Tag Archives: truffles

December 6, 2015

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December has arrived and we are in full holiday mode, as you can see. We’ve been busy with all kinds of activities from decorating our tree, to Finn’s first movie in a theater, baking, and having our yearly tradition “candy making party” at our house with family and friends. The days are ever-so-busy and seem to pass faster than I would like!

First things first, this year we have an Advent Calendar! We got a fun one with animals, wisemen, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus so that Finn can help put them on each day. We found a printable “advent calendar” that had a verse for each day telling the story of Jesus’ birth.  The Angel was the first one on the calendar this year and Finn put it in the perfect spot.  IMG_2953IMG_2954IMG_2956
We took Finn to his first movie in a theater this week, to see A Christmas Story. He really seemed to enjoy it and didn’t make a peep the entire time. We went to a theater that serves food (and a ginormous bucket of popcorn!) during the show so we enjoyed some dinner during the movie. We are blessed with this little guy. IMG_2961We decorated our tree one evening in preparation for our candy party. Finn loved helping us and looking at all of the ornaments. We all love having such a tall tree! Sadly, we had one tragedy as the ornament that Kevin gave me in December 2011 when we first began dating fell to the floor as Finn and I were putting it up. It was a glass snow globe and unfortunately it shattered :(. Kevin snapped a photo though for memories sake. IMG_2975 DSC_0299 DSC_0305 DSC_0311 DSC_0323 DSC_0302 DSC_0309 IMG_2977 DSC_0316 IMG_2983 DSC_0321 DSC_0331 DSC_0336IMG_2987 DSC_0339 IMG_2985 DSC_0346 DSC_0349DSC_0439 DSC_0328Kind of at the last minute on Friday I asked Finn if he wanted to make some cookies. We made chocolate chip first, and then I figured it would be fun to make the cookie press cookies so he could help with the dough gun and then decorate them. It was fun (and messy)!DSC_0350 DSC_0355 DSC_0359 DSC_0363 DSC_0366 DSC_0374 DSC_0377 IMG_2996We awoke on Saturday morning and got right to party prep – making the peanut butter mixture that we would use later in the afternoon to make buckeyes! Finn is excellent at dumping. We have a pretty good system in place where I measure and he dumps. He’s also really good at turning on the mixer (!). IMG_2999Our friends and family began arriving around noon for our yearly tradition of making Hard Tack Candy and Buckeyes. Our flavors this year were cherry, black licorice, peppermint, sassafras, lemon, and cinnamon. And new this year, we made chocolate truffles too (chocolate/orange and chocolate/vanilla). We enjoyed the company of Mom and Dad, Amy, Andy, and the kids, the Mannings, Conrads, and part of the Kessler, Ryan, and Lewis families. We had a good sized crowd of 12 adults and 14 kiddos. Once again, Mom and Amy did a few crafts with the kids in the basement too, making Christmas ornaments – but somehow I didn’t get a photo of any! Lots of deliciousness by the end of the afternoon!IMG_3001 IMG_3002 IMG_3005 IMG_3006 IMG_3007 IMG_3009 DSC_0384 DSC_0385 DSC_0387 DSC_0389 DSC_0391 IMG_3020 IMG_3023IMG_3024 IMG_3025 IMG_3031 IMG_3035 IMG_3036 IMG_3026 IMG_3027 IMG_3028 IMG_3029 IMG_3037 IMG_3038 IMG_3040 IMG_3047 IMG_3051 IMG_3003 IMG_3004 DSC_0381 IMG_3012 IMG_3016 IMG_3017 IMG_3008IMG_3010IMG_3056IMG_3055 IMG_3059 IMG_3011 IMG_3030 IMG_3033 DSC_0399 IMG_3068 IMG_3067 IMG_3069 IMG_3070 IMG_3077 IMG_3060 IMG_3071 DSC_0410 IMG_3073 IMG_3063 IMG_3064 IMG_3066 DSC_0413 DSC_0415 DSC_0420 DSC_0423 DSC_0417 DSC_0436 DSC_0425 DSC_0430 DSC_0433Whew.  That was lots of work!!

So on Sunday morning we took it easy when we woke up, starting with yummy snowman pancakes that Daddy made for Finn!IMG_3090 IMG_3089