Holiday De-Briefing (the attempt to making Christmas a little more organized for 2012)

Organized Christmas

1. What worked this Holiday season?  I think having the three Christmases (one on Christmas Eve, one at Mom’s house and then one at our house for the Martins) worked well.  Although next year, Christmas Eve will be on Monday night and we might not be able to make church... it worked well this year because it fell on a Saturday.

2. What was the worst aspect of preparing for the holiday?  Can you avoid it this year?  I think I had too many places to write down the presents that we purchased.  I had an app on my phone and I made a cool notebook (that I didn't end up using much).  I need to stick to one place to write things down (probably my phone would work better than a notebook, because I always have my phone with me.)

3. Were you satisfied with your family’s level of giving?  How can next year more closely reflect your family values?  I need to stick to a budget.  Spell it out in plain and simple words!  And then stick to it!  I did it the year before, but because I spent most of the year buying presents, I didn’t use cash the whole time.  I also spent a lot of money online this year (which was EXCELLENT!)  Maybe I can get out a third of the total money to be spent out in January, a third in May and the rest in November... that might work. Maybe make more homemade gifts??

4. How well did your household function this year?  Were you calm and cozy or stressed out?  What improvements can be made for next year?  I think I was pretty calm and cozy!

5. Honesty time: Did you enjoy your holiday?  Yes!  Having McCoy excited about Christmas was worth all of the hype!  I love it that he is excited and loves the holidays!  Opening presents was fun and made it much more merrier!

Guess What I'm Doing?!

I'm making my Christmas list of presents that I want to give, give, give!!!

I plan on having EVERYTHING wrapped and ready to go by November.

I plan on having EVERYTHING bought/made/planned by July!

Why, might you ask?  Because I'm tired of having my life be this unorganized mess.  I used to be so organized and faithful with all my "stuff".  Today, I'm more like a zombie, running around thinking I have better excuses than the Mom next door.  Well, I don't.  I have to buck up, shut up, and change my ways.  

My new phone has amazing capabilities!  I love it so much!  And I hope it makes my life much easier.  One thing I downloaded was an application for Christmas list shopping.  This will keep a list of everything I've already bought (a bunch of stuff from the after-Christmas sales).  I also put in there a couple of things I plan on making for the kids (Whit's side of the family).  A good friend of mine was pregnant at the same time I was and since her due date was so close to Christmas, she decided to have everything done by July in order to concentrate on the new baby.  I thought that it was such a great idea!  I don't have to have the excuse of having a kid in order to have Christmas done by July.  So, I thought, why not!? 

I'm pretty sure that I will see something in a store and go, "Ooh, ooh, ooh!  Whit would love that!"  or "McCoy needs new shoes!" but for the most part, I'm hoping to be done this summer.  I will have all summer to plan, plan, plan and of course, shop, shop, shop!  

So if I usually buy a gift for you, would you please send me your Christmas lists? ;)

Tenessa's Christmas Wish List 2010

Tenessa's Christmas List 2010:

• Light Scoop
• Lightroom photo program
• Money towards getting my External Hard Drive fixed (I think the total will be more than $200!)
• Cake Decorating Classes
• At Joann's 
• The Culinary Center of Kansas City
• Actually, the more I browse the site of The Culinary Center of Kansas City, the more I want a gift certificate there!  It looks like so much fun!  I would love to take some classes there, maybe not just cake decorating but also cooking too. (Sorry, Codi, I stole your idea!  But maybe we can go together!!!)
• Burt's Bees REGULAR chap stick, in a tube (not tinted, or honey)
• Gift Cards
• Children's Orchard
• Wal-Mart
• Khol's
• JC Penny's
• Target
• Gift Cards for Restaurants
• On the Border
• Culver's
• Red Robin
• Kansas City Improv Theater tickets or Sanford and Sons Tickets
• Family Fun Magazine subscription (one year or two years is even better!)

Christmas already?!

So, I was thinking back to how FRANTIC I was over the last month or so trying to get ready for Christmas. It was hard-- the baby made things more difficult. And I keep thinking to myself that I didn't even have work to worry about. I felt this years' Christmas presents were sparse, not very thoughtful and kind of rushed. I want to make certain that this year's (2010) Christmas presents are THOUGHT out and perhaps, homemade. So, even though I'm publishing this on my blog, I have a feeling most of you will forget by next December. I have a great habit of sitting at the computer and scrolling through every single blog I've posted. Maybe, I'll be the only one who goes back to this post by, let's say, November. This is a recipe for Homemade Minty Hot Fudge Sauce. Package it in mason jars (which I have a TON of and don't know what to do with)-- put it in a basket with an ice cream scoop, nuts and maraschino cherries. Viola! Instant, thoughtful gift.

Here's the recipe (in case I lose the page I just ripped out of the magazine)

Makes: 4 cups (12 servings) (HOLY MOLY! I'll have to quadrupile the recipe!! and then some!)
Prep: 10 minutes (nice!)
Cook: 10 minutes (even nicer!)

4 1/2 pint Mason jars
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup ligh-brown sugar
1 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup creme de menthe (yea! I have that too!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat cream in a heavy-bottomed medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbles form along edge. Lower heat to medium-low and sitr in sugars, cocoa powder, butter, chocolate and salt.

2. Continue to heat over medium-low heat, sitrring constantly, for about 10 minutes or ntil smooth. Remove from the heat and sitr in the creme de menthe and vanilla. Allow to cool. Pour into jars. Store in airtight jars in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To serve, reheat gently. (SWEET! I can make this AHEAD of time! Awesome.)

Per serving: calories: 3.... nevermind!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Tis the Season to... ORGANIZE!

Okay, Christmas Day is nearly over (that's another blog on it's own-- later, later). It's time to make a plan. Let's organize!

Today, I was "tied up" (pumping) and looking through a magazine. The cover says, "Get Organized! 50+ ways to --Pare Down, Cut Clutter, Store More" etc, etc, etc. Okay, this is it. This is the kick in the butt I need. So I started reading like a motivated little Tenessa does. Well, it seems now-a-days, you must read a magazine near a computer. They are FULL of web addresses that show awesome sites. These sites are wonderfully helpful. And one must visit them all, of course. So, what used to take about an hour of reading/browsing through a magazine, now takes days! :)

Here is a website that has inspired me at the 8th hour in the night: Perfect Box Instructions. Now I'm sure you are wondering what I'm going to do with "perfect sized boxes". Well, I don't know. BUT! I can do so much! I was thinking for starters, I would organize my junk drawer. I need to clean it out and keep only what I need in there (who needs 50 gazillion magnets anyhow?) and make little dividers. I also want to make boxes for McCoy's socks, slippers and shoes for his hanging basket holder in his closet. And maybe my own socks. I won't be getting that fancy stuff though, I'm thinking cardboard will do and some strong glue-- maybe rubber cement or duco cement? We'll try it out and see what works. I have gobs of fabric that isn't being used. What better way to use my fun fabric?

Okay, sometimes my ambition is larger than life, but hey, we can always set goals. It's what keeps me entertained!

New's Years Resoltions. Coming soon!

Merry Christmas! (eve!)

It's such a busy time of the year. Add a baby on top of that, and good luck! I can't believe that I got done all my Christmas shopping, finish wrapping, baking, cooking and cleaning all before today (okay, the cleaning is not that great, but hey! "I HAVE A BBAAAAABBBBYYY") I even separated out the gifts into three piles-- pile for tonight's gifts, pile for tomorrow's gifts (my family) and one more for Saturday's gifts (Whit's family). I feel so organized! I even have a stocking for Mr. McCoy. Yep, that's right, handmade (mostly by my mom, but I ironed on his name-- that counts for something!) Here it is 1:55, and I just need to pack up McCoy and have make Whit load up the car, and leave by 3:45. That's right, I have almost TWO hours to spare. Go me, again!

Last night, we went to Pat's house for dinner. You will never guess who showed up? SANTA! I guess he was taking the reindeer out for a spin or a practice run or something, but he stopped by Pat's house and saw Peyton, Parker and McCoy. He even had gifts for us all!




Here are a few pictures of my Christmas tree, fire place, and stockings!







Merry Christmas!!

The Joys of Baking

I love Christmas! I have spent so many countless hours in the kitchen, baking up lovely treats during this time of year. I took McCoy to daycare today, went to the commissary to get 6 boxes of butter, two pounds of sugars, flour and a "baking to do" list. I plan on making treat boxes for the families (Whit's family) and bringing over dessert to our dinner party tomorrow night. For our New Year's Eve party, I'm bringing over dessert as well... I can sort of cook, but man I LOVE to bake!

Today's agenda:

Homemade Toffee
Butter Mint Cookies
Ranger Cookies

Pictures to follow.

***Update: 10:50 pm-- Holy Moly! I got everything done on that list! Whoo-hoo!


Toffee before it's cut into pieces:


Butter Mint Cookies: (yum! These are so good!)


Ranger Cookies: (I've never made these before, but they have corn flakes, coconut, and oatmeal in them... weird)


I forgot to mention, I also made Fudge Meltaways for tomorrow night's dinner! Go me!