Christmas Eve Dinner 2014

I'm a little late to the Christmas party, but here it goes anyway.

I made an amazing dinner for us this year and we had more guests than usual. I posted the menu a post or two ago if you would like to take a look.

Ladies and children sat at the dinner table. It's one of the few times I break out the fine china.

The girls love their Nene.

My daddy and his girlfriend, Donna.

We always allow the ladies to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Normally it's a pair of new jammies. Well this year Momma couldn't find Addison's and three months later, they still haven't been found...lol.

We had to go with an emergency back up plan and they were given their puppy and kitten surprises. They loved the gift and they will never know that momma had screwed up that night.

I love having family celebrations at my home. I'm a sucker for meal planning and making things memorable. This Christmas Eve was definitely memorable for one reason and another.

Where a kid can be a kid...

The ladies have become very popular here lately and last night they had plans to spend the night with their new cousin, Lilly.

Plans were changed last minute and I felt horrible for them. When they both woke up yesterday morning they immediately got dressed and packed their bag so I decided since I was tired of sitting at home that we would go on a little adventure.

We surprised them with a visit to Chuck E Cheese.

As you can see, daddy wasn't exactly thrilled with this adventure out.

We did the typical pizza and salad bar but the girls were to excited to even think about eating.

Don't let the excitement on her face fool you, she ate about two bites.

Our adventure was so spur of the moment that momma didn't even take a shower and her hair was pulled back in a pony tail that looked horrible. I was kind enough to slap on some mascara though...lol.

We played lots and lots of games and finished up with almost 900 tickets which meant the ladies got to pick a few pieces of treasure and when I say treasure all you parents out there know what I mean, junk...lol.

Daddy rocking out after Cadence gave up.

Chuck E Cheese wasn't on my list of things to do during Christmas break and Daniel wasn't thrilled but we went early and with it being right before Christmas they weren't busy at all. The only thing that mattered to me is that my baby girls enjoyed themselves and they sure did.

I love doing these kinds of things with my ladies and we are extremely blessed to be able to do so.

Christmas Home Tour

Christmas is my favorite time of year to decorate and I've gotten to the point where I have more decorations than I do the space to display them. I guess if that's the worst of my holiday problems than we're good to go.

Daniel, like Halloween, loves decorating for Christmas. He's in charge of the outside while I'm in charge of the inside.

Welcome to our Holiday Homestead...

First up, just a few of the decorations we have inside.

The mesh wreath that I made last year. It graces our front porch.

Our new stockings. I've been fighting with that garland for weeks to look right.

My favorite Santa and one of my favorite Scentsy warmers.

Our family tree.

The ladies tree in their bedroom.

Now, it's time for our Clark Griswold (a.k.a. Daniel) production. The outside of our home.

The front of the house.

The side of the house. This was the first year that Daniel put lights on the big tree out back.

My favorite decorations. Daniel used tomato cages and wrapped them with lights and garland.

We've had this wreath for years but this year a nice red bow was added and it makes it look even better.

Our blow up Christmas trees along the garage.

Santa must have slipped on the roof during an earlier visit.

Our new to us reindeer.

We do in fact have lots of cookies and milk.

Mr. Halloween just had to add a touch of his all time favorite holiday to his second favorite decorating holiday.

 

A new addition this year. I couldn't resist buying him.

Our vintage Santa. We have two this year which is weird, but I just go with the flow.

We bought two similar snowmen this year from people for dirt cheap. This one is in much better shape than the other who is missing an arm and is bandaged up in spots.

Thank you for joining me on a quick tour of our Holiday Home tour. I could add so many more indoor pictures but I'll spare everyone the time...lol.

Christmas Photos and a visit with the Big Guy

Every year I always take advantage of Portrait Innovations $19.99 portrait special for Christmas. Usually it's our one and only family photo of the year but since we had family pictures done this past fall I decided I was only going to torture the girls.

I loved how well their pictures came out. So much so that I had to buy a bigger package so I could get more than just one pose.

My two beautiful babies that look nothing alike.

After our portrait session we headed to the local mall and decided to get our annual family picture with Santa and then stuff ourselves with soft pretzels.

I'm not sure why Cadence has to have the deer in headlights look in so many pictures, but it was a good picture none the less. Even if it was off center and will aggravate me for the rest of my days.

After our visit with the Big Guy we sought after our beloved soft pretzel bites. It's not uncommon for the ladies and I to make random stops to the food court for a girls date with pretzel bites and they ask for them every time we go to the mall. You can imagine the horror when we were told that they were out of soft pretzels. Soft pretzels were a part of our outing that day and I still haven't figured out how a soft pretzel place could be OUT of soft pretzels but I was in so much shock I didn't ask. The ladies were distraught but settled for the crappy broccoli and chicken from the Chinese place.

After we all finished our lunch the girls and daddy rode the train that is set up in the mall for the Christmas season and then we headed to Macy's where we wrote our letters to Santa and mailed them for the Make A Wish campaign.

The girls have been extremely naughty for the past week or so. I really don't understand why it takes my children so many times of being told not to do something before they actually stop doing it. Cadence must have been worried about her status on Santa's list because she mailed that poor letter off before I could even snap a picture.

Hopefully he receives their letters in time or there could be some unhappy faces on Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve Menu 2014

Growing up I always spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. Since we've all grown up and gone separate ways because of marriage and other family gatherings I found myself sitting at home on Christmas Eve with just Daniel a few years back.

It's my personal opinion that people should not spend the holidays alone. I don't care if it's Easter or Halloween. The holidays are meant to be with family and friends and after that first year of not being with family on Christmas Eve, I took matters into my own hands. I started hosting Christmas Eve dinner for Daniel and his close family.

It's the one time of year that I play hostess with the mostess. I break out the fine china and plan as elaborate of a menu as my families taste buds will allow.

Last year I made my family spaghetti sauce and homemade meatballs and it was a hit, as usual.

Last year's Christmas Eve feast.

This year, I'm trying to be a tad more fancy. Here is what I have planned with the links to the actual recipes.

Christmas Eve Menu 2014

Roast Beef with Garlic Smashed Gravy

Roasted Potato Salad

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

Pearl Onions, Peas and Bacon

Fresh Bakery Bread- From the store


Dessert will be brought by my guests. After all, with a menu like that I deserve a break on throwing together a dessert.

What are some of your favorite Christmas Eve recipes?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Blankenship's!!

Halloween 2014

Halloween was like the never ending story for us this year. We celebrated for three weekends in a row and I was so glad when it was all over.

We kicked off our festivities by hosting our annual family Halloween party. We had amazing food, the kids had a variety of games to play, and what made it even more amazing was that my sister and her family were in town for a wedding so they were able to join us after having been absent for a few years.

The second event we attended was trunk-or-treat at the ladies school. I'm pretty sure our trunk was the scariest and we passed out over 600 pieces of candy to all of the kids who participated. It was a great time and the girls loved getting to hang out with friends and other kids around their age without mommy and daddy following behind them checking on their every move.

The third event was trick-or-treat at my mother-in-laws house. Daniel and his mom took the girls out while I stayed back to pass out candy. One of the downfalls of having Crohns disease is that walking around the neighbor is more of a challenge than I'm willing to take on. It's especially difficult after having had a taco dinner. The girls walked up and down both sides of Sue's street and then they were content to come back and help pass out candy.

Halloween is Daniel's favorite holiday. He went full out decorating at our house and he took a few of his pieces with him to his mom's to set up. He also dressed up so he got quite the kick of everyone who was either afraid of the decorations or was afraid of him or heck, even both.

Our next event was the ladies Halloween party at school. I am their room mom this year so I had the privilege of organizing and setting everything up. We had so many parents come and help and the kids really enjoyed themselves. I was so glad that it was a hit for all who participated.

Addison went in her sister's Elsa costume.

Cadence went in her sister's scary clown costume.

We had lots of snacks, play a game, and made paper plate ghosts which were a big hit.

Our final event was trick-or-treating at my dad's house. We brought pizza to fill up on before heading out and it was delicious. The weather was horrible so we only hit a few houses before calling it a night and going back and helping to pass out candy to all of those people willing to brave the weather. When trick-or-treat ended that night we made a short pit stop to my aunt and uncles to visit for a few.

I was so glad to get home that night and begin the process of dismantling all that was Halloween around our house. The outside had to begin right away as the wind was blowing decorations everywhere.

Daniel made the majority of the decorations himself since he isn't working and they turned out great. We had several people stop in the cars and compliment him on his work and everything he had done.

Now he's working on Christmas...Lord help my checking account...lol.