3 Sweetest Words a Parent Can Hear 

Christmas is approaching, Black Friday is here, Cyber Monday is coming and our minds are in a tizzy.  “What can I get ______ for Christmas”?  We ask and get the answer “Whatever you want to get me will be fine”.  Not much help to this parent and grandparent.  Please give suggestions AND sizes.  

However, I have some suggestions for the children and grandchildren of many parents, including me.  But you know suggestions can be taken or left behind, you choose. I do wish my bunch would at least read this.  

The 3 words we want to hear are “I love you” either by text, phone, message or in a card. This is the BEST present we can ever be given not only at Christmas but all during the year for you are very important to us.  Remember, we raised you and you are special.  Calling on a holiday is very much appreciated and loved.  It’s also FREE and takes just a little bit of  effort but is beyond measure to our ears and heart.  Try it, you will like it for we will return the message with all our heart. 

Gifts are great but think about it - we have more than we need or want and  are wondering how do I get rid of some of this “stuff”?  Many of us are downsizing or in my case, if it has to be dusted, it is going in a box or Goodwill.  Dusting “stuff” is not my thing!  Instead of giving us something, try taking something you would like to have to your house. I would rather give it to you now than when I die and you are wondering what can I do with all this stuff?  

That china, silver, crystal, linens, or other stuff that sits in a cabinet or drawer should be used now.  Many of us are overloaded with things we inherited or collected but never use.  I have found that “chinet” makes a good plate, bowl and salad plate that does not have to be washed and I can sit with all of you and enjoy the day and not be in the kitchen washing dishes.  At my age, I would rather be with you than cleaning and washing dishes.  

Ask your parents if you can have some of that stuff that is sitting in a cabinet and not being used.  More than likely will help you pack it and take it to your car and heave a sigh of relief.  Parents, why not put some of that “stuff” out on a table and ask your children to take some of it home.  It will be either now or after you are gone and they have to do something with it and are overwhelmed.  

Christmas is a time of joy and celebration of the birth of our Savior and Lord and should not be a time of getting and giving stuff.  A meal together where everyone contributes a dish or 2 or eating out at a favorite restaurant can be the beginning of a new tradition.  Why not barbecue rather than turkey and dressing?  Tradition is different for each family so establish your own.  

If cleaning the house for weeks, polishing silver, washing the fine china and crystal, laundering the linens, and buying expensive gifts is what your family likes, go for it.  But if you want to simplify that is OK also.  It is your family and what they like. 

My family is scattered all over the United States and have been for many years and I do not get bent out of shape when they don’t all come for holidays.  That phone call with the words “Hi mama, or Mawmaw, I love you” is the best gift I can get.  It is priceless and does not have to be dusted.  (Can you tell I don’t like to dust?) I love for them to come but if they can’t, just let me know you love me and facetime, phone call, or video messaging are almost as good. Life is so different now with many families scattered everywhere so our traditions have to be different.  

Think about what you can give of yourself, not what you can buy.  A meal from a favorite restaurant, a cleaning service for a day, pictures of the family in print, donation to a favorite charity or the church, a vacation to the beach, pictures the children have drawn for their grandparents, a day of fishing at the lake or pond, and the list goes on and on.  It is not how much it costs but how much heart is included.  

I love each of my children, grandchildren, great- grands, brother, and all our extended family and all I want for Christmas is your love and a message telling me.  Give my gift to the children and just love me.  

Take it or leave it, these are my thoughts today and I wish each of you a blessed Christmas.  Let us all celebrate the birth of our Savior and not the giving of stuff.  Love ya’ll

Just me  

Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

Good evening and come on in for a visit and have a cup of coffee. Rain and cooler weather is here with the chance of a freeze tonight which doesn't make me too happy but I'll live with it and begin my hibernation. Into every Southern Lady's life a little winter must fall!!

I have a crock pot full of sweet potatoes getting ready for the freezer. A friend shared some with me and from the picture above, you can tell they were huge. I was going to cook and freeze about 4 and to my surprise 2 of these big potatoes filled my crock pot to the brim. I thought I would share this with you so you can have some in the freezer ready to use for later.

Crock pot Sweet Potatoes

6 cups peeled and thinly sliced sweet potatoes - fill up the container - used a mandolin to slice them
2 apples - peeled and sliced
1 cup orange juice or apple juice

Cook on low until tender - about 4 hours. Cool and mash then whip. Freeze in 2 cup portions to use in pies and casseroles. I find that the apples and orange juice add great flavors and apple juice is also good. Thaw out the needed portions, stir and use as you would canned potatoes but they taste much fresher.

I am also including a quick and easy gift you or your children can make. We have lots of shells, driftwood, and rocks we have picked up from the beaches we visit and I came up with this idea to use them. They will make a good gift for a parent or teacher to use as a paperweight or just to look at and think about the beach.

I used a clean Starbucks coffee jar for I like the flat sides and the larger opening in the top.   It also allows you to lay it on its side for a different seascape. You could use any small, pretty jar you have. Baby food jars would be good as well as others.

Wash thoroughly, dry and paint the top. I use the paint pens for they are easy to use and not messy, especially for children. It eliminates the brush and you can use them on metal, glass, or plastic.

Gather together your shells and beach findings and begin to layer them in the jar. I use a knitting needle to turn them over or move them to the side but a skewer would work also.

I like to put a few larger shells as a focus for the seascape but if children are doing it, let them use their own imagination and creativity. Fill the jar to the top and add the painted top.

Add a ribbon or twine with a shell threaded through one strand. You could use raffia, twine, burlap ribbon or whatever you like. A shell hot glued to the top would also be pretty. Let your creativity be your guide. Make a tag with the name of the beach and the year they were gathered as a memory bottle of a special vacation.

If you don't have sea shells you could take a field trip with the kids and collect rocks, pebbles, sticks, acorns and other natural elements and fill bottles and decorate. Buttons would also be very pretty.

I have several in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/francesrobson?ref=si_shop if you would like some ideas.

Have some fun with your kids and they will have beautiful gifts for family and friends or a keepsake of a special time at the beach or a nature walk.

Let me know what you did and thanks for stopping by.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach