Soon after the first performances of this year’s rendition of the Candlelight Processional began I started to read complaints on Facebook that there were changes in the script and a song had been cut. These changes made me sad and later angry. I read that the poem One Solitary Life and the song “Do You Hear What I Hear” were cut from the show, according to news reports due to “time restraints”. When we watched the show on Saturday evening, and then later discussed it as a family we all admitted to be saddened by the changes. These two items were not the only changes in the production, there were other changes in the script. What we as a family have loved about this production for the last 17 years is how it wasn’t watered down, the majority of the script was Scripture. This was a place where we could hear the Word of God, the true story of Christmas being proclaimed at Walt Disney World. The crowds waiting in line for hours for seats in the American Gardens Theater for each of the three performances a night tell me that a) people want to hear the Biblical Christmas story and b) the show length was just fine the way it was. We felt that instead of getting the whole Christmas story we got bullet points, a brief history of “Silent Night” and some PC fluff.

It wasn’t all negative the music was as beautiful as ever. Thankfully my favorite song in the show didn’t get cut, take a listen to “Rejoice with Exceeding Great Joy!”

I hope and pray that the powers that be at Walt Disney World listen to their guests, and read all of the negative online posts and correct the changes that were made as they plan for next year.

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One-third of Christmas tree structure fires involved electrical failures or malfunctions. Nearly 20 percent of these structure fires occurred because some type of heat source was too close to the tree. This is why hiring an electrician who completed a NASCLA Accredited Electrical Exam Prep is very important to avoid any electrical failures. If you need help from a nearby technician like MZ Electric or looking for electrical repair in North Dallas, TX, you can always visit a place like callbigfamily.com/residential-electrical/ to find a reliable electrician to help you.

NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) offers the following Christmas fire safety tips:

• If you have an artificial tree, be sure it is labeled, certified, or identified by the manufacturer as fire retardant.
• If using a real tree, select one with fresh, green needles that do not fall off when touched.
• Before placing the tree in the stand, cut 1″ – 2″ from the base of the trunk.
• Make sure the tree is at least three feet away from any heat source, like fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents or lights.
• Make sure the tree is not blocking an exit.
• Add water to the tree stand. Be sure to add water daily.

Lighting the tree:

• Use lights that have the label of an independent testing laboratory. Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.
• Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Connect no more than three strands of mini string sets and a maximum of 50 bulbs for screw-in bulbs. Read manufacturer’s instructions for number of LED strands to connect, and if you need help you can also get a las vegas electrician to help you and do everything more secure.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the second and third leading days for cooking fires respectively. Most cooking fire occur when cooking is left unattended. Tips on cooking fire safety are also available at www.nfpa.org/holiday.

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Peppermint Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 9 -12

Author cindy

Ingredients

• 1 Brownie mix
• ingredients to make brownies as directed on box
• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp Peppermint extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 TBS flour

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Line an 8×8 inch pan with foil and spray well with cooking spray.

Cheesecake Batter

• Cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
  
• Add sugar and peppermint and mix well.
• Add egg and egg white and mix.
  
• Stir in flour.
• Set batter aside.

Brownie Batter

• Mix batter as instructed on the box.
  

Assembling

• Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, scoop out 1/2 cup of brownie batter and set aside.
  
• Pour the rest of the brownie batter into the prepared pan.
• Spread cheesecake layer evenly on top of brownie layer.
  
• Drop tablespoons of reserved brownie batter on top of cheesecake layer.
  
• Use a knife to swirl batter.
  
• Bake about 25 minutes, until top is set.
  
• Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
• Store in airtight container, keep refrigerated.

This easy recipe is great for a holiday party, sharing with co-workers or a fun family treat after driving around to look at Christmas lights.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and all of the easy recipes I share here on The Mom Maven. I hope you share them on your social networks ie. Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and G+. I just ask that you not copy and share the entire recipe with photos. Please use the sharing buttons below and share the link to this post. Thanks!

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I seldom wear dresses or skirts but I did find a unique use for the GirlyGoGarter®. I am currently in a stage production of “The Gospel According to Scrooge” and I wear my GirlyGoGarter® with my costume! Since the play is set in Victorian London our costumes are massive and I have been wearing my GirlyGoGarter® on top of my bloomers, under my crinoline and skirt! (Don’t tell the costume mistress please). I use my GirlyGoGarter® to keep my phone and scene list handy for whenever I am off stage. It stays in place while I dance and sing and no one knows it is there.

The GirlyGoGarter® comes in RED for the current Holiday season, WEDDING BLUE for brides, BLACK for Saturday nights out, HOT PINK for Valentine’s Day, and NUDE for everyday events and activities. Sizes are according to your trouser size: Size 3 (fits 0-6), Size 2 (fits sizes 8-12), and Size 1 (fits sizes 14-18) and sells for $35-$55.

Here is the GirlyGoGarter® video so you can see this product in action.

What are your thoughts? Would you wear a GirlyGoGarter®? Is there someone on your holiday shopping list who needs this innovative product? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Disclosure: I received the product for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Duncan Hines Holiday Velvets is the first product in the baking aisle to capitalize on the bakery trend of colored velvet items extending beyond red. Duncan Hines’ moist, new red and green velvet cake mixes are a festive and easy way for bakers to unlock unique dessert opportunities to surprise friends and family with the holiday colors found inside their favorite cake.

The holidays are hectic enough, but Duncan Hines’ Limited Edition Holiday Velvet cake mixes let bakers forget baking stress by helping them raise their game with a fun, easy-to-prepare dessert that looks professionally made and tastes delicious. From red and green velvet cupcakes for the school holiday party, to a festive Holiday Snow Wreath Bundt Cake using the tasty velvets, bakers have an all new way to make this season fun and tasty.

“The new Holiday Velvet cake looks like it came from a bakery, but has that great ‘baked-at-home’ taste. Everyone will be delighted when they take a bite and see a flash of festive red and green inside, and we hope that bakers will share the news of this exciting product with friends and family,” says Joe DiPaolo, corporate pastry chef for Duncan Hines.

 

Limited Edition Holiday Velvets are available nationwide this Fall 2013 and can be found in the baking aisle at WalMart and other national grocery retailers for a suggested retail price of $1.99. You can receive a coupon for $0.50 off at DuncanHines.com. I was asked to sample the Holiday Velvets cake mix and here is my version of the Holiday Velvets Snow Wreath.

Easy Recipes:

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Duncan Hines Holiday Velvet Snow Wreath Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 12 -16

Author cindy

Ingredients

• 1 box of Duncan Hines® Holiday Velvets Cake Mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 6 T oil
• 1 tub of Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting
• Colored Sprinkles of your choice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 °F
• Spray the Bundt pan with oil spray.
• Prepare the two separate batters as directed on the back of the package.
• Using two spoons, alternately spoon the two batters into the Bundt pan (make sure not to shake the pan at this point).
• Insert a butter knife half way into the batter when all the batter is in the pan and swirl the batter by gently moving the knife in a circular motion around the pan. *Do not over-mix or the batter will blend together.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out free of crumbs.
• Cool the cake and remove from the pan after 10-15 minutes.
• Frost the entire Bundt cake with Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting
• Decorate with holiday colored sprinkles

Notes

Instead of sprinkles you could sprinkle coconut onto the cake to resemble snow.

I shared the cake with friends at a Christmas celebration and everyone enjoyed it very much, several going back for seconds! I would definitely Use the Duncan Hines Holiday Velvets cake mix in my holiday baking again.  What delicious holiday treat would you make with the Duncan Hines Holiday Velvets cake mix? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Disclosure: I received the cake mix and frosting from Duncan Hines  for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Our first stop was Snow World presented by Coca-Cola. This is a 15,000 sq foot winter wonderland. There is an area for playing in the snow, riding snow slides and throwing snow (ice) balls at targets. My kids had a blast throwing the snowballs.

Next we wandered through Christmas Town Village, Poinsettia Parkway and the  Enchanted Flamingo Valley.

The poinsettias and light displays were beautiful but this is where we started to run into the one big problem we noticed around the park, the fact that many walk ways are not lit well enough to walk comfortably. There were several very dark areas and we had to pull out our cell phones and use our flashlights to walk around.

We walked the beautiful Miracle Way and admired the nativity. Next we stopped at our favorite Busch Gardens eatery, The Zambia Smokehouse. Unfortunately the outdoor seating area is not lit and this is a photo I took of my dinner plate without using a flash…I told you it was dark. It is very difficult to eat barbecue and hold a cellphone/flashlight at the same time.

This is what we could see of our dinner in the dark at Christmas Town.

We enjoyed the Christmas Time Tree Show, especially after my son explained the technology behind turning a 40 ft Christmas Tree into a video wall. You want to stand back, away from the tree to get the full effect of this show.

We wandered through Holiday Hills on our way to the Christmas Town Sing-Along Train. I was excited because I like to sing, my kids didn’t want to ride with me, but they did. Unfortunately the sing-along host, Gary was a bit too over the top and most of the guests in our train car spent more time making jokes about him than they did singing. I think maybe this would be better if they had some additional hosts maybe one in every other train car to help get the riders more involved in the sing-along. We made a brief stop at Penguin Point on our way to ride Cheetah Hunt (with a zero minute wait). The kids rode twice and hubby even rode once. When the rides were finished we watched the Carol of the Bells show. We finished out our night with the Angels of Peace Ice Show.

The Mom Maven’s Thoughts on Christmas Town

This is a nice family friendly Christmas event that the entire family will love. The admission price is reasonable and there is plenty of time to see all the shows and ride your favorite Busch Gardens attractions. I do suggest you bring a small flashlight with you so that you can light up the walking paths, and your dinner plates! I hope to add Christmas Town to our growing list of family Christmas traditions.

Here are some fun facts about Christmas Town.

Disclosure: We were the guests of Busch Gardens for this event. All opinions are 100% mine or my family’s.

The post Our Visit to Christmas Town appeared first on The Mom Maven.

We are long time Veggie Tales fans and even though our kids are grown we still share our love of Bob, Larry and all our Veggie friends with the kids at church whenever we can. Recently StoryPanda released the first of 5 interactive Veggie Tales book apps for the iPad. Since I don’t have a young child or an iPad (though for the 3rd year there is one on my Christmas list) I had to ask for help from my favorite 7yo and his iPad for this review of Bob and Larry’s ABC’s – A new Veggiecational children’s book from VeggieTales – Storypanda Inc.

About Bob and Larry’s ABCs

It’s important to know our ABCs – luckily we have Bob and Larry to help us learn everything from A to Z! Our favorite VeggieTales characters guide us through the alphabet while Larry the Cucumber narrates the whole adventure. FEATURING animations, sounds and 3-D effects the app is a fully interactive and educational experience. Kids can tap on each letter to have them read aloud. Touching characters makes them jump, bob and float.

Kids and parents can read, create and share this story together to create a unique family bonding experience. In Create mode kids can change the letters to different fonts to reinforce sight and sound associations. Kids can type in their own words and sentences to help stimulate their imagination as they learn the alphabet. After, parents can share their family creations through email, Facebook and Twitter so friends and family all around the world can learn along with you.

Bob and Larry’s ABC’s is the first in the Veggiecational series to be published digitally by Storypanda. Collect all five Veggiecational books to learn Numbers, Shapes, Colors and Time. COMING SOON!

The Mom Maven’s Thoughts

As is usually the case with iTunes, the download process was simple. As soon as the download was complete Matthew ran off to check out the app. He went through the story book and then played around a bit in the create mode before he showed me around the app. The story was adorable but way below Matthew’s level. The create mode was more his speed. In my opinion the app is good for kids ages 2-7 to use to learn their letters with their friends Bob and Larry.

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. I am a Veggie Tales fan and I wanted you to know about their newest iPad app.

The post Review: Veggie Tales Bob and Larry’s ABCs App appeared first on The Mom Maven.

We attend the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights Friday, November 15th…in the rain. We weren’t too worried because we know we will be back on December 6th and maybe December 21st as well. Since it was raining we didn’t get to experience the snow but we did enjoy the lights and music for about 30 minutes before we gave in to the rain and headed home.

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Ukulele for Exercises Dummies is an intermediate level book for ukulele players. This book assumes you know the basics of playing the instrument and how to finger some chords. Jordan has enjoyed playing from this book and has become a better ukulele player because of it.

Jordan’s Top 5 Takeaways- Ukulele Exercises for Dummies

1. While there are several strumming techniques, either the index finger technique or the four-finger strumming technique works 99% of the time with most songs.
2. Vary your strumming patterns to make them more interesting.
3. The better the contact you make with a string, the richer the tone will be, and your picking becomes more accurate.
4. Finger picking takes A LOT of practice or repetition to become good at it.
5. Keep your fingers, wrist, arm and shoulder loose and relaxed while playing your ukulele.

If you have a budding ukulele player of any age on your Christmas list, Ukulele Exercises for Dummies would make a great gift.

Disclosure: This is a compensated post in association with Global Influence Network. All opinions are 100% min and those of my family.

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Both Sears and Kmart offer free in store pickup, letting you shop thousands of gifts online in the comfort of your own home before picking up your items in store in 5 minutes guaranteed (or whenever you’re ready). With in store pickup you’ll avoid lines, busy stores and the wasted time of walking down every aisle. The bow on top: You can have a friend or relative pick up your order and pay in store with cash, if you prefer. Now it’s no question that you should try free in store pickup at Sears or Kmart but there’s now a question of, what will you do with more free time over the holidays? A few ideas include: volunteering at a shelter, making gingerbread houses with the kids or simply putting your feet up and enjoying the view of the Christmas tree.

I am so thankful that Sears and Kmart are helping me save time this holiday season!

Disclosure: “Presented by Mami Innovative Media, this is a sponsored post on behalf of Sears and Kmart. All opinions expressed here are my own.”

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