~New Years Party~

We had a New Year's service Tonight instead of tomorrow. We enjoyed a time in scripture and song then some food and fellowship! Kiersten had fun in this cabinet. It has wheels and she was being pushed around by the other girls with the doors closed.

I got to talk with one of our newer families. We have a lot in common and I look forward to getting to know them better!

~Last Book of the Year~

I asked for this book for Christmas... and I forgot about it. I was happily surprised to open it up Christmas morning!

We took the week off from school so I had a little free time every afternoon to read this week. It was an easy read so it didn't take me long to get through it.

I was very challenged by it! I think it was a great book to end the year.

My two favorite parts:

* One of her daughters asked if she would explode if Jesus came into her heart. Katie's first response was no... but then she thought about it and realized you should explode! "'Yes, if Jesus comes to live in your heart, you will explode.' That is exactly what we should do if Jesus comes to live inside our hearts. We will explode with love, with compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice. We will explode with desire to be more, to be better, and to be close to the One who made us.'"

* "One of His favorites. That is what I have felt like this last two weeks. Lavished with love, But isn't that what He wants every one of his children to feel, all the time? Each and every one of us created perfectly in His image. Each one cherished. Each one 'one of His favorites'. How would life change if we thought of each other as such? If each person that approached us we treated as beloved of God, cherished by God, one of God's favorite people?

A few take aways:

* I want to know Jesus the way Katie does

* I want to love Jesus the way Katie does

* I want to love my children as much as she loves strangers

* I want to see each and every person as God's favorite

I really enjoyed reading about Katie's experiences, how God worked in her life, and how He opened so many doors for her to minister. It makes me wonder how we, as Americans, who have so much can learn about God and watch him do wonderful things when we don't "need" Him. It is almost scary to pray to see God in that way... thinking it would only come through great trials.

I was encouraged by the simple fact that it isn't up to me to change the world... children are hurting all over the world and that can be overwhelming to think about. All I need to do is to change the life of each person God brings to me. That change may only be a small thing in my life but it may impact them far greater.

Katie had a few statistics throughout the book. One that stood out to me was the number of orphans and the number of Christians. If only a small percentage of Christians adopted one child there would be no more orphans.

A great book! (you can read most of the book on her blog, but the book is much easier and more detailed)

~Christmas Letters~

84 Christmas letters finally done! I really didn't feel like doing the letter this year. My kids kept asking if I did it yet... they love to read the past letters and laugh at all the things that happened. I knew I would regret not doing a letter but just couldn't get motivated until yesterday. My parents took all the kids out for lunch so I had some time to just sit and type. Jordan proof read it for me:-)

I read it to the kids this morning to make sure it was accurate and so they knew what I said about them. We printed them out and made an assembly line.


Aaron put on the return address, Jared put on the stamp, Jordan put on the addresses and I folded and stuffed them. Kiersten actually pulled off the self sealing strip and closed them... she did a great job!

Ahhh, done!

~Christmas Crafting~

I didn't craft too many gifts this year. The blanket for my Grandparents and these small gifts...

I turned these "normal" looking mugs into fun little cozy mugs!

I also took plain soap bottles and personalized them...

The only other things I crafted was Kiersten's dress.

I figured out how to do a blind hem on my sewing machine! Way easy!!! I also learned how to make the little flowers that I added. I used a pattern for the top of the dress but the bottom was something I just copied from pictures I saw online.

~The Fourth Christmas~

We spent Saturday afternoon with my parents and my brothers family. My mom served a bunch of snacky type food that we all enjoyed before, during and after our gift opening!

Kiersten helped Uncle Darrell hand out gifts for a little while.

She enjoyed opening everything!

Aaron knew the shape of one of the gifts from my parents. They took the boys shopping to get ideas and Aaron knew this shape from one of his most desired gifts. He was so excited to open it and since his uncle could tell he was overly excited... he waited til last to give it to him!

All the cousins.

We enjoyed our day in church today. We stayed and had lunch with some of the people at church that have no family in the area. It was a really nice time.

Tomorrow I crash!

~The Third Christmas~

Christmas morning a day early! Since we didn't want to cram everything into a Sunday Christmas, we enjoyed our normal Christmas Day activities on Saturday.

First we opened stockings...

We ate breakfast... simple English muffins this year!

Then we opened gifts. Each child receives 3 gifts... this takes til about noon!

Then we head out for our next Christmas!

~The Second Christmas~

I spent most of today in the kitchen. I was cooking for tonight's Christmas Dinner with Gregg's family, Saturday afternoon snacks with my family and Sunday afternoon dinner with church family.

I did enjoy all the cooking and it was much easier with Gregg home taking care of kid stuff!

I first started the roast for dinner. Potatoes were peeled and chopped and put in the fridge for later.

I made this yummy olive dip for Saturday/Sunday
And a cheese ball for Saturday/Sunday and some deviled eggs

Dessert for Saturday/Sunday

Stuffed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and baked corn for dinner Fri.

I even made a whole bunch of ham/cheese sandwiches to throw in the oven for whenever I needed them.

My fridge was stuffed!

We had a great visit with Gregg's family! Usually, the adults exchange $5 gifts a the kids exchange snacks. This year we all exchanged our favorite snacks. I think that went very well!

Not much needed to be cleaned up before bed since I had kept the kitchen clean all day while I was cooking! Stocking are set out and we are ready for our next Christmas!

~Brown Paper Packages~

I've got them all tied up in string!

I am still waiting for one package to come in the mail but the rest is done!

I had the boys help with Gregg's gifts. I am so glad to have my bedroom back! All these gifts were stashed in there!

Even the stocking are ready to go!

Whoo hoo!

Now for the cleaning!

~The First Christmas~

Four Christmas's every year... that is a lot. But I think we have a good schedule down! The first one is my mom's family the Saturday before Christmas (today). It is hosted by my Uncle & Aunt who only live about 20 min away. Some do a gift exchange pollyanna style, some participate in a cookie swap and some just come to visit.

I enjoyed this Christmas party on my own:-) Gregg happily stayed home with the kids so I could actually talk to people. I love my kids... but when you have to keep giving direction and making sure everything is ok you really can't get into a good conversation. I enjoyed talking to several cousins, aunts and uncles. I didn't get to everyone but I'm happy with how many I did actually talk to. By my count there were 6 uncles, 7 aunts, 15 cousins, 8 second cousins, and 2 "friends" of cousins. I met two wives of cousins for the first time too.

It was a nice afternoon/evening out but I was happy to get home to my quiet house and watch another Christmas movie with my gang.

I sent them off to bed and sorted all the cookies! Yum!

~Tis the Season~

What a fun Friday! We only did Bible, math and grammar this morning. I returned two movies to the library and picked up three more. We had a quick lunch and headed out to the Choo-choo Barn. This is our third year going at Christmas. We got in free with donations to a food drive.

They decorated for Christmas this year. There were also 50 Santa's hiding around the track. My boys found them all!

I just loved the hats on the giraffes!

Isn't this so pretty!

Kiersten could see a lot from the floor but asked dad a few times for a ride on his shoulders.

Nathan and Eric are just so much fun to watch. Nathan's favorite part is the house that catches on fire and the firetruck that comes to put it out!

I did find some stables hidden in places too!
Why is it always so cold when we go here!?!?!? The wind here is crazy cold!

After we got home I started on Christmas cookies for a cookie exchange tomorrow. My little helper rolled the cookies in sugar and put them on the tray for me.

Mmmmm... Mint Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Orange Macaroons!

http://www.doorposts.com/blog/2011/12/08/the-green-cookie-recipe/

http://mamasfixins.blogspot.com/2010/01/chocolate-orange-macaroons.html

We all enjoyed this movie after a yummy taco dinner and a clean kitchen! I'm still crocheting... and I WILL finish the dress this weekend!

~Sneak Peek~

I was up late working on a dress, drinking tea, and watching a Christmas movie...

Anyone else trying to fit a gazillion things into this last weekend before Christmas?!!?!??!!?

~Mittens~

Remember these mittens I bought at a craft fair (favorite mittens ever! So. very. warm.)... well I found directions here if you are interested!

I don't have time to add these to my list before Christmas but maybe I can try to make a pair this winter!!! I have some felted wool sweaters all ready for a project!

~A Lost Pearle~

I knew there was something else I did last week... I just could not remember what it was when I typed up my post! I read this amazing book...

I spent many night time hours keeping warm in my blanket with my book! I refused to read it while the kids were awake because I knew I would never be able to put it down! As soon as the kids were in bed I was into the story and stayed at it until I seriously couldn't focus anymore.

The publisher says it is a mystery with plenty of action. Yup!

I read one "real" romance novel and one "real" mystery book many years ago. Books on the top book lists. This book was so very different. I came away from those books feeling dirty and creepy... this book was challenging my character. It is amazing how the quality of writing can lead your mind down different paths.

There was romance... but not immorality

There was death... but nothing gory

There was evil... but it was shown as the result of selfishness not glamorized

There were decisions made sacrificially

There was compassion

People were humbled

Joy was found in trials

Character shined through

Service to others helped heal a wounded heart

God was praised for the work He did through the trials

I woke one morning after reading this book and thought for sure I had watched a movie! The pictures were so clear in my head.

This book was written in 1883 and I always enjoy the Old English. This company does define some words at the bottom of the page which is helpful but I could mostly glean the meaning from the context.

Certainly one of my favorite books! Coming in at 440 pages... it is long but, oh my, do the pages turn!

I am afraid to choose another book off the shelf right now... I don't have time to get drawn into another book! Maybe after Christmas!

~Christmas Progress~

What a day!

We attended a Memorial Service for a gentleman at our church this morning. Funerals are always times you wish you had gotten to know someone better! It also makes me think about the things people/my children will remember about me!

As soon as we got home I started working on these...

Pretty, yes!!?!? Can't show them to you though... Christmas is coming!

I "finished" my Christmas Tree Skirt... I want to embroider a verse or song along the bottom with some decorative stitches on the edge. That may have to wait for next year!

I prepped tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, and evening snack!

The last thing on my list today was to cut out Kiersten's Christmas dress! It is soft and thick... I don't remember what kind of fabric it is but it will be wonderful to work with!

I found this photo on my camera... looks like the dog had a good day too:-) Looks like I need to cut some threads!

Yay! I can go to bed! Wait, I need to write a list for Monday....

~Busy Week Recap~

I've been in constant motion this week! I am progressing on my to do lists, but I am skipping a lot of things too (like my nice long walks). This week we really fit in a lot of Christmas type activities. We finished decorating for Christmas (almost)!

We did a lot of baking! I made a cheesecake, some mint chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin bread and peanut butter bread. I'm so thankful for my little helper... sigh... she will start helping and stop mess making right!?!?! Haha! Here she is doing dishes! I was glad she stopped picking the chocolate chips out of the batter:-)

I have not touched my ripple blanket (well, I've snuggled in it every day) but have made great progress on the one for my Grandparents. I have one more skein to go!

I have also been doing an advent activity almost every day with the younger three. One day was painting Mary and Elizabeth. Never did you see a more happy and content group of kids! They loved it and hardly made a mess! I am reading an advent book to the whole gang during breakfast and lunch. This year it is Tabitha's Travels.

I've been wanting a tree skirt for a number of years. I usually just use a table cloth. I got these squares cut out and am hoping to make real progress this weekend!