Yay!! I just finished our Christmas card for this year!   I haven't done cards for three years, so I'm a little excited. Yes, I waited too long again, so my friends and family probably won't get them until after Christmas. These are just shots from my cell phone. I waited too long to get the photographer's pics. There's always next year!!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Post Christmas Baking

For the first time in over 15 years, I did not get around to my usual Christmas baking,  I LOVE cookies and counted a few years ago that I made 144 dozen of them.  I used to make about 7-8 different kinds and sometimes doubled and tripled the batters.  I would wrap them all up in pretty tissue papers and bows and hand out to co-workers, neighbors, friends, teachers, and whatever was left, we would eat. 

Since we were out of town for eight days over Thanksgiving, and started off with a busy first part of December, I had to give up many things on my list, and sadly, my cookie baking was one of them.  Part of me felt strange not making them, this was a tradition of ours.  But, on the other hand, it was a lot less stressful knowing I wouldn't be in the kitchen for days!!

Today was the last day of Christmas break with the kids, and a well deserved day spent in my jammies.  Now that the Christmas rush is through, and I had time on my hands today, I got the baking bug!  I was craving some sugary, and buttery goodness and thought of a recipe from my sister-in-law's mom I received last year.  The moment I tried these melt-in-your-mouth goodies, I knew I had to make them.

Super Sugar Cookies

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup butter flavored Crisco

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon almond extract

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

Combine oil, Crisco, and sugars.  Beat until creamy.  Add beaten eggs, and almond extract, beat together.  Combine flour, salt, soda, and cream of tartar.  Add flour mixture gradually.  Refrigerate dough for at least two hours.  Make walnut sized balls, and roll in sugar.  Place on cookie sheet.  Flatten with bottom of glass with sugar coating.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.



Mmm, mmm, mmmmm!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve is already here!  How??  Yes, I will be out shopping today for some last minute gifts.  Call me crazy, it usually happens every year!!  I learned thought from previous Christmases to not save all the wrapping for today.  I do not want to spend my Christmas Eve wrapping all night. 

What are your Christmas Eve traditions?  We have always spent the night at my parent's house on Christmas Eve after church.  Before we had kids, we usually went to dinner after, watched Christmas Vacation and played games.  With way too many kids amongst my sister and I, it's not so easy to do that anymore.  Now, my mom makes chili and we spend time together watching the kids play and talking.  We have not spent Christmas Eve or Christmas morning at our house.  We ask the kids every year if they want Santa to come to their house and they say no, Coach and Grammy's house is way more fun since there are a lot of people there.  That is the tradition they remember and how they want it to be, so I guess it's not changing!

For the past month, I have taken Christmas pictures for many friends for their Christmas cards.  Yesterday, it was my turn to take pictures of my kids.  We had a fun little photo shoot and here are some of their pictures.

Enjoy your traditions with your family and friends on this Christmas Eve! 

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A little holiday baking

When the kids are out of school, one of the things we always do is some baking. Yesterday, we made something besides our usual cookies - we made Cracker Candy. Have you ever had it? It is so yummy, buttery and rich. When I worked at HP, one of my co-workers brought it in around Christmas time and I couldn't get enough of it!! It tastes much like toffee, one of my favorites! Since Blake is allergic to pecans, we could only have them on one little portion of the pan. It's super easy to make, even Brody had fun helping and licking the spoon.

Here's the recipe:

40 saltines/sleeve of saltine crackers
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
1 cup of brown sugar
1 (16oz) package of chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a layer of foil in an 11x16 inch pan and layer crackers over foil. In saucepan, bring butter and sugar to a boil (this smells divine)! Boil for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers. Bake 5 minutes or until crackers float. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over top of crackers. When melted, spread chips and sprinkle nuts on tops. Cut into bars when cool.

The Last Day of School for 2010

The last day of school before Christmas vacation begins is always a blast.  I have the best memories of my Christmas parties at school.  They were so much fun.  We made handmade crafts and got to eat sugar cookies brought in by the homeroom moms that they baked at home.  We would never hear of that today.  Everything today has to be pre-packaged and they are now called Winter/Holiday Parties-boohoo, I can't stand that!! 

I still have some of the little crafts we made at school.  In first grade, the homeroom mom made tick tac toe boards out of felt and in another grade, we got felt Christmas trees full of 25 peppermints.  Each day we got to take a mint off so we knew how many more days til Christmas.  One year, I made the cutest cookie jar for my mom and I remember getting off the bus with my big bag of goodies to bring home.  I forgot about my cookie jar and swung the bag in the air upside down and out came the jar and it broke all over the ground.  I ran home and cried and cried because I broke the special gift I worked so hard on for my mom.

I love all the handmade gifts the kids make for us.  Especially the little ornaments with their faces, feet and handprints.  We even have a special tree for all their handmade projects.  They are priceless.  Each year, it's amazing to see how they have grown!  This year, I love this little hand and feet reindeer painting that Brody did...

At Blake's school, they have an annual tradition where all the fifth graders create floats and parade around the school for all the other grades and teachers.  They let the kids be creative.  So, Blake and his friend Josh worked together on their float using stuff we had around the house.  They worked so hard and used Brody's wagon to put it all together.

This morning getting the float to school.

Santa leads the way to kickoff the parade!

Blake's Christmas Parade - December 17, 2010 from Shannon Fortunato on Vimeo.

Blake and his friend Josh-he sat on the back of the wagon handing out candy canes.

Santa made a visit to First Grade!

Sydney and her teacher Mrs. Burson

Syd making a snowman on a stick

Today was Blake's last elemantary school Christmas party.  Yes, I got teary-eyed knowing that this stuff won't be considered fun to him anymore in the coming years!!

My only hope is they remember these fun times and these will be lasting memories when they are older.

And now -  the CrAzInEsS of Christmas Break begins!!!!

Has it already been a month since Christmas?

Wow, the month of January has flown by.  Christmas was one month ago today, already!  Well, since I didn't do much blogging in the month of December, I thought I would post some pictures from Christmas!  Since having Brody right before Christmas, it has taught me to slow down.  That's what I wanted to do again.  We had fun painting and decorating our own ornaments, making clove oranges, decorating the gingerbread house, watching Christmas movies and traditional specials like the Grinch, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and all the movies on ABC Family, hopping into the car and going to look at Christmas lights...  We loved spending extra time with the family.  The kids were so excited to play with Madison and Faith since they don't see them all the time.  Only 333 more days til next Christmas! 

We kicked off the Christmas season with Grammy and the girls and saw The Nutcracker!

We enjoyed our annual family tradition of going to Santa's Wonderland with the whole family.  The lights are amazing!

I loooove cookies and  baked 22 dozen for friends, neighbors and teachers.  This was my first time making these yummy potato chip cookies.  Click here for the recipe, they are taste-eeee!!!  Next year I want to host a cookie exchange party.

Sydney helping me make sugar cookie cutouts

The kids loved assembling their gingerbread house and eating all the candy too!

Sydney's paper about Santa

Brody, the Christmas Elf, I had to snap this quick before he took the hat off!

Our Christmas Card

Brody loooved the Christmas lights!

Our un-official Christmas picture, with the craziness of it all, I didn't get one just of the kids in their Christmas outfits.

Uncle Mike and Aunt Christina

My Boys on the way to church.

Snow after church, it was so windy and freezing outside!!

Sydney and Alexa

Blake was excited to get his first $100 bill from Coachee!!

Little Elf

Our Family, we missed you Kirk!!

Paula Deen's Cinnamon Rolls

I loooove Paula Deen!!  I adore her accent, her stories, how she loves her family, how she loves butter and how she makes really good (bad for you food)!!  I watched one of her shows early last year and she had a friend on and they were making these awesome looking cinnamon rolls.  I knew right away that I wanted to make them for Christmas morning along with mom's traditional sausage breakfast casserole.  So, I made up two batches on Christmas Eve and used cream cheese on one of them.  They were a hit!!  Very rich, warm and gooey, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!!  Knowing it would be so cold this weekend, I decided to make them again.  They are just so good and I don't even want to know how many calories or fat are in each one!!   Here's the recipe, you have to try it.  I know it's so much easier throwing the Pillsbury ones in, but these are to die for and super easy to make, it just takes some time and you have to make them the day before.  Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk (I just put the milk in the microwave til it starts to bubble)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough (this part is messy when you get your hands all in it)!!  Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices with a sharp knife.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. I stick them in the fridge at this point and then the next morning, bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Pure heaven!!

My Little Clark Griswald Jr.

One day after school last week, Blake hit the great outdoors to figure out how he could change up his light display.  He gets so excited each year at Christmas to get the boxes of lights down.  Blake does the entire yard himself, with a little help from his Daddy.  He worked for three long hours up in the tree winding and unwinding the lights.  He got up and down from the ladder, came in and out of the house to come get me.  He climbed back up the tree and did the final plug in.  After all the hours spend, the mid section of lights did not work.  Oh little Clark Jr. was not too happy.  He begged us to take him to get new lights even though it was too late to work on it.  After many more hours up in the tree, we did the drum roll and they all worked!

Climbing up in the tree!

Mapping out the strategy!

How, why did this happen?  Mid-section doesn't work!

Could this be the culprit?  Blake's most favorite person of all!  She secretly climbed up the ladder when Blake wasn't looking!