Spaghetti, trains and a green shepherd

We've had some snow days lately. I've loved them. It's been so great to snuggle on the couch and read some books, get some extra tickle torture in, sip on some afternoon coffee, READ (!) play some games, referee sibling rivalry - ya know- the normal family time. =) We opted not to set up our Christmas tree train this year simply because figured it would be just way too tempting for a certain curious 18 month old. (Not to mention the fact that he already had an upclose and personal encounter with the Christmas tree)
Today we (ok I) decided to have a backwards menu day. Why not? So we ate spaghetti for breakfast, French toast for lunch and are planning on some hot dogs for supper. (and for the record- Owen thought spaghetti made a fabulous way to start the day....he was the only one.... )

We found this fun nativity cutout project that we all (except spaghetti-man) have fun coloring, cutting, folding and playing with.
Kudos to Brad for the very life-like stable. Not so much the green shepherd .... ;)

Because he's cute...

The first haircut- (altho I let his adorable curls still intact). He, obviously was not a fan (are they ever?) but the cuteness pictures to follow tell me all is forgiven...

And you...

I love Christmas music.

Bing, Amy and yes even the Chipmunks have a way of drawing out my sentimentality that lies rather dormant the rest of the year-
but I think the sweetness of it (at least to me) rests in the fact that we'll put it away (and typically I'm more than READY to do so) and be just as glad to dust it off next Christmas.
So- I'm curious...
What are your favorite Christmas songs?
Any one specifically "take you back"?
For me- I have to listen to a (sorry mom) super hokey CD by Christy Lane (bonus if you've EVER heard of her!) at least one time each year.
I also love the Kathy Troccoli Christmas album - it's jazzy and smooth...mm..love it!
So what about you????

the slow demise of Will

We were THRILLED to have our first snow day yesterday!
So this is how our snowman (we named him Will) began...

and this is how Will B. Tippin looked 24 hours later...

and Brad finished him off ...

Hope

I've never participated in a personal Advent season before. When we started thinking about what we were going to focus on for our family devotions this month- we chose to research a bit and come up with our own version of this season of expectation (including our homemade $3.00 version of the, in my opinion, ridiculously overpriced store version of the advent wreath =) Typically I know this time of year is to spend time remembering Jesus' birth but this week as we've discussed "HOPE" (side note- just how DO you explain what hope means to a 3 year old??? ideas anyone?!) I've been challenged with the amount of time I spent (or don't spend!) anticipating Christ' return.
Now that alone is reason for Hope this season!

So one of our dinner time questions this past week that I'll ask you too -
What are you hoping for?
P.S. My kids had a hard time distinguishing this from the every night "what are you thankful for" recent activity!

Christmas Change

I recently stumbled upon this blog- made up from what I can tell of a whole assortment of bloggers. In case you don't have enough to do today- check this out:

http://www.christmaschange.com/wordpress/

If...Then...

My latest Bible study I am in on the book of Esther. How many times have I heard this story and yet I am amazed how many more things I am learning and discovering by taking the time to go through it slowly, deliberately and putting feelings to the people behind the story.
There are some truths that I've been chomping on for a while. Love to hear what you think too.

Fill the the blank. If ( enter your greatest fear) then ______.
So what is your greatest fear?
Betrayal?
Wayward children?
Car accidents?
Cancer?
the death of your children?
the death of your spouse?

The point made is that whatever my greatest fear is the 'THEN' has to be GOD or else my faith is completely conditional!
What if (fill in blank) happened? Then what? Would you quite living? stop breathing? stop going to church? stop tithing? stop loving? live differently? OR would you weep, mourn, grieve, question ... and continue to trust? I can't help but think of the Chapman family. The death of a child is certainly high on my list of greatest fears! What a great testimony that their "THEN" has been to continue on in their trust of a trustworthy God.

What's more - is knowing how Satan plagues us with our fears! Moment of truth- I KNOW what it's like to experience the type of psychological fear that is all consuming and crippling. Satan cannot read our minds but he sure knows how to put thoughts - lies!- inside that can be debilitating for us. He is a student of humans and knows- especially for us women I think- that we wage our war in our minds! Our greatest fear can become our greatest handicap if we let it. Or we can find genuine security in Truth himself and truth itself and find freedom from our fears. THAT is amazing grace!

"Our conditional trust not only makes us an open target for enemy torment; it also positions us as negotiators and beggars before God instead of secure children who trust their lives to their faithful Father."
"We don't just trust Him to let us avoid what we fear most. We determine to trust Him no matter what, even if our worst nightmare befalls us." - Beth Moore

I'll end this diatribe with lyrics from a familiar song:
"My chains are gone- I've been set free!
My God, my Saviour has ransomed me
and like a flood his mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my HOPE secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures."

Amazing Grace

Our Thanksgiving Weekend -

How can it be that a day can seemingly go on forever and yet an entire 5 day weekend is over in a flash?! Wow. We had a really fun month celebrating Thanksgiving so this past weekend was a sweet culmination. We made these turkey cookies- not sure why the picture won't flip but you get the idea.

Ok, so putting a tree together isn't nearly as quaint as going out, searching and cutting down your own- but... golly it's a whole lot easier! Jaedon was really into helping out this year too. It's funny because a few years ago I was all about the "beautiful" Christmas tree- matching ornaments, ribbon, beads- nothing homemade or (heaven forbid) OLD.
This year I think our tree is the most beautiful it's ever been. Not a stitch of anything matching - there's a paper "ornament" with Jaedon's kindergarden picture in it (with precious gems that lost their hold of the glue), most of the decor is on the lower 1/3 of the tree because that is where little hands could reach to decorate, the beads are askew, the ribbon non-existent and this year we've added transformer ornaments. It rocks! =)

Cousins and Candy and Comet - oh my!

I hate parades. Ba-humbug =) Really I just don't like the hot, humid, fourth of July, over-crowed, under-deodorized type of parades. This "holiday" parade we've gone to for a few years is a bit of fun. They have firetrucks to climb in and reindeer to pet- and, of course, candy.

Piles of fun

Is there anything more precious than the looks of sheer delight?