December opportunities...

December brought cool weather and many cups of hot chocolate.

It also brought opportunities to help the girls see more than presents under the tree. The more they understood the special joys of giving the more exciting the season became.

Sophie played Christmas carols at a nursing home while Mackenzie, Haleigh and I made some new friends among the audience.

Haleigh's Cubby group decorated a tree with gloves, hats and scarves for Miracle Hill Children.

One special outreach tugs on my heart every time I think of it. It is a partnership our church has made in Liberia. We are working toward building a "reading room" and supplying the books for children and adults who may never have had the opportunity to read. Our community group rallied our children to donate some of their books as well as some new books to send to Liberia. It was so fun to see the huge stacks just from our group of kids.

And finally this year, we actually got our Operation Shoe Boxes packed and sent. I have planned to do this for the last several years, but it always seems to slip under the radar until it was too late. Our co-op joined forces and stacked the boxes high. We just received an email with notification that our boxes traveled to Lebanon.

(One of the most touching things was hearing Sophie lead her co-op class in praying for the children who would receive the boxes.)

Our church challenged us to be mindful of the leading of the Holy Spirit to ways to give throughout the Chirstmas season. As we shuffled through the business of December we were blessed over and over as we heard the Spirit lead us to love on others around us. The girls watched with a keen eye to see how we could help. We were able to look for small ways to give as we moved about our days because we have seen how Our Lord and Savior has given Himself for us.

the beginning of catching up...part 1

Now that we have moved from Christmas fun and are starting the new year I must begin to get Christmas memories on the record! As soon as the first sights and sounds of Christmas start peeking into the stores (even if it is the beginning of November) my mind starts to churn about what we should do for our Christmas card.
Just the mention that we are thinking about taking on the task brings a smirk to my mom's face as she wishes us well in the process. Behind her words I can see this event as it happened each year as I was growing up. Take at least one roll of pictures (24 or 36) assuming you got at least one shot with all eyes open. The next step was to take the film to the little processing shipping center on "Old Bridgeport Hill" and wait 2 weeks to get the prints back. Some years the return of these pictures brought excitement because there were actually a few pictures to pick from to be "the one" sent to loved ones. But some years this was just the go ahead to start the process all over again.
Many memories emerge from this yearly undertaking. One of the most clear memories was Grandma throwing a cat on us because we were all three crying (perhaps the tears were due to our matching bad perms!) The year of being stuck with holly because it was the perfect background for the picture. One year the process took place in the summer and Dad's patience shined through as he stopped on a dime to get the perfect silhouette sky line behind us as we were taking in a family vacation in Hawaii. Not all the memories were bad I remember one year in particular feeling like a princess because I was smiling in my favorite black skirt outfit beside two other beautiful princesses. Though it was tough going some years, this annual task of Mom's was accomplished and thanks to her there is a sweet walk down memory lane each Christmas as the cards are displayed. (Thanks Mom!! ;)
So here was our adventure this year...

... and here it is!

Merry Christmas

So many sweet memories from this Christmas season already and we are just getting started!! But for now...

"...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!! Mackenzie the past two years we have been blessed by your smiles, your laugh and your sweet love!! It has been a tough road at times, but...God has blessed us, strengthen us, taught us and carried us all by bringing you into our lives. You are more precious to us than words!! Every tough night, anxious thought, trip to the doctor -here or across the country is worth one smile and hug from you!! We are excited to see how God will use your sweet, strong will for His Kingdom!!! Love you girl!!!

Wrapping Up the Semester

Yesterday we wrapped up the semester with our home school co-op by exploring four different cultures. China, Rome, India and Egypt were represented in each room that had been transformed to give a literal taste of the culture, as well as an activity.

Kites were created in the India room. While tasting some cheese with a honey dip.

In China, they made lanterns and snacked on pot stickers, jello and vegetable dumplings.

Their visit to Egypt led them to write their name in hieroglyphics and take part in tomb painting. They tasted grapes, dates, and "a small some kind of sandwich:)"

In Rome we created a bean mosaic of the nativity scene. Each age group added to the mosaic as they visited and enjoyed some pita chips and fruit salsa.

What a special way to kick off our Christmas celebrating!!! I am so thankful for the community of homeschoolers that made this day so special!!

Some days...

Some days when life won't slow down, you just have to hang on and enjoy the ride!!

Fillin' a Love Tank With Spinach Balls?!

This evening we started cooking our Thanksgiving dinner. I had one very interested helper from beginning to end. Sophie had a fresh excitement about helping me with the big meal. Our dish to prepare this evening was spinach balls. She was in every step from opening the boxes of spinach to watching them go into the oven. Once we got going Mackenzie realized there was something going on the in kitchen and joined us for the egg cracking.

Sophie broke eggs as fast as she could to try to keep up with Mackenzie handing them to her. Soon Mackenzie decided to start cracking them herself. (Wonder why I didn't get a picture of that - ha!)

Once everything was added and mixed, we put the huge bowl of spinach ball mix into the fridge and headed to the bath tub. After two exhausted kiddos were tucked in bed (not realizing the oldest had a delayed bedtime) Sophie and I headed back down to finish the task.

For the record, Sophie is not one to get "gooey." She really thought this was over the top gooey!!

But she did hang with me to the bottom of the bowl.

Nothing really exciting happened while we were cooking, but you could almost see the gage on the love tank of my sweet girl climb as our dish came together. (Especially when she got to stay up to be the big helper.) To tell you the truth my love tank was getting a good fueling too from this precious time!! I love you Sophie! I can't believe how quickly you are turning into a young lady. I had such a special time with you this evening- thanks sweet girl!!