A Christmas Birthday Celebration

The teacher in me enjoys books…not of the chapter sorts but of the story sorts. Our basement is filled with boxes yet to be unpacked of books from my classroom…books I someday hope the read with our little ones.

With that said, whenever I come across a good picture book, I find my typical frugalness transfer to that of an impulse buyer all in effort to provide our kiddos with as many print/illustration opportunities as possible.

Before Christmas, while I was attending MOPS, I stumbled upon this book at the church bookstore. I casually flipped through it and found myself delighted by the bright illustrations and rhyme of the story.

Reading the book triggered a little plan for Christmas Eve in my heart, the plan included cake, decorations and a simple birthday celebration.

On Christmas Eve, we set out to bake a birthday cake and decorate the house in Jesus’ honor.

B helped bake the cake…

Because of the special occasion, B got a chance to taste the batter…he SO enjoyed the finger-tip-sized treat!

While the cake was in the oven, we worked on decorating our living room. I had grand ideas of B learning how to make a paper chain…

 

He was more interested in the roll of tape!

But did make sure to tell me that I was doing a good job with the help of a hug and a kiss!

Little A cheered us on from the comfort of her excersaucer…

C acted as the chief ‘decoration hanger’…and enjoyed help from his little apprentice!

Once the decorations were hung, we were officially ready to celebrate the most important birthday ever celebrated!

Just before naptime, B helped frost and decorate the cake…

 

And then set it aside as we waited patiently for Christmas morning to arrive.

C had the idea of enjoying the cake as a special breakfast treat on Christmas morning. We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and then B blew out the candles!

The cake acted as a fantastic breakfast treat…and proved to be the start of a sweet family tradition.

Be blessed.

Can’t Help But Share…

This is another little sweet nugget of truth that I read in Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling devotional, that again, I felt compelled to share.

January 6

“I AM ABLE to do far beyond all that you ask or imagine. Come to Me with positive expectations, knowing that there is no limit to what I can accomplish. Ask My Spirit to control your mind, so that you can think great thoughts of Me. Do not be discouraged by the fact that many of your prayers are yet unanswered. Time is a trainer, teaching you to wait upon Me, to trust Me in the dark. The more extreme your circumstances, the  more likely you are to see My Power and Glory at work in the situation. Instead of letting difficulties draw you into worrying, try to view them as setting the scene for My glorious intervention. Keep your eyes and your mind wide open to all that I am doing in your life.”

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than al we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3: 20-21

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”Romans 8:6

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar of wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!”  Revelation 5:13

I am humbled by the reminder that there is no limit to what God can accomplish. As our family walks through a seemingly scary and uncharted territory, it is so comforting to be reminded of this truth, I don’t need to be scared and think of what-ifs, but instead need to be positive and filled with hope! And also to be reminded that I simply need to do is TRUST, to not be discouraged but ask the Holy Spirit to take control over my heart…oh, how I wish this simple task was easier done than said!

God isn’t in the dark…even if I feel like I am. I so badly wish I could wiggle my nose and immediately know that everything will be okay…being reminded that time trains hearts is overwhelming…it is all part of a great lesson that ultimately will ‘train’ me to become more dependent on our Incredible Heavenly Father and less dependent on myself…as I do whole-heartedly believe that He can do far greater than I ever could imagine!

May this little nugget of truth bring your heart encouragement!

Be blessed.

Yes, I’m Old Fashioned!

I just came across this book…it doesn’t have a power cord but it will help me remember special dates in our family’s and friend’s lives!

 (image taken from amazon.com)

Old fashioned…and so great!

Be blessed.

Christmas Card Progression

This is how I had planned our Christmas photo shoot to be…I admit, I  had planned it through rosy colored glasses.

I had visions of this year’s card photo being that of snow, snow and more snow! We would take it while playing in the snow, B would be utterly bliss-filled delightful on account of the snow and A would be a content little snow bunny. We would all be donning our new snowy apparel and appear to be one happy family fresh from the L.L.Bean winter catalog.  We would take it one  Saturday morning after breakfast while anticipating some delicious hot chocolate and a lazy morning together inside afterwards.

Reality didn’t quite pan out as ‘quintessentially’ as I had hoped.  A really snowy playtime wasn’t possible as Minnesota is experiencing a huge and bizarre snow DROUGHT! The photo shoot itself did not happen on a lazy Saturday morning, instead it was squeezed into a very busy Saturday morning before trips to the home depot, grocery store and Christmas tree lot.

And we learned that snapping ONE good photo with a 2 year old, 8 month old and pup proves more challenging than we ever think!

Just to paint a picture, here is a glimpse…

Me: “B, let’s go outside and take a picture!”

B: “No, thank you please”

Me: “But you get to wear your snow pants and boots like daddy!”

B: “Okay”

We proceed to get everyone bundled (it was about 15 degrees outside the Saturday morning we chose to check the photo off of our list) and ready to go.

C has me sit down with Ella and A (in the most snowy part of our yard we can find) so he can get the camera and tri-pod set up. B ‘helps’ all while complaining his “Boots are too heabey!”

Trial #1: C pushes the timer button….and runs with B in tow to duck into the photo…and then realizes he cut off his head.

Trial #2: C’s head is in the photo! B is looking down, A is looking at C, my eyes are sort of closed and Ella is watching our neighbors pull into their driveway!

Trial #3-7 look a lot like this, too far away…the kids aren’t looking at the camera, etc. etc. At this point I am trying to keep my ‘cool’ feeling rather deflated as I am realizing that the shoot itself is going down hill rather quickly.

Our neighbors noticed our grand effort (and probably heard B’s less than polite complaints) and graciously offered to take the photo for us to alleviate the need for C and his little helper to run back and forth between the camera and the photo spot.

The help allowed us to snap ONE (yes, this was the best we could get) photo with all of us at least looking at the camera.  C joked that someday we are going to send one of the ‘not good’ shots as our official Christmas photo to provide a more realistic display of what real life in our neck of the wood looks like!

In all honesty, that might not be a bad idea…see, the photo shoot didn’t turn out half bad…in fact, I have come to enjoy the expressions that each of us display and love that you can see some snow, C’s big boot, B’s polar bear hat and little A’s bright pink snow suit.

Now that I am a touch removed from the ‘shoot’ I realize the need to protect my heart from unrealistic expectations…yes, it’s okay to dream about what things might be like but even more important to enjoy every moment (even when they don’t live up to expectations) because every moment is a gift, and if I live disappointed by expectations not being met, I might miss out on simple joys like getting to talk with and get help from our new neighbors.

I also am reminded of  the need to be real…I don’t want to imply that we live this totally put together, bliss-filled, perfect, snowy, problem-free life…we aren’t a family out of a catalog…we are real and quite honestly not often put together…but if I’m honest with myself, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Merry Belated Christmas from our not always put together neck of the wood to yours!

Be blessed.

2011 Manger Painting

This year’s manger painting was special as it provided a tangible opportunity to reflect on some of things that have transpired in our little family’s life this year.

In effort to keep things as ‘clean’ as possible, the kiddos operated under the philosophy that shirts weren’t necessary…and bath time later in the evening was!

Initially, little A was not as impressed with the idea of painting. She proved to be a little skeptical of the entire ‘ordeal’ but seemed willing once given the opportunity to test the paint on her finger tips out all by herself.

B’s interest in the painting was substantially more impressive than last year as he talked about what he was painting and was quite willing to paint his hands to make handprints. B claimed to be painting everything from tractors and trailers to bulldozers.

After the kiddos went to sleep, C and I enjoyed some quiet time, cider and painting our own slats. 

The highlights that C painted included attending the Rose Bowl with his dad last January (and watching the Frogs win), camping with B, the various metro-plex sports teams in the national spot light-specifically, the Mavericks winning the NBA Championship and our big move up north.

The highlights that I painted included selling our first little house, our trip to the Hill Country to visit friends, moving into our rent house, turning my ‘cool’ car in for a ‘mommy car’, walks around TCU waiting for little A to arrive, little A’s arrival, our move up north, our stay-cation back to Texas, Clifford & Emily Elizabeth and making our new house our own.

As we reflect on 2011, God’s goodness and provision remains evident, despite our elementary painting ability!

We have come to treasure this family Christmas tradition and look forward to many more family painting nights in the future! We also can’t help but wonder how long it will take B and A to surpass us with their painting abilities!

Be blessed.

Better Late than Never…

I try to use our blog as a family journal of sorts…I have the best of intentions of one day ‘publishing’ it for our kiddos since I'm not a scrap booker and can only hope that will come to fruition.

With that said, I have been working on crafting our Christmas post and  realized that we hadn’t posted about Thanksgiving…so despite the date, I thought I’d share, I regret not taking more photos but trust we will remember the highpoints!

We enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving week in Texas. We started the week by visiting our beloved Cowtown for a whirl-wind weekend.

Friends graciously joined us for breakfast at our favorite bakery.  We also enjoyed our fill of REAL Tex-mex and Central Market food (both of which are non-existant up in the northland) and relished in the opportunity to attend our former church and see familiar faces.

Our time after Fort Worth was dedicated to some much needed ‘family time’. B and A seemed to captivate their Gigi, Papa and Auntie B with their latest ‘to-do’s’ and C and I enjoyed hearing about how they had changed and grown. We were also able to enjoy an extended family dinner with great grands, aunts and uncles which proved to be quite sweet.

Midweek, little A and I snuck home to celebrate my mom’s birthday. C and B remained in Texas where a stomach bug tried to ruin everyone’s(everyone except for Grandpa J & Papa) fun!  With the help of saltine crackers, Gaterade, Clorox wipes and lots of patience, everyone proved resilient (even our little guy who hadn’t ever been sick before) and was able to make the most out of the remainder of the week. 

The entire stomach bug situation provided a good reminder that plans sometimes change, but all that truly matters is having the opportunity of being together.

The the bookend to the week was a trip to the lake where C’s grandfather rented a house for everyone to enjoy. The kiddos enjoyed playing around the house, the guys golfed and I have been told that the girls shopped.

Here are a couple photos from our week…

The group at the lake…

We have so much to be thankful for and our time away was a nice little break from ‘typical’ life in our neck of the wood.

Gigi & Papa, thank you for a sweet trip!

Be blessed.

Amazed!

God, our Heavenly Creator, is incredible…I stand in awe of how intricately each of our little ones are woven together.

In His perfect timing, which feels like a blink of an eye (truly less than 24 hours), our littlest nugget learned how to pull herself up to a standing position and has two little pearly whites coming through her gummy little smile.

It is all a little bitter sweet to think that the days of simply crawling are numbered as are the days with a toothless smile… a simple reminder to stand back and be grateful for the here and now and be amazed by how perfectly fashioned each of us are.

^“13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you. “ Psalm 139: 13-18

Be blessed.