Holiday Baking

I didn't come from a house where baking was really part of the holidays. Mom is a fantastic cook - but the fresh Christmas baking in the house came from others most of the time. And while I have my own sugar and gingerbread cookies that I make every year - there is one type of cookie from my past that I have brought back.

Mrs. Connel's Cookies. Mrs Connel lived across the street from us. The Connel's were family friends with my parents, and eventhough they moved probably close to 20 years ago from Ruth Cres, the house is still always referred to as the Connel's house.

Anyhow - during the Christmas Sing a Long (trust me, there is a story coming for that, I'm just trying to find some photos) - all the neighbours would bring food. Mrs Connel would bring these amazing cookies. Round balls with some icing on top, and sometimes that hard silver candy too. Mmmmm. I always remember sneaking some early, even though I knew they were supposed to be for later (those and the after 8s, which rarely made it after 6!)

So today, instead of shopping in a zoo like mall, I decided a to do a last minute baking session. The sugar cookie dough is chilling (gingerbread needs ahead of time groceries), but I thought I would make some of Mrs. Connel's cookies too. The kids joined in (well, Braydon apparently got bored and left part way through).

I've just pulled them out of the oven and the icing will be added in a bit. It's cookies like theses that make me think of my childhood Christmas'. Now off to write Santa some letters!!

My love of Reindeer

I love Reindeer. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Commet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. And of course, the most famous Reindeer of allllllllllllllllll, Rudolph.

Now these Reindeer have always played a part in my love of Christmas. In fact, to me, along with Santa, are a visual reminder of all things Christmas. I guess they go hand in hand, since the Reindeer pull Santa's sleigh - but more than that, they took represent the magic of the season.

I mean come on, it took Rudolph's special nose to get Santa through the foggy Christmas Eve. They are the only deer that can fly. And they have a song all to themselves to help celebrate the season. And it's my favorite song.

The Dye Christmas Carol Sing a Long (more on that after) always required some organ practice by Dad. And while I love pretty much all Christmas songs, Ruldoph The Red Nosed Reindeer was the one I always asked him to play over and over again. And he did. Over and over again.

11,325

That is a large number.

That is a reason why my side of the computer is slow.

That is how many photos I have on it.

It is not from the moment my son was born. Nor from the moment that my daughter was born.

11,325 is from the last 20 months.

That is ridiculous. Off to do some deleting and then save the top 4 or 7,000.

A Skrappy Weekend

Well my weekend isn't over, but I though I would post this Sunday evening. I still have one bonus day to go, and if all goes well, it will be worth blogging too.

This weekend we had another cyber crop at Skrapnchat. While it was a last minute kinda deal, it all came together very well, and not only did the girls have a fun time, I managed to get a few lay outs done too.

For those of you who may not know what a cyber crop is, well it's an opportunity for those of us that scrap on line together to have a power weekend full of challenges, games and laughter all done on line. It always amazes me how close of a friendship that we have developed, despite that most of us have never met in real life.

Anyhow, here is some of my work from the weekend....(mom, recognize the lady hanging the Christmas decorations..)

My Goals for Christmas This Year

My Goals For Christmas - ok, let's think. I want to spend more time with my family. I am well know for my love of Christmas, but I want to slow down and enjoy it more. Work is usually so busy for me at the same time, but I want to ensure that my family is first.

I want to create special moments for my children. My love for the holidays has been life long, and I want to create that same specialness for Braydon and Kaylee. I want to have nights that are filled with Christmas stories and hot chocolate. I want to sit down and watch Rudolph and Frosty with the kids. I want to have snowball fights and build snowpeople.

I want to have some quiet time with Chris. It's been a different year with him out of work. We've been able to re-connect and enjoy the simpler things in life. We have re-defined what is important and what we don't need to worry about.

I want to document this time of year. For me, for my family. I want to photograph it as much as possible. I want to write about it and I want to remember it.

I want to find a real true Christmas smell that will help with the fake tree. Yes, last year in the spirit of "balance" I let Chris get a fake Christmas tree. It was the first year we didn't fight about needles being all over the house. Joke's on him - now the tree can go up earlier!!

I want to make sure that my young children understand that at Christmas, it's more about the giving than the getting. With a four and six year old - this alone will be a challenge. But they are loving children, and I know that would want others to have joy on Christmas morning too.

An explanation of what is coming

So I am taking an on line class with Jessica Sprague. It's about the holidays, and I am hoping that it provides me with some great journalling ideas and inspiration to document my most favorite holiday of the year. A lot of my next few posts will be the assignments, so if all of I sudden you wonder why I have gone from no posts to regular ones again, well that is the background.

I hope that you can join me for it (I'm already behind my classes by four days - but hey, it's at your own pace thankfully!) and I hope that we all learn as we go.

And to get me in the mood - here is last years' Santa photo

Some recent work

Since I am behind on all aspects of my blog, I think I will start slowly with some recent work of mine. I also plan (always me with the best of intentions) to upload more of my scrapping here.

My name is Kirsten

and I am a bad bad blogger.

I keep making promises to keep this up, and I keep not doing it.

I am a bad bad blogger. I promise to get better.

So what has happened in the past month?

Work

Halloween

Brother's Birthday

Snow on the mountain

Opening for skiing

Getting my head wrapped around the holiday season

Chris went back to work (temp, but better than nothing)

Will return. Will make it more interesting. Will add photos. Stay tuned.