A Life of Gratitude

We celebrated the end of 2015 with our good friends, the Vreeke family. They also have 3 little boys so you can imagine how exciting our evening was! I made the mistake of buying noise makers to celebrate with.....woah! I don't think I'll do that again! We had a nice dinner and dessert, the kids played and watched a movie, and the adults watched War Room (which was a great movie...go watch it!) Celebrating with friends is the best!!! I don't know what I'd do without this sweet lady! Dinner....yum! Jason, Valerie and little Andrew Bryan and me Now, we're snuggling together in Mommy and Daddy's bed,  watching a movie and waiting for the ball to drop! This is our yearly tradition! Today I am thankful for 2015. It was a year full of ups and downs, just like any other but I will look back fondly on this year, remembering once again, that God has been faithful! 2015 was full of His handi-work! I am also grateful for sweet friends to ce...

We had an absolutely amazing Christmas! We were able to give our boys everything they asked for and more, which is something we haven't always been able to do. We got to celebrate with family, eat lots of yummy food, and open lots of Christmas gifts. We started our day reading the Christmas Story from the Gospel of Luke. We discussed that Jesus is the real gift that we celebrate during Christmas and how He showed His love for us by coming to earth as a baby. We ended the day showing Christ's love to others by continuing a tradition that we began last year. Around dinner time we visited Brookdale Nursing Home.  Our boys have visited Nursing Homes many times so they are usually pretty comfortable talking with the folks that live there. I always enjoy watching them bring so much joy to the residents but today, I was blown away. We barely got in the door before Dylan and Evan were handing out Christmas cards and giving hugs. They were not the least bit shy and everyone immedia...

I know most people open their Christmas gifts on Christmas Day but Evan just could not wait one minute longer to give me the gift he picked out for me.  Bryan and Evan bought this gift over a month ago when we were in Pennsylvania and has asked to give it to me nearly a hundred times probably! He's been so patient but he could barely stand it any longer. So today, I got the sweetest Christmas Eve gift from my Evan!  When he asked, "Can I please give you your present now?" I said, "Ok, we'll open just one present today." He was thrilled!!!  He excitedly ran to get the gift. His eyes were so full of joy as he watched me open it. He couldn't wait for me to put it on and he was so proud when I said that I absolutely loved it! He quickly told me, "I picked out a heart because you are my sweetheart and I know you love necklaces!" My heart bubbled over with love and gratitude for this little fella. He picked this present especially for me, becaus...

"And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." Luke 2:7 ESV I've read this verse hundreds of times probably and since I have "swaddled" my own babies night after night, I've never really thought about what swaddling clothes were. Recently, however, as I was reading this, I couldn't help but wonder..."Where did those clothes come from? What were those clothes? Did Mary bring them because she new she was about to have the baby?" I'm glad I started reading more into this subject because its actually another amazing detail that the Bible reveals about the Messiah! Swaddling clothes during that time period were not made for babies or children. Swaddling clothes were not brought along on a journey in case someone gave birth. They were actually brought along in case someone died while traveling. Swaddling clothes were gauze like strip...

After church today we ate lunch and had a mandatory nap day (which I highly recommend for anyone with little kids!) Then we spent the rest of the day making Moravian cookies. This family tradition was started by my grandmother years and years ago. I remember going to her house every Christmas to make Moravian cookies. Those are such precious memories for me. Now that she has passed away, I enjoy carrying on this tradition with my boys. We even get to use my grandmother's rolling pin and cookie cutters while making our cookies! That makes it even more special for me! Dylan has enjoyed making these cookies for a few years now but this was the first year that Evan really got to help with each step of the process....and boy, did he enjoy it! We literally spent hours making these cookies and he helped me the entire time. He was such a good helper! By the time we were finished, he was covered in flour!  Today I am thankful for family traditions. Mak...

We decided to take the boys  to the Tanglewood Festival of Lights this evening. That might have been the best $15 we've ever spent! There were too many "OOoooooo's and AAaaaahh's" to count! The boys loved seeing all of the lights and they also enjoyed not having to be buckled in their car seats! I loved enjoyed holding Tyson in my lap and listening to him to say, "Whoa, Wooooo!" We also stopped at Smoresville and made some yummy smores which was a whole lot of fun as well!  We couldn't get many pictures because the car and lights were moving but this one came out pretty good.... The birth of Our Jesus!!! Today I am grateful for sweet family moments. I figured the boys would like the light show but I could have never guessed they would consider it so wonderful! Hearing their bubbly voices shout with excitement made my day! I am thankful for these memories we're making and the fun times we're having together.

As part of our December Acts of Kindness, we wanted to say "Thank you" to some of our community's brave fire fighters! With several other homeschooling families, we visited three fire stations in High Point. We gave them homemade Thank You cards and Christmas treats. The kids were so proud of the gifts they gave the fire fighters and the firemen were so happy to have such small visitors! At each fire station the kids got to see the trucks, climb inside, and chat with the fire fighters. It was so much fun for all involved! The whole gang....that's a whole bunch of kiddos! Tyson was amazed! The Fire Fighters were so appreciative of their Christmas goodies! Dylan has always loved fire trucks! These boys were in heaven! See me pulling out my hair?? This is the way moms look after taking 13 children (mostly boys!) to three different fire stations! Today I am grateful for these families that are in the same season of life as our family. I c...

We've been doing (or at least trying to do) an act of kindness each day of December. Today we did something that the boys really enjoyed! Have you ever candy caned bombed a parking lot? No? Well, go do it immediately! It was really fun and simple too. We just printed stickers that said, "Merry Christmas! Jesus Loves YOU! 1 John 4:10" and put them small candy canes. Dylan and Evan did a great job preparing the candy canes and they were super excited to bomb a parking lot!  When we pulled into the parking lot, the kids couldn't wait to put candy canes on each car. They did a terrific job! They even knocked on the window of a car that someone was sitting in and gave her a candy cane. Together they said, "Merry Christmas!" She was grinning from ear to ear.  So was I! I love watching my fellas share God's love with others, even in this fun, easy way! Today I am grateful to live in a country where we can put candy canes that say ...

Evan got to go on a special playdate today with his best buddy, Jonny While he was gone, Dylan and I decided to work on some Christmas crafts! He and I both enjoy painting and being creative. During Tyson's nap, we made snowmen! These pieces of wood were cut from a tree Bryan cut down in our backyard earlier this year.  Now, parts of that tree will have a special place in our home during Christmas! Dylan loves painting! He did a really good job!! I added the scarves and hats. Here's the finished product!!! Today I am thankful for special moments with each of my boys. They are all different and enjoy doing different things so I really like spending time with them, doing things they like to do. Painting these snowmen with my oldest fella was a lot of fun today! He is getting so big. I remember making little Christmas crafts with him when he couldn't really do much because he was so little. He painted his snowman all by himself! He's quite the artis...

Today we went to lunch with our friends, the Almodovar Family, and then went to visit Santa Claus. This has become a fun Christmas tradition for our families. In fact, this is the 8th year we've taken our kiddos to sit on the big guy's lap. The first year we went, Dylan was only 6 months old. Wow, that seems like yesterday.  Dylan and Hugo in 2008 Hugo and Dylan in 2015 Since then, a few more kiddos have joined in the fun! My fellas enjoyed visiting with Santa Tyson wasn't sure what to think but he didn't cry! Evan was amazed! Hugo III, Sergio and Fiona enjoyed seeing Santa too! Can you tell these two are the "middle kids?" Today I am grateful for sweet family friends like Hugo and Amanda and their children. We've been friends with them since college and our oldest sons were born 2 weeks apart! God has definitely blessed us with these life long friends. I am also thankful for fun traditions. This is something we look for...