Christmas

Christmas...

Just the word conjures up so many memories, so many emotions.

 

The tree, the lights, the food, all the decorations, the carols, the fellowship with family and friends, the traditions.

I just love everything about Christmas!

 

Valentine's Day

 Cupcakes I made completely from scratch for the Valentine's party at AWANA.

I told you I am trying to trim my grocery budget and one of the ways I am accomplishing that goal is to not buy box mixes and packets of pre-made food items.

July 4th

We travelled home to spend a few days with and to celebrate Independence Day with our family. We grilled -- the menu consisted of smoked Boston butt, grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken, layered salad, potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, baked beans, deviled eggs, hash brown casserole, macaroni and cheese, and rolls. For dessert there were brownies, cookies, cakes and homemade ice cream... There were alot of us.

Easter 2012

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love everything about this day. All the signs of new life, the symbols associated with new life. I love our traditions, but I also like incorporating new ones as well. I know that my kids have outgrown some of our traditions. Will is pretty much the only one who still enjoys the Resurrection Eggs. Unless the Lord brings us a new little one any time soon, we probably won't be using them to tell the Easter story next year. 

One tradition that I keep expecting them to outgrow is the Resurrection Cookies. But this must be one of their favorites because they always ask about them.

Christmas 2011

Christmas at our house...

my little Country Christmas tree

Looking Forward to Thanksgiving

I can't believe November is almost over and this is the first post I've written this whole month! I've been keeping up with family and friends on facebook, but that's about the extent of my computer time. We've been busy around here, but who hasn't?

Tomorrow morning we leave for a few days' visit with our family in a neighboring state. We're looking forward to the trip. I love spending Thanksgiving with our family! Visiting with extended family members that we only see once or twice a year, eating (too much) good food, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, watching football, the girls getting together for our annual Black Friday shopping trip -- I just look forward to all of it!

Easter

Easter... What does this holiday mean to you? What traditions do you associate with this day?

When I was a little girl Easter meant a basket filled with chocolates and treats. A new dress, sometimes with a little bonnet. Sometimes with a little purse and gloves. It meant decorating eggs, and finding them, hidden in the yard. It meant getting together with family and sharing a special meal.

The Jelly Bean Flowers... this is a tradition that my children and I share at Easter. We make this simple flower arrangement and place it on our kitchen table.

Jelly Bean Flowers

One of the "crafts" we incorporate into our Easter celebration...

One lesson I am continually learning -- never underestimate the importance of family traditions to your children. Case in point: this simple little flower arrangement. My kids are older (my youngest is 12) and I always think that they won't want to continue some of the things that we've done in the past as part of our holiday celebrations. They always prove me wrong :)

Bits and Pieces

Mike's knee is healing well after the surgery. He is continuing with physical therapy. He is still having some issues with swelling, and there is some fluid build-up on the knee. The doctor said this is normal and he can come back into the office to have the fluid drawn off. So far, he is waiting on that; he said the last time he had a needle in that knee it was excruciatingly painful.

Update Pt 3

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...

Will was pretty much over whatever he had within a week of the blood work and testing. I was waiting to see what the results would be, to find out what he actually had.

We finally heard back from the doctor after two and a half weeks of waiting. The results? Inconclusive. Seriously??? She said that's what the pathologist said in the report. There is evidence that he has been exposed to/and had mono at some point, but it is inconclusive as to exactly when. I really don't understand. And the doctor told us that she has seen this kind of result twice in her years of practice.

So, that's what we're going with... that it was a combination of strep throat and mono. There is really no way of determining otherwise.

As for the rest of the family, no one else has had mono or strep, but there has definitely been some sort of bug hanging out at our house. We have all been sick... and not all at the same time. It has kind of lingered. Head and chest congestion, cough, runny nose, etc. Not the flu, but close. I thought at one point that I might have had bronchitis, my chest hurt so whenever I coughed and even when breathing! So let me tell you, if you've never tried Mucinex DM, it really works wonders! That's what we've all been taking, along with vitamin C tablets and immune support/echinacea/zinc gummies. We are on the road to recovery, but it's been a long, slow process!

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving celebration with our family.

my niece and my youngest son

my daughter and another of my nieces

my niece and my oldest son

my nephew and son playing the wii

two of my nieces

my daddy and me

The day after Thanksgiving is THE big game in the state of Alabama, The Iron Bowl -- Auburn University vs University of Alabama. Football is big in the south, and in this rivalry the lines are clearly drawn. It is not unusual to have divided houses when it comes to picking your team!

grandfather and granddaughter

my husband and me

ready to watch the game

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. We are so abundantly blessed -- great food, wonderful family, good friends. I don't ever want to take this life for granted. God is so good! Even in the midst of all this sickness *smile*. I hope you had a blessed holiday as well!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:34

Holidays Are For Families

We drove home to Alabama to visit with our families for the holiday weekend. I've mentioned before that both my family and dh's family live in the same town, so that means we have to share our time between them. And that means that we don't get to spend much time with either family. Sometimes I wish our families lived in different towns so we could go visit one family for one holiday and then visit the other family for the next holiday, and so on...

Easter 2010

I love Easter...love all the little things we do to celebrate...love everything that it represents. New life. A resurrected life. I am grateful that He gave His life so that I might live!

Coloring eggs at the church-wide Easter celebration

As part of our celebration, we had a "Walk Through the Resurrection" with the deacons and pastors telling the Easter story.

The donkey reminds us of Christ's entry into Jerusalem

The coins remind us of the 30 pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders.

The cup reminds us of Jesus' last supper with His disciples before His crucifixion.

The praying hands remind us of Jesus' visit to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

The leather strips remind us of the whip used to give Jesus 39 lashes after His trial by Pilate.

The crown of thorns reminds us of the crown that the soldiers placed on Jesus' head while mocking Him, saying, "Hail! King of the Jews!"

The spikes remind us of the nails that were driven into the hands and feet of Jesus when He was crucified on the cross.

The die reminds us of the Roman soldiers gambling for Jesus' robe.

The spear reminds us that the Roman soldiers pierced Jesus' side while He was on the cross.

The stone reminds us of the tomb with the stone rolled away

The tomb is empty because Jesus is resurrected and He lives!

The egg hunt is on!

Merry Christmas!

Wow! Where did the time go? I mentioned before that when basketball season kicks in, it gets very hectic at our house! My dh coaches varsity b-ball at our local Christian school, and right now we are having 3 games per week! Plus my daughter and son both play on Upward b-ball teams, so we are out of our house all the time it seems like! We've been in b-ball season since November, but the really hectic time (3 games per week w/ dh plus children's Upward games) only overlaps through January! It's crazy around here, but we do seem to survive!

Here are the kiddos posing for the Christmas card photo this year

I hope your Christmas season was a blessing to you as it was to me! I absolutely love Christmas! And although we didn't get any snow (we never do), it was actually cold here for Christmas! That's a record for us, because here in south Georgia, it is usually very mild, if not warm! This was a special Christmas for me because we went "home" for the holidays! We packed up on Christmas Day and traveled home to be with our families. That was quite interesting traveling on Christmas Day! It was also kind of strange, because we are usually at our house (so far away from all family) and I always cook a traditional meal for our Christmas dinner. On this day, of course, there were no restaurants open; the only restaurants we found open were in a bigger city just off the interstate and they were Waffle House and Hong Kong Palace. So...we had Chinese for our Christmas dinner! Something we will definitely always remember!! I love making memories.

my kids with my dear daddy

my kids with my dear father-in-law

A big change for us over the holidays was having our oldest son move BACK home again! After all my fretting and being so down over the summer because he was moving out in the fall, and here he is, back at home! He decided dorm life was not for him...yet. And since we are only about 40 miles from the college he attends, he decided that he'd just move back into his room and commute to classes each day. So, at first it seemed strange, having him back here again. But I've had the holidays to adjust. And an adjustment it has been! College kids....they keep the strangest hours! (LOL...it really has not been THAT long that I have forgotten what it was like!) It's been nice having him back home.


Another highlight for us during the Christmas season was having the Children of the World International Children's Choir back in our town again! We were able to host the same two little girls in our home again! What a joy they were...and what a privilege for us to be able to share in their lives! Our church raised enough money (since they were here back in October) to put in a well in a village so that 1,000 people can have clean drinking water! God used these children to touch our lives in a way that we could never have imagined... I'm sure you remember reading my post about them back in October!

my family with Pashi and Aljane and yes, we wish so very much that we could adopt them!

Independence Day Celebration

Our July 4th celebration lasted all weekend long.... on Friday, we bought a few "little" fireworks to do at home. We always have fun...even if they are not the big magnificent ones that we see at fireworks shows!

On Saturday, the 4th, we played outside (well, first we did alot of yard work...trimming shrubbery, etc.) Then dear hubby grilled out for us...yum! The puppies enjoyed a leftover bone from our meal!

We went to see the "big" fireworks display...fun! Here we are waiting for the show to begin...

Watching the fireworks....

And on Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed our time at our church's annual picnic at the lake....and there was much fun to be had by all...from swimming in the lake to watching the kids from the shore or the dock...from riding in the boats to riding the jet skis...from tubing to skiing. And of course, there was all the great food!

Of course, we had a great time. And this weekend is certainly a reminder of how blessed we are to live in a nation where we have so many freedoms...especially the freedom to worship the One, True God in a right and proper manner. And may we always remember those who gave their lives to ensure that we live in a free nation. While we owe our forefathers and the service men and women a debt that can never be repaid, may we never forget the One who gave His life to truly liberate us from darkness. How grateful I am to be blessed so abundantly by a God who loves so greatly!

Blessings!

He is Risen; He is Risen indeed!

"He is Risen!" These were the words I spoke Sunday morning as I awakened my children on Resurrection Sunday. "He is Risen indeed!" were the sleepily mumbled replies I heard from each of them. Oh what beautiful words for a beautiful day! Reminding us that our Savior lives! That He conquered death and is sitting at the right hand of God, pleading for us!

(left to right) Will, Kate and Ryan

The worship service at church was so moving. The Children's Choir and the Adult Choir presentations were awesome! The Spirit really spoke to my heart. How much like the two Marys at Jesus' tomb I am...quick to forget what He has already told me. That I am His...that He bought me at a price...that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me.

I am so very grateful that He loves me, that He saved me, and that He has given me new life. I love Easter and all the different ways we celebrated. Our homeschool group made a "bunny in the grass" cake to take to someone whose home was in the flood zone here. Our Awana kids celebrated His death and resurrection with the Easter Story and an egg hunt. The church-wide egg hunt and celebration was fun and meaningful. My family made a "jelly bean prayer" floral arrangement and Resurrection Cookies; we read the Resurrection Eggs devotionals each night. And we were able to worship our risen Lord and Savior on Sunday.

the bunny cake

Margaret and Kate hunting eggs at the Awana Easter Celebration

Will hunting eggs at the Awana Easter Celebration




My family - husband - Mike, me, oldest - Ryan

youngest - Will, middle - Kate

Easter is amazing...




Our Lord, and His love for us is amazing!