12 Months of Blessings

Like most of you, I'm finding it hard to believe that 2009 has actually come to an end. I still find myself overwhelmed with all the amazing things that happened for me and my family this year. When I think about all the tremendous blessings God has bestowed upon us in the past twelve months, it's hard not to feel totally unworthy and overwhelmed by His love. A new home, a promotion for my husband, a beautiful new baby...what can I say except that God is so good.

I don't know what to expect in 2010. I really don't even want to try to guess. I know what I hope to accomplish in the next twelve months. I hope to get back on track with my weight-loss goals, back on track with my daily Bible reading and prayer time, and to move forward with some changes I'd like to make on this blog. There are things to tweak, things to get started on, and things that need to stop.

But whatever happens this new year, I know one thing for certain. God knows.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

May God's blessing be upon you all in the new year. See you in 2010!

Christmas Wishes

Well, I'm not getting a white Christmas this year. But I've got more abundant blessings than I can count.


From my family to yours, a very Merry Christmas to you all!

Top Ten Tuesday - Favorite Christmas Songs

I love music of all kinds, but Christmas music will always hold a special place in my heart. Here are my absolute top ten favorites.

#1: O Holy Night - Donny Osmond
Yeah, I know, the guy with too much smile and really purple socks, right? How seventies can I get? But as much as I completely love almost any arrangement of this song, this is truly my absolute favorite.

"He taught us to love one another,
Chains He'll break, for the slave's our brother.
Hymns of joy, chorus raised
All within us lifts up His name."

I get chills every time I listen to it.

#2: White Christmas - The Drifters
A very fun Christmas classic. My favorite part? Singing it with my family, de do de doops and all. I dare anyone to listen to this and NOT start smiling (or singing along!)


#3: Angels We Have Heard On High - My daughters
My big girls have loved exercising their vocal skills to this one since they were wee little tots. Glo-ooooo-ooooo-ooooo-ria... I never get tired of hearing them.

#4: Carol of the Bells - John Williams
Yes, the version from "Home Alone". To me, it just has that kind-of-gothic-hauntingly-beautiful-and-magical-but-not-really-scary-just-classy sound to it. Don't know a better way to describe it.

#5: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings - BNL (and sometimes Sarah MacClachlan)
Two songs for the price of one! I love the jazzy bounce. Who would've thought you could get such a cool arrangement out of such old songs? Apparently, they did. (And really, an accordion in a rock band? Dude!)


#6: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Doesn't it make you wanna throw a party? Seriously.

#7: Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
Another classic from my parent's generation, and one I'm glad to share with my own children. Happy stuff.

#8: The Twelve Pains of Christmas - Bob and Tom
Okay, I'm blushing and a tad embarassed to admit this, but....I like snarky humor. And it doesn't get much snarkier than this. "The sixth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me...Facing My In-Laws." Guilty as charged. (Seriously, though...I love my in-laws, but even my husband admits that they're a bit much. Especially around holidays. And having a chuckle or two about it helps me deal with it. Better than fuming, wouldn't you agree?)

#9: Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi (and the Charlie Brown Singers)
From the first notes, can't you just see little kids walking home from school in the snow, ready for Christmas vacation? This song evokes more childhood memories than I can say. It is the feeling of Christmas time.

#10: The rest of the Charlie Brown Christmas album
Yes, all of it. See #9.

So, how about you? Got any Christmas favorites I didn't include?

I Don't Usually Do This...

I don't usually blog about giveaways, but for a chance to win a laptop? Yeah, I'm blogging about it.

MomSpark is holding a giveaway for an HP Pavilion dm3 laptop. Can you say "Merry Christmas!"?

What would happen if I defied the odds and actually won it? Oh my...

I'd be able to put some real time into this blog.

I'd be able to visit and comment on other blogs.

I could connect more with other moms.

I could find a sense of community, and my place in it.

I could stop feeling so completely cut-off and alone living way out here in the boonies.

I could help my husband turn our dreams of a home-based business into a reality.

And I could do it all from the comfort of my living room floor, in my pajamas, while I'm playing with the little ones. ;)

So if you want to crush my dreams, go ahead and enter to win it yourself. And then come back here, look my children in the eyes and you explain why Mommy's crying her eyes out.

Every Single Day

When people find out that I've given birth at home, they usually all say the same thing. "Wow, you're a brave woman!"

Here's a secret: I'm not brave.

The truth is, I have a list of fears that could stretch for a mile. Things like:

• Fear of harm coming to my children
• Fear of losing my husband
• Fear of not being able to pay our bills
• Fear of public speaking
• Fear of rejection
• Fear of being a bad mom
• Fear of failing at anything I've never done before

But did you know that God's Word says "Do not fear" 365 different times? One time for every day of the year.

Every. Single. Day.

Obviously, God knew that I'd need a daily reminder.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." -John 14:27

Wordless/Wordful Wednesday - Christmas with Toddlers

Christmas with toddlers means....

...you only decorate the TOP half of the tree.

For more WW, go here and here.

It's Nowhere Near Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I've lost count of the number of friends I have on Twitter that have exclaimed with glee that they're getting snow. I'm jealous, people. Seriously jealous.

I ask you, how am I supposed to get into the Christmas spirit when my front yard still looks like this??

I grew up in Kansas, where winter could start as early as October 15th some years. My big girls were just old enough to remember sledding and playing in the snow on our last Christmas there before we moved, and it has been mentioned repeatedly every year since. "Remember the Christmas when it snowed..."

So here's my Christmas wish: snow. Just a little snow for Christmas. It doesn't have to be a blizzard or anything, it doesn't even have to stick around for longer than one day. Just enough to cover the mud and turn my yard into a winter wonderland.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I Thought About It

My husband is home, enjoying a rare day off, which means I get a semi-day off. With the four oldest children (so hard to think of a 2-year old and a 4-year old as being part of the "oldest"!) working outside with Daddy, and Mary amusing herself beside me, I have an unknown amount of time, more or less, to myself.

What on earth should I do?!?

Well, I thought about it. Hmmmm...

I thought about how I could take Mary into the living room with me and get some laundry folded.

Booooriiiing.

I thought about getting busy organizing our newly-designated office (formerly the Big Girls' bedroom).

Ummm, no.

I thought about ignoring the mess, sitting down at my desk and trying to come up with a new post for my blog.

And I actually started to, but then I thought about it.

I thought about what a beautiful day it was outside. Surely there won't be too many more of these to take advantage of, even if we do live in the South.

I thought about the fun I could be having with my family, instead of holing up inside being a computer geek.

I thought about which I'd rather have, "me" time or "us" time.

And I thought about the fact that, though I see my children every day, how often do I get a chance to actually watch them?

Because, let's face it, they don't stay little for long.

I Saw Jesus in my Dinner Rolls

Last week I got the notion in my head that I wanted to make more of our Thanksgiving dinner from scratch than I usually do. I've been baking my own pies for years now, I'm back in the swing of making mashed potatoes, and I've got a killer sweet potato casserole that I whip up every year. This year, something was compelling me to try my hand at dinner rolls.

I've baked bread before, plenty of times, but I've never attempted dinner rolls, so I searched around online for some ideas. I couldn't believe my luck when I found a video of a professional chef giving step-by-step instructions for an easy recipe. (Perfect for a visual learner like me!) I watched it several times, carefully making notes, until I was sure I knew what I was going to do. (And I left the window with the video open on my computer...just in case.)

I assembled my ingredients and utensils, just like a good little chef, and got down to measuring and mixing. After twenty minutes, and several trips back to the computer, I ended up with a seriously sticky, completely unworkable lump of muck. With a lot of misgiving, I added more flour, got a semblance of dough, and tried to knead it and let it rise.

After an hour, I still had a seriously sticky, completely unworkable lump of muck.

On the verge of total discouragement, I threw out the mess, cleaned up, sat back down at my computer and tweeted the following: "First attempt at dinner rolls was an unmitigated disaster. If my 2nd attempt doesn't turn out, I'm going with store-bought."

It didn't take long for two of my favorite twitter friends to answer my cry of distress. First, Heather replied with an encouraging "Don't give up, you can do it!" And then Marye, the most expert chef I'll ever know, offered to walk me through it with whatever advice she could share.

So, I tried again. And, with a lot of anxiety on my part, the dinner rolls turned out beautifully. So beautifully, in fact, that they were the biggest hit of my entire dinner.

And that's when I saw Jesus in my dinner rolls.

I was compelled to try something I've never done before.
God calls us to step out of our comfort zone in service for Him.

Despite my preparation and effort, my first attempt failed.
Through trials and failings, God teaches us perseverance.

I shared my troubles with others and received help and encouragement.
We are called to be one body. No one can go it alone.

The hardest thing brought the most joy and the greatest reward.
Jesus gave his life for all. His sacrifice redeemed us, that we may all have life eternal with him.

And I can't think of anything I could be more thankful for than that.