Angel

Made some of these angels several years ago.
Still love them.
Memories of stopping on the side of the road,
clipping cotton from a field that was already harvested.
There were a few untouched plants.
Then later getting stopped for speeding.
Was that ticket for speeding?
I often wonder.

Preparation

We are home from all our Christmas traveling.
Being away from home is rough
on the twins.
Nice to see family, but nice to be home.
We celebrate with my Dad this evening
and a brunch with my Mom
on Christmas Eve.
These are local, nice.
Traveling any distance with little ones
is a challenge.
My little ones like routine.
I do too.
Next couple of days leading up to Christmas,
are going to be spent
focusing on our little family.
Of course, also, on Jesus.
Many blessings.

Little Shepherd Man

Had fun creating this little shepherd.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night."
Luke 2:8

Christmas Tour of Homes

This is my first Christmas Tour of Homes.
Let us start with our front door.
Welcome.

Coming in from the front door,
you come across the first of our Christmas trees.
Keeping the candy canes on has been
much of a challenge.

Also, in the foyer is this Nativity scene
that has been in my husband's family
a long time.
I think it is beautiful.

Here is our mantel in our family room
with another one of our trees.
I know all the tunes to the Hallmark santas.
The twins love them.
Last year we were unable to decorate the trees,
the twins had too much fun stripping them.
We just put lights on them,LOL!
This year also has been a challenge,
but funny too.

This is our tree by our kitchen table.
This is my favorite tree.
It has all of our handmade ornaments
and ornaments handed down from
our families.
Our kitchen table is simply decorated
with a table runner and our advent candles.
This is our work horse table.
And with toddlers I mean work horse table.

Well, just a little glance into our Christmas home.
This picture is from one of our porch doors.
I hope all have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you for stopping by.
Many blessings.

For The Grandmas

My oldest wanted to show his Grandmas
the frog he caught.

Yes, I check pockets before I wash clothes.
With 3 boys,
amazing what you find.
Many blessings.

Making Memories

Yesterday, the children and I made a few
Christmas decorations.
Like the lights I strung up in the playroom?

This star will adorn our tree for many, many years.

Snowman was fun.

Saw this Playmobil Nativity set a few months ago.
We have lots of Nativity scenes,
most are not meant to be played with.
This one is.
The children love it.
Really nice for the toddlers.

Now for a sip of egg nog.
Many blessings.

Enjoying Christmas

All Christmas shopping done, wrapping has begun.
Christmas cards to be mailed tomorrow.
Our Jesse Tree is coming along nicely
and our homemade Nativity looks heavenly so far.
Today, applesauce and cinnamon ornaments,
and others to be made with the children.
Hope all is enjoying this joyous season so far.
Many blessings.

Turning Three

December 6th
Our youngest boys turned three.

Where has the time gone?

Two boys sooo different.

Best of pals.

Loving your cake.

Our Advent Studies

My son and I made little sheep
for our Nativity scene.

We used air dry clay that
we had on hand.

We have never formed animals before,
so this was a challenge.

But overall, we thought ours turned out nice.
Next is the Shepherd.

We started our Advent studies yesterday.
As we read the Christmas story,
we decided that this year we will make
our own nativity scene.
One piece each day.
We started with the stable.
We gathered our supplies that we
found on our walk earlier.

Twigs for the opening.
Loving glue dots.

Oak bark completed the stable.
Again glue dots and tacky glue.

Here is the view from the back.

It is simple and beautiful.
We placed it under our Jesse Tree.

Finding ways to keep the focus on Christ.
Many blessings.

A Little Path

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful.
We decided to take a stroll down a little path.

Of course, the oldest took the lead.
He made way for the rest.
He pointed to poisonous berries and
what he thought were snake holes, oh my.

The twins picked out sticks.
They picked leaves and found rocks.

Big brother was our nature guide.

He found decaying wood and showed us how easily
it crumbles.
We listened and heard a woodpecker
and saw him above us in a tree.
We watched as he pecked.
We heard our footsteps on the leaves
and the twigs.

It was a wonderful morning.

A Present Under the Christmas Tree

Yesterday morning this is what I found
under our Christmas tree.

Who could ask for a sweeter gift?

30 Days Of Thanks-Days Twentysix through Thirty

All of the family guests have gone.
Getting our house and our family rhythm
back is priority today.
Hope all had a joyous and peaceful
Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for:
26) beautiful sunny weather
27) a stapler
28) acorns with grubs
29) sidewalk chalk
30) being a mother and wife

Many Blessings.

30 Days Of Thanks- Days Nineteen through Twenty-five

A little behind in my 30 Days of Thanks.
But, sometimes life intercedes.
All is good. Enjoying the beautiful weather,
most spent outside.
Lots of reading on the sofa.
Hope all is welcoming Thanksgiving
as much as our family is.

I am thankful for:
19) our home and the comfort it provides
20)Trail hiking with 3 cowboys
and looking for the perfect stick
21) music and my 3 dancing partners, no 4
22)trips to the park
23) my hubby's dimples and blue eyes
24)stair conversations with my hubby
25)Saturday morning breakfast.

30 Days Of Thanks- Days Sixteen through Eighteen

I am thankful for:

16) paper, crayons, colored pencils, and paints
17) my children's artwork and homemade books.
18) reading books to my children

30 Days Of Thanks- Days Fourteen and Fifteen

I am thankful for:

14) morning workouts
15) morning coffee.

My survival combo-
morning workout followed by morning coffee.
I know, I know, coffee and morning workouts
don't go together,
but for me it is a definitely
a win, win.

30 Days Of Thanks

What am I thankful for this year?
The small and furry things,
The hope that keeps me going,
The peace believing brings,
I have so much to thank God for,
I don't know where to start,
I only know He walks with me,
And lives within my heart.

Grace E. Easley

30 Days Of Thanks- Days Twelve and Thirteen

I am thankful for:

12) plastic army men
13) Legos

Plastic army men.
We have them all.
American, Japanese, Germany, British,
Revolutionary, Civil, WWI, WWII
you name it, we have it.
We love them.

Legos- need I say more?

Our Wild Turkey

My oldest and I decided we wanted to make
a turkey from things we gathered
in nature.
Above are our supplies plus poster board and glue.

Palmetto leaves were first glue down.

Then maple leaves. They are still green
were we live.

Magnolia leaves .

Acorns became the body.
In another post will tell about our
study of acorns that came about because of these
lovely gems. LOL!

Completed body.
Coming along nicely I think.

Bark was used for the face and neck
and twigs for the legs.

Google eyes and red construction paper
for finishing touches.
We really enjoyed doing this.
We plan on making another one
the day before Thanksgiving so it will be fresh.

This turned into a nature study and a science lesson.
I can think of no better way to spend the morning.
Many blessings.

30 Days Of Thanks- Days Ten and Eleven

I am thankful for:

10) my freedom
11) our service men and women

Lest we never forget
what our service men and women
have fought for and are still fighting for
OUR FREEDOM.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

30 Days Of Thanks- Day Nine

I am thankful for:

9) Soccer games

My oldest has been playing soccer since he was 4 yrs old.
Seeing his soccer growth over the seasons
has been a joy.

He is our little soccer man.

30 Days Of Thanks- Days Six, Seven, and Eight

I am thankful for:

6) being able to stay home and nurture my children's growth.
7) long runs on Sundays
8) the conservations my friend and I have
on our long runs on Sunday.

Love being a stay at home mommy.
There is no greater gift.

Ran 15 miles today.
We were supposed to run 17,
but running with a cold and cough
can be difficult.
January is getting closer and closer!
Many blessings.

30 Days Of Thanks- Day Four and Five

"... my heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song."
Psalm 28:7

I am thankful for:

4) morning giggles and snuggles

5) dump trucks and sandboxes

30 Days Of Thanks- Day Three

" Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: his love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1

I am thankful for:

3) my three little cowboy blessings.

30 Days Of Thanks

I love this time of the year, especially November.
Giving thanks.
I have so much to be thankful for.
I am so thankful for my family.
Being honored to watch my children grow, laugh, and play.
My heart is overflowing with thankful praise
for our Lord.

I am thankful for:

1) my Lord and Saviour

2) my loving, adorable, hardworking husband.

Hay Days 2009

Four years ago our little town started
"Hay Days"
for the month of October.
Businesses, groups, and individuals
decorate scarecrows
and they are displayed in our downtown.
Thought I would share a couple of
my favorites of this year.

Fire Department.

And my very favorite.

Too sweet.

Eyes

I often wonder what their eyes see.

What are their thoughts?

I know when their eyes meet mine,
I see Him.
I see the blessings He has given me.
I am humbled.

Our Scarecrow

I hate to tell my son,
a scary scarecrow he is not.
But, the word cute comes to mind.
Many blessings.

Second Seasonal Tree Study

My oldest and I decided to do two
seasonal tree studies.
We choose trees from our back yard.

This is our second tree.
Isn't it the cutest Charlie Brown type tree
you ever saw?
We think so.

We took measurements.

For diameter, my oldest just put his fingers around.

We felt the branches and the pines.
We inhaled the scent.
We drew pictures and wrote down
our observations.

We are looking forward to watching
our little pine tree grow.

Finally Doing a Seasonal Tree Study

About a year and a half ago,
we started a seasonal tree study.
We choose an oak.
We took initial diameter measurements,
did bark and leaf rubbings.
I even blogged about it.
We did not follow through with our study.
Oh, well.

Then in July,
we decided to try again.
But, as far as we got is the pictures,
no study.
This is the tree we choose.
It just popped up in our yard.
At first, it looked like a weed,
but soon a lovely tree formed.
We love this little tree.

We decided to formally
start a seasonal tree study again.
We choose our little tree.
Boy has it grown!
We wished we had measurements
from July.

We do now.
We also have bark and leaf rubbings.
My oldest has drawn pictures of our little
fast growing tree.

Our only problem,
we are having trouble identifying our tree.
We are enjoying researching though.
Many blessings.