Countdown to Mistletoe.....Day 9.....Dashing ALL THE WAY!

You see...it really does pay to get married at Christmas time because you can recycle some of your wedding day decorations!

And...I had to do something tonight that I don't normally do......I bought Christmas lights BEFORE they went on sale.  When I arrived at Home Depot I strategically parked at the entrance close to the Christmas decorations.  I know you are thinking...she's so smart!  Nope....this Mama was dog tired mentally and physically and I didn't want to take anymore steps than I had to.

I entered and took a quick left into Christmas Land, found the lights I wanted and proceeded to the check-out.  I looked up at the registers closest to my exit door.....no lights were on indicating they were operable.  Customer service was booming and a HD employee stood there holding himself up with the handle of a cart full of some kind of heavy duty mack Daddy appliance.  He was planted and not moving. 

My eyes carried me and my thoughts ALL THE WAY to the other end of the store where all kinds of registers were open!  Are you kidding me?  I made eye contact with the leaning employee and said, "The only reason I'm going to walk all the way down there is because I have a gift card and I'm too tired to walk into another store.  Why in the world don't you have a register open down here?" 

I started my hike and about 10 steps in, I turned around and said, "Then....I have to walk all the way back to my car.  You can't do this to women on a Monday...in the rain! Dontmakenodernsense.

OK - that's over with.....on with the decorations....

I love my camera and one day I'll get Kelly to show me how to properly use it!  Here's what I came up with....

Jingle bells!

The can of hot cocoa on the left was a gift several years ago....recycled!

The tree made it's way to our bedroom and gathered all the silver, gold, white and glass ornaments.  And...believe it or not, I'm not loving the lights!  Go figure!  But they'll do for this year and I'll buy the twinkling ones I really wanted AFTER Christmas!

With the exception of a few special pieces, every ornament on and under the tree was recycled from our Christmas wedding last year!



Table centerpieces......recycled!



Yes.....recycled!





That gives you a little glimpse of the Christmas decorations in the Ward family home.  The tree is up and decorated with all the wonderful ornaments made by Robbie, Ashley and Andrew throughout the years and a few other favorites.  I haven't taken any photos of the tree yet and to be completely honest, the camera is ALL THE WAY on the other side of the room and well yeah....it's not happening tonight!  Stay tuned.....

Countdown to Mistletoe.....Days 6, 7, 8....Got Decorations?

OK - so I missed a few days. 

Since moving, dinners have been a last minute decision and the list of things to do just keeps growing and growing. Unpacking is taking a little bit longer because I'm trying to s-i-m-p-l-i-f-y (aka purging) as I go.  AND...I'm also trying to get a few Christmas gifts made along the way.  Whoa.....now I'm really hitting panic mode!

Yesterday Stephen and Andrew unloaded all the Christmas decorations.  If you read the last blog, it cleverly said I only had a 'few' boxes of decorations.  Yeah well.....that wasn't exactly 100% true.  Some would say it's an obsession, but I love decorating for Christmas and always have.  And being completely honest there were some years I was doing good to just get the tree up.

Some years I feel whimsical and bright. Other years, I feel more of the elegance of simple silver, gold and tinsel.  This way I don't have to go out and buy all new decorations each year......hahahahahahahahahaha!  I never met a 75% off sale after Christmas I didn't like.  In fact, I hardly ever buy Christmas decorations, lights, etc. at full price.  Maybe some tissue paper each year, but I even buy cards for next year at least 50% off.

Let the decorating begin!

The guys started unloading boxes and cartons of 'pretties' and I started going through each box.  I did start with one empty box and any decorations I no longer want went in that box...all 3 of them!  My coffee table became full from edge to edge rather quickly.  Ohhh...I remember that...that HAS to go out this year!  I even found a long lost photo of me in my younger years standing beside the old red fifty-six!

This year it's colorful and decided to shower the buffet table with my collection of snowmen and realized there are some missing!  Oh no!  My memory caught up with me (and before coffee too!) and I remembered there are about 10+ boxes already in the attic (big smile!).

There is one purchase that will need to be made BEFORE Christmas.....mistletoe!  I'll need to make a kissing ball to hang because we don't have one.  Hmmmm....I think I need to go see my friends at Season's because Kent & Kendall always have the best! (And just a little side note....if your heart has been taken over by the Grinch, or maybe just not quite feeling the spirit of Christmas quite yet.....drive on over to Season's.  I promise you, you'll leave with love in your heart and a little glitter on your nose.)

Merry Christmas!

Count Down to Mistletoe....Let Me Entertain You...Let Me Make You Smile.....Day 5!

Christmas Eve with the Bailey and Wilder families has always been a long awaited night of good food, fun and laughter.  Some of the laughter a little more than some could handle (no further comments!).

I remember as 'teenagers' and even years before, we never really isolated ourselves from the 'adults'.  Heck - that's where the fun was!  Between gag gifts, hand bell choirs, nose harps, and just plain silliness....we had to be right in the middle of it!

Of course, there were times the adults had to humor us by listening to us sing a rehearsed Christmas carol or a newly learned song on the guitar....Lord, I'm five hundred miles away from home.....away from home....away from home......If I had a dollar for every time we sang that song!  Or even better........Let me entertain you....let me make you smile (I can't remember the rest...but I'm certain Nancy & Cindy remember!) 

We even had a Sisterhood Inauguration one Christmas!  Bailey (aka Gwynevieve Fauntleroy) and Jenna (Thelma Linda Bartenbeaner) joined Agatha Bellmont, Melvina Rothchilds, Zomelda Dagoon and Bonita Bungeeda as the youngest members. I must say they've accepted their new names and roles with the utmost of humor and honor! (Since then, Haylee has also joined the sisterhood but for the life of me, I can't remember her name....Chlotilda something....)

This year the festivities will continue!  And the fun and laughter will start with good food (of course!) and a few props!  We used to take advantage of having our families together to snap a family photo or two and this year we'll do the same.....but with a moustache or reindeer antlers or a beautiful Christmas boa.  I can barely fit everything into our new house, so we won't have a photo booth to capture these silly pictures....but I'll most definitely have the camera charged and ready wherever we take them. 

Pap & Dad...this is for you!  You always found a way to do something silly when a picture was being taken and this year we will follow your lead!

Countdown to Mistletoe.....Let's Do It! .....Day 4

When asked, "In a perfect world, when would you like to get married?"....without hesitation my response was December 25th!  Stephen's response, "Let's do it!"

Of course I knew it would create craziness on a day that's usually somewhat quiet and traditionally spent at home.  I love you all and hoped it wouldn't be too much (big smile!).

And, as a child I remember Nannie and Papaw Bailey celebrating their anniversary on Christmas day.  Traditions changed a little throughout the years as our families continued to grow and trying to balance visits to in-laws along with trying to hang on to our own family traditions...those gatherings changed too. 

However, I just remember Nan and Pap celebrating their day!  They'd sometimes exchange anniversary gifts Christmas Eve and it was always so funny because for the longest time, they'd buy each other gifts and when Nannie would open hers, she'd say, "This is pretty!  Of course, I knew I was getting it because I was with him when he bought it."  Well, that only happened for a few years because we started buying gifts for Pap to give her.  Yep...you guessed it!  He still told her what she was getting!

So we started just buying gifts for each of them and putting them under the tree with tags that simply stated, "To My Other Half" or "To My Better Half".  Neither one of them would know what they were opening.  We just had to beat them at their own game.

Nan & Pap in Mexico

Such a loving couple!  I miss their flirtatious behavior and the way they'd hold hands when they sat next to each other.  They couldn't be away from each other for long and even if she just ran to 7-11, they'd talk the whole way there and back on the CB radio (Ground Cable and Nellie Bell...10-4 Good Buddy!) Pap would always do something to 'cut up' if a picture was being taken.  And, Nannie's response would be, "Robert!".....but if you spell it the way she said it, it's "Rahbut!"

When Stephen said to me we'll share the 25th with Nan and Pap because we have a love just like theirs....I knew I had a keeper!

It's been a little more than fifteen years since Pap went home and Nan still has plenty of spunk!  I can't think of a better couple to share our anniversary with and can't thank you enough for for the many years of love you share with us all.

Countdown to Mistletoe...That is one empty tree....Day 3!

That is one empty tree!

Only a week ago at work there was a beautiful Christmas tree decorated with a mixture of silver and gold glittered angel ornaments.  Today...the only items giving this tree some color.....a handful of red poinsettias.

You see...my co-workers have taken the angels off the tree because each one was tagged with a special request from a child...and we added the parents in as well.  Today...the final three ornaments went to a good home and the shopping has begun.

We've partnered with the United Way for the last several years and I look forward to this time of year each and every year. 

As a child, giving back to the community was a part of life.  Whether it was sharing your favorite candy with the residents at the local nursing home, or helping replenish the local food bank....it's just what we did.

As an adult and a single parent, there was a time when I had no idea how I would ever find a way to make Christmas happen for my children.  Christmas happened alright, but it wasn't because there were presents under the tree.  When an anonymous envelope was handed to me with a handwritten message....Merry Christmas.... and enough money to 'make Christmas happen'...I cried all the way home (and still do to this day when blogging about it!).  It wasn't the money - Christmas is so much more than money.

Someone cared enough about me and my precious family to make a difference in my life.  I didn't know who to thank, but I prayed that night to please extend my gratitude by blessing their lives as well.

Dr. Seuss put it perfectly...... 

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

This Christmas.....be the 'little bit more'.

 

Countdown to Mistletoe....Day 2!

Countdown to Mistletoe.....Day 1 was spent watching Christmas specials on the Hallmark channel! 

I knew I could count on Southern Living to have a great photo of mistletoe!

Day 2...Back to work after a 5 day break!  Fantabulous!

On the 25th day of December, it will be my 1st year anniversary of the day I married my best friend!  It will also be our first Christmas in our new home and as soon as my loving husband will load up the few boxes of Christmas decorations I have.......it will be the most beautiful Christmas ever!

There are many other reasons this day is special and #1 being the birth of Jesus.  That my friends is the real reason we celebrate.  For God so loved the world, that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. - John 3:16

Each speck of glitter, jingle of bells, twirl of ribbon, and twinkle of light....I love it all!  





Wilmington, NC



As we walked around the skeleton of a house WAY back in August, Stephen said to me, "I know exactly where we can put the mistletoe.  Right here!"  As he pointed to the walk-thru going from the living room to the kitchen/dining room.  Well, my dear husband you don't need mistletoe to have a kiss, but we'll hang that mistletoe in that exact spot and on December 25th, you and I will share the day and a kiss. 

SWAK! 







7-Up Biscuits - New Ward Family Tradition

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone was surrounded by love and laughter during this special time of year! 

I don't quite know what I was thinking by offering to have Thanksgiving in our new home (just moved in right before Halloween), but I did and it was great.  The fellowship with family was priceless and the food was quite delish too. 

Mom cooked the turkey and brought her cranberry/pomegranate jello salad - Yum!  Joyce made a crock pot full of mashed 'taters, deviled eggs, corn pudding and a pumpkin pie.  Debbie made a pecan pie that was outta this world....and the rest of the menu consisted of ham (said like Griffin Clark!), sweet potato casserole, coconut pie, stuffing (doctored up Dad style!) and....7-Up Biscuits!  Oh my...those biscuits!

That was the last item to come out of the stove because they are so so yummy warm.  They really do melt in your mouth.

Rewind a few nights....We are walking through Walmart and my husband, Stephen says...."You know, Andrew didn't get any of those biscuits on Thanksgiving.  Do you have everything you'll need to make him some?" I'm thinking that was his way of making sure I made more.

Needless to say, Andrew was a happy camper this morning when breakfast included those biscuits and after consuming THREE...stood from the table, let out a belch that was easily scored a '10' and said...."It must be the 7-Up in those biscuits.  Breakfast was really good Mom - Thanks!"

It's been a little while since I've blogged and I'll blame it on the move and just being busy.  I thought this morning, I'd kick off again with the recipe for the 7-Up biscuits - pictures and all! (As far as credits for the creator of this recipe...I have no idea!  I do know that you can google it or search for it on Pinterest and a gazillion versions will come up.  For all gazillion - I give you credit but this is my version) 

Grammie Ward's 7-Up Bisquick Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Bisquick (plus extra when kneading dough)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup 7-Up
• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
• Optional:  Parchment or wax paper for easy clean up

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In microwave, melt a stick of butter and pour it into a 9x13 casserole dish.  I prefer glass or my Pampered Chef casserole dish.

In a large mixing bowl, add Bisquick, sour cream and 7-Up.  Mix well.

Your dough will be sticky, no worries.  Just add a little more Bisquick and knead it until you can lift all the dough and place it on the parchment/wax paper.  **Sprinkle a little more Bisquick on the paper before placing the dough on it.

Handy dandy biscuit cutter - Love it!

Knead and fold dough until it's no longer sticky - adding Bisquick as needed.  (I think I probably added at least a cup overall, but just a little at a time).

Pat out dough until it's about 1/2-3/4" thick.  Using a round biscuit cutter or glass, cut out your biscuits and place them in the casserole dish (make sure you've already added the melted butter BEFORE placing the biscuits in the dish).



Everything is better with butter!



Cut out as many biscuits as you can and then knead/fold the dough again and repeat the process of patting it down and keep cutting out biscuits until the pan is full.  It's OK to squish them in a little.

Place the pan in the oven and set the timer for 12 minutes.  They will probably need to cook the whole 15 minutes, but you don't want them to burn.

Wish this were scratch-n-sniff?

Whether you cook them for breakfast, lunch or dinner...they are delicious!  I will add though, they are better when warm and fresh vs the next day.  Don't get me wrong, Stephen didn't object to having ham biscuits for his lunch the next day, but they are better right out of the oven.

Have fun and enjoy!

Robin