Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

Our Christmas

December 15, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We have a lot of family traditions for Christmas. We start with decorating right after Thanksgiving. The kids love to hang lights everywhere.

We celebrate Advent with an Advent Wreath and a Jesse Tree. We drink egg nog on the first night of Advent and on Christmas Eve. We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve.

We always bake Christmas cookies including sugar cookies. We build gingerbread house, with everyone having their own small house.

We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve. And we always have homemade cinnamon roles for breakfast morning.

We love to go as a family to a live nativity in a near-by town.

The drive thru Living Nativity

Here are some of the decorations around our house:

Cabinet in dining room

Pillow I bought at Dollar Tree a couple years ago

Nativity Scene

Wall decorations and piano

Nativity Scene and Advent wreath. Yep, kids were watching tv. lol

Christmas Tree with tree skirt I made

One of the pillows I made to put under the tree

Kids stockings hanging on front door

Shelf in living room

My favorite Christmas decoration- Kneeling Santa

Shelf on living room wall

Living Room

Candles on the coffee table

The kids favorite Christmas decoration

Here’s a short video of the kids favorite Christmas decoration.

We have had Frosty for over 15 years. Every year I think Frosty is gone for good. But he always turns up by the time we pack up the decorations.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour! You can also read about how we celebrate Advent and Chanukah.

For more Christmas, visit:
Sharing Christmas
Christmas Ornament Show & Tell
Beautiful Christmas

Also visit:
Tackle It Tuesday
Works For Me Wednesday

Our Christmas

December 15, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We have a lot of family traditions for Christmas. We start with decorating right after Thanksgiving. The kids love to hang lights everywhere.

We celebrate Advent with an Advent Wreath and a Jesse Tree. We drink egg nog on the first night of Advent and on Christmas Eve. We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve.

We always bake Christmas cookies including sugar cookies. We build gingerbread house, with everyone having their own small house.

We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve. And we always have homemade cinnamon roles for breakfast morning.

We love to go as a family to a live nativity in a near-by town.

The drive thru Living Nativity

Here are some of the decorations around our house:

Cabinet in dining room

Pillow I bought at Dollar Tree a couple years ago

Nativity Scene

Wall decorations and piano

Nativity Scene and Advent wreath. Yep, kids were watching tv. lol

Christmas Tree with tree skirt I made

One of the pillows I made to put under the tree

Kids stockings hanging on front door

Shelf in living room

My favorite Christmas decoration- Kneeling Santa

Shelf on living room wall

Living Room

Candles on the coffee table

The kids favorite Christmas decoration

Here’s a short video of the kids favorite Christmas decoration.

We have had Frosty for over 15 years. Every year I think Frosty is gone for good. But he always turns up by the time we pack up the decorations.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour! You can also read about how we celebrate Advent and Chanukah.

For more Christmas, visit:
Sharing Christmas
Christmas Ornament Show & Tell
Beautiful Christmas

Also visit:
Tackle It Tuesday
Works For Me Wednesday

Our Christmas

December 15, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We have a lot of family traditions for Christmas. We start with decorating right after Thanksgiving. The kids love to hang lights everywhere.

We celebrate Advent with an Advent Wreath and a Jesse Tree. We drink egg nog on the first night of Advent and on Christmas Eve. We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve.

We always bake Christmas cookies including sugar cookies. We build gingerbread house, with everyone having their own small house.

We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve. And we always have homemade cinnamon roles for breakfast morning.

We love to go as a family to a live nativity in a near-by town.

The drive thru Living Nativity

Here are some of the decorations around our house:

Cabinet in dining room

Pillow I bought at Dollar Tree a couple years ago

Nativity Scene

Wall decorations and piano

Nativity Scene and Advent wreath. Yep, kids were watching tv. lol

Christmas Tree with tree skirt I made

One of the pillows I made to put under the tree

Kids stockings hanging on front door

Shelf in living room

My favorite Christmas decoration- Kneeling Santa

Shelf on living room wall

Living Room

Candles on the coffee table

The kids favorite Christmas decoration

Here’s a short video of the kids favorite Christmas decoration.

We have had Frosty for over 15 years. Every year I think Frosty is gone for good. But he always turns up by the time we pack up the decorations.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour! You can also read about how we celebrate Advent and Chanukah.

For more Christmas, visit:
Sharing Christmas
Christmas Ornament Show & Tell
Beautiful Christmas

Also visit:
Tackle It Tuesday
Works For Me Wednesday

Our Christmas

December 15, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We have a lot of family traditions for Christmas. We start with decorating right after Thanksgiving. The kids love to hang lights everywhere.

We celebrate Advent with an Advent Wreath and a Jesse Tree. We drink egg nog on the first night of Advent and on Christmas Eve. We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve.

We always bake Christmas cookies including sugar cookies. We build gingerbread house, with everyone having their own small house.

We always have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve. And we always have homemade cinnamon roles for breakfast morning.

We love to go as a family to a live nativity in a near-by town.

The drive thru Living Nativity

Here are some of the decorations around our house:

Cabinet in dining room

Pillow I bought at Dollar Tree a couple years ago

Nativity Scene

Wall decorations and piano

Nativity Scene and Advent wreath. Yep, kids were watching tv. lol

Christmas Tree with tree skirt I made

One of the pillows I made to put under the tree

Kids stockings hanging on front door

Shelf in living room

My favorite Christmas decoration- Kneeling Santa

Shelf on living room wall

Living Room

Candles on the coffee table

The kids favorite Christmas decoration

Here’s a short video of the kids favorite Christmas decoration.

We have had Frosty for over 15 years. Every year I think Frosty is gone for good. But he always turns up by the time we pack up the decorations.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour! You can also read about how we celebrate Advent and Chanukah.

For more Christmas, visit:
Sharing Christmas
Christmas Ornament Show & Tell
Beautiful Christmas

Also visit:
Tackle It Tuesday
Works For Me Wednesday

Uncle Eben’s Christmas – A Book Review

December 15, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Uncle Ebens Christmas by Stephen Alan Slater

From the back cover:

Eben Johnson, the owner of a home-improvement store forbids his employees to say “Merry Christmas”, and winds up in a “Christmas Carol” experience, where he faces some sobering realities in a dream – or is it a dream?

Taking a journey into the past, present, and future, Eben gets a more relevant experience than that of the Dickens’ story – one that asks an eternal question that we should all ask ourselves: are we individually ready for that which is beyond the grave?

Uncle Even’s Christmas looks at the state of an unbeliever who profits from Christmas, yet fives none of the glory to God. It’s a story of one man who is surrounded by Christians who he finds as poor, deluded, misguided individuals, yet is in his own bleak sate about to get the wake-up call of a lifetime!

Although Uncle Eben’s Christmas has a Christmas Carol feel to it, don’t write it off as “been there, read that”. Uncle Eben’s Christmas goes far beyond a Christmas Carol.

The book starts out by following Uncle Eben around his store, where he is considering firing an employee for saying “Merry Christmas” to a customer. You also read about him spending time with his sister and her 2 children, that adore him, and he them.

Then Uncle Eben is visited by an Angel.

The Angel takes Uncle Eben to the past, in the church where he made the decision NOT to follow Christ. Then shows him how the decision effects his present. And finally, the Angel shows Uncle Eben what his future will be like without a Saviour.

I’ll save the ending for you to read. 🙂

I really enjoyed reading Uncle Eben’s Christmas. It is a quick read, at just over a hundred pages. Just the right size for reading during this busy time of the year. It would also make a great family read aloud. There are lots of discussions opportunities available when reading this book.

I recommend Uncle Eben’s Christmas for the whole family.

~Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bring it On Communications to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Snow Candy Recipe

December 13, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

When you get a lot of snow, what else is there to do but make snow ice cream and snow candy?

I remember making snow candy (and snow ice cream) when I was young in Massachusetts. I have never made it for my kids, though. So I did today!

Here’s what I did:

Snow Candy Recipe

1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter

Place both ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-7 minutes until mixtures reaches 225-230 degrees.

Place snow in pan or bowl, and drizzle hot syrup over snow. The snow cools the candy pretty quickly. As soon as the candy is cool enough to eat, it’s ready.

This candy is so yummy! It tastes like carmal! The recipe can be doubled, if you want to make a lot. I just made a small amount, in case my kids didn’t like it. Maple syrup is expensive, you know, and I didn’t want to waste it. They liked it, though, and wanted to know why I didn’t make more. lol

Good thing I have 3 bowls of snow sitting covered outside my front door!

Snow!

December 13, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We got about 6 inches of snow overnight. The roads were so bad my husband couldn’t get to work. He made it as far as the end of our road, then turned around and came home. Then he barely made it up the hill to get home. He thought he was going to have to park and walk, but after about 3 tries, he finally made it up the hill.