A great day!

Nothing extra special happening, just a good day. Robin woke up not feeling well so he stayed in bed a bit longer. Josh asked for an egg for breakfast so I fixed egg sandwiches. It was a nice treat for Josh and Keegan. Matthew had scrambled eggs with the toast on the side. No more bread meant hot lunch, for which they were excited and mom was relieved to not have to fix lunches. Before they even left I had bread batch #1 going and the washer started. I 0got the big boys off to school and Matthew dressed. Tyler had decided to sleep in today too. Now it was my turn but dad had to get up first. I don't quite trust Matthew on his own while I shower ;P. I can't go without a shower for too long. It just starts the day right ya know.

A great morning just makes for a great day. The laundry is half done (love my new super washer!), boys are fed. I've made 4 loaves of bread, cranberry muffins, oreo cookies, cleaned the kitchen and worked on laundry. Now I get to unwind and take a nap. Yep, take a NAP! Don't get too jealous, I will be up all night working. I will think of you as sugar plums dance in your little heads at 2am!

I made muffins for the boys afterschool snack. I froze some for later too. It is yummy. I will have to post the recipe. I got it from Tina, Robin's sister, who got it from someone on Pinching your pennies. We went to Tina's for a birthday dinner last night and finally got her started blogging too. Click on her link to the side for amazing thrifty ideas. Remember all the tricks Grandma knew but you thought were lost forever- NOPE! Tina is my go to gal for those things. Anything from laundry tips, canning, freezer goodies, recipe adjustments you name it. In fact, I challenge you all to find a household problem she can't solve on a tightwads budget! Go ahead, check it out. Learn all the secrets of living on a 1950's budget in 2010!

Here is the bread I make. I use my kitchenaid. I am hoping for a Bosch one day but this No Knead Bread is yummy and doesn't overwork my Kitchenaid. Rebekah gave me this one....
Here is the recipe. Try it, you'll love it:
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 packages yeast
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons sugar
6 cups flour divided

Heat your oven to 200 deg. with a bowl of water in it. When it gets to 200 shut it off. Disolve your yeast in the warm water. Mix in butter, salt, sugar and 3 cups flour. Mix for about 2 minutes until well blended. You may have to scrap the sided a couple of times. Then add the remaining 3 cups flour. Your dough will be sticky, more like muffing mix texture. Place in the warmed oven to rise. I like to rise my dough in the oven so my house doesn't have to be as warm and the cool breezes won't mess up the rising dough. Let it rise for about 30 minutes until double. Stir down, about 25 strokes. I just put my mixing bowl in the oven then turn the mixer back on for a minute. Pour dough into 2 loaf pans. It will still be sticky. Smooth evenly in pan. Place back in oven to rise a second time for 30-40 minutes until double. Then turn oven on to 350 deg and cook for 30-40 minutes. Remove bread from oven and cool on wire rack. YUMMY! We have been going through about 6 loaves a week with lunches and what not. The boys just love it!

We had the Cardiac Care Christmas party on Friday. It was a great success. I made thank you bags for the committee members who helped with all the arrangements. I got this idea from Little Birdie Secrets. They are Holiday Potpourri bags. I must say this is yummy. It is a subtle holiday scent with just the spice that I love. Robin thought it was great too. It makes you house smell great.Saturday afternoon we took the boys to the mall to see Santa. Josh decided he was too old to sit on Santa's lap, Keegan didn't want to either, Tyler was bubbling over with excitement just to talk to Santa and Matthew was in awe of the tree, lights, and hustle and bustle going on around us.
Call me crazy but one of the things I love about Christmas is the crazy shopping trips. I am usally done by Thanksgiving except homemade goodies so going to the mall is fun to just relax and browse. We usually shop a bit and get a few things but this year we could only go in, see Santa, and leave. I had to get ready for work and our budget was gone this week. Even so, you can't help but feel the spirit of Christmas when you are out 2 weeks before the big day.
Tyler was so excited to see Santa. He almost forgot to ask for something, rather he just did his usual jabber, jabber. You would have thought he was talking to his best friend. I love to see this. The twinkle in a childs eye is worth its weight in gold. I think Santa was getting tired. It was almost dinner time and we were near the end on the line. Poor Santa, never a moments rest at this time of year......Matthew wanted nothing to do with the man in red but perhaps next year.......

So, the other day Ty says, "Mom, Isaac says Santa's not real". UGH! I love that my kids believe in Santa. It is pure childhood. I think so many lessons, GOOD lessons, come from believing in Santa and all he represents. What do you say to this? Our friends leave it up to their kids to decide for themselves if Santa is real or not. They don't say either way except to say the have to pay Santa for the presents he brings.....I don't agree with this but ok. Well, when Ty ask me I had to think. I truely believe in the spirit of Santa. I love the book "I Believe in Santa". It talks about all the things Santa does and what he represents then likens that to Christ. SOOO, we read this story before I left for work. I told the boys that no matter what others might say, I believe in Santa. They seemed satisfied with this. I guess it was an opportunity for me to share my testimony of Christmas and the Spirit it brings with my boys too. Before too long they will be too big to believe, but I hope deep down they always keep the Spirit of Christmas with them. I believe in Santa, he comes in red, he comes at night, he loves little children and wants us to be good. I believe in Christ, he comes in red, he comes at night, he loves little children and KNOWS we can be good. I BELIEVE!