New Christmas Art, courtesy of Amy and Laura

Amy and Laura gave me some beautiful, new, homemade Christmas artwork today!!
Laura's ornament
Amy's Santa.
Thanks girls!! You are both so wonderfully talented!! I am soooo proud of you!

Hanging out by the fire

Well, ya gotta do, what ya gotta do!!

Kids in the Kitchen--Christmas Rice-Krispie Balls

You can't get much easier that these yummy little Christmas treats!

We mixed up the regular rice-krispie treat recipe, and then turned them into something for Christmas.

Of course, butter is a favorite part of these treats...
along with the marshmallows.

It is tough stirring , but Gracie got the job done.

We mixed some pretty Christmas candy sprinkles into the rice-krispie treats at this time.

Now is was time to butter our hands--a very important step in the process of these messy balls.

I gave each child a bunch of goo and they formed it into a ball.

A perfect face

Messy and sticky--but a lot of fun!

I finally decided that I need to make the balls, hand them to the kids and they rolled them into sprinkles.

This would be the clean-up commitee!

Enjoy!

A New Shining White Soul-Makes My Monday

Becky had the honor of becoming a God-mother to Lillian Marie this Sunday.

Becky has know Lillian's father her whole life and Lillian's mother since she was in 7th grade.

I was such a pleasure to see this lovely new family welcome their little on into God's family.

Father Morelle perfomed the baptism. He is the same priest that baptised Andrew(Lillian's dad) and Becky some 21 years ago.

I love these smiles after the ceremony!

Joe, Andrew, Father Morelle, Lillian, Ida and Becky.

The four young folks went to school together from 7 grade on---and have remained close ever since.

A proud Momma and God-Momma.

Becky made the cake for her God-daughter.

Proud Grandma Kim and Lillian Marie.

This Sunday Made My Monday--and for that fact--may whole week!

Saint of the Day (Sixth Edition) - A Book Review

We have recently had the opportunity to review the book Saint of The Day:Sixth Resived Edition through the Catholic Company Reviewer program.

This sixth edition, published in 2009, includes some of the most recent saints and blesseds in the Catholic Church, including, Teresa of Calcutta, Martin and Zelia Guerin, Gianna Beretta Molla and Damien of Molokai.

We have been using this in our homeschool as part of our morning prayer time, when we read the short
biography of the saint of the day. It is a little disappointing that everyday does not have an entry. It is something the kids look foreward too, and when a day is "empty" they feel a little let down.

Also included in each entry is a short comment and quote section pertaining to the saint of the day.

I think this part is my favorite aspect of the book. These comments and quotes offer a great chance to reflect privately on these saints as we go about our daily lives, while we strive to live as the the saints lived.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Saint of the Day (Revised 6th Edition).

Build and Grow-a pet treat keeper--

This weeks project was great: a pet treat keeper.

It also is perfectly sized to dispense Hershey Kisses!!!
Poor daddy is sick, so it was up to this momma to make today's project with the kids at Lowes. This activity was quite a bit more challenging that the previous activities---but we did it--and were very proud. Of course, we cheated a little from the other people at our work table.

I can't help but keep praising this totally free program that Lowes offers!!

If you have a Lowes nearby, it is well worth your time!

In two weeks, the project is a wooden bank.

Ours is not to question why....

Ours is but to take the pictures....

Revisiting last years borax snowflakes

One of our borax snowflakes-made last Christmas--on our tree this year.

I was so pleased to discover this ornament when we put up the tree this year.

I am amazed at how durable this delicate looking "science experiment" is.

It was simple put away with our other decorations last Christmas, wrapped in a paper towel, and it is just at lovely as when we first made it.

Make sure to click on the link if you have never made these before, they are well worth it.

The Countdown Continues....

I am beginning to see a pattern here....

Reminds me of last week--but the numbers seem to be increasing!

stART-The Legend of the Poinsettia-by Tomie dePaola

We love all of Tomie dePaola's books, but I have a special fondness for his Christmas legends and saint legends books. The Legend of the Poinsettia is the book we unwrapped yesterday and I had a plan to make a handprint poinsettia when we opened this wonderful book.
"Tomie dePaola presents the story of a well-intentioned Mexican child, Lucida. Distressed because she has no other gift to offer Baby Jesus, she carries into the church an armful of weeds, each of which suddenly becomes "tipped with a flaming red star"-marking the miraculous blooming of the first poinsettias." Amazon review

The first step in these very easy poinsettias was to paint a paperplate green.
We did this the night before the next step so the paint had time to dry.
The next day we made 5 handprints for the poinsettia flowers.
We learned in the book that the people in Mexico call these flowers: la Flor de Nochebuena---which means, the Flower of the Holy Night. We talked about how they look like stars.

You can't have more fun than this during art time.

Kimmy, as always, is a little more lady like in her artwork.

After the blossoms were dry, we used a q-tip to dot yellow paint onto the center of our flowers.

Very careful, now Kimberly!

Very pretty results!!

Check out other stART posts over here at A Mommy's Adventure.

SNACKTIME; Healthy Peanut Butter Bites

Peanut Butter Bites

1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter

3/4 cup powdered milk

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup honey

I discovered this recipe here. It is just perfect for a healthy afternoon protein break!

Above, Mark is using my favorite measuring device in the house: the Measure All from Pampered Chef.
It is the only thing we measure peanut butter in.

Mix peanut butter, powedered milk,

flaxseed and

honey into a bowl.

Of course, we double the recipe since we have more than your average sized family.

Get ready to mix, and mix,

and stir and stir. (It is hard for 3 year olds to stir--check out Kimmy's face)

After the ingredients are all well mixed...

rolled into balls, about 1 inch in diameter. Refrigerate for about an hour-and then enjoy!

These can store in the refrigerator for up to a month in an airtight container.

Ours don't last this long....

We had some teeny tiny bites, and some larger bites--perfect for the many different sized snackers around here.

What a "cook", and what a face!!