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For What to Read Wednesday this week I have a different kind of post for you, a roundup of my favorite children’s Christmas/Winter themed books.
Some I love for the stories and some for the illustrations and some for both! Since there are 24 you can read one a day before Christmas in December! My 24 Favorite Children’s Christmas Books
These are listed in no particular order, just 24 that I love!
1. Pick a Pine Tree- I love the illustrations in this book and how it captures the magic of picking the perfect tree for Christmas! 2. The Polar Express- Classic 3. The Night Before Christmas Pop-up- I kind of collect different versions of Clement C Moore’s classic poem but this pop- up version is on of my favorites! It’s really beautiful, intricate, and interactive. 4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas- honestly I’m not a huge Dr Seuss fan but I still love this classic. 5. Olive the Other Reindeer- really cute! 6. Little Critters: Merry Christmas Mom and Dad
7. Merry Christmas Daniel Tiger- A life-the-flap board book! My kids love it.
8. The Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomey- a quite touching story. 9. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever- the classic chapter book has been adapted into a picture book for younger audiences!! 10. The Legand of Old Befana- I love Tomie dePaulo books. I especially enjoy this Italian Christmas Story brought to life with his unique and beautiful illustrations. 11. Who is Coming to Our House- a nativity story from the animals perspective. 12. ‘Tis The Season: A Classic Illustrated Christmas Treasury- a collection of poems, excerpts, and songs about Christmas accompanied by beautiful illustrations.
13. I Believe in Santa Claus- a wonderful book that explains the symbols of Christmas and how they relate to Christ.
14. Loud Winter’s Nap- A tortoise who hates winter is just trying to take a nap, but his noisy neighbors are keeping him awake! 15. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer- The classic tale written in 1939 by Robert L May about a reindeer with a shiny red nose who turns out to be the unlikey helper of Santa! 16. Little Golden Book The Christmas Story 17. The Gingerbread Man- Not technically Winter or Christmas except that's when we traditionally eat gingerbread. 18. The Legend of Saint Nicolas- A great way to introduce where the legend of Santa comes from and teach kindness and service as virtues.
19. Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale- Another Nativity story from the perspective of the animals in the stable
20. Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia- who doesn’t love mixed up Amelia Bedelia 21. The Nutcracker: An Enchanted Pop-up Adaptation 22. One Mitten- A girl is finding uses for her one mitten as she looks for its mate. 23. The Snowy Day- I love the illustrations in the book. So beautiful! 24. A World of Cookies for Santa- follow Santa around the world and see what treats are left out for him. Includes recipes! A great way to learn about different Christmas traditions around the world.
There you have it, 24 Christmas books I love to share with my children. Have you read any of these? Did you find any new ones you’d like to share with your family? Let us know in the comments!
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This post was originally posted in 2017. It has been updated with this adorable video of my daughter from when we made some today. These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and the perfect fall cookie.
Do you know what I love about pumpkin?
Everything. That's what. I know pumpkin spice is all the fall rage these days, and let me tell you something, I will take the blame for it. Way back in 2006 a few friends and I started a tradition of having a pumpkin party. It just so happened to perfectly align with my birthday, and I've had a pumpkin party every year for my birthday ever since. If you want to know the truth, if it were up to me I'd put pumpkin in my food every day of the year. Since I have a husband who, while he does not object to pumpkin, does not adore pumpkin as I do I behave myself every year and wait. Well guess what! IT IS ALMOST FALL AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT! PUMPKIN EVERYTHING!
I decided to make you a pumpkin recipe this week and I really got into my head. Should it be sweet or savory? Basic or creative? What else could I do to show you the power of pumpkin? Well, my mom suggested I make my pumpkin snickerdoodles, and since I had volunteered to make cookies for a church function anyway it seemed like a win win.
I'll be honest, I originally found this recipe on Pinterest many years ago (we're talking pre-mission somewhere around 2012). I can't recall where it originated from, and I am sorry for that, but it is really so delicious. These snickerdoodles are so soft and pumpkin-y and wonderful that if you find who originally created the recipe, tell me. Not only will I give them the credit they deserve here, but I'll find some way to give that person an award.
Fall baking is honestly where I feel in my zone. You see that cinnamon container? We have two of those. I think I have three different bottles of pumpkin spice as well. It might be four. Needless to say, I have a lot of great plans and how-to's for your fall baking, so make sure you come back and see what else I have in store for you. (For example, I realized I never showed you how to cook a pumpkin.) Until next time, enjoy these pumpkin snickerdoodles. If they're not the best snickerdoodle you've ever had, well, honestly I'll think you're confused.
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Lindsey and I were talking about Thanksgiving plans for this year and it got me to thinking about a special project to show my family and friends how thankful I am for them. I decided it would be nice to do a little gift on each place setting this year. I thought about hand lettering something at first, but that would take a lot of time with questionable results. Then, I remembered the set of stamps that I purchased from the Target One Spot a couple of years ago. I hadn't used it yet, but now I knew I had the perfect project to use them for.
If you can't find these stamps at Target this year, there are of course a lot of others that you can find and use. For example...
I had some little wooden circles left over from our Christmas in July projects. I chose 3 colors of acrylic paint that I felt would coordinate with my dishes and tablecloths and painted the circles. Then, I used a black stamp pad to stamp the design on the light colored circles and white on the dark colored circles. I love how they came out. Even the spots where the ink is a little missing add to the rustic look.
I decided to use jute as the hanger on these little ornaments. I cut about a 6" length of jute and glued the ends with a glue gun to the front of the ornament. Then, I tied a bow with another length of jute and glued that over the ends. This way, there are no unfinished ends on the front or the back.
Now, on Thanksgiving, I want to slip them in a napkin on each place setting. I want to use cream colored napkins, but I didn't have any. I could only find white! So, I purchased some fabric and made my own.
A couple of years ago I had to purchase a new sewing machine. I got a Singer Brilliance (that is a refurb version) and I have loved using the special decorative stitches that it has programmed into it. Here is the newest version, called Sew Mate. These are nice machines at a reasonable price.
These napkins were simple to sew. I just folded over the edges twice and used a decorative stitch to make them special.
Once the napkins are sewn and pressed, you are ready to fold them! Here is a gallery of pictures to show you how to do it.
If you know me at all, you know that I love dishes! So, I am using two different dishes to try out a place setting to use these special projects on. Which one do you like best?
If you don't want to wash napkins later, you could always use nicer paper napkins. But, I am so happy with how these came out. Here is a close-up of the decorative stitching.
Look what I found!
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Hey everyone! I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! It was a very busy week for us last week, which made it difficult to post. This year our little one was more into Halloween. We let her choose her costume, and she decorated her own pumpkin. We went to two Trunk Or Treats where she got very good at saying, "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank you!" and also, very good at asking us for candy.
I've never really been into Halloween, but it is a lot more fun when you have a little kid who gets excited to paint her "pumpin" and be "a bu'erfly for Ha'oween!" She was a super cute butterfly as well!
This last Saturday we also participated in a Walk to End Alzheimer's. Both PH and I have been personally affected by this terrible illness. I watched my grandmother deteriorate for years and years (and there were many years before my time as well). PH's father passed away this last May due to complications from Alzheimer's. This walk was really important to us. Our little one loved holding her purple flowers! If you want to donate to the cause, here is a link.
Anyway, with all of these goings on, finding time to make dinner can be really difficult. Additionally, with the greater influx of candy and treats at this time of year, finding time to make a HEALTHY meal is so important! This is why I love sheet pan meals! We have shared with you other sheet pan meals in the past. Sheet pan meals are really the most convenient way to pack in the most in a small amount of time.
I think sheet pan meals call for less clean up as well. One pan, throw all the ingredients on. Season on the pan. Way less mess! Well, this sheet pan meal is even more convenient because I cheated. Remember that whole lack of time thing? Well, nearly everything on this sheet pan was prepackaged. My daughter loves meatballs so I had bought a bag of them. I also found this bag of pre-sliced sweet potatoes. We had a big frozen bag of "California" veggies. (I don't really know why they're called that, but whatever). The only thing I had to chop up was the onion. I love the variety of vegetables you can toss onto a sheet pan so you end up with a very colorful meal! Plus, vegetables taste better roasted or grilled. Drizzle everything in olive oil. Sprinkle on some salt, pepper, rosemary, and sage and pop it in the oven! You can't go wrong! We gobbled down this tasty sweet potato and meatball sheet pan meal, and I know your family will love it too! Sweet Potato and Meatball Sheet Pan MealIngredients:1/4 bag Caulipower Sweet PotaTOASTs 2 servings frozen meatballs 2 servings frozen vegetables of your choice (I used broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot) 1/4 purple onion, chopped 1 TBSP Olive Oil salt pepper rosemary sage garlic (Use these seasonings at your own discretion) Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spread meatballs, sweet potatoes, and vegetables over pan. 3. Drizzle with olive oil 4. Season with all the seasonings distributed evenly. 5. Bake for 15 minutes. Voila! Your sweet potato and meatball sheet pan meal is ready to eat! These are a few of my favorite things: |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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