Pattie's Place

Hallelujah! It’s Christmas

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I love these funny videos of one of my favorite songs, the Hallelujah Chorus by Mendelsohn. I remember first learning it as a sophmore in high school by our women’s chorus teacher Mr. Fenn. He was my all time favorite teacher.

He taught us how to live a good life, not just how to sing chorally. I loved that guy. He would have the yearly Christmas choral concert and anybody from previous years that was in the audience was always invited to stand up, and along with the present concert choir, boys chorus, women’s chorus and the elite Acapella group, would sing along with us.

I remember years after graduating, going to watch my brothers sing in the West Torrance High School Christmas Concert. My sister Debbie and I (past members of the chorus) would stand together with half the audience and have this wonderful shared experience of a fine piece of music sung in 4 part harmony. I bet anybody who’s ever learned this piece, never ever forgets their part. I can still sing the alto part perfectly to this day. Here are a few of my favorite renditions: Here is the first one: It was courtesy of Sarah Palin, from my facebook page!

Another one of my favorites is the Monk one. It is even funnier and probably was a lot harder to put together in sychronization! If Mr. Fenn were still around, I bet he’d have put something this creative together!

But my all time favorite Hallelujah song is this one: I love the 4 part harmony sung to steel string guitar, just so pure and beautiful. I don’t know what the heck the song really means, but I love the chorus. It’s Hallelujah from Shrek sung on utube by: Kirt Nilson and Espin Lind et al
For some reason it’s been disabled, but check it out…google it, it is beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=T2NEU6Xf7lM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2NEU6Xf7lM

Merry Christmas 2010 everybody! I hope you get everything you want, but more importantly, you remember to give love to all those friends and family around you. It makes life worth living!

The Polar Express in Lindon, Utah

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Cute Uncle Dennis….a very happy conductor of the Polar Express! 

My husband’s brother is one of the train engineers for the Lindon, Utah, Polar Express.  It is a mini riding train that travels around his neighbor’s property. This neighbor must be a very lovely person and he must have an exceptional family. They decorate the whole acreage with lights on all the trees, big blow-ups of Santa and his reindeer, large lighted posters of  Jesus, angels,  and scenes from the bible as you ride by, and a lighted up, life-sized creche with the animals and baby Jesus.  All this you see as you are riding along listening to Celine Dion or Josh Grobin singing Christmas carols with the music piped in along the way.



Here we all are waiting for our train ride….so fun!

As we were waiting for our ride we were ushered into a giant room with a regular movie screen in this big movie house which was playing none other than… you guessed it…  The Polar Express! (Tom Hanks version).  I almost wanted to just stay and watch the movie. It was cool. Lucky kids that get to watch movies on THAT big screen!

The property itself is a very large 4 acre plot or so where the owner had his own home and several for his kids’ built on the lot corners. In the middle is a mini Disneyland with every kind of activity you can imagine, besides just the train. There is a pool with lots of giant slides, a baseball field, golf, batting cages, all kinds of fun! Here is a link to get an appointment to ride. It is free but they ask a small donation. Stringtown USA Polar Express.



Just a few of the things we saw as we rode past…

His family decorates it it all up kind of scary for Halloween and then all beautiful and colorful for Christmas so kids in the community can come ride and have a fun outing with their families.  There are stops along the way to Santa’s workshop to visit Santa Claus and his elves.  My little granddaughter Megan (2 years) was afraid of Santa but was mesmerized by his giant “toy” train that ran all around the inside of the room filled with every kind of toy imagineable. They really did it up nice!



Visiting Santa’s Workshop…at the Polar Express in Linden Utah.

They had lots of trees, lights, toys and decorations inside Santa’s Workshop. Lots of fun things to see. 
Megan is watching the large Lionel train coming toward her on the track…

Santa passed them out a little card with the story of the baby Jesus on it and a candy cane taped to the back, so cute! I got to snap a few shots of my older granddaughter Marisa who isn’t afraid of Santa anymore. The elves dressed up really cute too. I wonder how much time they donate to this activity?



The Moss brothers, Dennis and John (my husband is on the right)

 I know Uncle Dennis is there quite a few nights for his “shift” in December.  They have several trains running at once and they take turns being the train conductor. Here he is with my husband John who took video of us riding the train. He was too tough to actually get in with us and ride. 🙂

After the ride was over we saw some other relatives on Grandma Merlene’s side who had come later and were waiting for their ride. Just outside the train area there is a community service project writing to missionaries serving all over the world. It had cards to sign that looked like this. What a great idea!
Tiff and the girls and Aunt Danielle and cousin Casey and Jeff with their girls. It was fun to ride the train with everybody. 

I think people that do these kinds of things for the community, all for free, should recieve gold stars. They are wonderful to do this. My family had such a good time. I think I’d like to make that a yearly tradition, as long as it lasts.  We feel lucky that we were invited to go ride the Polar Express.  What fun it was for us!  Thanks Uncle Dennis!

Megan and mama….
Marisa and her candy cane treat. 

Making an Itty Bitty Baker’s Bag

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Last year for Christmas my daughter bought a little, pink, 3 piece kitchen like you see at Pottery Barn Kids, for her 2 little girls. Marisa and Megan spend a lot of time in that kitchen set up in the basement playroom, mixing fake stuff in bowls with spoons, clanging pans in the oven and using their “play food” in unique and different ways.  Tiff showed me the little baskets she had made with different little tags on them to go into the shelving unit. She said 2 of the bins are always out on the floor and used the most. One of them is the stuff to bake with. Marisa LOVES to pretend she is a baker girl.

So this year for Christmas I had been pouring over magazines, catalogs and stores to find mini baking tools to put together a baking bag for her. I found little mini whisks, spatulas, a little pink oven mitt, real mini mixes to make real food from Smiths, (Target was selling EZ Bake Oven cake mixes for $5.00 can you believe that?) cupcake holders in silicone and tin for the mini sized cakes, and also decorative papers, sprinkles and cupcake picks. I shop for Wilton baking supplies at Joannes Fabrics. They have a huge selection and I can always cut out a 40% off coupon on regular priced stuff. I got the sprinkles half off when Thanksgiving was over.  She is gonna be in baking heaven sprinkling the heck out of her cupcakes.

I got this cute, red, gingerbread vinyl purse from Kmart. Purses were 40% off that day! Yipee, what a deal!  I had my daughter do the lettering with her Cricut machine and white vinyl and we added “Marisa’s Baking Bag” so she can keep all her whisks and “tools of the trade” together.  I also found a darling tiny mixing bowl like my favorite ones I use with the rubber bottoms that don’t slide around, from Target. I had never seen this small size before but it will be perfect for her little 31/2  year old hands.  All the other girls at preschool will be so jealous! 

I found this apron after Valentines Day for half off at Target. The little cupcake on the front gave me the idea to do a baking selection of stuff for her, as I have watched her meticulously decorate a gingerbread cookie for 10 minutes. She has the creative gene from our side of the family. She will love being creative in her little pink kitchen.

 I always shop the sales throughout the year for birthdays and Christmas, Easter and Halloween, even Valentines Day. When I was getting my master’s degree in teaching I had to get a part time job working at Kohls to pay my tuition. It was there that I learned to NEVER pay retail. With sales, and our discount, and coupons on top, I got such deals for cheap it’s hard to ever pay full price again. Even online I will usually type in “coupon code” and the store name to see if there are any coupons I can add onto my order. I get stuff after the holiday for the next year and save more than 70% usually and still use a coupon on top. The sizes are a bit tricky to estimate ahead a year but I’m usually pretty close. And stuff like stuffed animals, Easter baskets, decorations and trick or treat pails for Halloween,  and funny wiggly headbands and aprons for Valentines are all fun things that will keep in my gift closet for months! 

The mini bundt pans and mini angel food cake pan I got from TJ Max. That is THE best store on the planet.  It always has what I am looking for when I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for.  The variety and quality of cookware there is quite astounding. I love to get a deal too.

 One of the heart shaped bundt pans I just found recently there was only $2.00 bucks! Now that’s fun to catch a deal like that.  Marisa will have fun doing nothing but bundts. Poor Tiff, my daughter’s gonna be doin lots of baking this January! 

Feeling a little “Grinch-y?”

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Yesterday was our last day of school before a wonderful 2 week break. I always love showing my kids the original animated version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas on the VCR.  It has the Cat-in-the-Hat looking Grinch and all the peeps in Whoville and some funny music and it only lasts 25 minutes! It’s not like the Jim Carrey version which I never really appreciated. It just seemed toooooo creepy to me.  I did like the beautiful song “Where are you Christmas” that came from that movie that Cindy Lou Who sings, but that’s another story.

So, I was complaining to a friend about all my decorating woe’s, and she replied,  “Well it IS hard to remember what the TRUE meaning of Christmas is,  isn’t it?”…. and I began to think, MAN AM I A GRINCH? Is it all about the “stuff” to me? I never thought that would happen!  As we watched the evil grinch get creepier by the minute, stealing all the toys from everybody,  I would do little side dialogues, trying to get the kids to see how the people in Whoville would turn the other cheek when this dastardly deed was done to them. (And that is something  I have never really understood…I mean…. how could you be SO nice to somebody THAT mean?)

It made me think about what the message of the Grinch tale is? Is it to be happy just because of the season, no matter what bad things have come your way this year? That would be a good message, I guess. Or is it that nice people can warm your heart, even a “2 sizes too small, Grinchy” heart?  Is it just  to have the giving spirit at Christmastime and not the bah, humbug spirit?  Oops, that’s a whole other movie…I don’t know. It is all of that mixed in I think. I have had my heart turned just realizing I’m getting a little Grinchy in my old age.  I like all the fun stuff, but I don’t like all the work. And I forget about the important stuff in the busyness around me.

This morning we had our last Choir rehearsal before the big Christmas program at church tomorrow.  We perform songs,do readings from Luke and the choir sings with organ and flute accompaniment, along with our 2 awesome pianists.  I have belonged to many different choirs in my day, and many music groups. I’ve sung solos at weddings, funerals and had roles in musicals. But of all the CHURCH choirs I’ve been in….this one is my favorite.  We sing hard music and are expected to know it in 2 weeks. We perform at least once or twice a month in church and we’ve sung from the” Hallelujah Chorus” at Christmas to “Oh Divine Redeemer” at Easter. It’s one of my favorite things…choral singing.

Well as we practiced in the choir seats in our chapel, we could hear these strange strains of “You’re a mean one….Mr. Grinch”  sung in solo, in a deep base voice, coming from next door in the basketball court/cultural hall. I was so intrigued after practice I started roaming the halls. This is what I found:

The mail station where the people in the other congregation were writing letters to missionaries around the world. It was so cute with lots of bright Christmas stationery all around and these darling decorations. This Whoville citizen stopped and let me snap a picture of her. (She is also the decorating committee chairwoman–kudos to her!)

Down the hallway there was a kids’ station where, kids got to go to CANDY HEAVEN! There was candy  everywhere, even hangin from the ceiling. I got excited just thinking how kids would be when they got their little hands on the candy scoopers! I wanted to grab one of the “scoops” and dig some candy out of those jars for my own little “take home bag”.  But I just took pictures instead. dang it…so ungrinchy of me…

Well on the way out, I happened upon President Johnson (our previous stake leadership) dressed up all in green fur, with green face make-up. I had just bumped into THE GRINCH! He’s like the least grinchy person I’ve ever met! How in the world did they get him to do this?  He must be in his late 70s. I sure wouldn’t want to be railroaded into something like that when I get older! What a nice guy.  He let me snap this picture before he went on stage to do the Grinch numbers we had heard them rehearsing.



Pres. Johnson….isn’t he cute?

 Then I saw my friend and general contractor  Robert (he helped do our kitchen remodel and wonderful travertine floors this past summer) walking down the hall dressed cute like a Whoville person! And more were hiding behind corners!



Robert, my excellent contractor…I hope he didn’t drive home like this!

 I even got a shot of Cindy Lou Who on my way out to the car.  I kept thinking, “Man, who would go to all this work a week before Christmas?  But as I had walked down the halls I saw lots of kids from my school too. “Hi Mrs. Moss!” they would holler excitedly with those little faces kids have on Christmas morning. “Did you see the Grinch? He is coming!!!” Ah…. then I remembered….some of the reasons for Christmas…some of the messages of the Grinch story.

 Even though he is a slimeball who is filled with loathing and negativity about all things Christmas he is ultimately touched by the Christmas spirit, when ONE other person shows love and caring to him. And he begins to redeem himself by changing his loathing to LOVE of “Who-manity”.

 I think the Christmas spirit is the best thing about Christmas. Everybody seems a little bit more giving and nicer. (Well, not including the shoppers the minute after stores opened on Black Friday), But later on in the day, even the shoppers are all neighbors waiting in the check-out line, chattin it up like longtime pals.  I like that part. The part where people show their best selves, their love.

I’m going to be less Grinchy this week leading up to Christmas. Well, I will admit, getting to be off work this whole week will make it easier. But I’m going to focus a little more on the new neighbors that just moved in across the street,  that don’t know anybody. And I’m going to do some community service, reminding myself why we celebrate the season.



A very UN-grinchy guy!



It’s the baby in a manger who gave such a perfect example of how NOT to be grinchy. And NOT just during the month of December, but every day. It’s not easy showing love to others amidst the highs and lows of life.  I’ve got to remember to try and keep that Christmas spirit with me…because you never know when you are gonna run into a Grinch.

Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas Party

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Grandpa Moss

 My husband’s dad is Don Moss. He is one of the nicest men on the planet. I always knew if my husband turned out half as good as his daddy then I was one lucky lady. And it has been true that he takes after his dad. We all love Don. He is in his middle 80s. His wife Merlene is my husband’s step-mom, since his mom died almost 30 years ago. Merlene is almost 90.  She has been a super sweet mother-in-law to me. She has loved and given to me and my kids throughout their lives. After my own mom died I would often call Merlene when I needed somebody to talk to about a real problem, when I needed good advice.   

Merlene and Don Moss


But we are so lucky to have SOME grandparents still in our kids’ lives. They have hosted many yearly get togethers! Last night they announced that this is the last year they will do the Christmas dinner party. We all would have put it on years ago but they insisted on doing it, keeping the traditions. This favorite family party is Christmas dinner where all the relatives from both Dons and Merlene’s sides get together and we celebrate the Christmas story from the bible.

 We have the children act out the parts in full costumed regalia. The props over the years have gotten more elaborate. The talent has gotten better. The solos sweeter.  The youngest granddaughter who can talk, plays Mary and usually the teenagers play the shepherds and wise men, no pun intended. In between one of the uncles reading the story from Luke, the whole group sings hymns depicting the different scenes during the birth of our Savior. It is always a sentimental time for me.



Joseph & Mary and the Baby Jesus (dolly)



Our Family Nativity & Singing Silent Night

Uncle Dennis Reading Luke, Aunt Danielle directing the children’s play (again this year when will she ever get a break!)



I still have a very precious picture I keep on my computer of our youngest son, Danny, as a wise man at the Christmas party.  We think he was around 14 in this picture.  It was the last time he would play the part of the wise man in this life. He died in a car accident a few years ago.  At this season of the year when everyone gives thanks and is busy gift giving, we always have a little bit of melancholy. We miss our Dan and think about all the fun we had with him when he was around.We loved him dearly!



Danny Moss the wiseman  🙂



 I think when you are a mom, or a dad, you do tend to baby your youngest child and they become very close to you. It is a real strong bond that most parents feel toward the baby of the family. It makes it harder when that child is taken. I really like though, that everybody in our family still talks about Danny. Nobody in the extended family is afraid to ask me questions about him or how I feel this year or whatever they want to ask. It is okay. It makes me realize that they still remember him. And that makes me very happy.

This past week Elizabeth Edwards died. She also had a teenage son who was killed in a car accident. I always related to her and admired and was inspired by her strength of spirit through all of her trials. I was so sad to hear she had died. But Elizabeth and I shared a personal and private understanding. She once said, “People who have lost children look at death differently than the rest of us” and I remember nodding instantly. I know she didn’t fear death as much as look to it as a grand reunion  I get that she is now reunited with her son and that is a happy day for her. “You are complete joy to me,” Mrs. Edwards wrote. “I hope you will always know that. Wherever I am, wherever you are, I have my arms wrapped around you.”At her funeral they read parts of this tender letter to her 3 surviving children. What an excellent mother she was!



My 3rd Granddaughter Josie & my son Jeff

  So I too look forward to meeting up again with Danny. And at this time of year I am missing him and thinking of him as the big family celebration takes place. And I am trying not to feel the void. There is always a little part of my heart that is sad that he isn’t amongst the mix of cousins. And I’m glad for the cousins that also miss their partner in crime. 



Casey and the twins



Wesley, Jeff & baby Maya… 



Santa and his “Elves”



Newlyweds Caitlin and Devin Moss…(still on Santa’s nice list)



We are lucky to have all these people in our lives. Even when those family celebrations are taking their toll on you this holiday, when the entertaining, the food preparation and the decorating get to you, just remember to be thankful for those loved ones you have around you right now, today. And give your kids all a big hug and appreciate your gifts. Because you never know when they may be gone away, it can happen so quickly.

Pretty Aunt Robin & cute cousin Heather

I love my inlaws and my kids’ cousins and all the aunts and uncles on the Moss side of the family. It is so fun to see Grandpa come out as Santa, this year with the wiggly Santa hat that reminded me of something out of Harry Potter. Then the fun of watching each kid waiting with anticipation for their name to be called while Grandpa pulls a brightly wrapped package out of his big furry red bag. . It’s cute to see who Santa’s elves will be each year, usually the cute teenage girls dress in lit up elf hats, too cute!

Brandon and Caleb (cousins)

My little granddaughter Marisa kept hanging around “Santa” waiting for her name to be called. She is only 3 but knows now what it’s all about. We started to get worried that maybe Santa had forgotten her when almost all the kids names were called. There must have been 20 great grandkids and grandkids combined!

 Cute Becky, BYU Student…

You finally make it off the list when you get married, Funny that my son Devin who got married in August  was still suspiciously on the list this year! As was his wife Caitlin!  The older married cousins thought this was kind of unfair. 🙂  Finally he called Marisa and it was delightful to see her scamper up to get her gift and then with joy on her little face, tear up the ribbons and wrap to find a ballerina Barbie. She was in ecstasy! She loves Barbie! It was just so precious watching that little interchange for me.



Marisa Belle & Barbie…

 My sister in law said, “Boy my heart would have broken if she had been forgotten, I was starting to worry!” And we all said, “Us too!” We all love each others kids. It has been a 25  year family bond since grandpa Moss married Grandma Moss in the Los Angeles LDS temple. The fun we have had as a combined family is really hard to express in words. Summer pool parties, and 4th of July picnics, Thanksgiving get togethers and the yearly Christmas party. We’ve gone to each other’s homes for the big life events; weddings, funerals, eagle courts of honor, baptisms.



Megan Tremayne & yummy treats

Wendy and Jeff & John watchin the Nativity …



My family…


It is just one of those things where we have learned to love each other, bear each others burdens, support and care for each other. And at this special time of year, I am so blessed to be a part of a big, loving family such as the Moss clan. There is nothing more important to me than family. It is the cherry on top of my sundae of life.  Merry Christmas to all! Be happy for all of life’s wonderful blessings! And love from my family to yours.


My favorite 3 girls….



Gingerbread Trees

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GINGERBREAD TREES!  YIPEE!

Well this week is the last week before Christmas break and we are having our classroom Christmas party. I love to do fun Bingo games, make Christmas cards for parents,  and decorate upside-down sugar cones to make a little tree scene on a paper plate. They are much easier to do than gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. The kids are more successful and they are easier for younger kids to do. I love to see the finished products too. They are colorful and delicious! and…there are no tears when somebody’s roof falls off! Yeah, and they are just as pretty as you can see!


More candy on the plate than on the tree….


First you will need:
1. Sugar Cones (the pointy waffle type kind)
2. White icing tubs from the grocery store & some green food coloring
3. small, heavy paper plates and some plastic or regular knives for spreading
4. candies such as M&Ms, mini and regular, gumdrops, smarties, lemonheads, chocolate chips, star shapes,
    tiny runts, marshmallows, red hots, mike and ike,  ANY kind of tiny candy really!
5. Optional, tiny candy canes and tiny gingerbread men crackers/cookies from the box
6. Licorice whips (the red, peel apart kind).


Post of my parents donated 1 item or a bag of candy…


Mix 5 drops of food coloring into the vanilla icing tubs and spread a walnut sized blob on each plate. Then you can place the cones upside down like a tree on the blob of icing to “glue” them to a plate. One of the other teachers glue guns them to the plate, but then what if they want to eat them later…YUK!

Then  ice the trees rather heavily with green icing until no sugar cone shows through. Put a good, thick layer on or the candy won’t have “glue” to adhere to. Kids as young as 3 can do this, trust me, it is easy. Younger kids can have mom spread and then they decorate. 



Got these from the dollar store a few years back…

I use a few of those veggie and dip sectioned off platters in plastic and fill each section with a different kind of candy. That way kids at tables can all share 1 platter and have lots of variety. If you don’t have one of those just use muffin tins (the 6 muffin kind) and fill those up. Or else just use small bowls to separate your candies.  Every year I get a different variety. This year somebody brought white chocolate chips. They looked real cute next to the skittles and red hots. 🙂

This year we got marshmallow snowmen instead of licorice peel aparts…CUTE!

The kids get creative and add the candy however they want to on their Christmas trees! Some kids like to put a gumdrop on a blob of icing on the plate and add a tiny candy cane pushed into the gumdrop. Add a gingerbread man cookie to the plate or make a path of marshmallows or M&Ms around the tree. Lasty they can add those licorice pull aparts to put a garland of red around their tree. Anything goes. 

All Wrapped UP!

When they are all done and have eaten half of the candy in the chip and dip containers put the plates inside a gallon size zip-lock baggie to go home. In case somebody’s drops theirs on the floor it will be protected on the bus ride or car ride home. They are cute left out as table decorations in the kitchen or on a shelf for Christmas. They always turn out lookin great!


Little Works of ART!



Christmas Decorating

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I am surrounded and I mean SURROUNDED by 30 years worth of Christmas decorations in those plastic red and clear flippy bins and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.okay I lied, I’m completely, this is taking me 3 days, I can hardly stand it, overwhelmed! This is, I just realized, the first Christmas where I have no kids at home to help me put up and decorate the tree.  I always knew I liked parts of the decorating process, but the tree has NEVER been the part I liked best.

  It is not a creative process and new and different. That’s why I think I loathe putting it together. It may be a new bunch of ornaments, but the process is like a factory assembly line. And if you are like me, and are a creative, right brained person, we can’t stand anything we have to repeat and do over the same way. And I’m wishing I could bribe my kids to come back home just to help with this one little “project”.  Ha! I know none of them would EVER fall for that line.  They know me better. I have my little manipulative ways and they have learned…..Whenever they come over I make them move furniture around….


Nutcracker collecting…

 So I have just realized that I’m like those “Sidetracked Home Executives” that I used to read about who could never finish one job before another one looked more interesting and so they moved onto that leaving a wake of unfinished projects strung out all over the house. Well, that’s me in a nut box. It is taking me close to a week to get things just the way I want them.  I like the creative process, I DO! But I just can’t take the mess.  I just want it to get magically done without all this hair pulling, decision making, mind-changing, fickleness!


First Grader’s Nutcrackers….

 I eat lunch every day with a bunch of teachers like myself. And everybody has been moaning and groaning about getting the decorations all done.  I think a few years ago I finally figured out why all teachers are way STRESSED OUT in the month of December.  Well, it goes like this….

Teachers have to buy teachers gifts for all their students, we all do it, the kids love it and almost expect it, and it is fun. So there, that’s 20 some odd gifts. Some teachers have 30 students. Okay, let’s suppose you teach a younger grade like I do. Then you need to let the kids make a gift for all their parents for Christmas. They love wrapping a handmade ornament up in tissue paper tied with colorful yarn with a homemade chicken scratched card scrawled out for mommy and daddy, it’s just a given!  So add 20 some more little gifts.  Then you have to get gifts for all those staff people that absolutely make your life easier at school, the secretaries who keep us going and on top of stuff, the copy ladies who cut our after-school, prep-time,  workload in half, our coworkers who all get us gifts too, the parent helpers in our class whom we could not LIVE without! I love my homework helper moms almost more than my best friend!  So add on another 10 or 12 or more (one year I had 12 parent helpers) gifts. Are you getting the picture?

“HOLIDAY” Acrostic Poems…

 And then something for the principal, your BOSS.  Okay that is just gifts at the workplace. Whew! It’s fun, and I’m not complaining, I’m just realizing why we get stressed out.  I was watching Oprah do her final year freebie giveaway the other day and I was just struck with the thought, “What in the heck if you were Oprah and had to do Christmas after this massive giveaway?” Boy oh boy I wonder how she tops herself at her workplace. She must have a crew of people just to do her Christmas shopping for staff gifts. I would not trade places, really!

Kitchen Table…still messing with this one…

Add to that your Christmas tree in the classroom, oh yeah, most teachers are all into making the class look really cute for all the kids and we all like to see what kinds of hanging decorations, ornaments and art projects other teachers come up with to enhance walls and ceiling during the month of December. It is beautiful at school, and I love it. It gets my creative juices flowing, but sometimes I feel really BEAT by day’s end because of a hand print painting activity, or doing stained glass windows from Karo syrup, or making a flap book retell of the Gingerbread Man story.   Lots of crazy busyness, lots of brilliantly creative artists in training, lots of beautiful results. 

The Gingerbread Baby…. Story Retell

And that isn’t even counting teachers who work with lots of kids at home! I’m an empty nester!   A few years back at our annual first day back-to-school, district pep rally, I sat by a new teacher who had just been hired at our school.  As I asked her about herself she told me, “Oh and by the way, I have 8 kids, 3 of them go to this school!” Are you kidding me? I can’t imagine her Christmas wish list and work load! Oh my!  She became one of my best friends at that school. I run into her now and then as we’ve both moved on to different schools and we can still just start laughing at stuff our kids have put us through. One of those kinds of friends that no matter what the span of time you’ve been apart you can pick right back up where you left off and chatter like magpies at each other and enjoy the company of a like-minded friend.

I finished one little end table! Hip Hip Hooray!

So tonight as I reminisce about how easy it was with my live-in decorating, child slave labor I used to have, I decide to get sidetracked on purpose and bake a chocolate-chip bundt cake. I love the bakery called Nothing Bundt Cakes in Sandy, http://www.nothingbundtcakes.com/index.php but man are they expensive. I found a terrific recipe on allrecipes.com (my favorite cooking website!) that I love and topped it with cream cheese icing. So my cake is nothing bundt in lower case letters. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Too-Much-Chocolate-Cake/Detail.aspx Tastes the same, cost about a 10th of the price to make.

Nothing But Bundt Cakes..Mine was almost as pretty, but definitely as tasty….And although the tree still isn’t done…. I think I’ve finished my 1st sidetracked project of the night!! Yeah for me!.  The tree also has progressed.
 I now have strings of white lights on it and my poor husband went and hid. He knows if he is around he will become my NEW SLAVE LABOR!!! Ha ha! But too bad Mr. Moss knows all my tricks after 30 years of marriage too. Poor man. He would do it if I begged. But I just don’t have the heart to torture him. Not after he did some marketing at the grocery store so I could take a hot bath when I came home from school.  He has a business where he can work from home. So although I am here typing at 9:00 at night he is over there at his desk writing software code and checking his online bill payment website for glitches and bugs and software developing way later than any 9 to 5er job.  So I don’t ask him for too much. I’m lying again, darn it! He does WAY too much for me and we both know it. He really is way too good to me. 

2nd Sidetracked Project of the night….I’m losing steam Fast!

My daughter Tiff made a glass jar table decoration at Thanksgiving that I loved and it gave me an idea to use my 3 Walmart, glass cookie jars in a new way for Christmas. She had filled hers with pine cones all glittered in fall colors and then added some gold and brown shiny glass ball ornaments. It looked really cool and very easy to do. I’ll add a picture next time I’m over to her house. And I’ve been using my 3 jars for baby showers and weddings using scrapbook paper in 3 coordinating colors and ribbons and stickers designating the theme on each jar. Check out my blog page on Devin’s Utah wedding reception for pictures of the black and white wedding decorated jars.

So I did a trio of jars for Christmas too. These, though, are not filled with edible treats, although they could be! I could choose to put red and green taffy assortments in one, candy canes and peppermints in red and green in another and candy kisses in red, green and silver in another. The only problem is, I WOULD BE EATING THEM ALL SEASON LONG!  So none of that will be allowed around these parts but you could do it if you are brave and skinny…

I used just some leftover scraps of red and green muted scrapbook paper and cut  3 to 4 inch widths  just enough to go around the insides of the jars about 1/3 up from the bottom.  I filled them halfway with freezer paper (or tissue paper) and filled them the rest of the way up with some jingle bells, tiny glass ornaments, and glitter snowflakes and some of those glass red jewels they sell everywhere, and lots of glittery, styrofoam ornaments in the tiny and small size. Then I added coordinating ribbons around the middle of the jar and around the lid and tied on an ornament or jingle bell to each one. I just used leftover scraps of everything, even some really old ornaments that I got on clearance after the season years ago. So it was kind of a fun craft project.  And it turned out really pretty. 

Now my decorating bins are down to about 4 from about 12 so I think I’m about 2/3rds done. PROGRESS!  It takes so long but I really do like to putter and change and stand back and enjoy the process…and then get sidetracked by something else.  But I have roasted vegetables and homemade hamburgers and a cool bundt cake to show for it! And it’s low calorie too of course! But I’ll have to try for the finish line tomorrow. I’m pooped and my favorite show is about to come on. (The Good Wife). So if it isn’t a rerun, I’ll be closing up decorating shop for the night. I’ve also got to finish my little granddaughter Marisa’s Baking Bag and all the components to put inside. That will take a few more days, but it is turning out super cute. More on that later….


Happy Holiday Decorating!



Thanksgiving Fun

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PINE CONE TURKEY TUTORIAL HERE! 

This year for Thanksgiving we did the “Feast” in my classroom. All the kids made Pilgrim hats and bonnets and we do placecards and set up all the desks into 2 long lines facing each other. Then we decorate the table with our creations and I typed up lots of silly G- rated jokes and Knock Knocks on the Turkey Day theme (i.e. What goes ha ha ha bam! — A turkey laughing his head off) and we have a Thanksgiving feast. Really we all go get the cafeteria lunch which is turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie. They have the whole thing done for us and although it isn’t like what you get at Marie Callendars or anything, it’s fun and the kids all loved it. They are so cute telling jokes to each other and laughing tentatively at the ones they don’t get!  Here’s a picture of our Thanksgiving placecards this year.  They are really easy to make. Add some knock knock turkey jokes so you can crack your own families up next year! 

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

PINE CONE TURKEY TUTORIAL!!!

THANKSGIVING TABLE DECOR

You will need:
6  rainbow colors of chenille stems
a pine cone, 
one brown pom pom, 
an orange fat/skinny chenille stem (shaped like a snowman nose)
wiggly eyes
 Wrap the chenille stems around the bottom circumference of the pine cone and twist once so you have the 2 end parts sticking out like a V.  Then twist those 2 together at the ends to make one teardrop shaped loop, or like a bunny’s ear.  Do this again with a different color. Make all the loops on one side of the pine cone so they look like a turkey’s feathers. I make sure the pine cone can sit level on a table too.

 I start with red and do orange, yellow, green, blue, purple,  the order of the rainbow. Then take a glue gun and add a brown pom pom for the head on the other side of all these cute feathers. Add 2 googly eyes purchased from Hobby Lobby or Walmart.  Lastly, add a snipped off piece of the orange fat chenille stem. They end up looking like a carrot but are perfect for a turkey ” beak”.

Lastly I went online and found these adorable placecard tags. I printed off 8 of them for my own Thanksgiving guests at my table. They come in pumpkin orange and kind of a sage green.  I laminated them so I could reuse them next year. (If you don’t have lamination then just use a roll of clear, fat, book tape or something similar to protect them. Then use a dry erase marker for putting the family names. You can wipe it off after dinner and reuse them. The Link is here for the placecards.   http://parenting.leehansen.com/downloads/crafts/cards/Thanksgiving/turkey-placecards.pdf

PINE CONE TURKEY TUTORIAL 
KIDS THANKSGIVING DECORATIONS

I made a little table for my granddaughters to sit at and used little plates and cups for them and a cute little tablecloth. I think they loved being at their own little table. They really LOVED their little turkey placecards! I’ll have to think of something cute to

PINE CONE TURKEY TUTORIAL 

put on the tables for Christmas! Maybe some little pinecone snowmen! I’ve got TONS of pinecones out in our front yard under our trees. Hmmm… another repurposing crafty project…

I purchased these kiddie melamine plates at Target  for the upcoming Christmas holiday dinner. I think I will start a collection of holiday kiddie plates if I can find them this inexpensive! I only paid $2.00 for the plates and $3.00 for the cute glittery cups and $1.00 for the red silverware! And they had placemats and bowls to match at Target. I love that store.  I could easily make a simple snowman tablecloth if I want to matchy match.  That might be easier than placemats since my kiddie table is kinda tiny.  I’ll have to see what kind of fabric they have at Hobby Lobby tomorrow.

Pottery Barn Kids had some DARLING plates and cups and decorations for holiday tables but I wasn’t keen on paying $14.00 for 1 little plate. But it is great for ideas and it sure is fun to browse the beautiful store and enjoy their great decorations. Just treking down to Trolley Square in Salt Lake is always a fun adventure anyways. And I now have a few ideas of my own for my little granddaughters’ itty bitty Christmas table decor.

 Marisa and Megan loved seeing all the cute new toys PBKs had out for Christmas and they had fun playing in the pretend kitchen there.  My daughter and I topped off our day of Holiday shopping with a lunch at Red Lobster, my favorite seafood restaurant. I loved hanging out with Megan and Marisa. Notice their cute turkey shirts my daughter made? So cute!

Devin and Caitlin’s Utah Wedding Reception at Le Jardin in Sandy

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Well, almost a full month after getting married in the beautiful St. Louis Temple, Devin and Caitlin had their  reception in Utah. It turned out to be a nice day. Everybody had a fun and relaxing time.  We didn’t have a D.J. after going back and forth trying to decide on dancing or not, but I guess we aren’t really “dancin peeps” so we just had lots of yummy food and good company.

The wedding reception hostess from Le Jardin told us at the end of the night it was one of the nicest receptions she’d ever hostessed. I asked her why she thought so, thinking “oh yeah I bet you say that to all the moms of the groom” and she said it was because everybody actually stayed the whole night and visited.

Well, I had my friend Candice Bithell, who lives on my street take the loveliest of pictures! Check out Candice Renee Photography LINK HERE I told her since I never got any pics of all the food I did at my only daughter’s wedding, I wanted to get some this time around.  So she took lots of darling pics of my catering.  I’m so glad. I LOVE seeing them because all my love and heart went into it. You gals who cook know what I’m a talkin about— so bear with me on those shots. 😀

Caitlin and Devin’s reception August 24th 2010

We had the reception in Sandy at LE JARDIN and it was very beautiful. They set up all these white orchids and heart ivy topiaries all around the giant  greenouse filled with wrought iron and stone and flowers.  We added our little touches of black and white and creme, Cait’s colors.  It turned out really lovely and the weather cooperated too. It wasn’t too hot for an August evening in Utah!

We hung little crystal hearts all around…. everywhere we could think of…. so cute….

The Beautiful Bride and her darling little flower girl. Caitlin and Marisa. The belles of the ball…

Devin doing his GQ pose…. so handsome! And Megan the little dancing queen… She threw her petals all over the floor and then just decided to have a party all by herself stepping on them all. She is so fun to just sit back and watch. I LOVE her!

 The linens Cait chose to match the black and white color scheme turned out so pretty.  The black, ceramic pots have white orchids and we wrapped each one in a black and white ribbon with little crystals thrown around for a little glitter. Lucky for us Mrs. McCain had loaned us all the pictures of Dev and Cait growing up from the St. Louis reception in these sweet little frames. They added a lot to the decor…..I really loved the black voile bows on the white chairs…

THE LOVERLY BRIDE AND GROOM

I love this one the best…..
Devin LOVES Caitlin…..

There are statuary waterfalls all over the insides of the greenhouse.  It is actually a flower shop during the day and at night it opens for private parties. I love hanging out there in the summer. It is a stone’s throw from our house. We could have walked there, but it would have been hard to carry the lemonade dispenser…:-D And all the cakes….

Pretty Caitlin…
The entrance to the “garden” outside the venue is really pretty too. Lots of green arbors, little white lights in all the trees. It was prettier the more the night wore on….a very unexpected pleasure for me….I loved sitting below this umbrella full of crystal chandeliers and lights. It was like Christmas in August!



Pretty couple….. them …  us…not so much….



Beautiful things everywhere….



Like….My beautiful new grandbaby Josie. She was a good girl and slept through most of the night.

Isn’t she just the sweetest thing…you should see her when she smiles!

My daughter Tiffany, her husband Gary and their 2 cutie pie girls, Megan and Marisa…

I made all the flowers and corsages and stuff…. They turned out nice…

The Newleyweds were so handsome and pretty….Caitlin is Marisa’s BFF, but Megan is allowed to share her sometimes….

Now these cute little jars  are simple cookie jars from Walmart, but I used black and white scrapbooking paper inside in different designs and different ribbons on the jars. Then I found some cute wedding stickers in black and white to add to the outsides. We filled them with 3 different kinds of homemade cookies. I did the same thing  for Wendy’s baby shower using the jars with pink and green ribbons and scrapbooking paper. They turned out sooooo cute both times!



We did every kind of fruit in season on platters. I’m so glad we have Costco in our lives…. So glad….

There were these giant pink, white and blue hydrangeas all over the place…. they looked so gorgeous!  Boy do I wish I could grow these in my yard. I have tried before and with my black thumb they just die within a year. I wonder what the secret is….

Marisa’s little flower girl purse. Caitlin found them in St. Louis….

This is before anybody arrived but we had a steady stream of people from Devin and Caitlin’s BYU friends and Devin’s missionary companions to our friends and neighbors and of course all the Moss relatives….they took up I think 3 tables. My siblings live now in Washington and California and weren’t able to make it.  We are lucky to have John’s family so close. The cousins have grown up together and love each other. There are actually  about 5 cousins going to BYU right now. Devin and Caitlin’s BYU bishopric even came. They told us all about watching this thing blossom from start to finish.  Cait was the R.S. Pres in the ward and Dev was the ward clerk. The bishop said I did a good job with Devin.  That made me feel good. I smiled all night…..

We ate… and drank lemonade….and visited with so many wonderful friends
….I made chicken salad with grapes and slivered almonds on rolls, fruits, veggies and dip, cakes, pies and cookies, and of course chocolates.  Yummy!

I asked 2 little girls from my ward to help serve and I made them matching aprons like this tablecloth under the fruit and added different striped fabric on the pockets and black ribbons on top. We forgot to take a picture of them but they dressed in black and white and looked so cute acting all official bussing tables.
Thanks Abbie Hill and Tienna Rainey. I’ll help cater YOUR weddings if you want! 🙂

We did have one mishap. I dropped my beverage server and it cracked and started leaking. So LUCKILY my SMART daughter was prepared. She had hers in the car….just in case…! Can you believe that? I don’t know where she gets it but I’m sure glad she’s got it!  Thanks Tiff! It looked pretty with  ribbons everywhere. Who knew Costco would be so kind as to actually have some black and white Christmas ribbon out in the aisles just in time! Christmas stuff in August, who knew?

We had iced lemon water and iced lemonade for the drink dispensers.


Grandpa Don Moss and Grandma Merlene Moss, both of them in their eighties and going strong!  Aren’t they so cute?



Well nobody is cuter than Marisa Belle….Flower girl extraordinaire!

She really loved getting her picture taken lucky for us. We got lots of cute shots!
Oops! Gimme a kiss!

Veggie platter, so colorful!
Megan Tremayne,  littler flower girl…

Josie Moss, grandbaby #3 was an honorary flower girl…. She just layed around looking cute….



My son Jeffrey and his cute wife Wendy and their firstborn daughter, Miss Josie….Cute family pic! Thanks Candice! I will be putting these into frames for my family picture wall in the den….

 Tiffany made all the girls hair bows…too cute…Cait found these little pearl bracelets for them both. They were little dolls in their lace dresses with black sashes and black Mary Jane shoes…

Family pictures, I think I liked this one best…well except for grandpa’s kind of surprised  look …
Do you think he just doesn’t like gettin his picture taken? He was such a trooper lugging all the food and decor back and forth…Thanks Johnnie for all your help.  We love you too! 

 I loved this gazebo in the middle of the room. It was so pretty…
MOSS FAMILY 2010 CUTE SHOT!!!

I love this statue so I bought it and the vase for my house. The caption says “Plant the Seeds of Love and watch them grow…. and you know what?  I think it’s really true!   

We had chocolate, white and carrot cakes, chocolate turtle pie and coconut cream pie (John’s favorite)



This is a few of the presents they had at the beginning of the night. Beside it is a birdhouse where guests dropped cards.  But the cutest thing happened by the end of the night. They had this boatload of stuff and the hostess brought out this darling 5 foot long, wooden wagon and they filled it all up with the gifts and THEY took them out to the newleywed’s car and packed them all inside. The Le Jardin hostesses were awesome at service. Who would have even thought of that? It was a wonderful thing cuz you are really TIRED by the end of the night!  I wish somebody would have taken a picture of that wagon full of fun.  It was such a cute sight!

My handsome husband. But why didn’t anybody tell me my hair was doin a left turn? 



We had some cute pictures everywhere in silver or black frames….

Dev and Cait doin the Robot…I’ve got dozens of pics of them doin the Robot!
Those Crazy kids!





The book where you sign your name and take a “kiss” I love groupings of white flowers.. Purely pretty…

Cute Marisa…..”Take my picture again guys!”

Somebody made hearts out of the crystals….so cute!
Peek a boo!  Hi Caity!
I’ll give you a petal if you give me one of yours!

Here’s Grandpa Moss giving the newlyweds lots of advice…


“Well Dad, yeah I’ve got enough for the honeymoon but if you’re handing out money…well… let me just get my wallet.. you know you can always use more cash in the Cayman Islands! “

“Hey Grandma! Can we do this again tomorrow? It’s been fun! “

You said it Marisa! It WAS fun! 
Family is the most important thing in this world.
So these kinds of gatherings are wonderful traditions
 to be treasured….  And we will!