Who ya gonna call?

I gave several homemade gifts this year and they were the ones I anticipated giving the most!  I could hardly wait.  Now, if you know me at all, you know I'm not the most crafty person in the world.  Thankfully, I know who to call!

After reading the most touching poem about aprons, I knew that's what I wanted to give my sisters.  I couldn't find any I liked for the price I needed them to be, so Mom helped me made them for me.  The girls loved them!

We even made one for Abby that matched her Mommy since she loves to help in the kitchen.

I knew I wanted to get Abby a bag for Christmas.  She never goes anywhere without 1 or 2 stuffed animals.  I thought she'd enjoy something to carry them in.  Enter Jen!

  I brought the material and told her I wanted an "A" and a flower.  She did ALL the rest.  Adorable, isn't it?

One of Ethan's most prized possessions is his Treasure Box.  He collects tags, rocks, cards, acorns...really anything that is sentimental to him.  How cute, right?  He stored his treasures in a rubbermaid container, so I thought I'd make him a new Treasure Box.  Enter Leslie.

  She helped me picked out the paper with me the day before Thanksgiving.  I painted the box, glued on the paper, and showed up at her house the day before Christmas Eve!  She cut the letters on her cricut with her new font and layed out the top of the box for me.

  It's everything I imagined it would be!

Thank you, Girls, for helping me give out gifts from the heart!  None of these projects would have been possible without you!!  I love you dearly!

Celebrating Christmas

Saturday, December 19th

Progressive Dinner

We had our first annual progressive dinner!  We started at Chris and Tina's house with appetizers.

Next stop, Matt and Tonya's for salad.

The main dish, cheesy linguini, was at my house.  Guess I was too busy hosting.  No pictures.  :(

We ended the evening at Dad and Mom's for dessert, a gift exchange, and games.

At one point we found Ethan under the table.  We were wondering what he was doing there...

but, as you can see, he was hiding because he had Chase's ipod!

Chase couldn't help showing off his amazing hand.  Too bad Grammy beat him.  Ha!

We all had such a great time that night.  It was nice to be able to go from house to house to see everyone's homes and Christmas decorations.  Kevin and Aimee, it was so nice to spend the evening with you.  We don't get to do that nearly enough!

Wednesday, December 23rd

Christmas Lights

Mom, Tina, Tonya, Garrett, Jacob, Ethan, Abby, and I all headed out to look at Christmas lights.  Yes, it was a carload!  We saw some incredible lights.  Our favorite was the house where the lights were set to music.  Amazing!  Speaking of music, we had a little caroling of our own.

  (Not your traditional caroling, but caroling non the less.)

We found out the next day that "E" had a double ear infection.  Poor little guy!  I think this picture describes how he was feeling.

Christmas Eve

It is our family tradition to go to my Grana's for Christmas Eve.  We all bring finger foods and spend the evening playing games and just being together.  My Grana also plans a service/program where she shares some wisdom, the Christmas story is read, and then we end by singing songs all together.  We've done this for as long as I can remember.  I love this tradition!

Here we are playing Crazy Bridge.  Have you ever played this?  It's SO much fun.  Twelve or more people can play.  You play 17 hands and move/switch partners after each hand.  We play it every year.  Actually, this is usually the only time we play it!

Christmas Day

Dad, Mom, and I start Christmas by dropping in on all the kids on our way to my Papa and Grandma's.  This is something we started last year.  I love it!  The kids love it too because they get to show us what Santa left them. 

Me and my Papa!  He's AMAZING!

We saw a picture from a year ago and couldn't believe how much Chase had grown in just a year.  We ended up measuring him.  In case you're wondering, he's 5'10" and is 12 years old!

Here's Papa reading the Christmas story.

Just hanging out waiting for lunch!

After lunch, we all head over to Dad and Mom's to exchange gifts.

Look at all those presents!

Smiles, that's what we like to see!

Mom and Dad bought me a new bible.  One that will fit in my purse!

Chloe had to sit in a chair by me.  We have to keep a close eye on her when Abs is around!

Mom made Tina these towels.  She LOVED  them!

Abby got this kitty from Mom and Dad.  Abby loved it and Chloe was especially thankful, too!

Looks like Tonya's surprised!

Grammy got a bleacher chair to make the hours she spends watching her grandkids even more enjoyable.

Christmas night Michelle and Derek always come over for snacks and (you guessed it) games!  Apparently I was too tired... no pictures. :(

We've had a wonderful holiday season enjoying each other and rejoicing in the best gift of all: JESUS!

Bath time

Definitely not one of her finest moments!

Cookie Exchange

Tomorrow we're having a cookie exchange at school.  I reluctantly signed up to participate, but have dreaded making 50 cookies ever since.  Being the procrastinator that I am, I put it off until 3:00 today.  I chose to make homemade oreos because they're my favorite.  (They're also about the only cookie I can make.) 

So, I spooned out 136 cookies...

and ended up with 68 oreos.  Good thing they're worth the work!

Christmas time is here!

Yes, I'm aware this post is a little late.  But, better late than never!  I've had my Christmas tree since the before Thanksgiving, and I finished everything else the next weekend. 

Check out those wrapped presents under the tree.  Although I still have a few left to warp, I'm totally done shopping!  I love, love, love Christmas shopping and start looking for gifts in September!

I love this snowman.  I love Hobby Lobby's 50% off sales!

Have you been in the home decor store across from Bath and Body works in the mall?  I never had, but they have some amazing deals!  I found these there just this weekend.

This is the hutch in my dining area.

I love Christmas!  This is such a happy time of the year.  But it can be just as lonely for those who are grieving the loss of loved ones those who are yearing for a family, and those who are seperated from thei family.  They've especially been on my heart this season and they're in my prayers.

Garrett

Tonight I spent the evening with Garrett!  Tina and Chris were at Chase's game.  (I hear he did amazing, by the way!)  I picked him up around 4:15 and turned him back over to Tina sometime after 9:30.  We had a very full evening, planned almost completely by Garrett.  That's the best part about being the aunt.  You get to let them do whatever they want!  Ha!

He wanted to have mexican for dinner.  We spent an hour at the restaurant just hanging out and talking.  Garrett is so witty!  He was cracking me up.  When referring to his day at school he said, "I don't what my teacher was thinking!"  (Hmmm...how many times to my students ask that, I wonder.)

After dinner we headed to his basketball practice.  Then, we came back to my house to drink hot chocolate and play a game of Life.  He was ruthless and totally kicked my butt!

We finally made it back to his house just in time for a shower and a chance to review his spelling words.

I had such a wonderful time with him.  I know it won't be long before he'll be too busy for nights like this, so I'm treasuring every second!  I love you, Garrett! 

Gripped by fear

That's been my problem.  I've been gripped by fear.  I'm an avoider and will put walls up to protect myself, even from those I love most, out of fear.  Fear of hurt, fear of needing someone more than they need me, and fear of rejection.  That's where I had been living and because I had listened to lies from the enemy, I had distanced myself from one of my dearest friends.  Thankfully there are people in my life who break down those walls and will cry and work through the tough stuff with me.

You know what else is frightening?  Knowing something is out of your control!  That's the kind of fear I've dealt with today.  I've been trying to rise above the gossip and lies, but when there's someone you work with that's determined to dislike you, fear is something you have to fight daily.  What do you do when others believe her lies?  There's no comfort in knowing that you have no control over who or what others choose to believe.  All you can do is continually put yourself out there to show them you're not the way you've been described.  Sometimes it's just too much.  Today was one of those days.  After crying (always such a great release) and talking to family and friends, I'm reminded that this is just spiritual warfare and God's already won the war. What have I to fear?  I'm going to continue to pray that God will bring all things to light and that I will live in such a way that others will see my heart. 

Fear.  A tool of the devil that's for sure! 

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  (Isaiahm41:10)

Feeling a little off

Do you ever feel this way?  I don't know the best way to desribe what I've been feeling.  Is it disgruntled, hormonal, tired, or stressed out?  Really the best way to describe it is by saying something's just a little "off".  I don't know what's going on.  I'm going to work on it!

On a brighter note, you know you have a good friend when they can pick up on you not being yourself even before you can!  I'm so thankful for this.  Thanks, Friend, for checking on me and reminding me that you're always there.  Thank you for loving and care for me.  What a treasure you are!

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  It's all about spending the day with loved ones.  The focus is not on gifts, but on just being together.  I love it!

If you know me at all, you know I'm all about traditions.  We spend all of Thanksgiving Day at Mom and Dad's.  For me, the Thanksgiving tradition begins on Wednesday night.  I head over to Mom and Dad's to make pumpkin pies and help Mom with whatever else needs to be done.  I break out "White Christmas" (my all time favorite Christmas movie) and sing along while working.

Then, Thursday morning people begin rolling in around 10:00, my Grandma and Papa are usually always first!  This year, 24 of us celebrated the holiday together.  What a blessing it is to have family close!

(Papa is not a dog lover, but Chloe is determined to win his affection.  I couldn't keep her off his lap!)

After lunch we go through the adds and map out our "strategy" for Black Friday shopping while the guys go out to shoot skeet.  Then, around late afternoon we break out the games.  My family loves to play games.  (Well, with the exception of Tina and Dad.)  But, Tina did grace us with her presence this year!  (Ha!)

For dinner we have the leftovers and by 10:00 everyone has usually gone home.  Tina and Tonya come back to stay the night at Mom and Dad's for early morning shopping the next day.

After an exhausting day of shopping, we usually spend the rest of the weekend decorating for Christmas.  It's a busy weekend, but one I always look forward to.  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, too!