Out of the Mouth of Babes

Recent sayings from Abigail and Gabriel that I sure don't want to forget:

I was one of four of us who took a turn being sick last week (just a cold, apparently).  When it was my turn, Abigail clambered up into my bed, squeezed her eyes shut, bowed her head, clasped her hands together in front of her and said, "Dear Lord, thank you mama feel better.  Amen!"  It was the first time she had spontaneously prayed like that...and it was precious.



This is a big - if somewhat sad - development:  Abigail has started pronouncing "banana" correctly.  She has always called them "banas."  As in, "May I have a bana, please?"  But the two days ago she busted out with, "May I have a ba-NA-na, please?"  (And she emphasizes the second syllable like that.)  It is so cute!  And so sad!  To my knowledge no one specifically corrected her, she just spotted the difference and fixed it herself.  Yay!  And (sniff)!



Gabriel was #4 to succumb to the cold last week.  It had him sneezing a bunch for a bit there, and he asked me, so perplexed, "What keeps sneezing me?!?"

Gabriel-isms

This boy....

...is a party waiting to happen.

(And considering that several more of our children are like that also - with the remaining being more reserved - things are always hopping around here!)

Now that G is so talkative - downright articulate, even - he comes out with some funny stuff.


Here are some things that Gabriel is currently saying, that he won't say forever...and I never want to forget:


Gabriel is a HUGE fan of music...but he calls it "muskick."

Anything that happened before today, happened "last day."  I have to listen real hard to his stories to figure out what previous event he is talking about, because while he could be talking about something that happened last year, or last week...he claims it happened "last day." "Remember when such-and-such happened last day, mama?!?"

If G thinks something is real neat or awesome, he says it is "impressive."  "That was an impressive shot!"  (This is straight out of his daddy's mouth.)

When G does not know the answer to a question, instead of saying, "I don't know,"  he says, "I can't know."  (with a shrug of his precious little shoulders)

And finally....Noah relayed this story to us, of a conversation he recently shared with Gabriel: Gabriel observed to Noah that Abigail does not have a pee-pee like he does.  Noah said that no, she doesn't, because she is a girl.  Gabriel - in a move of great generosity - offered to buy one for her.

Recent Funnies From The Kiddos

The kiddos have been killing it lately.  Killing **us**, I mean.



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Noah said for years (and years) that he was not getting married when he grew up.  No way. No how.

Then, a couple years ago, he started relenting a little.  Recognizing that most people do in fact get married....he conceded that he may.  Just looking at the odds, I suppose.

But then he insisted for a long time that he would only marry a Chinese woman.  (Ok by me, we know lots of precious Chinese girls that will be women by the time he's ready to get married!)

But last week he mentioned something about his children being bi-racial.  Huh?

Me: "But I thought you were going to marry a Chinese woman."

Noah:  "I never said I definitely would (yes, he did, actually...but whatever).  I said I **may**.  But I will probably get a caucasian girl, because that is what we have here."

Ever the realist.


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The children hearing me saying all the time how very smart their daddy is.  And they have seen quite enough evidence of their own by now also.  So I wasn't too surprised when LK and I had the conversation last week...although I thought it was very cute how it played out...

LK:  "I want a smart daddy when I grow up."

Me:  (giving her a strange look) "But you already have a smart daddy."

LK: "Wait, I mean: I want a smart husband when I grow up."

Me: "It is very nice having a smart husband."

LK:  "Yes, and he needs to not whine or complain, either."


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LK had some compound words on her spelling list, and one exercise had her dividing the words.

She did fine on the first few..."schoolhouse", "moonlight", etc.

And then next to "toothache" she had written:

toot     hache


I asked her to read me what she had written (not really sounding it out in my own head yet), so she would see that this didn't make sense and wasn't the correct answer.

She said, "Toot hatch."

I bust out laughing (while making sure she knew I wasn't laughing AT her, but that she had done something cute/funny, so she wouldn't get offended).  She took it the right way and has had fun laughing with us.

Because this?  Is our newest family joke...and we have used it quite a few times already.


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Gabriel got a splinter recently.  I (and four big helpers) had a dickens of time trying to get it out, so we ended up leaving it for daddy to get out when he got home.  It literally took him less than 30 seconds to get the splinter out.

When Gabriel got another splinter just a few days later, he said, "I don't want you to take this out.  I love my little splinter!"

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Gabriel loves our trampoline...but don't tell Him that it's called "trampoline." In his book it is a "Jumpoline."

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At lunch, Gabriel held his index finger out to show me something... 
Me: "What is that Gabriel?"
G: "Lots of things are all booger-ed up in my nose!"  I'll give you one guess as to what he was holding out to me.



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Our littlest sissy is always cracking us UP! She just started this new thing, and we have no idea where she got it from...

When we say (and show), "Thumbs up!"....she immediately points her INDEX finger DOWN. Sometimes way down. We tried multiple times a few days ago to catch pictures of her doing it. 

Who needs cable or satellite TV when you have hilarious children?!?

Recent Funnies

Name withheld to protect the identity of the....lazy:

We are studying the Hellenic and Hellenistic ages of Greece.  As we read about Alexander the Great and all his exploits and conquests, one child piped up:

"All that battling and conquering is crazy.  I'd rather stay home and read a good book!"


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Elisabeth has developed such a sweet (and quick!) sense of humor, and I love it when she surprises me with some of her wit...

Elisabeth and I just made a new batch of whipped body butter.  We were almost out here at our house and we want to gift some to the girls' piano teacher when they have the last lesson of the year in a couple of weeks.

After the two hispanic pecan orchard workers helped us get T-Bone back in the pasture Monday, I asked them if I could buy them some lunch.  They politely declined, saying that wasn't necessary.  So as Elisabeth and I were brainstorming what we could do for them to show our gratefulness, she suggested, "How about we give them some homemade body butter?!?"

Thankfully I could tell by the grin and sparkle in her eyes that she was joking!  (We ended up going a different direction, which I bet they appreciated!  I can't imagine the looks I would have gotten if I'd taken some body butter over to them!)


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A couple evenings ago we were all out in the frontyard and driveway bidding goodbye to the R family who'd been here visiting, when Papa drove by on his way to his farm.  (He ended up turning around and coming back to visit, since he saw that we were all outside.)

One of the children said, "Gabriel, do you know who that was?"

Gabriel replied, "That was my friend, Papa! That was my boy, Papa!"

So sweet!

Miscellany Monday, April 20, 2015: Escape (!), Quotes, and Good Reading

Saturday night Jas came in the house from evening milking time and barked/yelled, “I need everyone in the backyard right now.  RIGHT NOW!”  In 22 years of knowing Jas, I have never heard him sound like this before.  

Turns out – as we found out quickly after stepping in the backyard – T-Bone had jumped over the pasture fence and was now roaming stampeding around the backyard.  After heading straight toward the white fence/gate that surrounds the pool and sizing it up, determining if he should/could manage to get over it…he instead - PTL - headed into the “Garden Area”  (a .5 acre section that is about 90% surrounded by fencing of differing sorts).  (If he had jumped the pool fence, inertia would have carried him straight into the pool, and I don’t even want to think about all the possible scenarios that could have led to – all of which are bad/sad/expensive.)

At our (loud) request/demand, Elisabeth went inside with the two babies (G's loud/scared crying couldn't have been helping the situation).  It took the other 5 of us about 20 minutes (that felt like an hour) to get T-Bone back through the gate into the pasture. 

If he pulls any shenanigans like that again, he will be headed to the freezer earlier than we originally planned. 

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Noah, Daniel and LK headed to the swing set (20 feet away) and swung a little after the T-Bone adventure was over.  We all had to let our heart rates settle a bit.  

As I walked by the swinging Noah he said, “THAT is why I want to live in the city.”


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Another funny Noah-ism, fresh off the presses:

As Gabriel raged (and raged some more) about something this morning, Noah watched with eyes as big as saucers. 

Noah:  “Does he have a disorder?  Like…a mental disorder?” 

Me:  “Ummmm, yes…it’s called ‘Being 3’!”


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As much as I adore reading, and read lots of fiction to the children, I have not read much fiction for myself in years.  When I can snatch time to read for myself these days, it is non-fiction.

BUT, I have made an exception…..

When we had supper with the M family a week and a half ago, Cathy had a book tucked on her bookshelf that immediately caught my eye.  The author’s name, BIG on the spine, was “Jan Karon.”  I asked excitedly, hoping against hope, “That’s not another Mitford book...is it?” 

Praise the Lord, yes it is!

Cathy let me borrow it and I’m almost halfway through this 500 page monster, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good.

I found and read all the Mitford books in the early 2,000’s, when we still lived in Colorado.  Fell in love with Father Tim and Cynthia.  And Barnabas.  And Dooley.  And...well, everyone else in Mitford too.  I wanted very much to live in a small town like Mitford.  Cathy and I heartily agreed that now….we do!!!


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And finally...I am super excited about this:  A (free!) 6-week course entitled "A Surrendered Heart: A Wife's Journey to Love the Jesus Way"

This course is from one of my all-time favorite bloggers.  I have been reading Laura's blog (Heavenly Homemakers) for years now.  Her blog is 80% healthy recipes, 20% other stuff...and 100% hilarious.  She seriously cracks. me. up!

All I have to do is show up on her blog RIGHT HERE every Thursday for the next six weeks.

Laura loves Jesus.  And she loves her husband.

And I am excited for this course to start on Thursday!

Miscellany Monday, March 16, 2015: Ansley, Internet and a Shoulder

Jas and I were blessed to be able to attend a couples shower Saturday night, for our precious Ansley. 

Our first babysitter.

Our only babysitter for years.

She has gone and grown up and is getting married.

But Mark is a great guy.  He’d have to be for Ansley to like/love him.  

I got the lowdown on their engagement and some details that I hadn’t heard before about how they’ve handled their relationship up until this point.  I want Ansley to write it all down and do a guest post for me (hint hint).  I want my children to hear all of it!

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Up until recently we didn’t have a great station that played Christian music here in our area.  We did have a Christian station, but it didn’t always come in good, and it has quite a few talk shows on it.   So, up until now we just listened to our own CDs or episodes of Adventures in Odyssey while driving in the van (we don’t have a DVD player in the Silver Bullet…and no, we don’t want one (someone offered us one recently when they found out – aghast – that we don’t have one)). 

But now – woohoo! – we have a great radio station that plays Contemporary Christian music!

The children and I have been loving it!  Almost every song that comes on we say, “Oh, I love this song!” 

We are loving getting to listen to old favorites, like “If you want to steal my show”

by Toby Mac.

And I’ve gotten to introduce my kiddos to some old (OLD) favorites of mine, like “Stomp” by Kirk Franklin.

And we’re getting to hear newer songs, that we have just been missing out on since we now live out in the country (and have HORRIBLE internet) and can’t stream music all day long like we did in town.  One of our new favorites is “He knows my name” by Francesca Battestelli.

But it has led to some confusion for our younger crowd, namely G-man.  He still doesn’t understand that I don’t control what is playing and when.  When he loves a song he will call out when it has finished, “Mama, play it again!” 

Speaking of bad internet….

 maybe…

perhaps…

our days of horrible internet are numbered.

Being “way out here” in the country our only option henceforth has been satellite DSL.  That means…if it is raining, or heaven forbid – there are CLOUDS in the sky….we have no internet.

And even when we DO have an internet connection, the data limit is so incredibly (and I mean outrageously) low that for most of the month our (spotty) internet is running at dial-up speed.

This is such a first world problem.

And yet…it affects our lives in so many ways that it boggles. my. mind. 

One of the ways is affects us is with our schooling.  I really think I would make some curriculum changes in some of our subjects if doing some online courses were an option. 

But, we’ve had some “movement” on this issue.  An engineer was out here last week and called Jas at work to confirm he was at the correct house assessing the issue.   “You’re only .3 miles away from the junction box.”  (meaning: the last customers that DO have good internet!).  Ummm, yes....WE know!!!! 

But, we’re hopeful that we will soon once again join the 21^st century.

It looks like Jas will be having shoulder surgery soon.  Sooner rather than later anyway.

He hurt his shoulder years ago, throwing the ball for the children.  We know exactly when he did it….he knew right away he’d done something terrible wrong.  It has been almost exactly five years ago now.  He had physical therapy on it, and it felt some better.  But it has nagged at him ever since.

Now lately his neck has been really bothering him.  On the same side.  

Turns out, the neck is due to the shoulder problem.  

And it turns out the shoulder problem is actually torn cartilage.  

And it turns out - if he wants to actually fix it - he will need to have surgery.

He has an MRI today to fully check it out.

Ever since the children found out about the impending surgery, Noah has prayed for him at every opportunity, that Jas wouldn't be nervous, because Noah "knows what it feels like to be nervous about surgery." (so sweet)

Totally Random Pics and Funnies

So...this happened recently:

My Valentine is now officially the CFO of his bank.  Great move on their part...to pick the smartest (and handsomest) guy around!


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Elisabeth found China in the strangest of places...

...our egg pan!




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I mentioned several months ago that my so-smart-and-capable hubby added shelves to our master closet.  The last pictures showed a still-empty closet and shelves.  It didn't stay empty for long....

...but what I really wanted to show now necessitates that you lean   w - a - y  over to your right...and look at the side of the column of shelves:

Jas installed 25 hooks for me!  (He used a ruler and level and such, like any proper OCD/anal person would)

These hooks now hold all my necklaces....

 ...and I can see them all at a glance.  A leaning-to-the-side-with-my-head-smooshed-against-my-hanging-clothes glance, but whatever.  I  L-O-V-E it!

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Gabriel continues to crack. us. up. with his ever-increasing language usage.


Most recently, he folded his arms across his chest, and then put his index finger to his lips, and declared that there was "a ploblem!"





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LK has now been home for just over 5 years.  I just don't know if she is ever going to get this English thing down.

Heard here recently:

LK:  (excitedly)  "Mama, Papa brought us a bunch of tambourines!"   

Me:  "Tambourines?!?"  (thinking this odd...but hey, maybe papa is just trying to be supportive of G's drum obsession interest.)


LK:  "Yes, ma'am!  Tambourines from Aunt Sheila's tree!"

Guess what we now ALL call them???

Seen and Heard Around Here Lately: A Teeny Braid, "Holes", Laughs and....They Never Let Up

The older children have been asking for months when we could get Abigail's ears pierced.  They thought she needed some "holes", as LK used to refer to them.  I held off as long as we could stand, but we decided Saturday was the day, so we took our littlest sissy to get herself some holes.

She did great....as I expected.  This baby girl is amazing!  She cried for approximately 10 seconds for each ear...and then cooed and "talked" all the way home.  Totally fine.

And she has continued to be fine ever since...even though we have to mess with her ears multiple times a day to care for the new holes.

We've been cleaning her ears three times a day, and turning the earrings multiple times a day also, as we were instructed.  (Noah and LK have assigned themselves this task, and it gets done MANY times a day...and A doesn't mind it at all!)


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Here is the 'do that A sported for church on Sunday:

My first Teeny-Weeny Flat braid!  I thought it was a cornrow, but according to one of the books I have, it is - technically speaking - a Dutch Braid.



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Lily Kay has been on a roll the past few days, cracking me up!

Gabriel said something about a "tree" and "Jesus", (I think referring to the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19).  Lily Kay piped up, "Oh, you mean Ezekiel!"  I was about to correct her when she began to correct herself, "No, not Ezekiel...you mean IKEA!!"


Matt Papa is our current favorite artist, and we listen to his CD often in the Silver Bullet.  Track #10 is a favorite for most of the children, "The Lord is a Warrior."  One section of the song, a guest artist comes in and raps a little, and he begins his section by saying, "Revelation 19..."  We have been listening to this for months now...but just found out that LK has instead been singing this the whole time:  "Revelation Francine..."


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Gabriel is quite the 3-year old stinker right now.  I might would be quite worried about him, except I've had four other 3-year olds...and I think we'll all survive.  Maybe.

But at least he is pretty polite about his disobedience (most of the time).

His new favorite response when I ask/tell him to do something (for example:  "Gabriel, you need to share that toy with Sarah Joy")....

G: "Hmmmm, let me sink.....no."


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The children have always been relentless about wanting and asking for more siblings.  And they never wait long after our newest addition, before they start putting in for the next one.

Recently, though, things have taken on a new twist...

They have been asking us lots of questions about why Jas and I have never had biological children.  I always respond with the truth and as much info as I know, "Well, daddy and I knew we'd adopt, but we just assumed we'd have biological children also.  But it has just turned out that the Lord has chosen to grow our family through adoption."


And then Noah piped up during a recent family prayer time (out of the blue, for me anyway) and prayed that I would get pregnant.  I literally choked and sputtered during the prayer, I was so surprised! Noah looked at me like I was crazy, "What is wrong, mama?"  "Oh, nothing, buddy!"

And then for part of his Language Arts assignment yesterday, Daniel had to write a sentence that included the words "an angel."

Here is what he wrote:

"Yesterday an angel told me that mama is going to have a baby boy."


(S.  M.  H. )

Miscellany Monday - January 26, 2015

Gabriel has begun making up his own words, like my other children like to do.

Gabriel and I were talking in the kitchen, and he was excited about something (can't remember what...this is why I have a blog) and declared that it was "Spectaculous!"  (I thought that combo of "spectacular" and "fabulous" was very creative...that word is a keeper!)

When I shared the above cute story with Jas, he remembered to tell me this one: The other day when G was "helping" Jas milk Chelsea, he got excited about something and said it was "Tastic!"


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This is how I did Sissy's hair for church last Sunday:

Can't see the hair style very well?  Neither can I.  I DO however, see a very cute and very happy little girl.

(aside:  I so want to be a better photographer.  I feel like I'm missing some of the best pics of my kiddos!)


Here are some that show the hairstyle a little better....

 An ear-to-ear part, flat two-strand rope twists, free hair in the back:

The style lasted approximately 3 or 4 hours.  As she was rolling around and playing in the floor after church, one of her fingers grabbed the beginning of the bigger twist and pulled it right out.  I tried tucking it back in...and that lasted for approximately 3 seconds.  Oh well.

In what I think of as a cruel twist of irony, right now while I am the slowest at doing styles, they will last the least amount of time because of all the rolling around that Abigail is still doing.  I am NOT wanting to rush her into crawling, walking, etc....but longer-lasting hairstyles will be one definite benefit of her getting older/bigger!




 Here is how I did Sissy's hair for church just yesterday:

Ear-to-ear part, a "veil" of piggy-backed two-strand rope twists, free hair in the back.

I figured some practical things out while doing this yesterday morning, and I know I will be able to do it faster next time.  Practice makes perfect?  I sure hope!

All the sitting and posing...

 ...and looking cute....

 ....made A hungry!

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Noah had a Language Arts assignment last week (in his Intermediate Language Lessons book) to write a letter to someone, describing an exciting event that happened during the past week.  Noah asked if he could make up something that happened, instead of it describing a real event.  I told him to go for it!

This is what he came up with...and I think it is just so creative:  A letter written to daddy and I, set in the year 2033.  Cars play a starring role in his letter (and life)(not surprising)!


(Translation below the picture)

                                                                                                    Jan-16-33

Dear Mom and Dad,
     I love you so much!  I am now the owner of Ferrari!!  I want you to come to Italy soon!  I can't wait to see Gabriel and Abigail, they have grown up too fast.  I have a new ride waiting for you here.  Where are Elisabeth, Daniel and Lily Kay?
     Don't tell Gabriel and Abigail that I bought them a basketball and a gift card for 30 dollars.  Are thre any new stores or something?  I miss you so much!
                  
                                                                  With love,
                                                                           Noah

(stickers of the Italian flag and the American flag)

Future letter
Really wrote
on Jan-16-15
By Noah
Age Almost 11


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We are hoping - and praying (literally) - that Chelsea is preggers.  We should know in the next few days.  If she doesn't come into heat in the next few days, that would be spectaculous!

If anyone had told me 10 years ago that I'd actually pray to the Lord of the universe about getting a cow pregnant, I'd have thought they'd lost their ever-lovin' minds.  And yet, here I am....

I have learned over and over since becoming an adult:  Never say "never."

Decking Our Halls

Not long after the Thanksgiving festivities were over, we brought down the bins from the attic.  The bins...

...that mean Christ's birthday is near!

As the children have gotten older and older, this has just gotten to be more and more wonderful.

And now with Gabriel?  Well, it is just so much even more fun...which I wouldn't have thought possible.

This is the first year he's been old enough to really even notice anything out of the ordinary going on.

And, boy howdy...is he loving it!

One of my favorite quotes from him during our decorating (as he jumped up and down, literally):  "This is so much fun!!!"

He IS smiling.

Another favorite quote from G (as he helped hang up ornaments):  "Are these all MINE?!?"

And so what if we ended up with multiple ornaments on one branch:

But then G had to step a few feet away and drum a little bit, to bring himself back to center.

Yes, he has drummed on those canisters quite a bit...how can you tell?  

Before children, Jas and I had a beautiful, magazine-worthy decorated Christmas tree, decorated only in silver and gold.

No more.

Many of our ornaments are handmade by my mom (all the red and blue balls trimmed in gold sequins, and the cross-stitched ones).  I distinctly remember when we lived in AL (so I was between 3 and 6 y.o.) and she made all of these.  Several years ago she was about to throw all of them away...and I said, "No way!".  They're on our tree now.

And many of our ornaments are handmade by the children:

And then Nai Nai gives the children each an ornament every year:

As Elisabeth stepped back and looked at our tree this year, she said, "I love how our tree is decorated.  It is full of memories!"  I couldn't agree more, baby girl.

Who can spot the cute, little brown feet under the tree (rest assured...the rest of the cute, little brown body was under there also)?

And then, a few days later, it was time to try to capture our annual Kids in Front of the Christmas Tree picture.


The children decided that A needed to wear the reindeer antlers:

A decided she needed to pull E's hair:

I love how A is looking straight ahead while she pulls E's hair...kind of sly-like.

G wasn't really feeling the picture love...and after many (many) attempts....this was the best we could do this year:

We think it is hilarious how the antlers that A is wearing frame E's face.

We are reading through this book by Ann Voskamp...

...and doing the Jesse Tree ornaments that go with it.  Loving it!

I was interested in ordering this book myself, and thought my friend Amy already had it, so I texted her to see what she thought.  She sent me a message back: "Do not buy that for yourself."  Turns out she had just ordered one for us that very morning.  Love her...and so thankful for her!

And we've begun working on our December list of things we love to do together, like decorating gingerbread houses.  

Yes, I buy kits.

And yes, and this year I even bought the ones where the house is pre-assembled.  Gawww...this made it so much easier!  No going back now...

 And this was the first year that G got to participate!  With a little help from Daddy.

Gabriel took his job very seriously.

But we sometimes convinced him to loosen up...

...and have a little fun!

D has to fight perfectionist tendencies also.  The boy is going to be an engineer...mark my words.

And I got to go to a crafting event at church on Saturday morning.  This is what I made:

And I'm still so happy with the Pinteresting projects I made a couple years ago:

I really do not like making DIY crafty projects (it hurts my perfectionist tendencies), but I'm frugal enough to force myself to do it.  When we became Christians 15 years ago now, we did some major gutting of our Christmas decorations, and adding all these trimmings that point to Jesus has been wonderful.  

Now only 15 more days....but who is counting???