The BooMama Tour!

Welcome, friends, family and BooMama Guests! We are so delighted to open our doors to you this Christmas Season. Oh, what's that? You can't make it to the Open House because you are blog hopping in your PJs? Never fear...this is a virtual open house! Sit back, grab a cup of coffee and feel free to mingle. Leave the treats up to us. You'll get a snack at the end.
If you have visited our blog before, you are probably wondering what on earth is this? We are participating in the 2008 Boo Mama Christmas Tour of Homes. If you are new to our little blog sweet blog, perhaps via Boo Mama...welcome!
This little tour makes us happy for a couple of reasons, one being that you can come on in for a visit. The other is that my mom can now see the Christmas decor she likes to come over and see every year (she's nice like that). Now, she can see it from the comfort of her own home...that's right, she came home from St. David's yesterday and is recuperating nicely! What a wonderful Christmas blessing for us all! So, Mom....welcome back to our home, too!

Let's get started, shall we?

Come on in!

When you enter our home, my husband put together a little Christmas spirit on our entry way table. Yes, that's right-- David did it! He had the entry way last year and took it on again. Kuddos, Hubs!

Step on into the living area and have a seat. Yes, you're right: there are no presents under the tree, yet. We have little boys...and let's just leave it at that. Presents don't appear until Christmas Eve around these parts...for fear of mass destruction.


And following the Boo Mama guidelines, I have included my favorite holiday collection: Santa pictures of my boys. There's one for every year since they were born. This is my favorite spot in our house during the holiday season. The furniture in this photo is very sentimental and has been in my family for awhile. I am pretty sure that mirror is a bit older than me! This year I hung a wreath on it instead of my usual garland. Hope I won't get kicked out of the family for breaking that tradition. Here's a better view of my yearly keepsakes:

The tall one in the back is our oldest son as an infant meeting Santa in Lubbock. This year's photo was a little mug-shot-esque, but oh well. Makes for a good laugh down the road. The little Santa toy was mine when I was a child. I was a little mortified when I saw an identical one in an antique store recently. I'm not that old...am I?

Another favorite spot...the sign reads: Tiny Tots with Their Eyes all Aglow. These are the one-year photos of both of our boys. And these are the stockings Santa fills up. The ones on our mantel are actually metal and more of a pretty-pretty as we call them around here. A pretty-pretty can also be interpreted as a no-no.

This is our room. And our stockings...hung by the chimney with care. Actually, there's no real chimney here. This is a faux-fireplace from our previous home that was fireplace-free. It was just kind of fun to have, so I won't part with it!

A little extra fluff in for the dining room.

In the kitchen are my Christmas plates...which were only $1 each! I place them in front of the plates that sit in this plate rack year-round. It's some $3 Christmas cheer!

And onto another bargain...also in my kitchen, actually the breakfast area to be specific. The Dept. 56 Houses which I absolutely adore aren't exactly in our budget at this time, but I found some cheapies that sure bring a smile to my boys' faces. I buy a couple of these at Walgreens every year-- that's right...Walgreens! When I started buying them, they were only $5, this year they were $6.99. But that still can't be beat, if you ask me. The tree in the back corner was my mom's and she quit putting it out a few years ago (she's started scaling back the last few years). It was always one of my favorites as a child, so she gave it to me last year.

Here's a close-up of my crazy bargain village. Or as the boys call them..."the houses." They have even made friends with the Village people. Haha.

While we are still hanging around the kitchen...let's talk about that snack, shall we? We would love for you to try one of our favorite Christmas cookies that we have baked for the past few years...

Red & Green Pinwheels

And, of course, we will follow the rules and share the recipe! But, we can't take credit...we didn't invent the Red & Green Pinwheel. They came from an old issue of Taste of Home. I first saw them at a friend's house in Muleshoe and realized I had the same magazine. I baked them the next day and the rest is history!

Red & Green Pinwheels:
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup packed brown suger
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Red & green gel food coloring (try to find the red gel without the awful after-taste)
1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide dough into fourths. Tint one portion red and one portion green. Leave one portion alone and add chocolate to fourth. Set aside these two portions (in the refrigerator) for another cookie (see below).
Divide the red and green portions in half. Roll out each portion between waxed paper into a 9 in. x 6 in. rectangle. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Remove waxed paper. Place one green rectangle over a red one and roll up tightly—jelly roll style. Chill at least two hours.
Unwrap and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place one inch apart of ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.


The dough can also be used for Checkerboards, too:

Well, thanks a heap for stopping by our home. It was lovely having you. And to you and yours...Merry Christmas!