we've had a great start to our christmas break!
despite having to work my part time job on monday, we still managed to get our christmas baking in this weekend as we prepared for many family gatherings!
molly was my #1 kitchen helper as we turned many pinterest inspirations into real life completed cookies!
here we are making rudolph cookies out of nutter butters
they were cute, simple, and good!
checking our "pin"lookin' good!
the next cookie we made were these cornflake wreath cookies
they are sort of like rice krispie treats only w/ cornflake or bran cereal
they are so good as well!
the 3rd cookie we made was my classic orange balls
i've posted the recipe in years past
but they are so good!
and then there was this guy!
when i saw the cover of the december issue of southern living i said, "i'm making that!"
and i did
it is a red velvet/cheesecake layer cake
and oh my word is it delicious!
i never photgraphed the final version...which is unfortunate because it was gorgeous
but the layers were so huge i ended up taking the top 2 layers off and just having a 3 layer cake
the whole 5 layers would not fit in my fridge!
i topped it with a white chocolate/buttercream icing
it was a huge hit, would be great for a valentines dinner or party!
then i started cooking all of the appetizers for christmas eve...we had these bacon crackers from the pioneer woman
we also had sweet and sour meatballs, cheese ball, chip dip, olive cheese bread (pioneer woman), and sweets.
some people wonder what or how much i ate of all of this since my weight loss and surgery...
well, honestly i have been snacking more than usual because it is here in front of me
but, overall i still had very small portions of everything.
i'm very content to fill my plate much smaller than i did in the past and don't feel deprived when i can at least have a bite of something. so it hasn't been bad!
here we are getting ready for christmas eve service at our church
the christmas eve service is one of my very favorite things to do at this time of year
it is simple, traditional, and very sweet
we had a candle lighting at the end and it was so pretty
after church we came home (the kids put on pj's) and we ate our snacks and visited a little bit
then everyone was off to wait for santa
here molly is getting ready to throw out the reindeer food before she went to bed
here she is ready for santa with his milk and cookies!
she is reenacting the home alone scene!
making sure santa had room to get down the chimney...
and he did come!
she got so many fun toys this year!
her big things were these dogs and accessories, the frozen stuff, and the brave bow and arrow
this morning she walked in and was overwhelmed! she had to take it all in for a while and then she started playing
uncle jeff came and brought her 2 great presents!
he always gets here the nicest things and he also brought 2 pounds of bacon and 1 pound of sausage fresh from his brother's pig farm!
yummy!
she immediately wanted to run across the street to show our neighbors her bow and arrow!
we totally interrupted their christmas, but they always make time for molly!
nancy showing her how to "shoot"
back at our house we had this delicious cherry "candy cane" cheescake waiting for us along with lots of other things!
i made cheese grits, scrambled eggs, biscuits, ambrosia, and jeff brought the breakfast meat!
playing again...
she opened about 3/4 of her presents in the morning and then we opened the rest in the afternoon after everyone left from breakfast.
it was just too much to do all at once and she didn't mind!
this was so fun...i bought her this remote control pluto dog at disney this fall
she wanted it, but i made her put it down
but, she didn't know i sneaked it in my pile of things to buy and had the cashier wrap it so she didn't even notice it!
when she opened it she squealed and said..."who got this?"
this hat was part of the "as seen on tv" things she wanted...a tummy stuffer, flashlight friend, and this hat
and the aftermath...fun!
it was a great christmas and i'm thankful for all i've been blessed with this year!
specifically the gift of good health after my bariatric surgery in july
i'm down 60 pounds and have about 60 more to go
here is a quick look back for you to compare the difference...
this year will bring on new and different challenges as i try to shed another 60...but i'm 1/2 way to goal so that makes me happy!
4 comments:
You look beautiful! I love the recipe from PW for the olive bread too!
Hi, Amy! Love catching up with what is going on with you and your princess. Glad that you are on your way to good health!! You look great!
Great to check in and catch up with what is going on with you and your princess. Congrats on your journey towards good health - you look fantastic!
You look fabulous Amy! Keep up the great work.
Sherry
Ontario, Canada
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