Hot Chocolate Bar and a Must Have Recipe!

 I saw this idea(probably pinterest) and loved it..........A hot chocolate bar!

I usually put out hot chocolate at Christmas time but never all the fixins.

 We have enjoyed the convenience of being able to whip up something hot and then making it our own.

If you take a closer look at our bar, you will find.....

 hot chocolate

 cookies

 marshmallows

 candy canes

and mint chocolate chips.

A mixture of all those ingredients makes for one delicious cup of hot cocoa!

If you love butterfingers you will want to try this recipe.

Homemade Butterfingers

It takes only 3 ingredients.

1 lb candy corn, 16 oz peanut butter and chocolate bark

Melt the candy corn in the microwave for 15 second intervals. Stir in between. Add  the jar of peanut butter and stir. If you forgot to do your arm workouts....no problem....you will get it during this part! 

I like to think I am shedding a few calories before I add it back on!

Stir....stir....stir until it is mixed together. Line a baking dish with wax paper and pour in the mixture. Once it is completely cool, lift it out and cut into small square. I was giving them to neighbors so I wanted them to be small. You could cut them into bars but............(here comes the WARNING!) they are very addictive. YOU....WILL.....WANT.....TO....INDULGE.......SLOWLY!

Now these squares are delicious naked........ but dip them in melted chocolate and...........

you will want to find a closet to hide in. These babies will disappear!

I was amazed at the results! They even have the consistency of butterfingers.

I thought I would share my gift to the neighbors this year.

A bottle of vanilla extract and homemade butterfingers placed in a cute Christmas dish

 

Our elf Harley had to step it up!

I thought Harley was doing a good job hiding

in places like the light fixture.....

or a Chrismas present.

 

That is.........until Laney told me, "Ummmm mom.......Harley is boring!"   What??  What happened to the good old days(last year) when it was fun just playing hide and go seek each day. I did not realize we were in competition!  

Okay...okay...so Harley forgot to move for a few days from the light fixture. He had a hard time getting down.......it can be scary up there! 

Besides if  the kids misbehave, he won't move(I think I read that in the manual book somewhere).  

The girls are lucky it was only 3 days. 

I thought Harley should have left for the North Pole and reported it to Santa!

Instead.......he stepped up his game and got creative.

He.........

went on a date with Barbie.

Date did not go well because we found this the next morning

and this!

After Harley freed himself,  he relaxed with a nice cup of hot cocoa......with a helping of extra marshmallows!

Laney seems to enjoy Harley's creativity.

He woke up in the middle of the night to feed the twins.

After a long night, he decided to take a nap.

After a power nap, he went bungee jumping.

I found it hard to keep up with Harley the whole time so I did not get a picture of everything.

He also......

worked out with the big marshmallow weights,

sat down on the bench to look at all our wonderful Christmas cards we had received,

rolled the living room,

and kicked Lanie( Laney's AG) out of her new bed so he could snuggle with her dog.

Tonight is his last night here......I wonder if he will end with a big bang!

Speaking of big bang, I think I better go check on him.......

I wouldn't want him to do something crazy!

Cookie Making Party

Last Saturday,  the younger kids ( who were just recently named KC4C - Kids Connect For Christ) from church got together for some cookie making and hot chocolate drinking fun. It wouldn't be any fun if we did not share them with others. We planned to deliver some of the cookies to special people from our congregation.

We started out by rolling out sugar cookie dough and picking out a cookie cutter.

As you can see some decided to decorate before baking them.

 While the kids were waiting on their cookies to cook, they had many options to fill their time.

 They could make a frame,

make a card to go along with the cookies we were going to deliver,

 

sew up a bear for sick children,

 

or play Christmas Bingo.

 

 Some of the older children help make special cake mix cookies to deliver.

 Once the cookies were done baking, it was time to frost.

Ella made this Auburn snowman for her nana and pop. She said she was going to save it for when they come to visit. I had to explain they were not coming until Jan and it would not be good. So I ate it for them. Nana and pop it was delicious! 

  We could not eat cookies without having something to wash them down. A hot chocolate buffet was set up for the kids( okay....maybe a few adults enjoyed it too!).

There were many choices of additions to make it your own.

Once our bellies were full and our energy level was up, it was time to deliver. The kids were so excited to ride on the churches new bus!

 

We delivered to 5 different houses. The kids sang a couple of songs and wished them a Merry Christmas.

Here was our group that participated.

 

It was such a fun day!

Christmas Nursing Home Party

For several years, the church we attend has been hosting a Holiday party for the ones in the nursing home. We sing, bring cookies and hand deliver presents. We have participated for many years. It is  a great way to give back.

I decided since the girls were going to be Santa's helper, they needed the appropriate attire. They wore their shirts that say Santa's Helper.

There were a few who could not come to the meeting room so we had to deliver them in their rooms.

These men and women are some of the most appreciative people. They are so excited about their gifts. For some, it may be the only present they receive this Christmas.

We could not end the night without  a few photos with Santa.