CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS 1: GINGERBREAD HOUSE

This is my first post of the season, highlighting some of our favorite Christmas traditions. Creating a gingerbread house is not the most unique family tradition, but it is certainly one of Avery & Ella's favorites! My main role is to purchase (no, I do not make the gingerbread from scratch!) the house pieces and make the "royal icing". I cannot believe how glue-like it is! This year, Eric and I put the house together while the girls were at school so that it was dry and ready to decorate when they got home.

The "funnest" candy that I found this year to add to the house was Peeps in the shape of snowmen and evergreen trees -- so cute!

Voila, the finished product!

ERIC IS 40!

Yes, as of today, December 1, 2008, I am married to a 40 year old man. My brother-in-law, Jerry, told us that once you reach 40 it's not downhill, it's more like falling off a cliff! Maybe there is some truth to that . . . right after dinner Eric fell asleep on the couch saying, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm so tired." Hmmmm

To celebrate this milestone, I had an 80's party on Saturday eve for some of our family and good friends. It was a blast! Games included "Name that 80's Tune" and trivia from 80's TV commercials. There was great dispute over one of the answers, so for those who requested it, here is the Wikipedia blurb about "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up":

In 1989 LifeCall began running commercials which contained a scene wherein an elderly woman, identified by a dispatcher as "Mrs Fletcher" uses the medical alert pendant after having fallen in the bathroom. After falling Mrs Fletcher speaks the phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up" after which the dispatcher informs her that he is sending help.

And the YouTube version of this classic commercial. My apologies to the outraged (and competitive) players who insisted that it wasn't a commercial for "the Clapper". Thank you, Jeff, for listing this answer on your paper so I didn't feel so alone!

We enjoyed awesome food and GREAT 80's outfits for all who attended! An award goes to Darrin & Jill for their version of Alex Owens (Flashdance) and Lloyd Dobler (Say Anything)

Most creative prizes go to Marty (aka Indiana Jones)

and James (aka Gorbachev). It helped when he told us, "It's not blood!"

I also loved Jean's dress. Very authentic 80's, and she just took it out of her closet! Can you wear that on Sunday, Jean?

Eric and I dressed as we actually did in the 80's. Eric wore an '88 Santana t-shirt that he tie-dyed himself when he was 20 :) I wore pink and green preppy, although I have a lot less hair than I had in the 80's!

Thank you, everyone for making this a special day for Eric. He is such an awesome husband and father and we are both thankful for your love and friendship! Happy Birthday, Eric!

THANKSGIVING FEASTS

In the last week, our family has been reading about the first Thanksgiving, both at school and at home. On Sunday at HighPoint, Mr. Dudley taught the kids that the original Thanksgiving was created by God, in the form of Jewish festivals. With Thanksgiving on the mind, we've been working on an "attitude of gratitude" all month.

On Thursday we will head out to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Getting an early start, Avery and Ella each celebrated Thanksgiving feasts at school today with their teachers and friends. Both girls made crafts (placemats, a pilgrim hat that is not shown because it got crushed in the book bag, necklace and a treats box)

Unfortunately I could 't be in two places at the same time (I hate that!) so I volunteered in Ella's class. I was in charge of helping kids with their necklaces. So cute :)

My favorite part of Ella's Thanksgiving feast was when each child read his/her "Thank You Story". Here is what Ella wrote:

I am thankful for God because he sent his only son to die for are sin. I am thankful for my sister because she loves me and I love her. I am thankful for my friends because they are nice to me. I am thankful for my parents because they lov me so much and care for me.

Avery also had a nice Thanksgiving song to share with us when she got home from school.

A few things that I am most thankful for:

• My salvation and eternal hope because of Jesus
• My husband of 10 years. God knew that Eric is the exact person that I needed as my partner and best friend in life. He is an awesome husband and father!
• My precious girls, Avery & Ella. They bring me so much joy.
• Everything I need and so much more. God blesses me daily with more than I could ask or imagine.

FIRST SNOW

It has been a blustery, cold week around here! Much more like February than November. But Avery & Ella have loved it. Lots of time with their best friends -- each other!

RUNAWAY WALKER

Okay, this story is about 2 weeks old, but I haven't had a chance to write it down until now! The girls and I went to visit my parents, my sister, Coleen, & her family, and my grandma. For those of you who prayed for Grandma this summer & fall as she transitioned into assisted living -- thank you! She is doing great! So much better than I expected when I went to see her -- "...all things are possible with God."

One evidence that Grandma is doing well was that she wanted me to take her out to lunch. We went to Friendly's, and this particular restaurant is on a busy street (almost a highway) and up on a hill. Grandma has a teal-colored walker that she LOVES. She shows it to everyone that visits her and she calls it her "buggy". It has a storage basket under the seat, and on this particular day she stored her take-out container before we left Friendly's.

It was a very cold day, and my main concern after lunch was getting Grandma into the car, especially since she refused to wear a coat to lunch. Grandma let go of her "buggy" to get into the car and I helped her up the step into the van and got her settled. When I turned around, her "buggy" was gone! A panicky thought came into my head and then became reality -- Grandma's walker was moving at a fast pace down the hill and into the road!

I ran (and I am not a runner!) as fast as I could, down the hill. But just as I reached the road, the walker rolled right out into traffic (moving at 50+ mph). All I could imagine was having to tell Grandma that her "buggy" was demolished. And how was I going to get her back into her apartment without it??

Fortunately, a very nice man noticed the walker before he hit it. He slowed his car and stopped, allowing me to run out into the road and retrieve the teal-colored walker. As I was sheepishly pushing the walker back up the hill to my car, I could see the man and his wife getting a good laugh at my expense.

God is good. Grandma's buggy was safe and even her take-out quesadilla wasn't any worse for the ride. I considered sharing this adventure with Grandma once I got into the car, but decided that it would be more prudent to wait to share the laugh with my mom and dad. Grandma never noticed a thing and I guess that was for the best.

Here is a picture of Grandma with three of her great-granddaughters, Ella, Sammie, & Avery . Sometimes it's just better not to know everything that happens around us.

BEST HANDWRITING

Today Ella won the award for "Best Handwriting in the First Grade". Each month, one child gets selected for this honor. The prize is a special lollypop. Here is a picture of Ella with her prize and a sample of her "best handwriting"

SINGING TREE

This beautiful Japanese Maple is in our front yard. I can't help but think that Psalm 96 can be literally applied . . .

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
they will sing before the LORD"

Psalm 96:11-13

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This was an unusual Halloween . . . I came down with a stomach bug in the wee hours of Friday morning, putting me out of commission for all of the Halloween festivities. Eric had already taken the day off, so he was able to attend Avery's party and parade at school and get the girls ready for trick-or-treating. It was my first (and only, I hope) year to miss the fun with them.

Avery changed her mind at the last minute from dressing as a butterfly to being a fairy. Ella was a kitty cat (aka "cutie-cat"). Thank you, Aunt Coleen, for loaning us the hand-made fairy dress, and thanks to Grandma W. for making the purple satin cat tail! This mom is hopeless when it comes to sewing.

Eric and the girls enjoyed two hours of trick-or-treating with our good friends and neighbors. Then they visited Grandpa & Grandma's house and Mr. Matt & Miss Meg's house. Thanks for all of the candy! It has been an extra-sweets kind of day :) Maybe my stomach will be ready for chocolate by tomorrow . . .

PUMPKINS

Each year, Eric and the girls spend a half-day carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds. It is my job to clean up the mess at the end!

First they have to get the icky stuff out of the pumpkin.

Then scoop up the seeds to roast in the oven.

After the pumpkin is cleaned out, the pattern is applied. (You didn't think my engineer husband would cut into the pumpkin without a design, did you??)

Then the carving began . . .

Apparently the carving wasn't as fun as the rest of the job, so the girls decided to lay under the table and read the newspaper upside down. It must have been a funny news day :)

Voila! The finished products -- a orange cat pumpkin for Ella and a white ghost pumpkin for Avery.

P.S. We all agreed that the seeds from the white pumpkin tasted much better than the seeds from the orange pumpkin -- FYI!

BACK TO WORK

This is a picture of Eric seeing Ella off to school -- and Ella seeing Daddy off to work. Yes, that's right -- he's back to work -- yay! On Tuesday & Wednesday, Eric got the "okay" from both his surgeon and the GM doctor to resume normal activity. He has been out on disability since his back surgery on Sept. 23. Yesterday he left the house at 7:30 am to go to the doctor and I didn't hear from him again until 5:30 when he said he would be late getting home! Both girls went looking for him as soon as they got home from school and they were disappointed when I reminded them that Daddy isn't home anymore.

After a long day and an evening at community group, his back was hurting. But an hour's rest on the couch, followed by a good night's sleep was all that he needed. We are thanking God today for healing Eric's back and for a good transition back to work!

GLASS MUSEUM

Yesterday, the girls and I took a day trip with our good friends, Sheri & Maria. We went to the Glass Museum and had a ball. The girls started by drawing pictures to submit for the afternoon's Hot Glass Show. The selected drawing would be used as a pattern for a glass sculpture, to be created live later in the day.

We went to several cool demonstrations: "The Magic of Glass", "Glassbreaking Demo" and the "Flameworking Demo". This last one was especially cool as we watched a glass worker form molten glass into a tiny animal -- very intricate and amazing to watch her skill. We also got to experience many of the interactive exhibits around the museum, as well as some of the beautiful glasswork on display.

We rounded out the day at the Hot Glass Show, supposedly to see if one of the girls' drawings was selected to be sculpted. Unfortunately, the showtime we attended was a demo of making a clear, twisted-glass bowl, not the drawing sculpture. Still cool, but a little disappointing for the girls. I guess we will find out if they won when we get a $20 shipping bill to send their completed sculpture to our home!

Click on this link to see all of our fun pictures from the Glass Museum

P.S. The Glass Museum is FREE for kids and teenagers!

2008 PIG RACE

This is one of my favorite events to attend at Ella's school -- the pig race! It is so weird and funny -- a perfect event to appeal to our family :) Above you see a picture of Ella and Anna patiently waiting for the festivities to begin!

This is how it works: Each class (Pre-6th) has a wind-up pig. They can dress the pig, name the pig, practice with the pig. There are two "heats". The winner of each heat gets to go to the semi-finals. There is a grand prize and separate prizes for things like "Best Dressed", "Most Likely to Become Bacon", "Most Likely to Be the Next Presidential Candidate", etc.

There was some controversy this year, as the 2nd grade pig was attached to a remote control car. Of course they flew across the finish line before the other pigs did their first wiggle. The crowd was wildly shouting "Cheaters! Cheaters!" but the 2nd grade protested that there were no rules (there weren't!) I'm still not sure if they were disqualified . . . And of course Mr. Stuart's pig always wins his heat . . . hmmmm.

At the end, everyone gets icecream (right before lunch).

It's great fun for all and I love attending every year. Our little friend, Luke, had the perfect t-shirt:

PUMPKIN FARM

One of our favorite family traditions is our annual visit to one of the area's many choices for fun pumpkin farms. Okay, they're not really called "pumpkin farms" but that is what we always call them :) Since the girls and I visited one of the big farms towards the end of summer, we decided to go more low-key this year and visit a smaller (i.e. FREE!) farm that has just a few activities and, of course, pumpkins! This also worked well for Eric, as he is still on limited activity with his back recovery.

This is the second time we have visited this farm, and we were excited to go into the giant tee pees that we remember from our visit several years ago. The tee pees are very dark inside, lit only by the dozens of jack-o-lanterns (in the tallest tee pee) and funny skeletons & ghosts (in the smaller tee pee). Avery found a kid-size tunnel through the tee pees and she and Ella had a blast running through the tunnel while I "scared" them at openings throughout the tunnel.

We also really enjoyed the delicious donuts (pumpkin, chocolate, cinnamon & glazed) and fresh apple cider -- yum!

They had, what we assumed, to be the usual animals for petting, but then we ran across fluffy bright yellow and neon green hens and the girls fed fawns and deer. Very fun.

Just before we left, Avery & Ella roamed through the pumpkin patch to select their pumpkins for carving this year. Avery chose a non-traditional white pumpkin and Ella chose a large orange. I'm sure you'll see pictures of our jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin seeds on a later post.

FALL HELPERS

I never look forward to Fall . . . the girls go back to school, it starts getting dark way too early, and the leaves fall, and fall, and fall, and fall . . . maybe that's why they call it "fall". I much prefer Spring which closes out the cold Winter months and promises Summer days ahead. Anyway, I've already raked at least three times and I am thankful that we got our big maple tree trimmed A LOT this year so that we will have far fewer leaves to rake. To ward off my tendency to complain at this time of year, I try to think of things for which I am thankful. So today I am giving thanks for my two Fall helpers. Since they were little they have helped me bag leaves. Now they help rake too! As long as they can jump in the leaves before we bag them, they are [mostly] joyful about helping. Another thing that I am thankful for is the wonderful fall photos that we capture each year. It really is a beautiful time to celebrate God's creation.

MOPS@

Ella was 9 months old when I first became involved in MOPS. Now she is 6 1/2 and I am no longer a MOPS mom, but a MOPS mentor. I love it! In the last 5 years, our MOPS group has evolved from one large "classic" group of 45 + women meeting at the church, to several smaller MOPS@ groups that meet in homes around town. Our group this year has 12 women and I look forward to our time together every other week. Today was a sad day, as we were saying "goodbye" to Salli. Salli, Lindsi and I have been planning this group since last winter and it has been amazing to watch friendships grow so quickly as a result of our first 3 meetings. Here is a picture of most of our group, minus a few friends who were missing today. I am thankful for MOPS and the many blessings that God has brought to me, and other women, through this ministry.

SPARKS HIKE

This is Ella's second year to participate in the Awana Sparks Hike. Ella was very independent -- hiking ahead with Mrs. P and the kids.

She loved gathering treasures from the woods (moss, acorns, fall leaves, a shiny metal piece of something -- of course her favorite thing that is not even a natural part of the woods!)

Ella loved being with all of her friends and being outside -- what a great combination.

Plus it was a perfect fall day. Thank you, God, for beautiful woods, water and sunshine!