From our home to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas from Run DMT
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Tag Archives: tradition
Magic Reindeer Food
The kids and I have been making Magic Reindeer Food as part of our Advent calendar for years now. At first, the food was a mixture of old fashioned oats and glitter. Then, I learned how dangerous glitter can be for animals or small children when ingested. From then on, we made our reindeer food with only edible ingredients. Of course, oats are still part of the mixture but instead of craft glitter, we use edible glitter like red and green cake sprinkles.
This year, we added a few more ingredients to make it more like trail mix. After all, those reindeer have such a long journey and they’ll need the extra carbs and sugar to that fuel flight.
Emmalynn, Allana and I had fun searching through the pantry for snacks the reindeer might enjoy. Along with the oats and edible glitter, we added raisins, dried cranberries, Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch, Corn Flakes, peanuts, gum drops, mini marshmallows, Cheerios, pumpkin seeds and wasabi peas. Wasabi peas might seem like an odd addition, but I thought the reindeer might like a little heat on the way back to the frigid North Pole.
After we combined our ingredients, we poured the mix into Ziploc bags and added the how-to poem. This printable Magic Reindeer Food poem tag can be found here.
On Christmas Eve just before bed, the kids, Auntie Simone and I will sprinkle the Reindeer Food in the yard. Of course, we always leave carrots for the reindeer next to Santa’s cookies and milk too.
SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration 2011
To start the holiday season with a splash, my family and I set sail once again for SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration.
The evening’s Christmas festivities started with small reception to meet some new friends: a sloth, a sea lion and a macaw.
During the reception, we snacked on sugar cookies and sipped on hot cocoa while the Sea of Trees danced and sang. With 25 more trees this year and comprised of more than 200 thousand individually choreographed LED lights, the Sea of Trees truly brings the season to sea.
Once our senses were dazzled and our bellies were full, we made the long journey to the North Pole for The Polar Express Experience.
Liam and I traveled by foot through the Wild Arctic while the girls traveled by train with Daddy. Little Lion Man and I followed the frosty paths through the polar bears and beluga whales to find our way to Santa.
This year, SeaWorld added a new show, O Wondrous Night- The Greatest Story Never Told.
“O Wondrous Night tells the greatest story never told, with more than 30 carols, based upon the Christmas Story and told through the eyes of a variety of live animals. The 30-minute show features puppetry and dance against the backdrop of traditional Christmas music and a true living nativity including camels, goats, sheep, an alpaca, a zebu and a flock of white doves.” -SeaWorld
Unfortunately, my girls were more interested in rides without queues than shows depicting the real season for the season, so we spent the rest of the evening in Shamu’s Happy Harbor.
In between rides, we stumbled upon two lively elves playing a game of marshmallow toss and the girls joined in the fun.
Although the girls wanted to stay for s’more fun, it was time to end the evening on a high note by remembering the Frosty the Snowman philosophy. We’ll be back again someday.
Many other Orlando amusements parks charge an additional fee to participate in such extravagant holiday festivities, but all this magic and wonder is included with a SeaWorld admission every weekend night throughout December including Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
On Dec. 31, families can ring in the New Year SeaWorld style! On New Year’s Eve, SeaWorld offers a spectacular musical celebration with DJs and live bands plus a bold fireworks display to send a wave of welcome for the New Year ahead. With special show times for New Year’s Eve, the festivities continue until 1 a.m.
For more information about the last few days SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration or to purchase a Fun Card, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com.
But wait! There’s more!
Saturdays in January, SeaWorld kicks off a new program Just for Kids featuring special performances by LazyTown, Max and Ruby, the Doodlebops and Choo Choo Soul. Check SeaWorld.com for dates and show times.
Family Photos 2011
Just as I had expected, she did it again. Kelly captured some gorgeous shots of my family for our Christmas portraits.
Funny thing, we didn’t have to travel far for our portrait session. All of these photos were taken at the North Pointe Village in our neighborhood. Upon a closer look, you may notice the Pasco office building, Residence Inn, Carrabbas, International Beer Garten or an abandoned Up the Creek Mongolian Buffet in the background.
If you love these photos as much I do, please leave a comment on Kelly’s blog so I can win an 11×14 print. Thank you in advance! 
Peppermint Shortbread
Last Sunday, my mom, my sister and I held our annual Christmas cookie baking day. For our annual cookie challenge, my electric mixer churns all day long to produce dozens of delightful treats and every year I surprise myself.
My baking has come a long way since the days of slice and bake cookies. My friend, Chrissy, still teases me about the time I tried to pull off store-bought Snickerdoodle break-apart cookies as my own at a cookie swap. Yep, I used to be that person.
But not these days! Now, I’m like Betty Crocker whipping out batches of cookies and I’m certainly not intimidated to try new cookie recipes. No more break-apart necessary!
Plus, the best part about making my own from scratch is that I know exactly what ingredients are in each batch. There’s no hydrogenated oil or artificial flavor. Just some sticks of good ol’ fashion butter!
Since I’m not scared to try new cookie recipes, I decided to give Publix’s Peppermint Shortbread a whirl. This recipe was featured in the Publix’s Grape Winter 2011 magazine, which is currently on display on the kiosk at the front of the store.
Of course, Publix’s recipe called for 1 cup (2 sticks) butter because every good shortbread needs lots of butter. However the recipe didn’t call for salt, which I thought was odd since cookies are typically made with unsalted butter. So, I consulted Iron Chef Allan the Joy of Cooking to compare shortbread recipes. Sure enough, Joy’s recipe stated unsalted butter and ¼ tsp of salt.
Not a difficult recipe by any means and the results are delicious! And look at the presentation! How pretty and festive! I impress myself sometimes!
Peppermint Shortbread
Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup crushed peppermint candies
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut up
½ tsp peppermint extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 325.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.
In a large bowl, lightly combine the flour, sugar, salt and crushed candies. Then, pour dry ingredients in electric mixer. Add cut up butter and peppermint extract. Combine on a low speed until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Remove bowl from mixer. Use your hands to bring mixture together and shape into a ball. (The warmth of your hands will soften the butter and help mixture come together.)
Divide dough into half. On the prepared baking sheet pat each dough half into 6-inch circles about ½ inch thick. If desired, flute the edges with a fork and prick each dough circle several times with prongs. Cut each dough circle into 8 wedges (like a pizza) but do not separate the wedges.
Bake about 20 minutes or center appears set. Cool on baking sheet on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes. Slice wedges again while warm. Remove wedges from baking sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 16 wedges.
Note: The next time I make these cookies, I’ll split the dough into two loaves instead of two circles and then cut 2 inch bars into the loaves prior to baking. By doing this, it will offer more than 16 servings, which is necessary for a Christmas cookie swap. And speaking of Christmas cookie recipe swaps, don’t miss this one!
Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.
*Also submitted at*
The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
When flour needs some sifting
And batter mixed with an ingredient of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
It’s yum, yummiest season of all!
Oven timers will be dinging and mom will be singing
As she samples them all!
It’s yum, yummiest season of all!
There’ll be cookies with chips
And some will call to be dipped
And some are powdered with snow.
Sometimes you feel like nut
But sometimes you don’t but you choose
To present them with a bow.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Oh the most wonderful time of the year!
Help make this wonderful time even better by adding your cookie recipe to The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap linky party. I know that the title of the linky party is a bit of a mouthful, but then so are the cookies I will be stuffing in my face all month long.
To join the recipe swap, simply post a cookie recipe or any sweet treat on your blog. Photos with your recipe are an added treat. Be sure to included add The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap button to your post and link back to this post. Then, come back to Run DMT to add your link to this blog hop. You can share as many treats as you like, but please include the cookie swap button in your post and link back here. Then, sample some of the treats by visiting the links listed. Add a comment to tell us which cookies are your favorites!
It’s so simple! Can’t you just taste the fun already?! Now let’s toss share those cookies!
Our Christmas Countdown
It’s time once again to dust off our family Advent calendar and start burning myself out counting down the days to Christmas. You see, our Advent calendar is more than tiny doors hiding small morsels of candy. Each day leading up to Christmas, our Advent calendar uncovers activities to enjoy the season to the fullest.
Since we have no creepy Santa spy Elf on a Shelf, I bribe my children with Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses and bits of paper. If they finish all their morning chores, then they can discover what lies behind the day’s door.
This little gem was hidden behind door number one today since I have no earthly idea what my children want for Christmas other than earrings.
Thankfully, Day 1 met Allana and Emmalynn’s approval as evident by their lumpy smiles.
To plan our 24 days of fun, I used a printable calendar to coordinate the days with my moms’ group’s play dates and events happening around our neighborhood. I also added a few extra activities because you just never know how the weather will be literally and metaphorically. Sometimes life simply gets in the way of our fun. So, I’ll swap days around and my kids are none the wiser.
If you’d like to join in the holiday hullabaloo, here is a rundown of what will be doing over the next 24 days
1- Start the holiday season by writing a letter to Santa.
2 – Let’s catch a wave of the holiday spirit at SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration!
3 – Time to trim the Christmas tree and get the house looking festive!
4- Bake cookies with Grandma and Auntie Simone. It’s sure to be a sweet time!
5 – Go for a Christmas light stroll and count the Santas and snowmen. Graph the results.
6 – Eat dinner at Chick-fil-a on Waters Ave. and enjoy the Christmas lights.
7 – Santa stop here! Let’s make reindeer dust so the reindeer know where to land and have some extra energy to make the long flight back home.
8 – Sip cocoa while watching your favorite Christmas movie.
9 – Dress up in your fanciest Christmas attire. It’s time for a Christmas Tea Party!
10 – It’s a movie day with Grandma. Now showing: Arthur Christmas!
11 – A reason to be merry! We’re off to Moms on the Go Christmas party at Gator Freds today!
12 – No hard hats necessary just plenty of creative juice for today’s fun! Let’s build a gingerbread house!
13 – Watch the Symphony of Lights at The Shops of Wiregrass.
14 – Create pipe cleaner candy canes while snacking on candy canes. (We’ll also make this candy cane craft.)
15 – Let’s sip some hot cocoa and toss our cookies at a Christmas Cookie Swap.
16 – All aboard! Let’s take a Christmas train ride through the woods at Crews Lake Park!
17 – Take a drive around town to look at Christmas lights while sipping hot cocoa.
18 – Make wrapping paper and create Christmas cards for our family members.
19 – Find time today to fold up some paper to create Christmas origami fortune tellers for some silly seasonal fun.
20 – Let’s share some goodwill and cheer by caroling for the residents at Carollwood Care Center.
21 – All aboard! The Polar Expressis now showing at Wilderness Lodge. Put on those pajamas and let’s roll.
22 – Make snowflakes and drink milkshakes. (We may also make these snowflakes puzzle ornaments.)
23 – Let’s have a Holiday Pampering Party complete with mud masks, pedicures, make-up and a glittery hairdos. (Inspired by Kristi of Live and Love Out.)
24 – It’s Christmas Eve! Remember to set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Then, sprinkle the reindeer dust in the yard.
25 – Santa arrives! Merry Christmas! xox
Some extra ideas just in case!
Jesus is the reason for the season. Read The First Christmas.
You’d better watch out! Santa has a personal message just for you. (Idea from Kelly)
All hands on deck! Let’s make paper hand wreaths and other handy dandy crafts!
Buy gifts for family members at the school Holiday Shop.
Let’s rock around the Christmas time with a Christmas music dance party!
Walk through A Winter Wonderland at the Lowry Park Zoo.
Watch a live performance of A Christmas Carol.
Visit a live nativity scene.
Read a story telling of the first Christmas.
Watch a live performance of The Nutcracker.
Celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Read stories about the Festival of Lights and sing songs. Then, light the menorah, play dreidel and dance the horah. (12/20)
*Submitted to*
“The first of December is upon us! Describe an Advent Calendar or a special way you count down days until Christmas (past or present). (Inspired by Classy Chaos)”
30 Days of Giving 2011
For the third year now, I participated in the 30 Days of Giving Challenge. The act of giving may not seem like a challenge, but it actually requires quite a bit of scheduling and planning. Even with all the planning, situations pop up to cause a bump or two on the road to giving.
Some gifts are simple, like a mailing a card to a loved one. Some things require more work, like preparing a meal for friend. In the end, no matter how small or big, it’s the thought that counts and that gesture means so much to someone else. The smallest gift can have the biggest impact on others.
“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
Our gifts
- Baked a cake for Allana’s birthday to share with her class.
- Created a music video for Allana’s birthday.
- Gave a loyal Run DMT reader The Joy of Cooking.
- Dropped spare change in the Ronald McDonald House collection jar at McDonalds.
- Sent candy to troops stationed overseas through the Halloween Candy Buy Back program.
- Donated canned goods to a food drive.
- Donated items to Goodwill.
- Recycled my old running shoes to benefit the homeless through Fit Niche.
- Filled shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
- Brought gifts to a local animal rescue shelter.
- Dropped spare change in the Salvation Army red kettle.
- Donated items to Toys for Tots.
- Bought a coffee for a frequent play date host in my moms group.
- Sent coupons to a military base in Japan through Overseas Coupon Program.
- Added a love note to my kids’ lunch boxes.
- Planned a picnic lunch for my kids and enjoyed a “special” lunch together at school.
- Planned a lunch date with hubby.
- Baked cookies for the firefighters.
- Volunteered at my children’s school.
- Arranged guest speakers for the Great American Teach-In at my kids’ school.
- Sent thank you notes with baked goods to my children’s teacher
- Donated old books, magazines, DVDs and CDs to our library.
- Purchased ten Thanksgiving meals through Metropolitan Ministries.
- Sent a birthday card to my brother-in-law
- Volunteered at the mile 12 water station at the Women’s Half Marathon.
- Spent an evening with an old friend to catch up to give the gift of time.
- Baked cookies for my running club and tossed $5 in the coffee fund.
- Welcomed new neighbors of a 16 month old with a baby safety kit.
- Sent a “thinking of you card” and Publix gift card on behalf of my moms group to a friend in need.
- Mailed a set of hand drawn Angry Birds by Allana to Stacy Uncorked for Princess Nagger’s birthday.
- Mailed a Thanksgiving card to my grandmother.
- Mailed a get well card to my ill uncle.
- Brought a home cooked meal to a friend at work.
- Purchased meal vouchers for families in need through Groupon’s Feeding America program.
- Sent $10 gift certificates to several friends via Restaurant.com’s “Feed It Forward” program.
Pssst! Speaking of gifts….Don’t miss this one!
SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular
SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular has become a Halloween tradition for my family. For this year’s visit, the girls wanted to wear the real costumes, like the ones they would wear trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Thankfully, I shopped early and bought their costumes. Otherwise, they would be wearing whatever dress-up clothes or pumpkin shirts I could find in their closets.
For this year’s Spooktacular event, SeaWorld added Penelope’s Party Zone, located at SeaWorld’s Bayside Stage. In this lively underwater environment, kids (and even big kids like me) can flap their flippers and shake their tails while immersed in the wonders of the sea with kid-friendly music, games and colorful characters.
Countless bubbles floated overhead and colorful pumpkin fish and other sea-themed characters glided around the party zone. Truly, this underwater Halloween dance party was non-stop fun for all ages.
Once inside Penelope’s Party Zone, we found fun new craft stations that offered something each of my girls could enjoy. At the Apple Decorating Post, kids and parents alike can dive into some sweet fun by creating their own tasty treats. Large tasty apples can be dipped into decadently flavored sauces, such as white chocolate, fudge, or caramel and then topped with sprinkles and other candies and sweets.
The Apple Decorating Post was certainly the apple of my candy apple lover’s eye.
My little artist, Allana, loved the Spooky Sand Art Station. Allana and Emmalynn worked together to create and decorate a sea glass and sand seahorse Plaster of Paris sculpture .
And of course, like previous years, there were lots of candy stations to visit for trick-or-treating.
As previous years, they healthy trick-or-treating stations as an alternative to all the candy, such as peanuts.
But Emmalynn was really happy to see that the baby bananas back this year.
Although my children absolute adore SeaWorld and all the fun SeaWorld’s Halloween Spootacular offers , I love that all the trick-or-treating stations, Halloween shows and character spots are included in a one-day admission to SeaWorld.
That definitely puts the happy in my Halloween.
About SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular:
“Create family memories during SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular, the ultimate family-friendly event featuring an ocean of Halloween fun where children can trick-or-treat, dance with whimsical sea creatures, catch silly and spooky shows and create sea-themed arts and crafts.
SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular takes place THIS WEEKEND, October 28-30 and the daytime event runs from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., leaving the littlest of trick-or-treaters wide-eyed for the fun-filled activities.
If you don’t already have a season pass or Fun Card, the best deal available right now is kids half off with a full-paid adult ticket.”
Get more information and the scoop on all of the “spooktacular” savings at SeaWorldOrlando.com.”
Will Trot for Turkey
Since childhood, my Thanksgiving tradition included watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade while stuffing my face with pumpkin muffins. Then last Thanksgiving, my friends convinced me to run the 5K in the Turkey Trot, which began a whole new Thanksgiving tradition.
For 30 years, thousands of runners include the St. Petersburg Times Turkey Trot as part of their Thanksgiving tradition. Many participants show their love for this annual race by wearing some outlandish running attire. Some wear Native American headdress while others choose to stick with the theme of the event by strapping a turkey to their heads.
However, this runner simply paired her new SPIbelt with a Turkey Trot shirt to display her affection for this annual tradition.
Among the thousands of participants, I arranged to meet a fellow running blogger, Becelisa, and her friends. We chatted briefly before the race with just enough time to capture the Kodak moment. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet her in person.
Then, on our way to the start of the race, Lori noticed a gentleman with a turkey decoy on his head and felt compelled to ask him if he was a hunter. To her dismay, he just likes the look of decoys on his head while he runs.
At the start line, Lori and I found Tiffany and her hubby, Greg, who was kind enough to snap another picture before the race began.
At the sound of the foghorn, the 10K began and in true Run DMT fashion, I took pictures while I ran. Unfortunately, the Clearwater “hills” are undetectable in my photos.
Even while I snapped photos, I kept my pace at 8:30, but the turkey decoy ran faster.
Spectators cheered for us while local musicians played music to keep us moving.
Then, about mile 3, I got a cramp in my side, which I attribute to picture taking. Tiffany passed me after the second water station.
While walking off my cramp, I noticed the Hare Krshna guy again from a couple miles back. I wondered what his pace was to make it over to his new spot so quickly. I also wondered why are there is only one vowel in Krshna?
With Hare Krshna on my side, I decided to get serious about this race, but not after a few more pics. Can you spot the “hill”? As much as I love to take snapshots of the backs of other runners’ heads, someday I will learn to run backwards to take pictures of their faces.
As I approached the end of the course, I felt compelled to take a picture of the pipers, who then hollered at encouraged me to run. With a piper’s prod, I sprinted to the finish line at a 7 minue mile pace. My time was 56:12, which is not my best time, but that’s what I get for trying to be a paparazzi runner.
At every race, I learn something new which helps improve my performance at my next challenge. I learned two things:
1. Don’t take so many bloody pictures.
2. Wear layers that can pulled off and tossed to the side. (I was so flipping hot, but I didn’t want to strip and loose my cute turkey shirt! This was definitely a good lesson to learn before the Disney marathon.)
