Santa Claus

So we went to Bass Pro shop in St. Charles....twice to see Santa.  The first time we got discouraged after half an hour and went home.  The second time it was the day before Christmas Eve and the line was twice as long but we stayed and saw him within an hours time.

With wondering awe....

 Maddie told Santa she wanted a bike, which is good, purple which also is good, that blows bubbles, uh oh.

Totally worth the wait for free pictures and games for the kids to play.

Christmas Treats

Kneaders Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

http://runwalklift.blogspot.com/2013/11/kneaders-sugar-cookies.html

*I halved the recipe, which turns into 3 7/8 cups of flour, so if I make them again Id use 3 1/2 cups so the dough is sticky then reserve 1/4 cup flour to spread out when rolling sticky dough. Halving made 3 dozen-ish.

Double the frosting though because its thick or thin it down with milk but why would you want to do that.

Because I was asked about my chocolate balls, here is the recipe.  Super easy super rich.
OREO Truffles
1 Package Oreos
1 Package cream cheese
Dipping chocolate/mixed with quality chocolate (milk, dark, or mixed)

Crush or process all oreos except 3 (leave these out you will use later).  Hand mix softened cream cheese and completely finely crushed oreo until mixture color is all black.  Set in fridge to cool/slightly stiffen.  Take out rolls into balls.  Melt chocolate microwave or double boiler, if you use microwave turn down power and stir every 30 sec.  Dip use knife and fork to tap the scrap dipped ball onto wax paper.  Now those 3 left out oreos are crushed and used as topping if desired, otherwise you can mix into mixture.  Immediately sprinkle with desired topping before chocolate cools.  Very rich and very tastey.

*Also see plated here is caramel microwave brown bag popcorn and Costco dark chocolate sea salt caramels (too lazy to make them, maybe next year).

Merry Christmas enjoy your treats while you can everyone's about to post there New Years resolutions thus guilt tripping you into getting back in shape or to clean up your eating.

One of my favorite Christmas stories

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor.  This is how it happened.  I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front room, and to my surprise, Santa Claus himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.  He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out.  “What are you doing?”, I started to ask, but the words choked up in my throat as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone.  He then answered me with a simple statement of “Teach the Children”.  But what did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement, brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree.  As I stood there bewildered, Santa said again, “Teach the Children.”  Teach them the old meaning of Christmas…the meanings that Christmas nowadays is forgotten”. I started to say, “How can I?”, when Santa reached into the bag and pulled out a brilliant shiny star.  “Teach the children the star was a Heavenly Sign of promise long ago.  God promised a Savior for the world and the star was a fulfillment of the promise.  The countless shining starts at night, one for each man…now show the burning hope of all mankind.”

Santa gently laid the star upon the fireplace mantle and drew forth from the bag a glittery red Christmas tree ornament.  “Teach the children that red is the first color of Christmas.  It was first used by the faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all people by the Savior.  Christ gave his life and shed his blood that every man might have God’s gift of Eternal life.  Red is deep, intense, vivid…it is the symbol of the gift of God.”

“Teach the children”, he said as he dislodged a small Christmas tree from the depths of the toy bag.  He placed it before the mantle and gently hung the red ornament on it.   The deep green of the fir tree was a perfect background for the ornament.  Here was the second color of Christmas.  “ The pure lasting hope of mankind.  Green is youthful, hopeful, abundant color of nature.  All the needles point heavenward…symbols of man’s returning thoughts toward Heaven.  The great green tree has been man’s best friend.  It has sheltered him, warmed him, made beauty for him.

Suddenly I heard a soft tinkling sound.  “Teach the children that as the last sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring for the man to return to the fold…it means guidance and return.  It further signifies that all are precious in the eyes of the Lord.

As the soft sound of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle.  He placed it on the mantle and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast a glow around the darkened room.  Odd shaped shadows slowly danced and weaved upon the walls.  “Teach the children,” whispered Santa, “that the candle shows man’s thanks for the star of long ago.  Its small light is the mirror of starlight.  At first, candles were placed on the tree…they were like many glowing stars shining against the dark green.  The colored lights have now taken over in remembrance.”

Santa turned the small Christmas tree lights on and picked up a gift from under the tree.  He pointed to the large bow and said, “A bow is placed on a present to remind us of the spirit of the brotherhood of man.  We should remember that the bow is tied as men should be tied, all of us together, with the bonds of goodwill toward each other.  Goodwill forever is the message of the bow.”

Santa slung his bag over his shoulder and began to reach for the candy cane placed high on the tree.  He unfastened it and reached out toward me with it.  “Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd’s crook.  The crook on the staff helps bring back the strayed sheep to the flock.  The candy cane represents that helping hand we should show at Christmas time.  The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brothers keepers.”

As Santa looked about the room, a feeling of satisfaction shone in his face.  He read wonderment in my eyes, and I am sure he sensed admiration for his night.  He reached into his bag and brought forth a large wreath.  He placed it on the door and said, “Please teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love; it never cease, stops, or ends.  It is one continuous round of affection.  The wreath does double duty.  It is made of many colors.  It should remind us of all the things of Christmas.  Please teach the children.”

And I might add the singing of carols, remember the songs the angels joyfully sang on that first Christmas night.  Let us sing with a sweet spirit of rejoicing.

I shared this today in my talk and a lot of people asked for it so here I'm sharing it with you now too!

Family Photo

My mother in law asked for a current family photo.  I didn't have 1 picture of the four of us.  Its been 7 months and that's kind of ridiculous.  So I spent all day trying to get everyone dressed and ready for pictures.  I opened my early Christmas present and set up my Nikon S9500 a point and shoot's 10 sec timer.  I kid you not it took an hour to get one decent photo.  I kept setting it up with Dane on my hip but by the time I'd get sat down it would flash.  Finally I said ok Jon you try to set it up and I'll just sit here.  It was a nightmare and I realized this is why you hire someone to do this when you have two kids that you're trying to keep happy and looking, all while not looking like a hot mess.

I love my stockings Mr. & Mrs. Claus and their two elves :)  My mother in law is sooo talented!

Jon thought maybe we should lay in front of our fireplace. Something I'm sure you would see on awkwardfamilyphotos.com

This is one more photo than we took last year.  Here's to hoping I will quite being so lazy!

Maddie's 5th Bday October 24, 2013

Poor Maddie's birthday was a totally bust this year because she had a sick teething baby brother this year to mess up any set plans!  We did make it to Red Robin and she got a free birthday Sunday.  I didn't even make her cupcakes until the following week.  Which is totally unlike me since I love to celebrate birthdays!

Dane Merrell Heslop

Dane Merrell Heslop was born on April 26th 2013 in the Othello Hospital at 8:07am.  He weighed 6lbs 8oz and was 19 inches.  He had light brown hair and some that was almost 2 inches long around the back of his neck, yes my son is rocked a baby mullet.  I had to be there at 6 am to get hooked up.  I was sure the worst pain that I felt was the catheter or the double stick for the IV.  I totally got ready that morning and I still only had one picture with me in it after delivery and its horrid.  That same night my family came to visit and I was so out of it I couldn't even remember who was there.  I was in a lot of pain.  Thank goodness Heavenly Father helps us forget all the pain.  Now to finish recovering it has taken a long time for these abdominals.

Its been a very long time...

So much has happened since my last post.  Well to sum it up the last year I attended Victoria's Academy of Cosmetology graduated in December and finished my hours early February.  I was so thankful for the whole experience and really do enjoy the field.  As of right now I'm enjoying being a mom, but I am grateful I took the time to accomplish a life long goal of mine.  It was a lot of sacrifice for all members of my family, but we did it! :)  My mom and sister Wendy and on occasion several other relatives helped tend Maddie, it makes me emotional just to talk about it but I am so so so grateful.  I was the student that cried when other people brought their children in to school.  I am SOOOOO happy to be done!  I took my boards in April because I like to cut things close, so a very pregnant Julee took her written in TriCities early April and got a 87% and then later the practical in Spokane and got a 97%.  I was so relieved to be done done done! 

 

My license came in the mail at the end of April while I was in the hospital having a baby :) 

 

Jon continued to go to CBC graduated with his Associates. 

 

Then we transferred to Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, MO!  He is currently finishing up some science pre-reqs in their Accelerated Science Program.  Which has been such a blessing to get this done faster and Jon has really excelled in these classes.