Mindless Monday, Blog Linkage, Eggnog Pound Cake (AGAIN), Church Christmas Productions

Good Monday morning!

RANDOMNESS #1 - As I reported in Weekend Happenings Friday, The Faulkner Five and The Lovely Melia DID go to the Christmas Tree Farm. Yes, we did.

And for some reason, everyone was happy and obliging except for me. But I had a very, very good reason.

I had forgotten to put my camera battery in my camera.

The Enchanting Belinda without a working camera is a sad, sad sight.

It has happened only once before.

Six years ago when we took Roxie on her Ten Year-Old Birthday Trip to Six Flags Over Georgia and the Aquarium, I packed my GIANT lens in my camera bag... and left my camera on the dining room table.

I won't lie to you. Mike's phone camera AND the disposable camera I purchased for $33 at a Six Flags' souvenir store did NOT get the job done... and it was hard for me to put on my happy face for 48 hours.

And it was even harder for me not to beg Mikie to buy me a brand new really, really nice camera with all the fixins' in Atlanta.

Thankfully, I've matured in six years (NOT), and Mike's phone camera takes much better pictures (NOT, NOT).

Everyone gets a turn "chopping down the tree." (No matter what you're wearing and no matter how much you protest... you GET a turn.)

Since Josh finished physical therapy on his knee this past week, we let him carry the tree up the hill for us. We're extra considerate that way.

Don't worry. Roxie took a bunch of pictures on her phone, and I'll have those for your perusal Friday morning!

RANDOMNESS #2 - After we dropped the tree off at the house (and I retrieved my camera battery from the wall charger), we headed to Bev's for our 11th Annual Christmas Movie Night.

As I said earlier, Roxie's name was drawn this year and she picked Home Alone 2.

It's a classic.

Because I worry about Annual Christmas Movie Night being a little boring because the kids have seen EVERY CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER MADE 1,000,000 times, I talked to Bev about making a little game to play during the movie.

She thought it sounded fun, so before the movie began I told everyone the "rules."

1. Every time you hear the word "Christmas" during the movie, shout "HO! HO! HO!"

2. Every time you hear the word "McAllister" during the movie, shout "KEVIN!"

3. Every time you hear the words "turtle doves" during the move, shout "Coo! Coo! Coo!"

Bev and I were wrong.

So very, very wrong.

1. The word "Christmas" is said 1,432 times during Home Alone 2.

2. Austin, Brad and Katie LOVED shouting "HO! HO! HO!" 1,432 times. The rest of us... not so much.

3. Because of the overuse of the word "Christmas," by the time the words "McAllister" and "turtle doves" were said, most of us were ready to kill the people who were still playing the game (Austin, Brad and Katie).

It was a bad game. Very, very bad game.

At the end of the movie, I made an observation. We could have gone to the part of the movie where Kevin throws bricks off the top of the building onto the bad guys' heads and watched that five-minute segment over and over for an hour... and we would have been fine.

Because that's the best part of any Home Alone movie, you see.

Bev's Christmas Tree. It is so pretty and glowy, isn't it?

Katie and Roxie.

After the movie, we enjoyed a couple of episodes of Duck Dynasty. No games were needed to keep everyone's attention.

Josh and Aunt Bev.

Stephanie and Brad.

RANDOMNESS #3 - The Boy was stressed OUT this weekend. Between his internship, finals-week, term-paper-week, last-radio-show-before-Christmas-holidays-week and teaching-Sunday-School-for-the-first-time-ever-week, I can't really blame him.

Thankfully, he'll be home for the holidays Friday night. He'll have to go back and forth to JSU for his internship work, but he'll have three, four or five days home in between each game.

That sounds good to me.

RANDOMNESS #4 - You'll be happy to know, Mike and I replaced my "JOY" inflatable this weekend.

You'll be surprised to know, Mike is very happy about the inflatable choice.

You'll be shocked to know, Mike actually picked out our inflatable, and immediately went home to "put it up," because he was SO proud.

I know what you're thinking.

"Why did Mike get so excited over a nutcracker inflatable?"

Please notice the details.

Snowflake tattoo...

Exposed belly AND belly button...

Santa cap...

And missing front tooth.

That's right. Our new inflatable has been named Uncle Si. He's a Redneck Nutcracker.

You'll understand when I say, "I miss my 'JOY.'"

Heavy, heavy sigh.

Blog Linkage - Go to The Dating Divas under My Blog List and get some really good ideas for inexpensive Christmas dates for you and yours. The post is entitled "The 12 Dates of Christmas."

Eggnog Pound Cake (AGAIN)

I posted this recipe one or two years ago, and I thought I'd do a re-post because it is such an easy, festive, delicious little dessert.

You will need the following:

1 package pound cake mix
1 1/4 cups eggnog
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix all of the ingredients together.

2. Pour batter into a 9" x 5" loaf pan.

3. Bake for 65 minutes. (After 45 minutes, place a piece of foil on top of the cake to keep it from getting too brown.)

This weekend, I decided to try an Eggnog Glaze. Even though the cake is good, it tends to get a little dry by the second or third day.

I used a cup of powdered sugar and kept pouring eggnog a little at a time while whisking the glaze until it was the right consistency AND lump-free.

I then poked tiny holes all over the warm pound cake before I poured the glaze so it would soak through the cake.

Success!

It has been two days and the one piece of remaining Eggnog Pound Cake is moist and fresh and delicious.

If you make one, you might as well make two to give to a friend or family member.

Just sayin'.

Church Christmas Productions

This may already be a tradition you and your family share, but this year, I noticed we had several weekend nights in the month of December FREE. That's right. FREE.

While we are planning to attend First Baptist Gardendale's Christmas Program (see below), I think it would be fun to also go to a different church and enjoy their program, also.

This may or may not be a new "family" tradition for us. (Our traditions are "set in stone" after 25 years.) However, I think Mikie and I might start this tradition on our own.

As our kids have gotten older and make plans of their own, this sounds like a very doable, enjoyable tradition to adopt.

Gardendale First Baptist Church Worship and Media Ministries will present "He Changes Everything" Saturday and Sunday (December 15 and 16, 2012) at 6:00 p.m. (It will be wonderful, as always, and I'd like to invite you to join us if you can!)

After checking a few churches in our area, the following program caught my eye"

This Christmas, Church of the Highlands would like to invite you to join us for a one-of-a-kind event as we celebrate the birth of our Savior at "A Highlands Christmas." Come and experience powerful music, an engaging message, visual effects and a few surprises. A Highlands Christmas will also feature traditional candlelighting, as well as some of your favorite Christmas carols.

Join us this season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior in a whole new way for "A Highlands Christmas." We look forward to seeing you there.

Please only reserve tickets for the number of people in your group who will be attending. If you cannot keep your reservation, please contact Jaclyn Gibbs at (205) 439-4365.

This program is held in several different locations and is scheduled for December 22 through Decmeber 24.

I think I'm going to check with Mikie and call today to reserve a couple of seats!

Have a wonderful Monday through Thursday! I'll be back Friday morning with Weekend Happenings, pics, Randomness and a couple of new recipes. (Mike and I saw a cookie recipe on a cooking show and it inspired both of us.)

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

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda