Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Bingo

My extended family did something new this Christmas...which I hope will become a tradition, because it was So Much FUN!!  After supper on Christmas Day, we played Bingo...complete with spinning cage and numbered balls!


My Mom had purchased and wrapped small gifts.  The bags were labeled boy, girl, boy or girl, man, woman, and any.  Whoever won the game was allowed to choose a prize from the basket.

The basket of prizes

We did make up some rules as we went.  For example, after a player won three games, he or she had to sit out for a game.  At one point, everyone had won at least one game...except my Dad.  (I think my niece had won three games by then.  We decided that she should go purchase a lottery ticket.)  Anyway, we let my Dad play three cards so that he would have a better chance (hopefully!) of winning a game.  He eventually did.  He won the next game after my Mom forfeited her prize to him.  :)

My Dad being silly, because he managed to
pick both prizes that were packages of Snickers

We really did have tons of fun.  We laughed and joked and played for more than two hours...until the prize basket was empty!  :P

All of us with our loot
From L to R:  my Mom, my husband, my younger sister, me, my older sister,
my niece (older sister's daughter), my niece (younger sister's daughter)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Night Before Christmas

"'Twas the night before Christmas....
The [child was] nestled all snug in [his bed]...."

~Well...almost!  :)

"'Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night.'"

Friday, December 23, 2011

Santa Claus

This afternoon, I took T to see Santa Claus at the mall.  T was very excited at the prospect of sitting on Santa's lap.  However, when the time came, he seemed a bit reserved.


All done!

Possibly, the part he enjoyed the most was receiving a gingerbread man cookie from Santa afterward.  :)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Christmas Crunch

Wow...has the Christmas crunch ever set in!  (And I'm not referring to a candy bar, either.)  ~Lots going on...and lots to post about, but no time!

For one thing, I've been doing tons of baking.  I love to bake.  So far, I've made:
  • Chocolate Chip Shortbread
  • Gingersnap Cookies
  • Snowball Cookies
  • Cherry Rum Balls
  • Cookies 'n Cream Mini Cheesecakes
  • Walnut Fudge
  • Eggnog Pound Cake
  • Chex Party Mix
  • Muddy Buddies
  • Sugar and Spice Snack

I've also made:
  • Cranberry Chutney
  • Green Tea-Honey Nut Granola

Only three more days until Christmas!  Yikes!!  I'd better go get busy....

Monday, December 12, 2011

Chapel Christmas Dinner

As usual, we attended our chapel's annual Christmas Dinner.  The tables were decorated like presents.  ~So cute and creative!


We signed up to bring a salad and a vegetable.  We took deviled eggs and pecan-cornbread dressing.  There was so -- much -- food.  Yum!!

After the meal, there was a program of sorts...complete with games.

We were instructed to use items on hand
to wrap a mystery gift.

We had a good time.


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Treasure

Last night was our chapel's Christmas Dinner.  It was lovely, and the program afterward was excellent.  I will write more about it in another post.  However, in the meantime...

I have to tell you something.  At one point during supper, the girlfriend sitting next to me came back to the table, cradling something wrapped in a napkin.  She said that she'd found a "treasure."  As she carefully unwrapped it, all of us sitting around her leaned in to see what it was.  It was smallish and brownish and looked to me a little like a fawn figurine.  Then she popped it into her mouth.  It was the turkey liver!  Ugh!!  Double UGH!!  :P

Saturday, December 10, 2011

DSFA Christmas Party

This afternoon, we attended the Down Syndrome Family Alliance (DSFA) Christmas party.  For the last several years, it has been held at a local church and sponsored by their youth group.

They provided T with a Christmas stocking...to hold the crafts he made and the prizes he won playing the games.

They had a room set up for coloring.  T's Papa traced his hand...


and T colored it....


Another activity was putting the nose on the reindeer.

It's Rudolph!

I can't remember the name of this game, but T played it several times.

Plink!

Another game was miniature golf.

A hole-in-one!

"I can do it by myself...."

"I'll get it in there one way or another!"

One craft T made was a Santa hat.  (He also made a Christmas tree out of construction paper and tissue paper ~~ not shown.)



After all of this fun, we were served a delicious meal for lunch.


tossed salad with choice of dressing
chicken parmesan with tri-color pasta
dinner roll
red velvet cupcake

Next, it was time to wait in line to sit on Santa's lap.


"My turn!"

The star of the show:  Santa Claus!


Each and every child received a present from Santa.


Each year, the youth group is so kind to the children...and really goes all-out for this event.  We are so grateful for and appreciative of these fine fellows and young ladies.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Happy Birthday, Jesus!


I explained to T that the first Christmas was when Jesus was born.  We sang happy birthday to Jesus, and T knew just when to blow out the candle!


Then he ate his Christmas manger scene meal for supper tonight.


manger - sandwich with bread crust for the legs
baby Jesus - small circle-shaped sandwich with a fruit roll-up halo (which is difficult to see because it kept sagging in the middle)
hay in and below the manger - potato sticks


sheep and camels - animal-shaped cookies
stars and moon - Space Adventures Goldfish Crackers
Christmas star - marshmallow decorated with silver glitter gel


T liked this meal so much that he stopped eating, got up, came over to me and said, "Thank you, Mama."  Then he gave me a hug and a kiss...and went back to eating!  :)

Check out some other birthday meals at:
   Bento Blog Network


Check out some muffin tin meals at:
   Muffin Tin Monday


Also linked to:
   Food Adventure Friday
   What's for Lunch Wednesday

Monday, December 5, 2011

Christmas Tree Meal

I prepared a Christmas tree-themed lunch today for T.


cut pine trees - pretzel sticks
decorated Christmas tree - tree-shaped sandwich with jumbo sprinkles for ornaments


ornaments - frosted cookies with sprinkles, including candy cane sprinkles for hooks
Christmas trees - green tree-shaped marshmallows
presents - crackers with pineapple cream cheese spread and jumbo sprinkles for bows

Needless to say, this lunch was very well received!


Check out some other muffin tin meals....

MuffinTinMom.com

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Christmas Parade

This afternoon, we went downtown to watch the Christmas parade.

Here we are...45 minutes early...waiting, waiting...waiting....You almost can see my husband in the background.  He's sitting over there in the driver's seat, reading the Sunday paper.  :P


Finally...action!!


It was a long parade...lasting almost two hours!  However, that two hours included some rather hefty gaps in the action!  lol.








It started getting colder outside...so T bundled up....


We had to stay to the end, of course, to see Santa...with his reindeer leading the way!  As you can see, it was getting dusky!


It was a nice parade, and a fun Christmas activity to do together as a family.