Great Family Movie Classics

    My family is really big on watching movies.  We watch one as a family about once a week, so we are always on the look out for movies or shows to watch together.  We love Netflix as our big source for the movies and do both  the streaming and the DVD mailers which allows us to get more of a selection.  Recently, I had the kids watch "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".  They really did not want to watch it at first because, "it's an old movie".  I still made them sit down to watch it and within just a couple of minutes, it had both of the boys full attention.  As soon as it was over, my 7 year old wanted to watch it again.  We went in search of the spin-offs of this and also found, "Honey, We Shrank Ourselves".  It was also a classic.  A few days later, I noticed that because I had watched those 2 movies, Netflix was suggesting several other older movies for us to watch I wouldn't have thought of or searched for.  It has been really fun introducing my kids to these classics I loved as a kid and teenager.  Here is my movie list:

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, We Shrank Ourselves
Honey, I Blew up the Baby

Cool Runnings

Mighty Ducks
Mighty Ducks II
Mighty Ducks III

Daddy Daycare

Flubber

The Sandlot

Little Rascals

Spy Kids I, II, III, and IV

Madagascar
Madagascar II, Escape to Africa
Madagascar III, Europes Most Wanted

 

All Harry Potter movies (I know some of them are a little scary, but they never really bothered my kids so I am suggesting them)

Mary Poppins

 We also really enjoy watching a series, either on Netflix or recorded from T.V.  We ideally would like to watch one that ALL of us want to watch, but a lot of times it ends up just me and the boys watch after school.  My favorite to watch with them is "Once Upon A Time".  I watched it by myself cleaning floors last year and then ended up making my youngest son watch with me, and then forced my oldest son also.  My youngest loved it from the beginning.  It took to the end of the 1st season before he would watch it without complaining, though he would sit through every episode.  Now, he still claims he doesn't love it, but he will watch every episode with us no matter how many times we have seen it.  He also looked forward to each new episode during the last season!  We also LOVE "Psych" and have now seen all 8 seasons.  It has a few episodes that need a little screening for the kids, but even if you skipped the whole episode, you would still be able to follow the show.  It really is clean with very little language too.  So our recommended shows are:

Once Upon A Time

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland (although we have not watched this one, it is by the same creators/writers of "Once Upon A Time" that we love.)

Psych

Chuck (also has a little bit of language in a few episodes and some suggestive comments, but I felt they were easy to skip)

Cake Boss

Burn Notice  (this one does take place in Florida and there are a LOT of bikini's and less than modest clothing in many episodes)

America's Funniest Home Videos

~Stacy~

Oxi Clean to the Rescue

  I know this seems like a strange thing to comment on, but I am finding more and more people who have NEVER tried Oxi Clean for the clothes or other purposes yet.  I thought I would share this now because I have a new baby now and quite frankly, babies are messy and are pros at staining clothes.  This is my first and probably only girl so of course I want to get the most out of the cute clothes she has.  Oxi Clean has been AMAZING, not just on her stuff, but all of our clothes.

 

   I first started using it about 6 years ago.  I purchased my first container of powder to help with stains we had in our carpet.  I worked SO WELL, I bought the spray to try on laundry.  I first tried it on a blood stain I had gotten while at work (I am a nurse).  It fascinated me when it bubbled up on the blood which vanished almost immediately.  I could literally see it working.  I started using it on every stain I could see and also threw in some with every load of laundry (I use about 1/4 scoop each time).  We moved to Alabama which has red, horribly staining dirt.  I could not get it out with anything else, but it came out with Oxi Clean every time.  Now with my beautiful baby girl, it has saved so many outfits, I can't even count it.
   We were out of town for almost 2 weeks and I forgot to bring any spray with me so her clothes and stains sat there for many days. I even washed them along the way using things like Shout or Zout that were available. The stains did not come out with those.  When we got home, I sprayed all of the clothes and let them sit for about 30 minutes and threw them into the wash.  I was nervous that the stains would not come out since they had sat for so long and had already been washed and dried, but EVERY SINGLE stain came out.  I just had to share it.  
    It has also worked on the stains I have always had trouble getting out: chocolate, pizza sauce, grape juice. It has worked for all of them.  If you haven't tried it already, take a small challenge and buy a bottle of the
spray or a container of the powder and just see how it goes.  You can often find coupons to help save money on it!  You can also find it in many of the laundry detergents now too!  Hope you love it like I have!

~Stacy~

General Conference Ideas for Kids

   I had an idea last April to try to help my kids stay tuned in to our church's General Conference that is held every April and October.  Here we get to listen to all of our church's leaders as a congregation throughout the world.  It is actually pretty cool as an adult, but it is hard to pay attention as a kid.  I know because I was there as a kid myself.  It was really hard to listen to them even though they were telling us all kinds of important information.  They always have good stories that help bring the concepts home, but if you can't concentrate long enough to hear the story, it doesn't do much good, right?
   I have tried using the activity sheets that can usually be found around April and October that basically have this same concept, however, they don't really hold my children's attention for long.  They might listen to 1 talk or 2 and then they are done.  That makes it difficult for the parents to be able to listen to much more either.  Anyhow, I tried my idea this time and it worked AWESOME!!!  They stayed in the living room with me the entire conference and were actually paying attention.  For those who do not know what this is, it is 4 segments, 2 hours each, in which our highest leaders talk to all of the members of our church.  It is held on one Saturday (2 sessions) and Sunday (2 sessions).  We were only able to watch the Sunday sessions because of games and stuff, but that is still 4 hours of attention from a 9 and 6 year old!
  So, all that I did was have the kids go shopping with me to pick out 7 treats.  We got things like M&M's, Jelly beans, Smarties, Jolly Ranchers, Rolo's, Skittles, and Gummy Bears.  The important thing was to get things they enjoy, or it kind of defeats the purpose.  Once at home, we picked out 7 jars to put the candies in, and picked 7 words we thought the speakers would use frequently during the conference.  I gave some suggestions, but the kids came up with most of them.  I will list the ones we used and a few other suggestions to choose from that I actually did hear a lot this time.

Prophet
Holy Ghost
Temples
Jesus Christ
Heavenly Father
Joseph Smith
Prayer
Testimony
Rejoice
Eternal
Mission (Missionary)
Tithing
Priesthood
Pioneer
Baptism
Sacrament
Faith
Savior
The Lord

   What you do is have the kids pick out a candy from the jar whenever they hear that particular word.  For the littler things like Skittles and Jelly Beans, I let them choose 2 or 3, but everything else, just 1.  I would also suggest having the smaller candies for the words you think they will use the very most.  They will get less of a sugar rush but to them, it will still feel like a lot because the get to choose 2 or 3!  It worked out great.  They got to a point they were tired of candy so they each went in the kitchen and got a sandwich bag and started putting the candy in there to save for later, but they didn't stop listening to the talks.  I was really happy and really impressed with how well it worked!  Hope it will work well for your family too!

Here is what ours looked like!

~Stacy~

My Baby Girls Nursery!!!

     I am absolutely thrilled that I get to decorate a room for a little girl!  I have loved having my 2 boys and they are so fun, but girls stuff is so darn cute!  I didn't know if I would get this opportunity, so now that I am pregnant with a girl, I am going to make it as fun as I can!  She is just a week away from joining our family and I have FINALLY gotten the room finished.

      I have fallen in love with the pink and grey color scheme and these are the ideas I am pulling together, hopefully for a room she will LOVE!!

     Here are a couple of the room broken down.  The only thing not shown is the cute pink curtains because a temporary bed was in front.  I'll post them later once the initial sleepless nights are over and the bed is moved out!

I plan on posting directions for what I did, but it will be at later time.  I'll link them once I do for anyone interested in using any of the ideas!

~Stacy~

The Real Meaning of Christmas

   For our final post of "The 12 Days of Christmas," we wanted to just talk about the real meaning of Christmas.  Christmas has become the most commercialized holiday of any, which all of us can see.  Stores start putting their Christmas items out before Halloween has even come!  It is definitely fun to give and to receive gifts.  I would encourage everyone to take a minute and discuss or think about WHY we give gifts to each other.  When we think back to the Nativity story of when Christ was born, we remember the 3 wise men and the gifts of their finest riches which they brought to the baby Jesus.  The shepherds may not have brought physical gifts, but they dropped everything the minute they saw the star of David and the angel come to them.  They brought Christ their presence, support, and love.  As "the Little Drummer Boy" song says, he came with the gift of song and played his best for him.  The gifts we give do not have to cost a bunch of money or be the most glamorous, and especially we don't have to give EVERYTHING on each others lists!  Think about why you are giving what you are giving and what would be especially nice or helpful to those those we give to.  Put thought into what you do.

    If you are able to, try to give to people less fortunate than you.  Ask your local schools or churches which families could use some help this season, have something (maybe a can of soup and crackers) in your car you can just hand to someone on the street asking for help.  They will probably never know who were but will be ever grateful for that little meal you helped provide.  The giving of gifts during this time began with Christ's birth and we should remember the gifts he would ask from us are to be kind to one another, help a neighbor in need or someone less fortunate, be compassionate.  So let us do more of this kind of giving than the physical gifts this time of year and throughout the other 11 months of next year!

   Here is one more little video we want to share about the true meaning of Christmas.  We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.  We hope everyone has a blessed season!

Love, 

The Sissies 

  

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The Gift of Giving

Over the past few years we have tried to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas.  We don't do big huge Christmas gifts, or tons of gifts, we all have 4-5 presents under the tree and then a santa gift or two.  Now don't get me wrong, there are years when the kids get a bike, one year we "Santa" got the kids an outdoor basketball hoop, but we try to not spoil our kids.  We try to instill in them that it is more fun to give than to receive.  Every year around Thanksgiving we go through all our clothes and toys and find things that we can donate to those less fortunate than we are.  I have never heard a complain from my children, usually it is from me (Really!  You don't want this..... I thought you loved it!!)  

We also do a Christmas Jar all year long, where we just put our extra change throughout the year.  Everyone is always excited about this, even my 5 year old son.  Then together as a family, we choose a family or person to give our jar to right before before Christmas.  On Christmas Eve we go out and deliver our jar.  There is always so much excitement in the air, or car.  :)  We all have butterflies in our tummies wondering if the family will be home? Will they see us as we run away to hide? What will they say or do when they see the jar? As we drive away we talk about what their reaction was like, and wonder if they feel the love we put into our jar.  Within minutes of being home the kids always have a new jar sitting on our counter waiting to be filled.  

I know that none of us are perfect, but I have tried very hard to instill in my family that giving really is the best gift at Christmas (and anytime of the year)  I love to see the joy on my childrens' faces as they give gifts to others during this season.  I think that it makes us all a little happier and better people. 

 I hope that through the next few weeks we can all focus a little more on giving rather than giving.

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Christmas Morning Breakfast

Breakfast Casserole

   Another one of the traditions we had as a family growing up was our Christmas Breakfast.  We always knew what we were having and that was fine with us because it was good!  We all just called it "Breakfast Casserole" and the name stuck.  Once we got up, we all got to check out our gifts from Santa Clause and then would take a few minutes break and Mom would pop it in the oven while we finished unwrapping the rest of the gifts.  The casserole was ready once we were finished with the unwrapping.  One set of our Grandparents would often come over to eat with us.  Along with the casserole, mom would make her hot chocolate and we would have bananas and orange slices.  

Here is the recipe for the casserole:

8 Slices of White Bread, crusts removed

Enough Butter to spread on all of the bread

1/2 lb Sharp grated Cheese

1 1/2 lb Bulk Italian Sausage

6 Eggs, beaten

2 Cups Milk

2 Tbsp Prepared Mustard

1 tsp. Salt

1 bunch sliced Green Onions

16 oz. Sour Cream

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 lb White Mushrooms (optional)

Grease a 9X13 inch pan.  Butter one side of the bread and arrange the bread in the pan, butter side down covering the bottom of the pan.  Brown and crumble sausage, drain, and spread over the bread slices.  Cover the bread and sausage with the shredded cheese.  Beat eggs, milk, mustard, and sliced green onions together and pour over the bread, sausage, and cheese.  Whisk together the mushroom soup and sour cream and spread on top of the casserole.  Generously spread the mushrooms over the top of the casserole.  Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes until firm.  

This recipe is best to prepare the night before and keep in the refrigerator.  It is very convenient to just pop it in the oven in the morning

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Teacher Gifts for Christmas Courtesy of Pintrest

   Teacher gifts for Christmas and end of the year can sometimes be stressful.  Do you get them something or not, how much to spend, what would they like or need, is it something the kids can help make?  Most schools now have a policy limiting the amount you can spend on a teacher per year so make sure to check the policy before getting the gifts!  Below are some of the best teacher gift ideas on Pintrest right now.


1.  A Coffee/Hot Cocoa Mug with all of the "Class Reindeers" on it.  This would be fun in you help volunteer in the classroom or are planning on being there for the class Christmas party.  Just get all of the students finger print with some brown paint.  Draw on the eye's, nose, and antlers with a sharpie marker after the paint is dried.  If you can do it before the Christmas party, have the students present it at the party.  If not, just leave it with the teacher at the end of the party.   You can also use this same idea on ornaments.

2.  These next ones are gifts the kids can help in making.  The first one is a snowman with 3 glass bottles with different ingredients in them.  You can find these bottles at any craft store like Michael's or Hobby Lobby.  Top jar, marshmallows, 2nd one, Hot Chocolate mix, bottom one is peppermints.  Of course you can choose other items if you want.  Decorate them like the snowman with a material scarf and a felt hat.  Paint on the eyes, buttons and carrot nose. 

3.  This one is a mason jar with dry cookie ingredients layered in the jar.  You can really do it in any order, just make sure to put all of that ingredient in that layer before moving to the next one.  This picture shows scrapbook paper on the top but you can also use Christmas material to cover the top and tie with a ribbon.  Attach the directions for adding the wet ingredients and cooking the cookies. 

4.  This cute set of jars are the jelly size jars dressed as Santa, and Elf, and a Snowman.  They have cinnamon circles for Santa.  You could also use peppermints.  The snowman is the silver hershey kisses.  The elf is the green wrapped hershey kisses.  You could also use the mint hershey's.  

5.  Make some cookie cutter ornaments.  Your teacher can use them as decorations in the classroom until Christmas break and then take them home to make cookies for themselves!

6.  These ornaments are really easy to make.  Use either glass ball ornaments or the plastic ones (plastic are probably preferred for the classroom).  If you have access to vinyl, you can make letters from them, but writing on them with permanent markers are very easy too.  Spell out something like "Merry Christmas", "Peace", "Seasons Greetings", "Joy", or "Noel".  

7.  Use the fudge recipe from our "Neighborhood Gift" posts to make the fudge.  After you get the fudge into the pan, use your cookie cutters and push them into the fudge.  Decorate the little shapes while the chocolate is still soft.  Once the fudge is set, pull the cookie cutters out and your gift is ready! 

8.  Find a cute Santa to give as a gift and them make these adorable elf stockings.  Make the shoe part out of construction or Christmas Scrapbook paper.  Add the little bags with the red centered oreos and there you have it!

9.  These are cute glass blocks that are easy and cheap to make.  You can buy the glass blocks at a Michael's or Hobby Lobby that have a hole in the bottom.  I would suggest packing a set of 35-50 lights depending on the size of block you choose.  Wrap a ribbon around the block and either paint the teachers name or a christmas saying or shape on the front.  You can use vinyl if you have access to it or can find it somewhere.

10.  Finally, a more practical gift is to make something cute out of paper towels, crayons and glue, Kleenex's, pencils, or other supplies you know your classroom is in need of.  Shape them into a tree or wreath. 

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Christmas Party Ideas

  Are you one who likes to throw Christmas parties?  They can be so fun to host but sometimes the ideas are lacking a bit.  Here are a few ideas to do at your party to make it really fun!

The Ugly Sweater Party

   You have to admit, there are a lot of REALLY, UGLY sweaters out there for Christmas.  Why not have everyone come to your party wearing one?  This should be just a chill, let loose kind of party.

Have things like "Hi, my name is. . ." name tags; a karaoke machine/contest; ugly decorations or decorate with even more ugly sweaters!

Have disposable cameras for people to snap lots of silly pictures of everyone.  Make sure you take pictures of everyone there too!  It would be fun to have one of the whole group as well.  Make sure to share it with everyone after the party too!

Play a goofy game like "Name that Tune", "Musical Chairs", or "Charades" that will help everyone loosen up.

Before everyone leaves, have an awards show and give prizes for the best/worst sweaters, best pair, loudest, scariest and so forth.

You can shop for your ugly sweater at various thrift stores like Goodwill, Deseret Industries, and America's Thrift Store.  There are lots of online sites too on google or amazon.

Dirty Santa (or White Elephant)

    Depending on where you live, this can be called either "Dirty Santa" or a "White Elephant Exchange", but they are the same thing.  The basic idea is to have everyone bring a present for a little gift exchange.  Set your limit to what you feel is a comfortable amount for your guests to spend.  (If you have a large budget yourself, you can purchase the gifts yourself).  The guests can purchase nice gifts or gag gifts.  If you plan on making this an annual thing, you might even opt to get something NO ONE will want but can recirculate each year.  (My husbands office did this and had a pair of size 10, Neon Green High Heels that was passed on from year to year.  It had been going on for several years and of course my husband got the shoes.  He proudly displayed the shoes on his desk during the year he held possession of it.  Everyone thought is was so funny!).

    If you plan on hosting a party where kids are welcome, have a separate game going on for them.

  The rules of the game are to have everyone pick a number, 1 through however many guests you have.  The first person selects a present from the pile and unwraps it.  He or she will have to hold onto it since they were the first person, however, each person after that has the option to either pick that present or select from the pile.  If someone selects your gift instead of the pile, you get to select another present from the pile or someone else, then continue down the numbers.  Keep going like this until the final person gets a present.  They are in the best position because they can choose from ANY of the gifts left others have opened or the final one in the pile.  Set a number like 2 or 3 times that a gift can be stolen.  Once it has reached that number, it stays with that person and can no longer be stolen.  This is a really fun game, especially when you do have a few crazy presents in the pile.

Christmas Eve Party

   Just some ideas if you don't already have a Christmas Eve tradition in place with family or friends.  Whether it is family or friends, you could do the same things with each other.  Most of our family has family around and they typically spend the evening together, however half of us sisters have been away from home and our immediate family.  For some or most of our married lives so we have had to adopt traditions with our friends.

   Have everyone come over for an evening of finger food snacks (save the big dinner for the next night!).

Christmas Shaped Platters 

Little Weenies wrapped in crescents (you can do a fun display if you have time, like a wreath, or a Christmas Tree shape)

You could really make any of your platters into a tree, star, or Christmas wreath.  

Layer your cracker or cheese variations, layer different kinds of fruits, just make them a little out of the ordinary! 

If you have the time and ambition, here are a couple of fun ideas your kids could help you make.

Strawberry and oreo Santa Hats

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Reindeers

Cheese and Salsa Dips

*Velveta cheese and a can of rotel- Classic Queso Dip (throw it in the crockpot about an hour before the party and it will be ready to serve).

*A Can of Chili and an 8 oz Cream Cheese (just put in microwave safe bowl and cook for 2-5 minutes until smooth and warm)

*Brie with a Berry Jam, Jalapeno Jelly and crackers

Photo Booth for Pictures with Santa

This would be a really fun idea to keep the memory of the night if you are able to get a Santa to come visit that night.  If not, you can always just take pictures of the families, couples, and kids who come to your party.  My in-laws have a Santa costume and one of the brother-in-laws always makes an appearance Christmas Eve.  He will deliver all of the kids a gift, usually a set of pajamas.  They all love it and will get to wear their new pajamas that night.

Stocking Silverware Holders

These stocking silverware holders are a super cute idea and would be a cheap investment.  You could have them for your Christmas Eve Party or wait until the Christmas Dinner the next day which might be a little more formal and have fewer guests.

Christmas Movie and Popcorn

The past few years, we have been having a Christmas Story, followed by a Christmas Movie with our kids after the fun of food and presents.  Here is a fun, simple twist on popcorn for the movie.

This is Michelle's White Chocolate Popcorn with M&M's and peppermint candy cane bits added.  You can also add red and green sprinkles for more festiveness!

Gift Exchange

If you are having families over or having a gift exchange among friends, go ahead and do this Christmas Eve.  We have always done a gift exchange with siblings, which turned into our families exchanging with each other as we have gotten married.  If you don't want to have each child open a gift (like your pajamas), just do the family exchange and each family can open one gift.  It is still fun for the kids and is a fun time to see what all of your siblings (or friends) got for each other!

Santa Map

One final suggestion if you have young children.  Before everyone starts to leave, get onto "Noradsanta.org" to track Santa's progress.  The kids will love to see where Santa is and are more inclined to go straight to bed because they know Santa  is close.

We hope these ideas will help you have a great Christmas party!

Love the Sissies!!

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