Transformation

Transform has become an ugly word since posting it last Monday. 

I've learned in order to transform, it is going to get ugly before it gets better.  And I didn't know how ugly it could get.  One week into the new year, and God has showed me many things.  Things I've wanted to change before, but never took the next step.  And they didn't come in nice packages, they took many forms, such as relational difficulties.  It has been an emotionally draining first week of 2011.

2011 is going to be filled with steps - and I'm choosing to take the steps now; baby steps, but steps nonetheless.

Step one - Rest.  Emotional Rest.  Rest in Him.  Rest.

I love winter white!

My boys

Thursday morning, January 6, 2011
9:52 AM

They have their daddy's dark brown eyes.

One got his momma's dimples.

They share the same nose. 

They share a love to build legos.

I love this picture.  And there are a lot of things I could type about these boys.

But, honestly, the first things that come to my mind?

Why is my 4 year old wearing shorts? 

And what is my 8 year old doing with 2 blankets on his head?



Wordless Wednesday (or 'What I Did Over Christmas Break')

Phone Troubles?

Blackberry not working?  Watch this BBC skit for some help!  ;-)

My "Word" for 2011

What will we be doing this weekend?

A - Joining four other families for a fun-filled evening of bowling.

B - Trying to keep one another up Hanging out together afterwards to welcome in the new year.

C - Celebrating our PA Dutch roots by making our traditional "good luck" meal of pork and sauerkraut.  (See, Ginger, maybe I really am Amish!)

D - Watching my Nittany Lions beat the Gators in the Outback Bowl.

E - Undressing the Christmas tree.  :-o

F - Catching up on naps!

G - Thinking of "my word" for 2011.

H - All of the above.

Lighting up the house!

I did some after Christmas shopping yesterday.  And I bought 4 candles.  That require batteries.

Yes, that's right.  And, they even smell.

This is my favorite one, because I love how it looks in the old glass canning jar.  I found the hook for it yesterday too.  No sale, since it wasn't Christmas-y, it just made me happy! :)  The red candle behind it is one of the battery operated ones too - it smells like pomegranate.  It's the simple things.

Wordless Wednesday: Pestering my brother's dog!

Christmas 2010

One of my favorite quotes I heard this Christmas holiday, "Great importance is placed on Jesus' birth, but dying was His main purpose in coming to earth!"  Our Advent activities, especially the reading of "Jotham's Journey," helped us to really look at why God came to earth as a baby and what that means for us.  I pray the things we learned during 2010's Advent will stay with us through 2011 and beyond!  I hope that you each had a wonderful time spent with loved ones! 

"Happy Birthday Jesus!"

Wordless Wednesday: All I Want for Christmas...

Jesse Tree Ornaments - last week of Advent

It was inevitable.  I knew with the business of the month and 2 birthdays thrown into the mix, that it was an ambitious project for me to complete all the ornaments.

However, it has not stopped us from our daily Advent activities.  We continue to read the Bible passage and deovational for the Jesse Tree activity even though we don't have the completed ornaments to hang on the tree.  The kids like looking at the incomplete ones and they offer suggestions on how I should finish it (color choices)!

So, without further wait, here are our final ornaments for the week. 

She's Six!

We celebrated Elle's 6th birthday last night!  Wow, she's 6!?!?!?!  And, she is getting more grown-up and wants to be called by her proper name, Noelle!  But I think it will wear off after Christmas, like the other years! ;)
She was very specific about her cake!  I love her spunk!  I found the little sleeping bag and suitcase for her groo.vy girl on eb.ay, but they didn't both fit on the cake as well as I had, um planned - but we improvised, and she loved it!!

She requested homemade pizza for dinner.  While she was away from the kitchen, the boys (well, mostly Quintin because Colin was busy snatching the cheese and mini pepperonis off the pizza) helped me make the pizza extra special!

See that smile?

Her first Amer.ican Girl doll, Kit.  Just this week, she was telling me she hoped she'd get Kit and a sleeping bag!  I hadn't remembered about the sleeping bag!  So I searched online and found a free pattern!  I had all the materials on hand and had it sewn together in under an hour!  I think it is so adorable and Kit seems to be enjoying it!

I just checked in on her, in bed, a few minutes ago and she's sound asleep!  We had a wonderful day celebrating our Christmas Noelle!

Wordless Wednesday: Snow!

Jesse Tree Ornaments

Well, it came as no surprise to me, and it probably won't surprise you either - but today we hit our first day of an incomplete ornament! LOL!!

Here's this week's Jesse Tree Ornaments.

The fox/sheep ornament has been one I've been dreading because of the curves around the sheep! 

I do want to say though, that this Jesse Tree has been an amazing learning experience for all of us.  We are really enjoying the stories and the other daily Advent activities.

I do have to put another plug in for the book, Jotham's Journey!  WOW!  What a cliff hanger each day - the kids want me to keep reading but it is teaching us patience to wait until the next day.  Quintin confessed to me this morning, that after reading yesterday, he looked ahead to today's story!  If you want a great Advent story to read with your children, pick up a copy of Jotham's Journey for next Christmas.  It has a reading for each day of Advent - so you may not want to try to read it this year, since we are halfway through Advent.  But it has been a story that our family is loving and I know they will talk about it in the months to come!

First Recital

Quintin has been taking piano lessons for almost a year and his first recital was this past Sunday.  He did fabulous.  While I videotaped the songs, I didn't snap any pictures of him playing, so I got one of him with the grand piano at the end!

Not a baby anymore!

When I started this blog, Colin was a month old! 

Tuesday, we celebrated his 4th birthday!  :)

Wordless Wednesday

2nd Week of Advent - Jesse Tree Ornaments

Wordless Wednesday

(note: this was very hard for me to let them play with the pieces.  But it came down to wanting their memories of Christmas to be happy and not of a grouchy mommy who loved her decorations more than them.  It is HARD!  If it wasn't for the nativity being set on a high shelf where they can't touch it the remainder of the month, I may have set it up after they were in bed!)