He is with us!!!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord....Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

The Stockings Were Hung.....

I just didn't get it posted on time!!! :)

Inspired by our childhood stockings, years ago, I made Snowmen stockings for my sister and her family. They are really cute!

For Dave and I, I thought I'd start a "Gingerbread" theme for our stockings....starting with the Bride and Groom......

My parents put a fireplace in their living room this year, so Dave thought they needed stockings too......they now have a "grandma" and "grandpa" gingerbread stockings at their house! (I need to get a picture of them hung on their fireplace....these are taken on my sewing table)

There's something about the snowmen stockings I like better....maybe they are just more simple. And, I'm sure the gingerbread people will grow on me! :)

Christmas Week Memories

For the first time ever, I was here to attend my nephews Christmas Concert at school! I was so excited to be there. :) I hadn't been in this school gym since I last performed in it......1990! Even though my nephews could have found many others things to be doing (rather than singing in front of people), I was delighted to be there. It was an excellent show! 

This morning, I had a "surprise" waiting my youngest nephew and his best little buddy. They had to go over the my mom's house, where I met them with a gingerbread house kit. The reason for this is that Caden is only 7 years old, but because he is quite a bit younger than his brothers, we all often forget to keep things young enough for him. Christmas is still magical in his young eyes! He was delighted to use the icing and candies and put it all together. And I had fun experiencing it through the eyes of my camera. :) 

Seven year old perfection! :) 

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I continue to work on stockings this week (though, obviously, not with too much gusto!) It need not take this long to do what I'm doing! Hopefully they will be ready tomorrow......to hang by the "chimney" with care....and I'll post pictures too!

Baking

My husband loves to bake......I just don't let him do it very often! I think we may have found a new "Christmas Morning Tradition"! :) These are so yummy! Orange Scones......

Sun!

The sun has got his hat on today! Hip, hip, hip, hooray! (this is the little ditty Dave sings on days like today)    :)

Reindeer Games

I have a fun, silly husband.....who is always making up games. The latest is to take my hair clip and pin it onto the Christmas Tree somewhere.....and I am supposed to go find it. Silliest game I've ever played!!! :)~

Can you see it?

Why there is delight in this for him, I'll never know!!!

Catching Up.........

As assumed, it's not the taking of a picture every day that's difficult....it's the carving out time to download them that I find no time to do! Good thing this "December Photo Project" is just for December! ;)

So, here's a random smattering of shots from the past couple of days:

 Sent.

I enjoy sending out Christmas cards....if for no other reason than I'm actually giving the USPS some business! :) With online bill-pay options, I truly rarely use a good ol' fashioned stamp! Seriously though, there's something about sending some handwritten notes, filled with the Hope of the season, to those I hold dear. Maybe some year I'll get clever enough to write a jingle filled, humorous family newsletter.

On second thought, don't hold your breath! :)~


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For being a tiny little town, Morning Sun does a great job at holding Holiday festivities. Here's the entrance for the "festival of trees".....the night before was a soup supper complete with horse and carriage rides through Main Street. 

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Here's our Christmas Tree in the daytime.....did I mention I picked this up for $3 at a garage sale??!! Gotta love a good deal! :) I think it could use something different though....not for sure what.....I'll be curious as to what next year brings. 

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Toy Donkey.

When I opened up my essential oil package this month, inside I found a little toy donkey. Random?! I think so! I have no idea how or why it was there! But, it sure made me smile! :)

Preparations

This is our Jesse Tree thus far.....we're a little behind, I think, but no doubt we'll catch up soon! :) I LOVE retelling God's story in anticipation for the fullness of Christ! 

Glowing

She'll need more lights next year....and maybe a full make-over, but for now, she's looking quite festive in our living room!

Shipped

Here's what my table has been looking like lately.....getting things shipped to friends in far away places, specifically to England and Texas! :)

Snow!

This is what we woke up to this morning.....

The first snow (that sticks) is sooooo pretty! And exciting and peaceful and calm. Of course, it's even more wonderful since I don't have to go out today! :)~

I should probably go take some more pictures...that really show the loveliness of it all.

Stitched

 

Making "jingle anklets" for a blogger friend's two young children. Her idea. :) Let the *music* begin! (I'll be attaching 5 jingle bells on each one). 

Candlelight {day 3 December Photo Project}

Love this time of year when it's dark and gloomy and having candles light makes it seem more magical than it probably really is! :)

Chocolate

We don't have an awful lot of chocolate at our house, but sometimes, there's nothing so wonderful as a glass of chocolate milk, or a mug of hot chocolate or some sauce poured over homemade ice cream. :) Here's the recipe I use for all those yummy treats!

Chocolate Sauce
1 2/3 C sugar (I use sucanut, or raw cane sugar)
2/3 C cocoa (I probably use a little more)
1 1/4 C cream

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan until just boiling, whisking at first, then stirring constantly. Add in 1 tsp vanilla and let cool. Use a Tablespoon or so, according to taste, for chocolate milk, hot chocolate or chocolate sauce for ice cream. Yum!

December Photo Project, 2011

There's this idea out there on the web......of taking one picture per day during the month of December to savor the season. I can't imagine taking one picture per day of my life....just doesn't seem that exciting, but I think that's the whole point....to capture the beauty of the mundane. So, I think I'll give it a whirl. And, I suppose the hardest part won't be to actually take the picture, but to actually post about it!!

Here's Day 1:

I'm preparing the house today for Christmas....or at least to begin our Jesse Tree. I love the focus on our Coming King!

This comes from the free download from Ann Voskamp. Cut and paste the below link to find it for your family. (I need to learn how to link up things here!) :)

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/11/free-jesse-tree-advent-family-devotional/

Bird Dust {one bird left his imprint!}

At the site house my mom manages, this was seen on their window.

Incredible, isn't it?! I like the wing tips the best! :)

Double Double

Advent

Today, the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, marks the first day of Advent, the first day of the new liturgical year. I greatly miss attending a church that focuses and teaches about Advent......for it is all about Him! 

“Advent… helps us to understand the fullness of the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, we must understand that our whole life should be an “advent,” in vigilant expectation of Christ’s final coming… Advent is then a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes.” Pope John Paul II

Time to get out the Advent ornaments and tree in exchange for our Thankful Tree. He is come!!  

 

 

Grateful

How does one go a whole month without blogging?

Very easily!!!

It's been a lovely month, but it's shocking how quickly it goes by!

Focusing on Thanksgiving, we have been so grateful to reflect on the blessings bestowed upon our lives. It is incredible to feel and be so wildly blessed. The Giver of Life has been so gracious to us....in all things, all around. Of course, there's never a time when his hand has left our lives, but it is awe-inspiring to "feel" it so closely. We are wildly blessed. This is our *Thankful Tree*. Just a visible reminder of gifts or blessings we are aware of. No doubt our shaggy little make-shift tree couldn't contain all....but it is such a great exercise to physically write these things down.

"Every day we must make a deep choice for gratitude, abundance (“there is enough”), and appreciation, which always de-centers the self and its cravings. It is the core meaning of worship. Your life is pure gift, and it must be based in an attitude of gratitude." ~R. Rohr

 Our hearts exclaim, "Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"

 

I married a Brittish Boy

Upon meeting the sweet boy I now call "mine", we quickly learned that there were many new things for each of us to learn.....for him it was/is American English things....obviously, for me, it's English English things. One of the subjects typically at hand is food. I did not know what an Yorkshire Pudding was just a mere 3 years ago.....now I'm the queen at making them! :)

 They are made of eggs, milk and flour....baked in hot fat (lard or beef tallow). Much like a "pop over" might be in America.

 When I make them now (they are a treat!), Dave always exclaims how I am better than he at making them now. Makes me all tickled inside! :)

He has instructed me that the hallow insides are for gravy.....This picture is sorta bright, but I like the way the steam got captured. It's the little things! :)~

My Nephews {they've grown like weeds!}

For those of you who have known my nephews over the years.....Colton is now 6' 3". The others are just behind him and already mostly taller than me! It's like living in the land of giants over at my sister's house!

(I'm standing high on a chair for this picture!)

Something New

On Sunday, my parents surprised me by popping over with some things to plant in my yard.....one of those things was a new little oak tree! It was a lovely day to be outside.....my nephews came by too! :)

They pretty much had it all done by the time I grabbed my camera.....suppose I need to get faster at that!!!

 

I'm so excited to watch it grow over the years to come! 

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Tables

I have spent the past 2 weeks refinishing these tables for the living room:

Not that it took an entire 2 weeks, but it took bits and pieces of many days within these 2 weeks!

It's a lot of work to strip, scrub, scrap, and wash a stain off. Ugh!








 
 It started to get too cold and dusty to leave them in the garage, so they stayed on the porch a few days, where they received their final top coat.

 

Finally, they made it to their new resting places.....

I'm not so sure the color changed that much, but the luster is much nicer (they really needed something to be done with them). However, this project only confirmed how much I love my trusty ol' paint sprayer and making a "new" piece of furniture in a matter of hours (or even less time!)

So, to test my confirmation, I pulled out said paint sprayer .....

And did this.....

This dresser was purchased a few weeks ago at an estate sale here in town. It was in shabby shape, but I had plans for it as soon as I saw it! It's a lovely addition to the porch {sorry, no "before" shots!}












 
A few other projects I've done with my trusty paint sprayer include this one on the porch:

And this dry sink in the dining room:
 

It's so fun to pick up something old and beat up, and in a matter of hours, give it new life! You can bet I'll be doing a whole lot more painting and less staining in the future!