What will 2011 bring?

If 2010 has taught me anything it's this...You never know what a year will bring. It felt like this last year really started out hard for family and friends of mine. It was also hard for me to lose people who I felt so close to, and yet I still have a hard time accepting the loss, because others lost so much more than me.

This year also brought a lot of happiness in my life. One of the greatest was finding out that we had baby #5 on the way. Not everyone understands our happiness with have so many children...we just know that each one of them is a gift from God. Now...we will probably never have 19 kids, because I know everyone thinks that we are become that family. I think they are a great family, and I actually learn a lot from their family. We are not competing with anyone on the number of kids we have.

So from 2011...I don't know what it will bring. I am praying that it will be a great year for my family and people who are close to me. Even if I don't know you well or we are not close I still pray that it will be a great year. I am also praying that it will be a year that we will draw closer to God. And if you haven't yet...think about getting on that bicycle built for two with God!

Are you on a bicycle built for two with God?

Lots of people talk about God being their pilot and they are the co-pilot of their lives. But when I think about it that way I think of a plane full of people and why should I be the co-pilot and none of them are? Also I always felt like it gave me too much control over my situations. For example, if I didn't like what God was doing or what direction He was going I could always take over. So now I am starting to think that maybe I should go on a bicycle built for two with God and let him be in front.

You know the person in the front really has all the control of where the bike will go. Do you think maybe that is how we should be with God? Letting him have the front driving seat? We do our part on the back. We still have to pedal and help get to our destination. It can't all be God, He still needs us to do our part. I think though that God wants us to allow Him to direct where our lives will go. We need to give Him the steering power. Just a thought for today.

Potty Potty Potty...PARTY!

Ok...so you might be wondering about the title of my post! Well The Destroyer needs to be potty trained! I have been thinking about what I want to do since she is showing ZERO interest in it. We tried candy...but she would stand at the door of the bathroom crying at the candy that was just out of her reach. SO...that didn't work. Someone thought maybe I should just let her go without a diaper...but I don't really want a bunch of messes around the house, and knowing her she would not really be bothered by it even if I made her clean them all up!

So I am going with FUN! I am trying to make it as fun as possible. I actually made a really fun potty chart that is a bit of a spin off of another one I saw. I used my left over Christmas wrapping paper for the back of it! So every time she uses the potty then she gets a sticker! I hope she is as excited about it as I am! :)

So here we GO!

I love fun presents! The best presents are the ones that you can play with over and over again and not get tired of them. Much like the present that is pictured below that cost us almost nothing and to think I almost told my husband not to get them! What was I thinking? The Inquisitor and The Emotionalist have been playing with these non-stop since Christmas. They make an outfit and then tell me where they worn and by who...it's so much fun!This outfit is apparently a beach outfit that will be made for me. I asked if it was a cover to go over my swimming suit. Nope. Apparently it's just to be worn to the beach...not sure I will be going in the water with this one. This outfit is to be worn to dinner with daddy. I am not sure if it's for me or them. I wouldn't mind wearing something like this out to eat with my husband! This outfit is to drive in! LOL! I mean it would look really good if I was driving around in a fancy sports car! :) I think it makes a nice center piece for my table...matches the table cloth!

I think mine and my husband's love for Project Runway is rubbing off on our girls! :) I think pretty soon it might be a family show to watch!

997

So the day after Christmas I have been looking at my blog stats. Something I have never done. I started this blog in May and since then I have had 997 people view my blog! That is crazy! It was fun to see what post were the most popular and what people searched for when they eventually showed up at my blog! Some of them were kind of funny!

We had a great Christmas day. They girls have been enjoying their books and games and I have just been enjoying their excitement with the day. By the end of Christmas the girls just crashed and so did my husband! I ended up in bed by 9:30...so you could say we all crashed!

It was wonderful to have G-ma and G-pa over for supper on Christmas. My parents are great and they love being around the girls! They gave the girls some presents...the best was a nativity set they can play with! I have been wanting to get one FOREVER!

So for now I am just going to sit and enjoy my wonderful family! I hope everyone had as great of a Christmas as we did!

Merry Christmas

I love this time right now. Almost Christmas Eve and I am up baking goodies and wrapping gifts. I am enjoying the lights on the window and the Christmas tree and watching random Christmas shows on TV.

I am using this time to think about how much I love my family and how wonderfully full my life feels. A wonderful husband, 4 beautiful girls and 1 little bun warming in the oven. I love the fact that tomorrow we will spend the day preparing for our Saviour's birthday. The girls will help me bake a cake...because what birthday is perfect without a cake? We will spend time talking about the trip that Mary and Joseph took in order for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. Talking about how Mary must have felt so far from family about to give birth. Finally we will talk about the wonderful event that we celebrate on this date...Christ's birth! How wonderful that He came to this world to be one of us...and live like us...to know what we go through. Not just know like a god would know, but he really experienced it.

We will also make cookies and have our talk about St. Nicholas and talk about how we can honor a great man. How do we celebrate giving...do we know someone who needs something more than we do? It was such a blessing the other day when The Inquisitor said she wanted to go through her toys and give some of the them away. My children are a blessing to me!

I hope that you all enjoy this seasons. If you live near we do I hope that you are enjoying the wonderful snowfall that we are getting. I guess it's good and we don't have to be sad about not having a white Christmas. If you live near where my husband's family does...I hope you are staying dry and that the rain will stay away for Christmas. But no matter where you live I hope you realize the meaning of it all. Forgiveness was given to you at this time of year.

Santa VS Jesus

Disclaimer...I did not write this. But I was not able to find out who actually wrote it so if anyone out there knows who wrote it...please let me know! Thanks!

Santa lives at the North Pole… JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh… JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year… JESUS is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies… JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited… JESUS stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited.

You have to wait in line to see Santa… JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap… JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn’t know your name, all he can say is “Hi little boy or girl, what’s your name?”… JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly… JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO… JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says “You better not cry”… JESUS says, “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.”

Santa’s little helpers make toys… JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but… JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree… JESUS became our gift and died on a tree.

It’s obvious there is really no comparison. We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about. We need to put Christ back in CHRISTmas, Jesus is still the reason for the season.

Yes, JESUS is better, He is even better than Santa Claus.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Santa...

I was asked to write this post otherwise I probably wouldn't write it. I want to be really careful how I write it because I know there are people who don't agree with how we treat Santa...even some who are very close to us.

It's not a surprise to most who know us well, but to some it maybe. We do not teach Santa in our house. The girls do have their moments of pretending to be Santa and his elves, but as parents we do not mention Santa unless the girls bring him up to us. Many people don't understand why we do this. They feel we are taking away a special childhood moment. We disagree.

Our focus at Christmas time is the reason this whole holiday started. Jesus' birth. We feel that Santa has taken over and commercialized the holiday. We do however talk about who Santa was. We talk to the girls about St. Nicholas and what he was all about. That he really wanted to spread the news about Jesus and loved who Jesus was. That he gave all of his money to be able to make children happy when they had nothing. That he spent some of his life imprisoned and persecuted for his faith in Jesus. How morphed Santa has become! I think he would be sad at who he has become today and how much attention he takes away from Jesus.

Now I grew up believing in Santa and I am just fine. That is not really our reason for doing this. Although I do disagree with the thought that believing in things like Santa, the easter bunny and the tooth fairy are what prepare you for believing in God. Wrong...believing in God is was prepare you for believing in God! Sometimes I think people think kids are too young to start learning about God and learning about faith in God. Let me assure you they are never too young!

Don't get me wrong here...we don't sit here and tell our kids that Santa is not real. But when the time comes and they ask if Santa is real we tell them the truth. It just so happens that The Inquisitor asked at a very young age. She is the kind of girl where things have to make sense. The day she came to us with this I will never forget. She said "Mom, Santa doesn't make sense! How can one man get to all the houses in one night...with lots of gifts." I asked her what she thought. Her answer "I don't think it's real. It's just a story. Mom is Santa real?" So I told her she was right. Santa doesn't make sense and he's not real. Honestly I don't think she's missing out at all.

Let me tell you though...I don't mind if you teach your kids that Santa is real. It's not a problem with me. I think every family has to make that choice for themselves. I just hope that people can start respecting our choice. I don't mind if you leave your comments about how you disagree with me...that's fine. Just know I won't change my mind.

On The Couch Day

Today has been a day of laying on the couch watching cartoons with my girls. This is not something I do too often, but today was that day. The Emotionalist woke up this morning around 4 am not feeling so great. Soon it followed with some not so fun activities and I soon followed in those activities. I don't know if I got sick just because I am weak and the sight of it just makes me sick or if I really am sick. After good naps some woke up feeling better and others woke up cranky! Ok so The Baby woke up cranky!

I am so thankful for my husband today! He works nights and he stayed up this morning for me. He took The Inquisitor to school. Let me take a nap. Got 7up and ingredients so he could make me and the girls homemade soup! What a guy! I am truly blessed. Now that I am starting to feel a little better he is starting to feel not so good.

So today was full of snuggle time which I do not mind every so often. And it makes me feel better having my oldest read the Bible to me. She read John 10:14&15 and said "Now that's good!"

So tomorrow hopefully I will get to my post I wanted to write for today. I had someone ask me to write about why we don't teach Santa in our house...so I will. Hope you all have a blessed day!

Tis the Season...

I sit and wonder what people really think this season is about. I am not your average person. I don't really get upset when people say "Happy Holidays". To me I see that there are lots of holidays at this time. But...I do get frustrated with Christians at this time. I do get frustrated with the world at this time. No matter what the Holiday is that you celebrate the most in your house...I guarantee that you are not focused on that holidays actual meaning. Since I am a follower of Christ, I will use the major Christian holidays for this time.

Thanksgiving

Ok so it may not be a Christian holiday...but I am going to use it. What is Thanksgiving all about? What do you do for Thanksgiving. Normally we get together with family and eat tons of food. How many people talked around the table about what they were thankful for this year? My family didn't...and I didn't even think about it until after I left my grandma's house. We normally do a thankfulness tree without girls...but I didn't even think about it this year. I had gotten too BUSY!

Now I think it is pretty well known with most of my friends that I hate black Friday. Maybe that didn't make it clear I HATE it! It's not just black Friday anymore it's become black Thanksgiving now. Instead of being thankful for what we have got we become greedy and want more. The week before people are looking in the ads and seeing what they want to get. How early they need to get up and all Thanksgiving long some people are consumed with what great things they are hoping to get the next day. We've forgotten to be thankful. Now please don't get me wrong you do get great deals on black Friday...I just wish it didn't take away so much from Thanksgiving.

Christmas

This is one holiday I think the Church has really fallen short. My children know lots of Christmas songs. We teach them lots of songs at home...but not all families share the same beliefs that we do so the majority of the songs they learn are from school. I don't think churches take enough time to really teach the children of the church what the true meaning of Christmas is. We have done a lot with our kids at home making sure they know what Christmas is about. Some of what we do has really ruffled the feathers of some. We don't teach about Santa. We don't mind if the kids pretend about Santa...but when the time comes and they ask us if Santa is real...we tell them the truth. Santa does not bring gifts to our home. Christmas for us is centered around the true meaning of Christmas. Now what is the true meaning of Christmas? Well I was shocked one day when The Inquisitor came home from school. "Mom do you know what the true meaning of Christmas is?" So I answered her with a question asking her what she thought it was. Her answer shocked me. "The true meaning of Christmas is that is doesn't matter what color you are!" WHAT?!?!? Is that really what this holiday has become? It's become anything that doesn't have to do with the birth of Jesus. I did ask her if she thought that was really the true meaning of Christmas. She said no, but still didn't want to make her music teacher wrong. The Inquisitor has been singing the songs for her program at school. The main one is "Christmas is a Rainbow." It's just makes my heart so sad. Christmas is so much more than that! The true meaning of Christmas is the coming of our Saviour! That God sent his one and only son to the Earth to die for us. I know lots of people don't understand that because they aren't followers of Christ...but how are we the Church helping them? I don't mean the Church as just the building or the leaders in that building. WE are the Church...the people are the Church. What are we doing? Are we teaching our children the true meaning of Christmas? Are we teaching them songs to help them understand what this is all about or are we letting the schools(who really have no choice) teach them songs that teach Christmas is a rainbow? This is such a frustrating time for me. I so badly want to scream at the top of my lungs...but people are too BUSY to even notice. So for the Church out there...slow down. Take some time to read about Christ coming. Take some time to listen to old Christmas songs. They've got great meaning! Take some time out to really share the true meaning of Christmas. As my picture shows...even the real Santa Claus knew what Christmas was about.

The Nativity Collection

The Nativity Collection

By

Robert J. Morgan

If you haven't gotten a Christmas present for your mom or a dear friend yet I have a great idea for one. Robert J. Morgan's book The Nativity Collection is a wonderful collection of Christmas stories. I found myself so wrapped up in this book and loved each and every story that was written. I love having Christmas stories to share with my girls at night and this book did not disappoint. If you ware looking for something filled with wonderful stories to share as a couple or as a family this is a great book! It's has a very sturdy cover and thick pages so that even if your young children do get a hold of it, it should be ok! Once again if you are in need of a last minute Christmas gift this would be a great one.

Your Long Lost Blogger

I am back. I am not sure why I waited so long to blog again. It really isn't that hard to sit down and write for a few minutes. But then again it seems like it is! Life seems extra busy for me since my husband works nights and is also going to school. A lot of times I feel like I am doing it all on my own. My husband is a great help and he does so much to help me out, but I miss my time with him. He finishes school in December so I am hoping that maybe I will start to get a little more time with him!

My girls are their normal selves. Crazy and wild! :) I love them all so much...and each one of their beautiful little faces brings me such joy. We are looking forward to adding a new little blessing to our lives in May. We don't know yet if the baby is a boy or a girl...but my guess is that it's a girl! :) Everyone else is voting boy. I guess we will see! The Baby (Who is going to need a new nickname soon.) has pink eye. Every time I look at her my eyes start to water. Her eyes are so red and watery and I guess I have sympathy eyes or something.

I hope you all have a blessed day!