Christmas Goodies

Here's a question I'd like to hear a few more people's opinions on:
What's your take on all the sweets and treats made throughout the holidays?
Are you crazy for them or do they make you crazy?

They make me crazy.  The holidays already feel so full and rushed.  I like to bake, but everywhere you go, there are cookies!
How are you supposed to keep from gaining 10 pounds in the month of December when there is chocolate and sugar everywhere! 

I'm fairly certain that if I didn't have children, I wouldn't make any treats for the holidays. Why go through all that work when you know you'll end up with a pile of goodies you didn't have to make by the end of the season?
I do it for the boys you know, all the nostalgic memories they will have when they are grown and think on Christmas' past?
I know the holidays are about traditions and stuff.  Making cookies is a part of that.  I even made it so our Advent calendar instructed us that we had to do it.  That way I wouldn't be allowed to skip out on the treat baking.

  So we did our cookie baking.
And this year, I even let the boys help.
(I know, Awesome Mom points for me)
Then I even let them eat some!
(That helps me score major Awesome Mom points)

This is how the pretzels look when I dip them . . .

We only made 2 kinds this year.
We have some other favorites, but I only wanted to invest the time, energy and resources into two.
So we chose dipped pretzels (one of my favorites, and more addicting than crack-cocaine. At least I think so. I wouldn't know from experience)

These are a sticky, gooey, mess with kids, but very simple with little to no instruction needed. I like the white almond bark the best, but the boys like the milk chocolate.
All you have to do is melt the chocolate in the microwave and let the kids dip away.  I did cover my cookie sheets in wax paper to make my life easier though. Incredibly, I'm getting a little smarter, the older I get. :)

This is what happens when the boys get to put on the sprinkles!

Oh, don't forget the sprinkles. They add festivity.  Plus it's the boys favorite part. This part does have to be strictly monitored however.  Otherwise you get a pretzel that is so completely coated in sprinkles, you aren't even convinced there is a pretzel underneath.

Our second treat was ginger bread cutout cookies.  The boys love to do cut outs, and Hunky Hubby loves ginger bread.  I however, do not.  Consequently I am not tempted to eat these cookies, thereby saving me from ingesting extra calories. 
Or it just saves some room for more pretzels. 
If only I wasn't so weak.
I do like to decorate the cookies and the boys do too.  This year they all managed to hang in long enough to decorate at least 3.7 cookies each.  Leaving the other 49 cookies for H.H. and I to do.
Surprisingly to you, because you don't know him as well as I do, H.H. is a pretty darn good cookie decorator.  He displays creativity and 'outside the box' ideas. As fun as it is, I'm really happy when they are all done.
We used a new recipe for the cookies that I found on the internet. H.H. said they tasted really good and weren't as hard as last years.  (he just doesn't realize how hard it is to perfectly bake an already brown cookie!) I'm not a fan of the frosting we used though and we won't be making that kind again.  I like to pipe on the frosting because it's neater and prettier. The frosting kept getting runnier and runnier as we used it! Our warm hands were melting the butter it was made out of I guess.
Fortunately it still tasted good. 
Or so I've been told.

As I suspected, two kinds of cookies were more than enough.  Somehow, there is a phenomenon with Christmas goodies.  They seem to multiply magically overnight.  For some reason, you just never run out.  I thought we only had  a large plate and a large ziploc full of treats, but I looked at my counter top the other day and there were 3 plates of cookies, one huge tupperware full of Cap'n Crunch candy, one bag of cookies and a box of chocolates. 
Plus, I bought peanut M & M's on clearance the other day.  
I just couldn't help myself.
We'll be eating gingerbread men well into the new year.
But, the pretzels are all gone.
Hey don't look at me!
I didn't eat them all!

Dinner Cookout

So by now you have probably figured that I am pretty behind in my blogging endeavors.
I'm sorry.
We don't lead a boring life, really.
I have lots of things to share.
It's just that we have been so busy and I fall into bed so tired. 
I can't think to type, I can't think of what to type.
So I just read and then go to sleep,
consequently letting down few all of the people who are interested in our life up here in the woods.

Here's something I was going to post awhile ago.
My parents came up for a visit at the beginning of the summer, before everything got crazy.

This is what relaxed looks like.

We decided to have a camp fire cookout for Tate's birthday dinner.

We had pudgy pies and hot dogs.

Of course there were s'mores too.

Other than being worried that Wyat would fall head first into the fire or burn his hand on the hot pudgy pie makers, it was a really relaxing night.
Even Mom had a good time.
Tee-hee! (she doesn't like it when I take her picture)

Hunky Hubby is a master at pudgy pie assembly, and fire building, and hot dog cooking, and marshmallow roasting! O.k., he's pretty much a master at everything.

Seth has a look of joyful expectation, doesn't he?

Who knew pudgy pies were so amazing?

They are amazing enough to get stuck on your teeth and make you look goofy when you smile!

Here's Poppa sipping on his sweet tea.

Hot dogs roasting and pudgy pies burning cooking.

Mmm, the smells of a hot camp fire.

Apparently the food was finger lickin' good!

It brought great joy to the people who consumed it. 

Just look how happy this kid is!

Of course someone had to teach the boys how to play 'chubby bunny' with the marshmallows.

I'm not sure who won. 

All I know is that I resisted the urge to join in.

Didn't want to show the boys up, you know?

I don't like crushing them in competitions.

They may not want to play anymore.

The other thing that just had to be done, was to put dead pine boughs on the fire and get it to climb higher and higher.  You know it is just natural for boys to want to burn things and make fires grow.  I'm not really sure how anyone taught boys to put out fires.  How did we ever get them to like putting out fires enough to actually create a career out of doing just that? When you think about it, it's a miracle we have firemen.  Now arson's on the other hand, it's not hard to figure out why there are those guys out there.  I'm kinda surprised there aren't more of them.

Can you hear them oohing as the flames are reflected in their eyes? And that smile of Seth's is a bit concerning, don't you think?

So is this expression. 

Can you say 'giddy', 'jubilant' or 'extatic'?

That's my boy!

This is my boy too. 

He likes to wear his food.

Saving it for later.

Or so I'm told.

This guy looks mesmerized as he stares into the flames.

Hunky Hubby likes playing with fire as much as the boys do.  But he also likes to have his picture taken as much as my Mom does.

However, I can usually get him to crack.

That's cause he loves me so much.

So, happy campfire dinners to you all too!

Thanks for stopping in,

Jana

Favorite Places

So I know I've shared with you some of the things we do for fun up here in the boonies in the winter time. 
Today I want to share with you one of our favorite places to go for fun in the summer.
It's called Lily Military Park.
Located about 3 1/2 miles north of our house, it is a little park on the wolf river. 
One of the reasons we love the park is because there are hardly ever any people there, most of the time we have the park all to ourselves. 
The other reason is because of the river.

The river there is perfect.  It's beautiful, peaceful and soothing.
It makes the perfect river noise as it cascades and rolls over the rocks that lie within it's banks. In the evening, the sun glimmers off of the rippling water, it dances giving off the most beautiful light.
It's silky smooth waters sooth away the heat flushed skin of a hot day.  
But most of all, it is perfect for wading in.
Which is so much fun for my boys. 
Personally, I like to pop a chair into the middle of the river and sit there with a book while they play around me. 

But even I get in it on the hot days. 
I let the cool waters wash over me and refresh me.

The boys love it in the river and so does Hunky Hubby. 

So does Annie of course!

It's the perfect place for adventuresome boys and their dad, who is really just an overgrown boy in all the best ways.

What they really like to do while wading in the river is hunt for crawdads!
That's right.
And then they cook them and eat them.
Yep.
They really do.
Here is Hunky Hubby on the prowl.

He likes to sneak up on the little crustaceans from behind and grab them with his bare hands!
The boys prefer using small nets to catch them. 
Usually someone ends up with a crawdad hanging off of their finger or swim trunks.
I guess that's part of the fun.
After collecting enough for a meal it' s time to cook them!
Now, not being an adventurous eater, I've never tried these little guys.  I figure, I didn't really like their giant cousin, the lobster, so I banking on not really liking these guys either.
Besides, no one remembers to bring butter.
Sea food is basically inedible without being smothered in melted butter.  At least in my opinion.

Sorry Little guys, but you are about to become dinner. 
Hope you like the hot tub!

Ewe! Doesn't it look like they are staring at you, accusing you of ending their short little crustacean lives?  Creepy

But the kids enjoy it.  It's something fun they do with their dad.  Catch their food and cook it over a fire made with their own two hands.

Beats restaurant dining in their little man minds any day.

So we end up going home cooled off, relaxed, and with a full belly.  Although I rely on our picnic dinner for that.

Now that I've shared one of our favorite places, what's one of yours?

I 'd love to know.

Maybe we'll go visit it sometime.