Joey's Joyful Journey: December 2014

We are knee-deep into the Christmas season and the calendar is filling up quickly. I used to be a very social person, but after the death of my Mom, I became introverted and would much rather spend time in my cozy home with my family. This is one time of year I do enjoy getting out and socializing, enjoying the joy and wonder the Christmas season brings. The next three weeks will bring lots of these festivities, but this weekend happened to be free of any social obligations and we decided, as a family, to spend this whole weekend enjoying our festively decorated home and spending time with each other. We dubbed it the First Annual Crossgrove Family Lock-Down and have enjoyed every minute of it.

After school on Friday, we completed several errands around town, then met at Pizza Hut for a quick and easy dinner. When we got home, we conquered our weekend chores in just a few short hours--did several loads of laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, swept the floor and sent off a book order for my kiddos, to name a few. At 7:30, we finally sat down together to watch Maleficent and a Christmas movie. The rest of the weekend we slept late, wrapped presents, watched more movies, read, napped, did some online shopping, cooked together and enjoyed the opportunity to just do nothing. We made sure to leave the housework for later, made no trips to town and tried to have limited screen time. Were we always in the same room together? No. This weekend was also about resting and recharging for the busy weeks ahead, so quiet time in our chosen rooms was also cherished. Plus, Sunday is football day and my fantasy football lover HAD to watch his games. :)

I am hoping this becomes an annual Christmas tradition, but my dream is for this to become a monthly tradition. How nice would it be to devote one weekend a month to our home and family. A special time set aside to continue traditions and create memories for years to come. Spending time with our family is the most important gift we can give ourselves and the ones we love.

When we are snuggled in our cozy home, I always feel the need to cook, so I made Pioneer Woman Breakfast Quesadillas for brunch on Saturday morning. Maddie and I had them again on Sunday morning using the leftover filling. You can find the recipe here

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/04/breakfast-quesadillas/

We love snack night and one of our favorite things to make as a family are soft pretzels. I am the *boiler* and Roger and Maddie form the rods and nuggets. We use the Simply Homemade Pretzel Creations mix from Fleischmann's. We also made my bestie's *big croutons.* Slice your choice of bread into large cubes, spread out on cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with your choice of spices. I used Everything French bread from Walmart and a sprinkling of sea salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Bake at 400 until brown and crusty. Serve with melted butter and some good ole Velveeta & Ro-tel for dipping.

I hope you are creating some new Christmas traditions, while keeping the old ones alive. I would love to hear what your plans are this festive holiday season.

Joyfully yours,

Joey

Christmas decorating happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving in our home. No Black Friday for us, just lots and lots of cleaning and decking the halls. My most favorite thing to do during the holiday season is to lay in my chair with the lights off and enjoy my tree. Here is a little tour of our holiday home.