Just in Time for Chirstmas

Two years ago I made myself a personalized stocking since my taste had changed. Sometime after Christmas it got misplaced, so when the next Christmas came around I was the only one in the family with a store bought stocking. I kept saying that I was going to make one . . . but you know how that goes. So this year, once again, we couldn't find my home-made stocking so I put out the plain ole red and white one. My family said they didn't think I was going to make one this year so I decided to prove them wrong! Here it is.

Here is a close up of my stocking holder.

Now the whole family has a personalized stocking. Today today they were talking about re-doing their's so that they look nicer, but I thought I'd show them off anyways.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Continuing Christmas Traditions

What do you do when you have . . .

M&M's and chocolate chips . . .

lots of decorator's icing . . .

and sprinkles????

You make Christmas cookies!

And lots of them!

Daddy was really proud of his cookies! : )

We all had a lot of fun carrying on this family tradition! And no matter what they say, my cookies look the best . . . even better than Ryan's! You can get the recipe at my mom's blog. They taste just as good as they look!

Merry Christmas!

December in Pictures

Hello, my dear readers! I hope everyone had a great Christmas as mine was! I enjoyed the Christmas season but I believe now I am ready to go forward and prepare for what ever God has in store for me in the next steps I will take. I hope that now I'll have more time to focus on other things I need to get done (articles to write, college work to finish, organizing that is desperately over due, . . .) but I suppose that isn't too much for my schedule. I have been busier!

During the Christmas season I was awarded the Lemonade Award by my sister Bethany, and the Uber Amazing Blog Award by Under Southern Skies. Thank you both!

I turned 18 this month.

Amy's Birthday was this month.

. . . and mama's

. . . as well as Ryan's!

Ryan and Daddy bought two more cows for our farm. The middle two black ones are Roxanne and Rocket.

Christmas morning @ 6 A. M.

Right now I am going to work on some more posts and articles. : ) I hope everyone has a great weekend!

2008

Add This to Your Christmas Reading!

Over at Simply Sanctifed, Sara posted a Christmas poem that is definately worth reading. When I read the first line I thougth I had read it before, but this poem was new to me and it may be to you also. I believe the poem sums up this Christmas very well. How sad it is that Christmas in the 21 centry is so differant then it use to be. Everyone's focus and desire has been driven to everything opposite of where it should be. After reading this poem I decided that I am going to try even harder to remember the true meaning of Christmas and not let the world distract me with everything they have to offer.

Merry CHRISTMAS!

Nothing Can Compare!

It's that time of year again! The time when everyone gets in a festive spirit (or at least tries), decorates for Christmas, and buys the special people in thier life gifts. At work we decorated our department right after Thanksgiving rolled around. With our little Christmas tree, stockings, and snowflakes . . . it really does look cheeful! To add to the Christmas spirit some of my co-workers brought in some Christmas music. (Our department truely is the happiest place in the entire hospital!)

For the first two days I was loving it! Even though all the songs weren't exactly Christ related, hearing those fast pace, jolly songs about winter and Christmas day put me in a good mood and made work a lot easier! But after a few days the excitement started to ware of real quick! I found myself putting in those good old gospel CDs in my CD player while I was on my way home from work. The songs of Jesus and the love He gives us filled me with warmth and refreshed my soul from top to bottom! It's those kind of songs that gives me strength and the help to go about my day even when everything is going wrong. It's those old hymns that keep ringing in my mind that encourages me to be a wittness to my co-workers and the people who waits on me at the gas station. It's the songs like Amazing Grace that puts joy in my soul and a smile on my face. Those songs give me good food for thought. I suppose that is why I don't think I could ever listen to country music, rock, the old classics, or even generic Christmas music. They have no substance. They are not satisfying. Only my God can give me that kind of music!

Christmas Traditions

Our home is filled with traditions . . . especially around Christmas time! For some reason, Christmas seems like the best time to have traditions. Maybe it’s because it is one of the biggest holidays of the year, or because it’s a time when the whole family gathers together. Here are a few traditions we enjoy every year.

Open presents from our aunt and uncle. Since our aunt and uncle live up north over a thousand miles away from us, we very rarely spend the Christmas holiday together but send our presents through the mail. As little children excited about all the boxes under the tree, we would forget what our relatives gave us amongst all the gifts that we received Christmas morning. So we started the tradition of opening out aunt and uncles presents on Christmas Eve. It was always easier to remember what they gave us . . . and it was very nice to open them day early!

Pizza night. Every year on Christmas Eve we all make our own personal pan pizza with what every toppings we want. We don’t have to consider what the rest of our family may want on their pizza because it is all ours! This was started when a friend told mama that they had pizza on Christmas day every year. Mama decided that it would be fun to do something similar that is out of the ordinary. Of course, we all love this tradition because pizza is one of our favorite meals!

Cookie Baking. Normally, on Christmas Eve we all (with the exception of daddy and our oldest brother Ryan) bake and decorate Christmas cookies. They are not for Santa Clause, but for our own enjoyment. We get all the decorating bags and icing out and make candy canes, wreaths, stockings and snowmen. The cookies always look so pretty on the plate together.

Christmas morning. At 5:30 sharp, all of us five kids are awake and sitting by the beautifully lit Christmas tree that looks so pretty in the dark, admiring the beautiful presents that are piled underneath it. We are not allowed to wake up mama and daddy until 6:00, so we go through our stocking to see what treasures we can find. As soon as the clock strikes the long-awaited hour, we are in our parent’s room, jumping on their bed, and screaming “Merry Christmas!” By 6:15 all the presents are open! (This is the only day of the year that we wake up on our own will before 8:00!)

Traditions give us something to look forward to with anticipation. Christmas is always a wonderful day at our house! Some day when I have a family and home of my own I will be able to create my own traditions for my husband and kids . . . and we’ll probably still go “home” for the old traditions as well!

The Sound of Christmas

Have you ever wished you could find a Christmas CD that didn’t sing only of Santa Clause and Rudolf? A CD that glorifies God and his sons’ birth? The Rochester’s CD called Heaven’s Gift is just what my family has been looking for the past year or two. It includes Away in the Manger, The Greatest Christmas Tree, The First Noel, What Child is This and more. It is filled with great songs to put you in the Christmas spirit and get your mind on the true meaning of this fun holiday!