The Whole Crew on Christmas Day

Family is like fudge... mostly sweet, with a few nuts!

Christmas Day at the Farm 2011

Santa

I set up the tripod and the timer on our camera last night and caught two pictures of Santa in action at our house. The kids were so excited to see the pictures, but now Ella is concerned that we all might be on the naughty list next year because we took Santa's picture!

Merry Christmas!

Annual Self-Timer Christmas Eve Family Photo

After Christmas Eve Church

Cuteness!

Love!!

Reading Stories

Spreading Reindeer Food

Ready for Santa

Celebrating the Season!

Yesterday was a very busy, very perfect day of Christmas worship that we and Ella will probably remember forever.  At the beginning of November, the director of our adult church choir that I sing in asked me if I thought Ella would sing the children's choir part as a solo in our Christmas Cantata called "Celebrate the Season".  I told him I would ask her and let him know what she said.  That night, I explained this unique opportunity to Ella.  I told her she'd have to sing in front of the whole adult choir at practice and then stand in front of the whole congregation and sing into a mic all by herself on the performance day.  A year ago, I know her answer would have been an immediate, "No!".  So, I was honestly a little surprised that Ella said yes without too much hesitation the day after I asked her if she would sing.  What sold her on this opportunity was the word microphone.  Ella REALLY wanted to sing in a microphone. 

Ella learned her part by practicing with me at home.  After Thanksgiving, she had her first sing thru with the choir and pianist.  She did great and her enthusiasm never wavered.  On Saturday, she practiced like a pro with the full choir and mini orchestra.  Yesterday, Mark and I were over-filled with happiness and so very proud as we watched our little girl spread the message of God's love through music.  She brought smiles to faces and tears to the eyes of many (including, but not limited, to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Jim!) while singing her solo so beautifully.  She was poised and seemed so calm, like this was the most natural thing for her to do.  The entire choir was so supportive and encouraging of her and helped to make the entire process a very positive experience for Ella, for which I am very thankful. Ella was so excited to have so many of her special family and friends there to share this experience with her.  It meant a lot to all of us that you could share in our delight and celebrate the story of Christmas together with us yesterday.

I wish that I could have bottled up all the beautiful music and all the Christmas love and energy that filled our sanctuary yesterday to keep forever.  Instead, we are grateful and blessed to have lived the moments together and will forever cherish the memories we made.  This year will be hard to top, but I am looking forward to singing with my children at more Christmas concerts for many more Christmas seasons to come.  

Our friend captured this video at the first service.  You will hear the narration, choir, orchestra (piano, synth, bass guitar, cello, violin, oboe and flute) and I think you won't have any trouble figuring out when Ella is singing.  If you look very close at the beginning, you will find me sitting second from the left in the second row wearing red.  Enjoy and  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Big Day Tomorrow

Ella's dress is hanging at the front of her closet, her shoes are set out and her nails have been painted a sparkly color.  She is very excited for her big morning tomorrow and Mark and I couldn't be more proud of her!  It's our annual Christmas Choral Worship Service tomorrow.  Ella will be singing two solo verses of "Away in the Manger" that are arranged into the song "How Quietly"  that the adult choir is singing.  We were at church for practice all morning today and she did an amazing job singing her part.  She sang right in time, even when the adult choir started their counter melody.  She is pretty excited about singing with a microphone and has loved all the extra attention the other members of the adult choir have showered on her.  I am just so thrilled that Ella is singing tomorrow and even more excited that she loves music as much as me!  I think I was about her age when I sang a duet up front for a Christmas service. It's pretty amazing that my daughter will follow down that same path tomorrow. 

Not to be out done, both Claranna and James had to step up to the mic at practice this morning.   James tested out the sound a bit and then Claranna sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"  for everyone.  Hopefully little Claranna won't try to steal the stage tomorrow! 

2011 Santa Photo

Click on the link below to see our 2011 Santa photo!  
MyAlbumPics.com - Check out my Photo

 I friend shared a link to this short movie today and I spent some time reflecting on all the many blessings in my life.  I encourage you to take a quiet moment to read the text below and watch the movie for yourself (click on the link): http://www.beblessedmovie.com/  

May You Be Blessed

May You Be Blessed by Kate Nowak is not about religious beliefs...It's about joy, appreciation, kindness and love. Events by themselves are not a blessing or a curse; it's all the way we choose to see it. May You Be Blessed is filled with inspiring stories, beautiful photographs and life-changing insights that can help change your perspective just when you need it most. You’ll have a new awareness of powerful and practical ways to reconnect with those around you. May You Be Blessed will help you count the blessings in your life you may have overlooked.  http://www.mayyoubeblessedmovie.com/words.html


May you be blessed
with all things good.

May your joys,
like the stars at night,
be too numerous to count.

May your victories
be more abundant
than all the grains of sand
on all the beaches,
on all the oceans,
in all the world.

May lack and struggle
only serve to make you stronger
and may beauty, order
and abundance
be your constant companions.

May every pathway
you choose lead to that which
is pure and good and lovely.

And may every doubt and fear
be replaced by a deep abiding trust
as you behold evidence
of a Higher Power all around you.

And when there is only darkness
and the storms of life
are closing in,
may the light at the core of
your being illuminate the world.

May you always be aware you are
loved beyond measure and may you
be willing to love
unconditionally in return.

May you always feel protected and
cradled in the arms of God
like the cherished child you are.
And when you are tempted to judge
may you be reminded
that we are all ONE and
that every thought you think
reverberates across the universe,
touching eveyrone
and everything.

And when you are
tempted to hold back,
may you remember
that love flows best
when it flows freely
and it is in giving that
we receive the greatest gift.

May you always have
music and laughter
and may a rainbow
follow every storm.

May gladness wash away
every disappointment,
may joy dissolve every sorrow,
and may love ease every pain.
May every wound bring wisdom,
and may every trial bring triumph
and with each passing day,
may you live more abundantly
than the day before.

May you be blessed and may others
be blessed by you.
This is my heartfelt wish for you.

May you be blessed.

First Snow Fun!

 We are enjoying the first major snowfall of the season today.  Claranna thinks eating snow is yummy.

The Official First Snowman of December 2011.  His name is Frosty!

James might be pretty good at snowball fights this year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very wonderful and busy Thanksgiving weekend.  Our house was overflowing with family, laughter, food, silly cousins and memories to be made.  One of my cousins got married this weekend and it was a great time to gather and celebrate.  We hosted some of my extended family for Thanksgiving and enjoyed a great meal together.  To add to the fun, my Aunt Lois, cousin Jennifer, her husband Mike and their two children, Shelbie and Rachel stayed with us from Thanksgiving day until the wedding on Saturday afternoon.  Then we all traveled to the wedding and we stayed at a hotel last night with my brothers and parents (so the little cousins played some more!).  Rachel and Ella spent much of the weekend playing with Fuzzy.  Claranna spent a lot of time snuggling with Shelbie and playing with her phone.  James enjoy all the extra attention from his far away cousins and aunt.  I was able to spend some special time with my extended family and my friend Shawna and her family visited us on Friday morning.  It was so wonderful to see all these great people that we don't see nearly enough. I have such a wonderful husband, beautiful children, loving parents, great brothers, and so many wonderful people I can name as family.  My family along with my fabulous and loyal friends make me feel so blessed.  It really was very easy to count my blessings this weekend. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, too!  Here are a few random pics from our house from Thursday and Friday.

One of our turkeys.

Cousins being turkeys!

Silly little cousins!

Reading with Grandpa.

Snuggling with Shelbie

Shawna and me

Lolo (Great Aunt Lois), Fuzzy and Claranna

Kittens

Our cute little kittens are getting big enough to have a new home.  If you know of anyone who needs a kitten to love, send us a message.  We'll be happy to share Fuzzy and Luke Skywalker with them.  We will all miss them and the kids will be very sad to see them find their new homes, but we've known all along that we would only be able to foster them a short while.  Our two big cats are still not very fond of the babies, so it is very unlikely that we will be come a four cat home.  Since the kittens have been in our house since they were about three weeks old, we hope to find them an inside forever home.  If we can't, we'll take them to the farm and they can become barn kitties and my kids will be happy to visit them there.  They are just so cute right now running around our house.  They pounce, chase and run at warp speed.  They are also quick to purr and snuggle when we hold them, but they don't stay still too long unless they are sleepy.  I really had to tire them out before they would stay still enough for pictures.  Enjoy their cuteness!

Happy Birthday, James!!

James turned SIX today!  It is so hard to believe that it was already six years ago tonight that we were holding our tiny little baby boy.  We blinked a few times and he grew up on us!  James is such a sweet little boy and I am so blessed to be his mama.  His smile lights up a room and it is a delight to watch him explore and discover the world.  Happy Birthday, James!

Love

I love how much these three love each other.  At least they love each other most of the time!

Happy Halloween!

A cupcake, Darth Vader and a somewhat scary witch had a fun night at the Haunted Hallways this weekend and trick or treating tonight. We had a full day of fun today. James and Ella had parties today at school. Claranna and I watched James in his costume parade and then Grandma Judy babysat so that I could help out in his classroom.

We had a full evening visiting family and then walking the neighborhood with friends. Claranna even sang "This is Halloween" at some of the houses we went to this evening. She earned lots of candy that we will help her eat. And, we learned having her walk a mile or two at bedtime helps her to fall right asleep at bedtime. She was fast asleep without her usual nightly crib concert. Happy Halloween everyone!

Kittens!

We've been caring for two extremely cute little kittens for the past 11 days. They were born to a stray cat who moved her litter of six kittens into a storage shed next to our church. She left these two sweeties behind and we were called to see if we would care for them. Of course, Ella said YES! The plan is to care for the kittens until they are old enough to find a new home. Need a kitten anyone? Send me a message if you do or know someone who'd like a kitty to love.

Since the kittens were only approximately three and a half weeks and only nursing from their mommy when we brought them home, we've had to feed them kitten milk replacer. The gray one, Fuzzy, eats his milk fine from a dish. The little black kitten, Luke Skywalker (Can you guess who named these kittens?), nurses from a bottle and isn't that interested in a dish yet. The kids have been having fun feeding them. And, since they need to eat every few hours, I have been feeding them several times a day when the big kids are at school. We are starting to introduce them to solid food. We have all enjoyed having the kittens to play with and to love, except for our big cats, Thorn and Violet. They aren't too fond of them and still keep their distance.

California

I've finally completed a photo book for our trip to California. Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Apples

We have had some yummy apples from our apple tree this year. 2011 marks our first big apple harvest from our little Sweet Sixteen tree that we planted when Ella was a toddler. We've had apples other years, but nothing compared to this. The poor tree was so loaded that it looked like it was going to tip right over this summer. I hope we'll see the same number of apples next year. We've had to wait patiently to pick our apples as Sweet Sixteen are a later variety, but the wait was worth it. Now the apples are nice and sweet. Those who sampled them too early discovered them to be quite sour...except for Claranna. She seems fond of any type of apple.


So far we've had apple crisp, apple sauce and lots of apple snacking. I hope to bake a pie tomorrow!