Getting Ready

All is a bustle in the Jones house.  Daniel's parents and brother are driving in from Knoxville this morning.  The house is ready (or as ready as it's going to get), gifts are wrapped, loaded potato soup and cornbread are cooking for lunch.  I have just one more gift to sew!  

Bless you all this Christmas!

Click HERE to for the potato soup recipe I am using.

"Award Winning" Twix Bars

Award Winning? 

(Scroll down for the recipe)

Yes, as a matter of fact, they are....

Earlier in the week, a huge group of ladies from church (70 to be exact) attended our Cookie Swap & Ornament Exchange.  We had so much fun visiting with one another and making new friends.  

We were all asked to bring 2 dozen cookies.  I made a recipe that I had originally found about a year ago on another blog called Smashed Peas and Carrots.  (Check out Maggie's blog  for all kinds of yummy recipies and crafty fun!  I checked it earlier, and there is an adorable Snowman Sugar Cookie recipe that I will definitely be using.)

When we arrived, we were told to break up several of our goodies into bite size pieces so they could be taste tested easily.  Come to find out there were prizes for the Prettiest and Tastiest.  

I won for Tastiest!  

What an honor!  I tasted several that were there and they were all delicious.

Here's what I won...

Next, was the Ornament Exchange. 

 I was curious to see how this would be done with such a large group. All the ornaments and were opened.  We were all admiring our beautiful ornaments until we were told that we were going to begin the swap.  To exchange our ornaments, we sang a round of "Jingle Bells" and passed our ornament to the right everytime we sang the word "jingle".  We sang another song (I can't remember what it was) and passed our gifts to the left.  At the end of the song, we kept whatever ornament we had in our hands. 

What a fun way to do a gift swap with a large group!

I LOVE the ornament that I came home with.  I don't have anything like it! 

Thanks Jennifer for organizing, and Dele for hosting!

“Twix” Bars

½ c butter

¼ c white sugar

1 ¼ all purpose flour

¾ c butter

3/8 c white sugar

3 T light corn syrup

1 – 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 c milk chocolate chips

Beat butter and ¼ c sugar in mixer until pale in color.  Add flour to form crumbly dough.

Press into 8” square baking pan (greased and lined with parchment paper).  Poke holes with the end of a wooden spoon (this will help to keep it from crumbling when cutting).

Bake shortbread 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Or until golden brown on edges.

Leave in pan; cool in fridge.

Caramel Layer:

Bring ¾ c butter, 3/8 c sugar, syrup and eagle brand to a boil over med-low heat.  Once boiling, stir constantly for 7 minutes.  ** DO NOT change temperature while you the caramel is cooking!** Caramel mixture will thicken and become pale in color.  Spread caramel on cooled shortbread base.  Let caramel layer cool for 30 minutes in the refrigerator and then 1-2 hours in freezer. 

Chocolate Layer:

Melt chocolate chips over low heat.  Spread melted chocolate onto caramel.  Score chocolate layer to help when time to cut.

Cool for one hour in refrigerator.  Cut in squares.  Enjoy!

Drowning in Felt

If I don't see felt until this time next year, that will be fine with me!

Last week I was drowning in felt!  

Why?

I was helping with our church's Christmas Breakfast and making the 

Santa photo backdrop and 6 foot candy canes were my responsibility.

This was easy sewing considering the backdrop was only straight lines, but these were huge backdrops!  12"X9"!  And, so the lines for Santa would not be too long, we had two rooms with Santa, so yes, I made two backdrops and 4 candy canes

.

I love this kind of thing, though!  I'm happy to give my talents and time for a good cause.

I love how the rooms turned out!

Now, if you ever have to make 6 foot free standing candy canes, here is a suggestion....

When stuffing the candy cane, first insert a pool noodle to help keep the arch.  First we tried a wire hanger and newspaper, but the newspaper was too heavy for the hanger.  The pool noodle worked perfectly!  

Here are a few shots of the event.....

This was the stage area in the sanctuary.  We all met in the sanctuary for songs, story time, and to receive instructions for the morning.  Everyone was divided up into three groups.  Our first activity was crafts, which we missed out on because we were having too much fun with friends.

I LOVE these kids!

Half of our life group kids.  There are five more that were not there.

First family picture of the day.

The second was taken with Santa.  Elizabeth had a death grip on Daniel when it was time to have her picture made with Santa, so instead of missing out on a Santa pic completely, we decided to get in the picture too.  We don't have that picture yet.

This baby Jesus display is in the foyer.  Elizabeth loved looking at Baby Jesus.

Elizabeth is our little meat eater. Here she picked the ham off the biscuit!

We enjoyed breakfast with the Bacigalupo Family.

Elizabeth liked Bella's headband, but Bella didn't want Elizabeth's sticky fingers in her hair!

Sticker Time!

We had so much fun at the OC Christmas Breakfast!  Looking forward to next year.  

(Maybe next year we'll be able to get a good Santa picture!)

2 Years Old!

We weren't sure what we were going to do for Elizabeth's 2nd Birthday, but decided almost last minute to have a small party.  Since I was so late in planning the party, it had to be a small one.  We invited a few adults who are special to Elizabeth and one friend.  I decided on Mickey Mouse for the theme.  She LOVES Mickey Mouse.... 

especially the "Hot Dog" song.

Unfortunately, since her party was mid-week, the grandparents could not come.  However, Gigi (my mom) and Popo sent her a Mickey Mouse card that played the "Hot Dog" song!  

Here is a picture of Elizabeth opening up the card.

She loved it.  In fact, she still does.  At least once a day, I hear that card opening!

I knew I wanted to make a Mickey Mouse cake myself, 

and was so excited when I found a Mickey cake pan at Michaels.

Ready for the party to start!

Listening to "Hot Dog".... AGAIN!

Oh, and I made her birthday outfit, too!

A few shots of her party......

Mama Louise, Rachelle and Kristin

Brigitte, Ted, Mama Louise

Background: Uncle Dave and daddy on the phone

Elizabeth and Tennyson love each other so much

Kris and Eliot

Singing "Happy Birthday".... she didn't like it.

(Can you tell that I ran out of icing?)  Oh well.

Blowing out the candles.  

(Kristin helped since I was behind the camera and Daniel had the video camera)

Yummy!

Tennyson liked the cake, too!

(I love this picture)

Opening presents.....

Elizabeth and Tennyson excited about all the big girl toys!

Ted teaching Elizabeth the proper way to hold a teacup.

(Love the pinky, Ted!)

Just the three of us.....

Elizabeth, you are one loved little girl!  You are so precious to us.  I pray that we can be the mommy and daddy that God has called us to be to you.  I thank Him everyday for choosing us to be your parents.  We are so proud of you.  You have such a sweet spirit.  I love how you say "I Lolu sumuch" --I love you so much and  "I sowee" -- I'm sorry.  You are also so smart.  You can say all of your ABC's with mommy and 90% without mommy.  You can count to 10. You also like to count in 10's... "10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100.... YAY"! Your favorite songs are "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "ABC", "Jingle Bells", "Jesus Loves Me", "This little Christian Light of Mine", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Jesus Loves the Little Children", and "The Wheels on the Bus".  You love the Bible and I pray that you continue to.  In the morning you say "Daddy work?" and then, "Zebby (Elizabeth) draw" (color).  In the evenings, before bath, you love to play on mommy and daddy's bed and then play chase when we say that it's bathtime.  You bring so much joy to our lives.... our little Elizabeth Joy... and I look forward to everyday with you.