I first heard of the Christmas Pickle last year from a friend of mine. A pickle is hung on the tree on Christmas Eve and the first person to find it the following morning gets a special surprise. She said that this tradition originated in Germany. I thought, Hey, we have German roots; (and by we I mean Shay and the kids, but I don't want to be left out) we should do this. Wikipedia has informed me that the idea that this tradition originated in Germany has been disproved; it actually is an American tradition. Well, we surely have American roots too, so why not implement this fun tradition anyway.
Plus, I found a pickle ornament on clearance last year. All the more reason to add it to our list of Christmas traditions.
I added the pickle to our Christmas Eve Box. That was the first the kids heard of the idea and they were excited.
All the anticipation for Christmas, and it comes and goes in a few short hours, every time.
Cayben was the first to wake. When we woke it was still dark outside. He whispered to Dad, "Dad can I go pee? I don't want to startle Santa." Shay assured him that it was fine and that it was actually morning. He was the first to go check out his presents and was pleased to find Techno, the robotic dog he's been asking for.
(Excuse all of the really poor quality photos. My camera was recently smashed, so all I have is my crappy phone camera. It doesn't even have flash. For this reason I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake until the sun was out. Oh well.)
Solee was up next. She got a little ride on 4-wheeler. Now she can cruise around with her siblings. That is until something gets in her way, at which point she'll continue to push on the go button and spin out. She hasn't quite got the whole steering concept yet.
Embrie finally woke up. She got Cuddles, the Fur Real Pet monkey she wanted.
Dad reminded the kids that a pickle was hiding in the tree. Everyone looked and looked for the pickle. Embrie said, "Since we all found it, we'll share the prize." I didn't really get what she was talking about, but didn't inquire. Shay and Cayben continued to look and eventually gave up. I went over to show them where the pickle was hidden and said, "Really? None of you could find it?" Embrie said, "I know where it is," and pointed it out. Suddenly her first comment made sense.
While the kids played with their new toys, I got breakfast cooking. I made a delicious breakfast casserole and monkey bread.
While breakfast was in the oven we opened all the gifts under the tree. We were all spoiled!
The kids spent the majority of the day playing and watching their new movies. Solee and I took a forever long nap, which is like a Christmas miracle. Shay cleaned up the aftermath. What a man!
In the evening we drove around the peaceful, sleeping town and finally found a place to eat dinner. Dinner was a nice, simple end to our Christmas day.
I wanted to post some pictures of our Christmas decorations since our family live far away and don't get to see them. Problem is the pictures suck. So here is a post filled with really bad pictures of our decs. You get the idea though.
The outside of our house is really lacking. Before living in our current home, we'd never had a garage or much space to store anything, so I don't really have anything. We just have a wreath and a couple bows on the light fixtures.
The inside of our front door is a snowman.
Our living room is mostly adorned in Nativities.
A friend just gave me the large Nativity tile!
We also have an end table with these cute and special vintage snowmen and a "Joy" glass box I made. Shay's Great Grandma Rohde made the snowmen, gave them as a gift to Grandma Sharon Bullock, and then she passed them onto us.
The stair rail is where the stockings hang (and 2 small children).
The family room is where we have the tree.
The star has lights, but looked way funky in the picture when lit. I made it from 5 yard sticks following this tutorial.
In the kitchen, I display the Christmas cards on this clothespin wreath I made.
Crystal made me these block letters years ago.
I also have a wreath snowman hanging on the wall and a little fiber optic wreath on the pantry door.
Our upstairs is pretty lacking in Christmas decor except Cayben's tree in his room.
I scored this 6.5 foot pre-lit tree last year after Christmas for $5. I was shopping the after Christmas sales at the Base Exchange when they announced over the intercom that all clearance priced Christmas items would be another 75% off for the next hour. I asked an associate if the tree on display was included in that sale. As he was boxing up the tree I heard a couple more associates, presumably higher-up employees telling the worker that this tree was not suppose to be included in that sale. I inquired and they assured me that I would be getting the tree for the price I was told. I felt kind of bad, but happy I scored the deal of the century, at the same time.
Well there you have it. Our Christmas decorations in crappy photos. Now it's time to take them down.
On Christmas Eve our kids get to open a gift, well we all do actually. We open a giant box filled with pajamas, hot cocoa and fun things for us to do on the evening before Christmas. This year we had a fun game, the makings to decorate ice-cream cone Christmas trees, and a new Christmas dvd- How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The kids didn't wait for me to take pictures before unwrapping the box, but really it was too dark anyway.
For the game I had a big tape ball with pieces of candy in it. We sat in a circle and took turns trying to get as many pieces of candy out of the ball as we could. Each turn would last for the duration it took another player to roll doubles with dice. The problem was we have all had too many sweets this month and none of us, except Embrie, were motivated to get any candy. Cayben was trying to get candy for his sister though. Sweet brother!
We have yet to decorate our sugar-infested Christmas trees. Like I said, we're all sugared out.
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For Family Home Evening we loaded my pajama-clad children with tickets in hand into the Suburban Polar Express to go see Christmas lights at the North Pole.
It truly felt we were driving to the North Pole. We drove to the opposite side of the city (Reno is big!) to go check out the supposed best Christmas light display in Reno. It was good, but not nearly as impressive as I've seen in both Lompoc and Pocatello. Come on, Reno!
Solee and Embrie both slept through it all. Embrie was expectedly bummed when she awoke, so I drove her by a nearby house that was nearly just as great.
Last year after riding the train to the North Pole we watched the movie, The Polar Express. This year we had the pleasure of grocery shopping instead. ;) Plus the dvd is MIA. I found the case though!
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I've spent my weekend making Christmas goodies. I'm still not done, although I feel like I want to be done. Ha!
One of my favorite Christmas traditions from my early years was making candies with my mom. I've always loved making the candies, taste-testing everything, packaging up all the finished goodies to give to loved ones, but mostly I loved the time in the kitchen with my mom.
The last two Decembers I've been away from my mom for Christmastime and have carried on the tradition without her. It hasn't been the same. For one, the work goes much slower. My mom typically makes two goodies in the time it takes me to do one. For two, I'm lacking the camaraderie. My mom's not here and my kids are not yet into this tradition. Maybe I'll put this tradition on hold for a few years and come back to it when the kiddos are older. Hmm?
Anyway, I wanted to share the deliciousness, including some of my mom's recipes. I'm not sure where she got the recipes. Most are hand written pages tucked into her recipe books. Here goes the list of treats I've made (or will make because I've already bought the ingredients and now feel committed to making).
6-Minute Microwave Caramel. This is my all time favorite treat, and it's easy! In fact, it's the best caramel I've ever had. I've seen several similar recipes floating around the internet, but here is the one my mom has written down.
6-Minute Microwave Caramel
In a large, microwavable bowl mix together
1/2 Stick of Butter (4 T.)
1/2 Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 Cup Corn Syrup
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
Microwave for 6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.
Pour into a wax paper lined 8x8 or 9x9 pan.
Let set.
This year I added the caramel over a shortbread cookie and then covered with milk chocolate like in this recipe. I didn't like them as much as I enjoy the simple caramel by itself. Lesson learned.
Brownie Truffles. Here's another simple treat. Make a brownie mix as directed on the box. Let cool. Cut into squares. Roll into balls. Dip into melted dipping chocolate. I also added red and green sprinkles.
Oreo Truffles. Take a bag of Oreos, minus the 4 or 5 cookies you'll eat and smash into crumbs. Blend the crumbs together with a block of cream cheese and then roll into balls. Dip the balls into melting chocolates. This year I found red red velvet flavored and green mint flavored melting candies. They were tasty!
Cream Cheese Melt-In-Your-Mouth Mints. Here is another one of my mom's goodies. Blend together 6 cups of powdered sugar, a block of cream cheese, and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon peppermint extract. You can also add food coloring to add some pretty. Roll into small balls, place on wax paper and slightly flatten with your thumb.
Peanut Butter Candy. I LOVE the chocolate, peanut butter combination. Has there ever been a better combination of flavors? Reese's are definitely my favorite candy bar. One of the few things I remember about elementary school was the lunch room peanut butter candy. You're understanding my feelings toward peanut butter and chocolate, right? Anyway, I've tried a few peanut butter candy recipes, but let me tell you, I've found The One.
Eggnog Fudge. This is one of the treats on my To Do List. I've never actually made fudge. My mom always made the fudge, but this recipe doesn't look too difficult. *Fingers crossed*
Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark. I haven't tried this one yet either, but it sounds like a perfect combination of flavors. I'm going to follow this recipe.
Well there you have it, a tradition that was once my favorite but is not so much now. We'll see how I feel about it next year.
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Our local library put on a production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They had music and a reading of the classic Dr. Seuss story. I guess the Grinch, himself, showed up as well, but we were super late and just caught the end.
Afterwards, the kids got to sing to Santa and visit with him again. This time Solee wouldn't have anything to do with him.
Embrie is facing her fears and actually speaking to Santa, although it was just to tell him that she wasn't going to talk to him.
Cayben has never been hesitant to let Santa know what he wants for Christmas.
Typically when I arrange for playdates it's during school time hours, which means that it's always with preschool aged kids. When I told Cayben we were going to have an after school playdate with a kid his age he was stoked.
Our friends arrived yesterday afternoon. Cayben jumped around acting like a growling lizard for at least the first 20 minutes. He has an interesting way of showing his excitement I guess.
I had arranged for the kiddos to make their own snowmen. Due to snow's dependability issues, I had planned for the snowmen to be made from powdered donut holes and other edible goodies.
The snowman building supplies were set up like so:
Donut Holes & Pretzels
Reeces & Sour Belts Cut Lengthwise
Coconut & Frosting
Mini Chocolate Chips
After they had built their snowmen, I painted a snowman on their faces.
Embrie wanted a Christmas tree too.
I had also arranged for a couple of games, Pin the Carrot on the Snowman and Snowball toss, but by this point they were tired of structure and just wanted to play.
For the Snowball toss, I was going to let the kids throw marshmallows through the holes.
I also made outfits for my snowbabies. You know I can't ever keep things simple.
This one is having a melt down. ( I couldn't resist!)
