Christmas Traditions

Hi.  My name is Maureen, and it’s been two days since I bought my last Christmas ornament.  That’s right, two days.  I went the nearest Hallmark the day after Christmas so I could purchase the latest Han Solo Keepsake ornament. I have what some may call an addiction to Christmas ornaments.  My husband would like to call it an obsession.

I can easily spend an hour in the Hallmark store, admiring their latest creations.  I can get lost in the Disney Days of Christmas Store at WDW.  I don’t even blink when the cashier asks for $70.  My reply “Oh, that’s all?  Let me get some more.”

Ornaments tell a story.  It can be one you share, or one you keep to yourself. 

This one?  My cousin Michele gave it to me the year I found out I was pregnant with the Monkey. 

And this one?  My Uncle made this for my mom the year I was born.  Needless to say, it’s kind of old.

These were new additions to our tree this year.  My monkey LOVES Nemo, so this was only natural that we get it.   The R2D2 one is all me – it combines my love of Disney and Star Wars.  It’s ultra nerd material.

Here is one of my favorites. Two tiny little hands helped to paint this one.

I started an ornament collection for my daughter the year she was born.  It started off innocently enough.  I would purchase ONE thing that reminded me of her – and I would purchase it after the holiday when it was on sale.  I would write the year that I purchased it on the box or tag, and then I would put it away in the special box.  The first year I bought her a Scooby Doo one, because I love Scooby.  The next year, I bought her a Dora the Explorer one because she was in love with Dora.  The next year she got a Sponge Bob one.  Then something happened the next year.  Instead of buying one, I bought three – Star Wars, Transformers, and Charlie Brown.  That was the year she discovered the coolness of Optimus Prime, and with me as her mom, she has no choice but to like Star Wars.

I was looking through the box yesterday, because I had to put away the Monsters Inc. and Darth Vadar ones I just bought her, and I took a walk down memory lane.  I found two Lightening McQueens, a few Buzz and Woodys, and a lot of pigs.  Remember, the Monkey is obsessed with pigs, so a lot of people give us pig decorations.  I just put them away in the special box.

When she has a house and family of her own, I’ll give her this box.  My hope is she will use these to decorate her tree, and perhaps she can tell her children their stories.  She will tell them why she has an iCarly and a Lego Stormtrooper ornament.  And perhaps she will start a special box for her children, and continue with this tradition.  That's my hope.

Ping Pong Anyone?

Happy Holidays!!!!!

That’s a lot of work for one day, right?

There were two things that made the Monkey super happy this Christmas.  The first is the ping pong table that Santa left in our basement.  I think these pictures say it all.

The second is Funfetti Cake Batter Buddies.  I found this recipe while surfing Pinterest one evening, and thought it sounded tasty.  I, like my daughter and Buddy the Elf, have a thing for sweets.  We also love anything that has sprinkles (I call them jimmies, but we’ll have that argument another day) on it.  This recipe has everything we crave – sugar, sprinkles, chocolate, and cake mix.   It takes less than 10 minutes to make, and it makes A LOT.  Thanks to Six Sisters' Stuff for the recipe.

If you like sweets, or have little ones around you, give this recipe a try.  I'm sure they will become fans of it right away!  Besides, the holiday season is when we are supposed to overdo it, right?

Candy Free Halloween

Today is the Monkey's Halloween parade and party at school, and like most of the schools across the county, they are trying to cut down on the sugary treats.  I am a classroom volunteer, which means I am a sucker parent that tries to help out whenever I can.  In this case, it meant that I sent in a treat for the party.  We were to send in apples, grapes, and popcorn.  Woo Hoo!  Let the fun begin.  Fortunately, one family is bringing in cupcakes and cookies.  Can you imagine the mutinty that would have happened this afternoon?

Monkey wanted to give her classmates a Halloween treat, and insisted that she give out candy.  Considering the healthy party snacks, I was hesitant to let her.  Normally I don't care what people think about me, but I didn't want to be labeled "That Parent" for the rest of the year.  We racked our brains to come up with something, but we came up empty handed.  So, off to Pinterest we went (thank God for Pinterest) and we came across the great idea.  Thanks to Love Stiched for the inspiration.

This is super easy, and inexpensive.  I found vampire teeth (12 for $1) at the store, and simply printed out Have a "Fang-Tastic" Halloween! on paper.  We cut out each strip, wrapped them around a set a teeth, and taped the ends together.   Here is the finished product.  Sorry -- it hard to really see what they look like.  Monkey wanted to glow-on-the-dark teeth, and they do not photograph very well.

And here is Monkey, all ready for Halloween fun at school today!

Have a great Halloween -- and be sure to enjoy all of your sugary treats!

Just Like Starbucks? Caramel Apple Spice Love

This time of year is a Starbuck lover's dream.  The big mama coffee house brings back it's pumpkin spice, and coffee drinkers everywhere go crazy.  Hot, cold, iced, whipped, frappe'ed -- you name it, they put that pumpkin in it.

Not me.

I love Starbuck's right now because they bring back their Caramel Apple Spice drink.  Truth me told, they never take it away.  They simply do not advertise it, because not many people wants to be reminded of fall in July.

I LOOOOVE this drink.  If it's made correctly (sorry Barista's...sometimes you guys miss the mark), it's like drinking a caramel apple.  Delish.  But it's a bit expensive.  It seems crazy to pay $3.50 for a warm cup of juice, especially when you can buy a bottle of juice for less than $2 at your grocery store.  Just pour it in a mug, add some mulling spices, and microwave for 45 seconds, right?  Well, you can do that, but it's just not the same.  I took my search to Pinterest (HELLO!!! I obsessed with it right now) to find the Starbucks knock-off, and my search took me to this recipe from Crockpot 365. 

We gathered the ingredients, and took this pretty picture (please ignore the empty iced tea gallon and gourds in the background.  Her recipe called for caramel syrup, but didn't specify which specific brand.  Even though her picture shows Smucker's, we used Hershey's (it was on sale).

Following the directions, we put everything in our handy dandy crock pot (another obsession), and we got this mess.  I do believe that food doesn't have to look good -- it just has to taste good.

The waiting was torture, as the house smelled like fall.  It was finally time, and we took the taste test, and......it was good, but not exactly like Starbucks.  My husband thinks it might have something do with with the syrup we used, as he thought it might too thin.  I was sort of turned off by the little chunks of spices that didn't dissolve.  The next time I make this, I think I will put the spices in cheesecloth or a tea strainer.

So, Starbucks, thanks for the idea to search for a knock off.  I'm sure I'll be in your stores soon to give you some of my money, but for the most part, I will stick with this!