Christmas + Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake

I hope ya'll had a holly, jolly Christmas! I must say for us this was one of the best Christmases in a LONG time. Too many times I have let the stress level of Christmas Eve and Day get the best of me. Also, because of that and other issues the hubby and I have not exactly had the best Christmases. We put on a good front for the kids and family but on the inside we want to strangle each other. lol! No lie we probably could have on several of our past Christmases. But this year was amazing because we were actually happy. It was such a great feeling too. Even the kids bickering with each other didn't get us in a bad mood. For me this was one of the best gifts just us being happy....2nd of course to those UK tickets! ha.

On Christmas Eve we spent time with my family in Augusta at my brother and sister in law's house. We have outgrown my momma's small apartment. My kids love getting time to play with their cousins. My momma spoiled all the grandkids and us as well!! My bestie came down to see us with her little boy so we could exchange our gifts as well. Max was excited to get to see his bestie too!! We thought about staying and going to Christmas Eve mass with them at the church I grew up in but Mere wanted to go to ours so she could wear her new Christmas outfit lol. We had planned on going to midnight mass but we were all getting tired so we arrived back at our house in time to change our clothes and make it to the 5 o'clock service. I am so glad we did too. Not sure we would have made it to midnight mass. Walking out of church and seeing the snow was a magical feeling. (and I am not a cold snow type person). After mass the kids were ready to put on their pj's and get settled into bed so santa could come. Nick and I enjoyed the peace and quiet watching a Christmas movie and a bottle of wine.

My momma, siblings, in laws, and grandkids

all the girl grandkids

all the grandkids

Christmas day the kids woke us up at 6 am....yikes!! I tried getting them to go back to sleep and just wait another hour but they were having none of it. So we all got up to see what Santa had brought. I was worried the kids might be disappointed in their gifts. Santa wasn't bringing as much since our NYC trip was part of their gift from us. They each had 6 presents to open form us (Santa doesn't wrap!!) and were thrilled with their new Nike gear ! I was spoiled by Nick with lower arena Uk tickets, TOMS slippers, Loft giftcard, UK sweatshirt, and some Victoria Secret that I will keep secret lol. The kids got me a new pink Yeti. The kids each picked out 2 things to give their daddy out of all the stuff I bought. Mere cracked me up because she had to give him his bourbon!! After I cleaned up the disaster from opening all the gifts I made Breakfast. I used a recipe I saw floating around on facebook. I was a little nervous on how it was going to turn out. But ya'll it was DELICIOUS!! I will share the recipe at the end of the post! We drove back to Augusta to my aunt's house to celebrate with all the extended family! The kids crashed once we got home. I could have used another day off today to recover but back to work I go!! Have a great week!!

Max's favorite gift: cordless vacuum. My boy loves to clean and vacuum!

CINNAMON ROLL FRENCH TOAST BAKE

I found the recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 tubes refrigerated grand cinnamon rolls (10 rolls total, the big kind)
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup maple syrup, divided
• frosting from the cinnamon rolls, warmed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Pour melted butter into 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.
3. Cut dough into 8 rounds (if it's not already segmented into rounds) and place the cinnamon rolls into the bottom of the baking dish. Set icing aside.
4. In medium bowl, beat eggs.Add in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended.
5. Pour egg mixture over rolls, it's okay if it completely covers the roll
6. Pour 1/2 cup maple syrup over the rolls and sprinkle with pecan bits.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Pour the extra 1/2 cup of maple syrup over the cooked rolls and drizzle with the warmed icing.
9. Enjoy!

OMG! It was sooo good!! I will admit I was mixing the ingredients together and I accidently dumped the cinnamon on top of the rolls! I was able to spread it out and save them lol. I normally do something dumb like that while making stuff. Since Christmas has passed would be great to make ahead of time for New Years Day morning!

Oh Christmas Tree

Anyone else having trouble getting into the holiday spirit? I don't know what my problem is. Maybe the stress of Meredith having appendicitis or other things going on in my life. We normally go to a Christmas tree farm in Ohio but with Meredith still being sore we decided to skip. Instead a few friends told us of a place in Newport that had Christmas trees. We decided to give that a try. They had so many trees that were great prices too!!

We got the tree home and decorated. Now waiting on that Christmas spirit to hit. On the bright side under 2 weeks and we will be in NYC!! Whoop whoop!

Christmas Gift Guide for Her

Have ya'll made a wishlist yet? I thought I would share a few of my favorite things plus some items that are on my list this Christmas!


**Amazon Links**

1. camera
Doesn't everyone need the perfect camera to capture life's special moments? This one is the perfect size so it makes taking it from sporting events for the kids to the family vacations easy. The picture quality is amazing. My iPhone pictures just doesn't have the quality I want and need so when I started searching this camera kept coming up over and over!

2. Rifle Paper Co. Notepads
List makers unite!! When I make lists I want them to be pretty. Rifle Paper Co. has the prettiest floral notebooks.

3.Gloves
Who doesn't need a new pair of gloves or two ha!! Gloves are like socks in my household. These tech gloves will let you text or use you phone while fighting the cold this winter. I bought some to take to NYC.

4. Video Projector
This projector is on my wishlist. I thought it would be perfect if we ever decide to get a camper and we could set it up to watch football games or even to use for parties. I am thinking how awesome it would be to watch the Kentucky Derby while sipping on a mint julep in the backyard.

5. Kindle Fire
This is another item on my wishlist but hoping the hubby buys it for my birthday (the week before Christmas) so I can upload some books to read for the plane ride to NYC. You can't beat the price of the Kindle Fires. I think I may even snag Meredith one.

6. Yeti Cooler
Perfect for those hot summer days to bring along the drinks or for us to use at Mere's soccer games. Also we be great to take along boating or camping or tailgating.

7. Yeti Rambler
This yeti cup is my favorite out of all the ones I have. I took it to the pool and it made throwing in my pool bag mess free. The lid makes it also easy to grab!

8. Nikes
Another item that made it on my wishlist. I mean how cute are they?!

last minute Homemade Christmas ornaments

On Saturday (which was my bday) all I wanted to do during the day was make ornaments and cookies with the kids. I guess when you get older your choices change on how to celebrate lol. Anyway, I found these pretty handmade beaded ornaments here. To make things less stressful this Christmas season I even ordered the supplies from amazon! No having to fight the traffic and crowds at Michaels or Hobby Lobby!! It was super easy to do and the kids had fun.

Supplies:

4 mm x 7mm small pony beads  OR a bucket of these perler beads 

6mm x 9mm large pony beads  OR a bucket of these perler beads 

metal Christmas themed cookie cutters 

hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

bakers twine 

cookie sheet

parchment paper 

All we had to do was lay the beads inside the cookie cutters and bake for 15 minutes in the oven. Easy peasy!

After making the ornaments we baked our Christmas cookies. If you remember from this post I bought pre cut Christmas cookies from GFS! Holy crap was I super impressed and so glad we went this route. To bake you simply took the cookies from freezer to cookie sheet. Only had to bake for 10 minutes and once cool we decorated. These cookies are so yummy!! I will probably do this every Christmas.

I love doing things like making cookies and ornaments with the kids each year. I hope this is what they remember as they get older. Hope everyone has a merry and bright week leading up to Christmas!! It's a busy one 'round here. Mere has her Christmas program this week and lots of little things to do to get ready for the big day. We are celebrating Christmas Eve on Thursday and Christmas Day on Christmas Eve. The joys of being a fire family. Nick has to work Christmas day. I can't wait until Friday. We are going to surprise the kids with Polar Express tickets!! Nick and I are super excited for this too!!

xoxo,

Tracey