Magic Moments

Christmas is 2 days away and we are, for the most part, READY! I'm not saying everything is perfect because that would be a lie. There are a couple gifts I'm not completely satisfied with and the baking is certainly not what my grandmother is capable of (have I mentioned I HATE to bake?), and I'm sure I'll think of something last minute that I forgot, but I've quit with preparations so we can be still and enjoy. Tom does not have to work on Christmas this year although he can't leave town, thus we are stuck here and had planned on this being the first Christmas we would be by ourselves. The bittersweet surprise is that Tom's parents, who were supposed to be celebrating with the rest of the family in Wisconsin, ended up making a trip to Florida for a funeral. So, the good news for us it that they are celebrating Christmas here and we won't be alone after all....although we are so, so sad for the loss. This month we've been reading Tabitha's Trav...

We're loving the Christmas season and soaking up everything we can. Today I told the boys that they could only read Christmas books and watch Christmas themed movies/shows until December 25th. Maybe my favorite Christmas thing I own is our collection of Christmas books. I add to our little Christmas library each year and it's growing book by book. This year I added some Christmas chapter books in hopes that as the boys get older they would become familiar stories they enjoy each year. So, we've been reading Christmas books, we watched one of our favorite Christmas movies (Home Alone) over the weekend, we've made a Christmas treat and I suffered through making a few cutout sugar cookies just so I didn't feel like a loser mom. On Friday we went to the Nutcracker Ballet. We went to the local dance studio's production this year because the daughter of our best friends from here (friends we had in Minnesota too, actually) danced the part of Clara. It was a beautiful...

Sage turned seven today and this past year it has been so fun to watch him bloom! He's gone from a little kid to a slightly bigger kid who knows what he loves and pursues his passions. He's developed his own likes and dislikes, made friends, grown in wisdom from life's experiences and continued to grow in his faith. It's fun to see the differences between kids. Aiden chooses a series to read, reads it in order and reads ALL of them. Sage skips around, gets bored with series and chooses and new one and feels no obligation to finish a book once he starts. I let him choose his own reading material for free reading and he's currently loving these really quirky and not quality graphic novels called Geronimo Stilton. I give him a pretty hefty list of reading assignments during school of more quality books. ;) Sage is my music man. He spends days going back and forth between the guitar (his first love) and now the piano for most of the day. I love watching him have a d...

We're in full swing Christmas mode. I may have decorated really early this year (like 2 or 3 weeks ago) but I don't regret it one bit. We have lots of time to worship during this advent season and since I'm feeling good about my "Christmas to-do list" (which isn't complete but it is mostly just online orders to be finished) that's just what we're going to do. We've already been able to drive through a Christmas light display and go to a live nativity display that featured Christ's birth through the resurrection. Cozy times by the fire have begun and the day after Thanksgiving I got out our collection of Christmas books that I add to each year. We have LOTS of good reading to enjoy all month. In fact, I'm kind of overwhelmed by my readying goals. So many books and so little time! As always, I'm really going to try to be here more often storing away our memories.

I can't even begin to list the things I'm thankful for. God's provision through Tom's job, my priviledge to stay home, our cozy house, our family and the scripture God so lovingly gave us to show us our need for a Savior and the intricate way he planned for Jesus starting before time. I'm in awe. This list and more truly comes from a humble heart full of thanks. Glory be to God for the good things he's done. Marme and Pappy were able to come for Thanksgiving and for that I'm also thankful. We had a wonderful time giving thanks and celebrating Christmas. The boys were spoiled with lots of love and attention and Tom and I always love having our parents in our house. We counted our blessings, made a gingerbread house, drove through a Christmas light display and celebrated Sage's birthday. We're all trying really hard to hang onto a heart full of thanks but we're all pretty mopey and sad today since Marme and Pappy had to leave. I only have a few pic...

Last week it was freezing cold and rainy all week long. Today was a much needed gift. We saw the sun and the thermometer hit sixty degrees. The neighbors are nice enough to share their yard and so Cade and I had a great time playing in the leaves. This was Cade's first time playing in the leaves (I think) and so he had to be talked into the idea but he quickly caught on to the fun. We pretended we were the mommy bird and the baby bird and the leaves were our nest. I'm hoping for more warm days this week. This past week we've been to the orchestra, we've begun Christmas shopping, the boys had soccer and a pizza party with their team and we went to a drive through live nativity that showcased the birth through the resurrection of Christ. We've very much looking forward to Pappy and Marme visiting for Thanksgiving and Sage's birthday. He's always in costume. Today he wore Aiden's tattered old Peter Pan shirt. :) Where is Cade? There...

Cade has adopted the baby doll I had as a little girl and his love for her is just so sweet. Baby Natalie goes everywhere with Cade...to sleep, to coop on Thursdays, to AWANA, and during the day he totes her around almost all the time. These past few days Cade has been in costume as Spiderman and I've found it so endearing to watch Spiderman set up pretend birthday parties for Baby Natalie and give her bottles and tuck her into bed. Halloween is my least favorite holiday so my kids are using costumes we already had. But Cade came to me almost in tears because Baby Natalie didn't have Halloween costume. So what did I do? I did what any mother would do and I promptly ordered Baby Natalie a Halloween costume along with her own pumpkin candy bucket to match Cade's. This phase is the sweetest so I hope he loves Baby Natalie for a good long time.