See Ya Later, Alligator

Today is the last day of 2013 and I’m not all that excited to see it go. It’s been a year of more mountain tops than valleys, so it’s not like I’m just dying to rush it out and ring something else in.

Time just keeps ticking and ticking and ticking on by – where did 2013 go?! Days with my Wrexy seem shorter and my kids keep growing up without permission! While it is such a joy to see the little adults they are becoming, I don’t want to miss a single day with any of them. I want to take it slow and press it all into the wrinkles in my brain so I don’t forget these days. My life with my little family is significantly more blessed than I ever could’ve imagine for myself. Who am I that He would bestow such merciful blessings on me?

Highlights of 2013

We were blessed with a sweet baby boy (on tax day – he’s redeeming it!)…

Isn't the the cutest?! He was about 5 hours old here... — Isn’t he the cutest?! He was about 5 hours old here…

Sawyer turned 3 and got to celebrate with a host of family and friends…

She requested a cat party so cat party we had!

We got to go on a vacation to Denver and make lots of memories as a family…

At the Children's Museum - one of many fun stops! — At the Children’s Museum – one of many fun stops!

Sawyer got to show her first goat…

We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary by bowling as a family…

Wryder slept and the rest of us had fun!

We traveled to Kansas to witness one of our best friends’ wedding…

I got to act out my obedience to the Lord and start this blog…

It's been SUCH a blessing! — It’s been SUCH a blessing!

Sawyer got to be in our neighbor’s wedding…

We got to spend time with the majority of the Phipps family at a cousin’s wedding…

Add all of that to everyday blessings plus visits from family and friends…

2013 was good!

Where did it go? It went by in family dinners, road trips and snuggle sessions…in Cubbies meetings, sale barns and swimming pools…in weddings and pony rides and birthday parties and midnight feedings and suppers in the kitchen and jumps on the trampoline…those everyday moments that make up minutes and hours and days and weeks and months and years and LIFE. I sit here sentimental, cherishing each one…

but I shall embrace 2014 just the same.

You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees.

The Lord has been so good to us…and we pray…

…let 2014 be more about You and less about us.

…let 2014 be more full of grace and love and mercy and kindness and self-discipline and joy and less of their oppositions.

…let 2014 be more about Your will and less about ours.

…let 2014 be about YOU. And only YOU.

Happy new year to you and yours!

I am the Nativity

My “adopted mom” wrote this a couple of Christmases ago and it might just be my favorite thing she’s written…and I have a lot of favorites when it comes to her.

These words came pouring from her heart as a prayer one morning and it is goose-bump inducing beauty. PLEASE (yes, I’m begging!) take a minute to slow down and soak in the pieces of the Christmas scene. It will be well worth your time. ***click on the green link below***

http://www.jeanierhoades.com/i-am-the-nativity/

Christmas Eve Eve

Since Christmas Eve will end up being a little busy for us with church and all, we decided to let the kids open a fun little present tonight, on Christmas Eve’s eve. I put together a box with new pajamas, snuggly animals, popcorn, pop, cocoa and a little note saying that we were going to have pizza, pop and popcorn for supper while we watched a special Christmas movie!

Sawyer woke up with a fever this morning and hasn’t felt great today. Poor girl. I think the present made her feel a little better.

She was really excited about her new jammies and her teddy! She has a soft place for all things cozy and cuddly.

Brother looked pretty cute in his santa jammies, too. Who doesn’t love a little something on a baby’s tush!?

We had to take pictures in front of the tree, with our new animal friends, no less.

Daddy read one of Sawyer’s favorite Christmas books while I got the pizza ready and Wryder sort of paid attention.

One of Sawyer’s Boz movies had a preview for a movie called The Very First Noel. We are BIG Boz fans and it’s produced by the same company so I assumed it would be good, but I couldn’t find it anywhere! They aren’t producing them anymore and the only used ones I could find were $35. YIKES. Enter YouTube. We found it online and I am sooooo glad we did! If you have the chance to watch it, DO IT! It’s the Christmas story told from a wiseman’s perspective and is incredibly well done. Sawyer loved it, as did the rest of us.

I love having special time with my little family. My parents always did a good job of making Christmas memorable for us and I hope Sawyer and Wryder say the same about us one day.

HE is worth making a fuss about…as are they.

Light Lookin’

Tonight was such a good night, in my book. Sawyer has been dying to go look at Christmas lights so when everyone woke up from nap, we got Wryder fed, threw some cookies in the oven and headed to town!

Someone was quite proud of her sprinkling... — Someone was quite proud of her sprinkling…

Mom wasn't paying attention on this one... — Mom wasn’t paying attention on this one…

I’m not sure what spurred it on, but little miss was insistent upon cookies and hot chocolate while we went light looking…and that was right up everyone’s alley!

Holyoke has quite a few houses with good lights so we paraded up and down the streets with our snacks, Sirius Christmas tunes and a light falling snow – could it get any better?!

We tried to go look at lights last year on Christmas night. We had had such a wonderful day celebrating with just the three of us and we decided that if we wanted to see lights, we better go that night before people started taking them down. So we loaded up and headed to town. It had snowed off and on for days and as we were driving into town, we met up with a black cow. Someone’s cattle had gotten out and were all over the road. Wrex slammed on the brakes as soon as he saw it but with oncoming traffic, we ended up not being able to go anywhere except right into the side of the cow.

It was incredibly scary for me. I don’t do well with surprises, especially unpleasant ones and hitting a cow is a pretty dangerous thing. We smacked it hard enough that it went 50 feet or so, the air bags popped out, ambulances were dispatched (the county rule if airbags pop)…it was not a fun experience. BUT…the Lord was so incredibly gracious and good to us. None of us had a scratch on us or were even sore the next day. Our neighbors (whom we love like family) left their family Christmas celebration and picked us up, drove Sawyer to the one house out here in the sticks that had lights and then took us to their house and fed us supper. Jesus in the flesh, those people.

Wrex’s truck was smoked; the radiator was almost in the cab. It was only a 2011 so it wasn’t totaled, but there was like $14,000 in damage.

Very thankful tonight turned out differently. We made it home safely, ate some soup and then we all curled up to watch The Sound of Music.

We have MUCH to celebrate this Christmas. We have a Father that sent His Son to earth over 2,000 years ago so that we may live with Him eternally. We have a God that protects us and looks out for us and spares us. We have a warm house and food in our pantry and gifts under our tree. We have two healthy, compassionate children who love to spend time with us and whom we love to spend time with. We have daddy all to ourselves for 14 out of the next 16 days – a daddy who has a job that he loves and that loves him back.

We are a blessed people, no doubt about it. Praying your night has been as enjoyable as ours!

Jesse Tree

Sawyer is such an amazing little girl, if I do say so myself. She has such an inquisitive nature and has always been really interested in learning. On top of that, her memory is absolutely incredible. She’s been memorizing scripture ever since she was about 18 months old and she has well over 50 verses committed to memory right now. We are careful to foster these things in her and to fill her mind with things worth remembering – thus the Jesse Tree.

Our "tree" part isn't so pretty. I'll work on that for next year - ha! This was the we gotta get this ready to go by December version... — Our “tree” part isn’t so pretty. I’ll work on that for next year – ha! This was the we gotta get this ready to go by December version…

The Jesse Tree is our version of Christmas advent calendar. I love this season as much as anyone and while I’m completely game for baking cookies and making ornaments and having fun experiences, I also want her to really get WHO we’re celebrating and WHY. So, while we definitely do those things, we attempt make our main focus JESUS.

Each night, we take an ornament piece, a person in the lineage of Christ, and learn about them and how they are tied to, and point to, Jesus.

Jesus was promised by God to His people long before He was born. In Isaiah, we read that Jesus would be a “shoot,” like a new sprout that grows on a bush or tree, from the family tree of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, a great king of Israel, and Jesus was born 1,000 years after Him. The tree starts at creation and points to the coming of the Messiah with each story.

There's a rich history on this board... — There’s a rich history on this board…

I feel like she learned quite a bit last year, but this year she has just amazed me with how much she’s taking away from every scripture. And? It’s good for her mom and dad, too. In a world that has watered down the true meaning of the mass of Christ, it’s so good to reset our focus on HIM.

You can find quite a few different versions online if you want to do this at your own house – which I highly encourage. We got this pattern from a woman at our old church back in Denver and it has served us well so far.

I pray you keep your minds and eyes and ears and hearts attuned to One whom we celebrate this season..the shoot of Jesse, that bears new fruit…

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
He will delight in obeying the Lord.
    He will not judge by appearance
    nor make a decision based on hearsay.
He will give justice to the poor
    and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
    and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
He will wear righteousness like a belt
    and truth like an undergarment.

In that day the heir to David’s throne
    will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
The nations will rally to him,
    and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

Never in a Million Years

Yesterday, you got to revel in the complete preciousness of Sawyer and Wryder. Today? The whole family! Stormie took soooo many – it was hard to choose just a few to showcase here but these are my faves – enjoy!

Honestly, that last one might be fave because it’s just sooooooo Wrex! I chickened out using it for our Christmas card because I didn’t want to offend anyone. 😉 If Wryder was looking at that camera, you might’ve had to shield your eyes opening your envelope.

I am so thankful for these photos. They are the first official family photos we’ve had done with kiddos and I love that Stormie captured this season of our life. Even more so, I’m thankful for my little family. Never in a million years did I dream I’d be this blessed. Never in a million years did I expect to have a husband as wonderful and kind and patient and forgiving and gracious and loving as Wrex. Never in a million years did I think I’d have kids as sweet and kind and smart and cute and compassionate as these two little loves. Never in a million years did I think I’d be this divinely happy to share my life and my time and my resources and my energy with such wonderful beings. Never in a million years would I have really believed that this kind of love existed. But I assure you – it does.

I have delighted in Him and He has given me the desires of my heart. I am forever grateful…forever singing His praises…forever turning my gift back to Him…forever…for a million years plus forever…

Living Room Christmas Tour

So, you’ve already explored the tree but I thought I’d share the rest of the living room with you. It’s pretty eclectic but I dig it!

Sawyer loves books, just like her mom and dad, so we put all of the Christmas books in one place and read at least three a day!

I got this super tiny nativity set when Wrex and I first got married and I love it! It’s just so sweet…and perfect for little hands to play with.

A SUPER TINY nativity that I LOVE! — So cute, yes?

I got this fabulous piece of work from a dear, dear woman and it’s probably my favorite thing in my house right now. It’s DIVINE.

The triangle tree is our advent calendar of sorts called a Jesse tree, which I’ll do a separate post on at some point. It recaps Jesus’ lineage as a shoot of the tree of Jesse and continually points everything back to Him. Sawyer LOVES it, as do we!

The eclectic wall... — The eclectic wall…

I love these cowboy santas – they are so very Wrex!

DSCF0791 — They look a little like Willie Nelson, yes?

My other favorite nativity is this one with the woodland bears. Baby Jesus is just so stinkin’ cute!

DSCF0793 — Someone can’t keep their hands off of this one either. 😉

These guys are quite handsome, too! I love the old fashioned colored lights and have several little jars of them.

DSCF0801 — I love the stick horse in Cowboy Santa’s sack…

All of this red and green and gold just delights me and brings great joy! It just feels so warm and inviting!

Can’t forget the stockings!! We don’t have a fireplace, but the stair banister works fabulously.

DSCF0796 — Maybe next year there will be five! **I am NOT pregnant at this time! See the comments section for updated information!** 😉

We made this star out of yardsticks and I love how it turned out, though I don’t feel like my photography skills do it any justice. :/

This guy might show up at a MOPS meeting this week, too…..

We can’t forget the felt tree! We made this last year so Sawyer could have her own tree to decorate over and over again – still a hit!

Wrex cut out the tree pattern. He’s a whiz with scissors! Me? Not so much…

My little house feels so cozy and warm with all of the lights and red, green and gold. For me, these things point me to Jesus – for He is why we do this at all…

Tree Time

Before we left for Denver, a certain little girl pleaded to put up the Christmas tree. She was quite convincing, so despite the extra work, we did just that!

Daddy has no problem setting the tree up…

But he’s not a fan of “fluffing” the branches…

Our house doesn’t have just a ton of open space, so our tall skinny tree fits perfectly!

DSCF0814 — Seeing this everyday makes me smile.

I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas; I like traditional colors and ornaments that mean something or were passed down or tell a story.

Our tree is full of Wrex and I’s ornaments from when we were younger, along with ones for the kids and ones we got when we were first married, etc. I LOVE the rich history that is hanging on that tree!

My favorite ornament of Wrexy's...a little hereford calf! — My favorite ornament of Wrexy’s – a little Hereford calf!

We went a little more woodsy this year and added this tree branch garland. We made this for a friend’s wedding this summer and re-used it as part of our Christmas decor.

We collected branches and then Wrex cut them into disks, drilled holes and then threaded twine through them. I really like how rustic and organic they look.

garland — We might be seeing this at MOPS meeting soon…

I’ve never owned a tree skirt. I always end up finding something fun (fake snow, felt, etc.) and making due. This year, I grabbed a couple of burlap feed sacks from the stash I have that is still BEGGING to be made into curtains. (I’ll get to that…in all of my spare time, ya know. HA!) I wrapped them around the base and voila! Cute enough for me!

I love this time of year and all that it represents. Let us not forget that if we make it about anything other than Jesus the Christ, then it is not Christmas. He IS the reason we celebrate and decorate and give and feast! Merry Christmas, friends!

Keep an eye out for a full living room tour this week!

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

This video is making it’s way across the web and may I just say – AH-MAY-ZING. Those cats are talented! Gifted! Anointed! It’s incredible. Goosegump inducing awesomeness. Watch it, would ya?

The lyrics of this old favorite caught me and flat jostled me upon hearing them; moved me in a way they never have before.

This little drummer boy is heading out to see the King; the King of Kings, in fact. He sees those around him gathering up the finest gifts they can find for this new born babe. But he? He has no gift. He has nothing to give that is worthy of this royalty.

I am a poor boy, too – pa rum pum pum pum

I have no gift to bring – pa rum pum pum pum

That’s fit to give the King – pa rum pum pum pum

I kind of chuckled because I feel his pain. I get that – we are in the same boat, my drumming friend. There is so much I want to do and so much I want to give and so much I want to give towards, but it’s hard right now. In this season of ThanksGIVING, I want to open my hands wide and pour out blessing after blessing after blessing to honor Him but I find myself short. What can I give? What can I bestow that would honor the King in a way He deserves? Even if I was a millionaire, what could I lavish Him with that would be worthy enough? What could I heap upon Him that would beat in line with His heart?

Shall I play for you – pa rum pum pum pum –

on my drum?

I played my drum for Him – pa rum pum pum pum

I played my best for Him – pa rum pum pum pum

In those moments, the Lord spoke to me and showed me how I can give gifts to Him using what I do have; gifts that are worthy of a King, gifts that would still truly honor Him.

Speak kindly to your husband and your kids. (This season of life can get crazy. Boundary testing and sleep training and diaper changing and shoe tieing all on top of the holidays – don’t let it rule you. These people are your biggest blessing; let your words make them know that.)

Be patient with them. (No one is going to do things exactly as you would do them. Your husband trusts this home to you and is willing to help when needed, so show him some grace. Your kids are only little once. They’re still learning how to do things and how not to do things. Show them some grace.)

Enjoy them. (My second best gift to you is under your roof. Take delight in them. Their differences, their similarities, their quirks and their ticks. Press into those hugs and be quick to make memories.)

Spend quality time with them. (Time is ticking by, isn’t it? Let the dishes rot in the sink. Let the floors be covered in crumbs. Let the laundry go and resort to mismatched clothes. Play more dress up. Play more farm. Play more games. Read more books. Leave a legacy of the fear of the Lord, not a legacy of cleanliness.)

Spend quality time with Me. (Oh! I have much to show and teach you. About you. About Me. I long to be with you even more than you long to be with your family. Hard to fathom, yes? But it’s true. Keep carving out chunks for me and I promise to keep meeting you like I did today, too.)

Tell them what I’ve done for you. (I’ve saved you from so much and am saving you still! I don’t want mediocrity for you. I don’t want survival for you. I want life and life abundantly for you!)

These are gifts that will definitely delight Me.

Then He smiled at me – pa rum pum pum pum

Me and my drum – pa rum pum pum pum

Six simple gifts that will genuinely bless His heart and bring honor to His name. Isn’t that my goal after all? I have much to be thankful for, much to sing His praises about…and much to give in return. Happy Thanksgiving, friends! May your heart beat in line with the King of Kings and may you lift up thanks to Him today.

Pa rum pum pum pum…

The Home of the Brave

Thank you, veterans, for giving up your time, safety and comfort to protect our country…though a simple ‘thank you’ doesn’t quite seem adequate.

Thank you for sacrificing family time and better paying jobs and holidays and familial milestones so that my family can continue to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Most definitely, the home of the brave.

Thank you for those who fought on the front lines and for those behind the scenes and for all of the families that you left behind that supported you all the while. I have much respect for the military wife. I was most definitely not made to be one.

Thank you for defending our borders and our freedoms. May we never forget you and the personal things you surrendered so that we don’t have to surrender to our enemies.

May we, the Church – the hands and feet of the the most gracious Provider and Defender and Protector – always stand for you, assist you and aid you when you need it most.

Father, we could never thank our military men and women enough for their courageous service and sacrifice to our country and its people. Yet today we lift up our voices to express gratefulness and honor to these military troops both from the past and present. Show us ways in our communities, churches, and families to thank and love them better. Keep and protect these heroes and their families, in the powerful name of Jesus. (militaryfamiliespray.com)

***As part of our continued month of gratefulness, we are writing to military men and women via the Holiday Mail for Heroes program. I encourage you to take time to do the same.***