Christmas, Christmas time is here.....???

"It wouldn't be Christmas without xyz"
How often have you heard this or a similar exclamation from friends,family,and complete strangers?
Your answer should be "Well,yes, yes it would be."

Whether you have a real tree, a fake tree,  or no tree....the angel STILL appeared to Mary all those years ago and told her a baby would be  born of her virgin's womb

"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus" Luke 1:30-31

Whether you bake Christmas cookies or put up lights, it doesn't change the fact that Jesus came to be our bread and our light...

I think it's sort of funny that we think we are stressed at Christmas time.
What about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Don't you think she was stressed despite being blessed? She was a pregnant, unwed teenager, in a day and time when that was an unheard of, stoning offense.
She had to travel,at full term, to a far away city, on the back of a donkey.
She was then turned away from every inn because there was no room for them.
She gave birth in a dirty stable, which experts believe was little more than a cave or rock shelter.
She then had to flee to Egypt, again  probably on foot, or donkey, with a small baby.
But we're stressed because the mall parking lot is full? Or the hot toy of the year is sold out?
And yet, look how she responds in spite of those stressors...

38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

• Luke 1:46-56: The Magnificat: Mary's Song of Joy and Praise of Yahweh

46 And Mary said,
47 "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness (tapeinosen) of his servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly (tapeinous);
53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

REALLY people?

This woman gave birth to a son whom she knew would die to save others. She gave birth, knowing she would watch him die.
What a sacrafice, what emotions must have flooded her as she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in that manger.
Mary chose to focus on her blessings, not her stressors.



I'm sorry if I'm being scattered, or redundant, but I just think it is so so so silly to get stressed over Christmas.

Family Heirlooms

These are the little felt figures that my Grandma Mary made many many many years ago. My dad estimates them to be over 50 years old. They are my favorite Christmas decoration and have been M.I.A the past few years. When we found them this year I was soo excited, I was jumping up and down and yelling "Woo hoo!!"

They are so darling, and so special and they say Christmas to me!

Angel

Three wisemen

Snowman

Santa

Choir girl

What is your favorite, or most special Christmas decoration?

God blessed the broken road, that led me straight to you...

Today is my five year wedding anniversary.
The weather here in Michigan today mimics the day I got married back in 2005. Cold, gray, blustery, and with a bit of spotty snow clinging in patches and blowing around.

My hair was perfect. My makeup was perfect. My dress, nails, jewelery, and shoes, all perfect.
My marriage, well, not so perfect.

We have had some bumps in our road. Everyone has bumps, so perhaps it should be said that we've had some mountains to overcome in our journey. It's been a rough and rocky five years.
But, there isn't anyone else I would want to be married to.
When I cry there is no one else I want to wipe my tears. When I'm scared there is no one else I want to hold my hand. When I'm happy there is no one else I want to share that joy with other than MY husband.
He's not perfect and honestly some days I can't stand to be around him, but he's my husband. He's not my best friend. I hear people say that about their husband's and that's all well and good for them, but I don't want a best friend in him. I want just what I have.
He adores me, I adore him.

Alot of other people don't understand us, and that's ok, they don't have to. Alot of people want to judge us, and that's ok too, they are entitled to their uninformed, outside opinions.
God destined me to marry Nick, and though I haven't loved every minute of our five years of marriage, I do love him, and I love being married to him.
Today I look back on the 5 years we've had. The fun, the love, the tears, and I"m thankful for every single day. Anything worth doing isn't going to be easy, and we both work to make our relationship the best that it can be for us.

So today, I just want to say I love you to my darling husband Nicolas, I'm looking forward to a lifetime of love, laughter, and beautiful babies with you!

If I could click up a new wardrobe...

What I would wear to our MOPS party/ornament exchange.

What I would wear out with Hubby on our 5th anniversary.

What I would wear Christmas tree hunting...


(from modcloth.com, etsy.com, and zappos.com)

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7 (all from http://www.walmart.com/)
#8  (I might be partial because this little fella is just so darn cute!)
#9
#10  (from http://www.shutterfly.com/)


These are my top Christmas card choices as of now. I still have to take the kids pictures to put on whatever card I select...just as soon as my mom finishes sewing them :-) they are adorable, red and green and gingerbready little outfits....so I'm afraid #3 wouldn't look good with their clothes.
Anyone have any input on the card background?

Bitter

Someone in my bible study used the word bitter to describe herself, and it just resounded within me...
I even wrote it in my notebook/journal...
I am bitter. I have been for a few years.
Two of the defintions I found for bitter are: Hard to bear, grievous, distressful   and   causing pain, piercing, stinging.
I have become a bitter person.
I don't like that about myself.
I don't know how to change it.
And I'm unjustified in it.
I'm bitter because my husband lost his job two years ago, and hasn't had steady work since, but alot of people are out of work and struggling right now.
I'm bitter because I can't get pregnant on my own, and we want more children desperately, but alot of people can never get pregnant, some people get pregnant and lose their babies, their children, I have NO right to be bitter about my infertility and yet, I am.
I'm bitter because I can't lose weight.
I'm bitter because I feel ugly.
I'm bitter because my family is without our own home right now. I'm bitter that I had to leave the little house I loved on Emerson Av. because we couldn't afford it. But I am blessed by my parents generosity in letting us stay with them.
I'm bitter that my van refuses to run for more than 3 months at a time. I'm bitter that my husband's car has a broken window we can't find a replacement for, or been able to fix ourselves, and my kids have to be bundled head to foot and still freeze when riding in it. But I am blessed to be able to use my dad's car alot of the time.
I'm bitter that I feel my place is home with my children and yet others think and suggest I should be working. I'm just bitter. Blessed in so many ways, yet I still can't help but feel disouraged by all of these things, and so, I'm bitter.

Write your caption for these pictures...I'll post mine in a day or so :)

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It's an unseasonably warm and sunny November afternoon. Our family decides to take advantage and have a lunch picnic in the park. If this was one of "those" blogs I would say something like this:
We enjoyed a lovely picnic in the park today. The golden sunlight streamed through the sparse leaves clinging to the branches of the trees overhead. A few sparrows swooped and dove in the brush and branches around us. The kids sat nicely on the blanket nibbling fruits and organic vegetables, and all kinds of other simple, natural things. Their BPA free sippie cups filled with filtered water they sipped as we enjoyed each other's company and the day.

However, it's not one of "those" blogs. It's my blog. And in my efforts to be genuine, authentic, and honest i have to tell you how this picnic really went down.
We stopped at Meijer on the way to the park because we had no real travel able food at home. We bought lunchables, jelly beans, ding dongs, and I will admit at the very least raisins and pears. There was a plethora of whining from our 4 year old who didn't "Yike" her chicken nugget lunchable, which she hadn't even tried a single bite of. Not to mention we argued with her in the store when SHE picked it that she probably should make a different choice. Several whining, screaming minutes later, and with the threat of leaving without a nature walk, she nibbled a bite. More whining and attempted negotiations ensued as she tried to wriggle out of eating the measly two chicken nuggets Daddy told her she had to eat to earn a nature walk. Meanwhile the baby was shoveling his face full of the same lunchable chicken nuggets, slathered lavishly in ketchup. Then he ate a box of raisins, a tiny pear, and a cupcake. Both kids swilled silver rectangles of fruit punch the size of their faces.
However, despite her very best efforts, our 4 year old did NOT ruin our picnic...would it have been more enjoyable had she sat nicely, eaten the food she picked without complaint, wiped her mouth, threw her trash away and skipped off onto a sweet little earthen path through the woods. Well, yea! However it wouldn't have made her a kid.
Kids are messy. They're complicated. Often their whiny. Their legs hurt, they have to go potty, or they just plain don't want to. And you know what? That's OK. She's only 4. It's easy to forget sometimes just how small and new they still are as whiny, crabby, demanding, messy toddlers and preschoolers. Sometimes it feels like they are doing these things just to irritate us and make our lives more difficult and complex. But honestly, they're not. They are just little. The world is still a big and confusing place that they are learning how to get along in.
And honestly I don't like green beans and if you tried to make me eat two of them before I could do something I really wanted to do, I just might whine and cry and carry on too!
:-)
Oh, and the nature walk...stunning, breathtaking, and enjoyable as ever!!
God is so good and has blessed me...(ME!?!) with this wonderful family.

It's almost that time of year again!!

My bff and I have been going shopping in the wee hours of the morning on Black Friday for 6 years now, this will be our 7th Black Friday morning in a few weeks.

Can I admit I go as much for those uninturupted hours in the dark with her, as for the deals?

It starts weeks beforehand when we begin planning our route and strategy.

We meet in the dark, our breath cloudy between us as we sit in a frosty car, nibbling my dad's famous rolls, sipping hot coffee, and waiting for the window's to clear. I torture her with Christmas music and she complains its too early for it, though we are in fact getting ready to  go CHRISTMAS shopping.

We reach our destination half an hour to an hour before opening time. We sit in the toasty car enjoying our refreshments and laughing at the shivering people already in line.

When the door opens we wander in after the initial rush. It's more our style to move at our own rate and not be swept into the crush and press of folks vying to be the first through those glass and chrome doors.

We drift through the crowd, our hands clasped, or holding onto a fold of clothing to stay together. Once arms are full we post one of us in an aisile, the other bobbing and weaving through throngs of people, some bogged down by carts and strollers, to snatch the last few items we have planned to get.  We join a line that seems miles long snaking upand down the rows. We make friends with the people in line around us.We pay, and escape to the now cold car, and pull off to hit the next store on our list.

By nine thirty/ten o'clock we are finished. We are tired. We are hungry. So, it's time for breakfast. We stop and eat and talk about the morning.

Then we hit to dollar tree for paper and tape, and we head back to an empty  house and wrap what we've just purchased as we complain about how tired we are.

She helps me load my gifts into my car and we say our good byes.Though we've been together sometimes as many as 9 hours at this point, it's still a little disappointing to be leaving, to be breaking up the morning of fun, friendship and frugal finds.

All of this to say....my kids don't NEED anything I can get on Black Friday. They don't need plastic toys, or cheaply made clothes, they don't need pretty packages tied with ribbons to make it Christmas.

But, I do need my Black Friday, just her and I. It's tradition. And traditions, even simple, surface ones are what make the Holiday special. 

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then I'm in trouble...

A friend of mine recently posted on her blog, a breakdown/tutorial of how she gets ready for house guests. It was very well written and informative. However, I do things a bit differently around here....lol. Now she was referring to long term, repeat offenders  guests, from out of town. My guests are from the area and are only coming for one evening. Just the same, quite different in our approach ;-)

• 1-1.5 weeks before: Start thinking, man I really need to start doing some organzing/clean up to get ready for Tuesday's meeting. Then do nothing
• 1 week before: move three items to a different location in an early attempt to "organize", otherwise known as hide stuff where it can't be seen
• The weekend before: hide some stacks of papers in drawers where no one will be able to find them when they need them. Consider sweeping, mopping, more stashing, etc but decide the kids will just mess it up before Tuesday night anyway. Instead go to the mall and look at things you can't afford to buy.
• The day before. Clean off one windowsill. Light a candle. Stash a few things off the bathroom countertop. Write a blog and play on facebook inbetween playing with the kids.
• The day of: (this will be tomorrow FYI) run around like a crazy person all day,doing various small jobs that the children then just mess up.Sit them in front of the t.v and try to get more stuff done, get distracted by computer, phone, dinner plans, crocheting, etc.
• One hour before: Run around screaming at people to please stop making messes and just get out of the way. Throw clutter in a closet or down the stairs. Wipe counters and tables.Set up extra chairs. Make dessert and beverages, lay them out in some kind of pretty/neat way. Realize you were supposed to prepare a devotional. Ignore the rest of the cleaning, assure yourself they all have young kids too and therefore won't mind/will understand. Rustle up a devotional. Worry the devotional is too deep, too surfacey, too something. Give up and greet guests with a smile.

Ok, so I'm going to try to do better this time. But I know myself, and I have a feeling at 6 p.m. tomorrow night I will be a crazed chicken minus a head trying to finish up.

Guess I should go stash some more clutter huh?

Brown Paper packages, tied up with string...

...

Giant doily rugs...I'm working on my own version right now!! Can't wait to find some cotton rope to start another one.

newborn babes...

lock and key tattoos

Used books

impractical, but cute boots

Thrift store fashion

vintage costume jewlery

And DYI designer candles made with stamps and Stayz On Ink...

What are a few of your favorite things right now?