This weekend has been quite fun and full of Christmas festivities!  I love this time of year, because it encourages us to get out of our normal routine and actually spend time with others.

Saturday we spent the evening at our Bible Study having a study and small Christmas party.  We did a small White Elephant gift exchange which is always fun :-)  We were able to pass on a couple of things that we never used but someone could and then brought home some very nice items ourselves.  Both my hubby and I received Jar candles by Essenza...Red Delicious Apple and Vanilla Bean.  YUM!  I also received a lovely Country Living calendar with artwork by Colleen Eubanks.  Such lovely and beautiful pictures of times gone by.

Sunday we of course celebrated the Lord's day, but after our evening service, many of us walked the neighborhood and sang carols.  It was an extremely cold night, but so very worth it.  We had a few children with us and it was nice to just fellowship in this way and spread the gospel through our community.  I pray that we blessed some families last night. 

This week will be full of baking and readying for Christmas gatherings, but I am looking forward to it.  My hubby is hoping for some fudge and I plan to make some more cookies.  This is such a fun time!

I hope that all of you have a blessed week and that the final week will be stress-free!

I'm so excited!  It is finally December...the count down to Christmas has begun for me :-)  Today the girls and I will pull out our Advent Calendar and start counting it off.

I plan on taking down all my Fall decorations today and putting up my Christmas things.  I know, some will say why so late?  I've always liked waiting until November is through before putting the wreath and such up.  I like to hold onto our time of thanksgiving as long as I can.  Now I can focus fully on the Lord's birth and enjoy the celebration with my family.

We will probably do some baking over the next few weeks and I need to plan my menu for Christmas day lunch with my family.  Christmas cards must be sent, ornaments made(salt-dough for gifts and our tree), music needs to be played throughout the house, practice for our choir performance for the Christmas program at church, presents wrapped and finally the tree!  We wait until about two weeks or so to get our tree..I love real trees and I like them fresh and piney smelling. 

Aaaaaah, Christmas!  My favorite!

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone!  We had a lovely time at my hubby's Granfather's house.  Food was wonderful and the company was pleasant.

I was fortunate not to have to do much, but I happily baked a Maple Custard Pie Wednesday evening and then in the early part of the day Thursday, I baked a large(and I do mean large)loaf of Challah bread.  This seems to be requested just about every year(and maybe most holidays) by my sister-in-law.  I love this bread, but it is time consuming...takes about 4-5 hours or so to complete. 

I've been feeling very determined in cleaning and prepping for our baby too!  Thursday..I did laundry before we left and yesterday I finished that laundry(folded too), cleaned kitchen re-organized a few things...I'm sure there is something I'm leaving out.  It feels good to have gotten alot done, but I am tired too.  I think a good tired ;-)

Wednesday, I had another ultrasound.  From what the technician told me, all looks fine.  We also found out what our wee one will be.  A BOY!!!!

I'm really excited and it is kind of neat to think of us having a little wee man.  Of course now, all that pink will have to be distributed to some of my friends with girls on the way.  So much pink...so little blue(or green or yellow), what shall we do?  Maybe shop?!

Well, I best get on with my day!  I hope you all are feeling blessed this weekend!

It is the day before Thanksgiving and I find myself reflecting on what I have to be thankful for.  I could dwell on all the difficulties we were feeling earlier this month or that we may be financially tight for awhile...but why?  The Lord has richly blessed us....this month and beyond!  So let me just write a list of those things that come to mind as I reflect on this Thanksgiving season:

What I'm thankful for...

a) A wonderful, loving husband

b) Two beautiful little girls that are such treasures and blessings

c)  A new wee one on the way

d)  A roof over my head

e)  Food on the table

f)  A new job for my hubby

g)  A new minivan...that we can pay the payments on

h)  A wonderful church family

i)  Awesome friends and family

j)  The Word of God to go to at all times for all things

k)  A Father in Heaven that has always provided

These are what I am thankful for this season.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and may it be filled with His Blessings!

Just wanted to update our job situation...

My hubby has started his training and the job seems to be coming together.  We are truly thankful that things are falling into place.  The Lord has truly been with us and been providing.  My hubby will be eligible for benefits a little earlier than we first anticipated...yeah!  I continue to be thankful that we have such a wonderful church family.  They don't just speak about helping those in need...but they actually do it.

I have been in a bit of a baking and cooking frenzy lately.  Tuesday I baked Snickerdoodles and Shortbread.  I also cooked my "house" chicken dinner.  Today I am getting things together for burritos...by request from hubby!

Well, I suppose I ought to be off to do the rest of my errands!

Have a blessed day!

Wow!  So we have had some major..and I mean major changes going on lately!

As many of you know and have been so awesome in praying for, my husband has been trudging along through our local Police Academy.  This has been stressful for all of us...but especially him.  Some areas he has just blown right through, and other areas he has struggled to keep passing.  Over the last month or so he has been wondering if this is the right thing for him to continue in doing.  Well, last week his TO( Training Officer) and the Sergeant that runs the Academy called him in for an evaluation.  They acknowledged his hard work and great effort, as well as his integrity.  They also pointed out the areas he was haveing greatest difficulty in.  These areas are ones that are necessary for police work and they told him they felt he just didn't quite have the apptitude for this work.  He agreed but asked if he could have time to speak with me about what he wanted to do.  They weren't dismissing him, but suggested he may want to resign. So that night, we discussed it and decided it would be best if he resigned.

So, my hubby is no longer working towards being a police officer.  Of course this has put us in a financial bind.  It has been stressful this last week wondering what to do.  He tried getting some work through his old employer..and he did get some, but not enough to really make ends meet.  However, we received a great lead for a security job and he went in for an interview just the other day.  Assuming he passes their background check he should be in!  Thank the Lord!

It has been a bit of a rollercoaster, but the Lord has provided for us in many ways...to many to really list here.  Our only area of concern right now...health insurance.  Our city health insurance runs out at the end of the month and insurance through the new job doesn't start up for several months.  So we are stuck paying out of pocket(not cheap) for the time being and we will be squeaking by.  Being pregnant, this has been a great stress on me!  However, I will continue to lay it all at God's feet and trust in Him!

Thanks to all of  you that have prayed for us during the academy !  We have greatly appreciated it.

Blessings to you all!

Good Morning Everyone!

It has been a good week so far.  My dd6 came home on Tuesday from Disneyland, happy but with a cold.  I am happy to have her home.  She is a bright light when she is around, so it is nice to have her close. 

I did have a lovely time with dd3...she has such a gentle and quiet spirit.  It is neat to see the difference between my two girls and know that they are both wonderful little children.

I have been running around alot lately...feeling very unorganized and inefficient!  I am trying to find ways to declutter and organize my home.  But I realize that I need to organize my shopping plans too, other wise I find myself out everyday.  I'm getting too tired out(especially caring a basket ball in my tummy :-D ) to keep doing things this way.

Speaking of the little bundle of joy that I am carrying....I am doing well and so is the baby.  Little one is very active and it is such a joy to feel the little rollings and kickings.  I think this is a precious gift God provides as we wait 9 months to have these little bundles.  The pregnancies always feel so much more real once I see and feel the baby inside of me.  I have an appointment next week and I hope that we can start discussing nursing(which I've had lots of trouble with before) and perhaps scheduling the c-section.  I can't believe that I'm on the last month of my 2nd trimester!  As for my body...I feel really good.  My back only aches when I've over done it...which has been most days over the last couple of weeks.  But I feel healthy and happy.  I am not having much sciatica problems, thankfully and although I get a little sore/uncomfortable at night, I generally feel good.

Well, that is all from my home.....Have a blessed weekend!

Okay, so yesterday I shared my distress about discipline issues with the kids.  Today I decided to share something that reminded me what I should try to remember....

All mothers are rich when they love their own.  There are no poor mothers, no ugly ones, no old ones.  Their love is always the most beautiful of the joys.  And when they seem most sad it needs but a kiss which they receive or give to turn all their tears into stars in the depth of their eyes.

Maurice Maeterlinck

This was such a reminder to me.  My children are a precious gift from God and I truly am rich!  I realize that the times I struggle with them is just a season, and the Lord will bring us through this too.

I must remember to look at this when I am feeling discouraged.  I pray the Lord will help me see the joy of my life through the distress.

Blessings to you today!

Do you ever just feel like your children have no respect for you?  I've been feeling that way alot lately.  We have been struggling with some obedience issues and finding that they say okay, I wont do it again...and then five minutes later they are doing the same thing. Mostly this is being very disruptive at bedtime.  We have now adjusted their schedule, so that they go to bed at seperate times...but still it can be an issue. 

Although I think that we are doing all we can to train them up to do the right thing, I just feel helpless and saddened.  How do we train up our children for more regular obedience and respect?  I find myself crying out to the Lord to fill my children with a desire to do the right thing and yet I feel like there is something I must be missing or failing at, for them not to be behaving in a right way.

My children are generally well behaved, but there seems to be this time when they just have devilment in them that is exhausting. 

I am starting to bring my children and their behavior more regularly to the Lords feet and laying it there.  It is so hard to know what to do, and I am realizing that I just need to give my children to Him.  He will take their hearts and work in them and change them.

Aaaaaah...sorry for the rambling post.  I've just been feeling so desolated by this.

Besides this, my homeschooling is going well.  We are coming up on the end of our 6th week and dd6 will be going on a week long trip to DisneyLand with my parents.  We will resume lessons when she gets back.

I am now 20weeks along in my pregnancy and I am now feeling the baby fairly regularly.  This is such a wonderful time.  Little one is very active(even for 20 weeks) and I am feeling amazingly good at this time.

Well, off to start lessons for today!  I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Thanks Dawne for the request to put up where I bought my dd6's first sewing book/kit.  I didn't even think to do that...shame on me ;-)

I am blessed to live right near a lovely craft/fabric store called Beverly's.  I'm not sure if these are nation wide or not, but they are relatively common here in California.  This was where I found the little book and kit.  The book is called My First Sewing Book Handsewing by Winky Cherry.  This is intended for ages 5-11 and is written in a way that is fun and easy.  The book has pretty decent illustrations and my dd seemed to understand it fairly well(although I was there for any help she needed).  I suppose it may be sold without the kit..but I really like the kit.  It came with two precut felt shapes, thread for them.  It also has patterns for other shapes.  So  we already have projects planned...one for dd3 and one for the baby on the way.  I hope that helps anyone that might be interested in something to jump start their child in sewing...my dd is thrilled!

Before I forget...this is apparently from a series of craft books for children.  At the top of the book it says A Palmer/Pletsch Book for Children.

Happy Sewing!