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5 Great Christmas Ideas

Find some great ideas to help kick your Christmas off with a bang.



Howdy friends!  I'm in Texas and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family.

Now that it's over and we are heading into the magic of Christmas, I hope you are looking forward to some great Christmas crafts and printables over the next few weeks.

I certainly have some fun ones planned and hope that you'll stay around for the excitement.

In the meantime, here are a five great Christmas ideas from last week's Dare to Share Saturday linky.

Santa Mason Jar Craft and Gift by Summer Scraps

Peppermint Star Christmas Ornament by Momma DJane

Christmas themed Educational Apps by A Day in our Shoes

Olaf Inspired Handmade Mug by My Kids Guide

The Mom Challenge by Christianity Cove


If you missed some of the great things that I shared here this week, be sure to check some of them out.  There were some free printables to help you get organized and on budget for the Christmas holiday.





And did you see the Butterfinger Brownies that Kara shared over on Pam's page this week?  Daredevil is still collecting Brownie Recipes for his store (someday), so he was super excited to see how great these looked.  I think they are definitely on our "to do" list as soon as we get home.

Now, I can't wait to see what you guys have been up to!



Black Friday Sale


I know many of you have been wondering about my online store.  I took almost everything off the store a few months ago, except for the downloadable printables.



I did a terrible thing and lost my hard drive.  It took a fall off my table while I was working and decided to stop working.


After months of trying to get someone to fix it, I was only able to recover a few clip art files.  I lost all of my projects.  Everything I have created for the past fifteen years, was gone.

Very slowly, I am trying to recreate what I can.

And this time, I'm purchasing a WD My Cloud Personal Cloud Storage*.  I learned that lesson.

But I have managed to get a few things back into the store and have put them on 50% off for the weekend.  (Actually, they are on sale until Wednesday, December 3!)


So if you are looking for a great, unique gift for your favorite teacher or a fun stocking stuffer, be sure to grab your Personalized Name Plaques this weekend.  If you don't see what you're looking for, let me know...I'm working on a lot more this weekend and can probably design you the perfect tile!

Christmas Gift List Planner Printable

Make your Christmas shopping easier with this Christmas Gift List.  This free planner printable will help you keep your shopping organized and your budget on track.

Make your Christmas shopping easier with this Christmas Gift List.  This free planner printable will help you keep your shopping organized and your budget on track.
A few years ago, I cut back on the number of gifts that my kids get each year.  Now they only get three gifts from Santa.  We figured if that was good enough for Jesus, then that was good enough for my kids.

So although I collect Christmas gift ideas all throughout the year, when Christmas finally comes around I have to narrow that list down to the best gift ideas for each of my kids.  Since I used yesterday's free planner printable to write down Christmas gifts throughout the year, it was easy to sit down and make my Christmas gift list now to help me shop.

This planner printable has a spot for the gifts, how much you estimate spending, and how much you actually spend.  It also has a spot for you to check off when you have (P) purchased the gift and when you have (W) wrapped the gift.





5 Pumpkin Recipes to Enjoy and Dare to Share

You'll love these five pumpkin recipes to enjoy this fall.   With a pumpkin cream pie trifle, mini pumpkin pies, cranberry pumpkin pie spice muffins, pumpkin spice muffins, and a Pumpkin Spice Facial scrub you'll have enough pumpkin to last you all year long!


You'll love these five pumpkin recipes to enjoy this fall.   With a pumpkin cream pie trifle, mini pumpkin pies, cranberry pumpkin pie spice muffins, pumpkin spice muffins, and a Pumpkin Spice Facial scrub you'll have enough pumpkin to last you all year long!
It has been another CRAZY week here. 

My daughter got her wisdom teeth out on Tuesday.  That was a fun day.  Wish I had recorded some of it, but she didn't get wacky until we were half way home.  But then everything was "Okay...."

On Wednesday, I got a call from the school saying my Daredevil had been in a recess "accident".  He and another boy had hit heads going for the same ball at lunch.  By the time I got to school, his eye was swollen shut and UGLY, but he was showing it off and enjoying "court".

In the midst of all of this, we have been packing for our Thanksgiving trip and getting ready to take my daughter to college.  I am so not ready for this day.

So instead, I've been drowning myself in desserts and treats.  Here are five pumpkin recipes that I intend to try from last week's Dare to Share linky party.



 Pumpkin Cream Pie Truffle by The Rebel Chick

Mini Pumpkin Pies by Luv A Bargain

Gluten Free Cranberry Pumpkin Spice Muffins by RCH Reviews

Vegan Pumpkin Rice Pudding by Gluten Free with Judee

 DIY Pumpkin Spice Face Scrub by Sparkles and Such

If you missed any of my yummy recipes and projects from this week, you can find them here.





And if you're not into cooking to ease a hard week, don't forget to check out my co-host Pam's mesh wreath.  It would make a great addition to any of your decorating this season.

Let's see what you have done this week!

Easy Eggnog Recipe

A delicious family tradition you'll love! This simple, yet sweet easy egg nog recipe uses 4 ingredients to make a yummy alternative to store bought egg nog. Check out this recipe now, you'll be glad you did.

A delicious family tradition you'll love! This simple, yet sweet easy egg nog recipe uses 4 ingredients to make a yummy alternative to store bought egg nog. Check out this recipe now, you'll be glad you did.

Moist, Creamy, Scrumptious Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe

Enjoy this alternative to traditional cake. This yummy cake recipe is filled with chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, and cool whip for a rich, moist, delicious cake for your party.

Enjoy this alternative to traditional cake. This yummy cake recipe is filled with chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, and cool whip for a rich, moist, delicious cake for your party.


Yesterday was Drama Queen's 19th birthday.

Let me take a moment to let that sink in.  I'm still wondering "what the heck?"

Happy Birthday Drama Queen

Since she is my oldest, everything about her life has felt like a "what the heck?" moment.  When I got pregnant with her, I didn't realize it would be so hard.  When she was born, I didn't realize it would be so hard.  When she was nursing, I didn't realize it would be so hard.  When I she went off to school, I didn't realize it would be so hard.  When she started dating, I didn't realize it would be so hard.

On Saturday, we are taking her to college.

Isn't it supposed to get easier?  It's not, it's still so dang hard.

I can't imagine how bad it's going to be as I drive away next week and leave her behind.

So, we planned to have a huge Birthday/going away party for her yesterday.  But instead, she had to have her wisdom teeth pulled on Tuesday.  So she's been a little loopy, tired, and unable to eat much this week.

Since we still wanted to have cake at least, she chose to have this Chocolate Pudding cake.  It's one of our favorite recipes with it's moist, creaminess. (Plus, she's been on a pudding diet since Tuesday, so it fit right in pretty nicely!)

If you're looking for a yummy alternative to cake this Thanksgiving, give this dessert a try.  I promise that this at least isn't "so dang hard!"

There are basically three main components of this cake: the chocolate cake, the chocolate pudding, and the whip cream.

Chocolate Cake for Chocolate Pudding Cake recipe

Start by making a regular chocolate cake according to the package directions.  Cook your cake in two nine inch cake pans.  Set aside and let cool when done.

Jello Chocolate Pudding for Chocolate Pudding cake recipe

While your cake is baking and cooling, mix up two large packages of Jell-o chocolate pudding.  Mine took 6 cups of milk and two 5.1 ounce chocolate pudding mixes.  Put your pudding in the refrigerator to set up.

Three ingredients needed to make a chocolate pudding cake

Grab a large 16 ounce container of Cool Whip whipped topping.

hot to put together a chocolate pudding cake

When all your ingredients are ready, start by finding a large bowl.  (I like to use a glass one so the pretty layers show through, but any large bowl should do.)

Start by layering the first of your Chocolate cakes into the bottom of the bowl.


Scoop half of the chocolate pudding onto the top of your cake and smooth it out in a layer.

Cool Whip Topping Layer in Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Scoop half of the Cool Whip whipped topping onto the pudding layer and smooth out.

Chocolate Pudding Cake Side View

Repeat the three layers again with the last of your cake, pudding, and whipped topping.  Now you're done.  See I told you at least something was not hard.

Enjoy this alternative to traditional cake. This yummy cake recipe is filled with chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, and cool whip for a rich, moist, delicious cake for your party.

Now put your cake in the refrigerator until it's ready to serve and refrigerate any leftovers.

We also bought one of these Happy Birthday Musical Flower Candle * because we fell in love with it after seeing the video.  We tried it for her birthday and everyone loved it.  The music was a little hard to hear (but that could be because we have a loud family) and you can't reuse it since you have to cut the cord for the music to ever turn off, but it was still so much fun and I'm glad we got it.  You can see how it works in our home video.



Easy No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Recipe

Make an easy no bake dessert this Thanksgiving with a yummy lemon cheesecake that takes only moments to put together and enjoy.  Talk about a quick and easy recipe to enjoy this holiday season or on special occasions!

Make an easy no bake dessert this Thanksgiving with a yummy lemon cheesecake that takes only moments to put together and enjoy.
Spending time together as a family is probably my favorite thing about the holidays.  But I think my next favorite thing is the treats.  We all look forward to Thanksgiving day when my dad brakes out the punch bowl and goblets for homemade Egg Nog.

This lemon cheesecake is another one of my favorite treats.  It's really so easy that I should make it more often, but I just don't.

Maybe I'll make it a goal next year to make a "special" treat at least once a month for my family.  After all, every day should be a special occasion in life!

Easy no bake Lemon cheesecake ingredients

Start by gathering the four ingredients you'll need to make this easy no bake lemon cheesecake.  You'll need:

2 cups of Milk
8 ounces of Cream Cheese
1 large box of instant Lemon pudding
1 9 inch graham cracker pie crust

How to make a lemon cheesecake easily and quickly

Start by adding a 1/2 cup of milk and the cream cheese to a medium mixing bowl.  Mix the two ingredients until your cream cheese is completely mixed and has a frothy consistancy.

Make a yummy lemon cheesecake easily

Add the rest of the milk and the box of lemon pudding to the mixture.  Completely mix.

Make a no bake lemon cheesecake quickly and easily

Carefully pour your cheesecake mixture into your prepared graham cracker pie crust.

No bake lemon cheesecake recipe

Refrigerate your cheesecake for at least an hour to firm.

Make an easy no bake dessert this Thanksgiving with a yummy lemon cheesecake that takes only moments to put together and enjoy.
 
Complete your creamy, delicious cheesecake by adding your favorite topping.  I personally love Cherry pie filling on mine, but I hear blueberries are really good too.