Don't Forget the Fudge Giveaway!

Yes, you know you love fudge. Whether you have just finished Hanukkah or are heading into the Christmas season, we all love a little chocolate in our lives.

So, click here to find out the rules and enter the fudge giveaway, sign up as a follower on the blog, or comment on any post between November 30th and December 9th for your chance to win!!

Oregon City Elders singing

Love these missionaries. They have both gone home by now, I am pretty sure, but we really enjoyed when they were in out area.

This is the Portland Oregon mission song.

Thanks for singing it so well Elder Garner and Elder Gray!

Hanukkah Activities

The kids and I made these cute paper menorahs. They had fun coloring the version that was a coloring sheet. You can find it here.

We then made Hanukkah necklaces, out of blue and silver beads. Josh and Kat made theirs on silver ribbon, and Sarah used blue ribbon for hers. I used both ribbons, which I thought was brilliant, but made it take much longer than it should have. (Sorry, I didn't get pictures, but will try to get some later.)




We lit our menorah, and then had dinner. In a very non-traditional dinner, we had eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, and hash browns. After dinner we had a family testimony meeting, by the light of our beautiful menorah! It is wonderful to share the light of the gospel with each other by the light our our menorah! It is a blending of traditions and images that bring all of us closer to the Lord!

Happy Hanukkah to all!!

How, and Why, to Make Your Own Menorah

I am not Jewish, but one of my grandfathers was, before he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His family hadn't been very observant when he was a boy, and he married a nice Catholic girl, so there were not a lot of Jewish traditions that were part of his adult life. However, he did tell me about how much he liked Hanukkah, especially the menorah and the presents they got each night of Hanukkah, when he was a boy.

Even though we don't celebrate all eight nights of Hanukkah, I do try to light a menorah with my children each year, and share with them the miracle of the oil in the temple that should have lasted for only one night, and instead lasted for eight. I used to have a very nice menorah, but alas, I did not get it in the divorce settlement. I bought a cheap one when I was living in Bend, but after the second year we used it, it was broken. When I as pregnant with Maddy, I forgot all about celebrating Hanukkah with my children, and last year we played dreidel for Hanukkah, but we didn't light a menorah.


This year I decided that we needed a menorah, and to celebrate both our Jewish and Christian roots. I spent a good part of the day looking for a menorah, but couldn't find one. After visiting eight stores, and calling several others, I gave up trying to find one, and instead decided to make one.

My mom went with me to Michael's, a local craft store, and we came up with this DIY menorah. Before we went I looked up what the essential parts of a menorah were. Wikipedia had a good basic explanation that you can find here.

The basics for a menorah are that there are eight candles that represent the eight days of the miracle, and then a ninth candle, called the shamash that is used for lighting the other candles. The shamash should always be at least slightly higher than the other eight candles. Traditionally you would start the first night by lighting the shamash and one other candle. Each night of Hanukkah you light an additional candle, until on the eight night, all nine candles are lit.


Here you can see that I got a nice (and on clearance) set of silver tray, and placed four votive candles on each one. Some blue ribbon draped around gives it a Hanukkah flair, but is easy to take off and use for other projects later. The shamash candle holder have a blue ribbon tied in a bow and a silver candle that will be relative easy to light the other candles with.


We are only going to celebrate Hanukkah for one night, so we will light all nine candles on the same night. We will do it as night falls, and the candles will burn for at least an hour, as tradition dictates. We will also say the three Brachots, or blessings, as we do it. (This is the simplest website I found for explaining the brachots. I especially like that this site has recordings so that you can hear the brachots being sung.)

As you can see from this "aerial view" we have nine candles, and the shamash sits higher than the other eight. I enjoyed seeing a variety of non-traditional menorahs, when I was researching on the web, before I tried making my own. (To see a few of my favorite "unusal menorahs, click here or here.) The variety of designs was pretty amazing. My menorah is not nearly as creative as many I saw, but I think it will do well for our family, and I will be able to use the elements of it in Christmas decorations, and throughout the year.


For all of my friends, family members, and readers who are celebrating Hanukkah, I hope that we will all remember that we still live in a time of miracles. After all, isn't Hanukkah about the love of God, making sure that His holy temple would stand as a light to the Jews when they had just defeated an oppressive ruler, and were trying to rebuild their nation? If we apply this to our lives, we can know that God is always there, even as we fight against Satan and his attempts to destroy us. Perhaps the greatest miracle we can receive is the love, hope and peace that God gives us as we pray to him, even in times of great stress or trial.

Happy Hanukkah!
May the love of God bring you
peace, love and the blessings
you most stand in need of!

** Don't forget, it isn't too late to enter the fudge giveaway!

Update on Free Money - What I got....

I went to two different Hallmark stores yesterday, and used one of the coupons, found here, at each store. I went with two friends, and it was a lot of fun to browse through the stores and see all of the things they had on display for the holidays.

At one of the stores I got wrapping paper. I got 2 rolls that would usually be $4.99 each, for $.98. How did I do it? Well, until Christmas Eve, Hallmark is running a special of buy one roll, get one for $.99. So, with my $5 off any purchase of $5 or more coupon, I only owed $.98. I thought this was an especially good deal because they really did have a good selection of wrapping papers and the paper was heavy duty, not like the stuff I got at a Black Friday sale that rips when I try to wrap anything with sharp corners.


At the second store I got hallmark holiday stickers (2 packs at $2.00 each) one of "last year's" ornaments that was marked down from $5.99 to $1.00, a gold and silver bag with leaves and acorns on it that was in the 50% off section because it was officially a Thanksgiving item (making it $.49), and a handmade hazelnut truffle ($1.75 and so worth the price). My total after using the $5 off coupon was $2.24.

I am taking a friend and her children out today to use some coupons, and then my mom and I are going out this afternoon so we can get more of the wrapping paper. We might even talk my dad into going with us, if we are lucky, and get 6 rolls of paper for less than $3.00.

Gotta love a good coupon, especially when you can combine it with a good sale!!

Did you use the coupon? What did you get?


Also, don't forget any comments on any blog post between November 30th and December 9th will enter you in the free fudge drawing. For more details, go here! I tried out a new triple chocolate/peppermint combination this week, and so that will go on the list of choices for the winners!

Free money - For you and your kids!!

Well, almost as good as. If you go to Hallmark, or have something you like at their stores, this is your chance to get something for nothing. They have a coupon that lets you get $5 free, and you only have to spend $5 or more for the coupon to work. When you print this out you can print as many copies as you want, so print one for each of your kids, and let them do a little Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa shopping while you are at it! This is the link to the coupon.

Leave me a comment telling me how you are going to spend your "free money" and you will get another entry into the fudge giveaway. Don't forget you can still enter to win the button purse giveaway by commenting here, and that if you become an official follower, you get another entry too!! If you blog about this post, or put it on FaceBook, be sure to leave a comment so I can add that entry to the fudge giveaway!

A season of service - More giveaways - Fudge and a Button Purse

I think that an integral part of the holiday season is service. Many years our family has adopted another family, and then anonymously delivered presents, food and other items to that family. This year our budget is so tight that we had to ask for help getting presents for our children. We were blessed that the church helped us to have two toys for each of the kids, and I have been able to make a number of presents for the children from left over fleece and other fabric.

Even with all of our struggles, the kids have asked who we are adopting this year. We can't afford to do as much as we did before, but we will be taking used toys and other items in good condition to a homeless shelter in our area. There are two families in that shelter, and they have children. I am glad that we will be able to make their holidays a little brighter.

I am going to make hats for each of the children in the families, and for the younger girls, I am going to make a button purse. So, in addition to the fudge give-away, everyone who participates today will be entered in the fudge drawing, and be entered in a drawing for button purse for you or your little one.

To be entered in the button purse drawing, leave a comment telling about how you are serving in your community, and/or how you are going to get your kids involved in serving this holiday season. You can also get additional entries by sharing this on your blog, facebook, or tweeting. Anyone who donates to help us with our small mission will get an extra entry too.


If you would like to donate items that we can deliver when we take items to the homeless shelter, email me at koponick@comast.net. If you are local I will arrange to pick the items up. If you live farther away, I can give you my address to mail items. From talking to the manager of the homeless shelter, they especially need warm items, personal care items (especially soap, razors, toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant), and small toy items that are easy for them to move around when they have to switch shelters.

We will be delivering the items on December 23rd, and I will do the drawing for the button purse that night, so you have lots of time to get your stories and comments posted, or get items to me. If you are local I will get you your button purse to you on December 24th. If I need to mail it, it should be there by New Year's Day!

Don't forget that each comment also counts towards the fudge giveaway....so keep telling your friends! I have decided that each time we have another 100 entries, we will add two more people who will win a fudge package. We are up to a total of 56 entries, so in the next nine days, we could easily have tons of fudge to send out, and lots of holiday spirit shared throughout the world! So, please help spread the news!!