Christmas Cookie Recipe Party

I'm joining in the Christmas Cookie Recipe Party hosted by Darlene @ Our Creative Life. It's been going on for several Fridays, so if you need ideas for yummy cookies for Christmas, be sure to check it out! Here's a favorite in our family:

Monster Cookies

6 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 pound butter
3 cups peanut butter
8 cups oats
8 ounces chocolate chips
8 ounces M&Ms

Mix together. (No, this recipe does not have flour!) Bake at 350 degrees approximately 12 minutes.

Living Nativity Scene

Our family had the privilege of experiencing a "living nativity" this past Sunday evening. It was located at a church about an hour away from where we live. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be any big deal-- a few people dressed up to portray the Christmas Story out on the church lawn or something. One of our favorite "traditions" is to go for a drive to look at lights and listen to Christmas music and stories on the radio one evening during the Christmas season, so I thought it could just be an extension of that.

I had no idea how popular this particular program is! We thought it was a little odd that the directions said to go to a particular middle school to pick up our "pass" to get in to see the Nativity, but when we got to the school we realized why. The school parking lot was a maze of cars lined up two abreast waiting to make the short drive down the street and around the corner to the church. Ah-ha! This was how they kept the line from backing up on the highway. It was a much bigger production than I had imagined.

I would be interested to know how many cars were lined up. I would estimate several hundred, at least. It was a big parking lot and at one time while we waited it was completely full. The program was to run from 6:00 to 8:00. We got in line at 6:25. An hour later we got to the man (dressed as a Roman soldier) who was handing out glow rings to hang from our rearview mirror. That was our "pass". During the next half hour we were offered candy canes and served hot cocoa while we continued to wait in line. At 8:00 we were finally at the front of the line to drive over to the church.

When we got there, we realized that our wait was not over yet. The cars were backed up down a service road! Just before we got to the entrance we were given an audio CD to listen to as we made our way through six different scenes.

The whole thing was very well organized, and very moving. I thought it was worth the two-hour wait! (But I have to admit I'm glad we have XM satellite radio in the car! We enjoyed several Christmas OTR programs while we waited.) The unfortunate thing was that the battery died on my camera, so I ended up with not-so-great cell phone pics.

First, we passed the shepherds "abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them... and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.." 

Every time the spotlight glory of the Lord shone on the "heavenly host" they would raise their arms. Then when the light moved back to the shepherds they put them back down. I overheard someone say that some of the angels got too cold earlier in the evening and had to be swapped out, which slowed the waiting line down some. It was a very cold night... about 20 degrees... so I did feel sorry for the angels and other participants.

Next we passed the bustling marketplace of Bethlehem, where the census was being taken and taxes collected. We were impressed by how elaborate this scene was. Becky especially liked the baby goat one child was leading around.

We got to the inn in Bethlehem just as Mary and Joseph were being turned away. This was the only place in the whole scenario where any of the characters overlapped.

The Holy Family in the bitterly cold stable moved me to tears. I know it probably wasn't actually that cold the night and place where Jesus was born... but just to be reminded again... the circumstances of His birth were no accident. The lowly stable was all part of His plan.

Nearby, in the shadows, a choir softly sang traditional Christmas carols. (The CD told us to roll our car window down to hear the singing.)

My picture of the wise men with their camels didn't turn out at all. The CD said that since it was some 2 years later when the wise men arrived in Bethlehem, they portrayed them on their journey, following the star. We wondered where they found live camels in eastern Washington in December!

The last scene was the cross. It was simply spotlighted with a lamb tied to the bottom of it, to remind us of the Lamb of God. Greater still than the humble circumstances of His birth was His willingness to die in such a brutal way... for us.

I think our family has discovered a new Christmas tradition...

Blog Highlights

Not only do I enjoy blogging, I also enjoy blog-hopping. I love gleaning ideas from others' creativity this time of year. And some posts just make me smile. I've decided to start keeping track of my favorite posts on other blogs and then sharing them with you when I've accumulated a few. Enjoy!

• Boarding in Bedlam - Did you ever know anyone who had "everyday teeth" and "dress teeth"?
• At Home With Books - Tiger is determined to be warm and comfortable this winter. Cats are so funny!
• Heart Prints - How do "silent monks" sing the Hallelujah Chorus?
• Heavenly Homemakers - The recipe for Reindeer Cuties caught my eye.
• Heavenly Homemakers (again) - Instructions for making a simple angel ornament. Would make a really cute gift topper!
• Books and Bairns - Some great ideas for simple, homemade gifts.
  

Christmas Decorating

I didn't decorate for Christmas this year.

Don't get me wrong-- I enjoy looking at Christmas decorations. I just find it an awful lot of bother, at this stage of my life, to haul all the boxes in out of the garage and spend several hours sorting and assembling, just to have to take it all down and pack it all away a month later. I know some people just love to decorate for Christmas. I can understand that. I used to be one of them. But by now, I'm just tired of it.

Still... our house is beautifully decorated this year. It seems we have Christmas Elves who took over the job. My friend, Laura, expressed my exact feelings-- and exactly what happened at our house-- in a recent blog post regarding their decorations:

"It's so much fun to have teenagers! When our girls were little, I was all into decorating for Christmas... had to create all those wonderful memories, set the atmosphere, make a cozy Christmas haven! After a few years, I got tired of hauling everything down from the attic, but just as I was getting weary of the process, my teens decided they were all into the lovely holiday custom, and so now they do most of the work !!!" --from Glimpses of Our World

Our girls put up and decorated the Christmas tree this year without any help at all. When they were finished they turned down the lights and asked us to come see. I love it!

Their dad isn't quite as much of a Scrooge as I am, so he worked with them to put up the outside lights as well. I showed you what it looked like Thanksgiving weekend. This picture was taken after the girls had put up the tree, and added the color-changing snowflakes along the front sidewalk.

Visit The Nester to go on the Christmas Tour of  Homes to see lots of beautiful holiday home decor.

Christmas Memories

When I was growing up we stayed home for Christmas most years... and usually it was just our family-- my parents and their five children. A few weeks before Christmas Dad would inevitably tell us, "Well, kids... I'm sorry... but it looks like it's going to be a pretty small Christmas this year." So we would brace ourselves and mentally try prepare for the worst. Come Christmas morning we were always amazed-- every year there were way more gifts than we had expected! I think Dad was probably amazed himself. We never had a lot but it was always enough! And we were grateful.

One year, though, we got to visit both sets of grandparents at Christmas time. I remember the trip and the family time much clearer than I remember the gifts we received. It was 1971 and I was six. We lived in Tennessee that year, and we traveled to Arkansas to be with Mother's family and then on to Louisiana to be with Dad's family.

The whole family was at Grandmother and Granddaddy's house in Arkansas… all the aunts and uncles and cousins. The family was a good bit smaller then than it is now, but it was still a house full! With so many people, the pile of gifts under the tree looked enormous… and all the little children were so excited!

 Gift opening time finally arrived… but first Granddaddy read the Christmas Story from the Bible. We squirmed in anticipation as we tried to give our attention to the familiar story of the Baby born in the stable and the shepherds who came to worship. When Granddaddy finished the reading a knock came at the door.

It was Santa Claus with a sack of presents! Santa Claus reminded me an awful lot of Uncle Keith and as I look around I realized that Uncle Keith was suspiciously missing! Others of the “big kids” (the 6- to 8-year-olds) had the same idea. We were just pretty sure that it was actually Uncle Keith in the Santa suit and not some unknown stranger.

The little kids weren’t convinced and wouldn’t go near him at first. They eventually warmed up to him as he made himself at home and proved himself friendly! Soon he was hunkered down under the Christmas tree passing out gifts.

What a Merry Christmas that was!

I remember some of the gifts exchanged included things like books, games, jigsaw puzzles, socks, handkerchiefs -- things like you'd find at the dollar store these days -- or hand-made items like potholders, aprons, doll clothes, or decoupaged plaques.

Christmas seems so much more commercialized these days. I realize that my adult eyes don't see the world through the innocent filter of childhood any longer... but I also know that the simple gifts we exchanged with family members all those years ago would be shunned by many as not gift-worthy these days. I expect that's where a lot of the stress of the season comes from... trying to live up to expectations of what an acceptable gift would be.

Of course we love to give to our children and other loved ones, but I have found it a little easier to simplify when I think back to that long-ago Christmas and realize that the memories I treasure come from family togetherness and the celebration of the Reason for the Season, not the material gifts.