Advent Days 4-7: Snowmen Ice Cream, Grinch Floats, & a Christmas Parade

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We're enjoying our Advent calendar activities and tonight will be one of our favorites.  For Day 7, we headed  downtown for our local Christmas Parade with friends and family.  We look forward to this tradition each year.

The last few days have been delicious and fun!  Our advent activities included making Snowmen Ice Cream and Grinch Floats for deserts and the local parade and dinner out with family.  The deserts are both easy but a lot of fun for special holiday treats and our local parade is a family tradition from when I was a little girl.

Snowmen Ice Cream are easy to throw together with any of your favorite candy treats.  We used Vanilla Ice Cream, don't judge me on that huge bucket of ice cream in the background!  I used Twizzlers for the arms, some Reese's Christmas Bells for his hat, M&Ms for the eyes and buttons and mini chocolate and peanut butter chips for the nose and mouth.  Of course, you can decorate him anyway you like or let the kids do it and have a great time.  I also put some whipped cream around the bottom to be the extra snow around him.

 

Grinch Floats are even easier but so cute and yummy!  I bought some lime sherbet and filled the cups with it, packing it down just slightly.  Once the glasses were full, I added some Sprite and topped, of course, with whipped cream. 

 

Grinch floats are fun to drink while watching the Christmas move, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" together.  When my daughter, Alyssa, was little she was afraid of the Grinch but my 2 year old nephew loves him and enjoyed him at the parade last night!

In order to get good seats and parking, we arrive several hours before the start and hang out.  My sister, my niece, and the girls.

Which brings us to the parade.  Having lived within the area most of my life, I've been coming to our local parade each year for as long as I can remember and so have my siblings and all of our children.

Chance and my nephew hanging out while waiting for the parade to start.

  It's a family tradition we look forward to each year and we followed it up with some hot, "home cooked" food at Cracker Barrel.  Enjoy some of the photos I took last night. 

My sister and brother in law.  As you can see, much of the day and evening is spent waiting and trying to keep warm, but since we're with family, it's a huge part of the enjoyment!
 

I hope you're enjoying our Advent activities series and finding some ideas to begin Christmas traditions with your families.  If you're enjoying other advent activities or Christmas fun with your family, leave us a message, we'd love to share in the joy and I'm always looking for new ideas for my own kids!

As always, the grand finale is Santa's arrival!

 For more fun ideas I found for Christmas, follow my Christmas Pinterest board.  For more photos of life at The Egg Basket, follow us on Facebook. 

 

Blessings to you and yours,

 

Tiffany 

 

Advent Calendar with Activities & a Creamy Hot Cocoa Recipe

The Christmas Countdown Begins...

It's that time of year again!  I can't believe it's been a year since I posted about our Advent calendar last year.  So much has happened but it feels as if the time has passed so quickly.  Things are definitely different this year and, for once, I'm on time with my Christmas Calendar Countdown post!

If you read last year's post, you saw our adorable advent calendar that I (somehow) sewed for the kids a couple of years ago.  This year we're doing something simpler.   If you're worried it's too late to start this tradition with your family this year, it's not.  Since we just moved a few months ago (and as embarrassing as it is, I'm still unpacking) I went with a simple solution.  I labeled Christmas envelopes with Scrapbook numbers 1-24 and then slipped our advent activities cut outs into the envelopes.  We hung them from some beads left over from decorating the tree and different lengths of ribbon.  Super easy and just as fun!

For the activities, I drew some easy pictures on labels and then stuck them to construction paper and cut them out.  Easy-peasy!  The kids could do it for you! 

To start the year off right and get everyone in the holiday spirits, I always begin playing Christmas music in the house and in the car (when we're not listening to our literature on CD).  Don't have a lot of Christmas CDs laying around?  No worries, I've been spoiled the past couple of years by Pandora radio on my laptop.   Simply type Christmas in the search box and you'll be blessed with tons of Christmas tunes.  There's just something about Christmas music that gets me in the mood- I even feel happier cleaning! 

Then it's time to get the Advent calendar out and begin our countdown!  Here's my basic plan of activities, since I was unsure of the dates on some activities, the great thing about using the slips of paper is I can always switch them around before the kids open them!

Day 1: Sip Hot Cocoa (recipe below) while we decorate the tree.
Day 2: A Family Game Night
Day 3: Elf some friends and family & a little box of Christmas chocolate as a surprise for the kids while we went to the houses.
Day 4: Snowman Ice Cream Deserts
Day 5: Make Ornaments
Day 6: Grinch Floats
Day 7: Local Christmas Parade with my Sisters, Brother, & Their Families
Day 8: Bake Cookies & Decorate them Together
Day 9: North Pole Breakfast- Santa Pancakes & Hot Cocoa
Day 10: Make Gingerbread Houses
Day 11: Write Christmas Cards and mail to friends and family.
Day 12: Christmas Skate with our friends from our local home school co-op group
Day 13: Christmas Pez containers & Pez candy
Day 14: Drive around the area and look at Christmas Lights (Scavenger Hunt?)
Day 15: Hot Cocoa & Christmas Chocolate
Day 16: Put up their small trees in their rooms
Day 17: New PJ's
Day 18: Bake Cookies & decorate to give away
Day 19: Ring Pops
Day 20: Camp out in the family room under the Christmas tree
Day 21: Visit the Washington, D.C. Zoo & the National Tree with my sisters and their families.
Day 22: Christmas candy treat
Day 23: Watch a Christmas Movie together with popcorn & drinks
Day 24: Christmas Eve!  Open 1 small gift!

As you can see, I've used Christmas chocolate or Christmas candy treats a couple of times in there to give us (me!) a break on those hectic, busy shopping days I know I'll face.  Since I don't allow them to have candy often, it's a real treat for them.  I'm hoping to cut those down by a few as the month goes on and I have a better idea of my time.  Again, those are the easy days for me so if I happen across a tough school day or event that gets moved around, I can move those slips of paper in and switch things around.  They're my little saving grace when the day gets crazy as can easily happen!

We're going to try to photograph the fun and share some of it.  Of course, in the midst of the glorious holidays, we're still running the farm, homeschooling, taking care of each other, and getting the day to days done.  I also won't forget the reason for the season and we'll be celebrating our Lord and praying constantly throughout the season!

My Creamy Hot Cocoa Recipe
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (we used the Hershey's Dark cocoa)
Dash salt
1/3 cup hot water
3 cups milk
1 can (15 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in saucepan and stir in water.
2. Cook and stir over medium heat until it boils and boil (stirring often) for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in milks and heat (still stirring often)
4. Add vanilla
5. Remove from heat and top.  We used whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles to top ours.

Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Cookies for Christmas Baking

 

As with some of my other new things to try, this recipe was what I call a Pinspiration!  When my sweet, fellow blogger friends over at Farm Chick Chit Chat decided we would host a Christmas Cookie Swap, I knew I'd need a new, Christmas"y" recipe to share.  Where do I turn when looking for new recipe ideas?  Well, Pinterest, of course!  

I found these amazing, Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies originally posted by averie cooks.  I knew right away this could very well be the Christmas cookie recipe I'd been looking for so I pinned it and after looking through many others, I came back to this one.  I'm so pleased to share it with you and hope you enjoy the crispy, yet ooey-gooey goodness this amazing recipe brings!  Be sure and make a huge double or triple batch like we did, you're going to want to share them!

I did make changes to the original recipe.  I added some healthier ingredients (YES! I know it's Christmas Cookies so I did leave much of the initial ingredients but I added in my own wheat flour, flax seed, wheat germ, replaced part of the sugar with raw honey, used UNbleached all purpose flour instead of bleached and they were STILL yummy!) Of course, I also only bake with our own farm fresh, free ranged lovely eggs so those were collected fresh that morning!  They ensure much better texture to baked goods I must say!

After making our version of these chewy, soft centered, yummy cookies, we decided to take two batches with us to our homeschool Christmas party.  They were just as big a hit there as they were at my house so I KNEW then I had my recipe for this swap!

Without further ado, enjoy the recipe! 

Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
(this is double the original creator's recipe so you may cut it in half should you choose)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup raw honey

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons cream or milk (I used milk)

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose flour

3/4 cup bread flour (all-purpose flour may be substituted and used exclusively; bread flour yields chewier cookies and is recommended)

3/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup Wheat Germ depending on your family's tastes (you may leave this out)
1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed (again, you may leave this out if it's not in your family's taste)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

1 cups dried cranberries

12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips ~ next time I am going to try dark chocolate chips so if anyone gives that a whirl, please come back and leave comments I'd LOVE to hear how that turns out!

Directions
1. Beat the butter on low speed until smooth. 

2. Add the sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined

 

3. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, and honey and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy

4. Next, add the flours, wheat germ, flax seed (if using these two), baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined. 

 

5. Add the cranberries and chocolate chips, fold in by hand.

 

6. The original recipe called for you to, "Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days."

I did not have the luxury of the time for this so I put my dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes and it did fine.  You can decide how you'd like to chill your dough.

7. Preheat oven to 350°F, line your baking sheet with aluminum foil, parchment, or spray with cooking spray.

 

8.  Using a scant 1/4 cup measuring cup, place them on the baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until pale golden and edges have just set, even if slightly undercooked in the center, as cookies will firm up as they cool (For crunchier cookies, extend baking time by 1 to 2 minutes).

9.  Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing.

 

Storing & Freezing: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

 

We hope you enjoy these delicious creations, we certainly did!  These cookies were part of our Family Advent Christmas Countdown Series.  If you'd like to read about other activities you can enjoy with your family during the holidays, try here.  If you try the recipe, try it and add your own twists, or new things, please leave us comments about it!  We really love to hear from you!  From the Burchell Family here at The Egg Basket and all of the families at Farm Chick Chit Chat, Happy Christmas Baking! 

 

Love & Blessings!

 

Tiffany

Advent Calendar Countdown~ Day 15 North Pole Breakfast

Advent Calendar Countdown~
Family Activities Day 25- Day 15

 

We have an Advent Calendar I sewed together for the kids last Christmas.  I'm NOT a seamstress by any means of the word, just self taught from books and tutes on other blogs.  I won't pretend our Advent calendar is the cutest (or has the straightest lines) out there but the kids seem to enjoy that I created for them - knots showing and all! <3 


I won't do a tutorial on how I made our calendar because it's only beautiful to us ha ha ;)  I will tell you if you're new to sewing and crafting with fabric like I am- just buy the wool felt and have fun with it!  The wool felt doesn't fray like other fabrics.  I just bought the wool felt in different colors to match my idea and then drew the squares and numbers by tracing and drew the little reindeer and tree shapes out and attached with stitch witch and sewed the edges.

In each pocket on the calendar I have slips of paper, on those slips of paper are fun activities, family nights, sweets, or holiday events for us to enjoy as a family.  The kids really enjoy these small treats each year and it gets us in the mood for a family oriented holiday season!

I'm obviously late getting the blog posts going for this year since we're already ten days into the month but I still wanted to share our ideas and activities in case someone else out there could enjoy them with thier own family!

I'll list what we've done so far and then hopefully find time to post the rest of our calendar frequently throughout the season to share with you!

So far this year in our countdown to Christmas we've enjoyed:

Day 25- We decorated the house together.  This is the first year that my mom has lived with us so going through our family's things AND her things together made it even more fun.  My kids laugh and call my mom's inlaw suite the "Winter Wonderland!"  Growing up, she was amazing during the holidays about decorating and bringing the holiday spirit into our home.  There was always Christmas music playing and the house would stay decorated in snowmen, miniature houses & shops, and other Christmas cheer from the day after Thanksgiving until the New Year.  I'm so pleased she's continuing it this year and that my children can enjoy it the entire season! 

Day 24- My dear husband treated us to dinner out at our favorite hamburger restaraunt, Red Robin.  Our actual Advent calender activity for the day was our local Christmas Parade.  After some farm incidents we were too late to find parking ANYWHERE in our downtown area.  Instead of having three sad kids, my husband decided to take us to dinner.  It was still a wonderful, fun Christmas activity AND I didn't have to cook or do dishes! :)

Day 23- Family Sweets- I found the kids some adorable Hot Cocoa mix packets at Target and put them together with some Cookies n' Cream chocolates.  Not EVERY Advent day has to be difficult.  Something as simple as a sweet treat, especially when they don't get them often, is just as exciting.  I believe it's simply looking forward to the surprise of what the day brings and knowing I took a little extra time thinking of them!

Day 22- My kids have miniature trees they set up in their bedrooms each year.  When they've outgrown ornaments a particular year, we'll go shopping for something new.  Last year they all decided to go with their own handmade ornaments and some colored balls they wouldn't outgrow.  We pulled their trees out on this day, decorated them, and set them up in their rooms.  It's much nicer than boring nightlights!

Day 21-  Baking Christmas Cookies!  We always carry food to our Christmas parties (for Day 6's Advent Activity) so the Day before usually is a Cookie or Desert baking day.  This year that falls on this day, Day 5.  We made the most DELICIOUS cookies from a recipe I found...of course...on Pinterest!  Let me just tell you it was AMAZING!  All of the moms raved over the recipe as did my family.  YUMMY!  If you're going to give a new cookie recipe a whirl this year, THIS is the one!  The cookies were Chocolate Chip & Cranberry and I blogged about them here. 

Day 20- Christmas Party!  We homeschool and are so very blessed to be members of a local homeschool co-op.  Our co-op celebrates each year together with a Christmas party.  This year, it fell on our Day 6.  It is ALWAYS a blessing, no matter where we have the party, to fellowship, eat, and enjoy the priorities of the season with our like-minded friends.  This year was even more fun as we held the party at a local roller skating rink.  Moms and kids alike had a fantastic time!

Day 19- Day 7 happened to fall on a Friday night.  If you haven't read my post about our Friday Night tradition, we make sure to spend each Friday evening together as a family with as little meal and clean-up time taken out of it as possible.  We always enjoy DiGornio pizzas (much less expensive than carry out or delivery) with a fun snack (often cookies made quickly from refrigerated dough) and we enjoy a Family movie together.  It's a tradition I pray we stick with even as the kids continue to get older.  For this movie night I decided I wanted to make it just a little more fun and create Grinch Drinks for everyone to go with thier snacks for the movie!  It was super simple and easy but the kids (and my mother) enjoyed it so much!  I found the idea on Pinterest as well as several other ideas for our Advent activities this year.  Here is the link. 

Day 18- Family Campout (indoors!) My kids still love to hang out with us and they REALLY love to do things outside of the norm.  As much as I dread sleeping on the couch ;), it makes them happy so one night of the Advent calendar is always spent "camping out" together in our living room AND staying up as late as they'd like, as long as they stay in the living room with us.  It usually involves a movie, lots of giggling, and talks we wouldn't normally have.  It also usually includes mom and/or dad being the first to fall asleep and being teased the next day! :)

Day 17- Jelly Belly jellybeans! :) I told you it's not extravagent or difficult! :) We love JB's and very seldom get them. This time of year, fun sweet treats are easy to find with all of the stocking stuffers out in the stores. I often will go through the stores a few days after Thanksgiving and pick up Advent items off of the stocking filler rows. Again, it's inexpensive but a fun little treat to look forward to.

Day 16- Christmas Movie Night!  This night is a special movie night of a Christmas movie that we watch all together.  Probably should be a classic but it's not.  This year we watched, "Santa Paws 2" together!  I surprised the kids and picked it up while I was out doing some shopping and we all sat and watched it together! Great little, feel good family movie! I recommend it for any families with kids :). 

Day 15- Today (well today when I wrote the post anyway) we had a North Pole Breakfast!  It was yet another idea I found on the amazing Pinterest website.  I made my usual pancakes for the kids, then used sliced strawberries and canned whip cream to create "Santa" cakes!  I used chocolate chips for his eyes and the very tips of the strawberries for his jolly red nose.  The canned whipped cream created his fuzzy hat border and tip and his fluffy, white beard.  Even my 11 year old son (who I thought might think he's too old for this) thought they were pretty cool! :)  With that we had some Hot Cocoa from my amazing Keurig (I don't know what I did before my dear hubby bought this convenient machine for me!) and sat down to eat with some Christmas music!  Another perk?  The chickens LOVED thier bowl of scraps including egg shells and strawberries!

 

We hope you've enjoyed sharing our Advent Calendar & Holiday Activities with us! We have many more activities to come as we enjoy the holidays and pray to spend the time loving each other and celebrating our family and praising our Lord Jesus Christ!  Please check back later for more Christmas Calendar Countdown Days and other ideas to add to your family's holiday.  Starting new traditions and maintaining them strengthen the family and leave your children with memories they can always cherish!  Many blessings from our home to yours!

 

Love,

 

Tiffany