Santa's Helpers

Santa's helpers went straight to work at 9pm and were done before midnight.

JM & Jason are efficient at putting trampolines together!

next on our list is to move the trampoline so it's NOT the first thing you see

as you pull into our driveway.

1 thing at a time! :)

and this is how she helped!

she's so peaceful & laid back . . .

most of the time.

Skammers in their Jammers

We've had a nice & relaxing day with family.

The four of us are still in our jammers.

We've celebrated, prayed, eaten, opened packages, reflected, eaten, jumped, napped, played, laughed . . . loved!

Merry Christmas . . .

and HOPPY New Year!

my new best friends

Meet my New Best Friends

and I'm feeling better!

early Christmas present

JM & I received our Christmas Present to each other a little early. After all we need to get used to it some before Thursday! So here are the first pictures taken with our new camera. Everyone advised us we couldn't go wrong with a Rebel. Be forgiving ... I am not a photographer! I was just "getting to know" our gift! so i used it to capture some ... just a few of my favorite things. (mainly ornaments)

Roxie, Rox, Roxinator























Have you tasted these? WOW! Wish I could make a quick trip to get some more! These were a gift and what a YUMMY gift!











jacob spent hours yesterday working with his new legos. i LOVE legos! i LOVE jacob!

























































my all time favorite ornament! seriously i LOVE this one and am so thrilled pat was willing to part with it!! do you now see how ben ben got so cute?! the boys love this ornament as well!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Brunch Menu

since i am home today (i feel close to fine but don't have much of a voice), i thought i would finalize our christmas brunch menu. it's one of my favorite meals to prepare! i also thought i'd share 2 of the recipes.

Mini Sausage & Cheese Biscuits

1 lb sausage cooked & drained

2 oz bricks cream cheese softened

1 cup (or more ;) ) finely grated cheddar cheese (i use sharp)

1 4pk 10 each biscuits

Mix sausages & cheeses together. Cut each biscuit in half. Put mixture in middle.

Pinch biscuit dough together to form ball. You can do the whole biscuit as well.

I made them mini to be bite size. Bake according to the biscuit directions. YUMMY!

Baked Oatmeal

1 cup coconut or canola oil

2 cups sugar (or maple syrup, or agave)

4 eggs

6 cups regular oatmeal

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla

6 cups fresh diced or sliced (or 2 big cans) peaches, plums, pears, cherries or combo

ours will be cranberries and granny smith apples

combine oil, sugar, & eggs.

add oatmeal, baking powder, salt, milk, & vanilla

add fruit & mix gently

pour into prepared greased pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

JM's Amazing Omlets

Lemon Puffs

(these aren't Christmasy at all but were requested)

Cranberry Scones

Gingerbread Coffee from TRADER JOES!

Grandparents get your taste buds ready!

On My Mind

this has been a crazy week filled with many ups & downs!

and i'm glad for the weekend!

monday we started christmas shopping ~ we are only lacking jammer bottoms for the boys

tuesday was a wonderful day for the boys and i'm extremely thankful! ~ it was the day jacob came home & said "today, ben & i are going to play without any fighting or arguing." i was skeptical but pleasantly surprised!

wednesday jacob lost his second tooth, ben had his christmas program at preschool

thursday jacob had a field trip to the new art museum

friday we went to downtown roanoke with friends

friday we also heard the sad news about papaw & memaw's nestley. ~ their sweet 15 year old

chocolate lab died yesterday morning. we will be telling the boys today and would love your prayers for the grandchildren as well as for memaw & papaw. we decided last night was not the time to tell them as they were already drained & tired from the week and from the evening.

look at the pure joy in little 2 year old jacob's face!

i'm also thankful that in the last year ben too has warmed up to her & loves nestley.

earlier this week i heard jacob tell our roxie that she is his 2nd favorite dog.

nestley ranks high with jacob!

ben's teacher's 17 year old son is in the hospital for dehydration & elevated enzymes

little connor man is also in the hospital for breathing issues

so there's a glimpse of the variety of things i have on my mind! i am thrilled for the weekend and in jacob's words "all the family movie nights we can have because we're on break"!

popcorn, pizza, jammers, movies, cuddles, family

here we come!

Polka Dot Personal Presents

if you know me, even just a little, you know how much i LOVE polka dots & letters! i put them both together to create a yummy, Christmas treat for friends & teachers too. these are great because you can mass produce them yet still make them personal.

I love the Classic Sugar Cookie recipe from Southern Living at Home's Incredible Cookies.

1 cup butter or margerine softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg & vanilla, beating well. Gradually add flour & salt, beating well until blended. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Roll each portion of dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with desired cookie cutters...I choose LETTERS! Place on lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool cookies 1 minute on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Now for the amazing glaze to spread on the tops of the polka dot initial cookies:

You need

1 16 oz package powdered sugar

6 T warm water

Stir together. Place in shallow bowls for dipping.

Red Hots & M&Ms make great polka dots for the initials!

Gather a stack of one letter, wrap in cellophane, & tie with ribbon. Your personalized gift is ready to give! Place them inside a glass jar for a festive presentation.

Christmas is...

Have you seen this book?! I love it and so do our boys. It takes many of the Christmas Symbols and explains how it ties in with the birth of Jesus. (tree, bell, star, wreath, candle, present, etc. I even read to my 3 year old preschoolers this week. It's a little long for them but it was easy to "shorten".

There are also a few children in my class that do not seem to have any type of Christian Influence at home. There is never any mention of church and all of our weekly Bible Stories seem very new to them. So...as a Christmas Gift for the children to take home to their parents we are making our own abbreviated version of this cute book. Each day we are using one of the symbols mentioned and creating our art with that. For example, we covered a bell pattern with tissue paper, used painted peppers & carrots to create a wreath, sponge painted a present pattern, and used the children's finger prints to decorate a Christmas Tree pattern. Each page has simple scripture to tell how the symbols relate. We will bind them all together with ribbon and wrap for the children to give to their parents.

The children are so excited to make their own book and some of them may even be able to "read" it. (it's that simply done) Jesus will be honored through it too!

Christmas Munchies

This is another favorite recipe of the SkamFam's

Cranberry Salsa with "Tree Chips"

I got this recipe about 3 years ago from a magazine

and have been using it every Christmas since.

It is a yummy gift to share or works well to take to a gathering for an appetizer or snack.

It provides a pretty display at a party and presents itself well as a gift.

1 12oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries (no need to thaw)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths
½ red pepper, cut into large chunks
½ medium red onion cut in large chunks
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup apple juice
3 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 T chopped pickled jalapeno pepper
1 tsp grated lime zest

1 pkg spinach tortillas

Put cranberries, apple, red pepper, & onion in food processor. Pulse until chopped. Transfer to a large glass bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Cover & refrigerate or spoon into jars for gift giving.
Heat oven to 375. Using a 3 inch tree shape cookie cutter cut trees from each tortilla. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake 8 minutes or until crisp. Remove to a wire a rack to cool completely.
Serve or give with salsa.

(it looks especially cute in a glass jar with a ribbon tied around it.)

Christmas Scents

Here is idea #1 for making gifts for others all while spending time together.

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15

We actually recieved this gift from our sweet friends the hymans last year.

I've thought about it all year and couldn't wait to pass along to more friends this year.

All you need is:

1 orange & 1 lemon

4 cinnamon sticks

6 bay leaves

a handful of cloves

Place in a bag with these directions:

cut fruit into quarters, and place in a pan with water and spices.

We've made them for teachers, neighbors, & co-workers

in hopes that they too will enjoy the joy of the season.

It's also been fun getting the boys in on the making & giving action.

As most of you know, I'm all about homemade gifts and would absolutely LOVE more ideas!

So if you have some, please share them!

Advent Creativity!

Have you seen the Advent Conspiracy video this year? For me, it has taken significant meaning. Taking two of my favorite things: creating things and Christmas, and joining them together to give a little Christmas cheer is a great idea!

And (another one of my favorite things), through this blog, I'd like to offer some ideas for you to share or create for this Christmas season.

For the next couple weeks in this Advent season, I'll be posting some ideas for you to take part in an advent conspiracy of your own. Feel free to give more suggestions ... and if you'd like to get together to create some of these with me, let's enjoy each others "presence"!

the newest skamfam addition

when we got home, Dadu had all of this waiting for us!

Ben decided to try it out for size.

at 3:30 we went to pick up our little girl

the boys quickly gave her a bath...she stunk!

we even had to roll the windows down in the 50 degree weather for the ride home

she cried herself to sleep

but is sleeping for now

oh and we're keeping the name "roxie"

...puppy dog tails?

meet Roxie

actually her name is Roxanne but the boys instantly called her Roxie

the family fell in love

even BEN!

those who know Ben know he is VERY timid around dogs
he QUICKLY warmed up to this little girl!
Jacob has wanted a dog since he could say "dog dog".

mommy needs a little girl!
but only if JM isn't allergic
so once we figure that out maybe we can bring a little more meaning to the phrase
"snips, snails, & puppy dog tails"!

Praise the King

I LOVE this song!

happy monday friends!

ben's girlfriends!

you may have watched this and this is ben's # 4 on the girlfriend list. he just so happened to be taking a class picture right outside my classroom today and i was able to capture the sweetness!

just to update everyone...he is up to 12 girlfriends...one of his teachers even made the list. and tracey if you happen to read this, you are on the list too! congrats!

this is ben with his "mace mace"

do you see how they have their arms wrapped?! and look at her little knees in his lap.

i was so glad i had my camera with me today!

Weekend Wrap Up

I think I may have finally recuperated from my wonderful weekend with crafty girlfriends. Two of my friends came down from Richmond Friday night and left Saturday night. We stayed up until 3:30 Saturday morning creating and chatting! We started again at 9am Saturday morning and only stopped to eat and visit a scrapbook store...(that we won't be visiting again!!)

First on our agenda~
I've been eyeing these since last year when Sarah first posted them on her facebook. I finally got around to making my own.
We are going to put our favorite Christmas things to do inside each little muffin cup. (making cookies, driving to look at lights, watching Polar Express, etc.)

While they were fun fun fun to make, time is running out.
Sarah has a stock of them in her shop if you don't have time to make your own.

Jennifer & Jenn busy at work!

After finishing our muffin tin advent we started another project.

I think we will put Scripture verses inside these Advent Ornaments

and hang on the boys' Christmas tree along with all of our homemade ornaments.

and isn't this amazing?!
When Jenn asked me to send her some of my favorite pictures of the boys,
I had no idea it was for something this lovely.
I did suggest that she do a tutorial on her blog.
I'm ready to make one so if you are interested in making one too
let's pick a date to create them together!



and this shy pilgrim would be my ben!

if mama aint happy, aint nobody happy!

so what does bring a smile to my face?!

what makes me happy?

honestly there is so much that brings joy to my day!

*the freshness of a good night's sleep & a new morning from God*

*a husband that is also an amazing daddy*

*hearing the boys scream dadu when JM comes through the door*

*having JM come through the door*

*listening to Jacob sing his precious heart out in worship

listening to music in his room or at church*

*girlfriends having babies ~ girls for both of them

born 1 week apart*

*the glimpses of God's amazing provision*

*the smooth minty feeling of my freshly brushed teeth*

*creating*

*creating with girlfriends*

*time spent with family*

*waking up to a "dusting" of snow*

*obedient, happy boys that get along

and show love to each other*

*a warm cozy home*

*working with Godly women

in a nurturing Christian environment*

*stay home jammer days*

*thanksgiving & christmas*

*the smell of anything pumpkin flavored*

*hugs from 13 little 3 year olds on the active room*

oh Lord, you've blessed me richly.

thank you for showering me and reminding me ~

big or small blessings are all from you and need to be thought of as HUGE.

i'm so thankful for the way you make your self known to me.

i'm so thankful for the life you've given me.

i'm an incredibly blessed mama, woman, wife, daughter, & friend.

i'm an incredibly thankful mama, woman, wife, daughter, & friend.

a little giggle!

after dinner tonight JM & I were cleaning up the counter and i leaned in to give him a little peck. both boys started screaming like little girls saying "no don't . . . KISS!" well of course we did. then after JM left the kitchen jacob mumbled to ben "good thing we didn't have to see the honeymoon"! he doesn't even know what a honeymoon is!

etsy items

i just put a few more things up on etsy.

it's a girl!

i have a few girlfriends that are having babies ~ one today in fact!!

this is what they just might be getting!