Christmas
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Make a BIG Christmas Advent Calendar
Make a big advent calendar in an afternoon using a 24-pocket hanging shoe organizer and a few easy-to-gather craft items. This is sure to become a favorite family tradition!
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A Simple Advent Celebration
I know what you’re thinking … We haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet! But this is time-sensitive information. If you’ve ever considered holding an advent with your family (or even if you haven’t), here’s a handout I wrote for the ladies of our women’s ministry. I can’t even begin to tell you how restful this is during a ridiculously busy month. It helps you pause and contemplate the One we’re celebrating. I wrote about our first Advent in this post Many good books exist on the hows and whys of a formal Advent celebration. We found that approach too complicated for our family. If you’ve ever considered having an advent celebration during…
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Little House in the Snowy Woods
Every handful of minutes, the wind visits the alders and maples and evergreens surrounding our house and sends a shower of white billowing about. Inside this globe, I sit in front of the woodstove and watch the orange glow on the other side of the tempered glass. The sounds of David Lanz's Christmas CD fills the house. To my left, our 15-foot Christmas tree towers. If I had my druthers, the massive fir would be draped head to toe in white lights; for the pleasure of my children, I opted for the green, red, blue and yellow variety.
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Hallelujah
I’ve always loved Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, but now there’s a Christmas version too. I think I like it even better. 🙂 http://youtu.be/MTMuWs45lL4
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Those Licorice Caramels
I’m about to divulge my secret recipe … the one that has men fighting over the gallon-sized baggie holding these little treasures, and women hinting that they could eat another, and children sneaking their hands up over the counter and grabbing another gooey handful. Yes. It’s my licorice caramel recipe. I’ve had it forever. I started making it about three minutes after I found it. For the life of me, I can’t remember where I got it, and I’m sorry for that. I would love to give credit where credit is due, but I just don’t know where I got the recipe. Now, people have asked me for this recipe,…
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Pecan Tassies
A long time ago -- long before I'd begun acquiring my people -- I acquired this fancy little gadget, which my friend ordered from a man in Philadelphia who was handy at carving fancy little gadgets. I think she ordered one for me so I would stop badgering her into baking me batches and batches of my at-the-time most favorite dessert: Pecan Tassies. Lois looked relieved when she shoved her gift across the table toward me. "And here's the recipe," she added. Despite the period at the end of her sentence, I couldn't help but hear the unspoken, "Now, quit bugging me." We're still friends. But I've had to make…
