Holiday Fun with Kids: Cutting Out Sugar Cookies

One of my favorite holiday traditions is cutting out sugar cookies with family. I can remember making cookies and gingerbread houses with my mom and grandmas as a little girl, and now it is fun to make them with my own kids. So I really wanted to make sugar cookies when my parents came to visit for Thanksgiving. I think everyone had a lot of fun. I found a great recipe, and the boys had fun cutting out cookies for a while. We used all the shapes we had, mainly shapes from their shape sorter toy that we thoroughly washed first. Grandpa John even got really creative cutting out Christmas Tree shapes free hand.

DIY Sugar Cookies

We made this sugar cookies when the grandparents were here. It was a lot of fun, and this is a great sugar cookie recipe. I am pretty sure it was the real butter that made them the best sugar cookies ever, but the original recipe said to use margarine, so you can use that if you prefer. I also added Grandma Shirley's secret sugar cookie ingredient (nutmeg) which rounds out the flavors nicely.

Homemade Roll Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp nutmeg

1. Cream together butter and sugar.
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Add dry ingredients, incorporating flour about 1 cup at a time.
4. Chill in the refrigerator a couple of hours or overnight. I did find that with all real butter though I had to let the dough soften up a bit after chilling it overnight.
5. Roll small sections of dough at a time to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Bake at 400F for 6-8 minutes, until edges just begin to brown.
7. Remove from cookie sheets immediately, and cool on wire racks or clean counter top.

DIY Stocking Stuffers: Chocolate Covered spoons

I started filling the boys stockings on December 1st and let them open one present each night until Christmas Day, when they can open the rest of their presents. So I've already been working on small treats for them. These small chocolate covered spoons are a great tiny chocolate treat for little kids who love to lick the spoon. They are also great to include in a gift basket with coffee or hot chocolate, as chocolate stirring spoons that add extra richness to the drink. If you could find inexpensive mismatched teaspoons at a second hand store that might be a beautiful non-plastic option for drink stirrers, if you are worried about plastic leaching into the hot drink.

To make these, you simply melt some chocolate, dip the end of the teaspoon in, and let dry on a baking pan on parchment paper before wrapping in cellophane or plastic wrap and tying with a pretty twist tie, ribbon, or string.

DIY Christmas Decorations: Jar Candle Luminaries

When we moved around the world by airplane, we decided not to pack non-essentials, like our Christmas decorations. So this year, I have been having fun making our own Christmas decorations with things we already have, items we found, and things from nature. My goal is to have a few simple, beautiful Christmas decorations to decorate our house with for free. I used recycled jars, re-purposed ribbon, broken tile we found and washed, an tea light candles I already had to put together some festive candle luminaries.

Homemade Jar Candle Luminaries

• Clean Glass Jars
• Non-flammable decorative filler for the bottom (tiles, marbles, sand, Epsom salts, etc.)
• Candles (tea lights or votives, small holders optional)
• Ribbon
• Extra embellishments to tie on (optional)

Fill the bottom of the jar to the height you desire, and then place the candle inside. Tie a ribbon around the outside of the jar, and add any extra embellishments you like.

 

 

DIY Christmas Decorations: Pine Cone "Chandelier"

When we moved around the world by airplane, we decided not to pack non-essentials, like our Christmas decorations. So this year, I have been having fun making our own Christmas decorations with things we already have, items we found, and things from nature. My goal is to have a few simple, beautiful Christmas decorations to decorate our house with for free. I have seen blog posts where people decorate their dining room lights with candy or other things, and I thought I try it with some pine cones that Nate and Aaron gathered for me.

Homemade Pine Cone "Chandelier"

• Pine cones
• Thread or fishing line

Simply cut lengths of thread or fishing line, tie one end to the pine cone, and then tie the other end to you light. Vary the height of the pine cones for visual interest.

We're not super fond of the actual light fixture here, but it is functional, so we haven't bothered to replace it. But I really like how the pine cone look in our dining room though: simple, natural beauty. And Andrew (our soon to be two year old) loves it too. He keeps saying, "Cone, cone, pretty."

Mandarin Mondays: 再见

My parents came for about two weeks, and we had a great visit together. We were very busy and did lots of fun things that I'll write more about soon. But the one thing that is always hard is saying "goodbye" at the end of the visit, and I've been thinking I should learn a lesson from the Chinese on this one. Perhaps instead of saying "goodbye" we should all learn to say as the Chinese do "zài jiàn" (再见). Literally this means "again see." Saying "until we see you again" seems more positive to me.

So, remember how much we love you (wǒmen ài nǐ, 我们爱你), and we will see you again (zài jiàn, 再见) soon, even if it is just on Skype for a little while.

Mandarin Mondays: 石林

On Sunday, we took a little site seeing trip to see the Stone Forest (Shílín, 石林). Here are a couple of pictures of this cool place that is about an hour and a half outside of the city.

Family Fridays (a few days late): The Grandparents are Here!!!

I haven't posted for a few days because the Grandparents are here! They did arrive safe and sound on Friday though, and we've been having lots of fun ever since. Shortly after they arrived, they were reading books to the grandsons again. The night they arrived turned into an early Christmas celebration. The boys got tons of Thomas things at once. They were so excited about all their new Thomas clothes they wanted to wear them all at once. Aaron even donned an extra pair of underwear on the outside of his pants for good measure.

DIY Christmas Gift Ideas: I Love Grandma Button Apron

The year of Aaron's first Christmas, I made these simple aprons for grandma gifts. They are pretty similar to these tote bags. I simply used an apron that I already had as a pattern and cut two pieces of fabric for the body. I sewed the right sides together, leaving a small opening for turning, turned it right-side-out and top-stitched around the apron. I made simple ties and a head strap out of lace, ribbon, or fabric pieces sewn together, again using the apron I already had a a guide for the length. I sewed these onto the body of the apron after it was completed, but you could also position them before you sew the body and sew them into the seams (like with the straps on this baby carrier). To decorate, I printed out the phrase "I Love Grandma" (or "mom," or "great grandma," etc.) on fabric transfer paper (remember to do it in reverse) and ironed it on.  Last, I sewed on three buttons in the shape of a heart for decoration. These were well received handmade gifts that were fairly quick to make.

Mandarin Mondays: 洗手间

We're so excited that my parents are coming for a visit really soon. They'll be here on Friday! They are spending a couple of days first touring famous sites on their own, so we sent them some phrases we thought would be useful to know. Nate made a pronunciation guide for each one trying to approximate how you would normally read it in English as much as possible. Since Chinese pinyin uses English letters as a phonetic guide (but certain letters are often pronounced quite differently) this will give you a better idea how these words are supposed to sound. We thought we'd share it with everyone in case you'll be traveling soon and want to impress someone or teach your mouth some new tricks. If you are ever coming for a visit or planning to tour China, at least learn the first one. Even if you don't like their bathrooms (xǐshǒujiān, 洗手间) because of the squatty potties, it's better than the sidewalk. You'll thank me later.

Useful Mandarin Phrases

"Where is the bathroom?"
she show jen zai na lee
洗手间在那里

"Where is this place?"
jigga dee fang zai na lee
这个地方在那里

"Excuse me, can I ask you a question?"
ching when
请问

"How much does this cost?"
doe-a shaow ch-yen
多少钱

"That is too expensive!"
tai g-way la
太贵了

"Can you make it cheaper?"
pi-yen e di-yen
便宜一点

"I want the police!"
woa yaow jing cha
我要警察

The last one was by special request; I've never had to use it.