this and that

This weekend, as I was standing at the gas pump, filling up my van, I watched as our local Guard Unit was escorted out of town. They followed the patriot guard (on motorcycles) in two chartered buses. I could see the soldiers, wearing their fatigues, through the windows of the bus. It was a tearful moment for me. I thought about these soldiers and their families. And how difficult it must have been to say good-bye. Less than 3 weeks before Christmas!

They are going to Afghanistan.
Please pray for our soldiers, especially those who are deployed over the holidays!

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We recently hired a caregiver for Nate for Sunday mornings.

For the last year or so, Jeremy has been staying home with Nate while I take the girls to church. On occasion, we would all venture out. But invariably, Nate would need to be suctioned during the service and one of us Jeremy would have to wheel him out and take care of him.

And the other problem we faced when taking the whole gang was finding a handicap parking space. Not always easy.

So this will be a nice respite for us. We will go to the first service and then will stay for an adult Sunday School class.

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Remember the cute Coach shoes Brianna got for her birthday?

I mistakenly only gave credit to Gaga for this gift. When in fact, the credit should be equally given to Papa. After all, he pays the bills. So in an effort to avoid repossession of the shoes, I'm giving credit where credit is due.

counting down the days til Christmas

Jeremy's mom started a fun tradition a few years ago. She wraps up 25 presents and brings them over on December 1st. And we the kids open one each day until Christmas arrives.

When the girls were younger, they would alternate opening the gift each day. This year, Delaney is really getting into this present opening. In fact, after opening the gift on day 2, I found day 4's gift unwrapped as well. It happened to be for her. Do you think she knew before she opened it?

So here's the loot so far...

Day 1 - advent calendar with chocolate hidden behind the doors

Day 2 - snowman shirt for Nate

Day 3 - personalized Christmas ornaments for Bri and Alli

Day 4 - Dora Christmas hoodie

Day 5 - Christmas bingo game

Day 6 - Christmas candy jar

I wonder what will be next...

Christmas pictures...take two

Last weekend I had one measly request for my family...I wanted to take a picture of all the kids and also try to get a picture of our family (you know, an opportunity to try out the timer on my camera!)
And along with this request, came the request that everyone wear jeans and a solid red or white shirt.
Tell me the truth, am I asking too much?

Well, without naming names, I will tell you that I had a couple of uncooperative family members (and only one was a child, if you catch my drift).
A certain someone was not too happy about having to change out of his/her loungewear and into jeans.
And another certain someone did not want to brush his/her hair.

So, I must confess. I lost it!
I yelled, "FORGET IT!! WE JUST WON'T HAVE A CHRISTMAS PICTURE THIS YEAR! I WOULDN'T WANT TO INCONVENIENCE ANYONE IN THIS FAMILY!!"
And they all scattered.
And we didn't take a single picture.

Then I was looking at blogs throughout the week, and saw all the great family Christmas pictures. Which made me feel sorry for myself.
So I begged my children for forgiveness and asked in my nicest voice, "Would you please be willing to take a picture with one of your siblings?" And I didn't even require red or white. Whatever they could find (end of the week...laundry was piled up!)
All parties were willing and we gave it a go.

And you know what?

It was soooo much easier to take their pictures two at a time!

I may have stumbled upon a new tradition.

I hope you have the Merriest of Christmases! And May God bless you this Christmas season!

deck the halls

Christmas is my very favorite time of year!


We spent Thanksgiving weekend pulling out all the decorations from under the stairs.


We trimmed the tree.

And hung the stockings.

I splurged this year and bought Delaney a Fisher Price Nativity Set. The Christian bookstore had it marked down for the weekend, so I took advantage of their sale. I hope that it will help Delaney understand the true meaning of Christmas!

We have accumulated quite a collection of Christmas toys and books throughout the years.

I decided our home just wasn't quite complete. And the missing piece was a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. So I made one.

And don't go thinking I'm real clever.

I just copied off one that my mom made a couple of years ago. She's the clever one!!

The living room tree...how many trees do you have? Jeremy just doesn't understand why I want to have 2 trees.

And we'll finish our tour with a Christmas pickle. It's a German tradition. You hide a pickle in the tree and whoever finds it gets an extra present.

Except there won't be an extra present.

Sorry, family!

15 years

How can Brianna be 15 years old? It just doesn't seem possible!
It feels like just yesterday she looked like this:

And I looked like this:

(sorry they're so tiny)

But alas, my sweet little girl is growing up! She had some friends come over this weekend. I took them to the mall and gave them a cell phone scavenger hunt. They had to take pictures on their phones of certain items. And then they had to find certain items and bring them back to me. Like take a picture of a random person wearing a hat. Or bring back a job application.

Then the girls spent the night and watched movies til the wee hours of the morning.

Last night we had a family celebration here at the house.

Money is always a big hit!!

And she got some new Coach shoes from her Gaga. Very nice!!

I made the ice cream cake. Crushed oreos mixed with melted butter on the bottom. Then a layer of vanilla ice cream. Then a layer of Hershey's chocolate syrup. Then another layer of ice cream.

It was yummy.

And so much cheaper than DQ!

Bonus!!!

By the end of the evening, the party moved into the family room. For some good ol' Guitar Hero competition.

Even Gaga rocked out!

Happy Birthday Brianna!! I love you, beautiful girl!!