Mrs. Claus Kitchen

Beth came up with a great idea this Christmas and decided to have a baking day with Faith and two of her friends.  She sent out invitations and asked each girl to bring their apron and a smile.

Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen was decorated and in full baking mode all day.  The scents that came from there were incredible and the food delish beyond words.

The girls started the day off early yesterday reading recipes, mixing, baking, decorating, snacking,  and having loads of fun.

At the end of the day, each girl got to take home all kinds of sweet treats that she had helped make.

The menu for the day included Mrs. Claus Sugar Cookies, Snowballs, Frosty’s Pumpkin Bread, Rudolph’s Hot Chocolate,  and Santa’s Favorite M&M Cookies.   

Beth surprised Faith with some of the decorating details.

Sweet face, isn’t it?

The center of the table had all of the cookie cutters out and ready to use.

All of the baking ingredients and utensils were being watched over carefully by Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread Man.

More of the baking stuff.

 

Beth, Kennedy, Lexxie, and Faith.

All of these girls are homeschooled so this was a great fun home economics lesson.

Beth had recipe books for each girl.  She also added recipes that they were not making so their books would have more choices.

The sugar cookie were wonderful, the pumpkin bread truly incredible.  I didn’t get a picture of the m&m cookies, but they too were great.  They also fixed homemade hot chocolate and put it into jars with an instruction label on the front.

These were the snowballs they made.  You can see that they had already been divided among the girls so there weren’t many left.

 

What a fun day baking and spending time together!!

 

Are you wondering where I was the entire day?

Well, I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen except for some cleanup time during the day.  My friend Veronica and I decided to take advantage of the time and wrap Christmas gifts for the girls.  It was great fun and time well spent.

You know I am all about making memories and I do think this was another memory for the memory book.

My Very Own Mary and Joseph

Introducing Donnie and Faith as Joseph and Mary…

Faith and daddy performed their very own beautiful version of Silent Night.

 

The angels watched over the couple as they sang.

In the manger lay baby Jesus, two little lambs, and of course, a donkey.

Another precious memory with my oldest baby and my youngest baby.

Back To The 80's

Beth and Faith decided they wanted to dress up like ME from my highschool days for Crazy Day at our Enrichment Fellowship.

Funny thing about Beth, my oldest daughter, is that except for the beautiful blonde hair, she really did look so much like me.  It's kind of weird.

The other two girls are two of Beth's closest friends.  These girls are sister's in Christ.

 Then for a Halloween Trunk or Treat at a local church, Faith dressed up like a die.

Is this cute or what?

What's Been Going Here

This fall has been very busy for my family.  A good busy, but none the less, busy.

Faith turned eight at the beginning of the month.

Beth had her twelfth spiritual birthday this month.

I have been picking out pictures for Keith's senior page to be used in our Enrichment Fellowship (homeschool co-op) yearbook.

I have shed many a tear because of the above mentioned activity.

I have been trying to simplify, clean out, and organize our home.  (fall nesting, I guess)

We just signed Faith up for Upward Cheerleading.  (Beth can't believe she has a sister who is going to do something as girly as cheering)  Faith is definitely her own person.

I began exercising and trying to eat healthier about five weeks ago.  I am riding my exercise bike everyday, usually before anyone else in the house gets up.  I am loving it and I really DON'T like to exercise.

Faith finally, after three years, changed out her earrings that she got her ears pierced with.  I'm talking she has never taken out the original earrings from three years ago.  This was a huge deal!

This has been a big "growing up" month for Faith.  Many milestones.

I began teaching the youth at our church and love it.  Donnie and I have worked with youth for many years but had taken a little break.  It has been wonderful to get back with teenagers. 

My list could keep going.  Life is just busy,  isn't it?

I praise God for time with my family.  I praise God for the ability to get out of bed everyday and do the things that need to be done.  I praise God for busy days and lazy days.

Who Is This Child Of Ours...

This child of ours is one of the funniest,  most creative people that I have ever known.

She is so full of life and really keeps you on your toes.

You never know what she might ask or say.

She is a very smart young lady.  She is book smart and full of common sense.  Good combo!

She is beautiful on the inside and the outside.  Yes, she knows that God sees what's on the inside and that's the most important thing.

She loves being around other people.  She fits in with young and old alike.

She has the gift of encouragement.  She loves to tell people they are pretty, handsome, whatever.  Words of kindness ooze easily from her pretty lips. 

She is very specific and very detailed.

She is heading down the track of being a great athlete.  Another daughter who wants to be just like her daddy and has a natural athletic tendancy.

She loves her family. 

She loves God!

She says she wants to be a vet when she grows up.

She enjoys pretty things but also loves to get dirty.

She LOVES to dress up in all kinds of outfits.

She has taught me to not be so uptight about matching outfits and bows in your hair.

She idolizes her daddy and wants to find a husband just like him.  She thinks he can fix anything and make everything all better.

She tells me she loves me so much and wants to be with me forever until she gets married and moves into our backyard in her own house. 

She calls her sister Diddy and loves her with everything  she has in her.

She thinks her brother is one super smart computer techy guy who can do anything.

Her best friend and daughter is her pink and cuddly Chloe.

She knows the Lord and trusts Him.  She knows she can do all things through Him.  She believes in the power of prayer.

She is Faith...

and

She is eight years old today.

Happy birthday to our gift from God.

This is Faith...

She loves having "photo shoots".  As you can tell, she is not particular at all about her props.  Toilet tissue and shampoo work just great in making a picture look good.

Happy birthday, again, Faithy.

We love you!!

Apple Picking...

Our family lives about a mile from beautiful water falls, which I have shown you before.

We also live about a mile from an awesome apple orchard.

We have lived in our home over ten years and have never been to this orchard. 

I have no idea why.

We went this past Sunday after church and picked apples, and more apples, and more apples...

We picked 60 lbs of apples and have made about 20 pints of apple butter so far. 

We have more plans with all the apples we picked.

Thankfully, apples don't go bad very quickly.

Two Sundays of Picnics

This is where we have spent the last two Sundays after church.

We have had picnics at the water both times.  Food tastes so good at the water, doesn't it?

Donnie taught the girls how to skip rocks. 

This man can skip some rocks like nobody's business.

We waded up and down in the ice cold water.

Can you tell that Faith thought it was cold?

More rock throwing.

There were little fish swimming all around our feet.

There were beautiful butterflies everywhere.

Faith tried very hard to catch the fish with her hands.

I love unique trees like this that are growing in such strange ways.

Very odd tree that Faith pretended like scared her.  Doesn't she look scared?

Little tiny "falls' everywhere.

Beautiful girl...beautiful water

Isn't this just gorgeous?

More gorgeousness...

People come from all around to swim here.

This beautiful lady greets you as you arrive at the falls.

I would love to know the story of this statue, how she got here and what she represents. 

 I do know that I can only take a back view and face view because her front side is uncovered.

Can I just tell you that the last two Sundays have been so relaxing and so fun as we hiked, waded, and picnicked in one of the most beautiful places around?

Can I also tell you that I absolutely, positively LOVE spending time with my family?