Christmas 09'

Christmas was everything and more than I imagined it to be this year. I think now that Luca is four months and in a good routine, I felt like I could accomplish all that needed to be accomplished and enjoy the little moments without the stress. My husband gave me an early gift this year...three house cleanings...which gave me the gift of time...and was what I needed the most in this season of my life.

I enjoyed a morning spent at Caedmon's kindergarten Christmas party at school on the last day before Christmas break.Christmas Eve with my family Grandpa & Grandma with their grand kiddosBaby turned four months right before Christmas. She attacks my face with wide-mouth sloppy kisses that I love. She weighs fifteen pounds and twelve ounces and is twenty-four and a half inches long...the car seat is getting heavier! She started eating solids off a spoon and loves her carrots. Her needs and routines are more predictable and flexible. Having her a part of our family this Christmas was the best gift I could ask for. cousins Emmi & Luca
Christmas Morning

Our traditional Christmas morning was very slow and laid back. We took our time in the morning getting ready and making breakfast...after clean up we took pictures beside the tree. Our little brother (Big Brothers Big Sisters), Immanuel, joined our family this year for Christmas. It was fun to have him...although I think he was a little surprised and thought we were crazy for not tearing right into the gifts as soon as we woke up. :)

After Caedmon recited the Christmas story, it was time for the gift-giving.

We typically do three gifts for each child (a small, medium and large gift)...like the three gifts from the Wise Men. We take turns opening one gift at a time so everyone can see what the others received. I love the blessing of giving gifts. Seeing the excitement and appreciation from the receivers is a joy. It's pretty cool how Jesus lets us give and receive gifts on His birthday! It was a complete joy to celebrate Luca's very first Christmas.
Immanuel enjoying taking his turn behind the camera.
Later that afternoon, Grandpa & Grandma stopped by....read you your new books and ...played with your new toys with you. We also watched the movie UP......and sang happy birthday to Jesus.
A perfect day...making memories with the ones I love on Christmas Day.

We Saved Big Money at Menards

Or as Caedmon would say "save big money at the nards." :) Kevin gets a good laugh out of that.

I found an idea in a magazine for cheap bookshelves for the kids rooms. They both like to look at books when they go to bed at night and I've been looking for a way to neatly store their books beside their beds for a long time.

These shelves are made simply from a rain gutter. We bought a ten foot long gutter at Menards on sale for $4.99 last Friday and Kevin had three shelves made and hung by Saturday. Projects around here just don't get done that fast, so that tells you how easy it was and super cheap...I love cheap! We even found out later that we could send in for a rebate of $3.00 which made it only $1.99 and we got three shelves out of it. We also had to purchase the brackets & end caps which was additional and made them come out to about seven bucks for each shelf total.

And here are some sweet pictures of the kids reading together. We LOVE the library and are usually there a couple times a week. I love seeing their excitement over books & reading.

And finally another verse...Daddy's favorite..."I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength" Philippians 4:13.

Our Week

Has it really been over a week since I've posted? I guess it has...where did it go? Here's a recap of our week. Last Saturday, Kevin and I had a date night and the kids stayed with my parents. Mom and Dad took them to this:Kevin and I did some shopping, had lunch at my favorite fast food restaurant (Chick-fil-a) and enjoyed some one on one conversation.

On Sunday, we had a pretty awesome service at our church. It was about what loving others at all costs really means. One of the men from our church shared a testimony at the end of the service about how God helped him and his family show God's love to a woman that caused an accident that killed his wife last summer. The lady was talking on her cell phone, got distracted and ran a red light smashing into the car and killing this man's wife instantly. He met with the lady a few days later and was able to talk with her about the life of his wife and tell her that he knew that God took his wife when it was her time to go. The love and forgiveness that he showed to this woman really touched many attending our church that morning and several accepted Christ right then. Awesome! This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16

On Tuesday, we got another five inches of snow. It's still cold and Spring seems way out of reach. Ok, we need to get creative again because the marble game has lost some of its previous excitement. When I was a little girl, I remember bringing out tons of blankets into the living room and moving the kitchen chairs to make a tent. So in our bedroom there was a tent constructed and in place for most of the week. They had a ball pretending and inviting anyone who came over to check out their new residence. My mom was at our house on Wednesday and was quickly led back to our bedroom to visit the hideout.

I was talking on the phone with my cousin this week and everything was quiet...a little too quiet. After investigating, I found my daughter had gotten into my nail polish and was polishing her toe nails. At that moment I told my cousin what I had found and that I needed to go. She told me to take a picture before getting too mad, so this is for you Heather. =) Notice the nail polish on the wall, the rug and the floor. I wanted new rugs in the bathroom anyway. =)

And last night, we were finally able to celebrate the Jan./Feb./March birthdays on my husbands side. It seemed like it was a challenge to get everyone together this time with busy schedules & sicknesses, but it felt great to see everyone again. We had a delicious supper at Grandma & Grandpa's including our favorite DQ ice cream cake for dessert.

We quickly finished up and headed over to Clinton Christian School to watch Uncle Lyndon play basketball with his church league. The kids had lots of fun running around with their cousins and climbing up & down the bleachers. Kaiya fell and scraped her head, but Grandma saved the day with a band aide that made everything feel better.

On our way home from Middlebury that evening, Kevin stopped at a gas station to fill up and went inside to pay. He came out with a big fountain drink and Caedmon said "When I grow up, I want to pay for gas and get a nice cool drink". I'm sure he'll change his mind about the paying for gas thing. It will probably be ten dollars a gallon by then. =)

And finally, here's another verse the kid's recently learned....Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Proverbs 34:13. This verse has come in handy a few times over the past month and it's been neat to watch Caedmon catch himself and remember the verse when he's tempted to lie.

Ephesians 6:1

Proverbs 3:5-6

This past summer, I read the book "Into the Deep" by Robert Rogers. His whole family was swept away by a flash flood and he was the only one who survived the terrible tragedy. Very sad story. I cried through many parts of the book...but there were so many positive things I took away from his book. As a family, they truely made every moment count...making memories and having quality family times. His wife reminded me of myself...always grabbing the camera...making a memory. I love that! If you have heard Robert speak, you know that he can recite many verses from memory. Every night before bed, they would help their kids memorize scripture. Another one of our goal's for this coming year is to help our children do the same. Caedmon just finished his first two verses.