Suzanne's Secret Hideaway

Today: Mostly sunny in the morning then becoming partly sunny. Breezy. Highs in the lower 30s. West winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the northwest 15 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows around 17. West winds 10 to 15 mph. Christmas Eve: Mostly sunny. Highs around 40. Southwest winds around 10 mph. Evening: Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of light snow in the evening...then a chance of light snow after midnight. Lows around 20. Southwest winds around 10 mph shifting to the northwest after midnight. Chance of snow 30 percent. Christmas: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of light snow. Highs in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph.

Thankfully Montana was able to go to school on Wednesday. No one else has gotten sick! WOOHOO!! I baked some Gingerbread Friday - it's okay. Not sure I will make it again. It's that recipe from my last post. I made Puppy Chow for Adelina's 2nd Grade party AKA Chex® Muddy Buddies® . First time I ever made it, but it really was easy and yummy. I ended up altering the recipe after the third batch. It took the first two for Adelina's party. Here is the recipe:

9 cups Chex® cereal (any variety) ~ I used a little wheat chex and the rest rice chex
1- 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup of butter or margarine
1 cup of peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
3 cups of powdered sugar

Preparation Directions:
Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.In 1-quart microwavable bowl, stir together chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag or a large paper sack .Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator
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I am still waiting for a few items to get here in the mail for Christmas! Ughhh - my luck they won't get here in time. At least the "Santa" gifts are all here. I can always tell them they have another gift coming from me if I have to. I already stuffed the stockings, lol. The three oldest kids went with their Dad until Christmas morning and Ariana is 2 - she has no clue yet, so I figured why not. One thing I won't have to do on Christmas Eve! I am going to bake some more over the weekend. I want to make some peanut butter blossoms and maybe some peppermint patties. I made two loaves of pumpkin bread on Friday, but I want to make some more and freeze them. I like to do that so when I am craving something sweet homebaked, it's already made! I don't need to make so many sweets, but I guess I am in the mood with the holidays. There won't be a lot of people at my parent's house and we arent' going to hubbie's families, but this way I will have lots of fattening yummies here and some to take to my parent's house.

I better go. Ariana just woke up and we have to run to the store and get a few things! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

10:10
Tonight: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows around 19. Southwest winds around 10 mph. Wednesday: Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 40s. South winds around 10 mph in the morning becoming light.

I haven't been able to go to town and finish up with the odds and ends I need to do for the holidays. I need to check Mom's mail, print some things on her computer (my printer hasn't been replaced yet - after Christmas I will get one - have to decide which brand), pick up some of the food she wants for Christmas day, and wrap some presents for her. I also need a few groceries and a couple stocking stuffers. Montana had to be picked up from school Monday due to not feeling well - sick to his stomach. Well he ended up with the yucky diahrea for the past two days. Adelina had the one day a few weeks ago and missed school. Ariana has a cold now. Darn sickos

I need to make a treat for Adelina's 2nd Grade Class Christmas party Friday. They said no cupcakes because they are too messy. I was thinking I might make goodie bags of treats. I made some Chocolate mint candy yesterday. I need to make some cookies. I don't know - I am looking online for some ideas. Maybe some snowballs and peanut butter blossoms. Of course I probably should make something cute. I still can't believe it's almost Christmas already!

My husband brought home this insert from a newspaper at work - its called Relish Magazine. http://www.relishmag.com/ There is a lot of useful food and cooking info, as well as recipes. I thought that this recipe called Elsie's Gingerbread sounded really good - Click here to see it. I have been really trying to make new things. I think I was getting too boring - too predictable and I want to spice things up a bit, lol. Planning meals for the six of us gets to be hard. I plan meals for 2 weeks at a time, and have to spend as little as possible. I keep trying to find new recipes and sneak more healthy ingredients in. I use Taste Of Home recipes a lot of the time. I use the Simple and Delicious the most.

I put up all the wonderful gifts and awards everyone has given me. Visit my Winter Wonderland, Christmas Cottage, and New Years Celebration pages. The links are to the right on my sitemap. Thanks everyone!

I better get to bed. Ariana fell asleep an hour ago. I am exhausted. If I don't get a chance to post again, Merry Christmas to everyone. May you have a wonderful time with those you love!

Peace on earth will come to stay,
When we live Christmas every day.

1:15
Today: Sunny. Highs in the lower 20s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 9. West winds around 10 mph. Friday: Sunny. Not as cold. Highs in the mid 30s. West winds 10 to 15 mph.

We got more snow - maybe an inch or so. We are walking in a Winter Wonderland, lol. I took a pic - I should have taken one when the storm first hit on Monday. Here is one from my front step this morning.

I picked up Good Housekeeping's quick & simple (magazine) and I like it a lot. Here's the link to the website http://www.quickandsimple.com. Here are a few interesting items I came acrossed:

I use Folger's Coffee - if you do, and hate to toss the containers away - seems so wasteful (we keep them and use them for different things) then check this out http://www.folgers.com/coffees/holiday-canister/index.shtml You can created a holiday gift container by printing any of the templates at that link and sticking them to the container after printing and cutting the pictures out. It's really a great idea! I wish I had found this before. It's a great way to recycle these containers and save the environment too.

A place to buy and sell all things handmade http://www.etsy.com/! Looks like there are a lot of unique items.

I am pretty well done with Christmas. I am waiting on a few things I ordered, but all in all I am done. Now I am going through my lists for each child to see that I have the exact same number of gifts for each. I may not always spend the exact same amount, but I do always give them the same number. Then it looks like everyone is equal. I have a few gifts to wrap. Mom and Dad went to Colorado yesterday and they are off to Vegas Sunday. I told Mom I would take care of the cat, get their mail and wrap the gifts she has so far. I also sent out her Christmas cards - she always does things for me and I can't ever begin to repay her for it. She watches my kids whenever I need a sitter, she always does things to help out. She's the best Mom. They will be back on December 20. My baby brother and his girlfriend and their two boys will be out here next weekend. I'm unsure if my other brother and his wife will be coming. We rarely see them sadly. It will be sad without Grandma. My three oldest kids will get out of school on Friday, December 21 at 1 pm for Christmas break and go back to school January 8. They will stay with their Dad the 21st through Christmas morning. Then they will come home, we will open gifts, then go to Mom and Dad's for the day. Mom and I are planning on brunch - This skillet meal with eggs and bacon, mini bagels, this apple salad I make and some other fruit. For dinner we will have Prime Rib, baked potatoes and this pizza salad I make. Yummy! We thought we would do something different this year. I have all kinds of ingredients to bake yummies. I just don't know if I will make everything. Sometimes my eyes and ideas are bigger than my stomach and my time, lol. I need to start posting some of the recipes I talk about. That's my goal for the coming year. Stop being in such a hurry and relax a bit more and take time to enjoy my blogging. I love it, just always seem to be in a hurry!

I better go. Time to get some housework done!

2:40
Today: Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of light snow after midnight. Lows around 12. Light winds becoming north around 10 mph after midnight. Friday: Cloudy with light snow likely. Snow accumulation around 2 inches. Highs in the lower 20s. East winds around 10 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

We have had some freezing weather. I'm not sure how much snow we had, but I would say probably 6 inches. It looks so pretty! I love it. I hung some lights in the kitchen and living room windows and around one of the trees outside. I have some yard decorations - the ones with stakes and I put those out. Santa, Reindeer, snowman, toy soldiers, candy cane - I love this time of year. I hope we skip more ice though. That is too much. I have all my Christmas cards and packages sent out. I received a bunch of cards from online ladies. It's so neat to see all the different cards. I have to hurry and do a few things before Ariana gets back up. I want to visit everyone tonight or tomorrow. I have to go grocery shopping too. So much to do all the time. Never enough free time! I posted my Friday Fun answers - the link is to the left. Have a great weekend!

8:45

Today: Today Not as cool. Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of light freezing rain and light sleet in the morning...then partly sunny in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 40s. South winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the north in the afternoon.
Tonight: Tonight Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of light snow... light sleet and light freezing rain after midnight. Lows in the mid 20s. Light winds.
Friday: Friday Colder. Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of light snow. Highs in the lower 30s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

We are in a winter weather advisory! It's cold. At least it will get to 40 today. I am working on getting my Christmas cards out. I have them all done, just need to add our family picture. My printer doesn't work, so I am going to Mom's today to print out labels for the backs of the pictures. I hate to write on all of them, so I have been printing the info for several years now. Otherwise, I have to write on tons of pictures. I am participating in the online Christmas Card Exchange and am very excited! I love getting mail and it will be so neat to see cards from all the online ladies, and also get mail besides bills! It will be a good way to be introduced to ladies I haven't really known online yet.

I am just about done with Christmas shopping. I have a few gifts left to get for the kids and a bit more stocking stuffers. Oh, and my brother's gifts which are easy - a Wal-Mart gift certificate for Franco and a Starbucks for Pietro, as well as something else for my new nephew! I got him a first Christmas ornament, but I want to get him something else. I am excited to see him for Christmas. He lives in Colorado, so I don't see him as often as I like. I need to do a little blog hopping. Hopefully tomorrow. I have to run to town today. I finally got some new graphics added to BackWoods Creations. I also got my holiday goodies out. If I didn't send them to you, please visit the link to the left and pick them up!

Ariana is up - I have to go. Time to get ready to head to town. Have a wonderful weekend!