12 Days of Christmas Tag

8 days until Christmas!!!! :)
Today I am here with a super fun Christmas Tag that was created by Faith. Also, definitely be sure to check out Faith's blog to see her fun post each day as well as the list of other bloggers.

Rules:
– Link back to the 12 Days of Christmas blog party or use the party graphic
– Answer the 10 questions
– Have fun!


Questions:

1 // Christmas is the season of hope, joy, and light. What’s your favorite thing to make this season bright? 
Decorating the house, listening to Christmas music and playing it on my violin, making cookies, giving gifts, snow. There's a lot of stuff that makes my Christmas season bright!

2 // Reading of the Christmas story, lighting the tree – Which tradition is most special to you? 
The Christmas traditions that my family and I do on Christmas morning are really special to me. We read the Christmas story, open stockings, have homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and open presents. Another really special tradition is our family Christmas party.

3 // Festive old hymns or glorious new tunes – What are you listening to on repeat? 
I just love Christmas songs! Two songs that I've been listening to a lot are I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and We Need a Little Christmas.

4 // Fiction and nonfiction, classics and contemporary – Which Christmas books do you love so much that you just have to re-read every year? 
I really, really like A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher. I am not reading it this Christmas season though, but it's definitely a favorite! It is definitely a great book to get you in the Christmas mood. It's a super snowy book.

5 // Trees and nativities, bells and bows – Do you have a favorite Christmas decoration? 
I decorated my bedroom this year and I love it! The Christmas tree is always a favorite as well as the lights on the banister.

6 // From the prophets to the gospels, the timeless story is woven. Which Bible passage that speaks of our Savior birth holds a special place in your heart? 
I've always enjoyed reading the Christmas story from Luke 2.

7 // Glittery snowflakes and shimmering balls to angels and one-of-a-kind creations. Do you have a favorite tree ornament? 
Yes, I do! I have a lot of fun/special ornaments. One of my favorites is my baby's first Christmas one from my parents. It's a stork carrying a baby in a basket. :)

8 // Red and green, silver and gold, even purple and blue! What's your favorite color scheme this time of year?
Definitely red and green! Those two colors have always been my favorite Christmas colors.

9 // Between the old and the new, the classics and the cartoons, which Christmas movie do you come back to year after year? 
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, The Christmas Card, and A Christmas Snow are three of my favorite movies that I always try to watch each year.

10 // Pies and cakes, cookies and sweets. What's your favorite Christmas treats? 
I love sugar cookies and chocolate chip peppermint candy cane cookies.


If you would like to do this tag, go right ahead! I'd love to read your answers.
What's one of your favorite things about Christmas?

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

Welcome everyone to the third day in the 12 Days of Christmas blog party! I hope you all have been enjoying all of the Christmasy fun that's been going on! 

Last night it started snowing for the first time this season!!!!!!! :D :D I am just SO excited!! I'm hoping for lots more snowy days and I'm dreaming of a white Christmas! ;)

Today I am here to share a recipe for chocolate chip peppermint candy cane cookies! This is actually a recipe that I came up with and I am really happy with how they turned out.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract
chocolate chips (around 1 cup)
some crushed candy canes (about 4 candy canes)



Directions:
Stir flour with baking soda and salt. In a large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and peppermint. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Next, drop dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake for around 10 min. at 375 degrees (F).
After the cookies are done baking and and you've pulled them out of the oven, keep them on the cookie sheet and sprinkle the crushed candy canes onto the cookie. Put the sheet back in the oven for about 1 min. so the candy canes can melt a little. Pull out of the oven, put the cookies on a wire rack, and let them cool for a bit. Then enjoy!


If you try these cookies I'd love to hear what you think of them! :)


What's one of your favorite Christmas cookies?

The Christmas Note // Movie Review

About the Movie:
Having just moved back to her hometown with her young son but without her serviceman husband, Gretchen Daniels finds her life in disarray as Christmas approaches. She discovers new purpose when she helps to deliver a message to her neighbor, Melissa, which makes her an ally in a quest to find the neighbor’s sibling she never knew she had. The women become bonded not only by the search, but by the understanding that being there for each other means they’re no longer alone. This friendship becomes the greatest Christmas gift of their lives.


The Christmas Note is a really great, sweet movie. It isn’t your typical Hallmark movie where two people meet and fall in love. I do enjoy those types of stories a lot, but it was fun to see something else too. The Christmas Note has a unique story-line and it is just really good!

I give this movie 8 R's out of 10

It's That Time of Year! ~12 Days of Christmas and a Book Review

It's that time of year again!!

Time for the 12 Days of Christmas blog party hosted by Faith over at Stories by Firefly. This is the third year that she is doing it and also the third year that I am participating in it. I’ll be doing a fun Christmas post each day from now until Christmas. Faith will be too. You should definitely check out her blog to see all of her fun posts, plus she has a list of all the other bloggers participating in the party with their posts. 

There are only 12 days left until Christmas!!! Can you believe it? 

Okay, today for my first post I will be doing a book review.

           *************************************************************************

From the Back Cover:

Robert Reed gave his life for his country in the early days of World War II. His sacrifice was honored when his widow and son were presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor. At Christmas, the final decoration Marge Reed hangs on the family’s tree is that medal. Rather than being a symbol of honor for young Jimmy Reed that shining star represents loss, pain, and suffering. 

Yet a message delivered by one of Robert’s fellow soldiers and a mystery letter found in a Bible put a father’s sacrifice and faith into perspective and bring new meaning to not just the star hanging on the Christmas tree but the events of the very first Christmas. Then, when least expected, a Christmas miracle turns a final bit of holiday sadness into a joy that Jimmy has never known.

The Christmas Star is a really great book. I wasn’t too sure what to expect starting this book, but I ended up really enjoying it. I don’t think that the back cover really gives that great of an idea of what the book is about. So even if you don’t think it sounds the most fun, you should still give it a try! The Christmas Star definitely kept me on the edge of my seat several times. I was really wondering a couple times if the book could actually end well or not. 

I can’t say much without giving the story away, except for you should really read this book! :)

I give this book 9 R's out of 10 

Dylan's Story // Book Review

From the Back Cover:
Terrified of telling too much, ten-year-old Dylan Sedano wishes his little sister, Fern, would stop talking. But when army reserve officer, Scott Wood, and his wife, Autumn, tell Dylan that God is ready to help him, Dylan isn't buying. If God did care for them, why hadn't He been there months ago when the trouble started and his dad disappeared?

This book sounded really good when I first read the synopsis and I knew that it was a book that I’d  like to read. Well, I wasn’t disappointed! Dylan’s Story is a great book. It was pretty intriguing and I was never quite sure what would happen next. It also had it’s happy, sweet, and sad moments. I really enjoyed all of the characters. They were very well written. This book is really great. I would definitely recommend it and it’s a book that I’ll probably re-read sometime.

I give this book 8 out of 10 R's

The Bibliophile Sweater Tag

Just recently Faith over at Stories by Firefly did the Bibliophile Sweater Tag. She left it open for whoever wanted to do it, so I decided I would. Since I wasn't officially tagged I'm not going to post all of the rules and stuff. I also am not going to tag anyone, so feel free to do this tag if you want to!

Fuzzy Sweater (A book that is the epitome of comfort.)
The A Life of Faith: Millie Keith series. These books are SO good! They are definitely my top favorite series!

Striped Sweater (Book you devoured every line of.)
I could go with Millie again, but I'll choose something else. ;)
A Gown of Spanish Lace by Janette Oke is a book that I could hardly put down.

Ugly Christmas Sweater (Book with a weird cover.)
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski. The cover doesn't actually look weird, but the girl on the front cover who is supposed to be Mary Jemison has brown hair and brown eyes. In the book it says that she has blue eyes and very blond hair, so it's a bit strange that the cover doesn't match the descriptions in the book.

Cashmere Sweater (The most expensive book you bought.)
The two books that I paid the most for would be Millie's Grand Adventure and Millie's Fiery Trail. They had just gone out of print and were a little harder to find, but I loved them so much so I paid quite a bit for them.

Hoodie (Favorite classic book.)
I really haven't read many classics. The A Life of Faith: Elsie Dinsmore series count as classics, right...? Because pretty much everyone has heard of Elsie Dinsmore from either the original books of the A Life of Faith ones.

Cardigan (Book you bought on impulse.)
Back in the Saddle by Ruth Logan Herne is a book that I kind of bought on impulse. I had seen the cover of book 2 in a CBD catalog and it was pretty cute. When I found out that it was the second book I decided to get book 1. It was pretty good, not a favorite but not bad either.

Turtleneck Sweater (Book from your childhood.)
I read Elsie's Endless Wait several times when I was younger. I really enjoyed that book along with the second book in the series because Elsie is a young girl in those two, so I liked them better than the other books because she was around my age in those first books. I'm hoping to re-read the A Life of Faith: Elsie Dinsmore series in the coming year!

Homemade Knitted Sweater (Book that is Indie published.)
Just within the last two years I've read several Indie books. One of my favorites though is Dandelion Dust by Faith Potts.

V-Neck Sweater (A book that did not meet your expectations.)
The Imposter by Suzanne Woods Fisher didn't quite meet my expectations.

Argyle Sweater (Book with a unique format.)
The Christmas Star by Ace Collins had a kind of cool format. At the beginning of the chapter it had the month, day, years, and the time. So it looked like: December 23, 1943 6:15p.m. I thought that it was cool to have the time in there.

Polka-Dot Sweater (A book with well rounded characters.)
The Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn has pretty well rounded characters. The author  showed a bunch of different sides of the characters. When they were happy, sad, upset, excited...


That's all of the questions!
The 12 Days of Christmas log party starts in one week so I'll be having lots of fun Christmas posts coming up!

Christmas is Coming!!

Christmas is in 25 days!!!! :) I am so excited! Christmas is definitely the most wonderful time of the year!

This year I am participating in the 12 Days of Christmas blog party hosted by my friend, Faith.
This is the 3rd year that Faith has done this link-up and the 3rd year that I will be participating in it! :) It is a lot of fun. For more information and to sign up to be a part of the party, check out Faith's post about the 12 Days of Christmas!!

Are you as excited for Christmas as me?!