pajamas, parties and programs

What a crazy, busy but wonderfully blessed week this has been! It has been full of fun and celebrations with a bittersweet goodbye mixed in as well.

The biggest event of the week was the arrival of sweet Kaelyn Grace - our dear friends' fourth child and third baby girl! She arrived on Thursday in the middle of the last day of preschool, class parties and Elijah's Christmas program, and the day before the Tuckers moved to Oregon - they were so glad to see her before they left! We were blessed to be a part of her birthday and keep her big brother Micah for a couple of nights while Katie was in the hospital.

On Monday, Judah had pajama day and his Christmas program. This is his dearest friend, Linkon. They are quite a pair and were adorable performing their Christmas songs in their pjs!

I think this is their secret best friend handshake. :-)

I told you they were nutty!

Yay for pajama day!!!

On Tuesday we had a Christmas cookie decorating party at Ashley's house!

Judah and Ashley's sweet Savannah.

I looked over and Judah had stolen the spatula and was licking it! :-)

Thanks for having us over Ashley - it was so fun!

On Wednesday, Elijah had pajama day and his class Christmas party.

Decorating cookies with his class.

Him and his best buddy at school, Zander.

On Thursday night, Elijah had his Christmas program. Big brother Micah tagged along since his baby sister had been born that morning. He and Elijah are such great friends!

Thanks for driving all the way down Nana and Grangoat!

A family picture. Micah told us he wanted to be part of our family instead. :-)

I have both boys' performances on video but they are too big to add on here. Family, I can show you those later if you want to see them. :-)

What a week, but how blessed we are to have so much to do and celebrate!

a tradition

We have a yearly tradition of going to Bass Pro to get FREE pictures with Santa. Did you catch the free? Cause that's why we go! :-) There are a lot of other fun free things to do too! And we went with our good friends this year which made it even more fun!

You can check out the merchandise, for free.

And of course I already mentioned seeing Santa for free.

They even let you use your own camera - score!

Santa is apparently a VERY happy fellow!

You can ride the carousel for free!

And be with friends that are free. :-)
I think we've established that I like things that are free!
I tried to get a good one of these two great friends - Elijah and Micah.

And here's the whole gang!

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On a sad note, our good friends are moving to Portland, OR on Friday.
We are really going to miss them. :-(

Suzy (the one moving), Katie, me and LeeAnn at Katie's baby shower.
I love these sweet friends - they are such blessings.

And my boys with Suzy's girls at church today.

We are all hoping we get our referral and Katie has her baby this week before they move!
It's hard to say goodbye to cherished friends.
All I can say is, At least we have skype!!! :-)

just words

This time of year is so very, very busy.
There is just so much to do and be and go to.
Buying, wrapping, parties, traditions, baking, family.
We're trying to slow down a little and remember the REAL reason.

We are also just so, so ready to know all about our baby girl.
What she looks like, how old she is, what her name is/ will be.
It seems when you get to the end of a LONG wait,
then you can't wait one more minute!

Like waiting 9 months of pregnancy and the last few weeks CRAWL by.
Or when I was little, waiting for Christmas morning
or for my birthday party...and those last few days seemed to last FOREVER!

We know we are nearing the end of a very long wait to see her face,
and we just can't wait ONE MORE MINUTE! :-)

This is so much harder than I ever imagined it would be.
But then isn't anything worth doing or pursuing?

She is already such a big part of our family.
We talk about her and pray for her on a daily basis.
My boys are constantly pointing out things that "baby sister" would love.
Her stocking hangs on our fireplace with no name on it yet.
There is a hole in our hearts just for her.
We love her.

We are so very thankful for the busy-ness and being surrounded
by friends and family during the holidays.
We are blessed.

We hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season!
Here are two of my favorite Christmas songs.
They are un-traditional but beautiful just the same.
I love Sarah McLachlan and Coldplay.

indoor camping

The boys decided to set up a tent in their room and sleep in it last night.
They were so cute I just had to snap some quick pictures!

First indoor camping adventure = a success.
They both stayed in it all night and actually got some sleep!

seventeen months

Wouldn't you know that yesterday the wait time magically changed to a 17 month average. :-)
Looks like we finally caught up to it!
Hoping for an early Christmas present!

{ideas} bringing Christ into Christmas

So a lot of you will remember that we started a new tradition last year...The Jesse Tree, celebrating the season of Advent. I posted about it last year HERE. It is by far the sweetest and most enjoyable thing we do as a family during the Christmas season. I changed it up a little bit this year and thought it would be fun to post the changes just in case it inspires any of you in any way. I love reading other people's ideas on their blogs. Anyway...instead of putting the ornament, devo and candy in a box every single day, we wrapped them up individually in Christmas sacks, numbered them and hung them in a doorway. That way the boys take turns opening a present every single day until Christmas day. In each sack is the ornament for the day, Bible story and two pieces of candy for the boys to eat. We started on Sunday and they love it so far! I bought the sacks at the dollar store and they love taking them down and opening them up!

And here is our Jesse Tree this year. It has its own spot on our dining room table!

If you've never done this before and want instructions and easy-peasy downloads to make your own ornaments, click HERE. Don't be intimidated to start late - just double up for a few nights!

Another great thing that we are planning to do this year is found HERE. This is the gift catalog for Compassion International. You can buy gifts for others around the world for as little as $5 all the way up to $300 or $400. There is everything from pigs to medical care to clean water to mosquito nets to birthing assistants. We are planning to spend at least $10 less on every person we buy gifts for this year and spending it in this catalog instead. We may put all that money together and buy one big thing or we may buy 10 mosquito nets. We haven't decided yet, but I am excited to be doing this! You can even print out cards to put with gifts telling them what was donated in their honor. If you missed the post with this video or didn't get a chance to watch it yet, please do - it's only 2 1/2 minutes. It's what inspired me!

And here's a link to a GREAT idea for teacher's gifts that will bless others HERE.

Make a difference this Christmas in the lives of others that actually NEED things we take for granted! Give gifts of compassion, and teach your children to do the same!

much to be thankful for

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
And I have much to be thankful for.
Two beautiful boys.
A doting and supportive husband.
Food in our tummies and a warm place to call home.
God's mercies being new every morning.
And a beautiful baby girl coming soon.
Just to name a few.
We will hit 17 months this week.
We shall see, we shall see! :-)

sweetly sleeping

Lately, Elijah has been crawling in bed with Judah at night.
It is so sweet to see them sleeping so soundly up next to each other.
Such sweet brothers.