grandma's chuckles - It Would Be Wonderful to Have Four Cookie Jars Filled with Cookies!

Yesterday was Bake Cookies Day and reminded me of a busy cookie-baking day at this grandma's house a few years ago. On this particular day before my grands arrived for a visit, I made Peanut-butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies and put them in my photo cookie jar. When they arrived we made Snicker-doodle-Sprinkles cookies and my youngest grand thought they should go in my penguin cookie jar.

Countdown-to-Christmas Caroling - O Come, O Come Emmanuel - the Piano Guys

Today I'm sharing another Christmas Carol! Emmanuel means God with us; and this is why Jesus came . . . to be with us! This is why we celebrate Christmas. When I hear the song, O Come, O Come Emmanuel I think about what it would be like if we were still waiting for Him to appear and I rejoice in knowing He has come and we can know Him because He is with us!

Today is Bake Cookies Day

Today, according to daysoftheyear dot com is, Bake Cookies Day, so if ever there was a day to gather your eggs, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats - or whatever your favorite cookie ingredients may be, so you are able to bake cookies, well, certainly today is the day!

Of course, it is fun to look at cookie trivia on this day, so, did you know - 

Today is National Maple Syrup Day!

When I talk about maple syrup, I'm not referring to the bottled imitation maple syrup we typically find in the stores, but the real, 100% pure, maple syrup - the really good stuff! I grew up with the fake stuff, thinking it was real and using it on waffles and pancakes, but the real maple syrup is good for so much more! Let's look at some interesting facts about Maple Syrup - did you know . . . 

My Christmas Carol for Today - Christmas this Year!

I thought I'd share a Christmas Carol with you today - it is sure to get your toes tapping . . . enjoy this Toby Mac song, Christmas This Year! Join in and, "For Christmas this year/  Gonna make a sound gonna make it loud/  We're gonna make some noise let the world rejoice/ for ChristMas this year", because, "God is coming near/  unto us a savior's born/  on a midnight clear!" Look at the lyrics - (and the video you will find at this link - I used with because it is so fun - just like this song! Enjoy!!)

No-Knead Artisan Bread!

I just discovered the joy of making no-knead Artisan Bread - it is SO easy and a fantastic way to bless your family with homemade bread! You just mix the ingredients - and you do not need a mixer to do it, just stir them together - let rise in a warm place for three hours, turn onto a floured wax paper and fold over a few times, put in the oven and in 30 minutes you have some wonderful bread!

Hats!

One year when my grands were younger I was busy making hats for them for Christmas! I made   Agent Perry hats  for them and Minion hats! I made the Minions with one eye because my grands said the one-eyed minions are more fun! I love making simple things like hats because they are fun, inexpensive, and a way to give an extra gift - just takes some yarn and a bit of time!

Make This a Christmas/Winter to . . . Read

Christmas is just around the corner, which means Christmas break is nearly upon us - and for many this also means many days of cold, snowy weather which often keeps us inside, so if you are thinking about  making this a time to read to and with the children you love, you may wonder what books are out there - I am happy to share a few great titles with you which you may want to include in your Christmas/Winter Reading List. Of course, I'd include my books - A Family of Her Own for Candy  and The Little Ginormous, Humongous, Hairy, One-Eyed Monster Boy's  Adventures!, but the following are a few of my favorites. Let's start with books for preschool and early elementary age children.

Today is National Cupcake Day!

Yes, today is National Cupcake Day! Nationaltoday dot com says this is the day, "to commemorate these compact yet delectable sweets." So, let's begin our celebrating with some cupcake fun facts - did you know . . . 

Tomorrow is International Tea Day

While I am not a big fan of hot tea, I do enjoy iced blueberry, green tea all year long, so a day to celebrate tea sounds like a good idea to me. Tea, of course has been around for a very long time, so a great way to celebrate tomorrow - along with drinking some tasty tea - is to learn some interesting facts about tea - did you know . . . 

crafting with grandma - Fun, Excellent & Inexpensive Gifts - Easy Christmas Ornaments!

It is reasonably safe to say by now I've established I LOVE Christmas! It is also reasonably safe to say you all likely know I enjoy making ornaments . . . and if there is a snowman involved I will be very happy! So, when I was browsing on Pinterest and saw some cute, easy ornaments with snowmen options, well . . . I had to share them with you!

Today is National Cocoa Day!

Today is National Cocoa Day so I thought I'd share some fun cocoa facts with you. Did you know . . .

• Long before people nibbled on bars and brownies, chocolate was consumed in liquid form. Historians credit the Olmec civilization of southern Mexico as being the first to roast the fruit from the cacao tree, then grind it down and mix it with water and other ingredients. Archaeologists have discovered Olmec pottery with trace amounts of chocolate dating back to around 1700 BCE.

Today is National Ice Cream Day!

By the way, did you know today is National Ice Cream Day?! I do enjoy a nice bowl of ice cream, but since I've been focused on losing weight (I've lost 100lbs since the start of 2020!), I rarely eat this sweet treat. I have found, however; sorbetto on a stick - especially the mini-size only has 50 calories per serving! Hooray! 

But back to ice cream - let's look at some ice cream fun facts - did you know . . .

Today is National Poinsettia Day

Yes, while Poinsettias are a beautiful plant and something which brightens any day, today is the day to especially appreciate and celebrate them. I would love to have Poinsettias at my house, but I have the black thumbs of death and have been grounded forever by my grown children and grandchildren from every having plants again - they all say I am "cruel and unusual punishment - for the plants." So, instead I very happily enjoy Poinsettias at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park as they have so many of them as part of their Holiday Traditions exhibit! I'm happy to share with you some really interesting facts about Poinsettias - did you know . . .