Christmas Break

Christmas break is one of my favorite times of the year. The college I go to gives us nearly 5 weeks off, so we've had plenty of time to spend with family and get some work done too. This is my last Christmas break - I graduate in May. Hooray!!! :) I'm ready to be done with school and at home hopefully long enough to finish a garden season, see the fall foliage, etc. In the meantime, my sister and I are enjoying the break before classes start up again. I've compiled a random assortment of activities from this break that will give you a small snapshot of our family's life.

1. Here's what I did as a Christmas present this year. I did a watercolor painting of our house and gave a print to each family member, framed. It was a nice gift that was fun to do and mostly only cost time rather than money.

2. We all love to visit the woods near our house. On Christmas day, most of us went for a long walk. We don't have snow to speak of, but there were a few good-sized patches of ice here and there. We spent most of our time sliding around, breaking holes in the ice and even sledding on it! Thankfully no one was hurt, though there were a couple spectacular wipeouts.

3. I attempted to capture "bokeh," which I understand is basically a pleasantly blurred background in a photo. This can be especially attractive with Christmas lights...obviously I need to keep working on this technique. :)

4. I annoyed the cat by taking flash photos - which is how you get the laser-eye effect. Try it - it's really fun! Have the person or animal stand some distance away in a fairly dark place. Then make sure they're looking at you while you snap the picture. This can lead to some hilariously spooky effects! :)

5. I made some ultra-spectacular Peanut Butter cake. You can get the recipe by looking at my previous post. (Try to ignore how many of my favorite recipes involve peanut butter!!!)

6. I ran the Nerf target-shooting booth at our church's New Year's Eve Fellowship. The targets were Haman, Pharoah, Jezebel and two others that I can't remember. We have some surprisingly good sharpshooters in our congregation! It was a time of great fun and fellowship! That's me with the wavy hair in the foreground, awaiting the next customer. The best game was "Speed Quest," which involved riding our chair lift. :)

7. Back to the ice! Some of us went on another walk and discovered that the little swamp in the woods was frozen over - complete with frozen tracks! We think they may be raccoon tracks, criss-crossed by dog pawprints. We skidded around on the ice for a while, and I stuck my foot through along the edge - twice! (Accidentally, I promise; that water is cold!) We've definitely proven many times over that you can have plenty of fun even when it's not snowy.

8. Finally, another peanut butter thing...this was part of my breakfast the other day. It's really easy - plop some peanut butter in a bowl, slice an apple, and dig in! Very yummy and (hopefully) more or less healthy. Another choice breakfast is a good old pb & j! :) We also made our favorite cookies yesterday, Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies - which, of course, rely heavily on peanut butter. We go through a lot of peanut butter in our house!

So overall it's been a pretty spectacular break. Of course, I've barely scratched the surface of describing everything we've done. I've played piano for church, cleaned houses, babysat, read some fiction (yay!!!) books, and helped haul firewood up to the porch. We squeezed reading a 200+ page story into the brief time my brother was home (he's visiting friends for the rest of break) and sat around with all the lights off throwing glow sticks at each other. You can't capture everything from break on film or in writing, but we've built some great memories. I love being home and am excited about another year to learn, grow and love God and my family more!

A Yummy One: Peanut Butter Cake

Here's a recipe that's worth checking out if you're a peanut butter fan! I got this from a Gooseberry Patch book and modified it very slightly. It's called the Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake. Here's the recipe (check your fridge for margarine/butter before starting this - the frosting calls for butter too!)

2 c all-purpose flour

2 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 c butter (I used margarine)

1 c water

1/4 creamy peanut butter

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c buttermilk (or make your own - a scant 1/2 c milk with 1 1/2 tsp vinegar, let sit 5 minutes)

Combine flour, sugar, salt and b. soda in a large bowl, set aside. Combine butter, water and peanut butter in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Add to flour mixture and mix well, set aside. Combine eggs, vanilla and buttermilk; add to peanut butter mixture. Spread into a greased 15"x 10" jelly-roll pan. (And sprinkle on a few chocolate chips if your little heart so desires!!!) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until it springs back when gently touched. Spread Peanut Butter Icing over warm cake. Makes 15-20 servings.

Peanut Butter Icing:

1/2 c butter

1/4 c creamy peanut butter

1/3 c plus 1 T milk

16 oz. pkg. powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine butter, peanut butter and milk in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar and vanilla to spreading consistency. (I ran out of powdered sugar and simply added more peanut butter to thicken it up - my Mom's idea. It worked!)

This recipe may take a little more work than some, but it definitely worthwhile - it's moist and rich and peanut-buttery. Enjoy!!!

I love this flower! It's late November (almost Thanksgiving!) in Wisconsin, and I only took this picture a few days ago. It's only just starting to wilt a little from the cold, even though we've been getting increasingly wintry weather for a couple weeks now. It comes up every year and always keeps blooming well into the fall. Look at those healthy green leaves!

I think the reason for its longevity is because it is so well sheltered. It's tucked right up against a building and has some other plants around it, so it's protected from the wind. The sun probably warms the bricks behind it.

This reminds me of the way God is a refuge for us. If we try to stand on our own, far from Him, we'll wilt in the cold and wind. But if we draw near to Him and seek refuge in Him, trusting Him to take care of us, we'll be sheltered from whatever life throws at us. We'll not just survive in our Christian walk, but thrive if we learn to take advantage of the unshakeable security that God offers His children!

"Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth." Ps. 57:1-3

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!