Christmas Break

Life is going to be busy the next few weeks so I'm taking a blog break for the next few weeks.  Wishing all of you a blessed Christmas and I'll see you next year!

Cooking Thursday

 I made something new last week that's perfect for Fall and Winter.  This is a recipe a friend at work shared after telling us how much her family enjoyed it.  It combines chili and cornbread in a casserole and was very tasty!

(I shared another pic so you could see what this looks like under the cornbread)

Chili Cornbread Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
1 can dark, red kidney beans, drained
8 ounces tomato sauce

Cornbread topping
8.5 ounce box corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
8 ounces cream style corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 quart baking dish with non-stick spray. 
Brown ground beef with onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt.
Stir in Rotel, kidney beans and tomato sauce and pour into baking dish.
Cornbread:
Combine corn muffin mix. egg, milk, cream corn and 3/4 cup cheddar cheese.
Pour over beef mix. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
Bake 30 minutes or until cornbread is browned and cooked through.
Serve with your favorite chili toppings.


*Next time I make this I will put it in a 7x11 pan, as it took quite a bit of extra time to get the cornbread done in the casserole.

Christmas at the old Fire Station

 My town has an old fire station that is used as a Fire Museum. It was built in the 1880's in nearby Grand Rapids.   When it was going to be torn down, in 1984, a local man who collected fire memorabilia bought it, de-constructed it and re-built it, brick by brick in our town. It looks just as it did when it was originally built.  It's a beautiful building and is now filled with old fire trucks and other antique fire and rescue items.
Every year it's decorated beautifully, but this year they put an old fire truck out front and lit it up too.  It looks very pretty at night.

We are really thankful to have this old, beautiful building near us.

Christmas at our house

 Today, I thought I would show you some of the things we do to decorate for Christmas at our house.

Starting on our front porch is this porch pot.  You can't see it, but next to the front door I have a few small Christmas trees that are lit every night.

We have this big wooden snowflake on the porch as well.

This is the back entry. I always have a small wreath hanging here, but I found this simple one that has just greenery and some silver bells, so it looks Christmasy!

I like to put little touches throughout the house, and this little tree is in our main bathroom.

On the shelf in the main bathroom is this little tree and sign.

On our dining room table is the tiered tray with ornaments I made using decals a few years ago.

This kissing ball was given to me by a patient several years ago. She has since passed, but I enjoy the memories when I hang this.

Also in the dining room is this skinny little tree with just lights on it. I also put things out on the shelf here.

A favorite thing, between the living and dining room is this card rack.  I love getting cards and each one is a joy to open and read.  Some are from dear blog friends!

These cute mittens were made by Bob's sister.

This is setting out in the living room.  The tiny nativity is a toddler proof set which I made when I was a MOPS leader.

This is a side table in the living room.

This chubby Santa is one Bob carved several years ago.

This is one of my favorite things - a nativity set Laura made when she was still in high school.  There are so many details here.

Shepherds, cows, lambs, donkeys - even chickens are in the set.

We don't have a fireplace, so our stockings hang from a shelf. 

Our living room is not very big, so we chose a skinny tree.

Here's a few special ornaments on it.

A special ornament, made by one of my patients before she developed Alzheimer's, and given to me by her daughter who became a friend during her stay in the facility - and is a friend still, along with other members of the family.  

Another ornament that brings memories.  This was something my SIL was making for a bazaar the day I met her, and we both thought it was not the prettiest.  So of course, she gave me one for Christmas that year - about 43 years ago!

This ornament has my mom's writing on it - it was transferred from a card.  Moms been gone for 19 years, but she sure did love us all!

Last, but not least, some Santa ornaments Bob carved through the years.

Thanks for making it through all these pictures of what things are looking like at our house!

Christmas program

 It's the season for Christmas programs and we got to go to Alaina and Ruby's program last week.  Covid has stopped the program for a few years, and it was so nice to have it again this year.
This was the school program for kindergarten to 5th grade.  

This was the kindergarten group singing.  There was a near disaster when the boy on the right had an issue with his pants and they started to fall down.  The music teacher had to come up and do some wardrobe adjustments, but all turned out ok!

After the kindergarten group got done, the 1st and 2nd graders came up to sing, and we spotted Ruby.  She was enjoying herself!

Here is the 1st and 2nd grade singing.   

After the 3rd grade got done, the 4th and 5th grade came up.   Alaina saw us and gave a little wave.

Here's her group singing with lights.  They also did a song where they played ukuleles.  
It was a really cute program and so fun to be there

Here's our girls after the program.

And a picture of the whole family - Laura, Aaron, Alaina and Ruby.
 

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 This is a dish I took along to our Thanksgiving meal.  It was so easy and very tasty, so I wanted to share it.  I'll also say it's not something I'll make often, because - corn, cream cheese, cream...   it's holiday fare!

(Sorry about the poor picture.  I didn't think to get a good one later!)

Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

32 ounces frozen corn
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, cut in slices
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 4 hours. 

Stir to combine and make sure cream cheese has been melted into sauce.
You can place on warm for an hour or two before serving.

Not so Wordless Wednesday

 

We have a divided main street going through our town.  Every year almost all the trees in it are lit so for 1 1/2 to 2 miles you see all these beautiful trees.  People drive here to see it, and I get to enjoy it every time I drive through town in the dark!

Girly Sleepover

We had our girlies overnight Friday night.  Laura and Aaron dropped them off at my work and we met Bob for supper.

On the way home we stopped at a house not too far from ours that has a light show every year.  You can tune your car radio to a station and the lights change with the music. It's pretty impressive in person.

Alaina had found this wig that was from the Frozen movie,  and took it along to show us.

Bob tried it on too, but we liked Alaina's look better!   :)

We worked on a fun project; making snowflakes with paper bags. Here's Ruby gluing some bags together.

After they were glued, you cut the end into a point or round it off, then cut some designs out of the side.

Then you open it all the way and glue the last 2 bags together - and you have a beautiful 3D snowflake!

We did some with white, some with brown bags.  Each one is different.

So cute!

The next morning, we did another craft.  We shaved crayons and then put the shavings into a clear glass ball ornament.

When the shavings were inside, you use a blow dryer to melt them, while moving the ornament around.

Here's what they look like when done.

We stopped at my Dads house to check on him, when bringing them home.

The girls brought them a snowflake to hang on their fireplace mantle.

Great Grandpa and Grandma are always happy to see the girls, and the girls really like seeing them too.