Christmas Notebook

menu plan monday ~ january 10, 2011

January 10, 2011 – 10:11 pm

I’ve been working on my Putz houses the past few days. I made patterns for two vintage ones I saw photos of and made a prototype of each from printer paper. I also made a box from a Christmas card, thinking I’d use it as a base for a house, but it’s so pretty that I don’t want to cover it with anything. I’ll just use some old gift boxes to make the bases.

I saw a tiny glitter house online and made one from graph paper just to see how hard it would be to make it. Not so hard, though the details are tough to get exact with the big knife I was using.

Monday
Carry Out

Tuesday
Cheesy Potato and Corn Chowder

Wednesday
Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Thursday
Tacoritos

Friday
Homemade Pizza

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday
Spaghetti / Homemade Sauce / Meatballs
Green Salad
Garlic Bread
Peas / Corn

You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (0)

i’m ready for this…

January 7, 2011 – 2:11 pm

Is it fair to jump straight from Christmas joy to spring joy, skipping the January/February days of grey?

The first crocus last year was found in our yard on March 3. You can’t imagine how we scour the yard for these little guys…the first one up is a reason to celebrate!

This picture was taken March 10 of last year. Looks so good…

Ditto, March 10.

And again, March 10.

March 10…

March 16.

I love March.

I want to smell daffodils.

And look for tiny blue flowers in the lawn.

And stand under a sky filled with apricot blossoms.

It’s good to know March is out there, under the grays and the browns, waiting for the perfect day to show itself. All in God’s good timing, right? I’m trying to be patient. But it’s hard.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden, spring, winter | Comments (5)

menu plan monday ~ january 3, 2011

January 4, 2011 – 7:21 pm

Did you get your New Year’s kiss?

Don’t want one!

She wouldn’t let me kiss her!

We said goodbye to our son and his family today as they packed the van and headed home. We enjoyed a great visit this past week and had so much fun with the grands. DD and I took the day off school and spent some time relaxing and resting. Tomorrow we get back to a more normal schedule.

Monday
Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Peas
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
Green Salad
Homemade Rolls

Tuesday
Fridge Food

Wednesday
Chicken and Noodles
Corn Bread

Thursday
Hamburgers / Homemade Buns
Carrot / Celery Sticks / Dip

Friday
Hearty Lentil Soup

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday
Ham in the Crock Pot
Macaroni and Cheese
Green Salad
Crock Pot Apples
Corn
Green Beans

You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

Happy New Year! ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (1)

Christmas

January 1, 2011 – 1:04 am

My computer came down with a virus last week. That has hindered my blogging and flickr posting. Right now, I’m using an old computer that isn’t as friendly as my own, but I was tired of waiting for my own to be refitted.

Christmas morning started with apple dumplings made by my son (in the background here).

Then on to reading the account of Christ’s birth from Luke 2:1-20, then stockings, then presents.

I made a little putz house for my daughter-in-law. It’s a model of their own home.

More soon. 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (1)

house concert

December 21, 2010 – 4:38 pm

Last week, we hosted our fourth annual house concert. As always, the music was beautiful! Nathan George and his friends, Mark Stoffel and Ross Sermons, are such a talented trio!

Two of Nathan’s children sang a song with their dad.

Several people commented that it was fun to watch the musicians nimble fingers while they played. I’m partial to Mark’s mandolin playing. Wonderful!

The weather had produced icy roads and that kept attendance down, though I was surprised how many guests still made the effort to come. Just shows us how much people love this event.

We even had a few people here for the first time.

After the concert, everyone stayed for snacks and an opportunity to chat with the musicians.

We served
Shrimp Dip with Triscuits
Sausage Cheese Balls (DD’s favorite, so we have to make these!)
Puff Pastry Holly Leaves
Spicy Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce Delicious!
Bacon-Cheddar Biscuit Snackers
Veggie Tray with Dip
Cheese Cubes
Chex Mix
A fruit tray provided by Susan. Thanks, Susan!
Coffee
Spiced Cranberry Punch (hot punch)
Cold Cranberry Punch (This recipe makes a very refreshing punch, one that gets many rave reviews. So easy! Mix one 1-liter bottle mandarin orange flavored seltzer water with one 12-oz. can cran-raspberry concentrate. May add ice, but do not add any other water. Serves 8.)

This is always a relaxing and fun evening, worshipful in content and delightful in every way. We’re already looking forward to next year’s concert, which is scheduled for December 15, 2011, God willing.

You can sample Nathan’s music on his website nathanclarkgeorge.com, where his albums are available to purchase.

Thanks, Nathan, Mark and Ross for another wonderful concert!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas | Comments (1)

menu plan monday ~ december 20, 2010

December 20, 2010 – 11:51 am

We’ve finished a big week of entertaining, having a lot of company, and doing a lot of work to get ready for those events. The house concert with Nathan George, Mark Stoffel, and Ross Sermons was wonderful! As always! I’ll post more about that soon.

And the dinner party Saturday evening was great, too. I tried a new chocolate cheesecake recipe and it was delicious!

This week looks much more relaxed. I am wrapping presents, enjoying the decorations and lights, looking forward to Christmas Day and then to the following week when our son and his family will be here for a visit. We’ll have a second Christmas Day on Thursday the 30th, when our entire family will be here at the same time! SO looking forward to that!

Monday
Cheesy Potato Sausage Soup

Tuesday
Spaghetti / Sauce / Meatballs
Garlic Bread
Green Salad
Peas
Corn

Wednesday
Rosemary Ranch Chicken
Baby Baked Potatoes
Steamed Green Beans
Corn

Thursday
Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Rice

Friday
Pizza

Saturday
Turkey in the Crock Pot
Stuffing
Baked Ham
Garlic Smashed Potatoes
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
Corn
Endive, Pea and Avocado Salad
Homemade Rolls
Chocolate Cheesecake

Sunday
Ham or Turkey Sandwiches
Fridge Food

I hope your holiday prep is almost done and that you have a wonderful and merry Christmas!

You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas, menu | Comments (0)

menu plan monday ~ december 13, 2010

December 13, 2010 – 4:56 pm

The month of December is flying by! How are your Christmas plans coming along? I’m always so glad to have the house decorated by the time we host our annual open house the first Sunday of December. That gives us all of December to enjoy it. We tend to decorate every nook and cranny, so there is always something to look at.

We have two events scheduled for this week. Thursday evening will be the fourth year we have hosted a house concert by Nathan Clark George and his friends, Mark Stofell and Ross Sermons.

The second event is a dinner party for the local library. In February, each year, the library hosts a charity auction. We donated a Christmas dinner for eight with a Christmas house tour of our home. That is scheduled for Saturday evening.

Monday
Baked Penne with Chicken
green salad
corn

Tuesday
Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Rice

Wednesday
Crock Pot Turkey
Noodles
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
Corn

Thursday / House Concert
Shrimp Dip with Triscuits
Sausage Cheese Balls (DD’s favorite, so we have to make these!)
Puff Pastry Holly Leaves
Spicy Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce Delicious!
Bacon-Cheddar Biscuit Snackers
Veggie Tray with Dip
Chex Mix
Coffee
Spiced Cranberry Punch (hot punch)
Cold Cranberry Punch (This recipe makes a very refreshing punch, one that gets many rave reviews. So easy! Mix one 1-liter bottle mandarin orange flavored seltzer water with one 12-oz. can cran-raspberry concentrate. May add ice, but do not add any other water. Serves 8.)

Friday
Sloppy Joes
Homemade Buns – We’ve been making these with buttermilk. Sooo good!
Veggie Tray Leftovers

Saturday / Library Dinner
I’ll post this dinner next week. I’m still tweaking the menu, though I know it will involve a nice beef roast and possibly a chocolate peppermint cheesecake…

Sunday
Cheesy Potato Sausage Soup

You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

PS – Bring your pets in…it’s cold out there! That’s what Zak thought Sunday morning when I snapped this picture of him through the kitchen window…we DID let him in, BTW. He will be spending these cold days indoors, even though he prefers to be outside.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (0)

annual Christmas open house

December 7, 2010 – 3:50 pm

Well, gang, it’s done for another year. The open house was held last Sunday, and it was another great success. We had a wonderful time. Many guests told me the open house opens their own Christmas season each year. I’m always happy to hear how much everyone enjoys it. Here are a few of our guests…

My niece and my niece-in-law…

Friends from church, with a view of the cookie table…

Our friends on the right came to our rescue at 11pm, the night before the open house, because a leg on the stand for our 9′ nativity tree had broken. My sister was holding the tree upright, DH was scouring the attic for another stand big enough to hold the tree. They rushed over in their jams, helped DH lift the tree and it slipped right into the new stand. Crisis averted! Thanks, Shawn and Melissa! Friends in need, friends indeed!

DD and friends, enjoying her room…

Sweet, godly women…on the left, a dear friend…on the right, one of three wonderful friends, one being my sister, who came at 9:00 Saturday morning and cleaned our house until 5:00 that afternoon. I would never make it without their help!

Among the yummy treats…are these not the cutest little guys?

Delicious, these Holiday Petits Fours are a must have…

And the Sour Cream Sugar Cookies are, of course, a staple…

We do a lot of decorating for Christmas…understatement, I know… Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite for more.

The old armoire, finished off with fresh greenery…

In the upstairs bath…

Dining room cupboard…

Living room mantel…

Downstairs bath…

Laundry room…

Liberian nativity in the library…

I’m working on a Christmas house tour post, so will save the rest of the pictures for that. I hope you enjoyed this little peek at our open house party. I’m already making notes for next year’s event! 🙂 ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas, open house | Comments (6)

menu plan monday ~ december 6, 2010

December 7, 2010 – 2:48 pm

I took Monday totally off as I was so very tired after all the open house prep, then the party. DD was very happy to hear we were not having school on Monday. She had helped a lot with the party prep during the past few weeks. She said, “You mean we don’t have to do ANYthing today??” Yup, that’s what I mean. Nadda…nothing…zip. So we played on our computers and I took a very nice three hour nap. It was a restful day. Buttercup seemed to appreciate the lack of activity, too. She spent time soaking up some sunshine on the windowsill, even though it meant she had to sit on Christmas beads to do it.

Monday
Pan Seared Tilapia
Rice
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas

Tuesday
Chicken in the Crock Pot
Noodles
Corn / Peas

Wednesday
Chef Salad with ham and leftover chicken

Thursday
Tomato Soup
Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Carrot and Celery Sticks

Friday
Hearty Ham Casserole
Cornbread
Stir Fried Cabbage with Garlic

Saturday
Lunch ~ Fridge Food
Supper ~ Homemade Pizza

Sunday
Pork Chops in the Crock Pot
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans with Sautéed Mushrooms
Corn
Green Salad

You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (0)

picture ornaments

December 1, 2010 – 11:01 pm

Today I made a few more picture ornaments for the tree in the upstairs hall. It has pictures of our kids from Christmases past. Today I printed some from last Christmas so I could add our granddaughters to the tree.

To make the ornaments, I print photos using Print Shop.

After trimming the photos, I matted them and added some glitter glue. When I made the first picture ornaments years ago, I tried to make them look like something the kids would have made as a Christmas art project.