Surviving Seven Children . . . Finding Peace Amidst Chaos: Candy Recipes for Christmas!

This is a really fun recipe collection from Northpole.com. I thought some of you parents out there might like to make some of these goodies with your little ones. ENJOY!

CANDY

This is remarkable. Just click on the name of the CANDY and bam the recipe appears!
2 Minute Microwave Fudge	5 Minute Fudge	7 Layer Bars
Aaron's Buttery Cashew Brittle	Almond Bark	Amanda's Peppermint Creams
Ann's Cream Nut Candy	Bavarian Inn Peanut Bars	Beth's Delicious Fudge
Brownie Fudge Dessert	Buckeyes	Buckeyes
Butter Toffee	Candied Yams	Candy Bar Brownies
Candy Cane Brittle	Candy Cane Fudge	Caramel Krispie Treats
Caramels	Carmel Corn	Carol's Christmas Treats
Chocolate Almond Bars	Chocolate Balls	Chocolate Billionaires
Chocolate Chow Mein Candy	Chocolate Covered Cherries	Chocolate Covered Nuts
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls	Chocolate Covered Pretzels	Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Chocolate Covered Pretzels	Chocolate Nut Caramels	Chocolate Popcorn
Chocolate Silk Bon Bons	Chocolate Truffels	Christmas Candied Walnuts
Christmas Crackle Candy	Christmas Mice	Chunky Mallow Candy
Cinnamon Hard Candy	Cinnamon Popcorn	Cranberry Nut Fudge
Cream Cheese Candy	Creamy Chocolate Truffles	Creamy Microwave Pralines (Texas Stye)
Crispy peanutbutter balls	Dark Chocolate Fudge	Deborahe's Holiday Chocolates
Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies	Dish of Dirt	Divinty
Dorothy's Peanut Butter/Butterscotch Noodle Cookie	Dreamcicle Fudge	Easy Candy
Easy Divinity	Easy Divinity Easy Divinity Candy	Easy Fudge
Easy Granola Candy	Easy Microwave Carmel	Easy Microwave Fudge
Easy Pecan Logs	English Toffee	English Toffee
English Toffee Bars	Fabulous Fudge	Fake Brittle
Fantasy Fudge	Festive Chocolate Truffles	Five Minute Fudge
Fool-Proof Fudge	Frosted Pecans	Fudge
Brownies	Fudge for One
Fudge Puddles	Georgia Nuggets	Grandma Donna's Nummies
Grandma F's Delicious Fudge	Grandmother' s Holiday Fudge	Hard Candy
Hard Tack Candy	Hazelnut Fantasy Fudge	Ho-Ho Hash
Holly Confection	Honey Comb	J & D's Peanut Butter Balls
Jeanne's Tiger Butter	Jen's Chocolate Meringues	J's Cream Fudge
Kim's Famous Cashew Brittle	Magic Marshmallow Fudge	Mama's Fudge
Maple Rum Balls	Margie's Best Candy	Martha Washington Candy
Martha Washington Mounds	Marzipan	Melting Moments
Melting Moments	Memaw's Reese's	Meme's Best Ever Peanut Butter Fudge
Meringues	Micky's Mints	Microwave Peanutbutter fudge
Microwave Pralines	Milk Fudge	Milky Way Bars
Million Dollar Fudge	Mimi's Famous Fudge	Mocha Truffles
Mom's Mints	Mr. Monroe's Famous Fudge	Mrs. Eisenhower's Fudge
Never Fail Fudge	Never Fail Fudge	No Bake Rum Balls
No Cook Peanut Butter Fudge	No Fail Fudge	Novia Scotia Treats
Nut Mallow Goodies	Nutty North Pole Fudge	Orange Balls
Orange Glazed Pecans	Out Of This World Fudge	Oven Carmel Corn
Peanut Brittle	Peanut Brittle	Peanut Brittle
Peanut Brittle (Microwave)	Peanut Butter Balls	Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut Butter Balls	Peanut Butter Bars-An Elve's Favorite Treat	Peanut Butter Candy
Peanut Butter Candy	Peanut Butter Cups	Peanut Butter Cups
Peanut Butter Fruit Squares	Peanut Butter Fudge	Peanut Butter Fudge
Peanut Butter Fudge	Peanut Butter Snowballs	Peanut Clusters (mircrowavable)
Peanut Krispies	Peanut Patties

Seven Children -- What's so fearsome about that?

Yep, you read it right. I have seven children! This includes three teenagers who know it all, three grade-schoolers who do it all, and one toddler who, like a little tornado, gets into it all!

When I began my family over 15 years ago, I had nearly completed a bachelor’s degree in Family Science with an emphasis in Human Development. But I think I learned nearly as much during the first night that my oldest son, as a darling newborn babe, stayed up screaming for hours (and hours, and hours....)!

Honestly, sometimes I'm just trying to remember where I put my keys! At times, my quest in life comes down to simple things like, “How can I get across the kitchen floor in socks without getting them covered with sticky goo?” Some days I would be on top of the world if I could just get to the bottom of the laundry mountain and see it disappear for more than a few hours.

Yet somewhere along the way of crazy days filled with chaos, I have learned something. I have learned that the most beautiful moments in life are often unexpected and fleeting.

Like for instance the time my preschooler tiptoed up to me smiling and said,“Mommy! Look at the pretty flowers I picked just for you!” I was speechless. There, clutched in her tiny fist, were perennials that I had carefully planted last fall. I resisted the urge to cry and instead gave her a big thank-you hug. I was touched by her thoughtful innocence. Flowers grow back.

Then there was the time I noticed a permanent marker masterpiece on my toddler’s newly-painted white door. I was about to explode. Then I looked at the drawing. I saw five primitive stick figures with big smiles and a carefully scrawled caption reading: “I love my family.” My eyes filled with tears. Doors can be repainted.

Is it worth it? Oh, yes, it is worth it. It is worth every bottle of salon shampoo dumped into the bathtub. It is worth all the times you climb into bed at the end of an exhausting day and find cracker crumbs and candy wrappers between your sheets. It is even worth dragging yourself out of bed to silence the mind-numbing cries of a fevered baby.

Most parents know that they have the most fulfilling and important job in the world. But how do you cope with 3 noisy boys staging a light-saber battle on your best furniture? How can you enjoy the sweet moments when you can’t even find the bottom of the kitchen sink? I am here to share with you a few secrets about how I’ve learned to thrive among the chaos. Do I have all the answers? Certainly not. No one does. And don’t believe them if they say they do!

But with seven different attempts at getting it right, and over 15 years of failing and succeeding, I have learned some survival techniques that I’d like to share. And not just surviving, but thriving. Life can be beautiful (even when you forget to brush your hair!)

So put in a long movie or leave your spouse to handle the chaos for a few moments while you explore the fun and the frantic – ideas and answers to the questions that you’re sure to ask once you’ve embarked upon the most stressful and rewarding career of all. Parenting.

Who knows? I might even help you find your keys!

5 comments:

Kristen said...: Awesome, thanks! You can always use more sweet tooth recipes!; Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 8:50:00 PM MDT
Erika said...: Yes, they all look so yummy! I might actually get around to making candy plates with the family this year! We used to always do that with my grandma, make about 12 different kinds of candies and then put a mix of them out onto plates and deliver them to the neighbors...what great memories. :); Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 11:06:00 PM MDT
Barb said...: Great recipes, Erika. Thanks. Bet any almond recipe would taste pretty good right now! :); Friday, October 24, 2008 at 12:23:00 AM MDT
Kristen said...: The best way to do this is to have a candy/cookie swap. Invite friends to come over and bring x number of their favorite Christmas treat. Have plates with a few samples of each one and then let everybody take home the same number of treats that they brought to share. You get all the variety and don't do all of the cooking!; Friday, October 24, 2008 at 1:24:00 PM MDT
Valerie Chandler said...: Wow. What a library!

So glad to see you back here, Erika. I have missed you.; Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 10:31:00 PM MDT

Surviving Seven Children . . . Finding Peace Amidst Chaos

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Candy Recipes for Christmas!

5 comments:

Subscribe to My Blog:

Seven Children -- What's so fearsome about that?

Been there, done that!

Browse Blog Archive:

GREAT LINKS!

Browse by Subject