Lessons From Christmas
1. Do not buy your children Advent calendars. It is better that they don’t know when exactly Christmas is. Unless of course you enjoy waking up at 1:00 am, 3:00 am, 4:00 am, then there was that long stretch until 5:50 a.m and then 6:30 am only to tell your little angel that it is still not time to open presents yet.
2. Remind your spouse to buy things to fill your stocking so you are not going through your junk drawer at midnight finding half-used hand lotion, old lip gloss and nearly empty Tic Tacs that you hope your kids won’t recognize for fear they will come to the conclusion that, “Santa hates Mommy.”
3. My family believes, and rightfully so, that one can never have too much Angry Birds merchandise. We have stuffed animals, we have stickers, we have a card game, we have a interactive slingshot game, and I can’t wait to cut myself so that I can use a Band-Aid that has a hostile robin on it. I didn’t get the new set of kitchen knives I wanted, so odds are good it will happen soon.
4. Do not discuss the future of North Korea with your much smarter, younger brother. You will feel stupid and resort to fake choking on a eggnog-spice roasted peanut rather than admitting that The Colbert Report is your main source of news.
5. However many peppermint brownie cake pops you think you’ll need for Christmas dessert, double that.
6. Angry Birds game pieces should not be used to fling cake balls into anyone’s face. Especially your own.
7. Be kind to your elders. For example, when your mom says, “Remember when Gigi used to methodically sort things constantly?” don’t ask, “Then did Tom Cruise show up, dress her in a grey suit and take her to play blackjack? Because that was actually the movie Rainman, Mom.”
8. Spotify is an awesome app for your smart phone, short of being publicly embarrassed for your music choices on Facebook. Thank you, Spotify for telling everyone I know that I listened to The Carpenters Christmas, on repeat, all day long. Street cred totally destroyed.
9. You cannot leave a board game with my family without becoming a far worse human being. Nobody wins. Except therapists.
10. Children can give you a whole new appreciation of the simple joys of life.
Best Christmas ever.
Even if Santa hates me.
That last photo of Lulu is great! And tell me, are those cake pops as good as Starby’s Peppermint Brownie cake pops? Because they look like they might be. Merry Christmas, Peas!
They’re better. Unfortunately, they’re for the book…of course.
Merry Christmas!
I should have read the comments first – that is BEFORE I spent all this time scavenging your website for the recipe
Those are my favorite and since we adopted a vegan lifestyle that’s what I’ve been missing the most… I might have to buy the book just for that one recipe 
are you planning to make a wannabe of the new raspberry truffle one?
There’s a new raspberry truffle one?! I can’t keep up!!!
Yes, I saw it today — I am working on convincing myself that it won’t taste good
Peppermint brownie cake pops are the only ones I liked from Starbucks (normally I agree with you – not a fan of cake pops – again unless they are peppermint brownie – he he)… but the raspberry truffle sounded interesting (looked pretty good too) – they are like a special Valentine seasonal thing from what I understand.
So glad you had such a wonderful Christmas with your wonderful family!! When my sister and I played board games when we were little it would always end in tears (usually mine). And I got Josh (and his dad!) each angry birds slingshot games as part of their Christmas presents! Apparently its a lot of fun! ;P
It is super fun!!! Good choice
Love the last photo! Are cake pops really good? I got a pan for Christmas and am kind of wondering the thought process behind it. . . .
I also just wanted to say- I got your book for Christmas and it was my favorite gift. . . second to my kitchen aid stand mixer, in which I plan to make the brownies. . . soon. Any cookbook that makes me laugh out loud while reading is a definite winner!
Aww, that’s so sweet. Personally, I’m not a huge cake pop fan, but my whole family loves them. Merry Christmas!
I learned during Christmas number 2 with my now husband and his brother that no one is safe during boardgames. Six years later I still refuse! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to the Pea Family!
I have taken to buying my own stocking presents, wrapping them, and giving them to my partner to put in my stocking. The whole stocking thing just seems to defeat him. My Mum has confessed she did the same for my Dad for most of their married life, but apparently he’s now getting the hang of it (after 30 years of marriage). So, there may be hope!
I was *this* close to buying my own stuffers. But I thought my not-subtle-at-all hints would remind him. Guess not
Workaholic much with a Christmas post!! And for the record- the angry birds slingshot game is both awesome and infinitely more difficult than the ap!
Ha ha. Just wanted to get the memories down before I forgot
I agree, the slingshot game is incredible.
You are so sweet and I like your blog. I plan to read it more often and to try your recipes!!!
Thank you! Merry Christmas!
Awww, but if Spotify hadn’t squealed on you, I wouldn’t have joined yesterday thus filling our house with Bieber, Katie Perry, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. I’m pretty sure Chris (my regular dj) has never been as sorry as the moment he send the invite to join.
PS there were some dreadful songs on that Carpenters holiday album, but I did have to listen to Ave Maria all the way through.
Did you just say dreadful and Carpenters in the same sentence? I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.
Merry Christmas, Tiff!
LOL – I did. I think it was too much Richard and not enough Karen.
I know you’d still meet me on the Top of the World.
Sounds like it was a great family-fun filled Christmas, complete with Angry Birds and board games and a little light political discussion
Hope you guys had a great day and that plenty of Christmas cookies were had by all. In addition to cake pops, of course.
I saw the art kit that Skyler got and Gigi got a similar one and it is her very favorite gift! Hope you guys had a great holiday.
Those cake pops are beautiful! Hoping to see a recipe for it soon but I’m willing to wait it out for the cookbook
Thanks for your patience! It’ll be worth the wait, promise!
So glad you had a great Christmas! I got your cookbook as a gift and cannot wait to start reading through it and making tons of stuff! : )
Wonderful! Merry Christmas!
Those cake pops look delicious! May I have one?
Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you had a wonderful day.
Yes, there are a few leftover. I’ll save one for you.
ha! I loved your tidbit about the stockings – I guess it’s all men that forget about it! I did score a starbuck’s card in mine though – that was a message from the Husband that he likes me caffeinated.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Pea Daddy ended up putting a card in mine too…I said is this from you or Santa? Apparently Santa thinks I am the best wife ever.
Sounds like the perfect christmas.
your girls are adorable
Those pops look yummy!
Merry Christmas! P.S. I have to keep the advent calendar away from my husband
Awwww, sounds like a wonderful day!
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Santa brought me your book- thrilled!!
Nice work, Santa. Merry Christmas!
Haha. I totally agree about Spotify! I listen to the most random collection of music so I much preferred Spotify before it told everyone about everything I listened to! Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!
I’m pretty sure 8 people “unfriended” me yesterday.
Well I would happily add you so then you would only be seven friends down!
Merry Christmas to all the Peas! My wonderful mother bought me your book for Christmas! So so excited!
Your mother IS wonderful.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays! Glad you had such a great Christmas. I don’t get the cake pop craze, but we had some at my family dinner and they were the first things eaten off the dessert table.
I don’t get it either! Just the whole concept of smooshing cake and frosting together kind of skeeves me out.
i cannot express how much control i have to have when playing board games with the family…we’re all so competitive that it can get dangerous REALLY fast!
I got put on a team with my all-boy cousins and brothers yesterday. I was cheating by giving the other team answers because we were all so obnoxious I wanted us to lose
My solution to the whole stocking thing is really simple…I just told our son that Santa doesn’t have time to worry about stockings for grown ups because there are so many children in the world, so it’s up to them to take care of each other. Then Santa’s not a bad guy, and he doesn’t hate Mommy, and Daddy gets to explain if it’s empty
What an awesome explanation. I’m taking it
Merry Christmas! It looks like you had a great one
.
Once I was old enough to tell time, the Christmas morning rule became “Everytime you wake us up before 7, we’re taking back a present”. Which was fine for me as I preferred to just sit and look at the tree before the blur of presents anyway, but until my brothers could tell time I had to keep them quiet as well.
I hope you had a happy and blessed Christmas!
Oooh, I like that rule
There is absolutely nothing wrong with listening to The Carpenters. I listen to Supertramp on replay all.the.time. My mom LOVED your book! I got it for her for xmas this year! Thanks for being so awesome Mama! Happy Christmas!
Thank you for making me feel better about Richard and Karen…and thanks for gifting our book! Have a great day after Christmas!
Hey man, thanks for WRITING the book! We are having our traditional carb fest today. Every year we celebrate the holidays with a vegan feast! This year it is garlic roasted mashed potatoes,garlic bread and rice stuffing, baked yams with coconut milk and bread crumb topping and mushroom gravy! I am also making a raw vegan pumpkin pie with whipped cream!
That sounds awesome! Enjoy!
Don’t worry, The Colbert Report is my main source of news too. Haha!
Those cake pops look wonderful! I’ve already gained a lot of weight from eating so much over the holidays, but those will be the next treat I make! I cannot pass anything the involves chocolate and peppermint. (:
Glad you had a great Christmas! Happy New Years to you and God bless!
Colbert and Jon Stewart crack me up and keep me surprisingly informed.
I’ll swap you a few of my new pickle band-aids for some angry bird ones.
Merry Christmas Pea Family!
Merry Christmas to you!
I forgot to tell my hubby to get things for my stocking too, so I bought myself a vegetable grater. He’s the add-wish-list-to-cart type of shopper. If it’s not on there, he probably doesn’t think about it, lol.
Santa brought me an Angry Birds egg recipes cookbook, LOL. Good thing the Peas don’t eat eggs or you might be green like a piggy with envy.
I’ve found that anything on a stick goes quickly; I made fruit kebabs for Dustin’s birthday last year and they were gobbled up before I knew it. Impaled foods are more alluring, I guess.
Glad you had a wonderful Christmas, Sarah!
There is an Angry Birds cookbook? That is just awesome.
Merry Chirstmas, Jenn.
Sounds like a blast, and embarrassing all at the same time. Truly the holidays! Hope you have a great day after Christmas
Santa hated my mom this year too. He totally neglected her stocking, luckily the ipad made up for it. My family gets super competitive with Scrabble, but we have to modify the rules a touch. We have to play in teams because there are too many of us, and if you play a dirty word and the majority of the table approves it, you get a double word score.
Ha ha…that is awesome. How do I get triple word score???
Well, one year my cousin played “queef” and my mom had no idea what it meant so she went and asked my dad, her brother, and brother-in-law. My counsin got triple word scored on it because hearing the laughter from the other room made it even better.
I just remembered this is a family friendly site, and probably shouldn’t have said the actual word.
Ha ha, no it’s fine! I’m pretty sure I’ve said worse today.
I used to do exactly what Lulu and Gigi did! Good news–it gets better soon! 10:30 was the call time this year
Funny how Lulu slept until 9:15 this morning…of course, Gigi was up at 6 wanting to play with all of her new toys.
I just had to tell you I had the funniest dream last night. My cousin’s wife recently started eating vegan and I told her about your web site. I saw her yesterday and asked her if she had checked out your site yet. (She has). Well, last night, I had a dream that you and I were together somewhere and we ran into my cousin’s wife and I said “This is Sarah, she’s Mama Pea!!!” and my cousin’s wife just looked at me like I was crazy. So, yeah, that’s my crazy Mama Pea dream! It made me chuckle when I woke up.
It could happen…where do you live again?
Sorry to be haunting your sleep!
I live in Florida. I don’t mind you haunting my sleep, it was funny!
Hi,
I just asked for and received your wonderful book. The receipts are great and doable. I actually have most of the ingredients in my pantry, refrigerator and/or freezer. Thank you!
The is one question I have regarding the German Chocolate Cake on page 219. In the last direction (#9), it mentions a middle layer. Do I use 3 cake pans to bake the cake? Thanks for your help. I’m looking forward to using this cookbook over and over in 2012.
Irene
Hi Irene, the recipe just means to frost in between the two layers. Sorry for the confusion. Glad you are enjoying the book so far. Merry Christmas!
Mama Pea!
Merry Christmas! I’m so glad you had a great day, even if things did get a little too Angry Birds-ish.
I miss you lots and hope to see much more of you in the New Year, I’m back to blogging (reading and writing – as sparse as it might be), finally, and can honestly say your blog is one I’ve missed the most!
Hope you have a terrific Boxing Day (oh wait…that’s Canada, isn’t it?) Oh well, never the mind, it’s a holiday and I hope it’s fantastic for you and the wee ones.
Hugs to you!
Erin
My husband realized on Christmas Eve that he had only bought deoderant for my stocking. His happy behind trudged out to Target with the rest of the county to fill it up, next year maybe I’ll “forget…”
Merry Christmas!!!!
When I was growing up, every year I used to remind my dad to buy gifts for mom’s stocking! All of our’s would be overflowing, and mom’s would look skinny and sad. Now that I am older, I give my parents their own stocking, so even if dad forgets, she still has my stocking (to her) to open!
Oh, and the Carpenter’s Christmas is on my iPod and has been played constantly these last few weeks! Along with Barry Manilow Christmas!
Thank you for this today! I needed a good laugh and a big smile! Happy New Year!
Haha “Santa hates mommy” We never did stockings at our house, my mom would make us a scavenger hunt instead in search of a present so that would keep us entertained for a good couple of hours depending on how hard the clues were lol
Those brownie pops look great! I have only tried cake pops so far. Also, I will now have to go and try Spotify!
hahah board games at Christmas is just asking for trouble
Oh boy, my peanut got PRINCESS Chutes and Ladders from Santa. Game on!!
3.5 is apparently when my kid “gets” Santa which made this the best Christmas for us as well. Especially because at 3.5 they still sleep in for the most part. Next year however I think the jig is up and we will be up at 1 and 3 and 5.
So much cuteness in this post! I wish I had kids around, so that I could live the holiday through their eyes.
One day you’ll have to explain the Angry Birds phenom to me. No comprende.
Were you ever into Tetris? Similar mindset. Happy holidays, friend!
I listened to the Carpenters Christmas a lot, too, and don’t apologize for it! I use Pandora instead of Spotify, though, so my Facebook community doesn’t know it! Merry Christmas!
But here you’ve gone and publicly admitted it anyway. Now that is admirable.
By the way, love the scarf in your photo!
Thank you!
That’s okay, most people won’t even remember the Carpenters and will just think it’s a hip new group.
HaHa! I was doing the frantic scramble for stocking gifts myself this year! Hubby was so proud because he actually got me things that were on my list, but I think he put so much effort into that, he forgot about stockings! Thank goodness for trial size bottles from Bath and Body works!
Pea D also did well on the regular gifts so I couldn’t complain too much
LOL! We always had stockings as kids and I definitely miss not having them now! When I have my own, I think I’ll be bringing back the tradition. Perhaps after you’re finished with publishing cookbooks, you could create a highly addictive iPhone game called Angry Peas? I’d be all over it!
Yes, I do need to create the next iPhone game phenomenon. Hmm..
Awww, bummer you had to fill your own stocking – maybe next year!
GLAD you had such a wonderful Christmas – just catching up on your posts now. Oh, I gave your Eggnog Spiced Nuts to some coworkers and am now getting recipea requests – so I am directing them to your site. RAVE reviews!
Thank you for spreading the word! Hope you had a good Christmas too, Christine!
haha at least we don’t have anyone to fool, because marshall is the same way with stockings. his was chock full of awesome goodies.. and mine was limp and lifeless and full of paper to make it “look full”.. sigh. glad you had a wonderful christmas! love you so much!
Glad you had a wonderful christmas!!! PS made the lavender rosemary gel as a gift for my mom and she loves it!!!! Such a good idea.
And I totally agree about baking double desserts. you can never have too many cookies or cakes on christmas…or anytime for that matter right?
I agree. Best Christmas ever! (I have a three year old so I agree about the simple joys.)
merry christmas!!!
i downloaded angry birds for my mother in law on her ipad this weekend and now she’s obsessed! i love it.
Ha ha ha…there’s no age limit on Angry Birds. It’s like crack for all ages.