Mountain Musings

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day Seven

It's been one week since we started - how many words do you have now? Who's closest to 25? :)

Bonus words!

Aren't icicles beautiful? We rarely have them, and when we do, that means Dad is probably at work for an ice storm. When we do have some hanging from the eaves, the three of us girls are usually outside snapping pictures before they melt away.

Does your family have any movie watching traditions? I normally watch It's a Wonderful Life every year  (although it's not the most theologically sound....bells ringing and angels getting their wings? Huh?), and we also own The Nativity Story. I've watched part of that this year already but haven't finished it yet.

Fruitcake. Some people despise it, others give it as gifts. :) Depending on the recipe, I like it! There's one company called Southern Supreme that makes wonderful fruitcakes. My great-aunt Bunny would get one every year for Christmas - it was her favorite. We've never actually made one, I don't think...just eaten gifts given to us. How about you?

~Sarah

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day Six

Day six already! Here we go:

Today's bonus words are:

Do you put garland on your tree? We have a red wooden bead garland that looks like cranberries but can be reused over and over every year. Mom and Hannah are the ones to drape the strands (very artistically) on the tree once all the lights are up. There's not enough to go all the way around, so they have to strategically go from side to side. :)

We have always put candles in each window at our house, and we have to run around every night at dusk plugging them in. Most of the ones we have are years old, plastic, and Mom wants to replace them at some point. The ones downstairs/visible to visitors are the cute country style ones with a silicone light bulb. Some of them downstairs have greenery and ribbon around the base to Christmas-fy it. (How do you like the new word I made up?)

Have you ever been skiing before? Most of us went for the first time a few years ago (although Dad has been many times growing up), and it was really fun! Granted, I did stay on the bunny slope all day, besides one terrifying trip down the intermediate rated hill. I was happy to stick with all the rest of the newbies after that. :)

~Sarah

Christmas Giveaway over at The Munck's Quiver

Head on over to The Munck's Quiver blog for their wonderful Christmas Giveaway...lots of interesting gifts are being given away - just enter before Saturday, December 15, at midnight. 

Check them all out and pick your favorite!

~Deb

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day Five

Happy Tuesday morning! How close are you getting to BINGO? :)

And the 4 bonus words:

Starting off with cards...how do you display them, if at all? As we receive Christmas cards, there is a little gold star-shaped basket that we put them in for the time being. When there's a chance, someone punches a hole in the top of the card and ties it to the garland surrounding the doorways in our foyer. I think it looks very nice and festive!

A lot of you chose hot chocolate, so I know that must be a popular beverage this time of year! :) I like it as well, but I've started making an even BETTER drink. Hot vanilla! It's great if you want something later at night and don't want chocolate to keep you awake.

I usually make it by the mugfull, first filling it with half heavy cream and half milk. Stir in a spoonful of sugar and heat in microwave. Mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add some marshmallows (homemade are especially good!) and sprinkle a dusting of cinnamon on top. Hot, creamy, and delicious!

And of course - Christmas is a wonderful time of year when your family gathers together! Granny's already here with us, but my aunt from South Carolina will be arriving next week, and we are looking forward to that. :)

There were some good words today - comment on your favorite! Even those of you not playing, feel free to chime in. :)

~Sarah

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day Four

Welcome to a new week of bingo! Today's words are:
And so this game won't stretch out too long, there will be bonus words all this week! :)

We don't make wassail very often, but when we have I've loved it! Here is a recipe that's similar to what we've done before. Sooo yummy! Do you make wassail?
Old Virginia Wassail Cider

• 2 quarts apple cider
• 2 cups orange juice
• 46 oz pineapple juice
• 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 1/2 cup honey

In a large stock pot over medium heat, combine the apple cider, orange juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon sticks, cloves and honey. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat, or transfer to a slow cooker to keep warm while serving. Strain out cinnamon sticks and cloves before serving if desired.

What kind of tree skirt do you use? We have an old baby's blanket that the back is red with white polka dots, and we just wrap it around the base of our tree.

I've wanted to make a new quilted skirt from this book for awhile (shown above), but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Although Mom, being the loyal traditionalist she is, has said she doesn't know that she wants to use something other than the baby's blanket! :)

~Sarah

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day Three

Day 3 is upon us already! Let’s get right to it:

AND....3 bonus words for the weekend!

Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ’s birth – how do you focus on that instead of everything else? As said in the first post, we read the Christmas story and sing Christmas hymns in our Christmas Eve program. We also like to set up a manger outside on the porch and have a flag out that says Celebrate Christ.

Every year we go to a Christmas concert. I always like it when we can find a local performance of The Messiah. The words are right from Scripture as they sing about the prophecies of His coming. And then when everybody rises to listen to the majestic Hallelujah Chorus, it just makes me feel so joyful!

How about you? Do have any Christmas stories to share related to any of those 10 words?

Remember, I'm taking tomorrow off, but I'll be back with more words on Monday!

~Sarah

 

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day Two

Onward we go to Day Two! How many words do you have crossed off now?

What kind of tree do you get in your family? We have always had an artificial tree, that I think is supposed to look like a Douglas Fir. Both Dad and Mom grew up having a real tree, but Mom remembers always being deathly afraid it would catch on fire. She would water it constantly so it wouldn’t dry out, and then water would soak the presents!

Does your family give stocking stuffer gifts? Mom and Dad wrap some up for us, and we open all the stocking stuffers first before the other gifts on Christmas morning. I know some people open those on Christmas Eve. One gift that is always in there is a pack of thank you notes. Perfect, don’t you think? :)

~Sarah

Holly Jolly Bingo: Day One

Yay! The game commences! :) The seven words randomly generated today are below – check your list to see if any of them are on it.

I’ll be using one or two of the called words each day to share something about our Christmas, and if any of you would like to do the same in the comments, feel free!

Traditions – I love them! The rest of the family will testify to that. As mentioned in the Thanksgiving post, we usually put up our tree on the day after Thanksgiving. Mom makes apple cider and orange Danish rolls, and we take a break halfway through the tree assembly to enjoy them. There are certain ornaments that some of us have to be the one to put on, and I always put the first gift under the tree as soon as I can! :)

One of our other traditions is Dad, Hannah, Jonathan and I putting on a program on Christmas Eve for the rest of the family. The audience has dwindled to Mom, Granny, and Aunt Bet now, but I think they still enjoy it. :) We choose Scripture passages, poems, and new-to-us and old favorite hymns and carols. The past number of years it has almost become tradition to not get the program all together until a couple of days beforehand and be frantically searching for the right songs and decent poems. I think that particular tradition should be stopped, and we should get it together earlier in the month, don’t you?

Does your family have any traditions at this time of year? Do you go snowboarding? Eat chocolate? Go to see the Nutcracker ballet? ;) (By the way, I just opened a birthday gift last night that said Mom and I will be going to see the Nutcracker this weekend! Yay!)

~Sarah

Happy 26th Birthday, Sarah!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sarah! Today is your special day!

We're up early today baking a birthday cake and gathering ingredients a little later this afternoon for Sarah's requested meal of Snow on the Mountain, Lime Jello Salad, toasted bread, and FunFetti Cake with orange sherbet.

If you glance back at other birthday posts, you'll find this exact same birthday meal request. What else is a girl who loves snow going to request other than Snow on the Mountain?!

It should be a fun day all around!  Happy Birthday, Sarah, from all your family!

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Reminder: Tonight by midnight is your last chance to register your 25 words for Sarah's Holly Jolly Bingo! Get your words in if you'd like to play...and you might win some jolly good prizes!

~ Deb

Holly Jolly Blog Bingo!

Who wants to play a fun game here on the blog?! I am going to be running a little contest this month, after having a lot of fun participating over on the In Stitches blog other years.

Game Instructions & Rules:

1. Choose 25 words from the list below. Write them down to save for yourself AND email your list to my email: girottih(at)yahoo(dot)com. Include your name in your email.

2. All list submissions must be received by MIDNIGHT (EST) Wednesday, December 5.

3. Beginning Thursday, December 6, I will post 7 randomly chosen words each day (Sundays excluded). Words will be posted around 8 am EST until the first two people reach BINGO! 

4. Participants will want to check our blog each and every day to find out what words were called and cross them off your list. 

5. As soon as you have crossed off all 25 words, please leave a comment posting “BINGO!” I will double check your list to make sure it is a good bingo and will announce the winners on the blog. Even if someone has called “Bingo”, please continue to post “Bingo” until a winner is announced.

6. Multiple family members are welcome to play, just send me the separate lists for each of you.

Prizes:

There will be 2 prizes!

Prize package #1 includes a cross-stitched Christmas hand towel, one of Granny's potato masher baskets (note: it will differ slightly from the one shown), and a container of Black Forest (cherry-chocolate) fudge!

Prize package #2 will include a cross-stitched Christmas hand towel and another container of fudge.

Up close view of the fudge. :)

BINGO WORDS:

Remember, choose 25 words from the list below. Write them down to save for yourself AND email your list to my email: girottih(at)yahoo(dot)com. Include your name!
Deadline to get your email with your words submitted is:
MIDNIGHT (EST) Wednesday, December 5.

(click on this picture to enlarge for easier viewing)

I hope everyone will have a fun time with this! :) Thanks again to In Stitches for the idea, most of the words, and the rules for this little game.

~Sarah