Have Yourself An Awkward Little Christmas...

Today was the last in a series of Christmas celebrations. It was nice to be with family, but awkward as well. It's hard to be with people that you are closely tied to (by blood) but have absolutely nothing in common with. My brother has chosen a life completely contrary to what I believe God has called us to. He knows better, but continues to make poor life choices. Very self-centered and others get to deal with his consequences...

At what point do you say things and at what point do you let things go because they know what you think/believe? Its a hard balance and it makes for family time that is neither relaxing, nor very enjoyable. It was good to see my mom enjoying her grandkids and my other brother & his wife putting together a great Christmas spread. They love to cook and entertain so it's always good eats.

Merry Christmas too you all. Hopefully you've enjoyed both family and the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Eve Eve

It was a FABULOUS day with my family. Ryan was so excited when he woke up and found the presents under the tree. We had a delicous stuffed hashbrown casserole for breakfast and dove into the presents. Ryan was a riot. His big present was a train table. However, the big hit of the day was new Blue's Clues notebooks ($4 set) in his stocking. It really isn't about how much you spen at this point.

Andy surprised me with pictures of him and the boys together. I loved that he put lots of thought into something special for me. We decided that this was our best Christmas ever. It was so much fun to love on our kids, surprise them, and give them things we know that they will enjoy. It was great not rush around simply enjoy each other.

I survived the first of the family gatherings tonight. It actually went quite well. It's always crazy when you get that many people, kids, presents, etc together.

This year my MIL had us shop for our own presents because they were too busy with getting their basement finished to do so. I picked out a great set of JA Henkels knives - the Forged Pro series. They are really nice. I got tired of dealing with knives that dull easily. Not really any surprises under the tree, but it was fun just the same.

MNF & Birthday Party for Jesus

We had a great Christmas party with our Monday Night Football group. The turkey turned out well - a bit dry thanks to my meat thermometer not working quite right - but lots of gravy to cover that up...

We had a Birthday Party for Jesus with the kids. I made star shaped cake/cupcakes for the kids, had presents for each of them, and we made little nativity scenes. I printed a stable on cardstock and then cut out clipart of all the Christmas story characters for them to glue into the scene. My heart melts every time my 2-year-old walks by the fridge and points at his nativity scene and tells me "That's baby Jesus, and Jesus' mommy, and daddy, and SHEEP!" At this point he breaks out in a chorus of "Away in a Manger" (the song he sang in the church Christmas program on Sunday) at the top of his lungs. He doesn't have a clue who the wisemen are or the shepherd, but that's a lesson for next year. So cute.

Holiday Stress

For as much as I LOVE CHRISTMAS, I always seem to forget the stress that comes along with it. Decorating, baking, church productions, service projects, youth group parties, family stuff, shopping with two little kids, cold season, parties, gift exchanges, christmas cards and much more.

Every year my Martha Stewart complex is challenged. I keep thinking, maybe next year I'll get to celebrate the way I'd like.

Then I stop and think about everything on my to do list and there really isn't much in the way of worship on docket. I was challenged by the very words I shared with our Junior High Students last night - Christmas is a gift. It is God's most precious gift to us. Will we receive the gift? Do we leave it all wrapped up or open it and enjoy the gift of a true and lasting relationship with Jesus Christ? There is plenty inside for me to be completely satisfied - actually more like overwhelmed - with plenty left over to share with everyone I know and love and those I'm just meeting.

I'm slipping in a Birthday Party for Jesus for all the kids at our Monday Night Football party coming up next week. Star birthday cakes, presents (Bible coloring books & English candy crackers), coloring sheets, and maybe a few other suprises...

Any suggestions of fun stuff to do with the kids (ages 3 - 8) at a Birthday party for Jesus?

Holiday Eating Begins

It's not even Christmas yet and the holiday eating has begun... I tried a new recipe out on our Monday Night Football group that was so good that I couldn't stop eating them. They were so good that I made Andy throw away what was left so I wouldn't eat them ALL!!!

Nothin' to fret about Apple Fritter from Rachael Ray

Check them out. It's like your favorite fair food without spending the $ for parking, rides, carnival games, and overpriced fair food!

Christmas Decor

I got this idea from my cousin-in-law friend Teresa who put pics up of her Christmas decor. I think you can learn a lot about a person by how they decorate for Christmas. I'm pretty much a classic/traditionalist. I like timeless items that don't go out of style so I only have to tweek things each year. I love a deep red and gold. I struggle between having a beautiful tree and a family tree - so we do both. We cut down a real tree each (except this year, even though we tried - long story) for our more formal upstairs tree (still carefully decorated to accommodate a curious toddler in the house). I started buying picture ornaments on clearance last year and will continue to do so for fun ways to display what they boys look like that year. Downstair we have...


a family tree decorated more lodge still fitting the hunting and fishing decor of the rec room. We have ornaments from our traveling, ones we made as kids, and fun ornaments that I paint for the kids each year. We also buy them an ornament that is thematic for their life that year. I have seperate tins that I store those ornaments in so they can have them someday.

And here are our stocking hung by the chimney with care. I really wanted to get a mirror to rest on the mantle and hang a wreath in the center of it, but just don't have the cash to do that this year. Maybe next year... We did add Tyler's stocking this year and found one similar to Ryan's.

Answered Prayers

I dreaded tonight. "Church Business" can be a dreadful thing. We had some issues to wade threw tonight that I was rather upset by. Our committee met and prayed and talked throught the issues in advance. God was definitely listening and present because the meeting went far better than expected. My appreciation goes out to Heather who really was direct in addressing difficult issues in a compassionate way and to my husband who gave very good advice tonight.

The end result was far better than any of us had hoped for. Prayers answered...