Christmas Count down...8 days til Christmas

Not sure why I make plans.

We are going to the Kloudas' on Monday to make Christmas candy (YUM). I planned to go to Sam's this evening to get all of the goodies we will need for the candy. Unfortunately, the fuel pump went out on my Suburban. Frederick had to go to work so I was left without a vehicle.

So, I am stuck in the house...all...evening....ARGH! Definitely not one of my top ten activities. Not just me, but my five kids, and the neighbor kids as usual are with transportation and cooped up inside my house. I finally got smart and put Elf in to watch and handed out cookies.

I couldn't just let this day go by without some sort of Christmas activity being accomplished. I decided to sit down and finally write our annual Christmas letter. Prayerfully, the letters and the gifts will get delivered Monday night. But don't worry, I am NOT going to plan on it.

Christmas Count down...9 days til Christmas

The count down may be at nine, but the number of the day is six! Zion turned six years old today. He is an amazing child. He is smart, funny, adorable, and such a blessing to our family. So today was spent celebrating his special day.


McDonald's was the order of the day. Not necessarily my birthday meal of choice. But then again, it's not my birthday.

Zion is not a big cake eater so ice cream was on the agenda. It doesn't get much better than the Marble Slab.

Then off to the mall. Build a Bear was next on Zion's itinerary. He decided on Rudolf. Seemed like a seasonally appropriate choice.

Christmas Count down...10 days til Christmas

Spent the day doing the "usual" daily tasks. But the evening was spent PARTYING!! It started with the "Happy Birthday Jesus" party at AWANA. There was cake, cookies, candy, punch and much more. Grace Baptist always does such a terrific job making things special for the kids. Then it was off to Grace's second dance party. Last night was for modern dance and tonight for Jazz class. She did an awesome job as usual. So the running total now stands at 4 Christmas parties down and the good Lord knows how many more to go. I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME.

Christmas countdown...11 days til Christmas

With only eleven days left until Christmas, the parties are getting started. Tonight was Grace's modern dance Christmas party/dance performance. She was amazing as always. Graceful, elegant, beautiful and inspiring. I love to watch Grace dance. She is so precious to me and I am so thankful to have such an amazing daughter.

Christmas count down...12 days til Christmas

There are those days where things are good. Then there are those days when things are perfect! Days that I know are a special gift from God, just because he wants me to understand how much he loves me. This was one of those days. God is so good to me. I love the snow and snow days. This one was picture perfect. From the snow, the snow cream, the gingerbread houses, and the hot chocolate. To the Christmas movies, kids playing Christmas carols on the piano, filling out Christmas cards and spending time with my precious family. I will go ahead and mention (yet again) how much I love this season of the year. Thank you Jesus for loving on me and my family in a special way today.


Our mini ginger bread village. Take note that there are only four houses. One was eaten prior to the photo.

Elijah enjoying the snow cream. He needed something to wash down the gingerbread.

Grace adding all the details to her house while Isaac supervises.

Aaron creating his masterpiece.

Zion's cute little cottage.

Preparing the snowcream. LOVE LOVE LOVE me some snowcream.

I Definitely didnt learn from my previous pain...

So I went Christmas shopping tonight for shoes for my children. In case I havent mentioned it, I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I love the shopping, the crowds, the trees, the lights, the smells, the food. I love it all. Christmas season makes for the best of everything. But I digress. I was in the shoe department when it happened. I saw these amazing brown leather boots. Yes I know it was just yesterday that the my new black leather boots made my feet scream out in pain. But, I just couldn't resist. These boots were amazing and oh so soft. The evening ended after everyone tried the new peppermint milkshakes from Chick-fil-a, the boys saw Santa Claus, a few Christmas presents were bought, and "momma got a new pair of shoes."