Christmas

We had a beautiful Christmas. It was a pleasure to see the joy on my children's faces as their piles of gifts grew larger. They are BLESSED. (My own biological children and the other 5 I have claimed with my heart :) ).

Bug was priceless, she was less about opening the presents and more excited as she started receiving her packages. The look of SHOCK and joy at getting a PACKAGE was so amazing.

The girls got lots of clothes (always needed and appreciated!! And they are fashionistas anyway so they LOVE it!!) FurReal puppies, Barbie quads, pink Legos, bean bag chairs, Tinkerbell dolls, Girly Little People, personalized coloring books and crayons, TONS of Littlest Pet Shop animals and accessories, several books, and much more. This was the stuff I can REMEMBER!! LOL

BFF and I are already discussing the four girls joint birthday party (since their birthdays are 5 days apart) and that since they LOVE their Littlest Pet Shop stuff SO much that we think their theme will be LPS. :)

Bug and Peanut's Daddy brought them an additional "gift" not really a Christmas gift but sort of, he has given us the Wii. EVERYONE in the house benefits from it though. BFF's DS's have been wanting a Wii so they are super excited about it.

I was very blessed this year as well. I was very disappointed that I was unable to find a gift for BFF, until at the last minute BFF tells me there is something she wants at one store. (she KNEW all the problems behind my "gift failure" this year). So she knew exactly what she was getting from me, but at least I KNEW she wanted it!!! :) In many ways this made me most happy of all. Because I'd had such bad luck trying to get her a gift. Went to order her gift and it was no longer available, went to buy the other part and it wasn't available in the color for HER, etc...

I myself did receive very thoughtful gifts. BFF got me some small notebook/journal type books. I had been wanting them for my purse and bible bag. She helps my girls pick out a great knitting book, some candy and AWESOME pajamas for me. BFF's mom and dad got me a nice work out/yoga set, my sister and her husband got me a dragonfly necklace with earrings and a monetary donation to my school fund :), BFF's DH got me a Saints Jersey personalized with my name! YAY!!! :) and my mom... well, I'm not at liberty to say just yet... I'll be able to spill the beans in a few more days. LOL And post pictures. :P

We enjoyed watching the kids play with all their new toys and games and watch a video, and we enjoyed a DELICIOUS prime rib dinner. We went to bed fairly early after a LONG day.

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and enjoyed celebrating the birth of Christ with their family and friends. :)

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

The last of KG's Holiday recipes! Another delicious concoction!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2 8oz cream cheese packages
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 15oz can Pumpkin puree
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanila extract
1 tbsp all purpose flour
2 graham cracker crusts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add the pumpkin and spices. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add salt and flour. Beat until creamy. Pour batter evenly into 2 graham cracker crusts.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until knife slide into center comes out clean. Let cool and top with cool whip or whipped cream.

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Pumpkin Roll

Another one of KG's favorite recipes!!

Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cream cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a jellyroll pan (large cookie sheet with sides).
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar,and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and ginger. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle pecans evenly on top, and press lightly into batter.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it springs back when touched. Loosen edges with a knife. Turn out on two dishtowels that have been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up cake, and let cool for about 20 minutes.

To Make Filling: Mix confectioners' sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.

Un-roll pumpkin cake when cool, and spread with filling. Re-roll, and push aside the dishtowel. Unroll long sheet of waxed paper. Put pumpkin roll on waxed paper. Dust pumpkin roll with powdered sugar. Twist ends of waxed paper like a piece of candy. Put pumpkin roll in refrigerator and chill overnight. Before slicing, dust with powdered sugar. Serve chilled.

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Ricotta Cheese Cookies

This recipe comes courtesy of one of my old neighbors who is an awesome friend. KG will be her name (unless she outs herself, cuz if you've been reading my blog for any time you know I don't use real names!!!!) I LOVED LOVED LOVED these cookies when she made them for me several Christmases ago. This year she has shared several of her recipes with me and granted me permission to share them with my blogging world! :) ENJOY!!!

Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 pound butter
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:
5 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup colored candy sprinkles

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugar, eggs, ricotta cheese, and vanilla extract. Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; blend into the creamed mixture, mixing in additional flour as necessary to form a workable dough. Drop dough into teaspoon-sized balls, on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned.

In a medium bowl, beat milk, confectioners' sugar, and almond extract until smooth. Spoon over warm cookies, and sprinkle with colored candy sprinkles.

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School, Saints, and parents on the road...

I am trying to figure out what my best course of action is for school... I had found a GREAT program that would allow me to complete my EMT program in just 3 weeks. Now, as a former EMT I NORMALLY would NOT recommend this to ANYONE. However, I don't consider myself normal. I worked as an EMT in a civilian setting for 5 years, and then another year in the Army. I have taken this EXACT course (EMT-B) THREE TIMES already, and never scored less than an A in the class. So, I spoke to my EMT and paramedic friends and asked for their opinions and all of them told me the same thing, go for it, it'll be nothing but review for you. Only one minor problem. I need pretty much $1000 before Christmas to attend that program. As of right now, I have a grand total of $125. I could sacrifice my entire January child support, but I won't receive it until December 31st. It may be too late. And it will still leave me a little short.

Then there is a bigger concern. Sometimes I forget that I am NOT a 20 something, single woman anymore. I am a 31 year old single MOTHER. I HAVE to factor my children into this. Much as I want to do the extremely short class, it may not be the best option for my daughters. I would be in school a little over 40 hours a week for three weeks straight, and on top of that there would be at home studying, and at least one shift a week at work. When would I see my babies??? A part of me REALLY thinks the short class would be best for me, BUT, I don't know that it would be best for THEM.

The same school that has that class has some 12 week options as well, they actually cost a little less, just under $900. And are partial day classes just three days a week as opposed to all day five days a week. The downside to those classes is they are at facilities farther away, but not too much farther. There are also some tuition payment plan options with those, so if I REALLY wanted to, I could spread the payments out, basically to $100 a week.

Overall, I really like this program because their cost IS pretty much as all inclusive as it can be for the area. It covers the text, and this one even covers PART of the state testing expenses. I'll need to come up with another $225 for testing expenses by the end of the course, but that would be March. But it's okay.

The other good thing about this class is that it will be a schedule that should allow me to continue to work a schedule of 25-30 hours a week. I NEED to continue to work that kind of schedule honestly. I NEED that income for now.

Now, on to my INCREDIBLE Saints. Oh did you SEE their awesome win last night??? And they are now 11-0!!!! :) :) :) How I love my Saints.

My parents hit the road yesterday. They are driving cross country to visit my sister and I for Christmas. They stopped last night in Kingman, AZ. For their own safety I will not post their next stop. They are expected to arrive at my sister's sometime this weekend. They will be there a week or so and then they will head up here to see us for a couple weeks. The original plan was actually 2 weeks at my sisters then 2 weeks here. But they realized the entire 2 weeks they'd be at my sister's house she and her husband would be in school still, including finals week!!! SO... instead they are leaving before finals to come here and going back after Christmas for another week with her when she is out of school and they can enjoy the time a little more. I think it's a good deal for them. And it works out well for us as my ex-husband is coming to visit our daughters. So now we'll have a week with just my parents, a week with my parents and my ex (please pray for me during that week!!!!!!!!!), and then a week with just my ex (continue to pray, though for different reasons!).

It should be a BUSY BUSY month, but a good month :) I'll do my best to keep everyone posted!!

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