I made the invitations on the computer and told everyone to wear their barnyard best (jeans and overalls).  I didn’t want any one’s good clothes getting ruined.  We invited about 20 children who were family and friends.  We had a great turn out.  All of our children and grandchildren were there and 7 friends from school and church. 

We started off with some basic rules about how to hold the animals and directions for safety and then we let them go.  Each animal pen had an adult to supervise the holding and petting of the animals.  We have two pot-belly pigs, five hens, eight chicks, two horses, two baby bunnies and my grandson brought his big bunny to the party, too!

We showed the kids the beautiful colored eggs our hens lay and then talked about how they hatch and showed the chicks, then we showed them the full grown hens.  The piggies did their one trick.  They sit on command and then look up at you and smile.  The kids loved holding all three of the bunnies.  We decided not to give rides on the horses.  It would have taken a long time, but we did let each child pet Jessie (my percheron/paint mare) and sit on her for a picture.  Joe (my thorough bred) was not happy about being tied up and left out of the fun.  We had a great time with the animals.

After a lot of hand washing, we moved on to cake and ice cream.  I have made nearly every birthday cake for every one of my six children until they were at least 18 years old.  I figure I have made over 80 birthday cakes for my children alone, not counting other family and friends.  My cakes aren’t always pretty, but they are always tasty.  This one was kinda cute.

I think my little one really enjoyed her party.  She had lots of family and friends there to celebrate with her.  Everyone went home with barnyard themed goodie bags.  I think we all had a great time!

The reason I have been making pizza more than ordering it recently is probably obvious. With the economy what it is, we just can’t afford to spend $30 or more for pizza. Pizza is surprisingly easy to make. And, if you watch for sales on the cheeses and toppings, it is usually less than half the price of take-out. Here is my pizza crust recipe and a quick pizza sauce recipe.

EZ Pizza Crust (makes 2 twelve-inch pizzas)

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons dry yeast or 2 packages

3/4 cup warm (about 110 degrees) water, plus more as needed

2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

cornmeal for pan

Dissolve yeast in a bowl with 3/4 cup lukewarm water. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt. Stir in the olive oil and the water with the dissolved yeast. Mix well. Add more lukewarm water as needed to make a dough that is smooth and elastic. Turn out on a floured board and knead until for 3 minutes. Pour a little olive oil in a large bowl and place the ball of dough in the bowl. Turn to coat with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

EZ Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon garlic powder or 2 minced garlic cloves

Mix everything together and let sit for a hour or so to let flavors mingle before making your pizza.

Preheat your oven to 550°F. Punch down the dough and separate in to two balls. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 12-inch round. Sprinkle some cornmeal onto your pizza pan and place the dough on top. Spread with the pizza sauce. Add the desired toppings and cover with cheese. I usually use just mozzarella cheese, but sometimes we mix it up and add cheddar, jack or parmesan. This is the great thing about making pizza at home. You can make it the way you want it, not the way the restaurants offer it.

We often have Make Your Own Pizza Night. I prebake the crusts in the morning. I cook them until just down, but not brown. I usually break the recipe into fourths and make small crusts. Before baking use a fork and pierce the crust so that it doesn’t bubble up. Then that night everyone gets to pick their own toppings and put their pizza together. I cook them as fast as they are assembled and everyone gets just the pizza they want. Everyone loves this; kids and adults alike.

Start a new family tradition. Pizza night!

In our family, if you are an adult and you share your birthday month with another adult, you share your birthday celebration.  So this month we celebrate my husband’s and our oldest daughter’s birthdays.  In the past we have all gone out to dinner together, had Sunday brunches and even birthday picnics.  This year we have decided to stay home and have a big barbecue.  Steak to make Dad happy and for our daughter’s choice, salmon!  We will probably have two small cakes, the favorite of each, ice cream and small presents.  We really try to focus on celebrating each other rather than presents.

The beginning of March our fifth child, a girl, turns nine years old.  She had wanted to hire a local animal group to come and show their animals, but as my husband pointed out, we have tons of animals to share with her friends.  So, we are having a barnyard themed party.  The kids will get to hold my new Araucana chicks.  I may even get a few ducklings this year.  They will pet and chase the full grown hens, pet the potbelly pigs, hold the snake, only look at the plated lizard (he is too strong to hold) and then they will all get a ride on my beautiful horses!

To continue with the barnyard theme we are going to ask everyone to dress in “farmer” clothes, jeans or overalls with flannel shirts and boots.  I am going to read one of my favorite children’s books, “Little Peep” to the kids.  We will play some games centered around barnyard animals and then top off the day with a cake with a barn and animals on it!  I really think she will love this themed party and I hope her friends do, too.

A newer tradition for me is at every birthday party for each of my four grandchildren, I have someone take a picture of me holding the birthday boy or girl.  Often, I am busy helping with the party or just don’t show up in a picture of an event.  So for my grandchildren, I want them to know that I was there.  Some day I am planning to make each child a scrapbook with their Grandma Birthday pictures.

Our tradition of celebrating each birthday is centered around the fact that we are truly grateful for each and everyone of our children and grandchildren.  Every one of them is so special and unique.  They bring such joy and excitement into our lives.  I truly believe that each is a special gift from God to enrich our lives.  So I can’t wait for the next round of parties.  It will be fun!  It always is.

We did something very different this year. Usually, we host our family’s Christmas dinner at our house. After many years of traveling here and there on Christmas day, my husband asked me for one thing. You have to understand, he never asks or expects anything. He wanted to start staying home on Christmas day. I asked if it was okay to invite everyone to our house, and he said as long as he didn’t have to drive – he didn’t care. So for about five years, we have had our family here. We had typically had between 20 and 35 people sit down to dinner in our big family room.

This year we decided that we needed to have a quieter Christmas day. For Christmas day and dinner it was just “our” family. My husband and I, our six children plus the two we were lucky enough to have marry in and our four grandchildren. Only fourteen of us! It was such a wonderful Christmas! We actually had time to have conversations. I saw all the kids open their gifts. We did a fun craft. For the 5 youngest we got kaleidoscope kits and had a relatively calm dinner with just us.

Of course I missed being with my mom and dad, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, but it was a really special day for us. We had a very hard emotional year and the quiet time for us helped bring some of the focus back from the losses to our amazing blessings. I don’t know if we will have a quiet, smaller Christmas dinner next year, but it was truly the greatest gift I received this year!

I have started my holiday baking. Mmmm, mmmm, do I love cookies? Yes, I do. We’ve been baking off and on for several days in between Christmas concert performances and Christmas parties with our family and friends. Here are a few more great Christmas cookies recipes with pictures.

CRANBERRY ALMOND BISCOTTI yield 24 cookies

In a microwave safe bowl add all ingredients except walnuts. Working at 30 second intervals, heat the mix then stir. Repeat heating and stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Add in walnuts and spread in a 9 x 9 inch pan. Cool completely and cut into 1 inch squares. You can also try mixing different types of chips (peanut butter, milk chocolate, mint) and different nuts (almonds, cashews or peanuts) to create various types of fudge.

If you are giving cookies and candies as gifts, a fun and easy to way to present them is to get a new gift box. Line the box with either foil or parchment papers and then add your cookies. Tie off with a big bow and your gift is ready to go.

My husband on the other hand really wants a gingerbread house. Years ago he saw someone make a “gingerbread” house out of graham crackers. That was the beginning of “his” Christmas tradition. Every year he goes off to by all the crackers, icing, candies and sprinkles. He sets it all up and then together with our children they create their beautiful “gingerbread” houses.

It is a wonderful thing to watch. He helps the younger ones get their houses built, makes suggestions for the decorations and basically has a great time helping the kids with their creations. The kids love this special time with their Dad. They know that this is something they do together every year, and they love it.

My husband will be the first to tell you, that if he can do this, so can you. He covers pieces of cardboard with foil for the bases. He buys everything else: the graham crackers, canned icing, food color, sugar cones (for the trees), mini M&Ms, big M&Ms, red hots, marshmallows and candy sprinkles. His secret is to attach the graham crackers to the base as he builds the house. You can carefully use a serrated knife to saw the crackers into different shapes for the roof or chimney. Then the fun part – decorating!

This year our three oldest grandchildren got their first chance at the “gingerbread” houses. They had so much fun! The youngest one mostly ate the decorations, but he had a wonderful time decorating with all the big kids and

Grandpa. So if you want a truly fun, easy and creative project to do with a special child in your life, try this one!

. . . as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:14

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine egg, sugar, peanut butter baking soda. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet. Press with a fork to make criss-crosses and flatten slightly. Bake at 350°F until golden and firm to the touch. Cool completely before storing.

My oldest daughter found this cookie recipe a few years ago. We all love it! You can also make this cookie recipe with almond butter or cashew butter. Yummy!

Ingredients:

1 pound butter

2 cups sugar

6 eggs beaten

1/2 cup milk

4 teaspoons baking powder

8 – 9 cups flour

3 tablespoons orange extract

3 teaspoons vanilla (clear Mexican vanilla if available)

3 egg yolks for brushing tops

Mix butter, eggs, sugar, milk, orange extract and vanilla together thoroughly. Add baking powder and 8 cups of flour. Combine well. Add more flour if needed to make the dough not sticky so you can form the cookies in your hand. Working with small amounts of dough, roll into a long coil. Cut into 4 inch pieces and scroll into an “S”. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Brush with egg yolks. Bake at 350° for about 15 – 20 minutes.

I grew up eating these cookies. Our neighbor Androula made them all the time. They are the perfect cookie for dunking in coffee or tea. They are so simple and so delicious. Give them a try!

Holiday baking is one of my most treasured family traditions. I love to smell the sweetness as the cookies and breads bake. It is so much fun to teach my children how to make and decorate their own special cookies. Now my grandchildren are in the kitchen baking cookies, too. It is such a great way to spend time with my family. If you haven’t done holiday baking in the past, I hope that you try it this year. Merry Christmas!

I remember my first nativity set. I was a young mother who wanted her children to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Money was very tight, but one day while I was at Pic-N-Save (anyone remember?) I found a small ceramic nativity set. The stable was just particle board, but the little figures were pretty. Simple, but pretty. I have used that nativity set for 28 years. The particle board stable has been replaced, but I still have the figures. Okay, the cow and donkey are missing their ears, but I’ve got them.

One of my favorite nativity sets was a huge surprise. It is my Italian style yard nativity set. My husband and kids gave it to me for my birthday about 5 years ago. My husband and I had seen it while shopping one day. It was love at first sight! Then, I saw the price. Oh, well. John said I should get it because I would be sorry if I didn’t, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on something that would only be enjoyed for just a few weeks each year. So, surprise! They gave it to me for my birthday. It is so beautiful. I keep it on our front porch under the Christmas lights and smile every time I see it.

Another one of my favorites is a small resin nativity set that I set up in my den window when I got it. I think it was from one of those school fundraiser catalogs. I was really pretty and I thought it looked so cute there. Well, so did my granddaughter. She was barely two years old, but she climbed up on the bench in front of the window and played with that nativity set for hours. Needless to say at the end of the season when I put away all the other Christmas decorations, that one stayed out. It is still there with lots of broken ears, lost heads, etc. but now all my grandkids love to play with it. I am looking to replace it with something sturdier.

With collecting comes a challenge or two. Where does one display 10 nativity sets? Well, you have to get creative. I have two mantels; each one displays a nativity set. I put the little ones in the windows. They get placed on shelves wherever I can find room and I clean out my china cabinet and put one in there with my Christmas dishes.

I don’t know if I will ever get more nativity sets, but I really love the ones I have. They remind me to stay focused on the true reason for the season – the celebration of the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My husband will only allow a “real” tree in the house, so we always have either a fresh cut Christmas tree or a living Christmas tree. As we are running out of room to plant trees, we have a cut tree this year. There is nothing like the smell to get me into the holiday spirit. By the time you add the lights and sparkle I am ready for Christmas morning.

A Christmas tradition in our house is that Daddy puts the lights on the tree. Sometimes he does it by himself. Other times he has helpers, but Daddy is in charge of the lights. He likes lots of the tiny, multi-colored ones. He also likes tinsel, but he usually gets vetoed on that one. It’s not that I don’t like tinsel, but the fake plastic stuff gets static-y and sticks to everything but the tree. Sorry to get off track. Daddy does the lights.

Our tree is covered with a vast array of ornaments. Most treasured are the ornaments made by the hands of my precious children. We also have ornaments that have been gifts from family and friends. Some of the ornaments are in perfect condition, others not so much. We all have our favorites and those are the ones that make it to the tree. I could never have a themed tree or a designer tree, because our handmade and treasured ornaments wouldn’t fit. And believe me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Our last bit of decorating the tree also goes to Daddy. Our tradition is for Daddy to place the Renaissance Angel atop the tree as the finishing touch. One year we couldn’t find her in the garage, so now she has a special place in my bedroom closet. After the angel is in place everyone stands back and admires the tree. Somehow year after year we always find the Christmas tree a very special part of our Christmas celebration.

So here’s to all the Christmas trees – stylized, thematic, shiny and beribboned – you make everything look and smell like Christmas!

I am so excited.  Just like a little kid, I can’t wait to get our outdoor Christmas lights put up.  I think that the outdoor Christmas lights are one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  My dad always put up outdoor Christmas lights when I was growing up.  I don’t know if it is because they light up the cold dark December nights, or because they are an outward symbol of the Christmas celebrations inside our homes, but outdoor Christmas lights are always magical.

The outdoor Christmas lights are something that we can share with everyone who drives or walks by whether we know them or not.  To me they say, “We wish you a Merry Christmas!” to everyone who passes by.  In our family, we try to make at least one trip to drive around different neighborhoods and enjoy everyone else’s outdoor Christmas lights.  It’s so much fun to drive around singing Christmas carols, drinking hot chocolate and looking at the beautiful Christmas lights.

There have been very few years when our house didn’t have the sparkle and shimmer of outdoor Christmas lights.  Several times we have just been “too busy” to get them put up.  That never happens two years in a row, though because the whole family spends the entire Christmas season missing them.  So the next year, they are the first Christmas decorations that go up.  We must have our outdoor Christmas lights.

A fun and strange thing has happened over the years.  My children go from being observers to active participants in the outdoor Christmas lighting.  My sons especially like to design the lights for the year, although my daughters are always there to pitch in.  The younger siblings are always so impressed with the efforts of big brothers and sisters.  Now we have our grandchildren to enjoy the Christmas lights, too. 

So tonight is the night for outdoor Christmas lights!  I can’t wait . . .