Things That I Love

Pinterest.  At least this one's semi-productive.  There are all kinds of ideas on this website, but be prepared to spend a LOT of time looking.  I only do it when my kids are in bed or occupied with something else. 

Beth Sansone.  She is the most amazing teacher.  E.V.E.R.  Today she asked me to be the Elf on a shelf she has in her room.  Oh, the fun!!!  That naughty Elf stacked chairs on kids' desks, tipped over Mrs. Sansone's chair, scattered water bottles, threw a yoga ball away...he was one naughty little fella!

Time with the boys after school.  Right now, Drew and I are enjoying a nice conversation.  He's telling me what they're doing tonight in youth.  Which happens to be the wheel of doom.  Think Fear Factor...and that's what they're doing tonight.  :)  I love our church.

Bible study.  I am so thankful for a group of ladies that continue to meet!!!  I already know that after Christmas, we're starting Beth Moore's newest one.  James: Mercy Triumphs.  :)

My amazing family.  I love my parents (all 6 of them).  And my step parents.  And my sisters.  And my niece and nephews. 

Cold weather.  I am telling you...I could live in Alaska, and I would be in Heaven. 

Well...I gotta fix dinner.  Love to all. 

What's More Important?

A perfect house, or a messy one filled with laughter and love?
Time with family, or time spent doing trivial things?
Taking the time and participating in traditions, or making sure everyone is in bed on time every night?

I am only asking these rhetorically.  Of course, I know which is more important in each question, but my point is this: I have to remind myself of this daily.  I so easily get "sucked in" to needing to have a spotless really clean house.  I also feel the need to spend countless amounts of time doing things that don't matter.  Facebook, blogging, reading...instead of spending quality time with my kids.  Doing things that they ask me...like reading their favorite stories to them, or taking them to the library, or for ice cream...things like that.

My goal is to say "yes" more to them.  Like when they beg if they can please, please, please sleep in the playroom, because it's a special night.  Yes.  Or when they want me to make them hot chocolate.  Yes.  Or when they want to leave the house at 7:30 with a cat and both the dogs and go drive around looking at Christmas lights.  Yes. 

Get my drift? 

I'm nowhere near the perfect mom.  I say " no" too much.  I am guilty of all the things I listed above.  I pray every single day that I will enjoy the moment I am in with my kids...and I thank God that I have them here on earth with me.  I don't ever want to take a moment for granted.  Not one single moment.

 Do you want to join me in saying "yes" more?  This is the perfect time of year to start.  Why not start some new traditions?  I know that before long, these days will be nothing but a memory.  Why not live a little?

Love to all. 

:-(

I'm sad because our blessed Thanksgiving break is over.  It was, indeed, blessed.  The day was so incredibly peaceful.  I woke up to the sound of Crash whimpering at 6:30, so I took advantage of the time alone and got a jump start on breakfast.  I enjoyed some coffee by my lonesome and did some praying...mostly, some thanking. 

The family started coming downstairs one by one, and slowly, our day began.  We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and before we knew it, it was time to go to my sister's. 

Where we ate way too much.  But it was oh so yummy!

We went to some friends' house for that night...our friends David and Sunny invited us out to her mom's house.  It was a nice touch being with friends on that day...and there were lots of kids there, so of course, they all had a blast. 

The next day we decked our halls.  :-)  We ended the day at Zoo Lights, which was amazing this year. 

The whole break went like that, though...unrushed, peaceful, and full of quality family time.  We are so blessed. 

And then, at church yesterday, we had communion...which was the perfect end to this time off.  I absolutely love the way Brother Chuck does communion at our church.  He makes the whole service about the importance of communion, and I have never taken it there without crying.  I'm pretty sure the people next to me thought I was loco.  I was doing really well with keeping the tears in, until he had us close our eyes to pray.  The minute that my eyes closed, the tears started falling.  And falling and falling. 

It was just so touching, and I really felt an anointing in the sanctuary.  It's always so reverent.  It's a beautiful time together, as a church body. 

So, I think I'll end on that note.  And maybe my sad face title should be a happy face.  Because, really, God is so good.  I can't even comprehend His goodness sometimes.  But He loves us faithfully, unconditionally and completely. 

Spend some time with Him today...and be blessed.  Love to all. 

traditions

I love them.  I have my favorites that we do during this time of year.  Do you? 

What are yours?

One of ours started last night.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with my Dad and Sandy.  We always go out to his house the Friday after Thanksgiving at around four and eat an early dinner.  The boys always play football outside while we clean up inside, and they walk around, admiring his thousands of Christmas lights.  After everything is cleaned and leftovers have been divided, we head to the Zoo for Zoo Lights.  And last night, we were not disappointed.

They were beautiful.  It seemed so much better this year...so if you are thinking about going, then I encourage you to go.  There were more lights, I think maybe because News Channel 3 sponsored it, and there didn't even seem to be that many people there.  I'm sure there were...but it didn't seem like it.  They used to give carriage rides, but when they brought in the ice skating rink they did away with that and made the tram free for everyone.

It was wonderful.  :)

Some more of my traditions start this week.  Tuesday night is the Christmas tree lighting on the square, and Friday night is our parade.  I'm bummed because Todd is working on Tuesday night.  He even asked me about it ahead of time, but I answered without looking at my calendar.  I don't know if he can change it or not, but I'm going to see if he can.  If he can, then great.  If not...then we'll be okay, although I will miss him.  (Sniff, sniff.)

I'm hoping to see my best friend this week...I might ask if her and her kids will go with us Tuesday night if Todd can't change it and if her husband is working.  I know her daughter is older...but I ran into them last year, so hopefully that will work out. 

So yesterday was the most wonderful day ever.  :)  My sweet hubby started helping me get Christmas decorations out of our attic the minute he was dressed.  (He'd gone out at eleven and again at one-something, not returning until three a.m.)  We got most of it done...the important stuff, anyway.  Our tree is up and all the living room is finished.  I have some tweaking to do in the kitchen and dining room, and we have to put up our staircase bannister holly and get the outside finished.  And I need to pull out the Christmas dishes.  :)  I love this time of year!  Love, love, love it.  It is my most favorite. 

Speaking of this time of year, I recently heard about a book that I'm going to buy today.  It's called Untangling Christmas.  You can go HERE to take a look and see what's about, if you're interested. 

It's all about getting organized and realizing and focusing on what is important this Christmas season.  There's even a section on "traditions" and some ideas for new ones. 

Right up my alley. 

Some of our other traditions include driving around looking at Christmas lights, and special seasonal events that will (hopefully) take place at our (still kinda new) church. 

What are some of your traditions? 

Feel free to share them.

Until then...I have to go.  I have pies in the oven for some of our shut-ins from church.  We're delivering Thanksgiving meals to them today. 

Enjoy your day!  Love to all!

black friday, schmack friday

I don't get what the big deal is about black Friday.  All I do know is that I heard a lot of talk about this today.  Much more about this subject, in fact, than about the love of Jesus.  That makes my heart so incredibly sad. 

I kept on thinking to myself, "What if people got this excited about sharing the love of God?  What if we made it a planned effort to make sure people did know about Him?"  Or what if, at the very least, we let people see Him alive in us?  In the way we live, speak, think, and act?

I'm not bashing black Friday...at least I don't mean to.  I know that it is super exciting for some people to save so much money on some big ticket Christmas gifts.  But the whole thought of all of it just makes me more than a little sad. 

When did finding the perfect gift take such priority in our lives?  When did conversations revolve around asking everyone what they wanted for "the big day"?  What ever happened to just giving a gift...and if you liked it, great...and if not, then you'd better act like you did?

I guess I'm like this because I don't like to shop.  I know for some people it's a rush, saving all that money, and there have been years that Todd has participated in those deals.  I never have...because of my dislike of shopping.  And those years, it was great that Todd could save money, so that it stretched what we had to spend.  At those times, I was thankful for a husband who would brave the crowds for his kids...because if it were left to me, I would just pay full price rather than having to deal with the throngs of people.

But still, I don't get it. 

One of my favorite parts of gift giving is taking my time and picking the perfect gift for one of my loved ones.  How do you like to give gifts?

I know that I am different.  I know that my mind works differently than most people's.  I'm thankful God made us all that way. It's just that I'm a very simple person.  That's all. 

Don't hate me for this post...I'm just speaking my thoughts.  After all, that's what a blog is for, isn't it? 

Are YOU braving the crowds tonight?  Tomorrow morning?  If so, I will be thinking of you while I rest peacefully in my warm, cozy bed.  ;-) 

What are some things your kids are asking for this year?  Mine have their lists all ready for Santa...and I am happy to say that they are pretty simple this year.  They even put candy on their lists, if that tells you anything.  I am grateful for a simple year.  That is what I love the most...a list free of crazy, electronic gadgets.  

The thing I have on my agenda that is at the top of my list for tomorrow is my house...and getting it all prettied up for Christmas!  I have tomorrow and Saturday to do just that...part of both days.  I intend to use them to my advantage. 

Love to all. 

Turkey Day!

I am so thankful for this day...a day to give God thanks for Who He is in my life. 

He is love, joy, peace, comfort, healer, physician, provider, friend, fortress, strength, the only One I can always turn to.  The gift I am most thankful for is the one that only He can give...life everlasting.  Life will never come without its ups and downs, but I am thankful that He is there to carry me through when I can't walk on my own. 

He is the best Friend I have. 

He alone can satisfy my every need. 

He is the One who created this amazing family that I have...my sweet husband, my kids...and the blessing of good health.

He knew how boring we would be if He created us all the same, so He made us all with unique qualities and characteristics...and my crazy kids keep us laughing. 

He gave us many (many, many) people to love on in our extended families. 

He gave us the gift of friends...my heart is so happy and full of love for all the dear ones in my life who've sent me 'happy Thanksgiving' texts this morning. 

I hope you have a wonderfully blessed, happy Thanksgiving.  I know I will.  Love to all, my friends!

Happy Thanksgiving

At this moment, all is quiet in my house.  I'm watching Something To Talk About with Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid.  I think it's from the mid-nineties.  The music is terrible, but it's something to make noise in my quiet living room. 

Todd is working tonight.  Graham, Jonah and Noah retired to the upstairs to watch one of their recorded shows.  Drew is laying down with a cool rag on his forehead (his stomach hurts), waiting on me to wake him up so he can move to Todd's side of the bed until he comes home. 

Even all the animals are sleeping.  And yes, that includes Evil Knievel.  Speaking of him...is it mean to rename a dog after he's three and a half months old?  I really don't like his name...which is still Crash.  EK is just a nickname.  And if it's not mean...do you have any mischievous looking dog name recommendations?

If so, send them my way.  I really can't force myself to call him Evil.  And Crash isn't much better.

Other happenings...I am on ebook number three!!  I absolutely LOVE not having to have a light to read my book!  The other day I was multi-tasking...folding laundry and reading at the same time.  I've gotten some free books off Amazon, and I've bought three now.  The most expensive one so far was $10...the other two were less than $5.  Not bad, huh?

Tomorrow morning includes several traditions for us.  One is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I am such a child at heart...I still get so excited over this parade.  :)  Love it!  The other is our Thanksgiving day breakfast.  It's cheese and sausage biscuits...which taste almost exactly like sausage balls.  Yum!  I can't wait for tomorrow.  I wonder if I'll be able to talk the hubs into a Thanksgiving night movie? 

We'll see, I guess.  I don't know how he'll feel about that.  There are a couple that I want to see, one of which is Jack and Jill, the new Adam Sandler movie.  I love him, and I've heard it was okay for kids to see. 

As much as it kills me to admit it, the puppy is growing on me.  He proved himself to me all day yesterday while I was home, sick on the couch.  He stayed by my side all day...and never had one accident during that time.  He also loves to cuddle.  I hope he stays little enough to do that, though...he's grown in the two weeks we've had him.  And three different people have commented on how big his paws were.  Yikes.  I really don't want him to be big.  Especially because he loves to sleep on the couch. 

If I don't write again tomorrow, I hope you all have a blessed, happy Thanksgiving.  I know I will.  Love to all!