Merry Christmas

I hope every one had a very Merry Christmas. One filled with peace, love and tons of fun! I hope you got at least one thing on your wish list and that your children were thrilled with what they received.

Awesome Christmas Lights!

I have lived in the same area for 12 years and I thought I knew all the cool places to see lights. I found out a week or so ago that I was SO wrong. There is a house that apparently goes all out every year. You set your radio to a certain station and then you can see the lights dancing in time with the music. It is so awesome. I am so excited to have found it - thanks to a friend!!! The first video is 4 minutes and a little bumpy with talking in the background but it is still cool. The second video is a little over a minute and not as bumpy lol. Anna was very wiggly and excited! Check them out and if you want to tell me about the lights in your area I would love to hear about it!

Anybody still out there?

Hello?! I have been taking a bloggy break apparently. I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post. I have been a busy girl. Preparing for Christmas takes a lot of time and energy. Here are just a few things I have been doing. I have been making goodies like peanut butter balls and oreo truffles! Yumm! We made homemade ornaments with Anna. Snowman soup for my Sunday School kids. I have also read 3 of the 4 Twilight books. I got sucked in and haven't been able to get out lol. We've had Christmas parties and gone to look at lights. I am going to post a cool video of lights in a little while. I am trying to upload it right now.

Yesterday Anna and I went to the park. She was going crazy cause we hadn't had much fun time lately. We took her "bike" and she rode around the playground numerous times with me "chasing" her. I haven't decided if it is just sad or really great that it is almost Christmas and it is warm enough for shorts. On one hand I love being able to wear shorts but on the other it doesn't feel anything like Christmas should. Well, I need to wrap a few presents before everyone gets up. I will try to get that video up soon. It is worth watching!

Ornament Swap

This is the beautiful ornament that I received from Janet. Isn't it lovely. Anna was so excited to hang a "lollipop" on the tree. I absolutely love it and it looks wonderful on our tree since we use a lot of red and white. Janet you must have been reading my mind! I don't have your blog to give you proper credit so if you happen to read this leave me a comment! Thanks again and I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Oh and thanks smoochiefrog for holding this wonderful swap!

The Candy Cane Story

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would remind people of the true meaning of Christmas; so he made the candy cane to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker then shaped his cane into the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to the earth as Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down to to reclaim the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray.
Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

This was copied from THIS website! This is going to be incorporated into a craft I am doing with my Sunday School class. I just thught I would share it with you guys too!

Christmas Cards - which one do you like

I took Anna to a park near here for pictures today and also did some in front of the tree this morning. I want your opinion! Are any of them Christmas Card material?

Now it feels like Christmas!

The weekend was slammed full of Christmas activity. We finally got our tree put up and all decorated. We finished our Christmas program. We went to look at Christmas lights with friends and went back to their place and watched the Grinch! I finally feel like Christmas has started!

Must Be Santa Monday

Stocking Stuffers!

Anna loves gum! I thought this would be the perfect piece for her stocking. I got hers at Toys R Us but I couldn't find a picture of it. She is in here with me so I can't pull hers out to get a picture lol. I also have some chapsticks (or lips as Anna calls them). Some little Santa chocolates. I bought some mini playdoh cups and a little brush. I will also put in some suckers cause my girl loves a sucker lol. I think that will have it pretty full. If not I will add some other odds and ends like nail polish or cookies or something like that.

What are you doing for your stockings? Maybe you can give me some neat ideas!!! For more Santa Monday go HERE!

One Performance Down...

Last night was our first performance for our Christmas Program. It was a lot of fun but exhausting. Anna did better than I ever imagined with it, I think mostly due to her little friend Allie doing it with us. We will see how she does tonight, Allie won't be with us. Next week I can hopefully begin to blog more regularly again. This week has been crammed full of activity preparing for the program. Extra practices, making candy for afterwards etc... I will be glad to get back into my own little rhythm next week. Although I will miss hanging out with my friends and even doing the program stuff because I LOVE to sing! They gave out some really cool toys last night after the show. The kids got to walk through Santa's workshop and pick out one of their choice. Anna got a ice cream play doh set. She is anxious to play with it so after breakfast you know what we will be doing. We are also going to get a tree today YIPPEE! Well I have tons to do before I have to be at church tonight so let me go.

Oh my church is actually going to put the video of our performance on youtube after it is done so I will send you links when they get it up.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving at my Grandma's house!

Last weeks excitement!

Last week we headed to South Carolina to my in-laws. The morning we were leaving my father-in-law called to see where we were and to tell us their house had been broken into that morning. A couple of kids (I use that term loosely) bashed out the glass in their front door and when they couldn't unlock the bolt they bashed in the door. They messed up the entire door frame. Luckily, my in-laws live in a small town where everyone knows everyone and they all look out for each other. Someone noticed that they disappeared around the side of their house and they looked suspicious. They called the cops and the cops were there in like 2 minutes. When he saw the front door he called for back up. Unfortunately, they had seen them come up and had jumped out one of the smallest windows in the house (that is why I call them kids). They only managed to take a radio they had in the bedroom. However, they did royally mess up the kitchen where they bashed the glass and door frame all in the room. They went through all of their drawers and messed up the sheets where I assume they were looking for guns and they had pulled down all of the shoes that my mother-in-law had neatly arranged on the top shelf off her closet.

So to clear it up they walked away with a radio that cost about $40 (bought 4 years ago). They created a mess that my in-laws are still cleaning up. Not to mention costing them several $100's for a new door!

Thanksgiving recap!

Goodness I have missed you guys! Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving? We did, it was crazy busy but lots of fun. We went to my family get together at 1. It was wonderful seeing Aunts and cousins and my Grandma. Anna wasn't very sure about all of the commotion. She really doesn't like chaos. She thoroughly enjoyed riding in my aunts convertible around the house. I don't know which she liked more - riding in the front seat or having the top off. We ate tons of food. Then we left there and went to my in-laws where Anna crashed for a nap. When she woke up we ate AGAIN. I think I gained 10 pounds in just that one day! It was all so yummy.

After letting our dinner settle a little we got a wild hair and decided to go check out walmarts sales. We spent about an hour in there roaming around. Looking at all of the stuff that would be on sale Friday. Anna spent a good 20 minutes looking at all of the blow up Christmas stuff. We didn't make it to bed until almost 11 so getting up early for Black Friday didn't happen. We got up around 7:30 and made it to Target by 8 where my sis-in-law found what she was hoping to get my in-laws. I was honestly surprised they still had some left but hey whatever works lol. I also picked up a few cheap movies for Anna. The Polar Express that we will enjoy now and the REAL Annie for her stocking! Walmart turned into a bust because the sheets we were looking for never appeared and the jacked I was going to get Anna wasn't actually on sale ugh!

We went and had breakfast after shopping then headed out to my in-laws. Anna got in a quick nap and we headed out to a tree farm to get them trees. That was a blast. We got to see reindeers and goats and birds. We got to ride in the back of the truck and we got to run around the trees. It was so much fun. That night we decorated sis-in-laws and Saturday we decorated the in-laws. Memories!!!