Cream Cheese Treat

I made this yummy treat on Christmas Eve for breakfast. It's a cream cheese/crescent roll dessert. It's so easy to make and is one of our favorites!


2 packages crescent rolls
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Spray 9x12 pan with Pam.

Spread 1 package of crescent rolls on bottom of pan. Mix both cream cheeses, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla. Spread over crescent roll. Layer the other crescent roll package over cream cheese. Spread melted butter on top.

Mix 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Refrigerate leftovers.


And don't forget to serve on a cute plate like the Christmas plates my parents got me last year!

Glory to God

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

-Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas!
Jason & Diana

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas Eve

This morning we woke up to this:




Once the sun came up and the snow slowed down, we went outside to see how high it had piled up:


We also made snow angels in our backyard:


There are still little snow flurries right now, so hopefully we'll wake up to a white Christmas tomorrow!

Unconditional Love

I really enjoy reading books. I've heard several people talk about Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and it just so happens my good friend let me borrow it. I just finished reading it this weekend. If you've never read it, I definitely recommend it. It's amazing! The book is a retelling of the biblical story of Hosea.

I really like Redeeming Love because it shows God's love for us–no matter what we do. He is constantly forgiving, always in control and His love is unconditional. This book is a beautiful reminder of that. So if you're looking for a good read over Christmas, you should definitely check out this book!

Mess

Remember when I said my house was a mess?

I wasn't lying...

The bedding from our bedroom was piled on top of the bed in the guest bedroom. And the black thing on the right? That was the top part of our entertainment center.

A dining room chair, living room TV, photo albums and more.

This room was the best! It was like a maze to walk through. You're looking at the other parts of our entertainment center, Black Friday shopping from the Container Store that I hadn't unpacked, new garland that we bought for Christmas and sooo much more.

Our floor was finished Friday, so we were pretty busy this weekend moving everything back to its place and re-organizing. We are still in the process of moving everything, but it's good to have a place to finally sit down!

A Little Taste of Heaven

This is one of my most favorite dessert dips. It's called Chocolate Chip Dip, and it's super easy to make! I made it yesterday for my friend's Christmas party and everyone loved it!


1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) *

* I've never added the nuts. I'm not a huge fan of them, so I don't add them.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Whisk in the vanilla and set aside to cool.

Beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture, and beat again for another minute.

Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.

Garnish with additional chocolate chips or nuts, if you choose.

Serve with graham crackers, Nilla wafers or pretzels. My favorite is graham crackers! Spread it on the cracker and eat...mmmm...a little taste of heaven!

Wisdom

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:17-18

That's Life

I don't typically blog a lot. My life isn't always very interesting. I don't have kids, so I can't post cute pictures of them or tell funny stories about things they said. I don't have any pets, so I can't upload videos of them running around. I don't take cool pictures either. Those are the kinds of blogs I read, so mine seems kind of boring to me right now. But since this is called Life with the LeMaster's, I'll just tell you what's going on in our lives right now.

Our house is a mess. Not a mess like we have dirty clothes on the floor that need to be picked up. Not a mess like there are dishes piled up in the sink. Not even a mess like I probably should've cleaned a week ago. No, it's worse. Much worse. We don't have any flooring. We're living on our concrete slab. Which would be cool if it was stained and looked nice. But instead it's stained with worker's shoe prints, spills and who know what else from when the house was being built.

So why don't we have any floors right now? Ok, I exaggerated a tiny bit. We have floors in the bedrooms because they're carpeted. But the rest of the house–concrete slab. Apparently there was too much moisture being soaked up through the foundation so it was causing the planks to curl up. So the floors are now ripped up. A sealer will be put down and we will get new flooring hopefully this week or next week.

Not a huge deal, but it's really hard for me because I'm an organizer. I like things neat and clean. Our house is anything but that right now. Most of the furniture is scattered throughout the three bedrooms so it's not in the way when the new floor comes. We can't decorate for Christmas yet, which is ok, except that Jason and I raided Hobby Lobby one weekend and bought some really cute decorations for Christmas that I'm dying to put out! I also bought a few things at The Container Store over Thanksgiving so we could get more organized, and I can't do that yet either.

Although it's hard for me to not clean and organize, I think this is actually good for me. Houses that are lived in aren't typically going to look like model homes or the living rooms you see in magazines. And Christmas decorations might get you in the holiday spirit and make your house look cute, but they're not the real reason to celebrate Christmas.

So when it comes down to it, we're living on our concrete slab, our house is a mess and nothing is organized or where it should be. But that's life. Things will look better, be cleaned up and get organized and back to normal. They always do!