They are *how* tall? ;-)

I totally missed out on this photo opp!

Wordless Wednesday: It's all about the shoes!

Vermont - 2011

Last week we headed to Vermont with T's parents, 2 sisters and their families.  Here's a picture of all the cousins that skied (minus Colin who only skied 2 half days).

L (girl) 13; K (girl) 17; Quintin 8; Elle 6; H (boy) 7; M (girl) 7; T (boy) 11; N (girl) 15

There were 4 back at the house.  Colin 4; Twin girls 5; C (girl) 2

I tried to color-code the names by family.  Ours being blue, T's oldest sister in green and the younger of the sisters in red (T is the baby).  He has an older brother, but their family doesn't ski.
Colin may or may not have been eating snow ... one never knows with that boy! ;-D

And here's a video of the videos we took of the kids last week.  I tried my best to label them, but then noticed the font was hard to read after I transferred it to a movie file.

The opening title says something to the effect of:

Q - 2nd yr snowboarding (1st time in Vt); 5th year skiing

E - 3rd yr skiing

C - 1st yr skiing

Okemo Mountain, Ludlow Vermont

January 2011

1 down, 11 to go!

As the first month of 2011 draws to a close, I'm finding myself much more reflective, than in Januarys past, to the work God has been doing in my life.

And reflective on this word - transform - that God has placed on my heart.

On my bulletin board at my desk, I have hanging a drawing with the word "TRANSFORM" in the center and circled.  From the circle are lines branching out with the nuggets God has been revealing to me as I make my way on this transformation journey.

In my last post, I shared the two pieces, "It's going to get ugly before it gets better," and "Rest."

I've taken the first one and made it my sort of mantra to get me through the ugly times.  It kind of reminds me of repeating, "This too shall pass," when I was awake in the early morning hours feeding a little one.  And I took moments to 'rest' and have felt refreshed and rested.  (Hence the lack of new blog posts.)

I feel as if a new nugget is presented to me each week or so, and I use the time that follows to really breathe it in, soak it up and make it part of me.

And to be completely honest, I am really loving this process.  It is totally a God-thing, because I could have never planned it like this! ;)  And God has taken into account the way I learn and remember and is using that to teach me.

Be it a book, a word heard from a friend, written in an email or whatever - I am full of sense and wonder as each nugget is placed upon my heart.  It doesn't just happen in a moment and then fade.  But rather, throughout the following days, it is revealed deeper.  I chose the word nugget because it makes me think of a gold nugget - or from wikipedia: "a piece of gold produced through mining and extraction." 

Mining and Extraction!  Chipping away!  Removing the worthless! Chiseling!  When God chisels the dead weight out of our lives it can be very painful!  But through it comes - Transformation!

My most recent nugget?

"It's not about me."  A powerful truth mentioned in chapter 1 of Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life."  In regards to the purpose of our lives, "It's all about God.  It's not about you."  (you can read the first seven chapters of PDL, here).  I've read through this book twice, and it is an amazing book.  I try to read it every other year - and God continually shows me more and more each time.

Rather than just seeing one side of "my transformation," the selfish side - I'm looking outward and earnestly seeking God's lead to show me where to put my next step to transform not only me, but my family, my friends, my community, and anyone who comes across this blog.

Watch this movie from the Skit Guys for a great visual reminder of God chipping away the dead weight of our lives and how we go through the process of discipline.

Random thoughts...

Raise your hand if you like to browse online!!  (me included!)

CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from modern dining room furniture to cute cookware to chic lighting pieces!  And it is a great place to browse!  I've just spent a good amount of time on their site.  200 stores and I kept coming back to the kitchen section!

Right now, I have my eye on these little babies!

I was at a local kitchen store the other day looking at the regular white ones, but hadn't seen these by Rachael Ray.  I love the handles.  And I love that they come in orange, yellow, blue, green or this chocolate brown!

I have a long list of things to use them for: soups, individual casseroles, mini pies, etc.

What room are you wishing for something new in?  What's on your wish list?

YUM!

These are definitely diet-busters.  Do not make unless you have a crowd to feed them to or they will haunt you.  You may or may not wake up in the middle of the night to sneak down to the kitchen to eat one.  Yes, they are *that* yummy!

The recipe is from "The Pioneer Woman Cooks."  I have it on my recipe blog, but you can also find it on her blog.

Give me a Y!  Give me a U!  Give me a M!  Y-U-M!

Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

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!