Christmas Traditions

Does your family have any particular Christmas Traditions? My family would always eat at Waffle House on Christmas day. Mostly because we were traveling that day, and Waffle House is the ONLY place open!

Eric and I have our own traditions at Christmas, since we've been married. Each year, we get an ornament for the other. Some of the ornaments have funny stories to go along with them and others are just obvious. For example, last year Eric got me a fish ornament. I was puzzled when I opened it. He then reminded me of the McDonald's commercial that I love. It's the one where the mounted wall fish sings, "Bring me back that filet o' fish!" I love our ornament tradition. I'll enjoy explaining each one to my children one day.

Now that Virginia is old enough to really enjoy doing things, we decided to start a "Georgia" Christmas Tradition with her. Macy's department store, at Lenox Square Mall, in Atlanta has a famous Pink Pig. What is the Pink Pig? Well, here is an excerpt from their information page........

"From it's 1953 debut as a children's ride at the downtown Rich's store to it's brief stint at the Egleston Children's Hospital Festival of Trees, four generations of Atlantans have ridden Priscilla into the holiday season. And, millions have worn "I Rode the Pink Pig" stickers with pride. The brainchild of the late Frank Pallotta, who is also credited with conceiving the Rich's Great Tree, the original Pink Pig--Priscilla- gave children an elevated view of the store's toy department for a small fee of 25 cents. Later, another pig- Percival- was added and the two could be found on the store's roof, encircling the Great Tree. Now an all new Priscilla will carry on the family tradition beneath a 170 foot, 1950's Pink Pig Tent at the Lenox Square upper-level parking deck. C0-sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company and Macy's, the new ride travels along train tracks to carry children and parents through a life-sized storybook that includes the original Pink Pig and her friends."

With that being said, we decided to take Virginia to the Pink Pig ride in Atlanta. Since Eric was off on Christmas Eve, we decided to take advantage of some family time that day. I knew the crowds would be awful, but surprisingly, we didn't have to wait long for the ride. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story....

(P.S. Some of these pictures are low quality. We were inside and the lighting was, well, pink!)

Waiting in line for our turn on the Pink Pig

This is as close as Virginia would get to the person dressed up as Priscilla Pig.

One of the original cars that carried children around the toy department at Rich's

Daddy and V. Ready to ride the pig!

I love this picture of VB and Eric. Seeing her sitting in that train seat, she looked like such a big girl! And all that hair! Woo!

All she kept saying, beneath her paci, "Choo-Choo! Ride!"

Not a great picture, but love the expression in her eyes!

Waving at ourselves in the big mirror

2 things she would not let go of the whole ride: her paci and her ticket!

Yeah, I was a little exited too! :) Mostly from seeing the joy this dinky little ride brought my daughter.

And so, the tradition begins. That is, unless we're out of town, or for some strange reason we can't make it up to Atlanta on Christmas Eve day. What a fun time it was! If you're going to be in Atlanta any time before January 2, go check out the Pink Pig. Even if you aren't 17 months old, you'll still love it! And, you don't have to have a child with you to ride!

Christmas Goodies

One thing I love about the Christmas season is, baking! When we were little, I loved helping my Mom bake. We would make treats to share with neighbors or something special to bake for our family Christmas gatherings. Mom was always coming up with new and yummy recipes.

Now that I'm a Mommy, I get to come up with new and yummy recipes! I believe that gifts from the heart are the best gifts this time of year. Something that is homemade and has thought put into it, is so special. Therefore, I've been a busy bee working in the kitchen making edible, homemade gifts.

Last year I made Cinnamon Honey Butter. Got the idea from my favorite blogger Mommy, the one and only, Darby! I didn't make any pictures last year, because, well, I had a 5 month old who needed my constant attention. This year was a little easier. I got my recipes from the new Southern Plate cookbook by Christy Jordan. My Mom introduced me to Christy Jordan and her blog, Southern Plate. Once we began reading her blog, Mom realized Christy had a cookbook. (This is not the current edition, but one that came out a few years ago. Spiral bound, and much smaller!) Mom ordered one for the both of us. I've loved cooking out of it. I got Mom the updated Southern Plate cookbook for her birthday in October.

While we were home for Thanksgiving, I finally got to look at the new cookbook. SO many new and wonderful recipes. I secretly wanted to take the book from Mom, but it was hers and I'm not an Indian giver! :) I did get 3 recipes for homemade Christmas food gifts from the cookbook. Two of them are what I made this year as gifts for people.

The first is, Peach Fruit Crisp. I've made peach, blueberry, and apple fruit crisp this year alone. LOVE me some fruit crisp. I don't know if it's because it's so stinking easy, or if it's just so stinking good! Either way, I love it!

Fruit Crisp Mix

1/2 cup flour (all purpose or self-rising)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oats (quick cooking)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

One 29 oz. can sliced peaches

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl until well blended. Place in an airtight plastic bag and seal. Package with the can of peaches and the following instructions.......(see picture for instructions!)

This recipe calls for peaches, but you could use blueberries or apples. Any fruit would probably be good, except for bananas! :)

The next recipe I made was Hot Chocolate Mix. Sadly, I have not tried this recipe first hand to know if it is as yummy as the fruit crisp. I really hope my recipients find this hot chocolate mix tasty. If not, they probably won't look forward receiving food gifts from The Blackman Bunch anymore!

Hot Chocolate Mix

1 lb. confectioners sugar

1- 8 quart box instant powdered milk

1- 6 oz. package powdered coffee creamer

1- 2lb. box powdered chocolate milk mix

1- HUMONGOUS mixing bowl (no lie! I mean BIG! Maybe 2 or 3.)

Sift (who in their right mind likes to sift anything?!) the confectioners sugar into a large bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Divide into 1 cup servings and place in airtight plastic bags. Seal and attach following instructions.....(0nce again, see picture for instructions)

Side note.......I had to use my LARGE soup pot, large mixing bowl, and another medium sized mixing bowl. Maybe I did this wrong, or possibly copied this wrong from my Mother's cookbook, but wow! You'll have hot chocolate mix for the neighborhood! (Darby has a hot chocolate mix too. Maybe you won't need a 5 gallon mixing bucket for hers!)

Most of these goodies were made for Eric's co-workers and employees. I'm sure he loved carrying all these bags into work, filled with treats! Maybe he felt like Santa, passing out all these presents! Merry Christmas and happy eating!

And who wouldn't want to love on this little muffin? She sure is sweet!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Virginia loves our tree. We call it her Christmas tree. Her ornaments that she's allowed to touch, are at the bottom of the tree. She loves going up to the tree and saying, "trwee!"

This was the morning after Eric and I put up, and decorated the tree. Virginia had not seen it yet and this was her first experience!

Round 2 of Christmas card pictures went a little better than the first. Although, these pictures were just of Virginia, and not the three of us.

These pictures are just a taste of what our card will look like. None of these pictures made the cut, but I liked them anyway!

Our cards should be shipped to us by the end of the week. Hopefully you will get yours sometime next week! If you don't, send me your address and I'll mail you one! :)

Thanksgiving....2 Weeks Late (Don't Hate!)

When we take Virginia's picture, we tell her to say cheese. This is the result!

Making sure JimPa is doing a good job

I love my girl!

VB and LiLi

(p.s. My child does have pants and wears them, but it was almost 90 degrees Thanksgiving Day!)

I think Virginia was surprised by Sam's headpiece

V loves her Amy

Full of turkey and dressing. Now relaxing with Daddy

Look who has two new front teeth!

Her favorite thing to do at LiLi's.......knock the blocks over again and again!

Miss Addison Tew came to play while we were in Mobile. She and her family were down for Thanksgiving and we were able to get together.

Almost impossible to get a 16 and 9 month old to cooperate for pictures!

Sharing. So sweet!

We attempted Christmas card pictures. No luck. Will try again soon!