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So Christmas is over but the holiday break is not. Most families are looking for something to keep their kids busy and out of trouble. Here is a neat project that goes along with celebrating the New Year.

Get your kids together and talk about the past year. Have them discuss what they will remember the most. Then they can decide what to add to the time capsule. I like the idea of having the kids write a kind of diary entry about the year. Then they can write their name on an envelope and seal it shut.

When everything is in the time capsule you can decorate it and label it with the date. Put it away in a safe place until you are ready to open it. Your family can then decide how long to wait to open them. I think 5 years sounds good.

This would be a great New Years tradition for any family. If you make a new one each year you will also have one to open every year after the chosen amount of years has past.

Just when you think you are done buying gifts there is always another one. There is always someone like a coworker or neighbor that you did not even think about getting a gift for. Someone that gets you a gift and you never thought they would. What do you do?

Do you tell a white lie? You could say that you forgot it at home or that you did not think you would run in to them so you did not bring it. What is the proper way to handle it? You do not want to offend them or hurt their feelings.

I tend to be a very last minute person. There are times that I just do not buy a gift until after Christmas since I know I will not see the person until later anyway.

We also do some after Christmas shopping for gifts for the kids. Many family members give the girls cash so then they get to pick out their own gifts.

There are so many reasons to buy gifts after Christmas. Whatever your reason there are some great deals to be had. Stores stock up on items for Christmas so when Christmas ends they drop the prices. This is a great time to get some last minute gifts from Kmart. Even if the gifts are just for yourself.

I am so glad that this waited until after Christmas!

Somewhere around 2 pm I started to feel congested. It must be the weather changes. It keeps going from -10 for a few days, then tons of snow falls, and then 40 degrees and very wet as all of the snow melts. Right now we are on the second round of all the snow melting.

I had decided to make meatball calzones with mushrooms and bell peppers for dinner. So I made the dough and left it to rise as we caught up on some shows we had recorded on the DVR. As time went on I started to get a headache. At first I figured it was just because I was tired and I wished that I had the time to talk a nap. An hour later the headache was worse and I had pressure in my sinuses and behind my ears.

I took a few asprins and that helped enough to finish dinner. At least everyone loved the calzones so it was worth it. Now I am going to drink a glass of wine and try to relax.

This time of year I really think about military families. My father was in the Navy. I had two brothers in the Army. James was in the Marines. I have many more Aunts, Uncles, and cousins that have also been in the military. It has a way of making you see how much family really matters. It also gives you a look into how many lives are touched by them.

A friend of mine just recently had her husband come home after a very long year overseas. Solders may be strong but I feel Military wives are often stronger. My friend is definitely one of those stronger ones. Her husband might have been overseas and in a very dangerous place but my friend was the one that had to sit at home worrying about him.

My friend had children that still needed to be taken care of plus she was pregnant. She was faced with a harder situation than I could ever imagine. Her husband was not even able to be there at the birth of the new baby.

Sears has a wonderful program called Sears Heroes at Home. Sears collects the donations and then distributes them as gift cards for military families. The website shows some of the things that the families have on their wish lists. It really makes you think when you see such simple items being wished for. These are families that are struggling in many ways and would just like some new winter clothes or new shoes. The donations are not tax deductible but it really is a worthy cause.

I hope you all have a great holiday and share some wonderful memories with your families. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

I have loved doing all of the holiday posts! I will now have more time to get caught back up on redoing the main website. I still will miss all of the excitement of the holidays. I guess I will have to just come up with some fun new things in the coming year.

I have been touched by all of the holiday greetings from the community. I really do love having this contact with readers and fellow bloggers as well. I can not wait to see what the coming year has to offer.

Once again, Merry Christmas to you all. Eat lots of good food and sweets. You can always go back to being healthy tomorrow. Everyone has to cheat once in awhile. You deserve it so indulge.

We all know how wonderful babies are. I miss my girls being babies. Babies are so beautiful and sweet. There is nothing more sweet than a sleeping baby. Nothing shows the miracle of life like a baby.

There is nothing like seeing your miracle baby for the first time. You count all of the fingers and toes. You look at how big they are and wonder how they fit inside of you. How incredible it is to think about all the growth and development they went through for 9 months.

We live in such a great time period. There are so many advances made everyday. Now the miracle of life that is a baby being born can be even more of a miracle. Now we have found that blood from the umbilical cord has life saving stem cells.

Cord blood can be saved and banked for years. There are over 70 diseases that can be treated with cord blood. There have been over 8000 transplants worldwide that have used cord blood. Saving your child's cord blood could end up being a life saver for that child or a sibling.

The cord blood service that Cryo-Cell offers can be a great gift also. Many times families are struggling financially when children are born. Receiving it as a gift would make any mom happy. They also offer gift certificates so you can get family members to all chip in.

I never ate biscuits and gravy until about 8 years ago. It never interested me and I really am not much for gravy. James loved biscuits and gravy. He would get it anytime we went out for breakfast. I decided that it should be another thing that I learn how to make for him. It is not very healthy so I do not make it often. I make it maybe 3 times a year. I only make it on holidays.

I always assumed it would be hard to make but it is not. I do not even use a recipe when I make it. I am sure you can find thousands of recipes online but I do not see the point.

Ingredients

1 tube of original breakfast sausage
1 tube of hot or spicy breakfast sausage
flour
milk
salt & pepper

Directions

Fully brown both tubes of sausage. Mix in flour a tablespoon at a time until all of the grease is soaked up and it makes a thick paste. Keep cooking and stirring to cook out the flour taste. Add milk until it gets to the amount of gravy to sausage that you like. It takes a lot more milk than you would think. Make sure that you have a full gallon of milk before you start just in case.

Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer as it thickens. Salt and pepper to taste.

There are days that I sit down at the computer and just stare at it. I get lazy from time to time and think about how nice it would be to just sit and do nothing. I never have a problem talking though. Everyone that knows me also knows that I talk nonstop. I saw ads for Dragon Naturally Speaking awhile ago and really thought about it.



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It would be the answer to the days when I just feel lazy. I could find so many uses for it. They are having some great discounts from now until New Years Eve too. It would really be worth checking out. It would be great for students that do not have the time to type reports. Think about how much it would help in meetings. You could just record them instead of trying to take fast notes and miss them. You could then make text files and save the whole meeting without worry of missing a thing. It is a tax write off too if you use it for work!

Check out the Discount Codes...

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How about trying some gold foil candies to dress up your garland. It could be a new tradition.

How about if when Santa comes with all of the presents he also decorates the garland with candy? They can wake up to presents, stockings, and candy filled garland. All you need is some cheap garland, foil wrapped candies, and a stapler. Simply staple one side of the wrapper to the garland. The kids will love having the house decorated in candy.

What is the greatest gift you have ever received? Is there a gift you got as a kid that was so great that you think of it every year? Is there a gift you received from your kids that meant a lot to you? Maybe there is a great gift that your spouse or someone you were dating gave you that really touched you?

I can not think of just one great gift. There have been many great gifts. When I was young my father and brothers made me a doll house for Christmas. Not just any doll house but a huge doll house. It was on wheels so I could pull it away from the wall when I wanted to play. It was 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. It had three levels, a front porch and balcony. I had that doll house until about 3 years ago.

I got a great gift from James this last birthday. Usually he is not that big on birthday gifts but this last year my coffee maker had just broken. He does not really drink coffee but I guzzle it. He really surprised me when he got me a two in one coffee maker and cappuccino maker. I love it!

C'Elle offers a service that could be a great gift for a family member or yourself. It could be the gift of life. New stem cell research is finding that menstrual blood has some of the same qualities as more controversial stem cells. C'elle gives women a way to collect and store these cells so they can be used in the future by themselves or family members. Do you know someone that would love a C'elle kit as a gift?

Find more great holiday crafts and recipes on our
Make Memories Blog


Egg Strata is a great holiday breakfast. When you are already busy worrying about everything else it is nice to have something that is made ahead of time that you can just throw in the oven when you wake up. It is also great if you had overnight company. You tend to stay up late and then everyone is hungry in the morning. Who want to slave in the kitchen after a long night? Not me!

Bread

You can use white or wheat depending on your taste.
You can also cut the crust off if you want.

Egg Mixture

12 eggs
4 cups milk
Seasoning - you can use anything you want... (salt, pepper, seasoned salt, mustard, Tabasco)

Fillings

Use anything your family might like in an omelette.
(Bacon, ham, sausage, cheese, onions, bell peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, spinach)



Instructions

1. Lightly butter or spray a 9 X 13 inch casserole dish.

2. Cut bread into cubes making 6 or 7 cups. Then spread the cubes evenly in the dish.

3. Spread your fillings evenly over the bread cubes.

4. Pour the egg mixture over the top.

5. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate over night or at least 4 hours. (you really should not skip this step it allows the bread to soak up the eggs)

6. Pull the dish out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you want to bake it so it can warm up some before you put it in the oven.

7. Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour. You can add more cheese to the top close to the end if you like more.

I love movie nights! A perfect evening for me would be all of us sitting around the livingroom watching movies together. We seldom have soda in the house so usually it is a treat for them on movie nights.

Many times we add to movie night by also having an appetizer night. You do not know what an appetizer night is? It is the most unhealthy of dinners so one should not have them often. It is just a special occasion type thing.

We will raid the freezer section of the grocery store and pick out tons of appetizers and make a meal out of it. Some favorites are hot wings, egg rolls, pizza rolls, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks.

Another movie night favorite at our house is the making of frozen drinks. The girls love frozen fruity drinks. Our all time favorite is a mixture of frozen mangos and frozen pineapples blended with ice and cranberry juice.

Whatever your family movie night traditions you still need a good family movie. There seems to be a turn towards family in movies these days. There are so many great family movies out these days. Movie studios have not always made so many family movies so I am glad they are seeing the value in it now.

All Roads Lead Home looks like a great family movie. I even cried while watching the preview. That is another family movie tradition for us. I cry at almost every movie and the girls look at me and say, "Mom, are you really crying over a movie?". Here is a great clip of All Roads Lead Home The Movie

So Christmas is getting closer everyday and you are trying to think of some last minute cheap gifts and decorating ideas. Wine glass charms are a cheap and easy craft. They are also a great homemade gift, just be sure to make some for yourself too. They will dress up any gathering and add a bit more sparkle. They will also keep those annoying guests from drinking out of your glass.

You always see so many beautiful wine glass charms so why not make them yourself. Then they are exactly what you want. You can make them in many styles and colors to fit who you are. So here are some instructions.


Your first option is to use ear wire beading hoops. If you choose this option you just need to buy some ear wire beading hoops and beads. Simply arrange your beads the way you want them and then use a jewelry pliers to bend up the end. The end then fits into the hole to close the wine glass charm.


Your second option is to use ring sized memory wire. If you choose this option you just follow our instructions for a memory wire bracelet but you use the smaller ring size wire and make a tiny version. The wine glass charms made this way just get wrapped around the stem of the wine glass just like the bracelets are worn.

Everything you need for both options can be found at craft stores. If you want to add charms make sure you also pick up some jump rings for them to hang from so the charms can dangle.

Schools today are not what they were when I was young. I had a hard enough time trying to stay interested. There were some teachers that kept the room alive but there were definitely some that had been doing it for far too many years. They just went through the motions but they no longer had a love of teaching.

There are still great teachers and not so great teachers today. The difference today is that there are far more distractions at school than there used to be. Kids are more worried about dating, gossip, and school violence than ever before. This all adds up to kids not learning as much at school.

Brightstorm is a website that can help out. It is not a replacement for the schooling your child already gets. It is a supplement to it. You and your child can sign up for an account and choose courses to buy. They have many courses to choose from including some SAT prep courses.

The courses are done as a way to get the kids a little extra help in the classes they are already taking. They are done by great teachers that make learning fun. The courses also help get your kids more interested in the subjects so they can stay more focused when they are in their classrooms at school too.

As today's economy is taking a huge downturn we often dream of making it filthy rich and being able to just sit back and not ever worry about money. How nice would it be to wake up late and then blow a few thousand shopping before going off to an elegant dinner party. I would love to live the life of luxury.

So with all of the problems with the economy and people losing their jobs and houses where are the "Nouveau Riche"? You know the ones. The people that made it big when the going was good and spending was king. They went from having nothing to having everything. Well they are still out there and they are doing great.

Just this morning on the news they were talking about the new trend this Christmas with the Nouveau Riche. High end stores are reporting that the rich are actually asking for plain white bags when shopping. That's right, they are still spending a bundle but they are hiding it from others now. At a time when so many are struggling they want to hide how much money they still have to throw away. I would love to have such a heavy burden to hide.

So what do the Nouveau Riche know that we don't? How do people like J.K. Rowling do it? What are we missing? How did she go from a single mother on welfare to a multi-millionaire in five years? She must not have had a laptop and a comfy couch like I have. They tend to come between me and my great ideas.

I have had the pleasure of playing on a new website for kids today. Some of you that have been loyal readers know that I love games. I tend to be a kid at heart.

I wanted to check ActionAllStars.com out before having the girls play so I made an account for Neona. Unfortunately for her I really got into the Bumper Baseball game and she did not get to play for awhile.

My girls love going on other websites like this but they all seem to be geared towards girly things. Action Allstars gets boys and sporty girls into the fun too. In a partnership with NBA.com, MLB.com, and ConnectSafetly.org they provide a fun, safe, and free community and game website.

Action Allstars also gives kids the ability to chat safely. They have full time moderators and two options of chat for parents to choose from. If you choose Safe Chat it allows atheletes to type messages but they go through a filter. The filter checks to be sure that no non-approved words, phrases, phone numbers, or other personal information are used.

You can also choose Safe Chat Plus. With this option kids can not type messages they can only pick from premade messages. If I were to change one thing I would add soccer. My girls love soccer.

The economy this Christmas season has caused people to cut back on their spending. Many families have already cut back and Christmas proves to be an added strain on budgets that were already about to unravel.

When people are hurting for money crime always goes up. Christmas is always a high crime time period as it is. We need to really be careful during this time of year. People get robbed in parking lots. Cars and homes get broken into also. All in the search for the extra cash and presents that are expected during this time of year.

As technology gets more advanced so do the criminals. Everyday you hear about people committing crimes over the internet. People hacking into websites and stealing information. Information is big money.

How many people and companies have your information? Companies you do business with or pay utilities too. Stores you buy things from. Everyday we leave a paper and internet trail behind us. How many people have access to your social security number, credit card numbers, bank and savings account numbers. All you need is for one of them to use that information and your credit and future can be destroyed.

I just recently heard a story about a young man that went to buy his first car and found he had horrible credit. He just became an adult but someone else had already used his information and got bills and credit cards in his name.

Some people will check their credit history from time to time but very few think to check their kid's credit history. Kids are especially vulnerable because it takes longer before anyone will notice the problem. Kids do not normally apply for loans or a new job so bad credit is not found right away. This gives people time to cause more problems.

So what can you do? You can check your credit history and those of your kids from time to time. This shows you if anyone is getting bills, loans, or credit cards in your name. By then they have already caused damage though. You will find out but you will still have to go through all of the problems to try to fix it. Sometimes you are not able to fix it.

A better option is to pay a company like LifeLock. I am sure you have seen the commercials. The man has a huge sign on the side of a truck that has his name and social security number on it. You would not ever want anyone to have access to both or they could destroy your life. That is why they say to never carry your card in a purse or wallet.

LifeLock has identity protection services that stop criminals from even being able to ruin your credit. Before any new credit can be issued in your name creditors will have to be called to verify that it is really you. It is that simple. For more information you can check out LifeLock reviews.

We were really busy last night. We got one of those calls... you know the type. Sometimes it is a call to tell you that someone is coming for dinner so you have to quick clean and cook a big dinner.

I guess it was not that bad so I should be happy. This time the call was James asking if the girls and I had been baking like we had planned on. We had actually not been baking. I got pretty behind schedule since I got sidetracked and redesigned this blog. Yeah I know, when I get sidetracked I really get sidetracked.

James figured that we had baked cookies like I originally planned so when he planned an early morning meeting for his store managers he promised them homemade cookies. So I baked cookies until I was ready to collapse. The girls loved making everything though.

Noelle dipped some pretzels in chocolate and the rest of us made three types of cookies. James loves when I make Shortbread and they are super easy to make. He also loves toffee chips so I decided to add some Heath Toffee Bits to my normal Shortbread recipe. They are yummy!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 bag Heath Toffee Bits (not needed if you want regular shortbread)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream butter and brown sugar. Add flour. Mix well.
3. Press dough evenly into a baking sheet.
4. Cut the dough to the size pieces you want.
5. Prick the pieces with a fork to make a nice design.
6. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until the sides start to brown.
7. While still warm carefully run a knife through the cuts again.

Do not try to remove from the pan until they are fully cooled.

We had a snow day yesterday so that meant NO SCHOOL!!!

I love snow days as much as the girls. We got in the holiday spirit and made some cookies. These cookies are great! If you do not want to go to all of the trouble of doing it all you can just make the cookie dough. Often we just make the dough and roll it into balls to bake. They taste great dipped in coffee too!

Mocha Sandwich Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup milk (any kind)
1 tbsp instant coffee or espresso
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Blend in half of the flour mixture. Dissolve the instant coffee in the milk, then add milk mixture and vanilla extract to the bowl. Blend in remaining flour mixture, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain visible.
Drop dough onto a large sheet of wax paper and shape into a log 1 1/2 to 2-inches in diameter. Roll tightly to seal. Freeze dough for at least 1-2 hours, until very firm.

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a sharp knife, slice frozen dough into rounds no more than 1/4-inch thick and place on baking sheet.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are set around the edges. Thicker cookies will need slightly more time in the oven than thinner cookies.
Cool completely on a wire rack.

Mocha Filling

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp instant coffee or espresso
1 1/2-2 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a medium bowl, combine butter, cocoa powder, milk, instant coffee and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar. Beat at medium-high speed until smooth, then add in remaining confectioners’ sugar until filling is thick and fluffy, but still easy to spread.
Spread about 2-3 tsp between each pair of cookies to fill.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies (4 1/2-5 dozen unfilled cookies)

I absolutely love thumb drives. We have quite a few of them here. I keep one in my purse at all times. It became a habit when I was working and needed to work on and access files from different locations. It also has my resume on it and you never know when you may want your resume. James has one in the laptop case since he goes between stores, his office, the laptop, and the home computers. Noelle has to have one for school since she works on reports at school and home. We also have some laying around at home that are just used when someone needs to print something. We seldom have enough ink in all of the printers and I do not like the security risks involved with printer sharing. We just use thumb drives to take our files to whatever printer has ink at that given moment.

Thumb drives have many purposes and everyone uses theirs for their own reasons. Thumb drives are becoming just another thing that we can not live without. We personalize everything else in our lives so why not our thumb drives?

This Christmas Pexagon is offering 20% off 4 awesome personalized holiday gifts! Personalized Thumb Drives, Personalized Pens, Business Card Flash Drives, and Wooden USB Flash Drives. They all come in a choice of colors and free engraving. The Personal Thumb Drives start at $7.99. What a great deal!

I swear I just had to do top droppers for October! This year really is flying by. I am a bit late but I have been busy so I apologize.

Thank you to my November Top Droppers...

• ThinkingOutLoudBlog.com
• Computer Aid
• The Ad Master
• Dungeons and Dragons Corner
• HRM Business Practices and Notes
• Everyday Living
• EzGreatLife
• Avoid Money Scams
• MJG's Rambling Thoughts
• BRYAN KARL | Everything Online
• Symphony of Love
• Marriage and Beyond
• Darnuth Keep
• Technically Easy
• My note's
• Picture to People
• Mommieshome.net
• Lainy's Musings
• WORLDWIDE TRAVEL BLOG
• Turnip of Power | Social Networking
• verITableLIFE
• atenean101 @ Blogspot
• More Than Sew So
• Chica & Pumuckl - 2 Egyptian Cats in Germany
• cheapdanny