Spreading Yuletide Cheer to Our Rustic Cabin

 

Even though we wait until the day after Thanksgiving to begin our Christmas preparations, this year we did begin a little early up at our cabin.  With the excuse that I needed to get it ready for company, the children and I went up there the day before Thanksgiving and tried to make it a bit festive.  I'm a month late in posting, but I wasn't sure I wanted you readers to see just how much of a fixer upper this cabin is.  But I decided, what the heck.  This way you can come along with us on this renovating journey as we pick a project a year to tackle, both at our farmhouse and the cabin.

 

Before we started any of the decorating, I whipped up two pumpkin pies for dessert in the working oven.  The old refrigerator at the cabin also works, so I was able to store the pies there since the one at our house was full of a thawing turkey and all the other Thanksgiving dinner ingredients. 

 

I hadn't ever used the oven before and I think that one side was hotter than the other because I nearly burned our Thanksgiving dessert.  Fortunately, my teen daughter checked them in time.

 

We also threw some cookies in the oven for the kiddos.

 

Between the pies, cookies, cinnamon pinecones, and the large scented candle burning, the musty smell of the cabin was fairly well masked.  We're thinking the multiple layers of mismatched carpeting is where that smell is coming from.  They will have to go.

 

All those extra Christmas decorations that I no longer use in the house got toted up there and were put to good use.

 

The girls and I decorated this little tree that is supposed to be 4 feet tall, but unless I'm actually much taller than my driver's license shows, I'd say this is just a tad inaccurate.  I even have the tree on top of a stool to give it more height.

 

Michael's had their pre-lit artificial trees, plaid tree skirts,  and ornaments 50% off the week before Thanksgiving.  I had a rule that I wouldn't buy anything related to Christmas until after that holiday, but I made an exception for the cabin.  And here in this photo, you can see some of the remodeling that needs to be done.  This one wall alone has paneling on part of it, bare sheet rock (I think?) in places, and noticeable insulation.  There's also a ping pong tabletop for the air hockey table that we moved up there.  And look at that yellowish carpet.  What color would you call that?

 

And while some of us baked, cleaned, and decorated, others were sprawled out watching Christmas movies.

 

That's because the cabin still has an old working VCR, and we still have quite a collection of movies on VHS, believe it or not.  I am just not willing to spend the money to upgrade to DVD when the videotapes are still good.  We almost always start out the Christmas season with Home Alone and A Christmas Story, which our youngest referred to as the "Shoot Your Eye Out Ralphie" movie for years.

 

After a few hours at the cabin, the inside smelled, looked, and sounded like the holidays, and it had warmed up enough outside to go for a hike before our out-of-town guests arrived.

I'll be making my way up there again later this week to prepare for Christmas guests.  The interior of the cabin hasn't changed since Thanksgiving, but outside it looks like this:

 

While the surrounding areas with more sun have melted, here on the north facing side of the mountain, we are still covered in snow and ice.  I think there's a good chance that at the Preppy Mountain Farmhouse, we will have a white Christmas even though there is no more snow in the forecast.

 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

 

We are nearly three-quarters of the way through Advent and full of Christmas spirit and activities here at our farmhouse.  This is a bit of what we've been up to as we try making spirits bright.

 

We've decorated a total of four Christmas trees this year, not including ones that we've helped with at schools and Church.

 

There's been some fun gingerbread cottage competition going on.

 

The boys built one, and the girls built the other.  I must admit that we girls added some inedible embellishments to give ours a bit more curb appeal.

 

We got some snow over the weekend, and the children were so excited to be on a two hour delay Monday morning due to the ice that accumulated on top.

 

And then we woke up this morning to a lot more snow, but there was no delay, much to the dismay of the kiddos. 

 

I've been creating some Pinterest-inspired chalkboard art in the kitchen and the front porch.

 

And the house has been decorated with a few new things...

 

...but mostly old.

 

We've still got our burlap plaid theme going on throughout the house.

 

And we even took the rustic preppy look to our fixer-upper cabin this year.

 

There is plenty of viewing of Christmas classics.  I think I've watched Christmas with the Kranks on Netflix three times already.

 

And we've been counting down the days with our Advent calendar and this crafty bit of last year's Christmas tree that I made.  I change this every morning before I get my first cup of coffee.

 

The Christmas cards have been sent.  The trees have been trimmed.  The halls have been decked, though not with boughs of holly.  Gifts have been purchased, wrapped, and hidden.  The Holly radio station is played every time we're in the SUV.  Most of the Christmas movies have been watched, and the books are being read.  All that's left is the cookie baking.  The children have been wanting to start on that for weeks, but I'm putting it off because I can't resist the sweet treats.

And I'm desperately trying to end this year no heavier than when it started.

May the remaining days of your week be merry and bright, dear Readers.  

Black Friday Shopping at the Tree Farm

 

I haven't been Black Friday shopping in decades, and I don't miss it one bit.  Instead, it's our family's tradition to cross over the mountain the day after Thanksgiving and shop for our Christmas tree.  This year it was a cool, foggy day in the Alleghenies as we trekked over the hills of this large tree farm.

 

I wore my pedometer that day and got in more steps than any other day that Thanksgiving week.  Hopefully, I walked off all that pumpkin pie.

 

Some younger members of the family never really hike; they just run everywhere instead.  Ah, if only I still had that much energy.

 

While some of us hiked or ran, others got pulled around like royalty in a makeshift rickshaw.  From the moment our orange-haired son was born, his older sister looked at him with annoyance.  I'm pretty sure she's been waiting her whole life for moments like this when he would live to serve her.

 

When we thought we'd found the tree of our dreams, Hubby "measured" its width and height using his body as the measuring tape.

 

This year we thought we'd found it early on, and some of us posed for a photo before cutting it down.  Why is it that little boys always want to photobomb your pics?

 

It turned out that after examining it more closely, the trunk had a severe case of scoliosis and would have been a disaster in our tree stand at home.

 

So we moved on and found another, this one with a perfectly straight trunk.  None of our sons want to be the official tree cutter of the family, so Hubby is still the one to lie on the ground and saw it down.

 

Fortunately, our younger boys do like to haul the tree back to our vehicle. 

 

After getting all the loose needles shaken off and the tree wrapped up tight, we got our cups of hot cocoa and a few bags of homemade cookies, and we set off for home.

 

Set up in our dining room with a crockpot full of warm cranberry apple cider nearby, the ceremonial unwrapping of our Christmas tree occurred.  The day involved no lines, no crowded aisles, no fighting over limited quantities of merchandise.  Just fresh air, rolling hills full of pine trees, and steaming cups of cocoa and cider.

And that is how we do Black Friday shopping as Preppy Mountain Farmers.

 

Sweets for Santa

We've been making all kinds of sweet treats this week to share with friends and family, to consume by us, and of course, to leave near the tree for Santa tomorrow night.  Our youngest also came home from school with a bag of reindeer food that she'll sprinkle on the ground in front of our house for Rudolph.  Below are the recipes for some of our favorite Christmas cookies and candies our family makes each year.  Some of these only take about 15 minutes to prepare.

Peanut Butter Bark

Pour 1 bag of white chocolate chips, 1 bag of peanut butter chips, and 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat.  Stir often to prevent sticking and scorching.  Once melted, add 1 cup broken pretzel pieces and 1 cup of peanuts.  Stir well and pour on a foiled cookie sheet.  Chill in refrigerator.  Once hardened, break into pieces.  I keep it stored in the fridge.

The most time-consuming treat we made were gingerbread men and women.  There was also a gingerbread reindeer and a few candy canes thrown in there too.  I usually just make sugar cookies, but our daughter begged me to make these this year.  It turns out that we like them even better than sugar cutouts, so this will become our new tradition.

Once one child began decorating, they all wanted to get in on the fun.  Even my husband participated.  By the time I was finished getting the last cookies out of the oven, there was no more gel icing left and most of the sprinkles were gone too, so my cookies were rather plain.

I was really surprised that my children loved the taste of these.  They're not nearly as sweet as some of the other Christmas treats we make.  I think we made 34 gingerbread cookies, and most of them were gone in two days.

Gingerbread Cookies

Stir together 5 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons of ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Put aside.  Beat 1 heaping cup of shortening for 30 seconds.  Add 1 cup sugar, beat till fluffy.  Add 2 eggs, 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon of molasses, and 2 Tablespoons of vinegar.  Beat well.  Add the dry ingredients to beaten mixture, beating well.  Cover and chill overnight (or at least 3 hours.)  

Divide dough into thirds.  On a lightly floured surface, roll each 1/3 lump of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes.  Place about 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Cool before decorating.  

*You can make these thinner and only bake for 5 minutes.  We like thick, soft, chewy cookies, so we made ours thicker.  Plus, I'm impatient and don't want to stand around rolling out twice as many.

This is the one Christmas cookie that I do bake at other times of the year as well.  These are our absolute favorites for some reason.  They're fairly quick to make too.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Cream 1/2 cup shortening and 3/4 cup peanut butter; add 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar.  Add 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat well.  Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly.

Shape dough into bouncy ball sized balls; roll in some granulated sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately place unwrapped Hershey's Kisses on top of each cookie, pressing down slightly so they crack just a little.  Cool.

Peppermint Cookie Bars

Combine 1 roll of sugar cookie dough with 3 Tablespoons flour, and 1 Tablespoon mint extract.  Press out onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Immediately sprinkle a bag of white chocolate chips over the top.  Once melted, spread to cover the bars.  Sprinkle crushed peppermint candies on top.  Cool.

These are a lighter, cool minty cookie but are also quite filling.  A little goes a long way, and they look so festive.  Great with a hot cup of cocoa!

Other than a pumpkin cake roll that I still need to make for our Christmas dessert, I am finished with all baking for the week.  Time to relax a little before company arrives and the big meal preparations get under way.

May You All Have a Very Merry Christmas!

Why I Look Forward to Wrapping Christmas Gifts

I have always enjoyed sitting down a week or two before Christmas and wrapping the gifts.  Years ago, a family member used to pay me to wrap all of his gifts along with mine.  Throughout the years, I have added a few special treats to make the event so enjoyable, that I look forward to this day all year.  Today was my day to have the house all to myself so that I could wrap all of the remaining Christmas presents for the thirteen people who will be celebrating Christmas here in 2015.  Fortunately for the rest of my family, this weekend also happened to be the opening of the new Star Wars movie, so they had plenty to look forward to as well.

As the rest of my family sat in a theater watching Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, I watched my favorite holiday movie, It's a Wonderful Life and sipped a glass or two of Pinot Grigio.  I may have also sampled a couple of freshly baked gingerbread men throughout the afternoon.  By the time the above classic was over, I was only about halfway through wrapping, so I also viewed Christmas with the Kranks, a relatively new favorite of our family.  Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen are a hoot in this movie, especially the scenes where they're tanning in a mall, and when Allen's character decides to get Botox just before a lunch out with his wife.  We laugh so hard while watching this movie.

Aside from the fact that I can't have children around watching me play Santa, I also need all the space I can get because I definitely sprawl when I am gift wrapping.  I must concentrate so I don't forget where I have hidden items or forget whose gift I'm wrapping.  This year I started filling out the gift tags one at a time before wrapping each gift.  After a glass or two of wine last year, I would forget what I just wrapped and then would have to loosen the tape and peek inside before I could put the gift tag on it.  

I don't know how other parents of large families keep track of their purchases, but I keep a chart with everyone's names, gifts, and stocking stuffers so I can be sure all gifts are equal in number and price range.  I also check off each gift on the chart as I wrap it so I can be sure I don't forget any.  If I do, then I have to do a thorough search of my house, vehicles, and outbuildings because we have hidden presents everywhere to prohibit nosy children from finding them.  I now have a pillow to sit on too because the wooden floors do not feel good under my body after sitting on them for hours on end.

I always wrap all the childrens' gifts first and hide them away in case my husband brings them home from the movies early.  Then I move on to gifts for adults and extended family.  You'll notice that I couldn't pass up an opportunity to purchase some plaid wrapping paper this year.  I actually bought the last roll in our local Target store.  I do have plaid ribbon, but I just don't bother with ribbons and bows on the kids' gifts anymore.  I don't think they even notice them. 

   

Some friends of ours introduced us to this little rhyme a number of years ago and we have tried to stick to this to keep from becoming too materialistic at Christmas: 

"Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read."  

We have also added to that a game or movie, and also an ornament that I purchase for each child annually.  Once they grow up and have their own residence, I then give them all the ornaments they've accumulated through the years for their first Christmas tree.  We have found that as time goes on, our children are often hard-pressed to even come up with five items to place on their wish list.  What a difference from the days when they would peruse the toy aisles and point to every other item on the shelf and say, "I want this, and I want this, and I want this..."  Instead they really spend quite a bit of time giving thought to one main item that they would truly enjoy.

So what about you Readers?  I would love to hear what gift wrapping traditions you might have to make the task more enjoyable.

Focusing on the Spirit of Christmas with Children

As we count down through the final days until Christmas, the children get increasingly excited.  I'm so glad they still have that enthusiasm and joyful anticipation for such a special day.  But while most of the media focuses on the sparkle, the presents, and a wish list for Santa Claus, we try here to keep our family focused on the true spirit of Christmas.  We begin the season by lighting the candles on our Advent wreath.  On the first Sunday evening of Advent, we say the following prayer right before we light the first purple candle:

"Lord God, let your blessing come upon us as we light the candles of this wreath.  May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ's promise to bring us salvation.  May He come quickly and not delay.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen."

Along with the Advent wreath, we also purchase a new Advent calendar each year that hangs in our kitchen where even our youngest can reach it.  The children take turns opening a square each night and reading the corresponding verse of Scripture.  After showing each other what Christmas shape the chocolate is in, he/she gets to eat it.  Everyone knows they'll eventually get a turn, so there is no fighting over it.  

Our nativity set is still a plastic one purchased years ago when my house was full of toddlers and preschoolers.  Since our youngest is six, she still doesn't want me to replace it with something a little more elegant, but breakable.  For years, we positioned the shepherds, Mary and Joseph around the empty manger because the baby Jesus couldn't show up until Christmas morning when I would sneak him in before they awoke.  The Wise Men were placed farther away since they wouldn't make their appearance until later.  Each day, the children moved everyone a little closer to the stable as we all awaited the birth of Christ.

I know everyone is looking for ways to share good tidings with others this month.  Some of the things our family has done are caroling at nursing homes, helping to serve meals to the poor, wrapping up baskets of Christmas food for poor families, donating toys to needy children, ringing the Salvation Army bell outside stores, plus donating to charities.  This year our childrens' school is purchasing farm animals and other agricultural necessities for impoverished people in third world countries.  We, as a family, will find other ways to spread good cheer to others less fortunate as well.  With social media so prevalent today, it is easier than ever to find worthy causes that rely on our help.

Many years when the children were quite small and it was harder to donate my time out of the house, we simply baked big batches of cookies to share with our neighbors.  We still have a wonderful neighbor who brings us a beautifully decorated homemade treat every Christmas.  This year she delivered a cookie mix in a big Mason jar.  We can't wait to try those out.

Each year we attend at least one Christmas play or concert.  Now that four of our children are in school, they are often the ones performing.  Sometimes, however, we fit in another performance somewhere so they get to be in the audience.  Nothing puts us in the spirit of Christmas more than some great Christmas music or a theatrical production.

Last December my husband and I treated ourselves to a Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert.  We left the kiddos home for that one; although, I think they would all really enjoy it.

I have to admit that for a few very busy years, I stopped sending Christmas cards.  But I took up the task again this year and I'm so glad I did.  This reminds us of our connection to others and encourages us to spread good wishes of hope and joy and love.  As the Christmas cards come into our house, we hang them around the door between our kitchen and dining room where everyone can see.  By the time Christmas arrives, our door frame will be filled.  This year we are also sending a card and handmade drawings from my little ones to a little girl who lost her family in a fire.  She, too, is badly burned and has asked only for Christmas cards this year to fill her tree.  Her story and address can be found here: http://www.wcvb.com/news/girl-who-lost-family-in-fire-has-1-wish-christmas-cards/36855098.

Christmas is also a time for creating family memories.  My parents-in-law gave me the Christmas Memories book for our first Christmas together, and it makes its way to the coffee table in our living room every Advent.  It has space to place photographs, your Christmas card, recipes, and all kinds of traditions and rituals you'd like to remember.  It only covers five years though, so ours was filled quite a while ago.  My mother gave me the smaller Christmas photo album so I could fill it with photos of our children with Santa every year as we would attend an extended family Christmas dinner.  That tradition was started by my grandmother who hosted it every year until the family got so large that we had to rent out a building and have the meal catered.  For years and years I had the opportunity of seeing my many aunts and uncles and multitudes of cousins and their children at this function.  This year, sadly, it has been dropped as families are getting older and too busy to come together anymore.  I hope to keep the tradition alive in our own nuclear family as our children grow up, marry, and have children of their own.

I also enjoy finding books that convey the true spirit of Christmas.  This year I'll be reading these two stories aloud to my younger children as we snuggle under a plaid flannel throw.

While we have many classic Christmas movies that we enjoy watching during the weeks leading up to Christmas, I save The Nativity Story for Christmas Eve before we attend the evening Mass.  We used to watch it first at the beginning of Advent, but then I think it's too easy to forget about why we are really celebrating Christmas by the time December 25 gets here.

When Christmas morning finally arrives, after the baby Jesus has been placed in the manger, and I have poured myself a cup of much-needed coffee, we pray the following "Blessing of Christmas Gifts" before the unwrapping begins:

"Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift are from above.  They come down from you, dear Father of Light.  You give birth to us by your Word, so that we might be born of a new creation.  Bless now these presents that we give and receive in joy at the birth of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Bless us and bless the whole world with thankfulness and peace, for you are the giver of all good gifts.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.   Amen."

That is my final attempt at keeping us focused on the true spirit of Christmas and not on getting new stuff.  My mother-in-law baked a birthday cake for Jesus for many years as well to keep little ones focused on the real reason we're celebrating on Christmas day.  I think maybe I'll try that this year after the dinner feast and place a birthday candle in my pumpkin cake roll as we all sing "Happy Birthday" to the One who brings us hope, joy, and peace with His birth.