Christmas

The kids wanted to leave cookies out for Santa and since I had been busy baking for the neighbors he had a nice selection this year. We did our advent wreath, the first year we've actually done the whole thing at home. The candles burned down while I wrapped more presents than I ever have before. The tree looks like it's leaning but it wasn't.
Christmas morning the kids woke up early, big surprise. We had a nice quiet morning opening presents together with a break in the middle for french toast casserole. Daddy got an Irish whistle and is picking it up pretty quick when he has time to practice.
Mommy got a Flip. :)
Yes, AJ got a BB gun and Nathan got a couple of air soft rifles. Although, Nathan says they really aren't soft. hehe. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Update

We had decided earlier in the month that we weren't going to travel for Christmas because Nathan only got 4 days off. Wednesday morning we decided to drive to Ohio when Nathan got off work. We left home about 4:30 pm and got to Ohio at 4 am Christmas Eve. My sister knew we were coming but that was about it. It was a lot of fun surprising people who thought we weren't going to come.
We stayed at my sister's house and her kids were really excited to wake up on Christmas Eve and find their cousins there. We stayed until Sunday morning and then drove all day to get home. We got home about 11 pm. We spent about 3 hours in traffic on the way down a couple mountains.
It's a Cousin Party!
Papa and Grasshopper.
Christmas morning. Peanut had a fever and didn't feel good.
Grasshopper, Thaddeus, and Sarah.
Sarah, Doodle Bug, Peanut, and Abby.

Holiday Cooking ~Sweet Potato Souffle~

Overwhelmed with Joy is hosting a holiday recipe exchange. Since I love the holidays I just had to join in. I love this recipe. I'm always looking for an opportunity to have it but I usually only get it at Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's almost good enough to be dessert. Here it is.
Sweet Potato Souffle
3 cups of mashed sweet potato (3-4 large baked sweet potatoes, or canned)
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2/3 cup of milk
Mix all of that together and put in a casserole dish.

Topping
1 cup of chopped walnts
1/3 cup of butter soft
1 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of flour
Mix together and sprinkle on top of casserole.
Bake @ 325 for 35-40 minutes.
YUMMY!!!! In fact I think I need to go get some sweet potatoes cause I just can't wait till next month. For more tasty ideas head on over to Overwhelmed with Joy and look around. I'm sure you'll find something to taste. :)

And So the Party Begins...

Merry Christmas!! in just a couple of days anyways. I just wanted to give a little update. We had a chicken pox run this past week. Joshua had them all over his chest and belly. Thankfully they did not spread beyond that. They are all gone now and we are looking forward to the holiday weekend. Andrew and Aria have not shown any spots and we are praying that it's all over.
Tomorrow starts our annual several day Christmas party. After our morning service at church Nathan's family will be coming to do our gift exchange. As I've mentioned before we draw names so it should be very interesting to see what everyone gets.
After our gift exchange we will be going to our Candlelight Christmas Eve service at church. Nathan's family is going to join us this year. It's usually not long but very enjoyable with readings and carols and of course....candles.
Afterwards the hilarity begins. My family will be exchanging our gifts at Mama Lily's house. These gift exchanges are NOTORIOUS!! There are always gag gifts included in with our presents and we just enjoy being together and having a good time.
Christmas morning we will do presents with the children at home. We just got them something little to open and a family zoo pass for their BIG gift. It will be something that we can use all year.
Afer presents we will go to Castalia to have brunch with Nathan's family. This will be the first time we've gone to their house on Christmas day. After that we will go to my parents house for Christmas dinner. Auntie Linda and Mom have been planning this for awhile. It will be amazing with prime rib on the menu. It will definitely be a busy day.
Merrry Christmas everyone. I'll be back after Christmas!

Thursday Thirteen

Here are 13 things that I love about the holidays.

1. Christmas music playing everywhere.
2. Decorations on anything and everything in my house. I love lights.
3. Getting asked, "Is it Christmastime yet?"
4. Buying presents.
5. Wrapping presents.
6. Unwrapping presents.
7. Getting cards in the mail cause you never know who you'll get them from.
8. Getting asked, "Is it Christmastime yet?" again.
9. Lights on houses...although I'm pretty picky about how they should look.
10. Spending time with family.
11. Playing in the snow with my kids....by the way...where's the snow???
12. Making cookies and other things that just smell great.
13. Getting asked, "Is it Christmastime yet?" AGAIN.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Special Christmas Ornaments

I've decided to share some of my special Christmas ornaments that I cherish. This little reindeer is made out of pipe cleaners. I made him in the third grade. He's been on our tree every year since. In fact, last year we used him as an example for our Wednesday night children's group and they made some interesting reproductions.

This is my other little reindeer. I've had him for as long as I can remember. You can sort of see where he's been broken a couple of times. Much sobbing was done on my part. My dad has glued him back together each time. Thank you daddy. Now that I look at him it sort of looks like he has chicken pox. That's pretty funny.

This little bear has been in our family for a long time. I'm not sure how I ended up with her but she's really cute. She makes me smile.

This ornament is older than me. It's one of several that my mom has had for years. Each of us kids have some from my mom. They are funky colored with glitter on them with cool designs.

This was taken when I was 1 year old. It also makes me smile.

This is one of two little Nigerian men that my parents brought back from there. I always remember our Christmas' on the mission field. He's hand carved and playing a drum. I love unwrapping them each year.

These are just a few. I'm saving the whole tree for the tour of homes in a few days. Stop back by.

Ornament Exchange

I joined an ornament exchange over at Stranded in the Mountains. I got paired up with Tammy in Alaska. Here are the two ornaments that she sent me. I LOVE them SO. MUCH. Thank you Tammy. The first is two little Eskimos doing an Eskimo Kiss. And the other is a moose wearing butterfly wings holding a little flower. Thank you so much!

It's Got My Funny Bone

In the spirit of extraordinarily humorous things and Christmas, you all much check out this link to something really funny. It's just too funny.Make sure you watch all the way to the end.

Holiday Meme

I've been tagged for my first meme. Mama Lily tagged me. This one looks like fun too. So here goes.
1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Defnitely hot chocolate. Sarah brings home eggnog shakes and I think they are disguisting.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Same as Mama Lily, Santa doesn't visit our house. We wrap the presents ourselves. It's very funny when Nathan kicks me out so he can wrap my present. He doesn't even like to put it under the tree in case I guess what it is.
3. Colored lights on the tree/house or white? Well, I grew up with colored lights and always thought that trees should have colored lights. Until I got my own tree that is. We do all white lights inside now. White lights are for houses. I'm very picky about my outside lights. Icicle lights are my favorite.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? This is the first year that I've had mistletoe up. It's caught some people by surprise. It's very entertaining. It's not real obvious where it's hung either so some people will have to hunt for it.
5. When do you put your decorations up? I start putting things up after Thanksgiving dinner. This tradition started a few years ago when my husband's family all went home right after dinner one year. Andrew was in bed and Nathan and I didn't really have anything to do. So he got out the tree and we started putting it together. Now every year I like to get my tree up soon.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? I have to agree with Mama Lily again. Defnitely Cranberry Relish and sweet potato souffle.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? This answer kind of takes care of two questions. When I was little my brother's best friend played Santa at the local mall. I knew that Santa was just a story and he wasn't real. The whole family went to the mall to Santa Bob, as he was called. Fastforward to Christmas eve, I had been in bed a long time, I think I was 4 or 5. Bob's parents called and asked if they could bring Bob over to see me. He had been at a party in his costume and they had some presents for me. My mom got me out of bed and I remember sitting on the love seat in front of the fire with my sister,Shagga Bear. The candles on the mantel had dripped way down, almost to the floor. Next thing I know, in walks Santa. I SCREAMED and ran into the other room. I knew it was Bob but Santa was in my house on Christmas eve. I kept jumping up and down and peeking around the corner. I eventually sat on his lap and I even remember what his parents got me for Christmas. I got a box of crayons, and blank pad of drawing paper, and a couple of small story books. I still have one in my chest in the attic. It's called Teddy Bears Love Hugs.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?That goes along with the last answer. I do remember when I got in trouble for telling my cousin that Santa wasn't real. Aunt Kathy called my mom and fussed at her. I think I was 5. I just thought everyone knew that he wasn't real. Oops. Sorry Kacy! :)
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was little we always waited until Christmas morning to open our presents. Now that I'm older we all draw names, sibblings and sibblings in law. We usually have our grown up time on Christmas eve. We have a party and sometimes there are gag gifts. My husband's first family Christmas was QUITE memorable.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I use white lights and lots of blue ornaments. I also have some "vintage" ones from my mom, and all the ones I made growing up. I put ribbon around my tree also.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread It? Both, I love to watch it falling and everything covered in white. I also do not like going out in the snow. Hopefully this year I will finally get to go sledding or intertubing.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes I can. I haven't been since I was in the eighth grade. We should do that sometime.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? One year I got a puppy for Christmas. Her name was Candy, short for candycane, because I got her at Christmas. Another Christmas, in Nigeria, I got a puppy. His name was Rebel. He was a great dog, and a real big baby.
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? I love traditions, doing the same thing every year. One of those is our family advent wreath. Our Christmas eve candle is always the best.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Ya know, with so many things I can't eat and things I really really don't like, like pizellis, I really don't have a favorite dessert. Auntie Linda's creme horns are the best.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas eve with the whole family.
17. What tops your tree? A beautiful bow made out of the same ribbon wrapped around the tree. 18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love giving presents. I love picking them out and wrapping and seeing facial expressions when they're opened. I also love getting a present. Who doesn't?
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? I like all the old carols. I think my favorite is O Holy Night. Shagga Bear sings an amazing version of this song at our Candlelight Christmas Eve service at church. I hope she does this year too. hint hint hint
20. Candy canes! Yuck or Yum? Yuck...no two ways about it. I think they are gross.

I hope you enjoyed this meme. I shall now tag the following people. Jenn, Heather, Stacy, and Joe and Amanda. Have fun guys.

A Few Updates About This and That

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. I thought that I would give you a little update about all that's been happening in our lives.
Tabitha picked a dress!!! Her wedding dress is beautiful and unfortunatly I can't post a picture because her fiance reads my blog. However, it is hanging in my closet waiting to go get altered. She also picked the bridesmaids dresses. I'm so excited. They are also beautiful and I can't wait to wear it. They are TEA LENGTH ( Thank you Lord) and strapless. They are a soft lavender color with two strips of cream at the bottom. It's really coming together for them.
And now, the Christmas season. :) Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love giving presents. The more I can give the better. This year my husband and I are really struggling with our budget. We want to be faithful but we are also part of a family and we draw names. I've been creative with gifts in the past and am trying to do so again. Any brilliant ideas would be welcome. I have visited Kisses of Sunshine for some great homemade gift ideas. It will be an interesting year, that's for sure.
Here is my verse for today.
"The Lord gives His people strength, the Lord blesses them with peace." Ps. 29:11
"Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again- my Savior and my God!" Ps. 43:5

Works For Me Wednesday

This is my first Works for Me and I've been thinking about what Christmas tradition I should share. The one memory that is the same for every Christmas. My family has always done an advent wreath. Our wreath is different from every other one I've encountered though.
We start the wreath on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving. The first candle is red and it is for the prophets. My dad reads the scriptures in Isaiah and Micah about the coming of the Messiah. Then we sing a few Christmas carols and pray.
The second red candle is for John the Baptist. Dad reads the story of Zachariah in the Temple and the birth of John the Baptist. We sing "Prepare Ye the Way" and pray together.
The third red candle is for Mary and Joseph. Dad reads in Luke about the angel appearing to Mary and Joseph, and their willingness to obey God. We sing a few Christmas carols and pray together.
The fourth red candle is for the angels and the shepards. Dad reads the scriptures about the shepards out gaurding their flocks and the angels telling them the Messiah is born. We usually sing "Angels We Have Heard on High" and the first "Noel." Then we pray together.
The last candle is white and it sits in the middle of the wreath. This candle is lit on Christmas eve and it stands for Baby Jesus. We read in Luke about Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem for the census and there being no room in the inn. We read the whole story and then sing any Christmas carol that someone suggests. Lastly we pray together and then let all five candles burn down together. It's very pretty to see them all at different heights.
This works for our family year after year. If anyone would like the printout version with the scriptures and everything let me know and I will email it to you.
For more great Christmas ideas head over to Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for more great Christmas ideas.