Monday Gratitudes

Heilige Abend or Christmas Eve is when we celebrate Christ's birth.

Around 5-ish we have a chicken or a ham dinner and then it's time for Santa to come.
Every year is a little different. Some years we have the kids go to their rooms to get their pajamas on and while they are getting dressed we quickly place the presents under the tree or my DH will take the kids and put them in the car pretending to heat it up for me (and while it's heating up, I quickly put the gifts under the tree) and then I get in the car and we run a few last minute cookies over to the neighbors and when we come back Santa was already there.
The kids are always so excited and really believe in Santa. It's cute.
Before we exchange the gifts, we read the Christmas story and sing some of our favorite Christmas songs. It really is a peaceful night. The rest of our evening is enjoyed and the children can play with their new toys until they are too tired to play anymore. And we all sleep in the next morning.
I really love this tradition that I grew up with and am grateful to be able to continue it with my own family.
There are a few more traditions that I didn't mention - have to run and get a few more cookies made.
I'm going to take a small blogging break.
So I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Try-it Tuesdays Winger's Chicken

I don't know how many of you have ever tried these, but this is as close to the real thing.

Winger's Chicken

2 lbs. chicken cut into strips
2 Tbls oil
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. Frank's Hot Sauce
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs
2 c. crushed corn flakes

Add brown sugar and Frank's Hot Sauce in a small sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil then set aside and allow to cool.
Dip chicken strips in milk then put in a bowl with flour and shake to cover. Next dip chicken in lightly beaten eggs and roll in crushed corn flakes. Fry in pan until crispy. Place chicken in 9x13 pan and pour cooled sauce over it. Broil the chicken on second to top shelf (depending on oven) for about 5 minutes or until sauce thickens without burning. Tastes great with rice.

Gratitudes

Oh my, it has been a long time since I've posted anything. We've had some very interesting problems with our internet. I've been calling our internet company for the last 3+ weeks because the server constantly drops my connection so I'm lucky to get a quick e-mail off. Well finally they sent someone out Wednesday to fix the unknown problem and for a few hours everything worked and after the guy left - voila it started dropping the connections again.
Okay, at this point I'm starting to boil because they've wasted so much of my time. Well the company then decides it best to credit my account and send "a line professional out".
Okay, I'm thinking to myself..wasn't the last guy that came to the house "a line professional"? So I waited all morning and he doesn't bother to call or show up during my designated appt. time. That's it! They will be nixed.
Oh no...not during the busiest time of the season and who wants to wait another week or so for the other company? So to make a long story shorter (LOL)..they credited my account again and told me that they didn't need to come to my house after all because the whole system down the block went out. They replaced some type of huge central line and now everything works (still holding my breath). They blamed the problem on the cold weather. Ha....aren't they used to cold weather? Yes of course they are..but they have to blame something!
So to start off with my weekly gratitudes:

-I'm grateful for a working internet, it really is a fun tool that is so hard to be without.
-I'm grateful to be able to go the gym every morning for my daily workout. I'm even more grateful to be able to take my youngest with me because they offer free sitting. That is a definite bonus. You know how hard and funny it is to work out at home with a youngster crawling all over you.
-I'm grateful for yummy strawberry flavored(I think that was the flavor) homemade marshmallows. Hatsuho was so kind to send me some. It's so fun to open a cute package filled with yummy homemade treats. My kids really enjoyed them too, as you can see from the before and after pictures. Thank you Hatsuho!
-I'm thankful for a working heater in my home. You've probably heard that from me before -but a warm house is such a blessing to me. Right now I'm looking outside and my thermometer is reading 4 degrees Fahrenheit Chilllllly to say the least and my trees have ice on them. Not snow. ICE. Which leads into another gratitude.
-I'm grateful to be able to walk my kids to school. Even though it is absolutely freezing outside and they could take the bus to school (I'm still pondering that one)I know that years from now they will look back on this time with fond memories or long tales that they will tell their children.. You know the stories that start off with... When I was your age I used to walk miles to school.....It's all fun...Plus the air is fresh and exercise is good for you.