We can all use a few more hands
Hope yall are all set for Christmas! We are doing lots of cookie baking around here!
Even the pups are ready. And yes, we added to our family. We got a German Shepherd about 2 weeks ago. She’s been the perfect addition!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Recently we were invited to Snow Mountain at Stone Mountain to check out the fun for all of you. Fortunately for my assistant, it lined up with our Disney trip, so she was able to take her family. Here’s what she has to say:
Our family loved Snow Mountain. There was so much to do we may go back again. Not only can you ride in tubes (single riders or family tubes) down the Memorial Lawn area, there is an amazing play area with smaller slides just for kids and lots of snow to build forts, snowmen, igloos and even have a snow ball fight! Although you are given a 2 hour window to ride the large slope, you can visit the Snow Play Area all day with your pass.
Our favorite part of the Christmas village was the Polar Express 4D experience. it was absolutely amazing. Once you enter the theater and on your 3D glasses you will watch a shortened version of the film complete with special effects, including real snow. The Village is decked out in holiday decorations and lights. As you walk through at night you may even see a street performer or get a glimpse of Santa himself! There are tons of shows and activities in this area. A good tip: ride the train early in the day, once the slopes and the sky-ride to the top of the mountain close, this gets pretty busy and a long line starts to form.
For a break, try heading to Memorial Hall and decorate a holiday cookie. You get a large cookie (your choice of sugar or chocolate chip), a small tub if icing and two small tubs of candy to decorate with. This was a big hit after playing in the snow for a snack. While you’re there you can also visit with Stone Mountain’s own Snow Angel.
Looks like they had a blast and I’m slightly jealous we weren’t able to go! If you’re wanting to go, be sure and swing by your local Kroger store for discount coupons for Christmas and Snow Mountain.
Below is a guest post from my friend Nicole from MyLoveForCooking.com. Be sure to check out her website! Lots of awesome recipes and tidbits.
The holidays are often a hectic time by nature and there always seems to be a never ending “to do” list. Most of the work seems to revolve around cooking. For me this is my favorite part of the season.
If you have little ones in tow it is a chance for them to be helpful and make the chores a lot more fun. Depending on the age and abilities of your child there are almost always some way they can do their part with holiday prep in the kitchen.
With my lovies (almost 4 and a brand new 2) I try to encourage their interest in helping in the kitchen. You might be surprised at what they are able to do. Here are some basic ideas for younger children to do their part in the kitchen:
3-Year Olds
4-Year Olds
5-to 6-Year Olds
I find cooking with them to be a great opportunity to teach them about the ingredients we are working with. They also tend to get more excited about trying new foods when they have helped prepare them. If you have a picky eater getting them involved may really help. There is nothing like seeing the pride on their little face when they see the results of their hard work.
The holiday season is a perfect time to get a little help in the kitchen while also starting traditions that can last a lifetime. I find myself recreating recipes and traditions with my lovies that I experienced as a child. Sharing time cooking with those I love has always been something that means so much to me. The kitchen has always been a safe place to make mistakes and learn through trial and error. Make the holidays the start of great memories as well as recipes. Happy Holidays!
XOXO Nicole
Here are some recipes that are sure to be a hit with the little ones:
I had mentioned this to my facebook readers, but in case you didn’t know, we are in Disney this week! My mom has been wanting to take a trip and since she recently retired after many many years of working for the public school system, she decided to take a family trip taking all of us with her! We are here with my mom, grandfather, brother and sister in law, nephews, niece, and of course my hubby and kiddos. We arrived last night and took today to rest, relax and tour the other fun hotels.
Here’s a photo of my kiddos waiting for the monorail with Grandma. My youngest of course was much too busy to stand still 😉
And here’s just us girls.
I will be posting when I am not riding rides or chasing the kiddos and my assistant Edith will be posting on occasion as well. I hope ya’ll had a great thanksgiving break!
Erin
Why oh why does my 21 month old insist that markers are tasty! ICK! Good thing they are non-toxic!! What was the weirdest things your kids tried to eat as babies?
Throw all of your ingredients in the food processor and let it work it’s magic until it’s nice and creamy.
Perfection!! I could eat this every day!
Most of my facebook fans already know this, but if you missed it, The Fresh Market opened this morning in Athens. I was very excited to be invited to the “Parmesan Cracking” ceremony this morning. It was a great experience and I was very happy to sample all the goodies!
All in all I felt the prices were comparable with other similar stores in the area, but they seemed to have a bigger variety.
I was very pleased to see the grind your own peanut butter and almond butter stand. That’s always fun for the kids, plus then you KNOW it’s fresh 🙂
My favorite thing of all had to be the okra chips. They are incredible! I first tasted okra chips on our trip to Helen and I became addicted. They are awesome!
I was also impressed with the pink and purple yogurt pretzels. I think these would be adorable for baby showers!
And then there was the wide variety of sweets! Again, prices were comparable with other bakeries in the area. And they looked SOOO good!
And OH THE CANDY! Anyone who is watching their waist line should avoid this area completely! Better yet, blindfold yourself!
And finally the “Parmesan Cracking”. This was pretty neat – a different sort of grand opening celebration. Side note that this parmesan block cost over $1,000!!! WOW! But was it ever tasty!
I will definitely be back to shop more! Now for the things I’m sure you’re dying to know. We asked the following to managers today during our shop:
Q: Do you take coupons?
A: YES!
Q: On a Buy One Get One Free sale, are the items half off or buy 1 to get 1 free?
A: They should ring up 50% off. If it doesn’t, a manager should be able to correct this.
Q: Will you carry Limburger cheese? (okay this was my mom asking for my grandfather!)
A: YES – very soon – shipment was delayed.
And if you want to see the grand opening cutting of the cheese, watch below!
A year ago my son was diagnosed with a soy allergy. Little did we know how much of our world would change for the better. I started making everything from scratch, which has been a wonderful learning experience, but one area we struggled with was chocolate. I’m happy to say after finding a recipe on Pinterest to make my own chocolate, I have one very happy (almost) 6 year old boy! Warms my heart! It tastes really good, too! Here’s his first taste!
Recipe modified from about 4 different recipes on Pinterest to suit our needs and what we had on hand.
Homemade Chocolate Chunks:
Combine Cocoa, Sugar, and Butter in a double boiler, stirring well when melted. Pour onto a pan lined with wax paper. Freeze overnight and break into chunks. Store in the fridge.
Easy Peasy!
Happy Columbus Day! Since we homeschool, I was searching for some activities for the kiddos and decided to go ahead and make a list. Here’s the goodies I’ve found for Columbus Day:
Christopher Columbus – Primary History
Apple 4 The Teacher Columbus Day Printables (Word Search, Unscramble, etc)
Classroom Junior (Word Search, Mazes, coloring, poems)
Coloring.Ws – Columbus Day
Kaboose – Columbus Day Crafts
Let me know if you come across others! I’d love to find more activities!
Say “Goodbye” forever to this nasty ivy in my kitchen. I’m sure at one time it was nice, but now it’s quite yellowed and really not my style.
Ewww… I know. When we moved here 7 years ago, we just had 1 kid and since then we’ve had 3 more, so really I’ve been busy with babies and kiddos and the house maintenance took the back burner. Now it’s time to tackle some projects. I’m so super excited, too. Can’t wait to show after pics! I think what really got me motivated is my new countertops from the Giani Granite project.
And I have to say it really warms my heart seeing my 2 boys working hard on the house 🙂 Here they are prepping for painting:
For paint, we are using a 5 gallon bucket of paint that I found at Lowe’s for just $30! It was in the OOPS section. I love shopping this section because you never know what fun colors you will find and it’s a fraction of the normal listed price!
Soo… what color do you think the kitchen will end up? Any guesses?
