Making new traditions - Merry Christmas!!!

This year was our very first year to celebrate Christmas by ourselves as a family.  We had no other family in town, no one visiting, we weren't traveling, we were here, at home, by ourselves.  And I gotta be honest, it was AWESOME!  We had SUCH a great time as a family.  Not to discredit the times with other family, but it was a time when we could make our own traditions.   

Our church had it's church services on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas.  We didn't spend much time with Lee Christmas Eve because he was at church most of the day for the four services that our church had.  It was such a special service and we are so thankful for all who put in so much time to make it that way.  After the service we had a friend and her two kiddos over.  The adults basically stood in the kitchen and snacked on things on the stove while the kiddos played.  It was a late night and the girls didn't get in bed until about 11, but we had fun!

So back to Christmas.  Christmas morning we all slept in.  Well, our kids don't really sleep in, but we had a lazy morning.  I would never admit it of course, but we may, just may have spent the entire day in our pajamas.  I will never tell though:)  We let the girls open their stockings, read the Christmas story and had the girls act it out with their Little People nativity, and then opened presents.  The girls were SO grateful and appreciative for all of their presents.  They kept saying, "thank you, thank you."  They wanted to share and were so thoughtful to each other!  It was really cool to see.

Two of Ana's favorite presents came in her stocking, a pack of gum and a box of princess band-aids.  She almost went through the entire package of gum yesterday.  Yes, she was chewing a piece all day except for when she was eating, but she was also sharing.  She made sure anyone that didn't have a piece DID have one.  And of course she had MANY owies that needed band-aids, and Lee and I didn't realize it, but we had SO many owies that needed band-aids, and their princess dolls they got for Christmas did too.  We were covered in band-aids from head to toe:)  And then there were the stickers (another stocking gift)...you can only imagine. 

 

This Christmas we decided to get the girls just one gift and then their stocking stuffers.  They each gratefully received one of these adorable princess dolls. 

 

Which one is the real Christmas princess?

We also let the girls buy each other a present (if they wanted to, which they both did) with their own money that they have earned from doing chores during the year.  Ana got Isabel this puzzle, which is really 3 puzzles that connect into one large one.  A fun project during the day. 

And then there is Klara.  Her 1st Christmas!  She is really SO sweet! 

Instead of the traditional turkey or ham Christmas dinner, we had steak and twice baked potatoes, followed by "Nordine" dessert (if you don't know what this is, invite yourself over sometime and we'll make it for you).  Lee and I both said it was a tradition we could get used to.

Another highlight was calling & texting family & friends throughout the day, some we don't get to see or talk to often.

And this is what Lee and I wanted to do all day after staying up late the night before being little elves

 

Again, a great day!  We feel blessed!  A wonderful day to celebrate our Creator, our Savior, the birth of our King, the GREATEST gift of all!

“Glory to God in the highest,
   and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Ana on Owls

She does have a slight cold so her voice sounds a little funny.  She looked through this book for about 15 min. just talking about the owls.  Here is 2 minutes of her conversation.

2011 Merry Christmas

 Commentary from taking this picture.  "Look at the camera!  No, don't sit down!  Look, look, look!  Say Monkey.  Ok, I'm the only one looking at the camera.  Let's try this again."

 A little better...

My dad is awesome

My dad and Pacquiao!  If you don't know who Pacquiao is, google him.  EVERYONE in the Philippines knows who Pacquiao is.  Pacquiao's children attend the same school as my nephews and Pacquiao was there watching the school's Christmas program!  My dad claims Pacquiao wanted HIS autograph and wanted his picture taken with him, but the crowds around him made it too crazy...I don't know if I'm buying it...I'm just sayin':)  Love you dad!

 

My brother and his boys

I don't get many pictures of my brother and his family, he lives on the other side of the world, so when I get one I like to share it!  So here's Jon and the boys for all of our family that don't get to see them much either:

Guess that Nordine?

Can you guess the order of Nordine's? 

Couch time with Ana

Conversation #1

Lee: Ana, are you going to give mommy natural highlights (aka gray hair)?

Ana: No, Mommy doesn't have highwipes.


Conversation #2

Lee: Ana, do you know what this is?  This is Mommy's comfort arm.  You hold on to it and snuggle it and it's her comfort arm.

Ana: No it's not.

Me: What is it?

Ana: It's your armpit.

Andrew Peterson Concert

Last night we had the privilege of being invited to attend Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God Christmas concert.  Andrew calls it, "The true tall tale of the coming of Christ."

The last time we heard Andrew Peterson live was nearly 10 years ago at Lee's junior/senior banquet while at Moody.  The concert was at Navy Pier in downtown Chicago in this beautiful ballroom and Andrew was the entertainment for the evening.  It was a fun night and still has lots of fun memories for us.   

JSB nearly 10 years ago

So last night, we went along with our worship pastor, Brad, and his wife, Janelle.  I'm pretty sure Brad and Lee were both drooling the entire concert over all the amazing music, instruments, and equipment.  It was a great concert, and a great reminder of why we really celebrate Christmas.  If you ever have the chance to go, GO!  I know, I should have gotten my picture taken with him 10 years later.  Oh well, maybe we'll have to go again next year:)   

Oh Christmas Tree

It's one of my favorite things to do.  Decorate our live Christmas tree.  I can't get enough of that pine smell in our house.  This year we decided to try a time lapse of the decorating process.  It's not easy taking a picture every two minutes with little hands wanting to help touch the camera ("don't move it"), but we managed to capture the process.  We'll be able to remember after getting all the lights on, and most of the ornaments, that the fuse blew because we had too many lights strung together, and we'll be able to remember the glass ornament falling off the tree and breaking, and we'll be able to remember little hands wanting to desperately put every ornament in the exact same spot.  What a special time! 

 Klara's 1st Christmas tree

Taking time to say thanks

Taking time to say thanks

It seems like each year, our nation celebrates Thanksgiving less and less, making Christmas a priority, less the "Christ" part too. The Black Friday store hours open earlier, the stores are OPEN on Thanksgiving. Yet year after year we have been the blessed ones. We haven't had to work. We've been able to spend time as a family. As we were enjoying each others company today, I thought, this is it. This is what God intended when he first created the garden, Adam, and Eve. He wanted His creation to enjoy one another, live together, and enjoy His Creation. So today I'm thankful for what God intended, and I'm thankful that in this sinful world I got to see a glimpse of it. And most of all, I'm thankful He sent His son, Jesus, who took away my biggest problem!

"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" - 2 Corinthians 9:15

Thanksgiving weekend 2011

Just hangin' out

Thanksgiving dinner with friends
A trip to the Museum Center to see the Holiday Trains (none of which we got pictures of...Oops)

Picking out our live Christmas tree...Is this the one?
Klara helped too
Nope...this is the one.

Nighttime Bible Reading

While reading the story of Blind Bartimaeus:

me: And what do you think happened next?

Ana: and then, Zacchaeus ate the Wisemen

(much laughter)

Ya'll didn't know we owned a Horse Ranch, did ya?

Christmas came early for us this year with my family. We celebrated last week with my parents as we won't be with them for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. It was a fun celebration, including an early Thanksgiving dinner. We have SO much to be thankful for! The girls are a little confused as to when Christmas really is (Isabel was asking me if it was almost Valentine's Day), but I'm sure they'll get the idea as it gets closer.

We had several presents to share, and then my parents presented us with this...our very own Horse Ranch, made with love by both of them. No horse ranch would be complete without horses, cowgirls, a fence, and a tractor of course.

And guess who slept through it all

Perspective

This is a blog post I have been working on for awhile, and I don't really know that it's done yet. I've been going back, changing things, rethinking things. Some of my posts never get posted that I start. But I wanted to share what I have so far with this one because I feel like the topic has come up in my life a lot lately, and maybe others can add input too.


Do you ever wonder why God has placed you where he has placed you?

I was nursing Klara in bed the other night and asked Lee if he could get me some water. He, in a minute or less, walked effortlessly to our kitchen and brought me a bottle of fresh water. I recently read in a friends newsletter who does missions outreach work in Africa about these women who walk miles everyday just to have fresh water. Their organization raised money to help them buy sewing machines so they could earn an income and have food to eat.

Isabel the other day said, "Mommy, I'm starving." Yet, in her lifetime she has never really know or felt what "to starve" is really like, or know where her next meal is coming from, if she gets one.

So why do I get to live in suburban America, and drive a minivan, and go to a shopping mall, eat in restaurants, and worship freely? I don't really know other than the fact that God will and can use me in "such a time as this."

Our pastor recently did some messages on worry. One illustration he used was of an Indian man that when others would be in a situation that they might worry, he would reply, "I am the chosen one." How true. God, in his sovereignty, chose him at that time to be in the place where he was at. I think it applies to more than just worry though. It applies to every aspect of life. When you're hurting, when you're in a time of joy - you are the chosen one for that moment in your life.

I think it's good to gain perspective on life. Last evening my hubby was working late and I was looking at my past blog posts from earlier this year. I am SO thankful that I have this record of the joys and trials that God has brought me through this past year. It really amazes me that things that seemed SO significant at a certain point in my life, now don't seem that way.

The ministry I work for is coming out with a new book, and I didn't intentionally mean to plug this book, but it does fit great with what I'm talking about. Here is an excerpt from the book:

"In a mosaic, the artist arranges pieces of cut or broken stone or tile, called tesserae, to create a decorative pattern. We may struggle to grasp the overall design of a mosaic when we’re looking at the individual pieces up close. All we see are what look like pieces of junk, broken and useless. But when we step back far enough to view the entire mosaic, we gain a new perspective, and we can see the intricate beauty of the finished masterpiece. And that enables us to grasp the original intent of the artist."

God is the artist and only he can see how everything works out! Looking forward to more and more pieces he has in my life to put my picture together, or rather His picture!

Yesterday we took Ana to the ER, today I came down with a yucky bug, and then Lee on his way to run an errand with the girls got a flat tire, and Ana had an accident in her carseat while he was changing the tire. I don't understand why these thing happen. I do understand that it is my job to trust, to trust in Christ with the picture he's making of my life and to remember it's for His Glory and our good, and to be thankful because "I am the chosen one."

to be continued...

I think I've seen this before...

I think I've seen this scenario before...oh yes, I have...because the SAME THING happened 8 months ago. Ana girl had a collision with the corner of the wall again. Another trip to the ER. She was in really good spirits though and was a great little trooper and charmed all the nurses! Thankful for her and thankful it wasn't worse!

And then there were 5!

Thank you Lauren Bryson for capturing our family of 5 so beautifully!!! You are so talented! Just a few of my favorites...

Fall or is it already Winter?

Time has been flying by. This little munchkin is already 2 months old and endured her 2 months shots well. She is a healthy little bug at 10 lb. 4 oz. now and we are so thankful to have her part of our family!She's lovedand has the biggest smile

So we've had lots of fall happenings and I haven't been able to get to the computer to post them so here is a little catch up...

A trip to the zoo

A trip with grandma and papa to a horse farm

A trip to the pumpkin patch

Only a few weeks left of fall...where did it go?