Countdown2Xmas, Day 21 Recap!

Are you ready? Still have presents to wrap? Need gifts to make? Decorations? This post can help with all of that...keep reading!

Adventures of Goldilox brings us this adorable wooden bunting tutorial! 

Faith N' Coffee  brings us a great Christmas Cocoa recipe and tells us of her wonderful family tradition of writing letters to Santa.

Tucson Health Project has created this adorable Christmas Eve box! Go check it out, I may have to put a quick one together! :)

That is it for today! We have 3 more days until the big day...what are you doing to get ready?!

Menu Plan Monday #66-Christmas Menu

Seriously, I know you've seen it all over the internet, but I cannot believe we are already at the week of Christmas. Next week we roll in to 2015!

I've been thinking a lot about this past year and so much has happened. I won't dive into it all in this post but my word, it feels like we packed at least 3 years into this year...no wonder we are all so tired! haha

But, lets take a look at what workouts I packed into last week and what I will be doing this week:

Last week:

Monday: Max Interval Circuit-actual Max cardio conditioning

Tuesday: 4.5 mile run-actual Max Interval Circuit

Wednesday: Rest-Acutal Max Interval Plyo

Thursday: Max Interval Circuit- Actual Max Interval Circuit

Friday: Max Recovery-Actual Rest, but lots of errands & tons of walking I was exhausted really lo

Saturday: Max Interval Plyo-Actual Max Recovery

Sunday: 3.5 mile run and stretching-Actual Core Cardio & Balance

This week: 

It is going to be raining all week. If I can fit in a run I will, but not going to force anything.

Monday: Max Interval Circuit

Tuesday: Max Interval Plyo

Wednesday: Max Cardio Conditioning & Cardio Abs

Thursday: Max Recovery...after breakfast, presents, and all the rest.

Friday: Max Interval Circuit

Saturday: Core Cardio and Balance plus mile run

Sunday: Mile run & stretch

Here is what we have planned:

Monday: Crafts at home, finish Christmas Tree, dinner out for the kiddo's birthday, sleepover-Done and a total success!

A photo posted by Kate (@diaryofanurbanhousewife) on Dec 12, 2014 at 3:07am PST

Tuesday: Go to the lunchtime Christmas concert at The National Ballet and Opera because they are doing carols & lunch with my hubby/her daddy-Done! Check out the post here.

Wednesday: Free lunchtime concert at Concertgebrouw, the Rijkmuseum and check out the boat exhibit finally and ice skate at the rink outside the museum-Skipped, after our workouts we were too exhausted to go anywhere or do anything.

Thursday: Movie marathon day & dinner at a friend's house-Done! Only it was a Gilmore Girls Marathon lol

Friday: Read-a-thon and craft day-Skipped...we finish our christmas shopping and ran errands.

A photo posted by Kate (@diaryofanurbanhousewife) on Dec 12, 2014 at 12:43pm PST

Saturday: Cinderella at the National Ballet and Opera and dinner out, do a walk around to see all the Christmas lights.-Done! What a fab day!

A photo posted by Kate (@diaryofanurbanhousewife) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:20am PST

Sunday: Football day; rest, relax, rejuvenate.-Done! Worked on some crafts, got a great deal on a Christmas present so alles goed! :)

Since everyone is on break/vacation I am going to do a day by day breakdown for breakfasts and lunches instead of just options.

Breakfast

Monday: Peanut butter banana cinnamon toast

Tuesday: Cereal with banana and chia seeds

Wednesday: Smoothies with spinach and chia seeds for added protein

Thursday: Christmas Day: Cinnamon Rolls

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: Peanut butter banana cinnamon toast

Sunday: leftovers

Lunch

Monday: Split pea soup and half a grilled cheese (will just be hubby & I so we will eat small)

Tuesday: Chicken sliders with fried apples and sugar snap peas and salad

Wednesday: Lunch out

Thursday: Christmas Day: Snack on smoked meat, baguette, cheese, fruit

Friday: Ham and cheese crescent rolls and salad

Saturday: Omelets with bacon, cheese, veggies, salad

Sunday: Tomato soup and half a grilled cheese

Dinner

Monday: Burger sliders with salad, corn, and broccoli

Tuesday: Tacos with salad

Wednesday: Christmas Eve: Brown sugar glazed pork chops with fried apples, mashed potatoes and gravy and broccoli and salad; dessert: caramel apple tart with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream 

Thursday: Christmas Day: Chicken Wings, fried rice with mixed veggies, leftover tart

Friday: Brats with peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and leftover side dishes

Saturday: Teriyaki glazed steak bites with any leftovers or salad, baked potato/sweet potato bites, and mixed veggies

Sunday: Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders, homemade fries, sugar snap peas

Activities, Week 2 of Christmas Break, Week 1 of Christmas Vacation for the hubs:

Monday: Watch horse riding (kiddo), hubby and I will just laze around, watch a movie, craft and play games

Tuesday: Hubby & kiddo go Christmas Shopping, I will take a trip to the Amstelveen Mall because I haven't been and I want to see all the Christmas hubbub

Wednesday: Christmas Lunch Concert at Concertgbouw, ice skating, Stadelijk Museum

Thursday: Christmas Day, the kiddo wants to stay home so we will do presents, workout, and watch movies all day

Friday: Trip downtown to Nemo Science Center

Saturday: Trip to the Rijksmuseum

Sunday: Rest and relax, nice bike ride if it is sunny

So, that is our week in a nutshell, what are you up to this week?

Btw, I am linking up at Mommy Run Fast, Jill Conyers, and I'm an Organizing Junkie! Come join the parties!

Countdown2Xmas, Days 19 & 20 Recap!

Here are the posts for days 19 & 20! So, so, so, so, so hard to believe I only have four more of these to write!

Day 19

Dizzy Busy and Hungry brings us these yummy looking shortbread cookies...who doesn't love a cookie dipped in white chocolate?!

Crumbs and Curls has some fabulous suggestions for what to wear on Christmas morning so we can look as adorable as our kids!

Montgomery Fest has designed these adorable gift tag printables! Everyone loves a good printable!

Day 20

Ohhheaven writes about her experience as a young woman off at college coming home for the holidays! Great read!

The Good Mama brings us a most delicious sugar cookie recipe!

My Rays of Sunshine brings us these amazing holiday treats!

Now, in the comments PLEASE share with me what you are making for Christmas dinner, we usually do a ham but don't have access to big hams here so trying to figure out what to make...HELP!

Free Lunchtime Concerts in Amsterdam, Part 1: The National Ballet and Opera

Amsterdam has some pretty amazing things to offer residents and guests alike, as a resident one thing I have been enjoying a few times are month are the free lunch time concerts offered at the National Ballet and Opera on Tuesdays and at the Concertgebouw on Wednesdays!

I'm going to talk about these in two parts, the first being the Tuesday concerts at the National Ballet and Opera!

Normally I go with a friend of mine who is also a housewife/stay at home mom while our kids are in school. But, since the kiddo started Christmas break this week I thought I would take her along. Due to traveling my friend and her kids couldn't make it sadly, but we still had a wonderful time.

This past Tuesday's concert at The National Ballet and Opera, the performers did Christmas Carols! It was super fun and the flutist was amazing (so were the singers, but the one woman I particularly loved I do not know her name).

Here is a break down of who was who from the programme:

• Oleksandra Lenyshyn, Soprano
• Marieke Reuten, Alto
• Francois Soons, Tenor
• Ian Spencer, Bass
• Carole Spencer, Fluit
• Brian Fieldhouse, piano

(again, I hope I got all of those correct, I am pretty sure I did as the print looks much like the English words just some letters switch around or left off ;))

It was a packed house as you can see.

In front of me people were sitting on the stairs and a number of people were standing behind us as well.

A snippet of Jingle Bells.

The performance of Let It Snow. In love with the flute.

These concerts are almost always full. People young and old, people on their lunch breaks, and crazy housewives like us looking to do something different with their day show up at these concerts. It is so funny I had a guy stop me the other day to chat about a lunch performance the previous week because he recognized my coat! Going to these events really gets you involved in the community so they are well worth it. If you go watch one make sure you check out the person who goes and sketches each performance! Amazing!

Hot Buttered Rum Recipe

A few weeks back for the #countdown2Xmas photo prompt, cheer, I posted this fabulous cup of what I call *holiday cheer*, which really is just a Hot Buttered Rum of sorts.
See, yum!!! I will warn you I sort of "bulletproofed" this recipe. I hadn't had a ton of fat the day I created it so I threw a bunch in there. It makes for a delicious treat!

A photo posted by Kate (@diaryofanurbanhousewife) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:35am PST

Here is how I did it.

Hot Buttered Rum
Serves 1
Shot of Bacardi Oakheart
Double shot of Honey Mead
Up to 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil*
Up to 1 Tablespoon of butter
Pinch of cinnamon
 *Note: Tread lightly with the coconut oil. If you aren't used to eating it, it has *cleansing* properties to it so start out low, you could go as low as a tsp and still get the coconutty flavour.

Combine all in a sauce pan and heat on medium-low heat until butter and coconut oil are melted and the rum and mead are warm, I usually heat until I see steam.

Don't heat too long as you don't want to burn off all the alcohol, after all this is a cup of holiday cheer for us adults ;)

Countdown2Xmas, Day 18 Recap!

Wow, wow, wow! Six more days left in this fabulous little sharefest! I have had so much fun with it! Have you made anything we've shared yet? If so, make sure you share it with us!

Today we bring you three more amazing bloggers, check them out:

Fantastic Santa craft from Krafts and Kiddos.

Loving this lampshade from Alexis Krystina!

Finally, these Burlap Christmas Trees from Burlap and Babies are fantastic!

Enjoy these three bloggers, just 6 more days to go!!! Make sure you pop over to Facebook and share your favorite Christmas crafts with me!

Countdown2Xmas, Day 17!

What another fabulous day in the countdown! So many lovely posts, make sure to check them out! :)

Tucson Health Project gives us alternatives for healthier versions of our favorite holiday recipes!

Traces of Faith brings us a delicious recipe for Mexican Wedding Cakes!

Sweet Sugar Blossoms brings us a great printable scavenger hunt when looking at Christmas Lights!

That is it for Day 17, have you done any projects from the #countdown2xmas yet? If so, what?