Today's Numbers

0-How many times I went outside today.

4-How many times Rob went outside today (to take care of our chickens, and for other reasons).

8-How many steps Jonathan took outside before he turned around and came back in the house because the snow was too deep.

2-How many steps are now showing leading up to our front porch (out of 5).

5-How many people I saw walking on the street in front of our house today.

10-How many snow mobiles drove past our house today. (Now that's the way to go!)

25-The number of laps Jonathan ran around the inside of our house.

55-The number of books Katie "read" to herself.

15-The number of books Katie wanted me to read to her.

20-The number of times I sat down to rest and then remembered something that I needed to do right away.

8-The number of times I sat down to rest and then two children climbed up on me to be tickled.

1-The number of times I sat down to rest and actually rested.

100-The number of times I blew my nose today (this stupid cold!)

45-The number of times Katie asked me what was wrong, and if I was sick.

24-The number of times Jonathan sneezed and I had to remind him to get a tissue.

1-Train set around our Christmas tree.

20-Days it will probably stay out.

2-Map makers planning where to put the other train track around the house. (I will keep you posted on this.)

9-Days that I have been enjoying this winter weather. It's been a lot of fun!

25 Hours Without Kids

We were able to take Jonathan and Katie over to my parent's house yesterday afternoon so that they could stay overnight. That is always a treat for them, as well as for Rob and I. So how have we been enjoying our 25 hours without kids?

I had a raging headache all day yesterday, which did not go away until late this morning. (I still have a slight headache.)

We ventured out to the craft store and to the bank after dropping off our kids.

Had a quiet dinner together (of breakfast cereal since I didn't feel good).

Went for a very fun drive through the area looking at Christmas lights. The homes look so fun in the snow!

Foot massages!!!

Sleeping in until 9:00 (for me). Mostly because of my headache.

Watching the snow blow around and feeling so glad that I can be inside where it is warm.

Rob and I working on our own individual projects around the house. It's amazing how much more you can get done when all persons under 7 years of age are not present!

We were hoping that maybe the kids could get snowed in at my parents so we could get another day home alone, but they only live 3 miles away, so that's not going to happen. (Plus they have a huge 4-wheel drive truck that I'm sure could handle the snow if we can't pick them up. sigh.) I guess I'll be grateful for what we got!

Snow Days!

We've been having a fun time at home on our snow days. We played out in the snow on Monday. (I made an incredibly good snowball throw at Rob, that left him with snow stuck in his glasses!) We've been working on a fun wintery puzzle.

Today the kids and I made things from flour and salt dough. We'll paint our creations tomorrow. They are going to be gifts for the grandparent's.

It's been fun having Rob home every day too. We celebrated our 13th anniversary yesterday.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Rob and I finally discovered why there are 12 Days of Christmas. That's how long it takes to decorate!

Day one (Tuesday evening): Pick up toys in living room, vacuum and then move the furniture around and around to make a space for the tree.

Day two (Wednesday evening): Jonathan and Katie help me hang up glitter covered snowflakes around the house, and colored tinsely garland on the stairs. After dinner we put "together" the tree.

Day three (this evening): We can't figure out how we managed to plug in the Christmas tree lights last year because our outlet has only two holes, and we have a three-pronged plug. After Rob spends 10 minutes rearranging cords and such, I begin winding my way around the tree. First, a string of colored lights. (Jonathan wants the tree to have colored lights, but that is the only sting we have.) Next, a string of white lights. Next...string numbers 3, 4, and 5 all don't work! That's all we have for tree lights. Since it is bedtime by this point, and the kids are begging to decorate the tree, we let them decorate the parts that already have lights on them. So the bottom half of our tree is decorated, but the top half is still bare.

We still have 9 more days to decorate!

Thanksgiving Fun

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Grandpa Don, (Rob's Dad) was up for a visit. He lives in California. With him came model trains and train track. So our home became transformed on Thursday into a Railroad Layout. Jonathan and Rob had fun setting up things too. The track went around the house-through the entry, dining room, kitchen and then into the living room.

Katie watched them set up the train. When she tired of that, she helped me in the kitchen. I was making my favorite dessert: Pumpkin Pie Cake. It turned out great! Here's a picture of Katie being cute.

Later in the afternoon we went to my Grandma's house for Dinner. We had a great time. Jonathan was very excited to entertain us during dessert. So he, Katie and their cousin Daylynn sang a few songs to us adults. They also did some very energetic dancing to music too. I think my son is going to be a performer when he grows up.

We finished the evening off by playing a rousing game of Yahtzee. Jonathan's first time playing it.

I am very thankful for my family!

Copy Cat #4

Something fun I copied from my friends' blogs: Just to get in the Christmas mood

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial (I’ve had spider issues in the past with real trees)

3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as possible after Thanksgiving!

4. When do you take the tree down? Rob insists we keep it up until Epiphany (Jan. 6th)

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Possibly my Cabbage Patch Baby

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad and Brother

8. Easiest person to buy for? My Mom, and my kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we got a really nice one for our wedding. We also have a playmobile set for the kids

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail—on the years that I do send them out.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can’t think of one off hand.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s a Wonderful life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually last minute—Sometime in December

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don’t think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge, and some cookies that I make that have an almond flavor

16. Lights on the tree? yes

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel a few miles to my family’s home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Roudolf---only when I sing the beginning of the Rudolph song.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I grew up opening them on Christmas eve, but now we do it on Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Advertising consists of Buying, Buying, Buying!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don’t have one

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We’ve always had different things for dinner each year.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Money to help me pay for my Real Estate bills!26. Who is most likely to respond to this? I'm not tagging anyone so whoever wants and easy way to post a blog!

Grace

I’ve been reading a great book. It is called Putting a Face On Grace. It’s written by Richard Blackaby (the son of Henry Blackaby (the guy who did the Experiencing God Bible Study).) This book has really given me some things to think about. How often do I forget the Grace that God has extended toward me? Many times! How often do I extend Grace toward others? Not as much as I could, I admit. Here’s an excerpt that I think does a good job communicating the premise of the book:

Grace: What It Is

Most Christians have a basic understanding of grace as the undeserved favor or mercy of God toward us. We know we have been saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8). But after salvation, many professing believers have little or no idea how grace impacts their daily lives. Grace is not a onetime gift from God. Because Christians continue to struggle with sin until the day they see Jesus face to face, we need God's grace every day of our lives. He continually supplies grace to His people in countless practical ways. Moreover--and this is where so many of us miss the point--He expects us to be channels of His grace to others.

We are not called to just bathe in grace; we are called to shower it upon others. Grace has not been fully experienced until it is fully expressed to others. The deeper our understanding of grace, the more we see the necessity of making it the fabric of our Christian life.

So, what do you think? I know that this book has really struck a chord with me. Not only am I trying to understand God’s grace toward me better but I am trying to be that grace to others. It’s not easy sometimes. Especially to members of my family. Understanding God’s grace and living it out has really deepened my worship of God. If you get a chance, try checking out this great book. (I got it from the Library). Let me know what your thoughts are.