The sweet scent of Christmas

Looking for a way to fill your house with the scents of Christmas without an allergy inducing fresh tree or waist widening Christmas baking?  ;-)  Here's a great batch of real ingredients sure to fill your house with holiday smells without the oils and burners you find in the stores.  All you need is 1 orange, 1 lemon, 2 cinnamon sticks, a few sprigs of rosemary or time if you have them, a handful of cranberries, and a few shakes of your favorite spices.  Toss them all in a pot, fill with water, set the pot to simmer, and within minutes, your home will be filled with the amazing aroma of Christmas!

Meredith

Make sure you visit my facebook and Pinterest pages for more meal ideas!

Polar Express dinner 2013

Christmas is almost here, and that means lots of crafts and traditions are in the works!  Each year we have a family night in where we eat a Christmas themed dinner, and watch The Polar Express together.  This year I got a little smarter about our meal, and prepared a buffet instead of our traditional plates.  This allowed me to get the meal together before the movie started, so I was able to sit down and enjoy the family time instead of bustling around the kitchen while the kids watched the movie without me!  (Am I the only one who finds themselves missing out on events in the blur of set up and clean up?)  Here are a few pictures of the quick and easy themed meal! 

How cute is this little smokie wreath?  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Just arrange your pigs in a blanket in a circle.  After it begins to brown, brush it with herbs in melted butter.  You can also serve it with a bowl of your favorite barbecue sauce mixed with cranberry sauce to dress it up a little.  The bow is made out of smoked peppers, which I happened to have on hand. 

The menu also included Christmas chips, green macaroni and cheese, (Walmart didn't carry the winter themed package that I was hoping to pick up.) Goldfish crackers, a veggie tree with baby tomato "presents", a stacked tortilla wrap tree, Rudolph nose cookies, and apples, which I cut the center out with a small Christmas cookie cutter, and dipped in pineapple juice to keep from browning. (Worked PERFECTLY!)

What are some of your family's favorite Christmas traditions?

















Meredith

Make sure you visit my facebook and Pinterest pages for more meal ideas!

Damsels in distress

Looking for something fun to try this summer?  Look no further!  Our Super Hero fun day was a huge hit, and can be in your home as well.  Here's one of the activities we used that was easy to assemble and lots of fun:



Freeze plastic toys in bowls of ice.  We used Polly Pockets so they could be completely covered in the ice, and rescued later by our Heroes. 

Fill several squirt guns with water, and let your kids race to break these little ladies out of their icy shell.  This would be a great birthday party activity, especially if you place their refill station in a different part of the yard.  Wears them out, and cools them off at the same time!

 Making progress! 

Save me!

This activity went great with our Super Hero lunch, and made for a really fun afternoon!

Make sure you visit my facebook and Pinterest pages for more meal ideas!