Abundant Blessings

We've never filled stockings for our kids at Christmastime. I've always wanted to, but I've never gotten around to it. This year I decided to do it. I needed to go to Target this morning for a few things, so I thought I might pick them up there. As I sat on the couch this morning, I contemplated how I would fill each stocking, and then it struck me...this isn't going to be cheap! Purchasing four stockings and enough stuff to fill them wouldn't be a good idea this year with Phil in school.

I sat there, kind of sad about the whole thing, but then went outside to warm up the car. As I was outside, I noticed some footprints in the snow, leading up to our front porch. I followed them, and there was a box sitting by our front door.

This was what I found inside the box from my sweet Aunt!


Four filled stockings! Attached to each stocking is an ornament with each child's name.



Yes, that's a Starbucks gift card on top of the Christmas potholder and towel set!

"God does not measure out His goodness as the apothecary counts his drops and measures his potions slowly and exactly, drop by drop. God's way is always characterized by plenteous abundance and overflowing bounty. 'O Lord, cease Thy blessings; it is enough. I am only a clay vessel and can contain no more!'"

--F. B. Meyer

...Best I Can Do!

We're headed out the door right now for Phil's school Christmas party. I thought I might take a few pictures of the kids in front of the tree since they're all dressed up.

Mmm!

Don't you wish you were my neighbor now? This is what I'm taking to a few of them once the chocolate hardens.

Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread (which requires 3 sticks of butter!)

Will I be sampling any of these? If I'm good, NO! Because here's my new motto:


I posted it on the mirror above my kitchen sink. I'll let you know if it works.

Something you probably didn't want to know...

Last night while I was changing Lily's diaper, I noticed something shiny. "Is this foil?" I thought.

Ah ha! That's where Caleb's Hershey kiss went! He was given a Christmas treat bag at Cubbies on Wednesday night, and one of his Hershey kisses went missing!

Lily's not one for wasting time when it comes to food. She either didn't want to bother with the wrapper, or she heard someone coming. That's my girl!

"Hi, Daddy!"

Phil set up his study area downstairs in the basement on the previous owner's workbench. It's been a great study area for him. We're trying to organize our basement, so Phil builds shelves for storage as he has free time. The kids are not allowed in the study area, because his laptop computer and very expensive medical books are kept there. Jared and Caleb discovered that they can lay on the new set of shelves Phil built this weekend and watch him study. They talked about it all through dinner tonight...

"Daddy, are you going to study tonight? May we watch you? Caleb, let's watch Daddy study, okay?"

Here they are in their new favorite spot. Can you see Jared's chin in the picture? He leaned up against a cookie sheet that I had just taken out of the oven. He wanted to smell the cookies. Ouch!

Little Blessings

Things remain hectic around here with the girls getting their molars and with finals week for Phil. Just when I think I can't take anymore, the Lord sends along little blessings. Yesterday a sweet friend of mine came by and brought dinner (spaghetti and the BEST meatballs, salad, garlic bread, brownies and Christmas tea). Phil and I attended church with this family 5 years ago when we lived in Marysville, WA. They live here in Spokane now.

Today, the doorbell rang and on my porch stood a former boss from Safeway and his wife with two boxes of Christmas treats! I worked as a bagger for Larry 13 years ago in Lakeport, CA. They heard that Phil and I had moved up to Spokane, so they tracked us down! They stayed and talked for about 2 hours--it's always nice to have adult conversation now and then. I'm so thankful that the Lord sends encouragement just when I need it.

Our Gingerbread House

We attempted to put together this gingerbread house after lunch today. The kids had a great time. Here's the finished product.




Lily ate most of the candy in her bowl, and did what we call, "sneak-a-bite" with the frosting on her side of the house. She was a little frustrated that the candy she did have left wouldn't stick to the roof.

Christmas Activity

I found this great Read-Aloud Story and Activity Book at the Christian book store. It contains 52 stories with reproducible activity pages.




The kids taped wrapping paper to the gifts in their pictures and decorated the trees with ornament stickers while I read the story to them.

Look What Came Today!

Gordie and Phyllis sent these beautiful flowers to us today. Isn't the gingerbread house adorable? We've had a couple of trying weeks with Phil's finals and both girls cutting their 2 year molars. These flowers brightened our day!

Nana

My Great Grandma, lovingly called Nana, passed away two years ago today. She was 6 months shy of turning 100 when she died. I have such sweet memories of her. She always had special treats for her visitors--usually cookies, but sometimes she had chocolate Eskimo Bars. When I smell lemons, I'm reminded of the lemon tree in her front yard. I have a great collection of Williams-Sonoma cookbooks, thanks to her!

She passed away when my girls were 3 weeks old. I regret that they weren't able to meet her. She was ill before she died, and it wouldn't have been wise to take our newborn daughters to visit her in the hospital. For those 3 short weeks, there were 5 living generations of women on my side of the family.

Here are a couple of pictures of Jared and Nana, taken back in 2003. In the first picture, they're playing "Pat-a-Cake" and in the second picture, they're playing "This Little Piggy."

"Mending Wall"

"Good fences make good neighbors," says Robert Frost in his poem, "Mending Wall."

Now that we have snow etiquette down, we're on to fence etiquette. What should we do if our backyard fence is looking a little shabby? (This isn't a picture of our fence, by the way). Phil's question: if we mention it to the neighbors first, do we have to pay for it?

I've had this kind of a day...

Christmas Sheets

We let the kids open one of their Christmas presents last night...Christmas sheets! I found these crib/toddler bed sheets for the girls awhile ago at Pottery Barn, but I couldn't find any reasonably priced twin sheet sets for the boys until I found these at Target last weekend. Caleb was a little disappointed that his present wasn't a new DVD, but he warmed up to his gift eventually.


Here's Gracie playing on Caleb's bed.

A Healthy Mocha?

I like to bring Phil something warm to drink while he's studying at night. Tonight's specialty is a decaf peppermint mocha. I don't have whipped cream. Oh well. Milk foam is much healthier anyway, right?

Advent

The boys enjoy Advent calendars during the month of December. I found these adorable 3-D village church calendars at the Hallmark store this afternoon. I redeemed my Gold Crown Reward Certificate and paid only $1 for each!