Christmas...and a Bacon & Egg Wreath {recipe}

Merry Christmas, from our home to yours!  

We had a fantastic time on Christmas Eve, first having a fantastic dinner with family & new friends, and then off to the Service at Church. 

My dad actually bought Imani her Christmas dress, can you believe it? Thank you again, daddy. She looked beautiful {that flower on her dress was a little project I made...tutorial coming soon}

Christmas morning, Ezekiel read out of the Read & Share Toddler Bible so the Christmas Story would come more alive for the little ones {The Beginner's Bible is also EXCELLENT for younger kids}. He did such a great job, it's fun to hear him read...shocking he didn't even speak english a few months ago!

I usually make Eggs Benedict on Christmas morning, but to be honest, I just didn't have it in me. 

So I found this recipe and am in LOVE! 

It seriously took me 5 minutes to put together and 17 minutes later, 

we were enjoying an amazing egg, bacon & cheese pastry! 

I found the recipe here. She calls it a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Wreath {which is quite appropriate for Christmas anyway}. The above photo I snagged from her blog because I forgot to take one. 

The below is my plate before I hungrily consumed it! 

Tired little Imani clapped every time someone opened a gift. Precious.

Another example of the box being more fun than the actual gift.

While the younger two were napping, we walked across the street to the park so Anton & Ezekiel could practice their skiing {how many kids get to do that?!}. 

They decided to try a jump that some kids had made for their sleds. It took them a few tries, but pretty soon they zoomed right over it & flew into the air!

Not sure how well you can see this, but Ezekiel is a few feet off the ground. 

After dinner, we had a Birthday Party for Jesus. Red velvet cake with vanilla frosting. I rounded up all the uneaten Candy Canes and chopped them up to add to the filling and top of the cake.  I usually use sparklers on top rather than candles but couldn't find any this year & I had waited too long to go online. 

It's really cute how into it they got. Even Imani.

Imani gave us a special gift right before bedtime...she walked! 

At almost 18 months, Imani has had next to no interest in the whole thing 

{which is weird for us since Anton & Laith walked before they turned one}. 

But here she is. Proudly standing. She'd take 4 or 5 steps, stop to dance & shake her booty, and then take another 4 or 5 into the arms of whoever was cheering her on the loudest. 

What a great way to end a very special day!

Ahhh yes. These are my children. Can't you just hear the chaos?! ; )

Merry Christmas, hope yours was as much of a blessing as ours.

TERESA

Last Minute Christmas Table & Placecards {tutorial}

We're going to have a full house for tonight's Christmas Eve dinner and mid-day yesterday I realized, 

"What am I going to do with the table??" 

Any of you that know me, know my favorite part of having guests over is the decorating!

I enlisted help from the boys before bed last night and when they woke up this morning {when it was still dark out...sigh}, Anton's first words to me were {in a whisper} 

"Can we work on the napkins now, mom?" Sweet buddy. He loves my projects as much as I do.

So here are some pics to help inspire you to grab things around your house to make a cute table, and a quick little tutorial on the tags I used as place cards. 

I promise, you can do this quick...in time for dinner tonight!

How cute are these? I found these printable gift tags at Jones Design Company but click here from my post about Kid's Money Jars for more cute printable tags.

Simply cut out the printable gift tags {or grab ones you have on hand}

I like the look of the hole reinforcers, and since that along with the hole punch are Anton's favorite part, he was assigned that task.

{and yes, he has a rudolf nose. He won't let me wash it off from this.}

Have you seen this chalking technique before? 

It's one of my favorites for scrap booking, and really anything crafty that's paper related. It's basically just a smaller stamp pad that you run along the edge of paper to make it look more antiqued. 

For this project, Ezekiel used the charcoal and brown colors together.

I then found a glue stick from the kid's art bin and rubbed it along the edges where Ezekiel just chalked, tapping the wet-glued sides into glitter {I loooove Martha Stewart's glitter}

This is what Laith was doing during our little project. 

He was obviously only interested in going on an adventure.

And here is sweet little Imani...I can't wait 'till she's old enough to help me with my projects too!

Anton & Ezekiel did such a great job tying everything together

I like how this looks, but thought it was missing something...so I went outside and snipped a couple sprigs from the evergreen in our front yard. I love the finished project!

I hate my lack of photography skills...it looks so much prettier in person

Grab things from around your house to place on the table, I love using my grandfather's old books from the 1800's {which is why I'm using led tea lights from Costco rather than ones that might get wax all over}. Look for anything with texture, sparkle, or even some rust. 

Or perhaps something with sentimental value, or history like some old family photos in silver frames.

Don't stick to just Christmas items...be creative!

merry christmas & happy birthday, Jesus!

TERESA

Crockpot Balsamic Pork Tenderloin & Oven Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts {recipe}

This is one of our family's favorite recipes, and is SO easy {I thrive on easy recipes these days}. The brussels sprout recipe was a new one as of last night...it's easily a favorite now, too!

Balsamic Pork Tenderloin {in the crockpot}

 I love that both recipes call for ingredients that you'll most likely already have in your pantry!

Ground sage, salt, pepper, water, and garlic {I used the pre-pressed kind from the organic fridge section found by the produce section at the grocery store}.

After combining the ingredients into a rub, simply put onto roast & place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water {don't pour it right on TOP of the roast though, as it'll obviously wash off the rub}

We have family in town so I've actually doubled this recipe. I typically put all the ingredients in around lunchtime or even mid-morning so the tenderloin just falls apart & shreds easily.

About 1 hour before the roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze into a small sauce pan.

Heat and stir until the mixture thickens.

Brush glaze 2-3 times during the last hour of cooking.

yum!

Ok, so some of you may have bad feelings about brussels sprouts. Maybe you grew up being made to eat them, all soggy and nasty. I PROMISE this recipe is not like that. The end product is lightly crisp on the outside and NOT mushy on the inside. Just try it. 

Just like the tenderloin recipe above, you most likely already have all the ingredients! Coat them all well, placing into a baking dish in a single layer.

Amazing. Seriously.

My best friend Kiesha opened up my mind {and palate} when she made a similar recipe for me a few years ago. I thought I didn't like them either.  

Believe it or not, my family fought over them last night! Next time I'll double the recipe for this, too.

We all went back for seconds...I think Ezekiel even had thirds

{recipe}

Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

. tenderloin .

. 1 {2 lb} boneless pork tenderloin {or regular pork loin}

. 1 teaspoon ground sage

. 1/2 teaspoon salt

. 1/4 teaspoon pepper

. 1 clove garlic, crushed

. 1/2 cup water

. glaze . 

. 1/2 cup brown sugar

. 1 tablespoon cornstarch {I use a little more than this}

. 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

. 1/2 cup water

. 2 tablespoons soy sauce

. directions . 

Combine sage, salt, pepper, & garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. 

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan.

Heat and stir until mixture thickens. 

Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

{recipe}

Oven Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts

. ingredients . 

. 2 lbs brussels sprouts, trimmed, & halved {quartered if large}, you can get 2 lb bags at Costco

. 5 cloves of garlic, minced fine or pressed through a garlic press

. 1/2 cup water

. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

. 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

. 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

. directions . 

Move oven rack to the upper third and preheat to 425 degrees

In a 9x13 inch baking dish, toss together brussels sprouts, garlic, water, oil, salt & pepper, and spread out in a single layer.

Bake for 40 minutes, tossing once about 25 minutes into cooking time. Remove from oven and toss brussels sprouts in the pan, scraping up brown bits into the sprouts.

Hope you enjoy this dinner as much as we did!!

TERESA