a few things we’ve been doing this week

After Thanksgiving dinner, we went to work on the living room tree.

tinseling the top of the tree

Buttercup slept near the tinsel.

more naps

Julie decorated the box grand in the living room.

decorating the box grand in the living room

I replaced the lights on this little tree. All better!

new lights...all better

We decorated the front porch.

making picks for the front porch

And Buttercup slept on ornament storage boxes.

napping on boxes of Christmas decorations

I made chocolate creams.

chocolate creams

I wrapped my babies’ pictures.

the kidlets

Buttercup slept on the couch.

nap times

I received a package in the mail! The ornaments from the Christmas Notebook’s ornament exchange. This is just one of them.

Christmas Notebook ornament exchange

My sister and friends from church cleaned my house! Thank you, thank you!

wonderful helpers

Buttercup slept on the vent.

warm naps

I started a new house project.

another house project

I made sugarplums.

sugarplums

And DD had her hair cut.

wet hair, before haircut after the haircut

And Zak slept with her.

~~Rhonda ::going back to work!:: 😀

menu plan monday ~ november 30, 2009

Here’s one of my Putz houses nestled in the guest room Christmas tree. This one was too big for the display stand. I’d like to make more of the houses to put on the tree.

Putz house in the Christmas tree

This is the busiest week of the year for us. So much to do to ready the house for our annual Christmas open house next Sunday. The menu for the week is quick and easy to accommodate our schedule.

Monday
lunch
sandwiches
chips
grapes

supper
pork loin sandwiches
fresh fruit

Tuesday
roast beef in the crock pot / sandwiches

Wednesday
tortellini with ham
green salad
rolls
corn
peas

Thursday
cheesy potato sausage soup

Friday
beef stew in the crock pot

Saturday
lunch
sandwiches
chips
fresh fruit

supper
pizza

Sunday
sandwiches
chips
grapes

You will find more menus and recipes at Menu Plan Monday.

More pictures later this week, as I have time! ~~Rhonda :)2

silver and blue

guest room tree

The Christmas tree in the guest room has a silver and blue theme, with a lean toward a vintage feel. The tree has white LED lights that have a bluish cast. The tree rotates. So much prettier in person, but you get the idea. 🙂 By the way, this is the tree I spray painted last year. Worked great!!

You can see more Christmas decorating ideas at The Inspired Room. Scroll down that page for links to other sites where homes are being readied for the holidays.

~~Rhonda ::busy decorating the living room tree today::

a new headboard for the guest room

The bed in the guest room has been changed out more times than I can count. Several different frames, some in there more than once, and the bed has waffled between a full and a queen size. I couldn’t find pictures of the other frames that have been in there, but here’s the iron bed in November of 2006.

guest room

Last year, it looked like this…that’s a full size mattress.

iron bed

We want to have a queen size bed in the guest room, though, so, for now, the queen mattress is sitting on a simple metal frame.

guest room ~ before the headboard

I do have a plan to have a bed made for the guest room. We had two large pine trees taken down last year and the wood was milled and saved. I want to use that and two old doors to make the new bed. But for now, we decided to hang an old door on the wall as a headboard.

The door came from the church my in-laws attended for years. This is what it looked like in our basement…not a promising start.

making a headboard from a door

But DH cleaned it up, sanded it, and painted it.

making a headboard from a door

Using the instructions on Martha’s site, DH modified the plans a bit and secured the door to the wall. Instead of a 2×4, he used a 2×6. The picture shows it after it has been cut on a 45 degree angle to make a cleat to hang the door on the wall. One piece is secured to the wall studs and the other piece is secured to the door.

making a headboard from an old door

making a headboard from an old door

The top cleat was made a bit shorter than the door to make it easy to adjust the headboard to the right or left without having the cleat show. He also added a small cleat to the bottom of the door to make it a bit more secure.

making a headboard from an old door

making a headboard from an old door

After hanging the headboard, DH put my angel pictures back up, centered over the headboard. The pictures are blown up copies of vintage Christmas postcards. By the way, the white spots on the pictures are reflections from the sun shining off the aluminum Christmas tree in the window.

making a headboard from an old door

making a headboard from an old door

The headboard made the whole room look more finished. I love it!

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ november 23, 2009

A quiet moment of contemplation. But just a *moment.* We’re too busy to stop for long!

contemplation

Monday
chicken stir-fry over rice

Tuesday
spaghetti / meatballs
salad
peas
corn
garlic bread

Wednesday
hamburgers
homemade buns
chips

Thursday
turkey in the crock pot
stuffing
ham
mashed potatoes
homemade rolls
broccoli casserole
green beans with mushroom cream sauce
pear/walnut salad
corn
cranberry salad
pumpkin pie with whipped cream
marbled cheesecake

Friday
fridge food

Saturday
Lunch ~ sandwiches
Supper ~ pizza braid

Sunday
pork loin in the crock pot
accordion potatoes
corn
sugar snap peas

You can find more menus and ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

dining room window sills

When my DDIL helped decorate a few Saturdays ago, she put together one of the dining room window sill displays. I wanted to do something different than the blue vases I used last year. I love those, but am trying to take the cobalt blue out of the room. This is what they looked like last year.

dining room windows dining room windowsills

But, though DDIL did a lovely job on the window, filling around the deer with fluff and snow, I had to redo it. Buttercup the cat stole all the fluff, over a course of a week, and took it to DD’s bedroom door during the night as a gift. 😀 I added evergreen branches and am hoping she will leave them alone. So far, so good. I would still like to get a candle in this scene. Maybe something tall behind the deer, or some battery operated tea lights around them? I think it needs the height, though. Hmmm…maybe I could hang a large snowflake from the window sash to give it some “tall” interest…

dining room window sill

~~Rhonda ::pondering additions to the window sill decorations::

date balls

One of my favorite Christmas not-a-cookie treats are Date Balls. They are delicious. Thanks, again, to my friend Mellanie who shared this recipe with me.

Date Balls (Makes about 90 pieces.)

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
1 pound dates, diced or chopped
2 c. sugar

Cook over medium heat 10 minutes, stirring constantly. DO NOT BOIL.
I melt the butter first, and start counting the time from when it begins to simmer after I have added the sugar and the dates.

Remove from heat and add:
4 c. Rice Krispies
2 c. pecans, chopped finely
4 tsp. vanilla

Allow to cool, then press into balls. Roll in powdered sugar.

Date Balls

Date Balls

Date Balls

Wearing vinyl gloves keeps my hands clean. This is a messy recipe. But worth it! 🙂

Date Balls

Date Balls

Date Balls

Date Balls

Date Balls

These freeze very well, even coated in powdered sugar. They are a staple at our Christmas Open House.

~~Rhonda

crock pot rotisserie-style chicken

I made the rotisserie-style chicken in the crock pot for supper today. Instead of using a whole chicken, I used three boneless, skinless chicken breasts and six boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The seasoning is delicious. DH and DD both liked it, so we’ll be having this again.

Wish you could smell this delicious chicken.

crock pot rotisserie-style chicken

crock pot rotisserie-style chicken

The original recipe called for the following seasonings. My changes are in brackets.

2 tsp. kosher salt [I used 1 teaspoon of salt. Next time, I’ll use 1/2 teaspoon.]
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. onion powder [I used 1 T. dry onion flakes.]
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. Italian seasoning [You can substitute 1/2 tsp. basil and 1/2 tsp. oregano.]
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper [I used 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper.]
pinch of chili pepper [I left this out.]
4 whole garlic cloves [I used 1/2 tsp. garlic powder.]
1 yellow onion, quartered [Left it out, as DH is allergic to fresh onion, but it would be delicious on the chicken.]

As you can see, I didn’t exactly follow the recipe. But, hey, that’s the fun of cooking. Leave this out, add that. See what happens. 🙂

I placed the chicken in a crock pot sprayed with cooking spray, then sprinkled the spices over the top. The chicken cooked on high for four hours. Very easy!

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ november 16, 2009

Christmas decorating is moving right along. We made the snowflakes for the front door last week.

front door

paper snowflakes paper snowflakes paper snowflakes

We cut the paper into rectangles to fit the window panes. It’s always fun to see what kind of designs we end up with. 🙂 Here’s the menu for the week. See anything you like?

Monday
beef stew

Tuesday
Crock Pot Rotisserie Style Chicken
corn
stir-fried baby bok choy
Caesar salad

Wednesday
pizza braid with taco filling

Thursday
spaghetti
meatballs
homemade rolls
corn
sugar snap peas

Friday
Rosemary Mustard Chicken
Brussels Sprout Slaw with Maple Pecans
cornbread
sliced sweet and sour cucumbers

Saturday lunch
BBQ chicken in the crock pot
homemade buns
grapes
chips

Saturday supper
homemade pizza

Sunday
Cheesy Potato Sausage Soup
garlic bread

Monday
tacos

You will find many more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

living room mantel

This weekend, Genny and I finished the living room mantel decorations. The pictures are framed Christmas cards that tell the story of Christ’s birth.

fireplace in the living room

I added a little detail to the gold cloth on the mantel by using the hot glue gun to attach a bead trim to the hem. It added a nice extra detail.

bead edging

The only thing left to do in the living room is the large tree. It has to wait until we can make popcorn and cranberry strings. We usually do that the week of Thanksgiving, so we can decorate the tree Thanksgiving afternoon. I do have eight bags of cranberries in the fridge, ready and waiting!

~~Rhonda