Christmas Spirit!

You know sometimes how it can be the Christmas season but you are just not quite in the Christmas Spirit.. You have the tree up, you have done some shopping, etc, etc but just not quite there yet!! Well that has been me until yesterday! I am not quite sure why i haven't been in the Christmas spirit.. I have been excited.. I have done fun things it just hasnt clicked yet! I am sure I sound like the Grinch saying all this but I am really not!

So anyways yesterday was an awesome day! The day started out with me volunteering to help with Community Christmas! For those of you who do not know what Communtiy Christmas is... Its all the churchs and whoever else wants to help come together and donate mens gifts, womens gifts and toys for families to come and "shop" for gifts for Christmas! These families have to qualify for it and when they come they come in each room and hand pick a gift then take it to have it wrapped! Our church is always in the mens room. It is so sweet to see some the small children come in to pick a gift for grandpa and dad!! I have helped for several years and it is something I look forward to every year!

After Community Christmas I normally have a small breakdown because it truly reminds me of how blessed we are..i think many times we all take it for granted and forget so it is Nice to be reminded!

When I got home Hudson and I took a nap while the older boys went duck hunting!!! And Jagger had a blast! They didnt stay long because he got cold but he was so excited that he got to go! Hunting is definitely in the boys blood and there is no turning back now! I seriously think he would hunt anything they have a season for and probably some they dont! :) 

Around 6 it was time to get to church for the Tour Of Homes! This is where several people in our church open up there home for the women in the church to tour! It is really neat and if you remember we did this a couple of years ago! I started decorating after Halloween and it was somewhat stressful! But the homes are so gorgeous!!!! Matthew says he doesnt like for me to go on these things because then I come home full of ideas and wanting to but new things! Surely not me!! ;) when we get done with the tour we go back to the church, eat and listen to some beautiful Christmas music!! Last night I really felt in the Christmas Spirit!! I guess just a full day of Christmas things helped get me there. Tonight we have our deacons Christmas supper and the Children choir program at church. Tomorrow night we are ringing the Salvation Army bell, Christmas parade, and Matthews work party!! A couple of days of exciting Christmas events was all I needed!!! 

Hope everyone has a blessed day!! 

Lots of love!

The Sounds...

Don't you love the sounds of this season?? I know I do! The music is amazing! I confess I am one of the crazy people who starts listening to Christmas music way early!! I just love the message behind all of it and the way it makes you feel so happy! My favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night! It brings me to tears everytime I hear it and when Mrs Carrie Underwood sings it.... Oh my gracious! I get chill bumps thinking about it! I also enjoy the Elvis Christmas album! So many great classic songs mixed with his own and then hymnals! Its awesome! Jagger will say, Mom do we have to listen to Elvis anymore?? Hahah. Jagger's top pick would have to be the Chipmunk Christmas. He loves it but after awhile their voices start to drive me nuts! So thats when we go back to good ol Elvis! 

I love the sound of the house full of family visiting! There is so much laughter in the air! Its a sound I want to bottle up so we can listen anytime! The sound of all the cousins running through the house screaming, laughing and chasing each other. The sound of Christmas movies.. Christmas Vacation, Rudolph, Santa Claus is coming to town, Elf, Polar Express, and so many others! 

The sound of the bell.. You know... The bell outside of Walmart and department stores that many of us are guilty of trying to avoid! The Salvation Army bell! I truly enjoy the sound of it because when you hear that first ring of the season we know its The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! 

And then lastly the sound of squeals and excitement on Christmas morning! I Love when you pick just the right gift that makes them smile, jump up and down, gasp or whatever else means excited! The kids tearing through wrapping paper. Then the sound of toys being played with! 

Its all really wonderful and makes this season even more special! 

Whats your favorite sound this time of year! (I know my husband would say the ducks flying over head!!) 

Hope everyone has a blessed night!

Lots of love! 

Simple....

Simple.. That is just how we are keeping Christmas this year! I can not believe we are coming up on the year anniversary of our nightmare! I say nightmare but over the past few months I have really started dealing with what we went through, and yes it was not fun and I don't want to ever go through it again but I am truly beginning to think it was part a blessing! I know you are thinking I am crazy for saying a blessing but I know that God does everything for a reason and in his plan that was suppose to us during the holiday season last year... Why? We will never know but I think God showed me alot during those two weeks in the hospital! 

The big thing is he taught Matthew and I what Christmas is really about! Its not about trees, presents, food, decorations, parties and all the other things! Its about Jesus! And last year thats all we had! We were in a hospital room with nothing but family and Jesus! And I truly believe we experienced a true Christmas! God stripped us of everything that we thought was important and showed us what was truly important! So this year I have totally changed my thinking!! We are taking it one day at a time! Whatever shopping I get done, thats what I get done! If I don't get all the crafts, food, and everything that pinterest tells me I need to do, I know it will be ok! I just want my family to focus on love, giving to others and Jesus! The rest doesn't mean squat! 

With all that being said, I will say we have done some fun things so far...last year we started the countdown to christmas with the random acts of christmas...we loved it so much we decided to do it again! Each day we do different acts of Christmas kindness! We have done some Christmas crafts.. Nothing too involved! We have watched Christmas movies! We built a gingerbread train.. That is now falling over! We have read Christmas books... And many other fun things! I want the Christmas season to be fun for my kids but I never again want to be stressed and miserable over a time that is suppose to be full of love and joy! I want to keep things simple as can be! 

Hope everyone has a blessed night. 

Lots of love

Megan

Life..

Life can be so awesome at times and then in the blink of an eye change! We have for sure learned this over the last year but it still amazes me how fast life can change! Yesterday we said goodbye to my Aunt Ruthann!! This was a complete and total shock to the whole family! She had no signs of being sicka and as far as most of us know she was healthy! They just found her in her apartment Tuesday morning! It actually makes me sick typing this sick because I feel its a dream! She should still be here..My grandma had 8 kids and she was the second to oldest! There are two girls and the rest boys! I have grown up thinking both of my aunts hung the moon! They are both special in their own way. I remember growing up thinking my Aunt Ruthann was so beautiful! She always had her beautiful blonde hair fixed and  She had these awesome red fingernails. She always called me Megan Marie! The older I have gotten the closer we got! We have always shared a love for Elvis and for family history! I love anything to do with our family and she was my go to lady when it came to that! I could ask her anything about our family and she knew it! I feel so blessed because a few weeks ago we sat in Grandmas living room and for several hours she told me stories about their childhood! I have cried and cried because I am so glad that God gave me this time with her because I will never have it again and she told me stories that I can pass on! She also came to St Louis while Hudson was in the hospital and we got to spend several days together! Her laugh is one I will never forget! You could hear it a mile away and when she laughed you would instantly laugh with her! 

My aunt was an awesome mother, nonnie( grandma), aunt, daughter, friend, sister and so much more! She will be missed so much! I pray that God will give us the comfort we need to deal and help us focus on all the good times! I know she is up in heaven smiling down on us listening to Elvis! 

Hope everyone has a blessed day! 

Lots of love 

Megan

Bbbbrrrrr...It's Cold!

Today the high was 35....Yes I think it is officially winter in my book! We are still at my Grandma's and it is wonderful! My Grandma lives way out in the middle of nowhere! She has a tiny house that has had the same decorations for 27 years and during the winter the house smells of the wood burning stove! Its wonderful! There is always yummy food around here! Breakfast- biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs, ham! Lunch- homemade chicken and dumplings and potato cakes (if you have never had a potato cake..you are missing out! She takes left over mashed potatoes, makes them into a patty then fries them! AMAZING!) What is it about Grandma's cooking! The whole day has just been an awesome day of food and laziness! No laundry, no cleaning...just visiting, eating, and resting!  This is what I call Thanksgiving break!
Jagger has been having a blast with Pop. If he has ask my dad one question he has ask him a million. He follows my dad around like a little puppy dog and if you know my dad this is something he is not use to but it is so good for him- and he is great with Jagger!
Hudson has also enjoyed himself! He has been held and cuddled the whole time. He is almost crawling. I figure in the next week he will be everywhere! Today, he has enjoyed mashed potatoes and homemade applesauce! As soon as he puts it in his mouth, he gets the biggest grin on his face! He knows the good stuff. I think he will be like his momma and turn out to be a foodie! Big brother could care less about food so I need one boy to be with me!
My favorite thing so far is watching my Grandma with the boys. This afternoon she was rocking Hudson and just singing to him. It was so precious and it was a time I wanted to freeze the moment. I love moments like these and I never want to let them go. I love my Grandma so much and it is so special to me when she gets to spend time with my boys! God is so good and I am forever grateful he has given me a super family!
Hope everyone has a blessed night!
Lots of love

Holidays...

I can't believe we are finally getting to the beginning of the Holidays! I have always loved Thanksgiving because its kind of the "kickoff" to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Typically every year we do Thanksgiving with my family at my Grandma's. This year we have decided to do Thanksgiving in Kennett with Matthew's family. At first I was kind of sad but the boys and I have come to my grandma's and are going to spend a few days with her! I think this is even better than getting to come down for 1 day at Thanksgiving then turn around and go home! ;) I am also super excited because Black Friday I am going to go conquer Wal-Mart with one of my super awesome friends! Not really sure what is on my list to buy, but I know we will have a blast! Then Friday night, Matthew and I are leaving to go to Nashville. This will be the first time we have been away on a weekend by ourselves! I am really looking forward to spending time with him with no kids! We are going to be going to a wedding and then doing some Christmas Shopping!
So back to Thanksgiving....I love this Holiday because it is centered around my favorite thing....Food! Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, corn, homemade rolls, and most importantly dessert! YUMMO...I am getting hungry thinking about all the yummy food! When I was little we would leave after lunch drive home, and start putting up our Christmas tree! I would get so excited I could hardly stand it! I feel like now we put the trees up so early! We don't even allow Thanksgiving to get here. This year I have waited to put up Christmas until Thanksgiving! I have been trying to get all of us to truly focus on Thanksgiving and what its all about instead of Christmas decorations. This Thanksgiving will also be special because the doctors told us the other day to let Hudson eat from the table..mashed up of course! We know he is going to love the food...and I can't wait to see his reaction! I know all this year the Holidays are going to be so awesome because we have Hudson with us!

Shoeboxes!

What does a shoebox mean to you?? Do you throw them away or do you keep them!! Me I am OCD and keep all my shoes in the box or at least most! I have boxes and boxes neatly stacked with labels facing out so I know what shoe is where! A shoebox to most of us is just a box that holds our shoes but to others a shoebox may mean something completely different! 

It all started several years ago when I began getting involved in our church! It was after Halloween and they showed a video on something called Operation Christmas Child and basically it is taking shoes boxes and filling them with stuff( toys, stationary, etc) and then they are sent over and given to kids across the world who are without! These kids are also given the opportunity to learn about Jesus! I immeidately was hooked! I got several boxes that day and left the church! Every year since I make a point to get boxes and participate in this! 

This years things have been alittle different! I knew it was time to get started on boxes and Jagger had brought home 1 from Sunday School class. I kept telling myself we have to find time to go get the box ready. Well i had a leadership team meeting and at the meeting the book Operation Christmas Child was shown. Being the crazy reader I am in knew I had to read the book! After the meeting I got the book! Once i got home and got everyone to bed i started reading! Within in the first couple of pages I was hooked! The book is filled with story after storyof how a child will get a box and inside is exactly what they need! Things only God can do! I decided to start reading the book to Jagger. The whole time I am reading I can tell his wheels are turning! I know his 4 year old mind cant comprehend that some of these kids have never recieved anything in their whole life! Finally he says," momma stop reading! This is too sad!" Me: yes this is sad but we have to know and learn that there are people in the world who need help and that is what Jesus wants us to do! So nothing else is said and we go aboit our day! The next day Jagger comes to me and says, "Momma I want to fill some boxes!" Me: "well ok, we have our boxes to fill. We will get to the store and work on them!" Jagger: "no, momma lots of boxes!" He then tells me to get his Bennie on the phone! I call my mom for him and he ask her if she would fill a box for him! He goes on to explain that its to tell kids that we love them and Jesus loves them! She of course says yes! Jagger then asks me if i will take him several places in town and call some people because he needs to ask more people.... Well as of Sunday Jagger has gotten 36 boxes!!! I know we will have more because we have had people contact us and say they would like to do one for Jagger! We are beyond thrilled what our 4 year old is doing! And to know that its not about filling boes with toys. Its about reaching out to others and showing Love and mostly importantly the love of Jesus!!! 

Jagger tells me that next year he wants 1,000 boxes! I told him we better start praying and see what God can do!! I do know at the beginning of the year we will start collecting boxes and items to go in the boxes and who knows maybe this sweet boy can reach his goal! And from now on when you see a shoebox hopefully it wont just be a box, its something much more! 

Please keep Jagger and the boxes in your prayers!!

Hope everyone has a blessed day! 

Lots of love