Monday, December 26, 2011

Another Wonderful Christmas!!!

Well we made it through another wonderful Christmas!!! I really intended on blogging through the whole thing but as you can see that did not happen!! One of my resolutions is to get back in the habit of blogging!!! Seriously the computer thing has really thrown me off because I don't have a way to upload my pictures...so Matthew and I are probably going to just break down and by a new one with Christmas money!!!! This Christmas was amazing!! Jagger had a blast....he is so funny!! He would say I LOVE it!!! This is my favorite! Where you get this??? Hahahah it was hysterical!!! Tonight we are all exhausted.. We started Thursday night and have gone since!! I am sad to see it go but it was another year of great memories!! Tomorrow I am going to recap through the days!!!
Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!!!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas Craziness!!!!

This post was for yesterday but the internet quit working so I could not post it!! :( The internet decided to start working so I will post it now!


We have had so much fun today! We have gone none stop and we are still going...I am just getting to take a small break to do a bit of blogging!! ;)
First thing this morning we had family time! Around 6:45 this morning, I went and got in bed with mom and dad! It was hysterical! We laid in bed and laughed until we cried!!! My stomach was hurting! ;) I know that I will treasure these moments forever! After we acted silly for awhile we decided to get up and eat breakfast.... dad cooked eggs, biscuits, pancakes, and bacon!! YUMMO! oh and of course we can't forget the coffee! Then we got ready and went to town! It was INSANE!!! I was like, Why in the world is it so busy!!! and then it dawned on me.....Its the weekend before Christmas!! Wow!! How did that happen? We shopped for  awhile then came home to rest for abit and wait on Matthew! Once he got here we loaded up and went to see the Trumpet Swans....yes...I said Trumpet swans! About 20 miles from Mom and Dad's 150 Trumpet Swans fly in every year and stay from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day! It is awesome! They are beautiful!
We looked at the swans for awhile, then went and grabbed some pizza for supper! After supper, Matthew and I went to Wal-Mart for mom! Wrong decision! It was craziness too! 2 1/5 hours later we made it back to mom and dads! ;) The joy of the holidays!
and now here we are sitting around watching Jagger play! He is our entertainment..what did we do before Jagger?
Just hanging out in the car!!!
being silly with Bennie!
someone does not like his picture made!
the swans!!!!
I love my little family!



two peas in a pod....won't smile for the camera!

new super cute ornament we got!!!

putting together the tent!

we have a new friend that came to visit Jagger- Johnnie the Elf! ;)
When I saw this ornament I was jumping up and down because I loved it so much!!!!! I can't wait to get it on our tree! ;)

Me and Jagger's new dated ornaments from Bennie!! Since I was born mom has gotten me a dated ornament and now we are starting with Jagger!!
Hope everyone had a blessed Saturday!!!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Jaggers Christmas Party and Family Time! ;)

Yesterday was Jaggers 1st Christmas Party! He had a blast! It was so sweet watching him and all the other 30 3 year olds get so excited! You get 30 3 year olds in a room with presents and tons of Christmas treats.....it gets craziness!!!!!!!!! but I loved it!
After the party, Jagger went and stayed with Grandma Betty then Pa came and picked him up. He spent the whole rest of the day with Pa! This is the first time that Pa has kept him by himself! They went to the farm, fish pond, watched cartoons and no telling what else! He came home smiling and talking 90-to-nothing! Once I got off work, we loaded up and came to Bennie and Poppies!!! We played and had lots of laughs!
could not get him to smile! ;)





Love the melted snowman and cute cupcakes!!! ;) The kids loved them!

so happy!

Well...better get off here and spend time with the fam!
Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Cards and Coffee!!!

This morning I am sitting here working on one of my favorite things about Christmas..... Christmas CARDS!!!!! I love sending and getting Christmas cards! I am like a little kid everyday waiting for the mail to get delivered so that I can run out to the mailbox and see all the cards!!! It makes me so happy! Matthew probably thinks I am weird! ;) Its funny because our list that we send it grows more and more every year! and trust me this is not a bad thing..for me it just means this is how many people we love and our special to us! ;)
I am doing a few things different with cards this year! I have in our home the last two years cards on display! I framed them and have them in our entry, and every year I will add to them!


I am also very BIG on picture albums! I have huge albums for each year! All of the Christmas cards that we get go at the end of that years album (Thanks Aunt Julie for the idea!)...its really neat because its kind of a way to "end" that years book! But this year I think I am going to do something different! At one of the Christmas parties we went to, the host had on her coffee table flip books made from all the Christmas cards she had....they were precious and everyone loved looking at them! They looked alot like this....
It wsa super cute and a great way to let everyone look at cards from past years!!! I can't wait to get mine done like this! I am really thinking I may do one like this for all of Jagger's birthday cards he gets or cards he gets from grandparents! I think it would be a cute way for him to keep them! ;)
so what do you do with all of your cards????
Hope everyone is having a blessed day!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas Movies!!!

What is it about Christmas movies that make you want to watch them all day? and maybe its just me, but I LOVE Christmas movies!!! It is all I want to watch during the month of December! I have already watched Christmas Vacation several times and of course I love ABC Family's Countdown to Christmas..There is always a good one on!
I grew up watching the Christmas cartoons! Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Charlie Brown Christmas, and tons of others!




Jagger has gotten to where he even loves to watch Christmas movies! His favorite right now is Polar Express! He loves the train!

Do you have a Christmas movie that you love to watch every year?
Hope you are having a blessed day!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The True Meaning of Christmas!

Just a week before christmas i had a visitor. this is how it happened…
I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. i opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, santa himself stepped out from behind the christmas tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. “what are you doing?” I started to ask. the words choked up in my throat, and i saw he had tears in his eyes. his usual jolly manner was gone. gone was the eager, boisterous character we all know. he then answered me with a simple statement. “TEACH THE CHILDREN!” i was puzzled; what did he mean? he anticipated my question, and with one quick movement pulled a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. as I stood puzzled, santa said, “teach the children! teach them the old meaning of christmas. The meaning that now-a-days christmas has forgotten.”

santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it in front of the fire place. “teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, representing the everlasting hope of mankind, all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man’s thoughts turning toward heaven.”

He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. “teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. god promised a savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of His promise.”

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a strand of CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. “teach the children that the lights symbolize that christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of jesus who fills our lives with light.”

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree. “teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the real nature of love. real love never ceases, like god’s love which has no beginning or end.”

He then pulled from his bag an ornament of HIMSELF. “teach the children that I, santa clause symbolise the generosity and kindness we feel during the month of december.”

He then brought out a cluster of HOLLY BERRIES. “teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. it represents the crown of thorns worn by our saviour. the red holly represents the blood shed by Him.”

Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said, “teach the children that god so loved the world that he gave us his only son… thanks be to god for his unspeakable gift. teach the children that the wise men bowed before the holy babe and presented him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. we should always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men.”

Santa then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. “teach the children that the sugar cane represents the shepherd’s crook. the crook on the staff helps to bring back lost sheep to the flock.”

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. “teach the children that it was the angels that announced the glorious news of the savior’s birth. the angels sang ‘glory to god in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men.”

Suddenly, I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. “teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring to guide us to god. the bell symbolises guidance and return. it reminds us that we are all precious in the eyes of god.”
santa looked back and was pleased. i saw the twinkle in his eyes as he said: “remember, teach the children the true meaning of christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but an humble servant of the one that is, and I bow down to worship him, our lord, our god.”


This amazing story is one I feel that everyone needs to read! Today after church was our Faithful Friends Christmas ornament exchange, and this is the story I chose to read! There was not a dry eye there! I think it is so easy for us to get caught up in all the "stuff" on the holidays so it is nice to remember the true reason for this season!
I am so sad that I have not got to blog in awhile, but we are still have computer issues and have not had a chance to buy one! Jagger and I got to come and visit mom and dad so he is playing and I am getting to play catch up on the blog! I have missed everyone so much! and now that we are in my favorite time of the year I am going to do everything I can to share it all!
We have been so busy it has been insane! The Tour of Homes was the first weekend in December and it was great!! I was so proud of my house. Matthew and I worked so hard! After the tour was over, I went to sleep and slept like a rock. It was the first time in a month I didn't have to think about it! We have also had two Christmas parties in the last week! We had Matthew's work party. It was a blast! We played Dirty Santa with ornaments and it got DIRTY!! (meaning people were stealing ornaments like crazy!!) I was cracking up! I just gave up trying to get one I wanted!
I also had a Christmas party for our Fall Bible Study! We played Dirty Santa with a gift! It was so much fun! Lots of laughs!
I love this season because it brings out happiness in everyone! I love to see people happy and smiling!
Hope everyone had a blessed Sunday!!