A little more Christmas!

Over the years I've accumulated several Christmas houses... this picture shows a few of them... I have 5 more that I have on a shelf above a window that I leave out all year long. I began getting these home in the late 80's when I directed the choir at the church I attended at the time. Each year, following the Christmas Cantata, they group presented e with a different church....

Later on, my family got in on the act... the picture below was the addition that Carly gave me last year. I love the fact that you can actually see a lady inside the kitchen cooking! And Mickey gave me the "newspaper guy" when I still had The Good News Monthly. I've also got a school house, a Fire/Police Station, a long cabin and an Antique store. Carly is the main giver of houses now... I love getting them.... and someday I'm going to have to expand the display area!!!

And I LOVE putting up our christmas tree... we make a point of buying ornaments on EVERY vacation that we take. So as we are putting up the tree, we have fun talking about where we got the ornament, and the memories we made on that trip. We have a Micky and Minnie from our Disney trip... we have Panda from our recent DC Trip... where we went to the National Zoo to see their Panda exhibit. We have ornaments from our Gatlinburg trip, our Myrtle Beach trip, a Hershey Kiss from our Pennsylvania trip... you get the picture....

But I also have some ornaments that have been on the tree for YEARS!!! Like the ones below... My mom got me these handpainted angels when the girls were little. One to represent each girl.... they have had a place at the top of the tree ever since.....

When Michael came along we had to one one for him.... so since his FAVORITE character is the Gingerbread Man from the Shrek movies, we purchased this ornament just for him. He LOVES to put it up each year..... and the little angel beside it... that is Carly's as she played the Sax for several years....

While we were in China getting Michael, we purchased this angel....

And we ornaments for each of the grands.... plus ornaments that we have purchased with the addition of each one... there is an ornament for our exchange student, Sara... which we still place on the tree each year.... and the ornament below we purchased as a reminder of Kishsnider, the young boy we sponsor through World Vision. We have faithfully sponsored him for years now.... it has always been so much fun to receive updates and pictures.....

We have ornaments that were gifts, ornaments that wqere "created" by our children, and I have an entire bag of ornments that we no longer use that I will be keeping because of the memories that they hold. As I look at our tree I am reminded of so many memories... each of which are a part of our holiday season.... and it makes me smile.

If you get the chance to share a little about your holiday memories or traditions, let me know... I'd love to read what you have to share.

Have a blessed Christmas season!

Gotta love the smile!

This past Thursday it was Michael's turn to take in snacks for his class. While at Walmart I bought the Pillsbury cookies that have the designs on top and brought them home for us to bake. Michael got to place the cookies on the cookie sheet and then we took a seat in front of the oven to watch them bake. He just wasn't sure that those little round cookies would "grow" big enough for his friends.

So we watched at they baked... and ....

... we watched as they flattened.....

And as you can see he was pretty happy about the whole thing!

We bagged one of each design in individual bags for his friends and he was SO excited. When he came home he said, "All my friends LOVED the cookies". Yep... that smileis what it is all about.

Christmas Questions Answered

1. What is your favorite Christmas Movie?
That would be "White Christmas"..... I watch it EVERY year... sometimes more than once... and I have even been known to pull it out during the summer for a "fix"!!!! Love the singing... love the dancing.... just LOVE the movie!!!


2. What is your least favorite Christmas movie?
ANY of the Rudolph or Frost sequels... they are so lame... the originals are great, but the others... not so much.


3. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Thinking that would have to be White Christmas AND Silent Night..... it just doesn't feel like Christmas without hearing them both.


4. What Christmas song drives you crazy?
I Saw Momma Kissing Santa Claus.... followed closely by Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer... where is the Christmas spirit in EITHER of those!!!!


5. What is your favorite Christmas drink? (ie: eggnog...)
Hot Mulled Cider... love the smell.... absolutly cannot stand eggnog... how gross is that!


6. What is your favorite Christmas memory?
Going to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve... we would watch Santa's approach to Louisville... we opened presents... and my grandma made Rice Crispy Treats... and she would sit them on the porch to cool....


7. What is the best toy / gift you received?
As a child, one year I got a "life sized doll".... I remember opening it and I was SO excited... my Pap Sifers tried to trade me his new furry coat for it! As an adult... easy... Mickey asked me to marry him on Christmas day in 1998, in front of the girls... very romantic!!!


8. What is the worst toy / gift you received?
A shower head.... seriously????


9. What do you love about the holidays?
Singing Christmas songs all season long... getting gifts that I feel will be loved... the anticipation... baking cookies....


10. What annoys you most about the holidays?

Seeing Christmas decorations come out in OCTOBER... come on... talk about sucking the joy out of the season!!! What happened to Thanksgiving being the official start to the season???


11. Do you prefer an angel on top of your tree? Or something else?
Angel... my mom and dad have had their angel on their tree... the SAME angel... since they married... she is VERY old... and still beautiful. We used to make her new dresses every couple of years...


12. What is your favorite family recipe?

Christmas Cookies... still use the same recipe book my mom used... LOVE the cookies... REALLY love the dough!


13. Are you a Grinch or a Whoo at Christmas?

A Whoo.... and my youngest granddaughter looks like Cindy Lou Whoo!!!!



14. Christmas light displays - love them or hate them?
LOVE them... can't wait to put ours up... we don't turn them on until Thanksgiving night... a Mickey Rule... but I am SO anxious to get them on!!!!


15. Santas at the mall... fun or creepy?
Anymore... just creepy.....

16. Christmas cards - do you send them, yes or no?Used to send out a TON but postage is so high now... ecards... do those count???


17. What is the best part about Christmas, in your opinion?
The best part is teaching our kids and grands about Jesus... afterall... it is HIS birthday!!!!

18. What is the worst thing about Christmas?
Commercialism.... seriously... I hate the commercials that tell us that Christmas is ALL ABOUT THE GIVING.... DUH... it is SO about the receiving of GOD'S gift to us!!!!

19. When do you put up the tree and take it down?
Up Thanksgiving weekend... down New Year's Day....

20. Out of the 12 days of Christmas, which day and gift would you want your true love to send?
Five golden rings??? But then I'm NOT that into jewelry..... and NO ladies or maids thank you very much!!! So I would have to say two turtle doves.....

21. Why do you think Grandma got run over by a reindeer?
I am thinking that there must have been alcohol involved.... can you think of a better reason???

22. Who is your favorite reindeer?
Comet... and I LOVE the comet on The Santa Claus... he has such attitude!!!!

23. Do you believe in Santa Claus?
And you want me to put it in writing if I don't??? What if he sees it???? He sees EVERYTHING!!!!

24. What is your favorite smell at Christmas time?
Cookies baking.... hands down!


25. What would make you happy at Christmas this year?

The same thing that makes me happy every year... having all of my family.... husband, kids and grands, all together.... and just enough snow to cover the ground, but NONE on the roads!!!!

Have a blessed Holiday Season!!!!!

Wrapped in Love....

Had another great night of knitting and chatting with my Rebecca and Cindy. Our numbers are low, but we are really enjoying our time. Sometimes I forget how nice it is to sit in conversation with my Christian sisters.

So today, I am thankful for friends who enjoy the same things that I do, and for a church who has embraced our ministry. Today was a good day!

Talk Radio

I'm a fan of Christian Radio... always have my car radio tuned to either K-Love or WFIA... (unless Carly has been messing with the dial!) and I find that there are days when I just HAVE to turn the knob over to WFIA for a little talk radio.

I get Janet Parschal on my drives home on Tuesday and Thursday... love her show... and on Monday nights I get Albert Mohler. Sometimes I just feel like "mainstream" news isn't telling the whole story.

Now that made me wonder... how did it work back in Jesus' day? No radio... no newspaper... just word of mouth. So who did they decide to listen to? How could they tell if someone was shooting straight with them?

And then I realized that things have changed much in the past 2000 + years... we are still trying to listen and decide who we can depend on to tell us the truth. And just like 2000 years ago, the answer is a simple one.... we listen to those whose opinions match up to scripture. And unfortunately, I haven't noticed many dots to connect on mainstream tv....

I feel that the world is headed in a direction that many don't see... and they will be caught by surprise at the end results. Me...? I'm just gonna keep looking to the Lord, and praying that He will continue to open my eyes to HIS truth.

Monday Musings....

Ran across this passage of scripture in my reading... and with the way things are right now in the world, it truly spoke volumes. I know it is long, but PLEASE try and make it through... this is GOD speaking to our world right now...

Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord

and against his Anointed One.

"Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters.

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying:

"I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill"

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord:

He said to me: "You are my Son, today I have become your Father.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the end of the earth your possession.

You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."

Therefore you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Do you think that if the "Kings" and the "rulers of the earth" were to read this right now they would understand that this is truly directed at them? Or do you think that they would see this as a "work of fiction" that has no true bearing on the world today or how they see fit to "run things"?

Unfortunately, I believe that it would be the latter... and I believe that there are those leaders our there who are truly "gathering against the Anointed One."

Where will you take your stand... on which side will you fall?

Blessed are those who TAKE REFUGE IN HIM!

Carly had a baby....

Carly opted to take a parenting class this year... mainly because she loves babies... and she knew that one of the "perks" if you will, was to bring home one of the life-like dolls for a day. When she arrived home yesterday she announced that she had named her baby Paxton Kole, and that she hoped he would be a "good" baby. The "mom" who had him the night before only gotten three hours of sleep!

The smile on Carly's face (above) was soon replaced by a frown as the night wore on. Just as she sat down to supper and took a bite, the baby cried... she tried to feed him... not what he wanted... so she changed him... and he went back to sleep.... just as she finised eating he cried again.. this time he needed to eat. This went on all evening long... and it was funny to watch as she tried to decide what he needed. These babies even BURP! But he did "sleep" from 9:30 to 3:30, and after eating and being changed, was still asleep when Carly got up at 6:45.

Just as Carly was leaving for school, Paxton woke up again... he had slept the entire time she got ready for school, which was a good thing, and he was set to "turn off" at 8:00 AM, so out the door she went at 7:45... and he cried. So there she was... out on the driveway all hunkered down over this doll changing its diaper right out in the cold.... hmmm.... not a "real" baby way to deal with it. The last thing I heard her say was... "He better not cry when I'm driving to school cause I'm gonna be late and I don't have TIME to feed him." AHHHHH.... the words of a true mom! I myself have uttered those exact words on many occasions as I have loaded up a baby in the car and headed to work.... brought tears to my eyes... oh yes... tears of laughter.

I will almost bet that as she drags her tired body to church tonight she'll be thankful that she didn't go ahead and sign up to have this baby all weekend long as she originally wanted to... and I think that she'll have alot more empathy for those new moms who bring their babies to the nursery on Sunday morning.

Oh, and Michael couldn't STAND the baby... he has an aversion to baby dolls in general, but one that actually CRIES, and sounds like it is drinking and burps... yeah... I think he thought it was possessed or something.... he couldn't wait to see Carly taking it out of the house this morning... and as we drove away from the house he said, "Carly is taking that baby back to school, right?" Yes Michael. "And it isn't coming back,right?" Yes Michael. The smile on his face said it all!!!