Another Christmas Gone

So another Christmas is over, and this is what our tree ended up looking like.  My oldest two sons assembled the tree.  Then the oldest son put the lights on it.  Then the younger three and my mom put the ornaments on it.  My youngest son began putting the ribbon on, but it did not completely work.  So my husband made some minor adjustments and this is what it looked like after it was deemed to be complete.

We went to a candlelight Christmas Eve service that included singing, drama, Scripture readings and candles.  It was a fairly good service.  Christmas morning we planned on getting up and attending church, but our plans were changed.  Our daughter woke up not feeling good, so we decided it was best to all stay home rather than split up the family.

My three sons helped keep their sister entertained.  We had a quiet day and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  We had a pot roast, rice, green beans and corn along with my husband’s homemade biscuits.

We watched some movies as a family along with playing a rousing game of Yahtzee, which our oldest won.  Then we fixed a buffet including tuna fish salad, shrimp salad, boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce, carrot sticks, crackers, cheese, olives, pickles and other items.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Now it is time to start preparing for the start of a new year.  How did your Christmas go?  I would love to hear from you.

#Christmasmemories  #Holidays

Christmas Past and Present

So it used to be every year without fail my husband and I would put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Then life with children started affecting our ability to do that. Every year, it seems like it gets later and later before our tree is up. I watch post after post on Facebook showing others who have their trees and decorations up. We also used to put up outside lights, but that has become hit or miss being in the military. Some houses lend themselves to it, while others do not.

We used to take the time to make candy, do crafts along with other activities, but some of those have gone by the wayside now. This does not mean I do not still enjoy doing those things. It just means that other things are taking priority. I still enjoy sitting by the tree either at night or first thing in the morning with the love of my life gazing at the lights.

In the past, my husband set up the tree and put the lights, but now that job has been passed to my oldest son. I have to say my husband has actually done an excellent job teaching Jacob how to do the job. Last night, while unpacking some of our Christmas things, my husband found Christmas lights we had forgotten we had bought.

You see last year we bought 12 strands of lights that were unequivocally duds. Each and every day, without fail, a strand of lights would go out. “Poof” a strand would go out. Let me say my son gets gold stars for being able to remove and rearrange strands of lights on a fully decorated tree. It was definitely a challenging task. But he came through with flying colors. This year we are sending prayers that our lights work better.

So when Thursday rolls around, we will try to finish decorating our tree and I will post pictures of the final product.

So what special activities do you do for the holidays?  I would love to hear from you.

Preparing for 2016

  So 2015 is quickly winding down and 2016 is fast approaching.  Last year, I read all over the Internet about picking a word for the year.  So I picked “Create” and I still plan on using that as one of my words and verses for the year.

I want to continue “creating” in 2016.  I wat to create memories, dreams and new adventures with our family as we transition from life in central Pennsylvania to life in Texas.  I want to “delight” in where we are being placed by God.  I want to find the desires of my heart and work towards reaching those dreams.  I want to look to God as the source of my strenght and delight.  Even though I may not understand His plan for my life, I can choose to bloom where He has and is planting me.

In 2016, I want to strive to help my children reach towards these ideas ass well – especially in our homeschooling adventure.  Some many opportunities and doors will be opening with this move even though some doors are closing.  All my life I have lived on the East Coast, so this is a new adventure.  May God bless our steps and lead our paths in the ways He would have us go.

I also want to work on my Bible Journaling more.  I want to spend more time in meaningful interaction with my heavenly Father.  I also want to spend more time on creative pursuits – including crocheting, quilting,  and learning other artisitic pursuits.

I pray for your Christmas or holidays to be blessed.  Enjoy your time with your family and friends.

Been a While

So it has been a while since I have posted.  The Christmas holiday has come and gone and a new year has started.  This past weekend we took down our Christmas tree and decorations.  The living room seems bare with it gone, and it is darker without the bright white Christmas tree lights.  We are starting to settle back into the routine of school.

I have been reading quite a bit and have completed several books.  Now I am getting ready to dive into Bible and Art Journaling along with trying to organize our home.  I am also prepared to get back to posting on a more regular basis.  What is going on in your world?   I would love to hear from you.

Missed the weekend

So I missed posting this past weekend.  We  had a lot going on here.  On Saturday I spent part of the day recuperating from preparations for our Army Reserve Christmas party.  Then Sunday we actually had our Army Reserve Christmas party.  I feel like the party was a great success.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  Yesterday (Monday) I did not do a lot.  I am glad this week is a lot calmer.  The biggest thing we have to do is go to the reserve unit on Friday so we can put away all the leftover toys.  Everything is labeled so it will be fairly easy to do.  My second and third sons were a tremendous help getting the boxes organized.

GLANCE AT OUR WEEK – NaBloPoMo Day 7

So it is Sunday and rather than doing a week in review post, I thought I would do a post giving a glimpse into our upcoming week.  Monday and Tuesday will be normal days of homeschool, housework and chores.

Wednesday, Dennis, Joseph and I will be making a trip over near Allentown, PA to pick up gifts from Operation Homefront for our Army Reserve Unit Christmas Party.  This will basically be an all day affair.

Thursday we will spend the day at the unit getting the gifts organized for the Christmas party.  Also on Thursday we will be going to our local Walmart to pick up additional presents that are coming in on a truck for our reserve unit.  Friday will be spent working on the gifts more and getting things ready for the party.

Saturday will either be spent at the unit finishing things up for the Christmas party or catching up on things at the house.

Then next Sunday we will have our Army Reserve Family Day Christmas party.  After that, we will be kicking things into high gear to get things ready around our home for Christmas.

So how is your week shaping up?

#NaBloPoMo December 2014 Day 2 – A Surprise that Made Me Happy

Today is day 2 of the NaBloPoMo challenge for December 2014.  I want to share about a surprise that made me happy.  Eighteen years ago our oldest son was born.  At the time we had no rocking chair.  He was born in June and I just had to make do.  As Christmas approached (as he does every year), my husband gave me no idea of what kind of Christmas present he was going to get me.  I should add he is insanely good at keeping a secret and our second son is just as talented at keeping secrets.

On Christmas morning, when we were exchanging presents, imagine my surprise to see a glider rocker as one of my presents.  It was absolutely perfect.  Fast forward to now and I still have that rocking chair.  It needs a little tlc, but I still love the chair and the thought that went into picking it out.  I have to say my husband is amazing at picking out gifts.

So what is one surprise you received that you absolutely loved?

WOW, I Did It! I Completed NaNoWriMo and NoBloPoMo for November

Well I officially did it.  I successfully completed the NaNoWriMo challenge, meaning I have officially written at least 50,000 words in an original novel by me.  I had just heard about these two challenges in November, but decided to attempt to complete them both.  After all I had everything to gain by trying and nothing to lose.  So I stepped out on faith and was amazed this evening to be able to write this post saying I completed both challenges.  I am amazed that I did them both.

I know that some people knew what I was trying to do, but I did not really broadcast it to everyone.  Now I want all my friends to know what I have done with God’s help.  I know it had to be Him on provided the inspiration and that helped the words flow freely.  I truly am amazed at His goodness and mercy.  I still need to finish the novel, because for some crazy reason, fifty thousand words was not enough to complete what I wanted to say.  But there is not much left.  Plus I can already see this book is going to need at least one sequel to complete the story.  I am not willing to commit beyond that.

Today is also the first day of Advent.  Unfortunately my advent wreath is up in the attic still, so I am praying I can convince my children to bring down our Christmas tree tomorrow.  At least my Christmas tree is up even if we don’t have any lights or decorations on it yet.

So what is up in your world today?