Moving Week

Howdy all!!

Since it is moving week, I am going to take a short break from blogging so that I can get everything done!!  I will blog short posts just to keep you updated with the process, but otherwise I will be back next Monday!

See ya then!

Guest Post Movie Review - Rise of the Guardians

***Farm Hunting Update - Wow!  Yesterday was sooo crazy!  I told you how AcCOWntant's dental crown broke and he had to get it fixed on Thursday, well, yesterday at lunch the temporary crown broke.  So...he headed back to the dentist's office and they put on another temporary crown.  When he finally got back to work he took a bite of a soft sugar cookie and it broke again!!!  :)

At that point we just had to laugh!!

The mortgage company keeps calling us asking us how they should do certain things.  How in the world would we know??!!  Crazy day!

Then to top it all off, last night DD's 3 and 4 snuggled with me in bed as we all fell asleep.  I awoke to #4 throwing up all over #3!  We had the biggest mess I had ever seen!  Honestly, we all ended up covered in it...YUCK!!  I should have grabbed my camera to document that one!!!  :)

And again, we just had to laugh!!

So we are still waiting to hear from the appraisal and the mortgage company is still trying to obtain a piece of paper that should be extremely simple to get.  But...my God is still in control!!***

Guest Post Movie Review - Rise of the Guardians

We have a guest post today!! My oldest daughter is heading off to college next year to study her passions of math and science. 

But she is also a brilliant writer and avid movie watcher so here is what she thought about Rise of the Guardians....

Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians is an enjoyable story with a creative perspective on classic characters. It has many beautiful messages and touching moments. It teaches about self-sacrifice, laying your life down for others, and overcoming fears; and granted everyone in our family a few laughs.

The villain, his nightmare horse minions, and some of the scenes could be frightening for children. Also, religious overtones are blended with mythical characters (Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc.). These religious aspects include references to listening to the Man in the Moon when he speaks, the Man on the Moon giving Jack Frost his magical abilities and bringing him back to life, and the mythical characters watching over the children of the world. Though the mythical creatures guard the children of the world, they can only do so if the children believe, because, if they stop, the they will lose their strength.

These are the only issues that our family found with the movie. Despite these,  and with a little clarification for the younger set, our whole family found “Rise of the Guardians” to be an enjoyable and appropriate family movie with deeper lessons as well.

Plugged In Movie Reviews offers more in-depth reviews at pluggedin.com, as does Dove Reviews at dove.org.

One of THOSE Days!!

Ever have one of THOSE days??  Yes?  Me too!  In fact, I had one on Tuesday :)

You know how the day went........

I woke up already feeling a bit off kilter.  Less than two hours into the day we had spent $200 to have a garage door fixed that we did not even know would need fixed. 

It seemed to get better, but then halfway through the day Farmer Willie calls to inform me that as he was eating lunch, a sandwich no less, a crown on a tooth cracked in half!  So he was heading to the dentist that afternoon.

Dentist says we need to fork over $300 to get it fixed!

Then realtor calls, while hubby is in the dental chair, and says the mortgage company forgot to order the appraisal!  Now, they had told our agent on Tuesday of last week that it was all taken care of and they told us the same thing last Wednesday!  FRUSTRATING!!

Then the mortgage company sends us an email saying that they can't get our VA certificate of eligibility and we need to call the VA.  Of course we got the email at 5pm, when they closed!!

At this point I was done and ready to just crawl into my bed and try to pretend the day was a dream! 

But then I thought, if I let my bad day end this way, where is His glory?  How am I showing faith and obedience by crawling into bed and pretending that the day did not happen?

So....I tried to focus on the blessings that became more apparent because of the trials! 

Here is how I saw God during that yucky day!!

• We had the money to get the garage door fixed.  We might have had to give up a couple of fun things we had planned, but thank the Lord we were ABLE to have it fixed.
• We found a nice and fair priced man to fix it for us and he was able to fix it early in the day.
• AcCOWntant actually has a job to go to and eat his lunch at, even if that lunch broke his crown.
• AcCOWntant had food to eat for lunch.
• We have good dental insurance, so instead of paying $1000, we only had to pay $300. 
• Again, we had the money to pay for the dental work.  May have had to give up a couple more fun things we had planned, but my hubby has his tooth fixed and is not in any pain.
• Though they told us that the appraisal could take up to two weeks after it was ordered, our appraisal officer called later that evening and did the appraisal yesterday.
• We are still working on helping the mortgage company get the certificate.  We can't get it ourselves because the VA requires the lender to do it, but we are staying in touch with them to make sure it gets done.  But we are THANKFUL for the VA loan program that gives veterans help in purchasing homes.

So in the end, many of the issues were solved before I even went to bed that night!  The ones that were not....well, I will remember that even though I don't really have a lot of faith in our lender at this moment, I do have faith in the Lord and He is the one I look to!!

Menu Monday!!

***Farm Hunting Update - This weekend was a weekend of destruction!!  Remember the wall that started like this?

 

Then when we knew it had to come down, it became this...

Our great graffiti wall!!

Well, this weekend it all ended!!  We put our goggles on, grabbed our hammers and went to town!!

Some enjoyed this more than others....

But in the end, we found the garage door!!!  (though we did not find the ceiling rails or track :()

So to summarize our update.....1 Wall + 4 Girls with goggles and hammers = FUN day!!!***

Menu Monday

Monday Breakfast - Whole Wheat Banana Muffins/Eggs/Melons
Monday Lunch - We usually meet my mom for lunch on this day!
Monday Dinner - Sandwiches/Fruit (We have deep cleaning as a family after dinner on Mondays. We have found that if we all work together, we can get it done in about 1 1/2 hours and then we have a special "clean house" dessert!!)
Monday Snack - Mix of nuts, seeds and chocolate chips

Tuesday Breakfast - Eggs/Whole Wheat Biscuits/Hash Browns with Peppers/Citrus Fruit
Tuesday Lunch - Tomato Soup/Grilled Cheese
Tuesday Dinner - Chicken Enchiladas/Brown Rice/Black Beans/Avocado Slices
Tuesday Snack - Sonic Happy Hour Run for Slushies

Wednesday Breakfast - Whole Wheat Waffles/Peanut Butter/Strawberries
Wednesday Lunch - Cheese Quesadillas/Salsa/Tortilla Chips
Wednesday Dinner - Fettuccine Alfredo/Green Beans/Salad
Wednesday Snack - Peanut Butter Balls

Thursday Breakfast - Cinnamon Bread/Cream Cheese/Strawberries
Thursday Lunch - Sandwiches/Fruit
Thursday Dinner - Egg and Turkey Sausage Burritos/Fruit
Thursday Snack - Peanut Butter Balls

Friday Breakfast - Yogurt/Granola/Fruit/Nuts
Friday Lunch -Turkey and Cheese Wraps/Carrot Sticks/Grapes/Organic Chocolate Bar
Friday Dinner - Baked Chicken/Steamed Broccoli/Mashed Potatoes
Friday Snack- Popcorn with Fresh Mozzarella

One Month - Roll With It!!

Mornin'!!!!

I can't believe that it has been one month since I started this blog!!  And I can't believe that in that month we went from deciding to start looking at property to buy to packing up to move in less than two weeks!!  It has been a crazy whirlwind!

We are still waiting for the VA to come and decide to do the appraisal, but as soon as that is done, we are closing and wrapping it up!

In the meantime we are packing.  Ummmmm, not so fun!!

For the first couple of days, we were smitten with packing.  The big boxes all around, the noise of ripping the packing tape off of the roll.  Yes, we were on a moving high.  Now....not so much!!

Remember how awesomely organized I had our back room?  It was full of beautifully labeled boxes.  There were some Christmas boxes pushed to the side, but all in all it looked like we were packing pros!!

Now it looks like this...

I kid you not, about half of the boxes have now been UNPACKED!!!!  We will remember something that we need and oops!  I already packed it!  Then we go dig through the boxes :)

The nice stack of empty boxes waiting to be used has now become the things that forts are made of!!

Yes, packing is fun for a day or two, but then life resumes and it becomes a bit of a pain!!

We have had a nice month though and I have already learned some lessons!

1. Be careful that you don't pack things you need :)  Whatever made me think I could get through our last two weeks of school without our schoolbooks??!!
2. When you are moving, you must be okay with a messy house!!  The first week I tried to keep everything neat, but it eventually started to drive me CRAZY!!  So...now if you come over, you might find a box set aside in the bathroom that is only half packed because life interrupted me!
3. Casual entertaining!!!  This is a biggie!  We love to have people over and did not want to give that up just because we are moving.  So, we had a caroling party last night.  It was very informal, but soooo fun!!  My house was a mess and I asked everyone to bring their own words to the carols and a snack to share.  It was a great time of fellowship and no one went away mad because my house was not up to par!!

     4.  Did I mention don't pack things you need??  :)
     5.  Patience!!  NOTHING seems to happen on schedule when buying a house.  Or should I
          say NOTHING seems to happen on my schedule when buying a house, but I rest in the fact
          that it does happen on God's schedule and His is perfect!!
     6.  Learn to live life around the uncertainties and incompletes.  I usually don't function well when
          dealing with uncertainties, but I had to learn! Otherwise I would have a month of uselessness!!
     7.  DON"T PACK THINGS YOU NEED!!!  Oops, did I mention that already??!!

Along with these lessons have been some sweet moments...

• DD #3 has been trying to wake up before me (which is pretty hard because I tend to get up early!) and pack boxes.  At first this was frustrating because she was not doing it "my way."  But I had to stop and look at the blessing that she was bestowing upon me.  And I can figure out what is in the boxes when I unpack them at the new house (or possibly here if I keep packing things I need!).
• We are converting our garage room back to a garage so we are knocking down a temporary wall that we put up.  This has allowed us to engage in the art of graffiti!!  Sooo fun!!

• The town we are moving to has a legend of an alien ship crashing nearby.  To commemorate or move, my hubby bought us this ornament

These are just a few of the sweet moments that have occurred in the chaos that we are now calling life!!

So, my overall lesson for the month is to roll with it!!!  When you know God is in control, the best thing to do is to just hand Him the wheel and sit back to visit with him!!

What Is It Really About? - In The Family

***Farm Hunting Update:  Well, we spoke with the mortgage company yesterday and everything is good to go except for the appraisal.  Since we are getting a VA loan we don't have a lot of control over that.  We should hear something within the next week.  Once that is done we are heading to closing!!***

What Is It Really About? - In The Family

Today brings a close to our series on determining and applying your family's purpose for Christmas.  We have looked at how to apply it in your home, and in your community, and we conclude by looking at how to apply it within our family.

Applying our purpose within the family is often left in the dust during the holiday season.  We get caught up in doing things with our family, but we forget to do things for our family besides buying gifts.  And while gifts are definitely a way to give, there are so many other ways and opportunities that, to just stop at gift giving is a waste.

How you apply this principle will be very different for each family because each family member has different needs and desires.  But the goal is to make yourself more aware of opportunities that come up.

One thing William and I try to do is watch closely for any child needing extra attention.  We have a belief that if a child feels they need more attention, then they do.  It might not make sense to us as maybe we spend all day, every day with them and we feel like we show them tons of attention, but if they think they need it, then they do for one reason or another. 

So we watch the girls for clues that they need more attention.  Some of the clues that I have noticed is that they pull away when someone else is being praised (there are heart issues that cause this as well, but either way it demands more attention).  For kids that are around elementary school age they may try to sit in your lap or cuddle more often, sometimes even seeming to behave in a way that you don't think is appropriate for their age.  Sometimes they just come right out and say it!!

It is easy for us to get caught up in all of the activities, be it good activities, and leave family members feeling left behind.

Make a point each day to show your children and husband that you are thinking about them.  For my family, this usually involves touch, be it a back rub, snuggling on the couch or just talking while I gently touch their shoulder. 

I am not a very touchy person so I have to make an effort to do this since it is not my natural response.  Yet it seems that everyone else in my family is naturally touchy!!

Get enough sleep!!  Nothing ruins a fun time quicker than tired parents or children!!  I know that it is hard to stay on your regular night time schedule, but it is important to try.  Fatigue also causes your immune system to slow down and you want to keep everyone healthy!!

Now, this one is hard for me, but we try and continue eating right.  I know that we throw in some special treats and meals and that is a-okay!!  But don't make it an everyday occurrence as you will end up with a sluggish family and a bunch of tummy aches.

Slow down and notice all of the love letters that the Lord leaves you and your family throughout the day.  If you will just take the time to look for them, you will be amazed at the many ways the He has put in place to remind you of His presence.

My final tip is one we have talked about before, but is sooo important!  Make sure your family maintains individual time with the Lord each day.  If you are too busy for this, then you are too busy!

My family is one of the greatest blessings that the Lord has given me.  I hate to think of them feeling devalued because I become too busy to deal with or bless them.  So begin each day with a song (my favorite way to wake them up!!) and a prayer and end it with a kiss and a prayer because each day with our family is a gift.  And that is one gift that we want to appreciate and treasure daily!!

What Is It Really About? - In The Community (Part 2)

***Farm Hunting Update - Cold Feet!!  That about sums up the last couple of days for me.  Lately when I start thinking about what we are doing, I almost can't breath!  What in the world are we thinking leaving the safety of our little house here?  Leaving our neighbors, friends, doctors, pharmacy, grocery store, dentist??!!

I have found myself thinking "Oh, maybe the appraisal won't go through!!  Then we don't have to move."  Shame on ME!!

God has a plan and with that plan, He provides the strength.  Not only to get through the process (which involves a lot of waiting and unknowns, which I DON'T like!), but He will also provide new doctor's, new grocery stores, and the knowledge we need to raise our family where He leads.

So I am taking a lot of deep breathes lately!!  And a lot of praying!!***

What Is It Really About? - In The Community (Part 2)

Before I so rudely got sick and had to miss a day, we were looking at how to celebrate our Christmas purpose in the community.  Today I want to show and tell you about our Christmas Kindness Countdown.

I got the idea somewhere in the wild blue yonder of the Internet several years ago.  Some people call it Random Acts of Christmas Kindness. 

My brother teased me last year when I called it that because he said it wasn't so random when I planned it a couple of months in advance!  Gotta love advice from little brothers!!

Anyway, it is an advent calendar of sorts.  Each day we go and pull an activity card.  On the card is listed a way that we can serve the community.  Here is a picture of last year's:

We cut little borders out, glued them on the cute brown bags and put in a card.  The card contained a verse and listed something that we wanted to share with the community that day.  The cards we used last year looked like this:

So every morning, during breakfast, one of the girls would pull the card out for that day, and read the verse and activity.  Then sometime during the day, we would go out together and serve in whatever manner listed.

This year, being that we are in the middle of packing and moving, I needed a countdown that was easy to move.  We talked and thought, thought and talked, looked on the Internet at ideas, and thought and talked again, and this is what we came up with:

We took two 12 X 12 pieces of scrapbooking cardstock paper, attached them with ribbon and the added the small pockets.  The pockets were cut from patterned scrapbooking paper and then the girls and I hand-sewed them onto the brown base.

Our stitches are no-where near perfect, but we had a good time doing it and I know that ever single stitch that went into it was full of love and excitement about serving our community!

The next thing you do is make a list of 24 activities that in some way or another serve your community.  Most of ours cost little to no money, but there are some that we have had to save up for in order to do. 

Some examples of our activities are

1. Drive through your neighborhood and pick 4 houses to stop and pray for.  Then sneak up to their door and tape a Christmas Kindness card and candy cane on it.
2. Write a letter to a US soldier serving overseas.
3. When you are eating out leave an extra, extra large tip along with a Christmas Kindness card.
4. Make a dessert tray for Daddy to bring to work and share.
5. Go to Dollar Tree and tape 5 baggies somewhere in the toy isle.  Each baggie should contain $1 and a Christmas Kindness card.
6. Gather food for a food pantry and deliver.  Call ahead and see if they need any help sorting.
7. Bring a $5 Starbucks gift card to a Salvation Army bell ringer.
8. Collect food and various products for the local animal shelter and drop them off.
9. Write a letter to the local police department thanking them for their work.
10. Buy 10 Starbucks $5 gift cards and hand them out at the mall to random people.

There are many more that you can come up with, the list is endless!  If you have not had the time to save money and can't do some of the more costly ones, keep your activities within your current budget.  There are so many ways to serve that you can always come up with 24 to fit any budget.

This year our cards had to be a bit smaller so they look like this:

We don't have the room to write the verses out, so we will be looking them up!

One tip that I have learned over the years is to really plan which days you want to do each activity before you stick them in the calendar.  If you have plans all afternoon one day, you might want to do one of the activities that takes less time.  If you know you will have a large expenditure that week or need more time to save for some of the more costly activities, schedule ones that cost little to nothing.

I have also started keeping a master list so that I know which activities are coming up!  This helps with the budgeting and time planning too.

Last year we were blessed so greatly by doing these activities.  When we went to the mall to hand out the Starbucks cards and I was amazed at the kindness that a little $5 gift card brought out in others.  After people got over the initial shock of realizing that we wanted to give this to them, expecting nothing in return, they would often share things about their lives with us.  They always went away with a smile and a prayer of blessing.

Another one that was really neat was when we gave the Starbucks card to the Salvation Army bell ringer.  We actually had a lot of trouble finding a bell ringer to give it to.  There was not one at our local grocery store, we drove around the local outdoor mall and could not find anyone.  Finally, driving back home we had to stop at the store.  Then we saw someone there.  She was definitely NOT there 10 minutes before, but we parked, prayed that the Lord would use the gift in the way He saw fit and we took her the card. 



She started to cry and thank us profusely for the gift.  We then went into the grocery store to pick up what we needed, checked out and headed to our car.  Our entire time in the grocery store was not more than 10 minutes.  When we headed out, she was no where to be seen.  The red bucket was gone along with any trace of the lady.  We joked that the Lord transported the person that He wanted to receive the gift from another location!!  :)

You see, in my experience, I have found people receive in different ways.  Sometimes others receive our service in kindness and thankfulness, like when we handed out the Starbucks cards.  Other times people receive it with hostility, or they refuse to receive it at all. 

But you see, our task is not to make them receive it in one way or another, it is just to give and serve all for His glory.  Our reward is not in the smiles and thankfulness of the people, but in the knowledge of the fact that our Saviour can look down on us and say ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21.

Sicky :(

Good morning!

I just want to let you know that today's post is going to be postponed until tomorrow.  I have not been feeling well since yesterday afternoon, so I am going to get all rested, feel better and get back tomorrow with the second part of the Community post!!

See you then!

What Is It Really About? - In The Community

***Farm Hunting Update:  2 weeks and 2 days until closing!!! ***

What Is It Really About? - In The Community

Yesterday we looked at what we do in our home to fulfill our purpose of the Christmas celebration, today and tomorrow we are going to look at what we do in the community.

Are you frustrated with the government lately?  Politics in general?  What about the direction that our society is headed?  Wanna change it, but feel like it is too large of a task?  Don't despair....Share!!! 

Do you want to teach your children that it is not "all about them"?  Do you want to teach them to serve others?  Show them how it is done!!!

Sharing what God has done for us with the community is one of our greatest blessings at Christmas time.  It takes so very little from us to make a huge impact on someone's day and even their life.

How do we do it?  Well, today I am going to give you some ideas of things we have done in the past, as a family, to serve in the community.  Tomorrow I will share with you our Christmas Kindness Countdown!!

So, in looking to serve outside of our home, the first thing we saw a need for was to NOTICE PEOPLE.  Let's begin with that one!!

• Notice people!  Slow down and notice all of the people that you walk past.  Make sure you smile at them and say hello.  Though, contrary to popular belief, the suicide rate drops in December, the depression rate increases.  People feel stressed, losses are more profound, and many just feel like they don't matter.  Smiling and acknowledging everyone you pass is such a simple thing, but it can make such a huge difference in someone's day.
• Pack up several Christmas Survival Kits and keep in your car to hand out to people on the street corners asking for help or money.  Some of the items I suggest putting in there are cheese crackers, a blanket, loaf of bread, peanut butter, plastic knife, protein bars, a special Christmas snack, a Christmas card letting them know you will pray for them (and make sure you do :)), dried fruit, and the like.  You need items that do not require refrigeration and can be opened easily.  Some people will not have can openers, so if you include any canned items, you might stick a can opener in there.
• Make a point to look around as you go about your day and find people who might need your help.  This can be opening a door, loading their groceries, reaching a can on the top shelf, or unloading their groceries onto the checkout counter.  You will be surprised at the opportunities that God gives you each day to help people when you actually take the time to slow down and look for them. 
• When you make donations, make them good!  Our family worked at a crisis center in October and we were given the task of sorting through the donated clothing and food.  Boy was that a lesson in how to donate!!  It was GROSS going through some of those bags of clothes that people dropped off.  If it has huge stains on it, you might just think of recycling the material for a project.  No one wants to wear your hubby's old t-shirts with giant yellow stains running down the armpits!! Sorting really convicted me to be a better donor with my clothing and food.  I mean, do you really want someone to eat green beans that expired in 1990??!!
• Tip like you care.  When you go out to eat or to pick up that slushie at Sonic, tip the people more than is customary if you can.  There was one day we went to Sonic during happy hour and all got their half-price sodas and slushies.  My total was around $3 so I paid $8.  The lady that was helping us was so shocked at the $5 tip!  She told us that we would not know how much she appreciated it.  Now, if I had not tipped her that $5, I am sure I would have spent it on various things that don't matter.  How much better to use it and change someone's day??!!

• Wear a smile when you go out!  This is another one of those things that sounds so simple, yet can have a huge impact.  Smile in the car when you are frustrated with the driver in front of you, smile as you wait in long lines at the checkout counter, just smile everywhere you go during your day.  The benefit it two-fold.  First, you seem more approachable to people and a smile can calm a situation down quickly.  Second, you help yourself!!  Remember the saying "Fake it 'till you make it"?  It's true!!!  So put on that beautiful smile of yours and share your joy with others!!
• Pray. Pray for your community and leaders.  Pray for your faith community and leaders.  Praying for someone is the greatest gift you can give!!!
• Participate in sharing/giving programs.  There are many Angel Tree, Adopt-A-Family, Christmas Shoe Box and various programs out there.  Pick one (or even two!!) and participate!!  Go shopping as a family and pick out gifts for the child or family that you chose to sponsor, pray over the gifts and turn them in!

As you go about your day today, take time to share the Lord and all he has blessed you with throughout your community!!  Tomorrow, I will show you our Christmas Kindness Countdown and give you some ideas on how to make your own!! 

What Is It Really About? - Around The Home

***Farm Hunting Update - Nothing new to report on the farm front!!***

 

 

What Is It Really About? - Around The Home
(You can find this weeks Menu Monday post at the bottom of this one)

 



So we talked yesterday about our family's purpose in celebrating the holiday season. 

1. Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving for God's willingness to come to earth and die a horrible death so that I might have eternal life.  Thanksgiving for the opportunity to serve Him and glorify Him here on earth.  Thanksgiving for the many blessings that He so abundantly bestows upon us.
2. Sharing - We focus on sharing the above mentioned things with others along with love, joy and peace.
3. Focus On Our Family - Embrace the opportunities of the season to spend time pursuing each of our family members and our family unit as a whole.

Now let's look at how our family does this around our home:

• Plan family activities during the season.  We will bake together, watch movies together, read books together, etc.  We usually make a schedule where Monday is baking day, Tuesday is movie day, Wednesday is craft day and so on.  When we bake or make a craft, we try and make enough to share with at least one other person or family. 
• We are very reluctant to commit to activities that don't at least involve 2 family members as our time is precious and focusing on our family is very important to us.
• Observe advent as a family.  This includes a Christmas hymn each night, Bible reading and story.  Get the supplies and make your advent wreath together.
• We usually go and cut our Christmas tree down at a Christmas Tree Farm together the day after Thanksgiving.  What fun!!!  We walk around for a couple of hours until all of the trees look the same and then pick the "perfect" tree!!

• Wrap your Christmas books and put them under the tree!  You can open one each evening beginning Dec. 1st (If you don't have enough books, just rewrap some!  They love hearing them over and over!)
• We go a little crazy in the decorating department!  We do this using what we have or making things together.  Last year we did our living room and tree all in homemade Christmas ornaments and decor from nature!  It was really fun to make it all together and even more fun to look at each day.  This does not have to be expensive at all!  It definitely does not look pretty to everyone, but boy howdy do we love it!!

•  Try to have other families over whenever possible.  It is always a blessing to serve others at our dinner table or even to just sit and visit in the living room.  Take time out to share your life with others and to serve them in your home.
• When you decorate your tree, have a little family party!  This year we had finger foods for dinner and ate in front of a roaring fire in the fire place (or course, we had to turn the A/C down really low to get it cold enough in the house so we did not melt :)).
• Hang on to your Christmas cards!  We have saved our cards for over five years.  It is so fun to go back through them and look at everyone's pictures, read them and pray for the families. 
• Try to have a caroling party!  This is an easy way to share with your neighbors in the Christmas season and involve your family and friends.  Invite a few families over and ask everyone to bring a finger food to share.  Eat and fellowship and then practice singing through about 2 Christmas carols that you all know.  Now head out!!  Ring the bell and start singing!  We have had great reception when we have tried this and a great time!
• On Christmas Eve, we have a Jesus birthday party.  The girls and I bake and decorate a cake, we sing Happy Birthday Jesus and blow out candles.  Then we listen to William read the Christmas story.  Our reasoning behind this is that on Christmas Eve, everyone begins to get really excited about what Christmas morning brings.  This is time to slow it all down again and bring our thoughts and focus back on Christ and the gift that He gave us.
• Take a trip driving around town together and look at Christmas lights.  Pack some hot chocolate in a thermos, some snacks and a little Christmas music and go look in wonder at the beautiful lights!!

• I have told you that we don't do gifts, but we do have a little visit on Christmas Eve from an "elf." He sneaks into the girls' room and leaves them each a new pair of pajamas!! It is a fun tradition that we all look forward to and it makes for nice pictures Christmas morning!
• Once the kids are out of school, plan a pj and movie day!! Go through and watch your favorite Christmas movies all day long!
• Take time to play games together!

• We usually give up gifts in lieu of taking a trip. Our girls know that we take a trip, but they don't know where we go each year. The first year we did this we found a cabin a few hours north of us. We had seen pictures and knew that when you drove up, there was a large fire pit surrounded by totem poles. In August, William began telling the girls a story at bedtime, once a week, about a group of sisters who went on an adventure. Each time he told the story, he would describe one aspect about the house. It was such a treat for them to drive up and see the house that they had heard about for months in his story!! (we could only do this that one year, after that, they were on to us!!)

• One night, usually the week before Christmas, we have my brother, and Mimi and Grampy over for a gingerbread house decorating contest. We call it gingerbread houses, but it is really graham crackers, some really, really stiff icing and tons of candy! We usually have 60 minutes to construct and decorate using what supplies are provided and then we vote for the top one. This is really fun and we always get a chuckle out of looking at what we all come up with.

• Don't try to make everything perfect.  It is not worth it and probably won't happen!  Just enjoy your family and soak in the blessings that God has given you.
• Never, ever, EVER get too busy to spend time with the Lord each day.  If you find that you are running out of time, or are too tired, or whatever your excuse might be, change your schedule.  There is no way to have a heart full of thanksgiving, love, joy and peace and be ready to share it with the world if you are not spending time with the one who fills your heart with those things. 

Several people have asked if we do "Santa" and if so, how do we explain that to the girls. We do Santa, but instead of gifts he fills the stockings that they get on Christmas morning. When we first had children, a concern of ours was how to deal with Santa. It was a fun part of AcCOWntant Willie's and my childhood, but we had heard stories of children questioning the existence of God when they found out that Santa was not real. 

What we decided to do has worked well for us!  We tell the girls that Santa stuffs their stocking, but usually around age 5 (earlier for some), they ask if Santa is real.  When they ask that, we ask them if they really want to know the truth.  Two of the girls said nope! And we went on until the next year when they would ask again. 

Once they say that they want to know the truth, we tell them.  It is funny, because knowing the truth never affected their excitement or the fun they have seeing their stockings.  In fact, DD #2 sighed a huge sigh of relief and said that she was so happy to find that out!  Apparently it had always scared her to think that some man came down our chimney and into the house while we were sleeping!!

This is a very personal decision that each family needs to make, but that is how we handled it. 

So, if you don't have one already, how about sitting down and making a schedule of family activities!!  If you work and don't have time to do elaborate things during the week, don't fret!  Just plan things like having dinner as a picnic sitting in front of your Christmas tree, or perhaps learn a new Christmas song together.  Make a plan so that you can capture special moments while focusing on your family!!  How do you bring Christmas into your home?

Tomorrow we will begin our two day talk on how our family brings the purpose of our Christmas season to the community.  See y'all then!!

Menu Monday

Monday Breakfast - Whole Wheat Banana Muffins/Eggs/Melons
Monday Lunch - We usually meet my mom for lunch on this day!
Monday Dinner - Sandwiches/Fruit (We have deep cleaning as a family after dinner on Mondays. We have found that if we all work together, we can get it done in about 1 1/2 hours and then we have a special "clean house" dessert!!)
Monday Snack - Mix of nuts, seeds and chocolate chips

Tuesday Breakfast - Eggs/Whole Wheat Biscuits/Hash Browns with Peppers/Citrus Fruit
Tuesday Lunch - Baked Potatoes/Steamed Broccoli/Cheese
Tuesday Dinner - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (set aside extra ground turkey or beef for tacos tomorrow and extra sauce for Friday's dinner)/Green Peas/Salad/Garlic Bread
Tuesday Snack - Sonic Happy Hour Run for Slushies

Wednesday Breakfast - Whole Wheat Waffles/Peanut Butter/Strawberries
Wednesday Lunch - Soft Tacos (made with meat from last night)/Tortilla Chips/Salsa
Wednesday Dinner - Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup/Homemade Bread
Wednesday Snack - Peanut Butter Balls

Thursday Breakfast - Cinnamon Bread/Cream Cheese/Strawberries
Thursday Lunch - Sandwiches/Fruit
Thursday Dinner - Crockpot BBQ Chicken/Steamed Asparagus/Corn on the Cob
Thursday Snack - Peanut Butter Balls

Friday Breakfast - Yogurt/Granola/Fruit/Nuts
Friday Lunch -Pizza Wraps/Red Pepper Strips/Salad/Organic Chocolate Bar
Friday Dinner - Boil In A Bag Omelets/Fruit Salad/Toast
Friday Snack- Popcorn with Fresh Mozzarella

What Is It Really About? Part 2

***Farm Hunting Update - AcCOWntant has been making a lot of progress on getting our current home ready for renters!  He has been trying to do at least one thing on it each evening and I can definitely see progress. 

 

Also, DD's #3 and #4 decided that they want to decorate their new room in horses, so I will keep you updated as we work toward designing and implementing their dream horse room!!***

What Is It Really About?  Part 2

If you read the previous post, you know that this is part 2 in the series "What Is It Really About?"  If you did not read the previous post, then, this is part 2 in the series "What Is It Really About?"!!  (I am pretty funny early in the morning!  And it is REALLY early in the morning!!)  You can read the first part here:  Part 1

Yesterday we talked a bit about evaluating your holiday season and making sure you knew the purpose for your family.  Every family will most likely have a different purpose, even if they have the same basic beliefs.

Christmas 2009

I do want to clarify one thing.  Gifts are not bad.  Buying presents on Black Friday and diving into the stores to locate that one perfect item is not wrong.  It just does not line up with our family's purpose, and we don't particularly enjoy it!!  As a family, we have chosen to travel a lot during the year and on Christmas day instead of gifts and that works best for us.  But, just because it is not what we want, does not make it wrong or bad!!

Okay, now back on topic!!  Yesterday I left off where AcCOWntant Willie and I were working on nailing down our purpose and looking to see if our actions supported that purpose.  We talked about celebrating the birth of Jesus and what that really means to us and this is what we came up with and the way we work it...

The Christmas season for us begins on Thanksgiving day and it is a season of thanksgiving and sharing.  We want to spend time focusing on what we are thankful for, and foremost on that list is the gift of eternal life.  In addition to focusing on thanksgiving, we want to share that gift of eternal life and the gifts of love, joy and peace with those around us. 

We also want to focus on family.  We are given the unique opportunity during this time of year to spend more time and do more things as a family.  There are extra days off of work and school, holiday parties, lots of free concerts and plays, fun activities offered by cities and organizations, and nights to spend in front of a fire sipping hot chocolate and working on puzzles!!

This all culminates on New Years' Day!  On this day we are given the gift of a new year and a new opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

So this being our purpose, we decided that there was a need to look at everything we chose to invest in and make sure it was a wise investment toward pursuing our purpose. 

Now, some will argue that we should do these things all year long, and to that I offer no resistance.  We should do these things all year!  We look at this time as a kind of renewal and refocusing though.  Given the opportunities that our society gives us during this time of year, why not take advantage of them??!!



Free festival put on by a city close by!

I want to share, over the next few days, a few things that we do.  Some, you may find interesting and pull a few ideas from and others you might think we are off our rockers and totally disregard!!

Let's break each day down into a different category:
Monday - Around the Home
Tuesday- In the Community
Wednesday - In the Community part 2
Thursday - In the Family

So pick and choose, but hopefully you will find at least a few things that help spark some ideas for your own family!  And we are always looking for new ideas, so feel free to leave a comment and share what you do!!

What Is It Really About?

***Farm Hunting Update - Hooray!!  They found the septic system.  And guess what??  It is FULL of icky stuff!!!!  I will leave out all of the details regarding the consistency and such. :)  The current owners kindly offered to have it pumped, so we are taking them up on that offer.  Oh yes we are!!  So we enter our new home with 2 500 gallon tanks ready and able to hold our..."stuff."***

What Is It Really About?

Thanksgiving has drawn to a close and the Christmas season begins!  Our family usually begins that season with a day out in the country cutting down our Christmas tree, followed the next day by a family decorating party.  This year we are waiting to cut the tree until we get moved, so we just had a tree decorating party!



Our food theme this year was finger foods!

AcCOWntant Willie LOVES my Christmas punch!

The girls watching as Daddy turns the tree lights on!

Most years our tree takes up the entire window.  Though
this one is smaller,
 she is still a beauty!  This tree holds our homemade ornaments.

We have gone pretty light on the Christmas decorations knowing that in 2 1/2 weeks we will have to take them all down and pack them up to move!




 

This tree is in the dining room and this year is holding
our special ornaments.
  Every time we travel, we pick ornaments up and each year we
 get each girl a special
 ornament, usually with a theme. 

Several years ago, our family decided to give up Christmas gifts and instead leave for a trip each Christmas on Christmas Day.  We have had so much fun going many different places and skiing, hiking, playing together and generally just being a family!  It is something we look forward to each year and really a time that we can just all recharge ourselves and strengthen our relationships with each other.

 

Our Christmas trip in 2007

There have been several benefits to doing this in addition to the ones mentioned above.  One big one is that it has completely cured our "I wanna...."'s regarding Christmas gifts.  One benefit that I appreciate is that I don't have to get out into the stores when everyone is fighting over items, their place in line, etc. 

 

Trip 2009

They do get items in their stockings on Christmas morning, and gifts before Christmas from their grandparents, so don't go away thinking they are soooo deprived!!!  Also, remember that we discuss it every year to make sure everyone is still on board with the arrangement and so far they prefer it.  Of course, DD #4 really does not have anything to compare it to as it is all she has ever done!!

 

Leaving for last year's Christmas trip to Estes Park, CO!

 

Once we cleared away the gift work, we had to figure out how to make the season matter!  How to make it represent what we felt it should.  In order to do this, AcCOWntant and I had to figure out "What is it really about"?

Well, we knew that it was not really about the gifts and such from the get go.  And our standard answer was that it was about celebrating the birth of Jesus.  But what does that really mean?  And honestly, how do you REALLY celebrate the birth of Jesus?  I mean, we have always had a Jesus birthday cake on Christmas Eve to remind us of what we are there for.  And we have several nativity sets that we put up in our home.  But is that enough?

 

Was it enough to acknowledge that it is a celebration of Christ, throw in a few "Godly" ornaments, and give up gifts for family time?  I mean, I say Merry Christmas when I see people in stores instead of Happy Holidays and I try to always throw some money into the Salvation Army red bucket, but again, was it enough?  If it is a holiday celebrating Christ, was I spending a majority of my time concentrating on Christ like I would if it were one of my girls' birthdays or do I spend a majority of the time stressing about parties, food, decorations, cards, scheduling fun activities, crafts, etc?

 

Gingerbread House decorating party

 

For us, we were not doing enough.  And probably we will never do enough.  Because frankly, how do you adequately celebrate the fact that God chose to come to earth in human form, live a human life and die a criminal's death for us?  Just because he loved us and thought we were worth it. 

 

Yes, AcCOWntant and I saw a need for some changes to come around and come around soon!! 

 

I can't wait to share with you what changes we implemented, but I think I will do this a little at a time.  Kinda like a series!!!  I have already written a looooong post today, so I will tell you a little more about it tomorrow, sound good?!?

So, as you go through your day today and you start to look at your family's Christmas season, ask yourself "What is it really about to my family."  Your answer may be very different from mine, and that is okay!  But think about it, we devote around one month to this season and a LOT of money.  So take some time today to figure out what your purpose is and then look at the activities you are investing in and see if they align with your purpose.

 

I can't wait to tell you more tomorrow!!  See y'all then!

 

Where Oh Where Can The Septic Tank Be?

 

Is anyone else still totally stuffed from yesterday??!!  Boy howdy I am!  I am not sure if I will ever eat again! (Well, I am pretty sure I will but let's keep that last sentence in for dramatic purposes!!)

The girls and I spent all day on Wednesday cooking and baking.  We made homemade mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cornbread stuffing, sweet potato casserole, apple pie, 2 pumpkin pies, 2 chocolate pies and a yummy Snickers dip recipe I found on Pinterest!!  Then we prepped the glazed carrots for cooking in the crock pot on Thursday and got the rolls ready to start rising.



Crumbling the biscuits for the stuffing!

Now crumbling the cornbread for the stuffing!
 



Thursday, getting everything out and bringing it to room temperature!  Luckily my brother lives next door, so I had his oven going too!



Getting the dessert table ready!









Now getting the food table ready!

  

Journey was not a lot of help, until it came time to clean/eat the crumbs up off of the floor!

It was a fun day, but boy did our feet hurt at the end of it!  Doing so much prep work the day before Thanksgiving really allowed us to relax and enjoy yesterday though.

So, we had 22 people come over.  My uncle brought a yummy turkey and my cousin brought a pecan pie.  My dad and step-mom brought 2 delish pecan pies, deviled eggs to die for and a ham !  Mom and step-dad came with Mom's famous corn casserole, jello salad, green bean casserole, gravy and the best banana pudding this side of the Mississippi Line!!  :)

Best part of the whole day???  My step-brother and his sweet wife brought their new 1-week old daughter!!  Yes!!  I got to hold a beautiful baby yesterday!!  (I might have totally creeped out my sister-in-law though by asking to watch her change the baby's diaper!  I just love seeing their little legs and feet though and when they are all wrapped up in their blanket and snug clothes you can't see their little cute feet and legs!!!)

Needless to say, we had wayyy more food than we could ever eat and wayyy too much fun.  What a blessing it was to spend the day visiting with family.

Oh man, I bet you are wondering why I have a title about the septic tank yet all I am doing is talking about Thanksgiving and food!!  Well, let me dive into my septic tank drama!  (Oh gross!!  Not literally of course!)

Last Friday we had all of our different inspectors come to the new house, the regular home inspector, the termite inspector and the septic tank inspector.  Mr. Septic Inspector showed up a couple of hours late, so that was not off to a good start.

After poking and digging around in the yard for an hour, he announced that he could not find the system and would have to check with the county for the plans on where it is at.  Okay, a little bump and delay, but no biggie.  We asked the couple we are buying the home from if they would give us a few more days on the contract clause that allows an out if something fails inspection and they said of course!!  They gave us until Wednesday :)

Monday comes around and he calls the county.  Well, the property system was not registered with the county because it was there before that was required, so...no plans.  Okay, another little bump, but again, no biggie!

Tuesday arrives and finds our septic inspector carefully digging  up the yard following the septic lines to find the tank and....he finds it!!!  But there is a little problem.  The lid has been cemented on and he can't get it off.  Mr. Septic Inspector calls us and tell us that the -lenk/leach/whatever it is called- field looks good and the lines look old, but good as well.  The little problem is that he can't get the lid off to inspect the tank and he did not bring the equipment that will allow him to do so. 

Oh, one other little thing, he is going to need to charge us another $75 on top of the $150 we are already paying because this has been more work than he thought.

Okay, so we agree to pay the money and to give him until Wednesday.  We remind him that we must have a report by Wednesday because, otherwise, we are locked into our contract.  No problem!!

Wednesday comes and we call several times and try to speak with him and...no answer!  We leave several messages and...no return call!

Yup, you guessed it, we still have no idea the condition of the actual tank!  We do know that it has not been pumped in about 50 years though!!!  Trust me, with my family of six moving in, we will definitely need to do some pumping!! 

Good news is that at least we know where it is now.  Bad news, there could be a giant hole in the bottom of it and it is all going into an underground cave!

Moral of this blog story.....If you ever come to visit us, don't dig too deep or go spelunking!  You don't know what you might find!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Give someone you love a great big, sloppy, wet kiss!! :)

 

Lucky him!!!

 

Thanksgiving Day Prayer

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.
-Samuel F. Pugh