Care package....

A dear friend sent me a care package, yesterday. She is one of my best friends, back in East Texas. I guess she knew I was running out of things to do with Grace, while the weather is a little blustery, cold, and wet.
The package had a CD of Todd Wright "All The Freed". He is the worship leader from our church in Texas. All the songs are written by him. You may have heard one of the songs, "Cross of Christ." (Check out the links to his album at Amazon. You can download the mp3 to these songs!) I was so excited to get his CD. The package also contained everything we needed to make all of these adorable ornaments. All we needed was glue.

Grace LOVES to glue things. So, this was a great activity for her.

The glue has now dried and we will be putting them on the Christmas tree after dinner. I am sure Todd's CD will be playing in the background!





Speaking of care packages. One of my other dear friends sent a great package, last week. It was filled with small and inexpensive gifts, individually wrapped, for Grace. There were 12 gifts - one for each of the 12 days of Christmas. It has been great for Grace to have something to look forward to, each day. There were even a couple of items wrapped for me. What a great idea and a real treat for us.

So, thank you Jimette and Cathy. You are both treasures and each package made Texas feel not so far away.

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday Christmas Goody Bag Winners

The winners for the TMTT Christmas Goody Bag winners are links # 3 and 25, generated by Random.org.

#3 = Deanna from Deanna's Corner Cooking
and
#25 = Marybeth at Cupcakes and Crinoline

Both Deanna and Marybeth are long time participants with TMTT and always share yummy and inspiring recipes. Congrats, ladies!


Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3 and 25

Timestamp: 2009-12-23 16:06:25 UTC

Note: The numbers are generated left to right, i.e., across columns.
Numbers generated by www.Random.org

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday... A Tex-Mex Christmas Eve

**Two participants for this week's TMTT (12/22) will be randomly chosen as winners of goody bags . It's a Christmas thank you for joining Lana and I, each Tuesday of the year. All the goody bag items are from Mary Engelbreit. There are recipe cards,a magnet with cooking tips, and a weekly planner list pad. I will announce the winners on Wednesday - 12/23. To enter, all you need to do is follow the blog carnival rules by linking up your post with my TMTT post, making sure to mention TMTT and linking back to my post.

Here is a recipe that would be great for a Tex-Mex Christmas Eve....

I made something new, last night, using what I could find in the freezer, pantry, and fridge. It turned out great. Sorry I did not snap a picture. I really wasn't sure how good it would be, and had not planned to share it for my TMTT post. However, it was great, tasting similar to my mother's King Ranch Chicken.

Mexican Chicken

3-4 large chicken breasts (I used skinless boneless.)
1 large onion, quartered
1 cup chicken broth (reserved after boiling chicken breasts)
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 -3 cups corn tortilla chips (I used half Nacho Cheese Doritos, and half corn tortilla chips)

Boil chicken breasts with onion in a can of broth and water, or just water if you don't have the broth. Add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Make sure you add a little extra seasoning to the water if you are not using broth. You want lots of good flavor! Boil for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are thoroughly cooked and tender. Mix the soups, rotel, 1 cup grated cheese, and 1 cup broth in a bowl, adding the cooked onions to the mixture once chicken is done cooking. Tear the chicken into bite size pieces and set aside. Grease/prepare a 9x13 casserole dish. Preheat oven 350. Crumble the tortilla chips to cover the bottom of the dish with half your chips. Next layer the chicken over the chips. Evenly pour the soup mixture over the chicken. Crumble and layer the remaining tortilla chips over the soup mixture. Finally cover with the remaining cup of cheese. Bake, covered for 45 minutes at 350. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes to let the top brown a little.

Serve with a big bowl of guacamole, homemade salsa, chips, green salad, and maybe even a bowl of pinto beans if you have some. Or, try Lana's 7-layered Mexican dip!

This could be a great Christmas Eve dish. My family loves Mexican food on Christmas Eve. It is a tradition in our home, for as long as I can remember. What do you eat on Christmas Eve?

I pray you and your family have a blessed Christmas, remembering Christ is the true reason for all our celebration.

Breakfast with Santa

We took Grace to a "Breakfast with Santa", this morning. The event was at an historic hotel in a neighboring community. They served a very nice breakfast buffet and Santa was available for pictures. Grace seemed SO EXCITED about seeing Santa..... then she saw him......

He was a sweet Santa. He called her by her name. He spoke softly and offered encouragement. Grace, however, was visibly anxious, almost to the point of tears. We never got her to smile. But, at least she did not cry.
After we finished our breakfast, we decided to try again. This time, my husband and I would also be in the picture. Grace would not even look at Santa. She clung to her Daddy. When she finally offered a smile, the photographer captured the moment.
I am glad we had our moment with Santa. Hopefully we have not scared our daughter for life.....

A daddy and his girl...

Last week was the first big snowfall. My husband had been working all week and unable to play in the snow with Grace. I realized how much he was missing the experience, when Friday evening while I was cleaning up after dinner, hubby got himself and Gracie all dressed up in their snow clothes. He was determined to finally play with his girl in the snow. I am not sure who was more excited, Daddy or his girl. All bundled up, they were ready to play!

So, there they went. In the dark of night, sled and daughter in hand. That was one very happy Daddy! I stayed inside. I knew he needed this time alone with his girl. They had a blast in the snow and I was warm and toasty inside, grateful for a husband who is such a wonderful daddy.

I am linking this weeks post to Amy's Finer Things Friday.

I am also liking to Sharon at Good, True and Beautiful's Just for the Joy of It.

Thankful for ...

Today, I am extra thankful for my twin sister, Lana. Today is our birthday. I cannot explain to you how important she is, to me. She has been my best friend, all my life. She has offered encouragement, advice, laughter, and tears when needed. She has corrected me and guided me, when I have gone astray. She has never judged me... just loved me.

I can not image my life without her.

Today, her sweet daughter, had surgery. Though the procedure was minor, it required general anesthesia and had great risk. It was hard for me to be so far away. Had we still lived in Texas, Grace and I would have been there. Offering support and been ready to hug and love on my sweet niece! Of course the most important thing was prayer support. I was praying all morning. But, emotionally, I really wanted to be there, too. Lana called and gave a good report. I am very thankful her surgery went well. My neice will be recuperating at home.

I need to let go , however. Now living in Illinois, being so far from Texas, I must let go of that desire to be physically present for every occasion, event, and crisis. I am thankful for the internet and a cell phone allowing immediate access. But, these objects can't provide the physical touch.

I am thankful for the special, unique bond I share with Lana . If you are not a twin, it's hard to understand. I feel her presence, even when we are apart. I feel her anxiety and fears, when she has them and her joys as well. I know she experiences the same with me.

Actually, we have a VERY close family. I feel a special bond with all my family. I love each member and thank God for the unique closeness we all experience. I know many families do not share such a bond. I am thankful I can talk to my parents about anything, and always have been able to do so. My older brother is the BEST. And, he married someone who would become one of my best friends, as well. That's a good brother! So, not only am I thankful for Lana, but for the family God allowed me to belong.

So, today, I want to say Happy Birthday to Lana and thank God for my sister and the rest of my family. I am blessed, and even though we are not physically close.... our bond is strong and felt at all times.

Don't forget to come back on Tuesday for "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday" blog carnival.

Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash... Christmas Crafts

Today I wanted to participate in the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash going on in the blog-o-sphere. A couple of my Tempt My Tummy Tuesday friends are helping to host the festivities. Each day is a new celebration, at a different blog. Check it out!!

Today, Wednesday, is all about Christmas crafts. So, I wanted to share a couple of projects Grace and I have done. As you know, since moving 2 1/2 weeks ago to the cold tundra - Okay, it's just Illinois, but that is tundra for this Texas girl! - I have been trying to keep Grace busy with different projects.

As most of my readers know, we did move to Illinois, however, much of our belongings remain in Texas. We only moved essentials and a few extras, leaving most of our Christmas decorations, ornaments, and our nice big fancy tree. It's alright. We found this tree for VERY cheap and pre-lit. The few ornaments, brought from Texas, covered it quite nicely. We did not have a tree topper. SO, Grace helped out with that - great Christmas craft project! She made our star, with a little help from her mommy. She colored, glitter glued, and magic marked all over the star, adding her own personal touch. It is the perfect top to our tree!

Last week was our first "winter storm" keeping us indoors for a few days. I had to come up with something to keep a 2 year old occupied. While shopping at the local Target, I came across a great Gingerbread House kit. I believe it was $14.00 and well worth the money!! We had a blast making the gingerbread house.

Yes, her mouth is FULL of candy!
Um, yeah. She is putting another piece of candy in her mouth. It seemed everytime I would try and take a picture, she was eating. "One piece for the house. One piece for me....."
The gingerbread house is currently residing in the kitchen, above the microwave.... out of Grace's reach. She was continually helping herself to the candy. Our gingerbread house is becoming bare. When it is treat time, she is allowed to remove a piece of candy from the house.

Yesterday was another craft day. Grace was fidgety and I was not up to "playing in the snow", which by now was snow, mud, and sludge, since we actually had a two days above freezing. So, I decided we would make a few new ornaments for our tree.

I cut out some snowflakes. Grace then colored the snowflakes with crayons and markers. We hung the snowflakes on the tree with colored pipe cleaners. I keep extra pipe cleaners in our "craft box" for various projects. They always come in handy.


Then, because Grace still had lots of energy and it was NOT nap time, yet.... we made a chain with the other pipe cleaners and placed the chain on the tree, as well.


Nothing fancy- just some crafts to keep a 2 year old happy and a mother sane, while learning to deal with frigid temperatures in the great white tundra (hee hee).


Do you have a Christmas craft to share. Go over to Heidi at Blue Eyed Blessings and link up. She is hosting the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash, today.

Don't forget to come back on Tuesday for "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday" blog carnival.