Christmas at Our House

Merry Day-After Christmas! I hope you all had a blessed day with those you love!

We had a great Christmas Day. I slept in. Notice I didn't say "we slept in". No, the kiddos were up early. But Teagan is an early riser so he let me sleep. That was a great present. I love my sleep! Anyway, once everyone was up we assembled in the living room. Teagan said a prayer and I read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then we sang a few carols and finally got to the presents. The kids got some good stuff, mostly practical things.

Hosanna's favorite was the packaging. She just had fun carrying around the gift bags and putting things in them. As always, the "box" is better than the present.
Ruby being the exuberant little kid she is, just loved every single thing! Even the socks were exciting to her. Here she is in the hat I made her.
Jade got another shirt. I made it to look like the pictures she always draws. Her "perfect" shirt, so to speak. She put it on as soon as she opened it and hasn't taken it off!
Kordell, being a 9 year old boy, didn't appreciate anything he got. At least that is how he acted. I know deep down inside he secretly liked his gifts. He just didn't want us to know he liked them. sheesh.
We had cheese fries for lunch and then everyone played outside. It was actually warm enough to play outside!!!! It's been so cold they haven't been able to go out for over a week. So that was a great treat. I baked up a nice ham dinner and we ate on the "good dishes" with candlelight and everything. The kids thought it was funny.

We had such a nice day. The whole Christmas vacation so far has been very nice. The kids made cookies on Christmas Adam (all by themselves!) On Christmas Eve, we spent the day with Teagan's family for the annual gift exchange and snack buffet. Christmas Eve night was the only bummer. Ruby ended up in Urgent Care with strep throat. But so far everyone else is okay. We are gearing up to spend the weekend with my Dad & Karyl and all my step-sibs and their families. That will be fun. I'm preparing some posts to go up while I'm gone so you all aren't lonely here without me. I'll be back for New Year's.

See you then!

The Reason

Since today is Christmas, I wanted to share with you the reading I compiled and performed for the church talent show a few weeks ago. Not because I think I did a wonderful job presenting it, because I really didn't even do it justice. No, I share it today as my way of shifting the focus. The cookies are fun, the presents are great, time with family is wonderful, but this is what it's all about. The REAL Reason for this Season. Have a blessed Christmas everyone!

The Reason

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule...over all the earth.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

And Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him, shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Scriptures taken from Genesis, Isaiah, Luke & John.
New International Version.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Strep for Christmas

Yup, that's right. I have strep throat. I feel icky and am going back to bed. My Christmas presents are not all going to get done. I'll have to send Teagan to the store for some last minute shopping. Poor guy.

Does anyone know how long strep is contagious?

Do You See What I See?

Because I see cookies! Lots and lots of cookies!

34 dozen cookies plus a batch of fudge, to be exact.

Last Monday was just frigid, so I decided to stay in the house and do my Christmas baking. We baked and baked and baked. Ruby helped with the sprinkles, of course.
And Kordell was the cookie arranger... Kordell Wallace, Cookie (ar)Ranger. Okay, well we thought it was hilariously funny. He was named after Walker, Texas Ranger, after all.
Looks like the Ranger snuck a cookie. Are they allowed to do that?

And, in case you were wondering, NO we did not keep all 34 dozen for ourselves. I had a cookie exchange to go to last week, plus we gave away cookie plates to some of our friends and neighbors. Share the cookie love, man. ;-)

Winter Celebrations

Last week we got to see what Jade has been doing to celebrate Christmas at school. I mean, celebrate "winter holidays". It is a public school after all. *rolling eyes*

I attended her "Winter Program". Tolerance! Tolerance! Fa la la la la! *ahem* They had arranged a conglomeration of generic celebration songs, Santa songs, Hanukkah songs, Kwanzaa songs, Chinese New Year songs, Los Postadas songs, and oh yeah, a couple of actual Christmas songs. They ended the program with a "why can't we all just get along" song and the music teacher gave this big speech on how we all should be united to celebrate the same thing.... world peace. *rolling eyes again* I wanted to scream. We all should be united to celebrate the same thing! And that "thing" should be JESUS!! I guess I should be happy that they sang Christmas songs at all... *sigh*

That same day Jade brought home all her Christmas art projects. And I got a good laugh. The handprint tree was cute and all, but check out the angel with feet and, my favorite, technicolor Santa & Rudolph in his party clothes.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!! I laughed so hard I cried. I can just hear the teachers, watching her work... "she's putting feet on the angel! Is the angel supposed to have feet? What do we do?" "What is she doing to Rudolph?? Oh the horror!" *snicker* *giggle* *snort* What a hoot. I love that kid. She is too funny.

Basketball, Cappuccino, and a Bear

A few months ago, Shelli asked me to share the story of how Teagan & I got together in the first place. Well, today is the day! It's the 13th anniversary of the day we became a couple.

Back in 1995, I was a senior in high school. I went to a teensy little school - 20 in the high school and 3 in my class! But we had a basketball team, and I kept the books during games. Teagan's mom was the basketball coach, and Teagan & his brothers all played. So, we all spent a lot of time together in the school van going back & forth to games. That's where it started. Conversations in the dark, on opposite sides of the back seat. (It was a Christian school you know.) After every game, we went to Culver's. One particular December night, Culver's was shutting down but Teagan, his brother Willie and I were still talking. With permission from his mom, we hopped in the car to hang out around town.

The three of us went to Walmart, Shopko, Kwik Trip (for cappuccinos, of course) and just drove around. Willie mostly listened to his walkman. Teagan & I talked and talked. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when they dropped me off at Grandma's house.

Unbeknownst to me, Teagan smashed up their car on the way home. OOPS! Not my fault...

The next week at school we started hanging out more. It was the last week before Christmas vacation. On Wednesday he slipped me "the note". You know, the note saying "please be my girlfriend". We were in high school. LOL He called that night to get my answer. Of course I said yes. On Friday as we were leaving school, he gives me this huge box. It was a Christmas present. I wasn't supposed to open it until Christmas Day, but I did. Inside was a big squishy teddy bear... one of the bears we had seen at Walmart the week before. Awww...

That's how it all started. We saw each other on the weekends, and sat together at lunch. No one at school knew we were "a couple" for months. We were mostly friends and then we fell in love. And life was forever changed.

So, Shelli, now you know the rest of the story. ;-)

Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy

I am running like a madwoman this week, so forgive my lack of posting. We have 4 things on the calendar just for today! This week has been cram packed! But be patient... I have blog posts coming up! Before Christmas I will be showing you homebaked goodies, crafty presents, and pics of the kiddos too! We'll even take a trip down memory lane. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas to Me!

I got my Christmas present last week.


Yeah, I'm spoiled.


Actually it's a gift for our family, but since I'm the one who gets to use them, it's really for me.


A member of our family who shall remain nameless bought us the Bosch mixer and the Nutrimill for Christmas. I used my Bosch fund money to order the slicer/shredder and cookie paddles for it.

And there they are.... In MY kitchen!


I was a little afraid to use them at first. But last night I ground up some flour and made cookies. It was great! Today I made 3 big batches of cookie dough to bake tomorrow. Double and triple batches were no match for my Bosch!! It's SOOOOO nice!!!

Birthday Outfit

Just wanted to show you all Hosanna's new outfit that I made for her birthday. I didn't dress her in it for her party because I didn't want to have to wash frosting out of the wool. Anyway, I knit the pants and made the shirt. Doesn't she look so cute?

Happy Birthday Hosanna!

My baby is one today!! I can hardly believe it. Where on earth did the year go?? She is becoming such a delightful little person.

Here are the pictures from her birthday party. We just had a small party. She was such a little ham though. And she was so careful when eating her cake. Like she didn't really want to get messy. I barely had to clean her up afterwards. Anyway...

Coming Soon...

I will post about Hosanna's 1st Birthday Party! I have a ton of pictures to show you, but I am tired and my computer is tired. Tomorrow I will work on uploading. For now, here is a preview.

Oh yeah, it's good to be one!

Our Thanksgiving

I'm a few days late with this, but better late than never!

This year, the week of Thanksgiving, we made a "Thankful Tree". Each member of the family made handprint "leaves" and we wrote on it what we were thankful for. Kordell made a lovely tree trunk for us.



Thanksgiving Day we spent with Teagan's parents. I didn't realize until almost dinner time that it was Hosanna's First Thanksgiving!! I was still pregnant last year at this time. Here she is, ready to feast...

Giving Daddy some love...

Ruby & her cousin Jacob got to sit at the counter for dinner. They're big kids now.We made sure to have plenty of goodies for Jade. Here she is getting her self some milk. She also had cornbread, mashed potatoes, jello and a little turkey. Mostly just jello.

Kordell and Logan took over the kids table. Looks like it was a hostile takeover...After feasting with the Anthony's we went to a friend's house for an evening of games & snacks. It was a very nice day.

How was your Thanksgiving?

RIP Mr. Blender

Well, I killed my blender today.

I was making this recipe and it started to fade. By the time I added the final ingredients, it refused to blend any longer. I wasn't surprised. I knew it was on it's last leg.

The good news: the pancakes were almost worth it. They were SO yummy!! If I can get a new, more power blender by Christmas, they would be a perfect Christmas morning breakfast.

And now I have more motivation to save my pennies for this beauty...



The Universal Plus Bosch with blender attachment. Oh yeah baby. It's on sale with the Nutrimill right now. Saving my pennies. Rubbing them together.

It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine. ;-)

Red Baby

Did you have a favorite toy as a kid? I did. It was a bear named A.G. and I loved it. I took it with me everywhere.

Ruby's favorite toy is her heavy baby waldorf doll. She named it "Red Baby". She treats Red Baby like a real baby. It is so sweet to see her natural mothering skills coming out at such an early age. She nurses her baby, feeds her baby, takes her baby for stroller walks, even wears her baby in a sling. She's going to be a great mom someday.

Poor Hosanna!

In this season of family get-togethers, it's a joy to see cousins playing together... right?

Well, not so much.

Hosanna just wanted to play with her cousin Abby. (Abby is 5 months younger than her.) Abby was in the walker playing with some toys. Hosanna walked up, smiled, said something in baby language and started playing with one of the toys on the tray. See, nice cousin fun.

Abby did not like Hosanna playing with her. She cried and flailed and threw a giant fit whenever Hosanna came over to play.

Poor Hosanna!!

She just wanted to play nice. She didn't hit or bite or anything. She was a good girl and kept getting in trouble for it.

I hope this is not a sign of things to come...

The Thankful List

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I've had trouble this year getting into the mood for Thanksgiving. I remember when I was a kid being SO excited about it, waking up on Thanksgiving morning SO happy that the day had finally arrived. It was almost like Christmas! Even as an adult, I've always loved Thanksgiving. But this year was different. For whatever reason, the excitement just wasn't there.

I happened upon this blog post the other day and was inspired. I made plans to sit down the night before Thanksgiving with my tea and write down what I was thankful for. Then last night, shortly before my "thankfulness appointment", I read this post. What glorious perspective!! If my thanks is not going to God, then I may as well not even bother being thankful.

So, with a prayer of thanksgiving to God, here are a few things I am thankful for:

• Potty training! 3 out of 4. I never thought I'd see the day.
• Hot tea on a cold night, the warmth rising up to steam my glasses
• A happy baby, even if it is after bedtime
• Clean countertops after a long day of cooking
• A home warmed by more than just the furnace
• Children laughing together instead of fighting
• My husband's smile
• A son still young enough to want his mom to tuck him in
• Warm cornbags at the foot of my bed
• Handpainted yarn and smooth bamboo needles
• Books strewn around the living room by my exuberant "reader"
• A comfortable chair
• Casual conversation in the grocery store -a miracle from the child who didn't say mama until she was 4
• Food in my cupboards
• Clean water in abundance
• Indoor plumbing
• Laundry
• 2 cars in the driveway
• Healthy children
• A faithful husband
• Close knit extended family
• Restored relationships
• Forgiveness, given and received
• Grace like rain
• Mercy, new every morning
• Trials, for testing produces faith
• Lean times, for they bring creativity
• Sovereignty of the Almighty, working all things to His glory
• Perfection soiled by earth's dirt to feel what I feel
• Sacrifice, His life poured out for mine
• Victory! O death where is thy sting?
• Savior, taking my hand in His
• Hope that there is more than this
• Life, eternally
• Joy, forevermore

Oh, yes. There is much to be thankful for.

May you all have a blessed day of giving Thanks to our Glorious God.

If the Pilgrims Could Eat Popcorn on the first Thanksgiving

Then we can eat pretzels!

Especially turkey shaped pretzels!!

I made these fun, yummy pretzels to take to a friend's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow. They were pretty easy, all things considered, and they are so tasty! I got the recipe from Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers.

I am, however, sorry to report that the turkeys didn't make it. Their feathers were a bit fragile and they didn't survive packaging for travel. Oh well. They will taste just as good dismembered.

My First Co-op Order!

I had the opportunity to join a food co-op with some friends of mine. I can get all kinds of bulk grains, flours, dried fruit, natural sweeteners, etc at much lower prices than the local health food store, and in many cases, even cheaper than Walmart!

Being the healthy-cooking nut that I am, I was SO excited to place my first order. And here it is...

25 lbs. of brown rice, 5 lbs. of soft white wheat berries, 5 lbs. of steel cut oats, 5 lbs. of organic cane juice crystals, 2 lbs. potato starch flour, 2 lbs. tapioca flour, 5 lbs. whole grain cornmeal, 1 gallon of honey, and a 5 lb box of date coconut rolls!

These foods will go a long way toward healthier eating for my family! Plus, it's easier on my budget. I am so grateful that I got to join this co-op!!

Wagon Train

Proving once again that children do not need toys to have fun...

Ruby pulls a laundry basket which Jade hangs on to while riding in a plastic tote and Hosanna chases along behind them.

Actually this was quite entertaining for the adults too...

Oh That's Not Good

This was the scene last Friday.

You know when a major appliance is undergoing surgical procedures that it can't be good.

My washer stopped working while I was washing diapers. (of course it was diapers... couldn't have been just sheets or something, no... diapers) It smelled hot and I feared the worst.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. Teagan took it apart, unjammed the spinny thing and it worked! Whew, that was a close one.

Hopefully it won't happen again. We create a lot of laundry around here.