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believe it or not.

we’ve already had one Christmas celebration.
B’s dad and his wife had us over for some early Christmas cheer.

here is L and L.

this photo was taken at a rather calm moment. 
those kind of moments were quite rare 
but that’s how it seems to be when all the cousins get together. 

little L loved being held by GrandDad. 



and here are all the munchkins.
ages:
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
so now you see why it is so chaotic. 


He went there to register with Mary, 
who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
Luke 2:5-6

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and, i’ve added a little tip to the advent tree diy.
just look for the text in red at the bottom. 


556. freshly baked zucchini muffins that are nearly gone 

(thanks for the recipe, Annie O!)
557. hot apple cider
558. the sweet little clink that my ring makes on the mug
559. being with an amazing group of women, some of which have gone through so very much. 
560. impromptu picnics on a simply gorgeous day

when you can’t get out.

while looking for who knows what,



this is what i heard:
“mom, help! i can’t get out!”



“mom, i found my way out all by myself!”


oh, these are the things that 
get me through the day around here.


p.s. i have no idea why my floors look so shiny in the photo. 
i can assure you that they are in desperate need of a mopping. 


 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree
that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
(This was the first census that took place 
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David,
because he belonged to the house and line of David.

Luke 2:1-4


this little blog made it to the fourth round!
i can’t believe it. 
thank you to all who have voted. 
please click on the icon above and 
vote for this little blog yet again
this week, the poll is in the center column!
(you can vote on each of your browsers, on your phone, ipad, etc.)

551. birthdays!
552. L and my half birthday (today)
553. the 8.5 hours of sleep i got. 
in one night. 
straight. 
554. fresh pink flowers on my counter
555. homemade ice cream cake

a question with an answer.

question:

what do you do when your husband is working late 
but your child desperately needs a haircut?
answer:

that’s right.
you bring the high chair in the bathroom 
so you can keep an eye on the littlest one. 
who of course will be thoroughly amused by the situation.

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, 
and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he has in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, 
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins. 
Matthew 1:19-21

and today is the last day to vote in this round!

just click on the icon above and 
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546. yet another fabulous children’s Christmas concert
547. playing outside until it’s much too dark
548. a happy little L during OT
549. artwork, artwork everywhere
550. that we’ve possibly figured out L’s sleep issues. 
possibly. 

the three snowpeople.

it’s {embrace} the camera day!






we have been relishing in the 
Christmastime activities around our house. 



while D was at school, 
K and i made sugar cookies,

created three little snow people
(which all melted into a big pile in the oven),

and enjoyed a matching second breakfast.

pure bliss.

He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as He promised our ancestors.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. 
Luke 1:53-56


speaking of pure bliss, 
my most talented and inspirationally God-fearing friend just opened up an etsy shop. 
her creations would be the perfect gift for that sweet little girl in your life. 

tomorrow is the last day to vote in this round!

just click on the icon above and 
vote for this little blog on the right side of the page!


541. preschool Christmas concerts
542. chatting without little ones interrupting
543. pretend birthday parties
544. B reading his funny sections to me
545. going to bed early. for everyone.

something musical.

have you heard the brand new hit song?

what? 
you haven’t?
oh, that’s too bad.
really.

it’s called,
“happy, happy new year,
tye tye.”
obviously.
and it’s written and sung by 
the one and only, K. 

the best part is, 
it’s sung
over and
over and
over
again until you and anyone else in the house
are promised to 
never
ever
forget any of the made-up words. 
ever.

it’s the big rage among three year olds.
big rage.

even little L is enthralled by the constant performance.

well, that and peek-a-boo. 


for the Mighty One has done great things for me– holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; 
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 
Luke 1:49-52

536. green glitter paint all over L
537. green glitter paint all over mommy
538. the end of the day
539. knowing that God is going to guide me in all of my decisions
540. not losing L 2 years ago today

it has to be done.

it is december and this is our idea of bundling up. 

and i think that this is not good enough.
so, B and i have decided that it has to be done.
what, you ask?



well, after perusing this lovely blog,
and after reading all about her adventures in the town where i grew up,
B and i have decided that we must take our children there.
in the winter.
with snow.
sometime.
i just hope that sometime will be sooner than later.
like maybe next year, hon?
it would be absolutely incredible. 
i just know it.
watching the skiers on bachelor 
(we’ve vowed to never ski again),
going ice skating,
going sledding,
drinking hot cocoa by a warm fire,
driving the family by the houses where i grew up
and seeing my grandparents’ old ranch. 


B loves the idea of a road trip.
i can just imagine the goodness of a trip like this.
it is going to be great. 
just great. 
one of these days, it will be done.
i hope. 


but until then, we’ll just sort of bundle up. 

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed.
Luke 1:46-48


531. that K must skip everywhere she goes
532. a day to get stuff done (thanks, mom & dad!)
533. running errands with only one child
534. getting a start 
(albeit late) on that wrapping
535. a coffee mug for the car that reminds me that i can have abundant joy

yo-yos.

so many of you have asked about 
this cute (if i say so myself) headband. 





it is so easy. 
you can’t not do it.
seriously, people. 
i can hardly tie a knot in thread. 
i’m not joking. 
and i have a hard time threading a needle unless the eye is super big.
but i can make these.
and now so can you. 


here’s what you’ll need:
headband
(i love the five headbands for $5 at h+m kids – 
which i too can wear – but you can use any kind.)
fabric scraps
needle and thread
felt
glue gun



first, trace two sizes of circles on the back side of fabric with a pencil. 
(the big yo-yos i made are about 3 & 3/4″ diameter.
yet another reason to get these bottles.)
i used a small bowl from the kitchen for the smaller yo-yos.



cut the circles out.

then take a break to help your “helper” made a sad looking ornament
(see, i told you, my sewing/crafting skills are not anything incredible).


then get back to work.
next, tie a knot (the hardest part for me)
and sew the thread through, really close together. 
(do you like my sewing terms?)



pull the thread as taut as possible and then tie a knot, 
cut the thread and voila!

figure out the ideal placement of the yo-yos on the headband.
(i like to have the yo-yos slightly on a side rather than directly on top)
place the yo-yos on the headband and 
using a glue gun, glue them to both the headband and an oval shape of felt. 
i just use one good dollop of glue per yo-yo. 

then, cut the felt so that it doesn’t show through the top of the headband.



and now you’re done!
my headbands usually have 5 or 6 yo-yos, 


but you could do any combination. 



and here K and i are with our matching headbands. 
oh, how i love to be matchy-matchy with my daughter.


here’s what i was inspired by.
the yo-yo possibilities are endless.

i have these on my mantle with everyone in the family’s initial.
this is the only place where i could find lowercase craft letters



this month, i’ll be posting the Scripture 
leading up to Christmas that i listed here. 


At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 
where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, 
the baby leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In a loud voice she exclaimed: 
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
As soon as the sound of your  greeting reached my ears,
the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Luke 1:39-45


round three has now begun. 

please vote again for this little blog 
so that it can stay in the running!

(just click on the icon above and vote on the right side of the page)

Photobucket


526. L’s new singing abilities
527. a morning off (kind of)
528. a lovely new therapist for L
529. quiet saturday mornings
530. friends who hear sermons on the radio and email because they’ve thought of me

advent tree.

well, i am so sorry that i am not getting this out 
into the blogging world until today.
i tried, oh how i tried,
to get this done sooner,
but it just didn’t happen.
you know how that goes.

the kids have their advent calendars but this one is for me.
i put it high up on the mantle so little fingers can not touch it. 
(hopefully)

so here goes… 
the advent tree

i was inspired by this and this. 

first, i spray painted some branches.
well, actually, i started to spray paint some branches 
but then i ran out of my new favorite color of paint. 
so the two littles and i went to our local craft store and
(of course)
they were out of that color. 
does that ever happen to you?
it happens to me 
all.
of.
the.
time. 
seriously. everywhere i go. 
anyway, i got some acrylic paint
(because i can be flexible)
in the same color and hand painted the remaining branches that way. 
that was definitely not the most ideal way to do this, but oh well!

i then cut little squares out of white cardstock
which were 2″ by 2″
then, i punched a hole in one of the corners and
wrote the numbers 1 through 25
at a diagonal angle in each corner.

i wrapped each square into a cone and taped them. 
i then filled each cone with God’s Word (see the list below).
i wrote each Scripture on a piece of brown paper bag
(which has each adjoining cone number written on the back),
and folded them to fit. 
the Scripture i used is the Christmas story compiled from both Matthew and Luke,
which a mom at my mom’s group gave out a few years ago.
it was driving me crazy that i couldn’t remember where i had placed it. 
well, lo and behold, when i opened up 
my Christmas decorations storage bin, there it was!
hooray. 
i’m more organized that i thought. 
well, not really, but at least i found it.

day 1. — Matthew 1:18
day 2. — Luke 1:28-33
day 3. — Luke 1:34-35
day 4. — 1:36-37
day 5. — Luke 1:38
day 6. — Luke 1:39-45
day 7. — Luke 1:46-48
day 8. — Luke 1:49-52
day 9. — Luke 1:53-56
day 10. — Matthew 1:19-21
day 11. — Matthew 1:22-23
day 12. — Matthew 1:24-25
day 13. — Luke 2:1-4
day 14. — Luke 2:5-6
day 15. — Luke 2:7
day 16. — Luke 2:8-12
day 17. — Luke 2:13-14
day 18. — Luke 2:15-16
day 19. — Luke 2:17-19
day 20. — Luke 2:20
day 21. — Matthew 2:1-2
day 22. — Matthew 2:3-6
day 23. — Matthew 2:7-8
day 24. — Matthew 2:9-10
day 25. — Matthew 2:11

just don’t look too closely 
or you will see that only 
days one through three have Scripture in them.
i’ll get there. 
slowly but surely. 

here is the advent tree in yellow advent for Auntie B. 


addendum:
maybe some of you who made the tree did it this way already,
but i was feeling a tad overwhelmed by
needing to write the entire Scripture passage on
each piece of paper. 
while lamenting over this to Auntie B, 
she simply suggested that i write the verse address only.
problem solved!


“How will this be” Mary asked the angel,
“since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:34-35



Photobucket

and today is the last day to vote for this little blog!

(for this round)
(just click on the icon above and vote on the right side of the page)
(you can vote on each of your browsers, on your phone, ipad, etc.)

521. frosted sugar cookies
522. messy, messy kitchens
523. sprinkles on the floor
524. the bigs dancing
525. country Christmas music
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