EKjourney Backup

Christmas morning was such a blessing.  I think it is a challenge at times to keep Jesus our focus during the Holiday season.  There is such a rush to get together the last of the Christmas presents, to wrap gifts, to coordinate schedules with families...I am always amazed at how distracted I can get and how easy it is to find myself gravitating toward the consumerism aspect of the Season. This year, Phil decided that we were going to spend Christmas morning celebrating Christ and His birth...giving the Lord the first fruits of the day.  Phil was not going to let anything distract our family from spending time in Worship and Devotions.  Phil and I woke up with the baby around 7:00.  We enjoyed a good 45 minutes talking together and loving on our (almost) 5 month old.  I made chocolate muffins and put a birthday candle in each one.  Phil finished the reading of our Advent devotions and we talked about Christ, and how we can celebrate Him everyday, and w...

I love making homemade Christmas gifts!  It is fun to think about each individual (or couple) and come with ways to bless them on Christmas.  I like to think of ways to involve the children in giving.  Even though we don't have riches to spend, we so enjoy giving of our time and of the fruits of our home.  We start making our plans in the Summer and it feels like the spirit of giving starts early! I made hats! Phil made crates and birdhouses out of aromatic cedar. The children helped in the Woodshop.  (Phil has access to the campus shop.) I found a fun and creative craft for us to do as a family. We dipped pinecones (from our yard) into beeswax and sprinkled them with glitter.  They turned out beautifully. In our Little Rubies moms and daughter's group.  We made hair clips for one of our crafts.  It was so much fun that I was inspired to make some for stocking stuffers! I also enjoyed crocheting flowers for clips! We also included homemade ...

I frequently blog about trying to keep things simple.  This doesn't mean that I do, LOL, but I do try!  I have really enjoyed the 'simplicity' of the Holiday decor this year.  (Note...just because things look simple doesn't mean that it didn't take a long to do/make/set up...but that was the general idea LOL.)  I set up an Advent table with a Nativity scene that belonged to my Grandparents (the only tangible memento from my Dad's parents that I have) and a Jesse tree with handmade ornaments.  We put up a few strands of lights on shelves.  Our tree doesn't have a 'theme' this year just ornaments that have been given to us or collected over the years.  (Last year, I went through our Christmas supplies and purged without mercy!).  My mom made a beautiful Christmas wreath and gave us a Poinsettia. We celebrated Tina's birthday on the 23rd.  I crocheted this hat and scarf for her.   Advent is a beautiful way to focus our heart...

With all the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season, we take a day out to celebrate the birth of our 3rd born child, our little Evangeline, who turned 4 on December 21st.  She is our child of a care free nature, usually smiling and happy, dancing around on her tip toes.  She is content to be where ever she is, doing whatever she is doing.  Phil and I are so blessed to be the parents of this wonderful little girl!  We absolutely adore her. Breakfast is my favorite meal to host so when the opportunity presents itself, we have a birthday breakfast party!  I made a baked oatmeal peach crisp.  Auntie Tina brought bacon and whip cream.  Grammy brought pears.  YUM! Hugging her birthday sweater from Great Gram. Family here to celebrate. Opening gifts. Sitting with Grandma wearing her new pinafore style shirt and holding a new baby. Mom is not much of a cake maker but so far nobody seems to mind blowing out the candles on ice cream cones. ...

Sawyer fished out a pacifier to see how Glorielle would like it.  I have never really understood pacifier usage. None of my children would take them except Sawyer.  There was a short period of time where he really wanted to suck his thumb but he wasn't quite coordinated enough to do it.  We would hold a pacifier in his mouth in the evening when he was frantically (and crankily) trying to get his thumb in his mouth.  I tried this pacifier at the Above Rubies Retreat when the lack of naps got to be too much for poor Glorielle.  She sort of took one, once.  LOL! What is this strange thing? Why it in my face? I like my fingers and thumb. Do I lick it?  (She was licking it like an ice cream cone much to Sawyer and my amusement.) Like this? (Note the hand ready to catch it when she spits it out, which she did, several times.) No thanks.  That sure made me drool a lot!

The older girl's and I go to a Mom's and Daughters group called Little Rubies.  It is a fun time of fellowship, devotions, and crafts.  We missed the November group so I didn't know that we were doing a Secret Santa exchange until 4 days before!  I whipped up these hats in lieu of laundry, housekeeping, and dinner (we ordered pizza).  I thought they turned out cute.   Sometime in the 80's my mom and her friend Sara made Christmas stockings.  With the addition of spouses in laws and grandchildren, we needed to add a few more to the group.  I am not much of a sewer and my attempt at making a stocking for Brighton...is still in the attempt stage.  So far I put in a good 8 hours and it has been in the garbage can and fished out again more than once.  I am not ashamed to say that I may have even shed a tear or two in utter frustration!!  Brighton will most likely have a paper bag for a stocking.   \ What is Christmas without ...

The bloggable moments have been plenty but the time to sit down and recount them is short. I crochet if I have a moment of spare time.   We set up a game table for a few weeks.  I enjoy having a few things out in the garage that we can get out every so often to "mix things up a bit".  Sawyer is building with his knex. My oldest and my youngest.   Snot, oatmeal, and smiles.   Laundry folding.  Sigh, I haven't learned to master the laundry mess.  The pile is a lot cuter with a little boy in the midst! All the animals enjoy the straw bedding (well, for some reason the rabbits don't - they shove it into a corner and poop on it or get every last straw piece out of their cage). I have lots more updates to post and hopefully I can find time to get to them soon!