Suburban Soiree

All I Want for Christmas is Book Club

Amy Wiley1 Comment
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Book club is one of my favorite things... the reading, the friends, and once a year, getting to host!  I hit the jackpot this time and got to have our Christmas gathering.  The book I chose was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.  It was quirky, suspenseful, interesting and unexpected.  We give it two thumbs up.

I'm an old-fashioned person at heart and I still prefer to hold and read actual books.  In this case it doubled as a centerpiece.  I put the book on my Pottery Barn reindeer platter and added some bottle brush trees and fake snow. 

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I did my best to make the table festive and fun.  I found the pink flocked trees at Walmart and could not resist.

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I always love a party favor, and at Christmas there are so many options.  I found these "Oh So Merry in Colorado" cups and put a pair of Christmas socks in each.  The socks are super soft.

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For dinner, I ordered in Chinese food from our family's favorite place.  I kept it warm in my Crock Pot Hook Ups.  Do you have these?  They are like a Crock Pot and a chafing dish got married.   They are the best!  I have two of these and one of these.

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I added in an Asian-style salad to have something green and fresh.

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The lady who took my order was a little alarmed at how many crab cheese wontons I asked for.  You can never have enough!  Ha!

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Dessert was easy too - I picked up this little red velvet cake at Target.  It was the perfect size for our group to enjoy with coffee after dinner.

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We did a secret Santa exchange and I used DrawNames.com to make it simple and keep it secret.  Everyone got lovely gifts and it was a blast to watch them be opened.  My sweet friend gave me these darling Kate Spade popcorn bowls for our movie nights.  I just love them! 

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The friendships and laughter are the best part of book club and I loved getting to entertain these precious friends at Christmas.  I can't wait to see where our reading adventures will take us in 2018!

Movie Night: The Nativity Story

ChristmasAmy WileyComment
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I'm thrilled to be participating in a blog hop highlighting Christ-centered Christmas activities for kids.  If this brings you here for the first time, welcome!  In our home, we love movie night.  You can learn more about my approach to this here.  Eating a delicious dinner and then settling in to watch a movie together with some popcorn is a fun and easy way to celebrate the season.

During the Christmas season we of course love all the holiday classics, but we never want to overshadow the true meaning of Christmas.  This year, we watched The Nativity Story for the first time.   My kids are 7 and 10 years old, and this led to some meaningful discussion.  This movie is best for older kids.  Please check out the content of this movie here to make sure your little ones are ready for The Nativity Story.  I'll have some preschool-friendly movie suggestions at the end of the post.

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We always set the scene for our movie nights and this meant pulling our nativity play set from the homework area and making it a centerpiece. 

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Our "Glory to the Newborn King" sign is from Hobby Lobby last year.

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This was the perfect movie night to use my Dayspring scripture plates.

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This movie transported us to the days when the world was so eagerly awaiting the Messiah.  It was especially eye-opening to my 7-year-old daughter, and a great way for our family to connect with the story of Christ's birth.  We look forward to watching it year after year.

If you are looking for Bible-based Christmas movies for a younger audience, I suggest A Wowiebozowee Christmas or Veggie Tales - The Toy That Saved Christmas.

Be sure to check out all the other activities to help keep the focus on Jesus this season.

  Our 10 Days of Christ-Centered Christmas Activities & Crafts blog hop is filled with lots of fun activities for the family. Our Fabulous bloggers are Inspired by Family, Chaos & Clutter , Paradise Praises, Encouraging Moms at Home, Crafty Moms Share, Thinking Kids Blog, Teach Me Mommy, Proverbial Homemaker, Suburban Soiree, The Awe Filled Homemaker, Future Flying Saucers, Adventures in Mommydom, Spark and Spook, Talking Mom 2 Mom, Clarissa R. West, Pichea Place & Homeschool preschool. You can visit Inspired by Family blog for the full schedule of activities.

Thank you for joining me today and Merry Christmas!

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Recipe: Mocha Punch

Amy WileyComment

This is the recipe friends ask me for ALL THE TIME.  It's a delicious punch that my family's made forever... always at Christmas.  For big parties, I make a triple batch in this big silver pumpkin punch bowl.  I tried to find a photo of the actual punch, but I seem to only have funny pictures of friends putting a straw in the bowl or just tipping it back and drinking straight from it.  It's that good!  

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Mocha Punch
A holiday favorite from www.suburbansoiree.com
Ingredients
  • 1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream
  • 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
  • 1/2 gallon milk
  • 1/2 pint whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbs instant coffee
Instructions
Set out the ice creams about an hour or so before to thaw. Mix sugar, coffee and a little milk to dissolve. Mix softened ice creams with milk. Add coffee mixture. Whip the cream (you can add some more sugar) and fold it in. It's best to mix in a big punch bowl and use a big spoon or spatula to break up the ice cream.