I'm cheating on my blog with Facebook.

I have to admit, the whole "Facebook" phenomenon has been lost on me. I have not understood it. Every time I would hear about someone on facebook, it always seemed like they were either a 12-year-old, a college freshman posting naked pictures of herself or some sort of sex offender looking for naked pictures. I fell into none of those categories. So I ignored facebook.

In September when my cousin was in town for Kevin's wedding, she kept telling me how great facebook was and so I decided to check it out. I set up an account, but in order to see anyone's "pages" on facebook, you have to ask them for permission. I wasn't sure I was ready to make that kind of commitment to facebook. So I went on with my life and forgot all about it.

Then about a month ago, one of my best friends from high school sent me an email. She had found me through facebook. I was thrilled that she had found me, but I still wasn't so sure I wanted to invest any time in facebook. Then another friend found me. Then another. And they started sending me virtual Christmas presents. It all became too much fun to ignore anymore. So I'm currently hooked. And apparently so is everyone else. I was amazed at how many people I know are on facebook. Every morning I wake up to either "friend requests" or confirmations of "friend requests". It's too much fun. Last night I stayed up until all hours sending my friends "flair".

Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon. Otherwise there may need to be some sort of intervention.

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I Believe, I Believe, I Believe!

I was going to put together a Christmas post but have found myself out of time. Fortunately, Melanie (AKA Big Mama) did the work for me. This post says it all.

Have a Merry Christmas, bloggy friends and family! I hope you all believe, too!

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I am NOT dreaming of a "White Christmas"

Despite the fact that I live in a fairly northern area of the country, we do not receive a whole lot of snow here. Probably because we are only something like 400 feet above sea level here in the Willamette Valley. We usually get one or two very exciting, highly anticipated snow days a year. It is during those days that the weather men around here blow their entire annual budget on new graphics saying things like "Arctic Blast 2008!!" and urging all of us to stay home. And we all oblige, since none of us are able to drive in the snow because, well, we never have to. So the entire tri-county area shuts down and people stay inside, drinking hot chocolate (or coffee with Peppermint Mocha Coffe-Mate) and spending quality time with the family. This is great for a day or two.

We are currently in the middle of "Arctic Blast 2008!!" around here and I have not left my house since I got home Saturday afternoon. Unless you count going outside my front door (in a winter coat and hat over my pajamas) and playing in the snow with my kids on Sunday. I don't. First AWANA was canceled. Then preschool was canceled. I am certain preschool will be canceled tomorrow, because we are being hit with another system as I type this. This means Elijah's first ever Christmas program will be canceled. I am starting to get very nervous that my haircut appointment for Saturday morning is going to be canceled, also, which would really be crossing the line. The scariest part is that there is not sign of this letting up in the long term forecast. We are due to get hit with yet another system on Sunday night. All I can say to "Arctic Blast 2008!!" is that it better be gone by Wednesday, because if this weather effects my Christmas, I can not be held responsible for what I might do.

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It's a Wonderful Home.....

Today is Boomama's annual Christmas Tour of Homes. This is the first year I am going to participate. I've always wanted to, but there was the little problem of my not having a blog that made it difficult. Now I not only have a blog, I have taken pictures to post. I have to admit, though, that Christmas decorations just don't look as good in pictures as they do in real life. It's the lights. There's just no way for the average-Joe photographer with an average-Joe camera to capture the magic of Christmas lights. But I did my best. So without further ado...... (cue drumroll).....the highlights of my Christmas decorations.

The tree. It is fake. I admit it. I used to be a true purist, insisting that only real trees were truly Christmas trees. I only truly felt strongly about it while I was still living at home and someone else (my Dad) was cutting down, dragging home, spider-removing, setting up, watering and paying for my tree. It's easy to have principles when you aren't the one paying for them. So now I have a beautiful fake tree that is easy to set up, has already payed for itself and is not a fire hazard. You can't tell it from this picture, but there are a billion lights on this tree. It's wonderful.



The wall I spend a great deal of my time looking at. The wall with the TV (even my TV is Christmas-y...that's Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas my kids are watching as I take these pictures.)











Another shot of the same wall, this one includes the Advent Calendar. Right on top of the cable box and DVR. Just like in the olden days.

This is the sideboard I got for Christmas last year that I absolutely adore. That garland is lit up, you just can't tell. It's really pretty. I'm also a big fan of wrapping up all of my wall art and pictures to look like big presents on my walls. It's a big holiday impact for VERY little money.

Just like this one here.







And also....of course my home has several (5) nativity scenes. Jesus is the reason for the season and I don't want Him to be forgotten in the midst of all of the festivities. So He is an ever-present part of our holiday decor.





He's even in our bathroom.





Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all enjoying all of the sights, sounds, smells and blessings of your holiday season! Thanks for touring my home with me!

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Micah's First Snow

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The One We DIDN'T Choose for the Christmas Cards....

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The Christmas Lie

Two years ago my Aunt got me a fantastic advent calendar. It's a big, huge house, decorated for Christmas, complete with snow, carolers and a tree. Each window and door are numbered 1-24 and they open to reveal a spot big enough for a couple of treats. I attempted to use the calendar that Christmas with my then 21-month-old and 3-month-old. As you can imagine, that went over like a lead balloon. About 2 days in, I decided to give up and just enjoy the calendar as a decoration until the kids were old enough to (kind of) understand.

This year is the year! Not only do Elijah and Micah "get" that they can open a door every day and find a treat, I hear about it almost hourly. I'm beginning to think I could skip the buying of presents and just give them each a Hershey's Kiss a day for the rest of their lives and they would be perfectly happy.

On Saturday when we decorated for the season, I came up with what I thought was a genius idea. In order to avoid little hands opening up the calendar doors prior to the appropriate day, I would leave them all empty and then sneak the next morning's Kisses in each night after they had gone to bed. I was then able to tell them that if they open the doors ahead of time, the treats won't come. It's worked brilliantly. Elijah is old enough to understand, so he stays away from the calendar until he is given permission to open a door. Micah, of course, because he's only 2 (and because he is ornery), has opened doors early on many occasions, only to be disappointed by the lack of chocolate and reprimanded by his older brother for compromising their chance at future treats.

I thought my plan was flawless. We were enjoying the fun of the Advent calendar and the "magic" of the treats "appearing" every morning, while at the same time saving myself the frustration of policing the thing. This morning, only three days in, I stumbled upon a problem. Myself. I forgot to put the kisses in last night before hitting the sack!! I let the boys out of their room this morning and the first thing they did was make a beeline for the empty calendar. I had to think fast, and let me tell you, people....thinking fast is not my strong suit when I still have fuzz on my teeth and sleep in my eyes (and no coffee in my system). So I lied. I lied a Christmas lie. I told them that the treats wouldn't appear until the lights on the Christmas tree were turned on and they couldn't turn on until their beds were made (I was desperate, people). So they ran as fast as they could to their bedroom and I ran as fast as I could to the pantry to find the Kisses and get them in place.

So my children were saved from a tragic Christmas disappointment by a mother who is (apparently) not above lying through her teeth.

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It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I am alive and well and have had a wonderful holiday weekend. Thursday was spent with Mark's family, and we had an extra large crowd this year. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on Friday, a tradition we started last year that I hope will continue. I actually woke up early enough on Friday to hit one Black Friday location (only one....I'm not crazy). We live across the street from a JoAnn's and if you don't know this already....JoAnn is THE best place to stock up on all of your Christmas incidentals (wrapping paper, bows, tape, tissue paper, ornament hooks, extra strands of lights....etc...etc...) on Black weekend. Nearly everything in the store was marked at 60% off and I had my coupon for an additional 20% off my entire purchase. That made rolls of wrapping paper 80 cents! So I spent my Friday morning chatting it up with the ladies in line around me (the line went all the way to the back of the store) as we waited our turn. Then we headed to my parent's house and ate too much.

Saturday we decorated the house for Christmas so our home is festive and bright and smells fantastic, thanks to my new favorite candle. I love Christmas time with every ounce of my being. I do everything I can to surround myself with the sights, sounds, smells and joys of Christmas every December.

Yesterday was the first day of ticket sales for our Vibrant FAITH (Women's Ministry) Winter Wonderland Christmas brunch. We had fantastic sales and it's looking like we will well exceed our projected numbers. Since we will be sharing a gospel message, I have challenged all the women in my Thursday morning Bible study to buy an extra ticket to the brunch, even before they know who to invite. We are praying that the Lord will place on each and every one of our hearts someone who we can invite who needs to hear the message of hope our Jesus brought to us on that First Noel. After all of our services ended, the ladies and I stayed and spent a few hours arranging and rearranging tables, chairs and other decorations to come up with the best possible game plan for our brunch. Once I got home, I was so excited to show off our decorated home I invited my parents over for dinner, so they came over for pizza and my brother tagged along for a short time.

Now it is Monday and I can hardly believe we are officially in the midst of Christmas season. I want to pinch myself! The lights are all lit, the candles are burning and Bebo Norman's Christmas album is playing on my iPod. Instead of "Little Einsteins", the kids have been watching DVD's of Rudolph and Frosty, and instead of "Moosestache", we're reading "Mooseletoe".

Most of all, we're celebrating the Advent season. The season of preparation for the coming of the Messiah. As I've been making my way through the study of our Patriarchs this Fall, I've been reminded of how glorious it is that we have a Savior. The men and women of the Old Testament were living in constant hope of the Messiah, wondering when He would finally come and deliver them. The sweet baby boy born in the stable that night was the answer to their prayers. And to ours. We just don't have to wait for our salvation. It's ours as soon as we ask for it. One of my current favorite Christmas songs is "Born to Die" by Bebo. I tried to find a video of it to embed, but I couldn't. I urge you to go and find it on iTunes or Amazon or wherever you find music. I love it.

I hope wherever you are, you are preparing your homes, and more importantly your hearts, for the coming of the Child King. Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!

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