Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Many blessings from our family to yours!
Hugs and Blessings,
Rebecca

Happy Friday!

Well, one week down and one to go for my Winter Break. Wow, it's been a really rainy day here. We sure needed it. Maggie doesn't understand about rain. Now she IS a water dog, but she doesn't like to be out in the rain. When she goes to the backdoor or her doggy door to get me to play, and she sees the rain, she runs to the front door like it won't be raining out that door. LOL It is soooo funny!

I wanted to share some more pictures from Christmas. Santa was really good to us this year, so we must have been really nice. I think we each had times we were naughty, but I guess the nice outweighed that, thank goodness! *hee hee* Here's Brandon with one of his Christmas goodies.....an amp head. He has been wanting this soooo much, and was thrilled he made Santa's good list again this year!

Here's Blake with his MacBook. He was sooo excited! He has been wanting one for so long.

Here's Kenny carving the turkey.....yum. Not only did we have turkey, but we had ham as well. Double yum! Slicing the turkey and ham is always his job, and he does it to perfection! Thanks Babe! Actually we were blessed with another wonderful meal, and it all turned out so well. My Mom usually does the majority of the cooking because that's what she loves to do. However, with her health and upcoming knee replacement surgery, we all pitched in and did the majority of the cooking this year. Now it wasn't as wonderful as what my Mom does, but turned out great anyway. We were very blessed, and we enjoyed the fellowship and visiting!

Oh the Santa hat is YOU! Really, it IS! *hee hee*

The boys were too generous with their gifts for us. Kenny got a wonderful Taylor guitar stand from the boys as well as some awesome

Mountain Hardware clothes. They got me gift certificates for two 30 minute sessions for Swedish massages and two pieces of the Willow Tree Collection that I collect. One of the pieces is one that I hadn't seen yet.....Angel of Friendship, which has a baby Maggie dog. OMGosh is it cute!! The other was a nativity. It is sooo precious! With the pain I have in my neck and back, the massages are going to be wonderful. I can't wait to set up my appointment! Thanks boys. You guys are just toooo sweet!!

Here's Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Name 2 things you would like to accomplish in 2008. 1. More sit-down family meals. We always seem to be going in different directions. 2. Better shading and coloring on my tube creations.

Soup
With which cartoon character do you share personality traits? Little Audrey, I love sweets!

Salad
What time of day (or night) were you born? Morning, I think.

Main Course
Tell us something special about your hometown. The schools, the people, the talent!

Dessert
If you could receive a letter from anyone in the world, who would you want to get one from? A childhood friend, Nicki. I have lost touch with her and would love to hear from her!

Maggie's Dolly for Christmas
Well, if you will remember back (or peek back) a few posts ago, I mentioned about my teddy bear that sits on my old school desk, and that Maggie LOVES that bear! Well, the much-awaited "dolly" was delivered on Christmas by Santa. It is actually a doggy but we call it her dolly. Actually Corinne suggested "Goggles" for its name, so that seems to have stuck. Maggie loves Goggles! She hasn't offered to get my teddy bear since! Yay! She did take a liking to Gia's and Corinne's webkins, but once she got her dolly, she has been very content! Here are a couple of pictures of her with Goggles! As always, you can click on each picture to enlarge it. Enjoy!

Happy Day After Christmas
*click all pictures to enlarge*



Hello everyone. I sure hope you enjoyed Christmas. We sure did! We had lots of family and friends for Christmas dinner. We had a total 16 people. It was great food, fun, and fellowship! Oh, there were presents too. Actually, I am typing this to you from my big Christmas present.....a MAC COMPUTER *screams*!! The only thing is, I have to purchase a new graphics program just for Mac. My other one won't work on a Mac *pouts* but I should be getting that this week, so don't fret my members of Whimsical Beginnings! I will have lots of goodies for you realllllll soooonnnn!!

Now speaking of goodies (of the edible kind), I have a few pictures for you and a few recipes. These are all-time favorites so try them out at your next gathering. They are always a hit.....but beware.....you may be asked to bring them next as well!! LOL

Here is a picture of my peanut butter balls. This recipe was Kenny's Mom's recipe. She always made them at Christmas. So, after she passed on, I have carried on this tradition since. They are sooooo wonderful. I think they might have been a school cafeteria recipe, as I remember getting these for lunch in elementary school.....way back when! hee hee! Here's the recipe.

Peanut Butter Balls

3/4 lb. melted margarine
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 lb. rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 lbs. powered sugar
1/2 lb. raisins
1 pt. coconut (Optional)
1 1/4 c. chopped nuts
**********
1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 stick paraffin

**********
Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips and paraffin. Make into about 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Stick a toothpick into each ball. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Melt chocolate and paraffin. Dip each ball and place back on waxed-paper-lined cookie sheet. Remove toothpicks and ENJOY!!


Potato Candy
These are Brandon's favorite!

They are so
yummy. Now I do have the recipe to share, but it is not measured out.
Here's What To Do.....
Cook one small potato. Remove the skin and mash the potato very well in a bowl! Start adding powdered sugar and mix together with a fork (eventually you will use your hands). You want to make it into a nice dough.....so add more sugar to a gooey dough to make it more firm. You still want the dough soft, so don't get too dry. You just have to judge this for your self. Knead it with your hands to a smooth texture. Sprinkle a sheet of waxed paper well. Roll the dough out on the waxed paper. You will want to roll it out until about 1/4 inch thick. (At this point, sometimes I cut my dough in half--it just makes the candy not as thick when rolled). Cover the dough with peanut butter. Then, start at one side and begin to roll up the dough. Cut the ends off as they won't be real pretty. Cut this roll into slices (you will have pinwheels). I usually cut them a bit smaller than 1/2 inch thick. They cut really nice with a sharp knife, you don't really need to cut with dental floss. YUM!!

The best cheese ball EVER!!
I make this for Christmas every year as it is expected by everyone! LOL I also make it for other special occassions. It is awesome!
Sorry I didn't get a picture, but everyone started eating it before I could.
Here's the recipe for you:

BEST CHEESE BALL EVER
INGREDIENTS:
2 8 oz. crem cheese, room temp.
1 small can curshed pineapple, drained
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped onion
1/2 Tbsp. season salt
3/4 c. chopped pecans

Mix all ingredients except nuts. Form into a ball. Place on waxed paper in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Remove and roll ball on nuts. Chill. Then allow to become room tep. before serving. Serve with favoirte crackers. Enjoy! YUM-O!

~Our Christmas Card for you and
Our Christmas Traditions: now and to come~

Our family has several Christmas traditions that we hold close to our hearts. However, this year, some have changed and some new ones have been added. I'll tell ya all about them......

Going to our Christmas Eve service has always been a tradition. When our children were little, we went to a different church than we do now. The Christmas Eve service wasn't really a "service" persay, but a time to come together with your family and have some prayer time with each other in front of the manger scene. Now, our church has an actual service. It is a candlelight service. This is something I so look forward to!


Then we have always come home and sang Christmas carols together in front of our Christmas tree. "My song" that I sing is The Little Drummer Boy. Now, I am not a singer, but I really don't sing terrible. I can carry a tune! I love to sing, I just don't consider myself as a "singer". I have always loved to sing and have always done so with my babies, and my preschoolers in Sunday School or preschool, and even my third graders now. They love it, and don't care how you sing. But to sing in front of my peers scares the daylights out of me! hee hee With having a husband that was a professional singer, has made me clam up somewhat. I don't mind singing in front of him, but I just know I am not that great to sing in public! Ok, so much for that....on to more traditions..... On Christmas Eve, my boys would (and still do) exchange the presents they bought for each other.

When my kids were young, it was important to me that they understand the importance to give to others. So as Christmas approached, we would start looking through their toys and picking out some that they no longer wanted but were still in good condition. We would then go to WalMart and purchase a new "boy" gift and "girl" gift. Then we would take it all to our local Fire Station to give for the toy drive, "Toys For Tots". Then we would purchase some fruit and make cookies, to deliver to some elderly people.

Now that we live in a different neighborhood, we have a few neighbors who are elderly and alone. Kenny and I (separately) thought of what we could do for them. Kenny mentioned that he'd like for us to go caroling on Christmas Eve after the Candlelight Service at church. I said that I had been thinking about taking some goodies to some of our neighbors. So, I think we will just combine the two and have a sweet Christmas gift for these people! Don't you?!

Another tradition that isn't as old as some of our traditions is The Living Nativity: A Night In Bethlehem. This is an event that our church does as a community outreach. It is wonderful and has really grown in the last few years. We have always enjoyed going together to this as a family. Last year and this year, Blake has been in this event, as Joseph or a shepherd. Kenny is taking part in this as well. Kenny mentioned it to me the other day but I was going Christmas shopping on the rehearsal nights for some of our underpriviledged kids at school. I had already committed to that, and I know I am still reaching those in our community! One family was of a former student of mine. Some really horrible things had happened recently and they desperately needed help. This little girl was my "baby" and helping her and her family at this time was number one on my list! I also had another family I had adopted to help as well. Tonight, my mother called and was telling me of a family she heard about that was in such great need. There are 5 kids, and there would be no Christmas for them. So, we did some research, and I am going shopping again tomorrow after church for these five children.

This year, Kenny and I have decided that we will have a "Midnight Breakfast" on Christmas Eve since our boys are grown. This will be for us and any family member that wants to eat that late-or early-hee hee. This is new, so I hope this can become one of our new Christmas traditions. I'll let ya know how it went.

On Christmas Day, we have always gathered with my sister and her family at our parents' home. We have always enjoyed this time together and all the wonderful food! However, my Mom is not doing well, as she will be having knee replacement surgery next month. So, I have offered our home for Christmas Day. I am so excited to have everyone over to our new home, as God has blessed us with much more room, as we lived in a small house for years! We will open our Santa gifts that morning before everyone arrives at noon for lunch and the opening of more presents.

Well, that's our Christmas Traditions.
What Christmas traditions does your family have? I would love to hear all about them, if you wish to post a comment.

Happy Birthday Jesus! You are the reason for the season!!

I'm Back and The Stockings Are Hung By The Chimney With Care
Well, I am back from my Reading Conference in Gatlinburg. It was a great trip! Some of the sessions were great, but there are always those few that really ROCK! Two of the rockin' sessions were
1. Children's author, Lester Laminack: He is so wonderful. Actually, he had two different sessions on Thursday, so we chose to go to both of his.
2. Elizabeth Rose, storytelling: This was our first time seeing her, and she was fantastic!! Sessions were over by 4:00 each day, so we had the evenings free to do whatever. We shopped and ate, and shopped some more! LOL It was great to get to spend time with fellow teachers in a new type of setting. Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg is one of my favorite spots. My husband and I always took our boys there every summer while on vacation. We love Dollywood and Dixie Stampede. Then sometimes just Kenny and I would go back in the winter around our anniversary. There is always something to do there! (Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are only about a 10 min. drive from each other).
Check out these places!
Dixie Stampede
Dollywood
Well, I decided that I better start looking for some new stockings. As I said in an earlier post, with our move at the holidays last year, our stockings are missing. I am so sad about that because the boys' stockings were so unique that I wouldn't be able to find them again to replace them. We still have some boxes in the attic and in our storage barn so I am hopeful that they will turn up some day. However, that didn't help now. So, I replaced our stockings. I found some cute ones at The Christmas Place on my recent trip to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg so I went ahead and purchased them. I thought if I didn't, I would wish I had OR if I did purchase them, I would end up finding our others. So I went ahead and bought them and still hope the others turn up!

Here's another picture of the fireplace since I added my "Merry Christmas" banner. It was needing something, and I think this was the perfect touch. It was another goody I found on my trip. I also found a wonderful Santa for my collecion. It is the tallest one here in the picture. He has a list that says "Ho Ho Ho!" He's tooooo cute!


I also found some really cute glitter music notes at The Christmas Place, so I got those too. How perfect for our family of musicians, myself excluded, ofcourse! LOL I also found this wonderful music ribbon for the tree.





(Click on any picture to enlarge.)

A Christmas Invitation for YOU!
I have a Christmas invitation for you. Just click the link below.
Christmas Invitation

Here's today's Saturday Special

1. Best Friend...you answer?: Hubby is my best friend, but Lisa is my best girlfriend
2. Year End...you answer?: New Beginning
3. Did Not Attend...you answer?: a bridal shower
4. Extend...you answer?: Christmas Break

Maggie's Bear
Well, this bear wasn't purchased for Maggie, as I had already put in an order with Santa on a new "dolly" for her. However, she has claimed this as her own. LOL She has been wonderful about all of my Christmas decorations, however, she loves this little bear. I will find her just standing by it, and sometimes even "kissing" it. LOL She is really drawn to stuffed toys. However, when she wants my attention, like when I am on the computer or the phone, she will get her off the school desk and start to playfully and gently sling her around, and watch to see if I'm looking. She really is like a little child! I always know when she has it instead of one of her toys because of the way she plays with it. She plays with it carefully, but she knows it will get my attention away from whatever I am doing and focus on her. It is the cutest thing, but I have to tell her "no". I can't wait until Santa brings her "dolly" for Christmas because she is going to love it!

Here's Friday's Feast

Appetizer:
What was the last game you purchased? Fact or Crap (lol)
Soup
Name something in which you don’t believe. Magic
Salad
If you could choose a celebrity to be your boss, who would you pick? Kelly Ripa. She is too cute, and she'd be a lot of fun!
Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way? When you speed, you can get a huge ticket! (I haven't had a speeding ticket since, and that was 20+years ago!)
Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room. Quiet and off to itself. There would be a big window overlooking the backyard. There would be a comfy chair with soft pillows. A basket would hold decorating magazines, a daily devotionaly, and Bible. Actually, I do have a small sitting area in our bedroom that is pretty much like this now. It really is relaxing!

FAMILY PICTURES
I wanted to share our family Christmas picture. One of Blake's buddies was over, so he took the pic for us. Thanks Adam! We are so happy to have all of us together for good with Bran being home from the Air Force--ok, have I even mentioned that at all.....hee hee, snicker snicker!! We managed to get Maggie seated for the picture. Actually, she is a really good poser for the camera. I have gotten some great shots of her by putting one of her toys down and telling her to sit and stay. She minds well most of the time. *wink*

With Christmas approaching, the Wrinns are always busy with Christmas church services/programs and Christmas parties. I just wanted to share a few pictures that we just had taken. The guys played a benefit last Saturday night for a Christian school (from our area). Kenny and the boys played in the "house band", as well as, Brandon's and Blake's band Raimah. There were lots of other local talents who were awesome! It was a great night of praise and worship, and for a great cause! Last Sunday night was our church's annual "Hanging of the Green". I got a great pic of the guys after it was over. One of the middle school principal's from our town called a couple of months back to see if Kenny and Blake would be able to play at their staff Christmas party. At that time, we weren't sure if Brandon would be back in time to play with them. But, when we found out that Brandon would be back in time, the plans began for their performance. This Christmas party was held at the Lakeside Club last night. I was excited to know that I was invited too. The meal was wonderful, we sat with some friends of ours who are teachers, and some of the middle school kids put on a skit for the teachers. It was really cute! Then the guys performed. They played some original songs as well as Christmas songs and a little comedy routine. Kenny also performed his rendition of "Rindercella". For those of you that know who Archie Campbell is, from way back, you might remember this act of his. Kenny has gotten it to perfection, and Blake has even began doing it as well. If you don't know what it is, it is Cinderella told backwards--the story isn't told backwards, but the words are. Here's just a little tidbit of it as I can't possibly do it all, but this is a funny part..... Rindercella wanted to go to the bancy fall and have a pransome hince lall in fove with her. When the strock clucked midnight, Rindercella dan rown the stairs and she slopped her dripper. It is always a crowd pleaser--such a riot! At most events throughout the year, this is requested of Kenny. He is always eager to do it. It really is funny!!