christmas tree “parts.”  We got it together and I unfolded all the branches, still pouting about the fact there was no pine smell filling the house and threatening to take it down, pack it back up, and take it back.  I put the garland and the lights on and waited for Beki to get home to help decorate…one tradition I didn’t have the heart to break.  It’s together, it’s beautiful and I can, honestly say, it’s kind of grown on me the past couple of weeks.  It actually, almost looks real.  But just in spite…I might leave it up until Valentine’s Day!!!  HeeHee!

I played Santa Claus and traveled 3 hours to see Ari and deliver their Christmas presents since they won’t be home this year.  While I was there she said she had to give me part of my present so she could explain.  She handed me a small tissue wrapped gift.  Inside were a couple green candles.  I could smell the pine needles before she had the chance to say, “Do you know what it is?”  She knew how disappointed I was and bought me pine scented candles to burn so I could still enjoy my fake Christmas tree. 

Fall Cookies

One of my favorite holiday traditions is making Christmas, cut out sugar cookies.  Well, occasionally I get to craving them early and, thus, Fall cut out cookies!  When I was a little girl, my mom would help us make these cookies every year…no fail!  After my girl’s were born, I started the same tradition.  Here’s Ari at 2 helping to cut them out.  She’s now 21!  

 

It’s going to be a little different this year making them without at least one of the girls here to help. 

There is something about these cookies, everybody loves them.  I guess it’s the perfect combination of tart, crunchy cookie and crispy frosting that makes us all crave for more.  I don’t believe in “secret family recipes.”  If it’s that good, it should be shared!

 

Holiday Sugar Cookies

 

4 cups self rising flour

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs ( 1 seperated )

1 tsp. clear vanilla

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

 

Cream butter and sugar until light.  Add 1 whole egg and beat well.  Add egg yolk of second and beat.  Beat in vanilla and lemon juice.  Add flour little at a time.  May not take all the flour, make like pie crust.  Lightly flour table.  Divide into 4 parts.  Chill probably overnight.  Let dough become room temp. before rolling.  Roll with rolling pin on floured counter to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut with metal or plastic cookie cutters. 

Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees on greased cookie sheet or non-stick cookie sheet.

 

Frosting for Sugar Cookies

 

1 egg white

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. clear vanilla

Dash of salt

 

In electric mixer bowl, add all ingredients and whip until fluffy and frosting peaks.  If too thin add more powdered sugar.  Spread on with small knife.  Immediately sprinkle with favorite sugar and candy toppings as frosting will quickly set and harden.  May add food coloring to frosting.  Covers at least 3 dozen cookies. 

I always make a double batch of frosting.  I roll my cookies pretty thin getting about 7 dozen cookies out of one batch of dough. 

 

 

 Now this is the fun part!

    

 

…and this is when you get to be creative!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Trip Back in Time

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to go visit historic St. Charles, MO.  You feel as if you’ve stepped back in time and entered into a Charles Dicken’s story.

While Beth, Steve, Megan, Nicholas, Ari and Anthony were here visiting for Thanksgiving, we made the drive out to St. Charles.  We met several characters while on our visit and I got lots of pictures with that “box that shoots lightening at you.”  Jack Frost was his mean self again this year. 

Some of us had hot chocolate and apple cider and a few tried real fire-roasted chestnuts hot off the firepit. 

We ended the night with dinner at the Trailhead Brewing Co. Restaurant, which turned out to be quite the blessing. 

We checked in early to be sure to get our names on the list seeing that there was a 1 1/2 to 2 hour wait.  One girl put us on the list as another told me to come back in an hour to get our pager because we wanted to go walk the town during the wait.  However, when we returned, because we didn’t take a pager, the first girl thought we weren’t coming back.  We had been taken off the list.  So, we were told 20 minutes to wait…which really isn’t bad seeing how we had expected an 1/2 hour when we returned.  Our 20 minutes turned into 50, when John decided it was time to talk to the manager.  We got seated shortly.  At the end of the meal, the waiter told us our bill had been covered!  There were 9 of us and we didn’t pay for one meal.  This was way beyond what we had expected, but they did the job restoring John’s faith in the restaurant.  We will go back.