our christmas days are a long, drawn out, amazingly fun process. it has evolved into a whole day of eating and opening presents. i guess that's no different from any other family, but one difference for us, is we don't open everything in one fell swoop. now that the children are a bit older--and that's relatively speaking....every present is wrapped and nothing is placed under the tree until christmas eve....so some of the surprise is all the presents appearing out of no where :) we have stockings to open and presents to unwrap. we wait until everyone is {somewhat} awake and we have cups of coffee, cider and hot chocolate ready for the stocking opening. once everyone has their warm drink of choice, we all gather in the den and stockings are handed out. we go around, one by one and reach in--without looking is the ideal--and pull out one thing at a time. this can take up to an hour or two for the whole family to empty their stockings.
once that is done, we stop and have breakfast. i have found that breakfast needs to be on the lighter side or no one wants to eat Christmas dinner (actually lunch, since its around 2). i am also learning how to keep it very simple, since i would have already been cooking the few days prior and will be the rest of the day. we have had cinnamon rolls (recipe here), breakfast casseroles, scrambled eggs and muffins, etc. our favorite so far has become fruit soup and biscuits. i know my sweet husband needs some protein with breakfast, so this year, i will make some mini quiches to go along with our soup. after breakfast, we go back to the tree and open presents. we are usually there until time for lunch.
this soup is wonderful! it is so refreshing and light. and. so. simple. what i love about it, is that i throw it all together the day before--whenever there is time--and its just ready for us when its time to eat. the other thing i do (which i did tonight) is make enough biscuits for that meal and freeze the dough on a cookie sheet--several days or weeks ahead. once they are frozen, i put them in a ziplock and when we are about ready to break for breakfast, i throw them on a cookies sheet and pop them in the oven.
i will make the mini quiches the day or two before christmas also. my goal is to make this as easy as possible for that day. i want to be in the den, enjoying my family and not in the kitchen...until they have all crashed on the sofas :)
i found this soup recipe years and years ago in a cookbook series on healthy eating. i wouldn't say its exactly healthy, but it is a favorite and with a few wise choices, it can be healthier than most foods :) we have this for dinner many times during the summer, too.
Fruit Soup
recipe as written makes 11 cups without bananas (which we never add)
- 12 oz package frozen raspberries
- 16 oz package frozen strawberries
- 12 oz package frozen blueberries
- 20 oz can pineapple chunks, unsweetened, undrained
- 16 oz can peach slices, unsweetened, undrained and cut in bite size pieces
- 16 oz can pear halves, unsweetened, undrained and cut in bit size pieces
Combine all portions of fruit in a BIG bowl. let stand about 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in refrigerator to let frozen fruit thaw and juices to mingle. refrigerate until ready to serve. Add bananas (if desired) to each portion served.
*this will keep several days in the refrigerator. Add bananas only to the portion to be used immediately, since they will turn.
we serve with whipped cream on top and biscuits. we almost always have left overs and use this as a base for smoothie or a topping on ice-cream, oatmeal..whatever. you name it, it works here :)
NOW--i usually make these biscuits to go with this. but lately, the kids have been asking for buttermilk biscuits with this, since the usual ones are a bit sweet.
i learned to make these biscuits from my mother-in-law. she, like me, doesn't use recipes for most of her meals, and this is no exception. i am sure she was taught just like she taught me to make them...and, while they are NOT good for you, they are pretty darn good. there are no measurements...you just have to 'eyeball' it and go on experience--as you get used to making them
buttermilk biscuits
- self rising flour
- crisco
- buttermilk
What she taught me: put a couple of cups of flour in a bowl. take a couple of heaping spoons of crisco and cut (and by cut she meant mush it with your hands until it was all blended) in until the constancy of cornmeal. (what I do is blend it all in and if I can form a ball with the flour/crisco mix with my hands, without feeling the greasiness of the crisco, you got the right mix :)). add buttermilk, a little at a time until you have a moist heap (hehe, i told you it wasn't precise)....and it will be gooey, but those make for flaky biscuits. put dough out on a floured board and put just enough flour on top to be able to flatten with your fingers and it not stick to you. flatten out to about 1/2" and cut with a biscuit cutter--I use a regular sized mouth mason jar. lay out on an ungreased cookie sheet--sides barely touching. bake at 450 for about 5 minutes. they will be light brown on top and maybe very light on the bottom.
one thing we {try to} do each year is get the kids picture made with Santa. this has taken a life of its own now :) When my 1st was born, i was allllll into the santa thing. after my second was born, i had come into the belief that to believe in santa was a sin and to tell you kids a lie about santa was an unpardonable sin :( so, i began telling my kids there was no such thing as santa from birth, pretty much. well, the kids have decided their own path with santa. Some totally don't want to believe in him and some, no matter how much they are told he is not 'real' still want to make cookies for him and want to talk to him every year.
Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. proverbs 14:4
growing up, Halloween and trick or treating was a favorite memory and tradition. once i became a christian, it became the 'bad' holiday....there was no way i was going to participate in it--to the point of hiding in the backest bedroom with the shades drawn and a small tv brought into the room for us to watch a movie, eat popcorn and try to drown out the ding dongs of the door bell. our children were taught to be afraid--very afraid of halloween, people who dressed up and anyone who came to the door. NOW...I am not saying it is something to be celebrated like easter, but to be afraid of it??? My mindset was challenged with a 'light up' campaign our church did...and i was challenged! once we embraced the idea {a year or 2 later} we had a blast! We had an old victorian home with a HUGE wrap around porch and we had a party-bringing tv and veggie tales out, gladly handing out candy, chatting with the neighbors and telling all who came by that jesus loved them. we did that for a few years, but there was still a spirit of fear around the day and night, until.....
what happens when something changes the course of your life? God meets you there :) I have been blessed beyond measure to be able to share a small piece of the beginning of my life, my story on Mary DeMuth's blog section call thin place. you can read about my {one on my many} thin place 
this girl.....our kaitlyn grace....turns 20 tomorrow!!! this girl.....who's name was given by God before we even knew she was a she or that I was even pregnant for that matter...kaitlyn grace....means 'pure grace'. this girl....has such a call on her life that the enemy has tried in various ways in her 20 short years to take her down and out....this girl...was born in the car on the way to the hospital. the story is one that will be told many, many more times, because it is so funny and sooooo kaitlyn. i used to say....we could have been IN the hospital and she would have waited till we were out of it to be born. I will absolutely write about her birth...another time. this day is to celebrate all that God has done in her life. all that she is. all that she is going to be. she is a precious jewel in the crown I wear called motherhood. of course, being 20 {and a girl}, says a lot of {unsaid} things about our relationship. we have had so many ups and downs and God keeps her near to my heart...and I know his. this girl....the one who decided she needed to move away to stretch her wings.....the wings I purpose to NOT clip--only i want to so badly so that she stays close to home....always....but god told me long ago that she would not stay close....he told me she is like an Amy Carmichael--only in the opposite way...see, its a good thing for me she was born in the car...God knew I needed that....that there would be no mistake she was mine. and with skin the color of hers...there would have been some question ;) ....when she was 2, she told me she wanted a black baby doll...because their legs were dark like hers. she used to say when she grew up, she wanted to be white, like her older sister.....God showed me...that she would easily be able to go into countries that others would not be able to--because of her coloring and her eyes....she has the blackest eyes i have ever seen....so beautiful...so open to what God has....so vulnerable. yet, she is one smart cookie....and funny...our family has never laughed like we do when kaitlyn is in one of her funny moods....
today is my oldest "baby" 's birthday. she is 26 today. and she is SUCH a blessing to me. I was praying for her this morning and God brought back a memory of her birth that speaks of HIS love for us.....
i LOVE my children...i am sure there are moms who really don't, but I am not one of them and I really don't know many who don't. problem is, for me, i don't show it to them enough....sure, i read the bible with them, and clean their clothes and make sure they have good food to eat and