You know on here I am huge on having people in your home and building relationships. My friend Ashley’s mom comes to mind when I think about entertaining and having an open house!  Ginger and her hubby have people in and out of their home ALL of the time. There is always a bag of chips and homemade salsa on hand and people are typically discussing the next meal! Because they are amazing cooks and love to gather around a great meal! I haven’t been to Ginger’s house in probably 10 years at least but I know it’s still the same.

As I was thinking through holiday activities and things to share with all of you I thought of Ashley and her family and wondered if I could talk her into sharing a bit about their gingerbread house party tradition. Now, like Lisa from the last post, these gals are in Texas so they do it up big.

One of my favorite times building up to Christmas is my family’s
tradition of making gingerbread houses.  As far back as I can
remember, my mom had made the dough (as did her mother), rolled it
out, cut it into little pieces, and baked the pieces for assembly day.
We could much easier go out and buy the kits, but the process of
actually making the houses has been a fun memory of mine.

I think I was 4 when I remember (only by seeing pictures in old photo
albums) my mom starting this tradition passed on from my grandmother.
Mom did one house for our family for a long time, but my mom wanted
more and more families to enjoy the joy of “art” of making their own
house.  This year (2012), my mom and I rolled out 20 (!) gingerbread
houses.  Mom made the dough and I was her workhorse for the rolling
and cutting the next day.  We started rolling and cutting around 9am
and carried on until about 4 in the afternoon so that everyone we had
invited would have their own house to do.  Turns out my little family
took up 3 of the houses this year.  Landon (12), Riley (6) got to do
their own houses and I had to do mine myself (or I would have taken
over the boys’ houses)! OK, it was mine and my husband’s house, but he
graciously let me have all the fun 😉

On assembly day, I got to my mom’s house around 8 in the morning to
help set up.  My grandmother, aunt and Mom were already hard at work
in the kitchen making the “glue” for the houses.  Mom has a recipe for
Royal Icing she uses to glue the houses together and for all the candy
to stick on, as well.  While the icing is being whipped to oblivion
(it’s gotta be STIFF– think DQ Blizzard thick), we are setting up
more candy than you can imagine!  A few bowl on every table leaves
just enough room for the actual houses to be decorated!  Our guests
arrive around 10 and the fun really starts!  There are always people
who have not assembled a house before, so we help get them started,
but from there, it’s just icing and candy flying around for the next 4
hours.  It’s literally a SWEET time:) 

We try and get pictures of everyone before they leave with their completed houses and it’s so
much fun to look back every year and see how the houses have
progressed.

I could go on and on about the houses, but I’d rather Kristen share
with you our pictures!  Hope you enjoy!  Merry Christmas!

Thanks  for sharing, Ashley! I should be sending my boys down for gingerbread house school with you and your mom next year!  I might just have to try my hand at making some homemade next year. I do love me a good kit but this looks like so much fun!  Another friend mentioned doing gingerbread nativities so that might make the list next year too!

For those of you that find yourselves bored this weekend (this is kind of a joke because I don’t know anyone who isn’t packed with activities) before Christmas and your house does not yet have a little fragrant gingerbread house roll up your sleeves and give it a try! Don’t be intimidated! The walls might fall in and your hands will be sticky but it will be a good time!    And you don’t need 50 kinds of candy although they look divine, start slow and small. Pull out graham crackers if you don’t want to bake!

For you brave folks, Ashley has shared the family recipes!! Invite someone in to enjoy it with you!

this is my 90 year old Nana making on with the boys last yr! This is their “tada”

BASIC GINGERBREAD HOUSE RECIPE

6 cups flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

2/3 cup shortening

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 8-ounce container sour cream

2 eggs

To prepare dough:  Into large bowl, measure 3½ cups flour and remaining ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With hands, knead in remaining 2½ cups flour to make a soft dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or until dough is not sticky and is of easy kneading consistency.

To roll dough: Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Working with half a batch at a time on lightly floured work surface with lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth. (Do not skip this step!!!) Roll out to 1/8” thickness on well-floured surface such as muslin stretched over a cutting board. (To help create uniform thickness, roll out between 2 wooden dowels placed on either side of dough.) Lay patterns on top and cut with sharp knife. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and very firm when lightly touched with finger. Cool on wire rack.

ORNAMENTAL ICING

1 16-ounce package confectioners’ sugar (about 4½ cups)

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

3 egg whites at room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in bowl. With mixer, blend until smooth, then beat at high speed until very stiff. Makes 3 cups. Keep icing covered as it dries very quickly. Yum.

This recipe came from Grandma Lina, who got it out of a Good Housekeeping magazine sometime in the 1960’s. The original gingerbread houses she made were placed on a paper Coke carton for stability. As long as the air inside remains humidity-free, the house should stand. In 2007, Kelly’s lasted through August of 2008!

Today I have a special treat for you! My sister-in-law Tina’s family have become like family to our family and I thought I would have Lisa, Tina’s mom, share a little about their family Christmas celebrations! Lisa is an amazing hostess and completely down plays her spread in this post but you all know everything is bigger in Texas. So when she says “light and tasty” she means an amazing buffet of everything delicious!  Nothing light about it! Just to give you an example, these were “just cupcakes” Lisa made when we went to visit them at their lake house last summer!

Hi everyone,

My name is Lisa Dyer, and I am honored that Kristen wants me to write for her holiday blog.  Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, because it’s time spent with family and friends.  My husband, Craig, and I feel blessed to have the Seckinger family as part of our family.  Our only child, Christina, married Graham and now we’re one big family, creating new holiday traditions!!

You would think that having an only child would mean quiet Christmas traditions.  NO WAY!!  We always have big, loud get-togethers, combining my family and Craig’s family on Christmas Eve.  Craig’s mom and dad always very graciously hosted my entire family at their house on Christmas Eve. That’s a lot of extra people to include for the holidays, but this has created some of our fondest memories.  Last year, Craig and I were able to host Christmas Eve at our house.  We had the Dyers, the McClendons, the Holleys and the Seckingers all under one roof to celebrate.  We love that our families enjoy spending time with each other, and we’re so glad to be adding to our number every year as our kids get married and we celebrate together!   

The menu is always light and tasty.  We have queso and chips, along with stuffed jalepenos.  These are both Texas favorites!!  We also have a variety of dips and crackers, and Christmas sugar cookies.  Almost everything can be ready ahead of time, because we’re always more interested in spending time with each other and NOT in the kitchen.  The sound of my little brother playing his guitar and singing is always a pleasure to hear before and after we eat.

Santa always arrives on Christmas Eve.  The sound of firecrackers announces his arrival!!  The children run out of the front door to see what Santa has left for them.  The smoke from the firecrackers creates the illusion that Santa has left as quickly as he’s arrived!  We open our wrapped packages on Christmas Eve too.  As the presents are opened, and the wrapping paper piles up, everyone laughs, and enjoys being together!  As you can see from our pictures, we’re one BIG family!

The Dyer Family                                                                                  The McClendon Family

                                                                                                 The Seckinger Family

I am including a couple of our favorite Texas recipes for you to try over the holidays.  I hope your family enjoys them as much as we all do!!

Queso Dip

1 pound bulk pork sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can diced Rotel tomatoes

1 large block of Velveeta

In a skillet, brown the sausage with the chopped onion.  In a crockpot, combine the sausage and onions with the can of cream of mushroom soup, the diced Rotel tomatoes, and the Velveeta.  Put the crockpot on high until the cheese begins to melt, then you turn it down.  It will be ready when you’re ready!

Sausage-stuffed Jalapenos

1 pound bulk pork sausage

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese

22 large jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded  (Pickled peppers are hotter then fresh peppers.)

Ranch salad dressing, optional

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese; fold in sausage.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon into each jalapeno half.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until filling is lightly browned and bubbly.  Serve with ranch dressing if desired.

Yield:  44 appetizers

Sugar Cookie Recipe

½ c. sugar                 2 c. flour

½ c. powdered sugar        ½ t. salt

½ c. butter, softened      ½ t. soda

½ c. oil                   ½ t. cream of tarter

1 egg                          

½ t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

Directions:

Blend together sugars and butter.  Add egg, vanilla, and almond.  Mix dry ingredients together and add to previous mixture.  Refrigerate at least one hour.  (I usually refrigerate overnight for easier rolling.)  Flour your surface and roll out cookie dough, cut out desired shapes, and bake at 350’ until slightly brown around the edges.

Sugar Cookie Icing

2 c. powdered sugar

2-4 T. Milk

1 t. vanilla

Food coloring if desired

Thanks, Lisa! We’ll be missing your Texas hospitality this year! Might just have to whip up some jalapenos to make us feel a bit closer!   Thanks for sharing some family recipes…and your family!

On this rather gloomy afternoon in Northern Virginia the house is slowly winding down for nap and both little birds are back in the nest. I have never been so thankful for the shorter day of school on a Monday. My lips are chapped from nervously licking them all morning. Did I think Jackson was going to go to school and there would be another shooting?! No. I didn’t. But I hated to let him go. He didn’t have a clue that I came home  from school drop off and stormed through the house cleaning like a mad woman to keep this momma brain occupied on something other than the possibilities.  He hurried into school excitedly and exited with pride in his accomplishments and excited chatter about gingerbread houses.

I remember when the oncologist gave us Jackson’s diagnosis, along with hours of information much of which left us with a very dark prognosis and much heartache. On the way home that first day from the medical center I said something along the lines of “why on earth would God give us this precious gift and then take him away from us?” I came to that scenario with a good bit of faith and yet it shook me, and if I’m honest it continues to. I can’t imagine the tremors going on in the lives of those that are living lives in homes that lack a person they love. I can’t go to Target alone without pushing the automatic door button for their door because the boys are so much a part of my life. I can’t imagine opening the fridge and seeing that child’s favorite food waiting, but never to be eaten. Or trying to come back to life while processing such grief and opening the washing machine to see the child or family members clothes, worn the day before when life seemed so normal. They will never be the same.  Why, Lord? Why? I know we live in a fallen world but oh how we long for it to be different.

As the world continues to spin conversations about gun control, homeschooling, mental health it is easy to get caught up in it all.  This world is a scary place. Our love of privacy and self sufficiency is back-firing. We think we can cuddle up in our private homes with our problems and deal with them on our own. We selfishly think it’s better to protect our pride and family name than it is to share what life looks like inside the walls.  Somehow we think it’s all about us and we don’t realize how much our secrets and sins affect the lives of others. We close the windows when our child screams in a tantrum, we smile and straighten the kids clothes as we enter church trying to not look phased about the argument we had on the way, we try to compare ourselves and encourage ourselves that what we deal with just isn’t so bad. At least I do. I might not be able to change gun laws, home school my kids, or revolutionize our countries mental health system but I can continue to work here in this space and through my family to share our lives and to be real. To share the hope we have in Christ. I can see hurting people and actually take the time to listen when I pass by and ask how they are. I can ask deeper questions and I can allow life to be more inconvenient if it means going deeper and building relationships that can be safety nets in crisis.

This morning I woke up and just knew I would struggle with fear. Somewhere during the time when I was loading the kids into the car for the ride to school a song from my childhood came to my mind. One that I had not heard or song in probably 25 yrs. The words were from the Bible, Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you may go.” He expects us to go, not to hunker down at home. I normally pray for the boys on the way to school but today I taught them this song.  If my kids have to live in this dark world I want them to know the truth of the hope. When they face times in their lives I want them to have words that come to mind that remind them of the truths we have.  I am so thankful for that song that I buried long ago.

I don’t know about you but I struggle to feel merry and bright in this time when our country grieves. I have felt guilty being excited about a date night tonight for our anniversary or for reviewing the list again for our birthday and Christmas festivities that approach.  I feel sad. Yet there is so much to be thankful for and to celebrate. In our society 7 yrs of marriage is a darn good accomplishment and turning 3 is nothing short of a miracle with a brother with 2 casts. So this week although I continue to pray and grieve with the families who have lost their beloved ones in Connecticut, I also know I need to savor this season.  Tears, chapped lips and all. We can’t seize every moment and make every moment a hallmark one, but we can be present. We can sit with grief and embrace joy. For each day is a gift.

So any of you that know Seth and I well know that we aren’t very spontaneous. Although now that I am writing that and analyzing the 5 moves in 7 yrs of marriage I realize we might have put on a good front. Anyhow, we aren’t naturally spontaneous. We over think most things. And I talk myself out of lots of adventurous things.

But then there are the crazy drives we do…

Seth and I started dating in November of 2004. Soon after we started dating I went home to Houston for a month to work and he stayed in Dallas to work. We were so bummed that we had just started dating and now wouldn’t really see each other much. About 2 weeks into it I decided it would be a good time to go back to my apartment and “check my mail”. I had to work on that Friday until early afternoon so I decided that I could leave after work and make it to Dallas by dinner time to go out with Seth. The only catch was that I had to be back Sat morning for my mom’s church Christmas tea. Which was at 10 AM. Yikes. So I drove up to see Seth, we went for dinner and then drove around Highland Park looking at Christmas lights and then I went home, got a few hours of sleep and had to leave at like 4 AM in order to get back to the tea. Crazy, huh? But somehow it was adventurous and so worth it to see Seth! 10 hours of driving and all.

Then there are the drives we have done when we know a friend or family are here or there, not exactly on our home leave travel route but worth the detour!  We’ve been known to take rest breaks around meeting new babies and celebrating birthdays.  We added a couple days of layover on our way back to Switzerland last year because we just couldn’t be in the US and not meet our nephew James!  And a trip to Austin to hold my bestie’s new Annabelle! And quite a few more stops in between. If there are enough hours to make it work we try to, even if it feels a bit crazy for us not so spontaneous people. A couple of weeks ago I drove to Wilmington, DE for lunch with a friend. I told a friend I was doing it and she couldn’t understand why it was worth it to drive there, visit a few hours and turn right back around. It was so worth the time with her catching up face to face and seeing her life in action. It just isn’t the same over the phone.

This weekend we are doing another crazy Kolb drive! We got the itch this Fall to go to NYC and long story short we thought we could stay with a friend and make a weekend of it.  Our lodging didn’t work out but my brother and his wife were able to get a hotel and we couldn’t cancel the opportunity to see them in person in our neck of the woods (ie not exactly our woods but in our corner of the country). So, we decided to make a big day of it. Saturday morning we will load this kids up around 4 AM and make the trek. We will spend the day with them and then we will drive to a hotel outside of the city to crash for the night before making the drive back Sunday morning! But on the way back we will detour through Wilmington again, just because we can’t fathom passing our friends along the highway and not seeing them, even if just for a bit.

These kind of posts always get people commenting on how all of our moves and travel must make our kids easier to travel with. And I always feel the need to keep it real and let you know that they can be really tough travelers! They are 5 and 3 and human children after all.  The boys don’t know we are going and they don’t know that magical NYC will await them, or that they will see their Aunt and Uncle!

Call us crazy. We’ll be wiped out. But it will be worth it.

And there are no more crazy drives on the horizon…but we’ve had the itch to meet our niece Madeleine since she was born nearly a yr ago. Oregon is more than a brave road trip so that will be less spontaneous!