Little Family in the Big Woods

My children each got a basket of hot chocolate goodies for Christmas this year. I think this may have been their favorite gift.   The baskets contained a glass mug, a variety of hot chocolate mixes, fun shaped and flavored marshmallows, sprinkles, rolled wafers, and whipped topping. Each day since Christmas has been a new day to create a special hot chocolate drink.

Every Saturday morning, you will find me ironing clothes and watching Trisha Yearwood on the Food Network Channel.  She comes on right after my other favorite, the Pioneer Woman. Last week, Garth Brooks shared his recipe for a Krispy peanut butter ball. I realized that his recipe was very similar to my Special K cookies. So, I decided to use my recipe, but I added 5 cups of rice krispies instead of the Special K cereal. I also coated my hands in butter and shaped the cookies into balls. I also used crunchy peanut butter. The result was great! I will make these again. You can find my Special K cookie recipe here: http://littlefamilyinthebigwoods.blogspot.com/2010/01/special-k-cookies.html 

  My daughter's Christmas pillow is finally finished. Not bad, I would say...three days after Christmas. She requested this pillow about a week before Black Friday. We got all the stuff, and I quickly began working on it; but then, the Christmas season hit. There just never seemed to be any time.   That's ok, we had great fun along the way. It was fun picking out the fabrics.    My daughter enjoyed deciding which order the squares should be sewn together.   She chose the font and printed off the words for me. Then, I enjoyed embroidering them onto the fabric.   This is the stage where our project stalled. Once I put them in the lap quilting frame, I really liked the way it looked. So, I used it as a Christmas decoration, while it waited to be finished. I am proud of the finished product. I am mostly proud that I actually finished it. It has been a while since I tackled a project this comp...

Our Christmas Celebration began with a gathering of my husband's family to recreate the Christmas Eve's that were spent at their Maw's and Paw Paw's house many years ago.  It was a great time. The Christmas tree in the photo is a similar one to the cedar tree that was always in their home.  It was very simple with lights and tinsel. I love this tree. The tree is a great reminder of a simpler time and place filled with a lot of love.   This beautiful nativity set was hand knitted by my Sewing Sister.  She can sew or knit just about anything. I think it is awesome. Her grand daughters will love playing with it.   This is a picture taken at my Lynchburg sister's home. We spent Christmas Eve at her house.   She recently purchased and added this beautiful cabinet to her home. I love her decorations. My daughter and I made these Christmas tea cakes for our final celebration on Christmas day. ...

Lots of preparations have been made for a party at our house tonight. My High School Sunday School Class is coming for a Christmas Party. We have been cooking and cleaning and decorating all evening. I can't wait for them to get here; they are a great group of kids. We have plenty of these Christmas cookies that have become a standard tradition at our house for every holiday. I will share more pictures later in the week.

Christmas...Christmas...Christmas My sixteen year old daughter needed to make a trip to town to purchase some things to make her room look more like Christmas.   I am loving the results of her decorating extravaganza.   She began her decorating with this Christmas quilt we purchased a few weeks ago.  It is the exact colors of her room.   Today she made this NOEL by glittering and then hot gluing the letters together. She has her Christmas book waiting to be  read and albums waiting to be played.    I am especially liking the tube lights. They look very vintage with all of her vintage stuff on top of the piano.   She made these snow globes from fruit jars. They added just the right touch.   Thanks dear daughter for all of your Christmas inspiration. I am especially enjoying writing this post while listening to my new Michael Bublé Christmas album that you and your brother...

The weather in the Big Woods last weekend was perfect for hosting a Barn Party. We had some friends over to shoot skeet and eat with us.  My husband named the evening Skeets and Eats. It was a great opportunity once again to set up the long table. I love this shot with the big tree at the end. This is my favorite tree down by the barn. We grilled hot dogs, ate chili, sausage balls, and pecan pie.