Words for 2011

I've seen a lot of people talking about choosing a word to sum up their year lately. Like for example your word for the year could be 'joy' and you focus your year on purposefully choosing joy.

It's funny because I've actually been thinking a lot about this over the past 2 weeks. Obviously God put the thoughts in my mind for a reason!

So here's the thing, instead of making my usual list of resolutions for the coming year ... I've decided this year I'm going to have a word. Actually, two words. I hope and pray that I will be able to establish good habits and such as a result of these two words. So in a way, the words become my resolutions.

I will be writing these words in several places and posting them where I can see them. I want to be constantly reminded of my choice to focus on these words this year. I also plan to look up scripture and find verses that speak specifically about these two words, so that I may see and know what God's Word says about my words.

OK, enough already, are you ready to hear what they are???


'WORDS'

and

'TIME'

My heart has been telling me lately that I need to learn to use BOTH more wisely. I need to use 'words' that help and heal and encourage and I need to use 'time' more wisely and productively. Time came to me as I faced the reality of the year 2010 FLYING past at an alarming rate!

How about you? Do you make resolutions? Do you have a 'word' for the year?

Christmas Eve and Day

We had the most wonderful, simple, relaxing Christmas. I am so thankful for my family and my little girls. They made everything so amazing.

Let's back up ...
Christmas Eve we did some housecleaning in the morning, then in the afternoon we headed over to my in laws house. We had pizza and birthday cake for Jesus and the girls opened a couple items from Aunts and Uncles that had been sent to them. We also gave them their gifts for their spiritual birthdays to open that night. Hope's spiritual birthday is Christmas Eve and Joy's is Dec. 1st. Hope is now 3! And Joy is now 1! I love that both of their spiritual birthdays are around Christmas time. We always try to give some small spiritual gift to them. Last year they got Bibles and this year I sewed them fabric Bible covers. After that we headed to our church for the Christmas Eve service. It was WONDERFUL time filled with singing, a small play and special music by the Praise Kids choir. It's always one of my favorite services of the whole year!

After church we all came back to our house. My in laws spent the night here with us so they could wake up and be here on Christmas morning with us. We let the girls each open one gift - instead of new PJ's this year we got them each a new bathrobe and matching slippers. We played some games and had some munchies and stayed up WAY too late! The girls didn't get to bed until after 11, then we put all the gifts out and filled the stockings and the adults didn't get to bed until after midnight!

I woke up Christmas morning when I heard someone letting the puppy out of her cage ... hmmm, who could that be? I stepped out of my room and saw it was my Mom. She is an early bird and had already gotten up, dressed and driven to our house and was there before anyone else was even awake! She figured the girls would have been up early, but didn't know how late they were up the night before. Turns out the girls were the LAST to wake up!

Everyone slowly began getting up, getting coffee and gathering around. I got breakfast casserole and cinnamon buns in the oven and soon everyone was awake. The girls did not even ask to open stuff! I was amazed! Since the food was ready and hot we decided to eat before gifts. The girls did not even complain. I am blessed, let me tell ya! These are some good, patient girls!

We started with stockings, we do one person at a time so everyone can see what the others got. The girls got sleds {that were not wrapped} so they sat in the sleds and took out all their stocking stuff.

Then we moved on to gifts, the girls wanted to give their gifts first, so they went around to each person and gave what they had bought and picked out for them. Then it was their turn to open their gifts. Bob and I had bought them American Girl dolls and since we had let our Moms know what we were getting they bought stuff that would go with the dolls. You could definitely say it was an American Girl Christmas!

Joy got 'Emily' who looks just like Joy with brown hair and blue eyes. Hope got 'Julie' who has LONG blond hair - which Hope now wants to grow her hair just as long!

They got trunks to hold the doll clothes, some American girl books, several outfits for the dolls and I sewed little doll quilts for the doll's beds.

The girls spent the rest of the day playing with their dolls and carrying them everywhere they went. They changed their clothes a half a dozen times and were just LOVING them so much!

Hope, my oldest, is never a kid to get too thrilled about any kind of toy. I mean she likes toys, but never gets just silly with excitement over anything. I had wondered if she would think she was too 'old' to play with dolls and if she would get excited at all about the gift. Well all day long I kept seeing her hug her doll real close and kiss her doll over and over with this huge, wide grin on her face. It thrilled my heart to see her so happy about what she got!

If you're wondering, yes they have other dolls - they are the Target ones that are similar to American Girl dolls. I had asked here on the blog whether people felt the real ones were worth the money and the overwhelming response was YES! So that sealed our decision to get them for the girls. There is definitely a BIG difference in the hair on these dolls. And the girls seem to love having 2 dolls now and have been playing with the 'old' ones more than ever before.

Here are the girls with their two Grandmas. I am so thankful for our two Moms. They make the holidays so wonderful. They understand how to give good gifts without overdoing it and overspoiling. They carefully think out what the girls will really use and enjoy. We are so blessed by them!

My Mom, myself and the girls ...

We had a fabulous Christmas dinner that my hubby prepared - yes I am blessed he is a GREAT cook and LOVES to cook! We had turkey, stuffing, and all the fixin's. It was so yummy!

We just had a quiet, relaxing afternoon while the girls played with their new things. Then around 4ish my in laws and Mom left and we just lounged around. We were all pretty tired by then and sat around all evening watching movies and relaxing.

The girls also got some art supplies {my girls LOVE anything related to ART!} and they had fun sketching some pictures with Daddy.

These are the doll trunks I got on Black Friday for an amazing deal! I am so glad they have a place to keep their doll clothes! I just need to find some little doll sized hangers now.

All in all it was a very relaxing day. We enjoyed each other's company and just being together.

Here is our door full of Christmas picture cards. I put all the other {non-picture} cards on a different door. Isn't it cool to see all the lovely families? I think I will definitely keep them up for another month or so. I love seeing all the friends and family up on the door!

Oh, in case you're wondering... I got a few nice things as well. Hubby and I were not supposed to get each other gifts - but he always breaks this rule - and he got me a couple things like a shirt and jacket for running and some really nice socks for winter sports. {I joked with him that it was a hint that I need to get running again since I've only gone 2x since the 5k on Thanksgiving!} My Mom got me a nice shirt and matching fleece vest, a bead for my {fake} Pandora bracelet and some other little candles and lotions and stuff like that. In my stocking I had lots of little bath and body type items, candles and gum and really nice winter socks and stuff like that. My family knows me well and knows how much I love all those little things.

I am blessed. Truly blessed.

Remember

While we are celebrating and enjoying our Christmas day - with food and gifts a plenty - others are suffering. Remember when I wrote the other day about so many people suffering and hurting this Christmas? Well today I just read about a family who's house burned to the ground earlier this week. If you've read Edie's blog, you probably love it like I do. And you probably can't imagine losing EVERYTHING like they did.

Would you remember them in prayer? And like I said on my earlier post - count your blessings over and over and over again. I cannot get over how blessed I am to have a safe, warm roof over my head and a home FILLED with things to enjoy. Praise God Edie's family all got out of the house safely. Keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

Merry Christmas 2010!

Back in November one of our friends take our family photos for us. It's something I had been wanting to do for years and this year I told Bob it was the only thing I wanted for myself for Christmas. We went to a lovely, local park that is right on the ocean and has gorgeous gardens, a huge old building that looks very royal, large sweeping green lawns and of course - the ocean. I was thrilled with the way the photos turned out. We had around 400 pictures to choose from.

Below are a few of my favorites. For our Christmas card this year we used a combination of several of the poses from below that were put together in a collage.

We want to wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

This Christmas

Hmmm, I can't figure out how to start this and can't even really put my thoughts together in a way that will make sense. So I apologize in advance for the bumbling, rambling way this may come across.

I feel sort of overcome with a heavy feeling of sadness this Christmas. It seems like SO many people are going through very tough things and I guess it's never a 'good' time but at Christmas it just seems sort of unfair. I mean, don't we all desire for Christmastime to be fun and wonderful and filled with great memories with our families? But when death or tragedies occur, people don't just have to deal with the grief for that year - but for every Christmas after that as well.

I'll be honest, there are days I don't appreciate my husband, or days I get angry and frustrated with my kids. Heck, many days I just don't feel very thankful at all and take everything in my life for granted. But then I stop and think about what some other families are going through.

A family at our church, that I have mentioned here before, is going to lose their husband/Dad to cancer any day now. Last week they were told he might not make it until Christmas day. His lovely bride is not even 40 yet and she will become a widow. His 2 young boys are only 6 and 3 years old. Little boys NEED a Daddy. Jen NEEDS her husband.

I can't stop thinking of them and my heart breaks a little more each time they come to mind. Sean was only diagnosed in September. It's a lot like what happened with my Dad. So fast, no time to react or get used to the idea of cancer. Just BAM, it's there and it's bad and it doesn't leave you with much time left with your loved one.

I love to read Kelly's Korner. It's a cute blog and if you don't already read it you should check it out. Some days she shares prayer requests and on her post today she shared a few. Very sad, very difficult situations. People who have LOST loved ones, people who are dying of cancer, people who are suffering from the results of a car accident. SO MANY HURTING, SUFFERING PEOPLE.

Like I said above ... it just doesn't seem fair, not at this time of year, not ever really. But still we know that pain and loss are inevitable. Death happens, accidents happen. Last week I read of a little boy who was in a tragic accident in his own home. A large, heavy dresser fell on him and he died. Those parents are burying their baby this Christmas.

Forgive me if this is all coming across as terribly depressing and morbid. That's not my intent at all. Rather I feel that this Christmas these sad situations have made me even more grateful for my life, my kids, my family and all the many blessings in my life. And they've also helped me see that you just can't take one single day for granted. You or I could receive devastating news tomorrow. I pray that we do not. But it could happen. We simply cannot know what tomorrow may hold.

Beyond being thankful this Christmas, I feel that I can't ignore the fact that it's imperative that each and every one of us know where we would spend eternity if anything ever did happen to us. If any of you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior and have questions about it please comment and let me know and I will get in contact with you.

It's crucial, in these crazy times, when so much of our world is in turmoil, that we KNOW for sure that we will go to heaven when we die.

It's been such a different December around here. Sort of hard to put into words as to why. But one thing that has been a huge blessing to my heart has been my girls. They have shown the depths of Christ's love many times over this December. They have prayed sincere prayers for people who are hurting, they have made card after card after card to cheer those who are suffering, they have made and delivered homemade gifts to others because they want to, not because they have to. I could go on, but I think you get the point. So although this year has been kinda funky and different and yes even sad - I'm sorta glad for it all because it's really changed our hearts in a good way. Instead of focusing on ourselves we've been given the blessing of reaching out to others and seeing beyond ourselves and our happy little Christmas.

A couple things ...
**would you continue to pray with us for the Coffey family? I know they would really appreciate your prayers on their behalf.
**would you hug your kids, spend time WITH them instead of worrying about cleaning, cooking, etc ... this Christmas. Make memories, read stories, snuggle up for movies, play with those new toys you got them, go out in the snow with them ...
**would you kiss your spouse and love on them and appreciate them no matter what this Christmas? Even if they give you the worst gift ever, or no gift at all, or make you mad? Just love them and appreciate them and the fact that they are there with you, healthy and whole and just THERE.
**would you accept Christ's free gift of salvation if you haven't already? There's no better time than today.

Ice Skating!

Last night we took the girls ice skating for the first time. Neither of the girls had ever been and Bob & I had not skated since we were young kids. We had a BLAST!

We went to a local outdoor rink. On Tuesdays you can skate for free there! They had Christmas lights all around the rink and it was a COLD December night with Christmas music playing too. I really think it was my favorite memory {so far} from this Christmas season.


The girls did FANTASTIC even though they had never been on skates before. They did a little holding of the wall and eventually got out in the middle of the rink. They only fell a couple times and had such good attitudes about trying something new.

Like I said, Bob and I have not skated since we were little kids - but we both did great too! It all comes back to you so quickly. We were flying around the rink having as much fun as the kids! I could NOT stop grinning, it was SO much fun!

What a fun night - it really put me in the Christmas spirit!

I just love that our girls are at ages where we can do so many fun things with them and really enjoy our time together. I know all too soon they will be grown up and won't want to 'hang out' with Mom and Dad. But for now they still think we're pretty cool and we're fully enjoying that fact as much as we can!

This rink is going to be open until February, so if any of my local friends want info about it, let me know. Like I said, it's FREE on Tuesdays ... I think I know what we'll be doing on Tuesdays for the next couple of months!

1000 Gifts 224-245

the pleasure of making homemade gifts

enjoying crafting again

seeing the fruits of my labor

enjoying all the wonders of this last month of the year

driving around with my family to see Christmas lights

the twinkling beauty of lights on the tree

making cookies with my girls on a Sunday afternoon

friends who bring so much joy {and laughter} to our lives

seeing a stage full of Sunday school kids singing carols with the congregation on the Sunday before Christmas

good tea for when I am sick

a good night's rest

my loving, supportive husband who comes to my aid daily

Christmas cards coming in the mail

seeing how children have grown more and more each year through said Christmas cards

feeling connected to friends and family we rarely see at Christmastime

some long distance friends who were able to stop in and spend a night with us

watching LOTS of Christmas movies, while snuggled up with my girls

reading books together

girls who pitch in and help with chores

good neighbors

fresh waffles on a Monday morning

my girls. sweet, sweet girls. girls who have not asked for ANY thing this Christmas, but have thoughtfully made things for others, bought things for others and have selflessly put others above themselves this Christmas season. I could learn a lot from them.

Big, Soft, Buttery Pretzels

Yesterday the girls and I went to the mall and just as they always do when we go to the mall, the girls were begging me for those big, soft pretzels from Auntie Anne's. You know the ones, right? I admit, many times I give in because I love them almost as much as the girls do. But yesterday we were on a mission {and a BUDGET!} and it just wasn't in the cards to get pretzels while we were out. But I remembered that one day a long time ago I had found a recipe for the pretzels and had saved it. So I told the girls we would look it up and try to make them when we got back home.

Back at home I looked up the recipe and realized that, thankfully, I had ALL the ingredients we needed to make Big, Soft, Buttery pretzels. YAY! {recipe will be at the end}

Here are the girls rolling out and shaping their dough ...
You can shape them any way you wish, but I like mine in the standard pretzel shape.

Here is the first batch out of the oven, we could NOT wait to dig in to the warm, buttery goodness!

First tastings ...

Here is the next batch, the girls got creative with their pretzel designs!

The verdict: ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! The girls said they tasted JUST like Auntie Anne's! The recipe made 12 pretzels so we have some leftovers for today, yay!

Here is the recipe:

I've separated the ingredients based on the steps of making the recipe. Make sure to follow the steps in order.

STEP 1:

4 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp white sugar

1 & 1/4 cups warm water

STEP 2:

5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 & 1/2 tsp salt

STEP 3:

1 TBSP veg oil

STEP 4

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup course salt for topping

STEP 5:

butter

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and the 1 tsp of sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 min.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, and salt. DO NOT add the baking soda to this. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Mix and form into a ball kneading the dough for about 7-8 min. If the mixture seems to dry, add 1 or 2 TBSP of water, just a little at a time until the dough comes together well.

3. Lightly oil a large bowl and put the ball of dough in it, turning it to coat it with oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for about an hour so it will rise. It will be about double in size when done.

4. When risen, turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and shape into your desired pretzel shapes. Dissolve the baking soda into the hot water in a medium sized bowl. Once the dough is all shaped you will give each pretzel shape a quick dip into the bowl of baking soda mix. After you have given them each a quick dip, place them on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

5. Bake for 8 min or until the tops are lightly browned. When you remove from the oven brush the tops with butter and serve warm.

ENJOY!!!