We have a winner!

We Have A Winner!!

We Have A Winner on Mommy Buzz....Viviane R from BOWquet....She has won two necklaces from Bella Bling (our jewelry sponsor), Initial monogrammed Cards, and monogrammed accessories!
Congrats!!

BOWquet, Please send me a quick e-mail and I will be in contact with you!

Thank you all for writing and blogging about Mommy Buzz. We will do another one again very soon!

This and That!

Today is the Giveaway! Don't forget it will end at 3pm. (Eastern Standard Time)

You still have time to post comments, blog, Twitter, and Facebook about it.

On to today--shall we?

It is 2 days before Christmas and 1 day before Christmas Eve and have you procrastinated on finishing those final things?

Well normally I don't but with moving this past weekend, I have been busy with unpacking and getting my house organized again.  See--Christmas Eve (tomorrow) I am having my family Christmas dinner...

AND...

It is at my house!

The family is planning on arriving around 12 noon for appetizers and then dinner will be served sometime around 6 or so.

After that we are going to open our gifts with my side of the family...

So I am sure you can imagine what a busy day it will be at my house tomorrow, but it will be fun!

We have the Wii and the Christmas movies ready to go, so hopefully between that and cooking everyone will not be bored.

So as for my question--I have procrastinated--which I hate doing, might I add. It is not part of my vocabulary or even in my normal nature but this year was an exception.

I am planning on spending this evening doing last minute Christmas Shopping--instead of being in my p.j's, in my warm house watching a Christmas movie and wrapping the final presents--I will be out with all the other crazy last minute shoppers!

(-sigh-)

I have decided that next year I am starting in the early fall, and I will buy as I see things, instead of waiting til the last minute trying to fight with a crazy shopper who is taking that last toy I want. I am Just kidding! I would NEVER do that... Seriously! I wouldn't!

(I am not the fighting type)

--So that is a lesson learned--

Don't wait til the last minute b/c waiting until the last minute really STINKS!!!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also wanted to tell you that since my sweet hubby is taking his vacation from Christmas Eve until New Years I am going to do the same. We have some fun family things planned during this time and as much I love writing to you all, I am going to take another blogging vacation.

I need to spend some time with the family and my hubby!!!

I am sure you understand but please don't forget about Mommy Buzz in the mean time!

Keep checking back b/c you never know if I will sneak a post in on you or do a quick 1 day giveaway between now and then. Because I do have some things to still give away!

So check back!

I will be back Monday January 4th.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

{Tell All Tuesday}

 I have two things to share with you today:

Ornaments on our tree and two amazing Cheesecake recipes!

I thought I would share with you some of my favorite ornaments on our Christmas Tree:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

And I just had these pillows made...AND I LOVE THEM!!!

Can you tell I like, Red?

The Recipes~

 A few years back I bought one of Paula Deen's Christmas Magazines...since it had some wonderful recipes in it, I thought it would be a great choice to add to my dessert collection.

That year, I did make the Key Lime Mouse Cheesecake and it was a huge hit.

I was told I should have made more... Well that made me feel good because I stayed up really late on Christmas Eve making it!

(actually I should add--my husband stayed up and helped me. What a great husband I have!)

 Then....

Last night as I was going through my recipes I ran across these two cheesecake recipes that I had made in the past. I decided that this Christmas I was going to make both of them again.

I took a picture of the cake in the magazine so you could see how yummy they really look!

Key Lime Mouse Cheesecake

White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake

 

Don't they look amazing?

White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake

1 (16-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 (4-ounce) bar white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
2 cups fresh cranberries (optional)
1/4 cup cranberry preserves, melted (optional)

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook cranberry sauce, 35 minutes, stirring frequently, or until reduced to 1 cup. Cover and chill 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, combine cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter.
Press firmly on bottom and 1-inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in melted chocolate.
Spoon 1/2 of batter into prepared pan. Spread reduced cranberry sauce over batter. Top with remaining batter. Bake 45 minutes. Let cool completely on wire rack. Chill 8 hours before serving. Garnish with fresh cranberries, and brush with melted preserves, if desired. Cheesecake can be made ahead and frozen up to 1 month.

  

 Key Lime Mouse Cheesecake

Crust:

2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
6 Tbs. fresh Key lime juice (can use bottled)
1 1/4-ounce package (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
10 (1 oz) squares white chocolate, chopped, plus 1-
1.5 oz, grated or shaved into curls
3 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened.
1 cup sugar
1/5 Tbs. lime zest

For crust, mix together cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press into the bottom of a 10 in. spring-form pan and 1 in. up the sides. Set aside.

For filling, squeeze or pour lime juice into a bowl and sprinkle gelatin in to soften. Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream to a simmer in a saucepan, remove from heat and add 10 oz. white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Stir in gelatin and lime juice and allow to cool. Using an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese, sugar, and lime zest. Slowly beat cooled white chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture. Using clean, dry beaters, beat remaining 2 cups heavy cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold into white chocolate mixture; then pour into pie crust. Cover and freeze overnight. Remove from freezer and run a sharp knife around inside of spring-form pan to help loosen cake. Release spring-form ring from pan, move cake to a serving plate, and grate or curl the 1-1.5 oz. white chocolate over cake. Cut into wedges with a knife that has been dipped into hot water.

Enjoy!

{Giveaway Monday}

~Good Morning Monday~

This morning we are going to have a giveaway!

And....

Since it is the week of Christmas it is bigger then our previous giveaways....

So first off I want to thank Bella Bling who is sponsoring the jewelry giveaway...
One Winner will receive all the gifts below!
This lovely heart shaped locket necklace

This turquoise and blue beaded necklace

They have some really cute bling on there site so check them out!

Click Here to visit Bella Bling 

And....

 I am personally adding these cute little monogrammed initial cards, and accessories. (Similar to the ones below)

 (they will have the winner initials on them)

So-- Now you ask--  what do I do to enter?

All you have to do to enter is see below and one person will have a chance to win ALL these fun and adorable items.

This giveaway will end Wednesday December 23th at 3 pm. (Eastern Time)

Here's how to enter:

1. Subscribe to Mommy Buzz (found on the left hand side of the blog)
If you have already subscribed then you are one step ahead!
2. Leave a comment on any post of your choice (1 extra entry for each article you comment on)

Big Bonus: (5 Entry Points)
Facebook or Blog about this giveaway and include links to Mommy Buzz 
and comment with a link saying you blogged about it.

And that is it!! It is as simple as that!

Merry Christmas!!

~Keeping Christ in Christmas~

~Keeping Christ In Christmas~

I know many of us have already been reminded this year about keeping Christ in Christmas but I have not had a chance to write about it and share with you!

With Christmas being 7 days away, I know we are all making mad dashes to finish up with everything we need to do before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

But are we taking time to dwell on Christ and the true reason for why we celebrate Christmas?

Let me start out by saying:

I love the Christmas Story- The birth of our Saviour.

Reading God's word never gets old or tiring. There is always something new to learn from God's Word.

Here are two main places you can find the Christmas Story:

Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-15

Luke 1:5-2:38

The Nativity story is found in Luke 2:1-38

These will get you started if you have not had a chance to read the Birth of Christ. 

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1: 21)

 

During the Christmas season we are surrounded by reminders of Christ.  The manger scene at the corner church, the greeting cards adorned with angels and the carols playing in every store. Being surrounded by all the decor, and music it should cause us to stop and worship.  Yet often we don’t stop.

See-- sometimes as busy women we can get so caught up in the externals of the season that Christmas can be a dry time for us spiritually.  We rush around baking, visiting, decorating and shopping, hoping to create the best Christmas season ever.  Yet these externals don’t satisfy the deep longings of our hearts.  Like the Psalmist, our spirits cry out,

“my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63: 1

 In the midst of this busy season or anytime for that matter, the Lord invites us to, “Be still and know that I am God.”  His Spirit calls out to us to quench our thirsty souls in Christ.

We need to be reminded of the Gospel of grace daily.

That the baby in the manger was,“Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.”

Every family has its own set of holiday traditions.  Traditions can be wonderful and cause you to look forward to a special holiday of bringing the family together.  But we have to be careful to not let the holiday or tradition take away from the real reason of why we celebrate Christmas.

I know when I was little each Christmas Eve my mom would make cinnamon rolls and my dad would sit down in the living room and read us all the Christmas Story. I have such fond memories of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning and pondering on why we celebrate Christmas.

But think about traditions for a minute.....

We can go can from one extreme to the other.

You may be continuing year after year with a tradition that was only meant for a "season".  Or perhaps you’d like to try something new, but your Christmas season is already overflowing with activities that you are simply doing it for old time’s sake.  Well, slowly, over time, you can become a slave to your traditions, which may leave you busy, tired and frazzled. 

This is Satan' plan, Isn’t it? 

He loves to keep us so busy that we’re too distracted to fulfill our godly purpose?

You know-- this past year I have been giving a lot of thought as to why we start certain traditions? 

I am not saying there is anything wrong with them but we need to make sure it isn't consuming us or our time and leaving God out.

Because after-all---Christmas is about Christ and His birth. 

Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Christ.  Yet year after year we see less of Christ in Christmas and more of-- it’s all about me, my family, the shopping and all the stuff.

God has given us the best, most expensive and powerful gift of all:  His Son Jesus. 

Just remember this as you go through the next week. Christmas is just 7 days away. Make sure you keep Christ in Christmas and that your traditions are done for the right reasons.

So take time this busy holiday season.

Pause and meditate on who Christ is.  

Think on Him as you read your devotions, praying that the Lord will minister to you through the songs and Scriptures presented. 

Have a blessed Christ-centered Christmas.

Ornament Wreath's

To give you an idea of what they look like I am attaching pictures of ornament wreaths to the post. See below for the directions in making this wreath. 

By Eddie Ross (above)

 

 

 

 

 

I recently saw these ornament wreath's and absolutely loved them. I thought it was a creative, and fun way to express your personality and colors through a wreath.

It can be inexpensive and such a neat little project to do on your own or with friends. 

As most of you know, this past Monday we had a guest writer on Mommy Buzz.

Taylor from Perfectly Talor'd

Well on her blog she has a post where she and some friends made these ornament wreath's. I really enjoyed reading and seeing the fun that they had while putting all the work into the wreaths.

So I thought I would share with you all how to make this and let you try it for yourself!

Now, I have to give all the credit for the idea to Eddie Ross .

 He made the wreath at the top of this post last year and it got a ton of talk.  See the picture below for his 1 page article.

But it is easy enough for you (the readers from home) to make....

You don't have to have a huge Christmas Decorating budget to do this either. You can find ornament packages from the Dollar Store, Target, Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, Micheal's, etc. to start this project.

I also think this is a GREAT idea to give as a gift to friends and family, or take as a house warming present during the Christmas season; or give as a hosting gift.

Now, I know you are wondering what supplies do I need for this and how do I do it?

Supplies needed:

Newspaper to spread your work on

A glue gun

A container of ornaments

 (these were my choice-above-the large ornament where in a container behind the small ones, I got them at target)

A wire hanger

Matching ribbon

I will let the expert explain the steps in making this adorable wreath:

Click here for Eddie Ross' tutorial

Also you can see the ornament challenge, for this years wreaths, on his site and choose for yourself which wreath you like.

Ornament Challenge

If you make one of these, please comment and let us know you made one.

Have fun!

12 Days of Cookies

I thought I would share with you Food Networks 12 days of Cookies. I realize that some of you have probably read the recipes or have tried to cook these but I thought I would share them with you anyway.

I know I have said before that sweets are definitely a weakness for me. Each Christmas (if time allows) I make these tins full of sweet and hand them out to family and friends. Last year, since I was 8 months pregnant, I did not do this. I just couldn't spend a lot of time on my feet baking in the kitchen (even though I wanted to.) Now this year-- I would love to do that but with everything else going on I am not for sure time will allow.

Don't you hate that? I do... Running of out of time--that is... There always seems to not be enough time in the day.

Hopefully this will help with your cookie recipe collection and you will be able to find some good ones to add to your family favorites.

So for those of you ladies who have not seen these recipes yet here they are: 
 the recipes include 

Gingerbread Cookie  
Cherry and Almond Cookie  
Butter Cookie  
Linzer Cookie  
Cinnamon Chocolate Cookie  
Citrus Butter Dipping Cookie  
Oatmeal Cream Cheese Butterscotch bars  
Orange Current and Polenta Cookie  
Mexican Wedding Cookie  
Peanut Butter S'more Bites  
Shortbread Cookie  
Peppermint Snowballs