My best Christmas Gift

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and got to spend time with family and friends enjoying the true meaning of Christmas. This morning as I was thinking about my favorite gift that I received this Christmas (we'll get to that in a minute), I was reminded of the best gift that I have ever received, Salvation. It is so easy to get lost in the hub bub of the holidays and the giving and receiving of gifts, and forget about the true meaning of CHRISTmas. God has given us the world, the greatest gift of all. He sent his son Jesus Christ, a perfect sinless man, to die on the cross for our sins so that we may be forgiven and have the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven with him. Many of you know from previous posts, that this is the year that Kinsley got saved, but what you may not know is that this is also the year that I got saved. October 6, 2008 is the day I was born again. So this Christmas has really had new meaning for me. Many of you probably remember in your journeys, as a new Christian the struggles that you faced as you learned further about what the Bible says and as you grew in your faith. At first I thought it was just me, but it has been a comfort to know I am not the only new believer who this happens to. And that just as God forgave me of my sins when I was saved, he continues to forgive me. No physical gift can top that.



Now, though, as Pastor Tenney says, we all love gifts, Amen. There is no denying that. This year for Christmas, my girls got me new jammie pants and fuzzy socks. And as many as you know from reading previous posts, Jammie pants and fuzzy socks just out of the dryer are my no fail feel good comfort.

After a chaotic morning, I returned home to a house that looked like a hurricane hit. I spent several hours cleaning up bits of paper and boxes and those little plastic pieces and wire that they use to detain toys more securely than maximum security prisoners and trying to find a place for all the new toys. I finally reached a point where my house looked livable and decided to put my feet up and relax for a bit in my new fuzzy socks.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you had time, even just a few moments, to enjoy all the wonderful things in your life, family, friends, fuzzy socks and most of all the true meaning of Christmas!

Kinsley prayed for school

During Wednesday evening service, Pastor Tenney always takes prayer requests, which we pray for as a church. No request is too large, small or trivial, and we always encourage the children to participate as well so that they can learn the power and importance of prayer. Much to my surprise, Kinsley prayed that they would have school today. I was very surprised that she would want to go back to school after having been off for three days and gotten to spend those days with her Dad and her Grandpa Dave. I think she just missed socializing with her friends.

Snow, or rather Ice Day

All weekend it was forecasted that we would get nasty weather last night, and Kins informed me every opportunity she got that she would not have school on Monday. I kept telling her, just wait and see what happens, we don't know if it will actually be that bad. Last night she told me that she could stay up late because she wouldn't have school today. I informed her too bad, I still have to go to work. I got the call from School district at 5:30 this morning that school has been canceled. I must say that I love this new system, not having to get up and watch television or listen to the radio to hear the school cancellations, they call me and let me know. In the past, it never failed that I would sit so patiently waiting to hear the school cancellations, and then oops, get distracted right before they came on and miss it, and then wait patiently and dang it, missed it again. This works out very well!

Kenneth and I had already discussed that if there was no school today, I would just bring the girls to him, but that he might have to work over a little depending on the roads and if there were any accidents. So I let the girls sleep in a little, knowing that I could just throw them in the car in their jammies. When Kins woke up the first question out of her mouth was "..School Today?" There was something before the school today, but she was half asleep and entirely too excited for me to make out what the mumbling was. When I said, no, there's no school, she exclaimed "YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!" and then took off down the hall in a dance that can only be described as a rendition of Pee Wee Herman with a little Jim Carey thrown in. I really wish I had a video. I just shook my head.

A Pianist is Born

Juliana discovered recently that she could pull herself up to the piano, reach up really high, and if the lid was open, she could touch the keys. This has now become her favorite thing to do "play the piano." Last night I caught her in the act. And actually, surprisingly enough, the music is nearly as good as she is cute. Maybe she'll be a great concert pianist.

Grandma always comes through

Karly's Rudolph nose didn't last long, maybe a day at most before it was no longer flashing and then pulled apart. What did I really expect for 1.99? Grandma came through though! Before coming home for the weekend, my mom emailed me to ask if Karly had gotten the Rudolph antlers yet. We don't usually go to Break Time, so we had not been back to get the antlers and I was sorry to report the nose had broken. Grandma believing that Karly really needed those antlers stopped Friday and picked up antlers and new noses for both Kins and Karly.

Then it really got fun, and Karly decided that Juliana needed to wear the antlers too.

Good Morning!

Juliana is such a happy baby! I am so lucky in that she rarely fusses, even when tired or sick, and always has a smile on her face. Her big grin and content nature are very contagious, you can't help but smile at her. Without even trying she can make the worst days so much better. Some of the best moments of my day are in the morning when she wakes up. She always gets so excited to see me and greets me with the biggest grin. This morning, I came prepared and took a few pictures to share.

Karly the Red Nosed Reindeer

Karly was at the gas station with me today and found this red nose that she just had to have. For 1.99, I thought what the heck. It even has a little light in it that flashes. She was so proud of her nose and showed it to everyone she saw. She is desperately trying to talk me into going back to Break Time to buy the felt antlers to go with it.

Graham Cracker Houses

The past few years I've had difficulty getting into the Christmas spirit. I'm not quite sure why that has been, but I have decided that this year, that will just not do. So, I am jumping head first into Christmas. I have some Christmas Shopping done, including all of my stocking stuffers. For those of you in search of some cool stocking stuff, check out the $1 bins at Michaels and Target. I got some really fun stuff for the girls and hardly spent anything. This weekend I decided what better way to get into the Holiday spirit than a little baking.

The girls and I made graham cracker houses Saturday evening. I bought a box of graham crackers and made 2 lbs of frosting (I wasn't sure how much they would waste). We had a blast, but had some difficulty with our frosting holding up. It took us a while, but after about 5 crashed houses a piece, we finally got the roofs to stay on. The girls did very well with all the crashes, and Kinsley only got frustrated when her M&M roof broke in two, thereby rendering it useless and having to start over. Karly decorated hers all by herself, and much to my surprise I didn't even have to instruct her on how to do it. I looked over and she was dipping M&M's and gumdrops into the frosting with no help at all.

Karly's Graham Cracker House

Kinsley's Graham Cracker House

After the girls went to their dad's house yesterday and Juliana laid down for a nap, I made sugar cookies to use up the rest of the frosting. I still have about half of it left, so the girls and I will be making a lot of cookies this week. After years of experimenting, I have finally found the perfect sugar cookie recipe, one that is not too sweet and holds it's shape when baking cut out cookies. In addition I made some snowball cookies and homemade truffles. I love to bake, but I hate having all those sweets around my house, so I took them all to church last night. I'm guessing they were good because I brought home empty containers.

I hope that you all are having a Wonderful Holiday Season thus far!