Give-A-Way

Isn't this just the cutest doll diaper and bib set you ever saw? It's hand made and absolutely adorable!! I'm entering this give-a-way by My Life on A Taffy Pull in hopes of winning it for my daughter Rosebud. But shhhhhh....don't tell her! It's a surprise! lol God Bless You!!

"Not Me" Tuesday

I've read posts like the one I'm about to do.....and laughed and laughed! But until today it never occurred to me to do one myself. Well, let me tell you! Here's what "didn't" happen to me today! Oh No...NOT ME?!?!?! LOL

*I didn't forget to look at which of the 10 floors I parked on when leaving the parking ramp to go to the Children's Museum today. And the girls didn't forget either! (Side note: I always park in the same spot. But today was so busy that I had to drive all the way to the top of the parking ramp and then back down again to finally find a spot.)

*I didn't slip on the ice and fall flat on my bum for the whole world to see while looking on floor after floor for my van. Ouch!!

*It absolutely did not take me 4 floors before finally finding my van. And of course I walked in the fruit of the spirit the whole time and exemplified patience before the 5 children in my care. Of course I didn't raise my voice in utter frustration and growl. I did not embarrass my children at all!

*I did not come home to find out that the meat I put in my garage freezer had thawed! (When the weather gets cold, my outside freezer just turns off. But in the past if something large is already frozen....it's stays frozen!) Nope....not this time.

*So I am not up right now....at 11:30pm baking, cutting, and deboning a turkey!! (But can I just say that my house DOES smell really good right now!)

Ahhh. I feel better already.

Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart does good, like medicine!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

Our tradition for years now has been to go to church on Christmas Eve for their candle light service and then come home and open stockings. This year however we had to stay home due to a Christmas snow storm. Not just any snow storm mind you, but a record breaking snow storm. According to the weatherman there hasn't been this much snow on Christmas since 1945! So we stayed home and cooked a most wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. We were given a large 20 lb turkey, stuffing, potatoes, corn, carrots, cranberries and we had lots of our own homemade goodies too! We had a feast with LOTS of yummy leftovers. I absolutely LOVE cooking with my girls. It really is one of my most favorite things to do!!

But now much to the girls dismay.....I still made them wait till evening to open their stockings! LOL So here they are after waiting not so patiently ALL DAY LONG! LOL
I don't enjoy the sound of "smacking" gum. I don't chew gum myself and I don't care to hear anyone else either. (My mom was the same way.) Does that make me old??? So once a year at Christmas I give the girls several packs of gum in their stockings and they think this is the greatest treat ever!! They save it for special times and have learned how to chew as quiet as a mouse! lol

This year the girls did something VERY special. They made this "Mystery Box." Inside were many many many handmade coupons for us to draw from. The coupons said things like give foot rub, back massage, clean room, do laundry, do dishes or Mystery which meant you could pick any "one" thing you wanted! The girls all have their daily chores that they do, so this would give them an opportunity to have a break when needed/wanted. It was so much fun drawing and being surprised as to what special treat you picked. And there was a little twist to it too. The person drawing got to pick the person to perform the service for you! Of course we're all on the honor system to keep things fair and fun.....but I thought it was such a fun creative way to give gifts!! Good job girls!!

Personally, I love surprises. So I thought this was so cute. Rosebud didn't look inside her stocking. She closed her eyes and felt around for what to pull out next. The anticipation was almost too much for her! lol

We're passing the Mystery Box around and she picked what she was hoping for. Can you hear the loud, "YES!!"

We were adopted by a family for Christmas this year and they blessed Pillar with a brand new camera. Not in her wildest imagination did she ever expect such an extravagant gift.

This same family blessed us with so many wonderful gifts. Rosebud loves horses and all things cowgirl. She's wanted a pair of boots for the last couple years. And guess what she got??? Yup, a brand new pair of boots! She's worn them everywhere!

Miracle loves monkeys, soft things, pink and all things girly girl. So you can imagine her delight at this super soft plush pink monkey with baby!

After we were done opening presents we just sat and looked at all the gifts the Lord had given to us this year through the body of Christ. We were overwhelmed at His generosity through these families that had "adopted" us. So before we opened and played with anything.....we prayed. We have so much to be thankful for. He's been so good to us!!

And then......I remembered that I had been given one more gift for the girls. Someone had given me gift cards for them. So I ran to my purse and delivered one more surprise! Gift cards for each of them to Claire's and Starbucks! Yeah!

That afternoon the girls played outside in what will probably be called the Christmas Blizzard of 2009. The snow was wet and heavy. They tried making snowmen, but the balls were just too heavy to roll or lift. At one point this is what I saw when I looked out the window....

Bulding...building.....building.

Thinking....thinking....thinking!

We finished our day with the completion of Bartholomew's Passage, our advent story, and a Christmas movie. It was a wonderful day!! Thank you Lord for my family. Thank you for trusting me with these beautiful girls. I'm so glad that you gave them to me!

Christmas Ramblings

My dd Pillar won this apron on a give~a~way that I posted about earlier! Doesn't she look cute?? We've never won anything like this before. We were all very excited. It came in the mail just in time to bake lots and lots of yummy cookies, candies and caramels! What fun!!! We had a fun pre-Christmas present exchange with our good friends, the Olson's. You would not believe how silly these girls get when they are together! Rosebud likes to remind me that SHE is the reason we are all friends. You see....Rosebud and "Molly" Olson (yellow shirt) met in Sunday School at church when they were about 2. They became bff's and we have been good family friends ever since. Their birthdays also happen to be about 10 days apart so we've celebrated many a birthday together! What fun!!

Remember our "adopted Grandparents?" Well, Mr. Rick has fought and won a recent battle with Cancer! You can imagine how thrilled the girls were when we entered their home, got BIG hugs.....and realized that he had HAIR!! These are the thank you cards that the girls made for them. I just love all the artwork. Notice the card in the middle? It's Rosebud's version of Proverbs 16:31 which says A gray head is a crown of Glory. She said when she saw his new gray hair.....that was the verse that "popped" into her head. How sweet is that?!?!?!?!

I hope you've had a very Merry Christmas!! I know we have!!

Blessing Abound Part 2!!

I've pondered whether or not I should write this post for several days. My desire is to give God all the glory for the good things He's doing in our life. But I also realize that people are hurting and going through extreme hardships and in no way do I want to discourage or dishearten anyone. My hope is that anyone reading this post realizes that God is not a respecter of persons, so what He does for us.....He can do for you too!!

As I mentioned earlier I've had many surgeries and a loss of job this year. The health issue has not been resolved yet, and so I am unable to find new daycare families....hence very little money coming in for the last several months. I have applied for energy assistance and a home mortgage reduction program, but both take several months to process. So we are every week living very supernaturally. (I should also mention that I am committed to staying out of debt.) God has been very good to provide all the food we need and then some every week. It's come from different sources at all different times, and He's never been late once.

But my heart cry to Him has been, "What about the cash items Lord?" What about the items like my mortgage and utilities that I just need cold hard cash for? Then one day I got an e-mail from a friend that I haven't seen or talked to in a couple years. She told me that the Lord had her praying for us fervently. She told me how she had been led to pray for us. I can't tell you how it encouraged me to know that the Lord was working on our behalf! What happened next still leaves me speechless. Only God could orchestrate all the players to make this happen. We may plan our day...but it is HE that orders our steps! Evidently, she was standing in line for lunch and met/talked to a person......who ended up.....giving me a grant that would pay my mortgage for the next 4 months!!! CASH!!! God is so faithful!

And then a couple days later, we went to a different friend's house for lunch. While there, she handed me a plain manila envelope and said, "This is an early Christmas present from an anonymous giver that must be opened NOW!" I opened it to find a stack of $100 bills for me and several very generous gift cards for the girls. I cried right there on the spot....again! I now had more than enough money to get caught up on my utilities. But what is really awesome is the next part. The very next morning I was scheduled to have my van worked on. So I had the "CASH" to pay for everything! That is everything I knew about (the brakes and rotors) AND what I didn't know about (4 new tires!) God knew exactly what I needed before I ever knew about it! Isn't that just like God?!?!?

Now lest you think this is the end of the miracles.....please let me continue a little bit more. We were blessed with presents from an anonymous family at one of our little local churches. We don't know this family, and they don't know us. The connection was made through our local food shelf. Against all Christmas rules.....I let the girls open these presents early! And what we found inside was truly amazing. I told the girls when we were done opening them that Jesus Himself went shopping for them. There just wasn't any human way for a person that doesn't know us.....to pick the gifts they did! Rosebud was given a box of horses which are her all time FAVORITE animal right now and the exact same socks that she had wanted!
Now I know the socks might sound weird. But just the day before we had gone sock shopping. The girls were given some cash from great grandparents and so she was buying some much needed socks. The ones she really liked had one "yucky" pair in it. And she just didn't feel right about spending her money on something "yucky." Even if it was only one pair. So she opted for the plainer ones with nothing objectionable. These socks that she was given were VERY similar to what she had wanted......without any yucky ones! She was sooooo happy!

Pillar was given a really great sewing basket full of supplies. It was blue, her favorite color!

She LOVES to sew, knit, embroider and just all crafts in general.

Miracle was given a beautiful handmade outfit for her AG dolls that looks very Amish.

She absolutely loves all things Amish! It even came with a matching bonnet!

Jubilee in her new outfit! Isn't she sweet?

I really could go on and on with all the many blessings the Lord has sent and is continuing to send our way. But I just have to say it is so much fun to watch the Lord reveal Himself to the girls in this special way. He is our Provider, Protector, Father and Husband. He is our All in All....our Everything! We're so grateful for the privilege of knowing Him and calling Him our Savior!

Blessings Abound!

Wow!! What a day! I know this will be a long post, but bear with me please. It's worth it!! We started off this morning going to the auto shop to get the brakes fixed on our van. Our church has a ministry called "Car Care Ministry" to help single moms and the elderly with their vehicles. They do oil changes as well as checking fluids, filters, tires and such at no charge to us. What a blessing! Then for some larger needs, like brakes, they only charge for parts....no labor! So today I had the front brake pads and rotors replaced for only $100.oo total! Thank you Lord!! It's so nice to have a reputable, trustworthy, reliable place to take my van.

The next stop was very special for me. Let me explain why. I have a vision for our family ministry. I want to be able to send my daughters into a home to be a blessing to that mama. If we have a friend that is pregnant, on bed rest, sick, or in need.....I want to be able to send my daughters in to minister to her family. They will be able to cook meals, clean, care for children, and keep order in her home for her while she is not able to. It's something we're preparing for now, knowing that someday in the future.....we'll be ready. We'll be prepared! I got a little glimpse today of what it will be like.

My friend, I'll call her Mrs. H., has a lot on her plate right now. She is the mother of 3 little ones. Her oldest, 6 years old, has very special medical needs. And the youngest is a 9 month old. Her mother is also fighting cancer. So between meeting the needs of her own family and that of her mother, she hasn't much time for anything else. Including housework. So today we went over to her house while she was gone helping her mother. The four of us "attacked" her house so to speak. It was amazing what we were able to accomplish! Pillar and Miracle scrubbed her kitchen and dining room floor on their hands and knees. It sparkled! Miracle also washed down all her kitchen cupboards, organized the playroom, made the children's beds, folded laundry and the list goes on! Rosebud vacuumed the entire house including two sets of stairs as well as folding laundry, putting away baby toys, and running endless things up and down stairs so that I didn't have to! LOL Her energy today was amazing! And of course Pillar was by my side as we conquered the kitchen and bathrooms. She worked sooooo hard. I was really impressed!

This was supposed to be a Christmas SURPRISE.....but she came home early! LOL She was THRILLED to say the least! She screamed with delight and said it was the best Christmas present ever. It was nice that the girls got to see what an impact it made on her. She was giddy with excitement over a clean house! Although it was a lot of hard work.....the girls agreed it was definitely worth it! A wonderful experience for all of us. One that I hope to repeat many many many times again!

Our third and final stop for the day was at the home of our "adopted Grandparents." We've known them for years and they are just some of the most wonderful people on earth. They invited us over tonight for our favorite Hawaiian pizza and ice cream sundaes. Yum!!!
After dinner though.....we had a surprise of our own. Early Christmas presents! The girls each got the cutest little bags with all kinds of fun stuff. Lotion, body wash, lip balm etc. Very fun!

And our very first ever.....big canister of popcorn! As you can see....we were just a little excited about it! LOL

Next the girls each had a box to open. They were very light. Hmmmmm. What's inside?

A beautiful card with an original piece of art on it.....and a $20 bill! How generous!!

This is Mrs. B. (adopted Grandma) opening our gift to them. She loved it!

And finally the ultimate ice cream sundaes where there is no such thing as too much real whipping cream! Vanilla bean ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, whipping cream.....YUM!

It was a wonderful day filled with God's many blessings. One that I will remember for a very long time! Thank you Lord for all that you've done for us, for all that you're doing for us, and all that you will continue to work out for us. We LOVE you!!!

Blog Award

Pillar blessed me with an award this past week. It was very unexpected and very much appreciated! Isn't she the sweetest? But I have to follow a couple rules to receive it. Here they are:

1. Announce who has given it to you. ~ My very own Pillar!

2. Send this award to at least one person. ~ Heart 2 Heart

3. Share your most favorite candy in the world. ~ This is a hard one! Turtle or Reece's Peanut Butter cups!

Thank you Pillar!! It couldn't have meant more coming from anyone else! I love you!!

Mom

The Nutcracker

Today we were so blessed to be able to see the "classic" Nutcracker done by our state ballet. They did a marvelous job! The costumes were spectacular, very beautiful and elegant. They had an amazing number of children involved. Both young and old! I've seen many productions of the Nutcracker over the years, and this was definitely one of the BEST! When the girls were younger, and my mother was alive, she would take us to see the Nutcracker at Christmas. It was our annual tradition. But after her death it wasn't something that I could afford on my own. This year we were blessed to go with a friend's homeschool co-op. Our seats that were normally $46, were available to us for $6 each! Yeah God!!

To add to our blessing, when we got there.....we discovered that someone from the group had saved us all really great seats! VERY unexpected!! We sat together with our good friends the Olson's. Don't we have some beautiful girls??

This would be my sad attempt at a group shot! It looks more like the joke about "hear" no evil, "speak" no evil, "see" no evil! LOL What monkeys! I really do love these girls!!

We had a wonderful time together making memories!

Ruffle Apron Holiday Giveaway

OK.....this is the CUTEST holiday apron I've seen! So cute that I'm going to post about it to get get an extra entry! lol My girls would LOVE this! I wonder what my chances are of winning?

I LOVE these Girls!

As I download my pictures,

just what do I see?
Silly surprises

Left just for me.

Yes, little surprises
they leave just for fun.
Little do they know
I love every one.

Goofy lil' pictures

That bring me great thrills.

Amazing just how much
I do love these girls!!!

Late last night the girls were playing with the timer on the camera that was borrowed to us for the holidays. I accidentally broke mine....lovely! All I heard was tons of laughter! So eventually.....I had to join in on the fun! These are just a few of the many many silly, sweet pics that I found this morning on the camera!

PS....I found this great little poem over at Scottsville. Thanks Erica!