Monday, December 31, 2012

Mindless Monday, New Year's Eve Kits, The Dating Divas' New Year's Eve Countdown Box, Quotable Quotes, Blog Linkage

Good Monday morning!

And Happy New Year's Eve!

RANDOMNESS #1 - I made a Top Ten List for you this morning. I call it "Top Ten Things I've Observed While Watching Chicks Play Basketball."


1. You must be able to run one direction while watching for the ball coming from a totally different direction.

I, personally, have to look in the direction I am running... I mean walking.


2. If you have to take a basketball ball from an opposing team member, it is always better to take the ball as a group.

I could SO do the group thing.


3. You must have Ninja-like reflexes.

I do NOT have Ninja-like reflexes. A move like this one would put me in a neck brace for weeks.


4. Even if you don't feel it at the time, ALWAYS have a "look of intimidation and anger" on your face.

I would ALWAYS have a look of "being" intimidated on my face. I might even cry.


5. Always FOCUS on the basketball.

This chick's enormous ponytail would have distracted me to the point I would not have tried to take the ball. I admit it. I have the attention span of a gnat.


6. No matter how funny you think you are, NEVER yell "TOUCHDOWN AUBURN" when your chick is standing like this on the basketball court.

Just take my word for it.


7. Nothing but net. I love the sound of a swishing three-point shot.

Well, I love it when a chick on OUR team does it. The other team... not so much.


8. When you're sitting on the bench, never let them see you sweat.

I'm afraid Roxie gets this from me. I'm not one to hide my emotions.


9. No matter how well you know the player frantically waving under the goal, NEVER assume she is waving at you, The Enchanting Belinda, in the stands.

You'll be very disappointed.


10. Is it just me, or does the phrase, "Come to Mama" pop in your mind when you see someone standing like this?

You do not have to answer.

RANDOMNESS #2 - In other totally unrelated to basketball news, Josh killed his first deer Saturday morning.

And his Uncle... or his Dad... or his brother... or his cousin rubbed blood all over his face. I am totally undecided about posting the picture, so right now you'll have to imagine.

I think it would push my blog rating over to PG-13, and I don't think I'm ready for that... yet.

He was very excited, and we'll soon be putting venison in our freezer.

RANDOMNESS #3 - You may have noticed I didn't post any New Year's Resolutions for 2013. I'm going to try VERY HARD to "live daily" in 2013. I don't expect to succeed. I think NOT looking ahead for me, a planner, makes living day-by-day much more difficult, but that's my goal (not resolution) for the year 2013.

For example, this is my list for today, December 31, 2012...

1. Fix a delicious New Year's Eve dinner for my family and friends.

2. Work on my "Clean the House To-Do List."

3. Love on the people I come in contact with today.

4. When my head hits the pillow tonight, I would like to have no regrets regarding how I conducted myself December 31, 2012.

Quotable Quotes - I decided to post some quotes made by the late General Normal Schwarzkopf, Jr.

“The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.”

“True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow. That’s what courage is.”

“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

Blog Linkage - If it isn't too much trouble, click on Big Mama under My Blog List and check out her very funny, very real take on New Year's Resolutions.

New Year's Eve Kits

You didn't think I would leave today's post without a Pinterest idea, did you?

"This year we made New Years Eve Kits. Most of our friends have small children and won't be out partying. We know most of them will be home watching movies and playing games and trying to make the night feel festive (while still tucking their kids in by 10:00).

"We bought a few 4-packs of sparkling apple cider, then hit the local party store for noisemakers, balloons, blowers, poppers and some sparkly confetti. We packed everything up in a clear party bag and delivered it with a bottle of the sparkling apple cider."

NOTE - Don't you think it would be fun to use the "Ding-Dong-Ditch" delivery approach with these kits.

Yeah. Me, too!

New Year's Eve Countdown Box

The Dating Divas had to be honored in my last post of 2012. They first posted this idea in 2010.

What better way to ring in the new year than with an hour-by-hour COUNTDOWN BOX?

The idea behind this box is simple... Each hour starting at 8:00 p.m. the kids get to open one bag!

Inside each bag you will find a different activity for them to celebrate New Year’s Eve!

Here are some examples, but you can make it your own, too.

8:00 p.m. - A 2013 Time Capsule Letter! Have your kids write a letter to their future selves! Make sure they write about their favorite color, book, food, movie, etc. The capsule letter can also have a spot your kids can write what they hope the next year will bring.

Plan on packing the letters in your Christmas decoration box. Next New Year’s Eve will be a blast reading the letters they wrote. It will be fun to see if things have changed or stayed the same.

9:00 p.m. - Festive Shakers. Make simple shakers. Find any ribbon spools in your house that are almost out of ribbon. Inside, place something that will make noise when it is shaken. (I used Skittles from Halloween.)

You then cover each side of the ribbon spool with scrapbook paper.

You now have your own shakers to ring in 2013.

10:00 p.m. - Goal Setting 2013. One of my favorite things to do to ring in the New Year is to set resolutions. In this activity, your family will get to set four new goals together. These resolutions can be anything from eating dinner together to doing a service activity together. Once you’re done with the list, place it somewhere in your home that is visible for all family members to see... and remember.

11:00 p.m. - 2013 Lucky Penny. I know I can use all the luck I can get... so start the year off right with a lucky penny. After each family member has their new lucky penny, have each family member share two things they love about each family member.

MIDNIGHT - Glow Sticks. What is a party without glow sticks? Ring in the new year sporting these fun, inexpensive sticks that will add excitement to the end of the night. The more glow sticks, the better.

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve! I'll be back Friday morning with some Cold Weather Fun, pictures and maybe a recipe or two.

Take care, and I'll talk to you Friday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

Friday, December 28, 2012

Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

I think.

It feels like a Saturday morning, but Mikie assured me it was only Friday. Every day from Christmas Day until school starts back feels like a Saturday to me.

Except for Sunday which has a very different feel than Saturday.

Sunday is two days away.

I think.

RANDOMNESS #1 - I want to explain the BIG picture on top of the blog... but I cannot. Mike, Roxie and I were driving home from a Basketball Tournament Thursday afternoon (I think it was Thursday), and this fellow was sitting in the back of a pick-up truck going 65 miles per hour, ears flapping in the breeze.

I think I love him.

If he were mine, I would call him Oscar.

RANDOMNESS #2 - As I told you before, we celebrated Christmas Eve a bit differently this year.

We had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner and the rest of Mike's family in honor of their 60th Anniversary.


Aren't they a good looking couple?


Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner have two kiddos... Mike and Becky.


Mike and I have three kids. We named this one Roxie.


Becky and Guy have two kids. This is Jared (their son) and his pretty, pretty wife, Amber.


And I'll add just one more picture of Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner with our family. (We named the other two Austin and Josh.)

It was a very nice evening, and we were proud to be a part of it.

RANDOMNESS #3 - When we arrived home from the Anniversary Party, I sent Austin (the Elf) and Roxie (the Driver) out of the house to make another "delivery."

Once again, Austin was disturbingly eager to oblige. (I had to pay Roxie $5.)


I think I'm going to retire the Elf Hat. Someone likes it a little too much.

RANDOMNESS #4 - Christmas morning finally arrived, and while there were no remote control cars or bikes or action figures... or dolls or other pink toys, my guys appeared to be very pleased with their "loot."


I know what you're thinking. It looks like it was made just for her, doesn't it?

After opening our gifts, eating breakfast and making an attempt to pick up, we loaded up the car and headed to my Mom's house for Christmas lunch with my side of the family.


Mom's tree is always so pretty...


And people tend to look even prettier when I use it as the background for a picture or two.


Roxie and Katie.


Doesn't Bev look golden?

I'll let you in on a little secret. Mom and I were in this picture, too, but the tree didn't make us look golden or prettier like it did Bev. I'm not sure what happened, but I decided to cut us out.

After we ate and opened our "real" gifts, we brought out our Dollar Stockings.

I've talked about this for the past two years.

My friend, Robin, told me about her family's tradition and I borrowed it.

Everyone in the family has a stocking with their name on it kept at a central location. (In our family, we keep the stockings at Mom's.)

Between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, everyone in the family has to purchase a $1 gift for each member. There are 12 people on my side of the family, so each person has to buy 11 $1 gifts.

While the guys fuss about buying $1 gifts more than anyone else in the group, they have consistently come up with the most creative and fitting stocking stuffers.


Since Josh is taking Criminal Justice courses at Wallace State, Austin bought him a $1 Criminal Processing Kit. I have no idea what it is (or why it only costs a dollar), but you get the general idea.

With dollar gifts, it is definitely the "thought" that counts.


Since all of us are hooked on Duck Dynasty, Austin bought Roxie a duck call. A much cheaper version than they use on that show. (Austin really outdid himself this year.)

When we finished going through our Dollar Stockings (one at a time... we like to savor), it was time to play Catch Phrase and visit for a while.

All in all, even though this particular Christmas Season has had some challenges for me to overcome, we did have a very nice Christmas Day.

RANDOMNESS #5 - Because of massive scheduling conflicts (Josh had to work from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Roxie had basketball practice from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.), our Day After Christmas Movie plans had to be tweaked.

We decided to find the earliest showing of The Hobbit within a 45-mile radius. It turned out The Summit offered a showing at 11:00 a.m.

Okay.

That meant we could see the movie, but because of the length, we would have to HURRY home for Josh and Roxie to make it to work and practice on time. (That meant "no lunch.")

That was unacceptable, so we decided to eat breakfast at 9:00 a.m.

And we also decided that Waffle House would need to be our restaurant of choice this year because we could get in and out without much of a wait.

And we were right!



Taylor and Melia joined us on our outing this year. They were very agreeable to the tweaking which is always a plus.


I LOVE photo ops...


And the movie theaters have these huge 3-D murals all over the place now.

They make me happy.

The kids... not so much.


Taylor and Roxie are hat twins.

After it is all said and done, I think one of the "things" that can be carved on my tombstone will be "She became an expert tweaker."

RANDOMNESS #6 - My official 2012 Christmas Card Total stands at 52!

No. I did not reach this year's goal... but I received 52 really pretty cards in the mail, and that was one of the little things that made me happy this holiday season, too.

Weekend Happenings

This weekend will be filled with fun stuff.

Roxie is going to finish up a basketball tournament on Saturday. She also has some Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket, so I see some shopping in her near future. (I hope she takes me.)

Josh, Austin and Mike are going deer hunting tomorrow afternoon, and I hope they are successful in their attempts to fill our freezer.

I'm going to start some of the un-decorating process over the weekend, with all of the "big" stuff coming down Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

And I think that's pretty much all I have on the agenda.

I hear people say, "It will be good to get back to normal," but I'm afraid with a house of teenagers/young adult people, I no longer know what the heck that means.

I hope you and yours have a great weekend. I'll be back Monday morning with a New Year's Eve update, basketball pictures galore and maybe a quote, a recipe, a link, a tradition, a party... SOMETHING useful my peeps can use in 2013.

Take care, and I'll talk to you Monday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

Monday, December 24, 2012

Good Monday morning...

And Merry Christmas Eve!

I had a dream last night. In that dream, I awoke without the aid of an alarm clock Christmas Eve morning and my house was totally clean. Wrapped gifts were under the tree and the smell of fresh wassail was drifting throughout the house.

It was a dream, and I'm pretty sure it will continue to be a dream unless I start doing a better job prior to CHRISTMAS EVE in the years to come!

In reality, I am (for the most part) finished with the Christmas shopping. I've done a lot of wrapping. I'm going to get everyone over 5'8" to help get the house where it needs to be today. (Yes. Roxie is now 5'8". I measured her in her sleep last night... because I had nothing better to do!)

To be totally honest, I've never made wassail, so if I woke up smelling it in the kitchen, that would mean someone had broken in and miraculously found ingredients to put some wassail on the stove.

Which would be a little creepy, but nice and thoughtful at the same time.

All in all, I'm in pretty good shape.

RANDOMNESS #1 - Our Christmas Eve tradition of going to the Candle and Carol service at our church and eating Chinese Chicken after the service has changed this year.

And as much as change usually bothers me, this is a very, very special occasion.

Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner are celebrating their 60th Anniversary this evening with all of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in attendance.

I'm proud my kids get to see this celebration. They were present at the 50th Anniversary, too, but they'll definitely remember tonight.

I'm 51 years-old and I've never celebrated a 60th Anniversary Celebration with anyone in my family... so you might say it's a once-in-a-lifetime event for some people.

And I can't think of a better gift for Mike's Mom and Dad to give my kids than the living, breathing example of a long-lasting Christian marriage.

RANDOMNESS #2 - We had our Christmas celebration with Mike's family this past Saturday.

Matthew and Lauren were in fine form, and after eating, opening gifts and playing a game or two, some of us settled down for a long winter's nap... and some of us just went back in the kitchen to graze some more.


This is Grandma's tree.


This is Austin sitting on the hearth... waiting to open presents. (Some things never change.)


This is Roxie sitting in Grandma's green chair and matching it perfectly.


This is Josh bonding with Lauren. She loves to be lifted high in the air, and Josh has the arms for it!


Matthew is our Santa Clause. He really gets into it. This year, we added a new tradition. Santa has to pass out presents wearing the AUBURN/WAR EAGLE Santa Hat. It's a good thing.


Roxie had a "jewelry" kind of day which was great. She likes big earrings and Aunt Becky provided some very pretty pairs. (I'm just hoping she'll let me borrow them sooner than later.)


Roxie and Grandpa were inseparable during the gift exchange... which is another good thing.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Roxie and I are heading out for our annual Christmas Eve mani/pedi in just a little while. I am counting the minutes until I am sitting in the massage chair.

I really should have asked for one of those for a Christmas gift, but I fear/know I would NEVER, EVER get out of it.

RANDOMNESS #4 - The Boy came through for me last night. I wanted an Eggnog Pound Cake delivered to a friend in a fun way, so I asked Josh and Austin to do a little Christmas "Ding, Dong, Ditch."

Austin really got into the spirit and actually wore the Elf hat. Josh agreed to change out of his pajama pants and put on jeans... and drive the get-away truck.

I guess at 21 and 19, that's all a Mom can hope for!

It was a successful delivery, by the way!


Actually, it is probably good no one saw Austin delivering the pound cake. He's a little scary lookin', isn't he?

I think his name shall be "Slightly Deranged Elf!"

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas Eve. (I may see some of you in my travels today.) For your sake, I hope not. I hope you're living my dream!

Take care, and I'll talk to you bright and early Friday morning!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and Incredibly Merry Belinda

Friday, December 21, 2012

Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

Wednesday night, I sat behind a very nice mom of three young men. After the service, I asked her how her Christmas prep was going, and she said, "Not very well. I'm not even in panic mode... and I'm not even close to being finished."

"I know. I know," I agreed. "I'm acting like it's November 19 instead of December 19."

And that's exactly how it has been... until this morning... when I woke up with beads of sweat across my brow... because it's "go time," People.

And we all know what that means on A Simple Life, don't we?

Short basketball post!

RANDOMNESS #1 - We've played a lot of basketball this week... two games! And we've won a lot of basketball this week... two games!


I love this play. Roxie acts like she's just strolling along in the middle of the basketball court, and the girl who is after the ball (and Mallory) doesn't see her until too late and runs right into her.

That's what is supposed to happen.

This chick happened to look up, see Roxie and swerve before Roxie stopped her in her tracks.


I'm always impressed with "the lean." If and when I run (which these days is rare), I am standing straight and running straight. I never lean when I run because if I lean, I will fall.

Taylor doesn't have that problem.


I'm not sure, but I think the Coach is complimenting Taylor on her running/leaning ability.


See. "The lean" is in every move they make... which is the primary reason I do not play basketball.

Which is not true. There are at least 99 other "primary" reasons before "running with a lean."


This girl just THINKS she's going to dribble the ball past The Chick. She is sadly/badly mistaken.


This is something else I would be unable to do. I could not listen to the Coach after running up and down the basketball court for eight minutes straight. I could PRETEND to listen, but I would actually be sucking in as much oxygen as possible before she made me run again.

In Caroline and Taylor's defense, I'm sure they are both listening AND breathing. (It's a young people skill.)


Yet another young lady who thinks she is going to take a ball away from a Lady Rocket.

My heart goes out to her.


And there's The Chick, taking a much-deserved rest on the bench.

We're 9-1 this season. That means we've won NINE and only lost ONE!

That's really, really good in Basketball World.

RANDOMNESS #2 - I've decided to post a few more random Christmas decorations around the house. (I didn't want you to think we've pulled the Redneck Nutcracker decor INSIDE... because we have not!)


My Angel Tree and my red poinsettia. This is one of my constants every year. My peaceful room.


The Christmas Puzzle isn't getting done quickly, but I think we'll have a little more free time after today... or during the month of January.


When you tell people your daughter has a little black tree in her bedroom, I don't think they realize how pretty a little black tree can be.

RANDOMNESS #3 - And for those wondering, we've received 39 Christmas Cards... and I have one more handful to mail out!

Weekend Happenings

I'm preparing a short and succinct list for you today. (Plus, I like using the word "succinct" whenever possible.)

Friday

1. Christmas Lunch with some of my peeps at Olexa's!

2. Christmas shopping for me, Mike, Austin, Josh and Roxie.

3. Work for Josh.

4. Relaxation for Austin.

Saturday

1. Christmas with Mike's family (and MATTHEW and LAUREN).

2. Major wrapping frenzy around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night.

Sunday

1. Church Sunday morning.

2. Wrapping, visiting and spreading Christmas cheer Sunday afternoon... or maybe a nap... or maybe more shopping and wrapping. (It totally depends on Friday!)

Have a festive and safe holiday weekend. I'll be back Monday, CHRISTMAS EVE, with one more post before THE BIG DAY!

Take care, and I'll talk to you Monday!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and No-Longer-in-Denial-About-Christmas-Coming-in-FOUR-Days Belinda

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Mindless Monday (on Tuesday), Blog Linkage, Crock Pot Hot Chocolate

Good Tuesday morning!

I hope this post finds you doing well... Christmas shopping done... gifts wrapped... Christmas cards in the mail... (one addressed to me).

I'm still in the prep stages of Christmas. While I know what I need and where I need to go to get it, I continue to act as if it is still November, and I have plenty of time.

Someone needs to come over here and give me a good shake.

Or at least pick up my list and run my errands for me.

You choose.

RANDOMNESS #1 - The Christmas Card count stands at 21. It's going to be low this year, but as I said before, I understand. I'm sending out another big chunk of Christmas Cards today, and hopefully, by tomorrow, I'll finish that task completely.

RANDOMNESS #2 - Yesterday, on one of my three trips to the grocery store, I noticed a woman with only three items in her hands. Being full of the Christmas spirit (or guilt... I can never tell which one it is), I let her cut in front of me.

"Thank you so much. I have to get home and make spaghetti tacos for my daughter's birthday."

Okay. It's confession time.

I love the iCarly television show. You know. The kid show. The one that just went off the air after seven seasons.

And I have the final episode recorded... and I have watched it three times while I iron... and I'll probably watch it three more times before I erase the recording.

Yes. I am a 51 year-old adult woman who watches iCarly... without kids in the room.

So I knew the only place I had ever heard of spaghetti tacos was from the iCarly show. (Spencer, Carly's older brother, makes spaghetti tacos all the time on the show.)

"Is your daughter a pre-teen?" I asked.

"Well, she's 14 today," she responded.

That would be about right. She started watching iCarly when she was seven years old... like "normal" people.

If you do the math, I started watching iCarly when I was 44. (Not normal.)

"Does she like iCarly?" I asked.

"Yes. That's where all this comes from. Every year, she wants spaghetti tacos for her birthday meal."

"Are they good?"

The woman scrunched her nose and said what I had always thought would be the answer to that question. "I can't get used to them... but she likes them, and it's her birthday, so... ."

I haven't tried spaghetti tacos yet, but who knows. Maybe in honor of iCarly going off the air, I'll serve them to The Faulkner Five, and we can all sit down and watch the final episode together... again.

RANDOMNESS #3 - I hosted our 14th Christmas Tea at the Three-Earred Rabbit in Trussville this weekend. Everyone was in attendance (except for the three chicks who now live out of state).

I think (hope) a good time was had by all!


The full-of-whimsy Three-Earred Rabbit!


The Christmas Tea Chicks! Me, LeAnna, Tonya, Debbie, Carrie (back row), Dawn and Dee (front row).


And this kind of says it all, doesn't it?

RANDOMNESS #4 - We had our annual family celebration at Palisades Saturday night. It is "steeped in tradition," I tell you! Steeped.

First, we gather at a large cabin in Palisades Park in Oneonta.




Nothing says, "Merry Christmas" like a mounted deer head wearing a big red Christmas bow.


Roxie and Mikie.


Handsome Uncle Charles (MamMa's little brother) and MamMa.


Roxie and Monica.


Stephanie and Brad.


Austin, Me and Brad.


Me and Katie. Teenagers LOVE it when you throw your arms around them and kiss them in public. (Don't try this at home! The only thing that saved me was the fact there were witnesses present.)


Just Katie. She felt it necessary to knock me off the hearth soon after the impetuous aunt/teenager cheek smooch.


The Lovely Melia and Austin.

There were 23 in attendance this year. Bev and Zac had to stay home and take care of the flu bug... and Steve (Amy's hub) was out-of-town. They were all missed.

Second, we partake of the bounty. We traditionally serve chili, soups, sandwiches and desserts.

It's good, good stuff.

Third, we open gifts. Most of the gifts are given among the cousins, but MamMa gave all the female members of the family beautiful crocheted kitchen cloths this year.


At 91 years of age, MamMa made over 30 of these as gifts this season. She is, in a word, amazing.

Fourth, we always have some sort of Christmas competition or game. The last two years, we have played Minute-To-Win-It games, and they've been a big hit with the cousins.


Does anything scream Christmas more than throwing cheese curls at your teammate while they are wearing a shower cap covered in shaving cream.


I didn't think so.


What about wearing pantyhose on top of your head (with a softball hanging in the toe of said pantyhose), and trying to knock down all the bottles before your opponent?


Brad and Josh couldn't wait to play this game... which concerned me a little.


And then there is this age-old favorite... Put Santa's favorite cookie on your forehead and try to get it into your mouth without dropping it. People have been playing this game for YEARS!

Oh. And Santa's favorite cookie is the Oreo... in case you didn't know.

Finally, all of the kids walk around and look at the hundreds of light displays in the Park while the grown-ups do the clean-up thing.

It's a fun party, and one we look forward to year after year.

RANDOMNESS #5 - When Austin was three years-old, I held our first Cookie/Caroling Party for him and his little friends. (We baked sugar cookies, packed them up and delivered and caroled elderly neighbors and grandparents.)

When Josh was old enough to participate, we added his friends to the mix.

The same with Roxie.

Somewhere along the way, Austin and Josh outgrew this traditional party, and before I knew it, so did Roxie and the Chicks.

So I tweaked.

For the past two years, we've had dinner at the house before heading to The Alabama Theatre to see a Christmas movie (Elf and Home Alone).

I had planned on doing the same thing this year, but the girls' Sunday Night Bible Study Group planned a trip to The Alabama, so I had to (cheerfully) tweak once again.

Roxie and friends decided they wanted to go ice skating (very festive), come back to the house for gourmet hot dogs, hot chocolate and desserts and a lot of visiting.

It worked out well.


The obligatory Christmas Tree pic with Ally, Roxie, Kendall, Ragan and Ciara.

Mikie took them to the skating rink while I stayed home and got dinner on the table!


Everyone had been ice skating before except Ciara, but she was excited to give it a try.


She definitely conquered the dreaded "walk to the ice."


"Roxie, take your coat. Roxie, take your coat."

"Mom. I always get hot and sweaty when I go ice skating."

Roxie is wearing Ragan's coat. (Thank you, Ragan.)


No matter where they are, Chicks know how to pose for the camera... even on ice.

Blog Linkage - I have an addictive blog for you to visit today. Every year, The Nester has a Christmas Tour of Homes. You just click on one of the pictures at the bottom of her post and you get to see all kinds of beautiful decorations and ideas.

It is so much fun.

Go to Nesting Place under My Blog List and read today's post entitled "2012 Christmas Tour of Homes."

Click away!

Creamy Crock Pot Hot Chocolate

I made this last night to drink while we watched a Christmas movie.

You will need the following:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups milk chocolate chips
6 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Pour all ingredients in crock pot.

2. Cook on low for 2 hours.

3. Stir occasionally.

Okay. This stuff is good. This stuff is RICH. This stuff is decadent.

Especially if you spray Redi-Whip on top to make it look really, really pretty and Martha Stewart-ish.

I also wouldn't recommend making this unless you are serving six or more people. (It makes a lot!)

Have a VERY PRODUCTIVE Tuesday. (That is what I'm hoping for myself!) I'll be back Friday with Weekend Happenings, Randomness, MORE CHRISTMAS STUFF and pics.

Take care, and I'll talk to you on Friday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda
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