christmas

Christmas 2016 {Thoughts From Me}

December 28, 2016 by Dana

This year has been a hard one for many people, us included. Money is tight. Hurricane Mathew hit our area hard and caused setbacks as well. Life has been a struggle.

I wasn’t sure I would be able to give the kids much for Christmas, which is a pretty big deal at our house. My kids don’t usually get a lot throughout the year, so at Christmas they usually get bigger gifts and things. This year the money just wasn’t there for us to do that.

I prayed about it. I felt led to ask online for help, not expecting anything in return. In doing so, our family was truly blessed by others this year, who saw to it my kids had most of their wishes come true. It has been a true Christmas miracle.

Everyone received something important for them. Jack got lots of Dinosaurs, Laycie got a Doc McStuffin’s cart for doctoring her toys, Emma got pencils and art supplies, Win got video games and a new system. Each of them went shopping and bought gifts for each other and we also baked to give to family this year.

Even though Christmas began as a struggle, it has ended up being one of our best Christmas’s yet. I’m very thankful to each of those who helped to make this Christmas happen. You have shown my family the meaning of true friendship and caring. God bless you all!

Fall is Coming! {Caramel Popcorn Ball Recipe} {Recipes from Us}

September 10, 2014 by Dana

Falls coming. I can smell it in the air. The plants are changing and the pond is showing the early signs of the season’s change.

This is my favorite time of year!

Fall brings us out of the house and into the world again. Summer in the South gets awfully hot, y’all. We tend to hibernate behind closed doors with the air conditioner keeping things cool. So when that weather starts changing, we head out the door and spend as much time in the coolness as possible.

In the Fall, we do field trips to places that we greatly enjoy. The beach for walks, the state parks to see what we can learn and the Zoo when we are able. Anywhere that brings learning and fun, combined into one!

Fall is also the beginning of our favorite Holiday season: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We love these holidays and love to share them as a family. The holidays lead us back to the kids birthdays, which is a season all in itself when you have 8 kids to love.

One of our favorite things for Fall are Caramel Popcorn Balls. This was a childhood favorite of everyone who knew my Momma. Every year she’d make up a big ole batch of Popcorn Balls to take to our school events and everyone loved them. Momma doesn’t make them much anymore but it’s still something we enjoy when we are able to.

The recipe is really simple and easy to make but it does make a sticky mess and can be HOT, so be forewarned before you attempt to make these gooey goodies for your own family and friends.

Caramel Popcorn Balls

4 T. butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup (Momma prefers Karo)
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

6 qts popped corn

Combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan. Stir well. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat. Add in the condensed milk, continuing to stir constantly. The mixture will become a soft ball when it reaches around 236*. Stir in the vanilla at that point.

Pour this mixture over the top of the popped corn, stirring to coat all of the popcorn. Lightly butter up your hands to prevent the sticky, gooey mixture from sticking to you. Shape the caramel popcorn into balls that are about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

You can wrap these up in cellophane or saran wrap to keep them from sticking to one another or to anything else for that matter. Tie them with a cute ribbon and add a label for the Holiday to make them a gift!

One thing Momma always did was add in food coloring to make these festive colors for the Holiday. Halloween the popcorn balls were always orange, while at Christmas she used red and green. She’d add the food coloring before pouring the mixture onto the popcorn balls and after adding the vanilla. If you are using two colors, then half the mixture and the popcorn so that you can make half the batch one color and half another color.

I don’t have a picture of these since we haven’t made them in a while but I promise they will be hit around your home for the Holidays just as they are around ours!

Enjoy!

December Update from Us! {Thoughts from Me}

December 23, 2011 by Dana

Our life is pretty busy right now with the Christmas Holidays, a looming 11th Birthday and lots and lots of doctors appointments. Christmas will be past this weekend and the lovely summer-like weather outside leaves us feeling more like Christmas in July than December. There definitely will not be a White Christmas for those of us in Georgetown, SC this year!

Next Wednesday, my handsome son is turning 11! It’s been a fight just to keep his day free of doctors appointments for his sister but Momma has been insistant that they leave my boy’s big day free and clear for him alone. It’s so easy to get lost in the shuffle when two of your sisters have health issues. I have always tried to make sure that his day is special, especially when Christmas also steals so much from it, too. So this year we will be having his party on his big day complete with a sleepover with all our good friends. And we can’t wait!!

As for the doctors visits, my sweet Emmalee is keeping us busy, not with seizures this time but instead with her toe walking. Her doctor is sending us for a quick MRI of her spine to be sure it isn’t tethered causing her to toe walk. Then back to her office on Thursday for a full physical and hopefully the results of the MRI which I pray are negative. After the first of the year, depending on the results of the MRI, we will have more appointments with more doctors to repair whatever is going on with my beautiful girl. It promises to be a busy New Year for us in 2012.

So we will definitely be busy this coming year with school and doctors and simply loving life together. Bring it on, 2012… we impatiently await your arrival with cheer!!

Life Lessons from my Children {Thoughts from Me}

December 1, 2011 by Dana

Today is my niece’s 11th birthday. I remember the day she was born. There was actually snow on the ground in South Carolina. I remember her having a large head and tiny fists and sweet little toes. I remember her sweet smell and her rosy pink cheeks. Seems like it was just yesterday. She latched onto my heart and has yet to let go.

Her birthday is the reminder that December is here. December brings the birth of Christ, Christmas the holiday, celebrations, fun times and memories. It also begins my children’s birthday season. December, February and April. Each month blessed me more than I could have ever imagine.

December brings my son’s 11th birthday this year. I look forward to it. I love watching him grow. I dread the day when he leaves home. I pray he’s more man that I could have ever wished for. I want so many things for him but I know his life lies in the hands of God where I placed him and his sisters long ago.

My children have been such blessings to my life. They have each taught me so much in their own rights. I could never have imagined how much of a gift they truly are on the day of their birth. I can only imagine how much of a blessing and gift we each are as children of God everyday.

My son has taught me what love is. Unconditional, patient love. The kind that never gives up, never judges and never stops. That’s his kind of love and how he lives his life. His immense patience with me and his sisters always astonishes me. His kindness is beyond belief. My son at 11 is already more of a man than most men I know. I’m thankful for that. When he was born I didn’t know what our relationship would be, what blessing he would bring me but every day my eyes are opened more.

My older daughter has taught me strength and patience. I have learned to let go and pick battles with her that are worth the fight. She is strong – strong willed, strong minded and strong in heart. She’s brought me closer to God with her love for him and her strength in her choices and opinions and will. She’s blessed my life, driving me to the edge of anger and switching my heart with a quick, innocent smile. She, too, shows me what God sees in each of us every single day when we push him to the edge of anger only to feel him gracefully bless us with another day of forgiveness. I will always love her, I will always forgive her, I will always be with her as God is with each of us. Nothing she can do will change that – she has my heart, this girl.

My baby girl has taught me joy and filled my heart with it abundantly, as well as her brother and sisters. Emma deemed her our Angel at her birth and that she is, sent straight down from God’s arms in Heaven. Her laughter warms us, her smile brings happiness to us. So many times she’s come close to returning to Heaven and I am always thankful when He blesses us with another day to see her joyful smile and see her sprite-like innocence bloom into a bright, beautiful, angelic child.

Together the three of them fullfill my life. They bring me so much joy and happiness, so much love and strength and honest light. I see God in their eyes every single day. I’m thankful to God above for them, for only He could create someone so precious as these three are to me. Only He knew what joy and purpose they’d bring into my life when He chose me to be their Mother. How could I ever doubt His will for me or for them? I have Faith that He takes care of us all, that He planned this life for us to Honor him and His love for us. I know He has a plan and thus far it’s been better than I could have ever known! For that I’m forever Thankful.

FFH’s One Silent Night and Giveaway! {Propeller Review}

November 24, 2011 by Dana

FFH’s One Silent Night is an absolutely beautiful cd filled with wonderful Christmas songs sure to get you in the Holiday Spirit. Old favorites like Baby It’s Cold Outside, Winter Wonderland, and Jingle Bell Rock await you on this cd along with a few new songs, or songs that I at least have never heard before!

I personally love this FFH’s One Silent Night Christmas Album. It is quickly becoming one of my own personal holiday favorites. And as always, the kids love it too!!

This album is available in FFH’s webstore at https://ffh.net/store/one-silent-night/ for $12.99. It will be one of your favorite purchases for this holiday season.

One lucky reader will win their own download of this wonderful Christmas album from Luv’N Lambert Life though! Just enter below through Rafflecopter. Be sure to click each entry for directions on how to enter properly! And good luck to everyone.

Have a very merry Christmas!!

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Christmas Lodge, Review and Giveaway! {Propeller Review}

November 3, 2011 by Dana

When Propeller asked me to review Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Lodge, I was a little unsure. I mean Christmas movies are a dime a dozen. You can find them everywhere and some are great while other’s are only ok. Christmas Lodge, however, is a cut above all the rest!

I chose to have the whole family sit down to watch and review this movie. Every one of us LOVED it, including Josh who is often harder to please movie-wise. Christmas Lodge will definitely be added into our DVD collection for permanent viewing.

As a bonus, a print of Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Lodge is included with each DVD. The gorgeous artwork is a wonderful addition for any Thomas Kinkade collector or simply a sweet reminder of the beauty of life. It was a wonderful surprise gift from the company.

This heartfelt movie is about a young woman on a quest to find her place in life. She’s dating a guy who seems perfect but is not quite Mr. Right to her, though she cannot place why. Her beloved grandfather and best friend is in his last stages of life and she is in denial about his health, trying to hold on to his life as long as she can. Fate has her cross the path of an old friend and a lodge filled with family memories. She is reminded of the joys in life and takes on the task of restoring the Christmas Lodge for generations to come, all while finding her place among the past memories and love found at Christmas Lodge.

This amazing movie is not one you will soon forget. The heart-warming story reminds us what Christmas is truly about. Place it on your to watch list today! Available for order now through Amazon and Walmart.

And now for your chance to WIN a free copy of Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Lodge DVD. Enter by completing the following Rafflecopter requirements. The giveaway starts today and will end on Friday November 11th at 12am. A winner will be announced later that day. Good luck to each of you! This is one movie that is worth trying to win!

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I
only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:

“Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”