Bread with the Brisels

Whew. December really did a number on the Brisel family! I took an unintentional break from blogging this month due to an incredible amount of illnesses that swept through our house. Since December 1st our house has had: Three confirmed (one unofficial) case of covid... Two visits to Blank Children's Hospital (one by ambulance, one to the ER)... Two confirmed cases of Influenza A... One sinus infection... And one five year old with a persistently drippy nose.  It has been a lot.  By the time Christmas break rolled around, my one wish was for my family to be healthy for Christmas, and for a NAP. Thankfully both have happened. 😊 While we've had plenty of illnesses in our family, we've tried hard to squeeze in some December joy to our month!  We made lots (and lots) of Christmas goodies!  We LOVED watching Sammy sing his heart out at his preschool program.  We watched my sister graduate from college!  We wore matching Christmas pajamas.  We got back into...

9 more school "wake-ups" until Christmas break, and the countdown is officially on! I am beyond ready to have a break at home with all of my people.  This weekend was filled was lots of Christmas things and Christmas prep!  On Saturday, we celebrated my birthday. Dustin worked (womp womp), but we made the most of it.  This weekend was also... Sugar Cookie weekend. 😊  It's called "Sugar Cookie weekend" because this project literally takes an entire weekend.  Haha. I made the dough on Saturday night so it could get really cold overnight in the fridge, and on Sunday we cut, baked and frosted the cookies.  About 9 years ago, a very sweet mama of a student in my classroom shared her sugar cookie recipe with me. It's a sour cream cookie recipe flavored with almond, and they are absolutely delicious. The recipe she shared with me makes quite a few cookies. It doesn't take long to roll and cut them out, but the frosting can be a bit time consuming.  We made a...

Each year I typically make a traditional English toffee but I altered my recipe this year to lend a more sweet and salty flavor. I basically made my English toffee, but I poured it over Ritz crackers and added a sprinkling of sea salt...DELICIOUS! This will be a stand-out on your Christmas cookie trays. 😉 Ritz Cracker Crack  Ingredients: 1 cup of salted butter  1 cup of light brown sugar  1 -2 sleeves of "lightly salted" Ritz Crackers 1 cup of pecans, chopped finely  1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips  flaky sea salt for topping Directions: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  To make this recipe really easy, use a nonstick silicone baking mat (I use these !) on a cookie sheet. Use a little butter to grease the baking mat really well.  Lay out the Ritz crackers evenly over the greased baking mat. Feel free to break the Ritz crackers into small pieces to fill in any gaps.  Sprinkle your chopped pecans over the top of the Ritz crackers.  ...

Each year our scout Elf, Chippy, returns to our home to keep an eye on the Brisel boys ahead of Christmas. The job of "moving" Chippy each night is delegated to my super-willing husband - and he takes this role very seriously.  Sammy is ALL IN with our Elf on the Shelf this year which has been so fun to watch! I will catch him whisper in Chippy's ear, and if we need Sammy to do something, all we have to say is, "Well, I guess I better go tell Chippy..." and Sammy leaps up to do what was asked. It's a parenting win. 😉 Here's where we found him on Monday morning:  Hilarious! So thankful to have a husband who loves Christmas magic just as much as I do. 

Our sweet boy was 6 months old on December 1st and we rang in his birthday at Blank Children's Hospital.  He gave us a big scare on November 29th! He had been fighting a cold for a few days and began struggling with breathing. After an ambulance ride to our in-town hospital, and another ambulance ride to Blank Children's Hospital he was in much better shape, but we stayed overnight to watch his oxygen. It has been a scary few days, and I think it will be weeks before I sleep soundly at night again. We are praising God for answered prayers of health, and praying it continues for the ENTIRE family.  Here's a more fun update about Jack and what's new with him.   Jackson likes: Loves to giggle at daddy and big brother Being in the thick of the action; where his people are, that's where he wants to be.  Milky  Jack loves to be read to. Jackson dislikes: Jack does not like when I walk past him and don't pick him up. He kicks his legs, and we joke that it's like h...