Lithuania

Today, I received my first postcard from Lithuania.

This postcard shows the Orthodox Church of St. Michael...located in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was built in 1913 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty.

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city with a population of 537,152 as of 2013.

sources:
   Visit Lithuania
   Wikipedia

Football Food

My husband watched the Super Bowl on television yesterday.  I watched part of it....

I fixed finger food to eat while we sat in the family room and watched...and I prepared this muffin tin meal for T.

• baby carrots in a football cupcake liner
• Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (for dipping the carrots)
• Baked Honey Chicken
• sauce (for dipping the chicken)
• Utz Football Shaped Pretzels in a football cupcake liner
• Little Debbie Football Shaped Brownie

The Baked Honey Chicken recipe is from Daisy at Home.  Actually, it's a food suggestion for the Family Dinner Book Club selection for January, Winnie-the-Pooh. That's a great recipe.  Delicious!  :)  I'd never used panko bread crumbs before.  It gave the chicken a delightful crunch.

Linked to:

   What's for Lunch Wednesday

Family Dinner Book Club

Jodie at Growing Book by Book has started a Family Dinner Book Club.  It debuted on January 1, 2014.

Each month this year, these three women:
     Jodie at Growing Book by Book,
     Jill at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, and
     Sarah at Daisy at Home
will share a book to read, conversation starters, dinner menu ideas, and arts and crafts ideas.

On the 1st of each month, the title of the featured book is revealed.  On the 15th of each month, all of the details for the special dinner celebration is shared.

The selection for January is Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne.

Winnie-the-Pooh
A. A. Milne

You can view Jodie's conversation starters for the family dinner celebration here.
You can view Jill's arts and crafts ideas for decorating the dinner table here.
You can view Sarah's menu ideas to complement the book here.

I purchased this classic children's book last weekend, and we will be reading about this lovable bear all week.  :)

Winter Lunch

This was T's lunch today.

• snowman-shaped sandwich on hearty white bread with snowflake sprinkles for buttons
• Whole Grain Popcorn for snow
• applesauce with jumbo snowflake sprinkles in white silicone liner
• Pepperidge Farm Snowball citrus cookie
• snowflake-shaped Swiss cheese slices
• Ritz Snowflake crackers

   ...and a spoon with a snowman and snowflakes design!

Linked to:
   Bento Blog Network
   I Heart Lunch

Snowy Lunch

This was my lunch today.

• grilled cheese sandwich on honey wheat bread with the snowman cut-out from yesterday's sandwich on hearty white bread
• Pepperidge Farm Snowball citrus cookies

In case you're wondering...no, I don't eat a grilled cheese sandwich every day!  haha.

Snowman Lunch

This was my lunch today.

• grilled cheese sandwich with a snowman cut-out...made with sharp cheddar cheese and a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese (to make the snowman white!)
• homemade potato soup...in a little bowl with a snowman design

Mmmm...comfort food for a chilly and rainy January day.  :)

Linked to:
   Bento Blog Network

Penguins

I made this penguins meal for T's lunch for tomorrow.

It contains:

• penguin-shaped sandwiches with sprinkles for eyes
• Whole Grain Popcorn for snow
• Penguins Baked Snack Crackers
• "PENGUINS" Scrabble Junior Cheez-It Crackers
• penguin cookie

The penguin cookie is an Oreo.  I opened it and re-shaped the icing.  Then, I added sprinkles for the eyes, beak, and feet.  I found my inspiration at Party Pinching.

And to drink?  Melted Icebergs, of course!

I found this cute water bottle printable at Great Fun 4 Kids.

Linked to:
   Bento Blog Network
   What's for Lunch Wednesday

New Year's Eve

We celebrated New Year's Eve at home.

I made several appetizers for supper:

     ::  Cranberry-Glazed Meatballs
     ::  Party Ham Delights
     ::  Italian Pinwheels
     ::  Sour Cream and Cheese Twice-Baked Potato Bites
     ::  Sweet and Spicy Ham and Cheese Spread (served with crackers)
     ::  Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (purchased)

which we ate in front of the television while watching the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid.

Quiet.  Fun.  :)

Snoopy Tree

We put up a second Christmas tree today...this Snoopy-themed tree.

It's in our kitchen, on an antique red and white ceramic-topped table (that belonged to my Dad's mother) next to our kitchen table.

It's pleasant to see a Christmas tree while eating our meals each day...and the Snoopy ornaments even match our red and white apple-themed kitchen!
;-)

Christmas Tree Decorations

Apparently, T decided this afternoon that our Christmas tree needed a few additional decorations!  I walked into the family room and discovered he had put three of his DVDs on the tree.  :D

Santa Claus

We went to the mall this afternoon so T could sit on Santa's lap!

T told Santa that he would like to receive a [Yo Gabba Gabba] Boom Box for Christmas.  :)

Christmas Program

In December every year, our chapel has a Sunday School Christmas Program.  The children wear costumes and learn songs and their speaking parts for the performance.

This morning, the children put on their costumes and photos were taken for a slide show which will go along with the performance.

     As the wise men continued on their long journey to find the king, they came to Jerusalem, where they stopped to ask King Herod where they could find the young king.  Herod called together his chief priests and teachers of the law and asked them where Christ was to be born.

     "In Bethlehem of Judea," they told him.  Explaining the ancient prophecy, the priests reminded Herod that long ago it was written:

     But you Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are by no means least among the rulers of Judea; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.

           ~from The Christmas Story by Carol Heyer

The Christmas Program will be held on a Sunday evening later this month.  I'm sure I will have additional photos to share afterward!  :)