God came near

"He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.

He was born as a man and became like a servant."

Philippians 2:7 NCV

It all happened in a most remarkable moment...a moment like no other...

God became a man.

Divinity arrived.

Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.

The omnipotent, in one instant, became flesh and blood.

The one who was larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo.

And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.

God had come near.

(excerpt from Max Lucado's, 'God Came Near')

we're ready, Santa!

We've been good this year [mostly!]...

cookie exchange

There have been years where I've had a massive cookie exchange with all my friends/family members, but I just didn't see that happening this year. Instead, my MOPS group had a simple exchange yesterday (because us moms of preschools have TONS of baking time! ha!)

Disregard the screaming boy at my legs who wanted to be closer to the cookies...

Can you blame him? These cookies are delicious!

my year in status:

Looking over the summary of my status updates for the year, I realize, I've become ONE OF THOSE MOMS who's life revolves around their kids... I guess that's not such a bad thing...

a christmas tail...

My parents took the older grandkids to go see 'A Winnie the Pooh Christmas Tail' at Valley Youth Theatre. When Charlie got home, he kept asking me, "What happened to Eeyore's tail" (I don't know because I haven't seen the play...)

Mom- What happened to Eeyore's tail so I have an answer?

gingerbread in jammies

We had friends over this morning to make gingerbread houses and eat gingerbread waffles...

Ethan thought the waffles were GooD! Here's his "mmm!" face:





How cute are these kiddos in their p.j.'s? We need to have more get-together's like this because it's easy to get the kids ready and the mom's get to sip on coffee while they play!
Gingerbread waffle recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted

Directions:

1. 1Combine first 6 ingredients.
2. 2Sift into bowl and set aside.
3. 3Beat eggs and sugar until thick and foamy.
4. 4Stir in buttermilk and molasses.
5. 5Add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
6. 6Stir in margarine.
7. 7Pour 1 and 1/4 cups batter onto preheated, greased waffle iron.
8. 8Cook until done

merry little project

My mom got these ornaments on sale after Christmas last year.

I finally got some pictures in them... (only a year late!)

"tiny tots, with their eyes all aglow..."

We returned to our beloved 'Natal Circle' fantasy of lights street with friends.

Everyone can appreciate some great themed light displays, ...and crazy-placed Santa's...and trains...and a walk-through Bethlehem in someone's backyard.

If you haven't made it to some good lights yet this year (local AZ friends),

then drive west on Guadalupe, pass Arizona Ave, turn right on Cherry Lane and you will see a brightly lit Natal Circle on your right.

from mullet to mohawk:

so... ethan's hair had started developing a personality of it's own. it would curl up by the ears and the back middle seemed to be growing a curl strand that was longer than all the other hair and was very mullet-esque. my friend, heather calls it a 'curl-et' on her son and i think it's an appropriate description here as well:

ethan sat still on the chair (at least!), but that didn't stop him from giving her the stink eye.

so long crazy curls.

he decided to 'help' with the spray bottle.

the final result:

it's so short. all the curls have been chopped. and how fun is the new spike in the middle?

we might just grow that out and let it become a full mohawk!

he's pretty proud of his new do:

ethan's getting nothin' for christmas...

{the theme song in our house the past few days...}

the christmas card: 2010

our goal wasn't to make our east coast friends jealous. sorry if it did. this picture was actually taken this summer in san diego, even though we could be wearing these clothes right now in this sunny december arizona weather...

cute carolers:

Nothing's cuter than a bunch of tiny tot carolers who barely know the words, right? Right! By the end of the night they pretty much had 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer' down... And once they figured out some of the gracious listeners gave out treats to the carolers, they were racing to ring the door bell. Even the Arizona Republic got word of our talent, but I have yet to see the story published...

message from the north pole...

Charlie received this video message from Santa! If your kids want a message too, here's the link:

Here's Charlie watching his special video:

*fake*snow*fun*

peppermint punch

An upgrade from the peppermint milkshakes I made last year...

I found this recipe that uses peppermint ice cream (plus egg nog and club soda...)

It is dreamy and festive.

christmas by candlelight

My Granna invited the girls of the family to join her in an early Christmas dessert & coffee at this decked out table:

the joy of Christmas

From my devotional:

"Every year people write me saying how much they dread Christmas. Often their complaint stems from how busy they will be, or how much money they will spend.

Did those wise men who journeyed hundreds of miles across the desert to seek out the infant Jesus ever feel that way? After all, it took months to make the arduous trip, and they had gone to great expense to provide gifts of gold, frankinscense, and myrrh for the new child.

I doubt it. In fact, as their journey neared its end we read they had 'exceedingly great joy.' What made the difference? Their focus was totally on Jesus, the One who would be called 'Immanuel,...God with us' (Matt 1:23). Don't let this Christmas season overwhelm you.

Don't feel you have to do everything, or go into debt just to impress other people. Focus instead on Jesus. Take time every day to read the prophecies of His coming, and the wonderful story of His birth. Make this Christmas one of 'exceedingly great joy'!"

-Billy Graham, Hope for Each Day

christmas p.j.'s

Normally, I would have waited until Christmas Eve to bust out the holiday jammies.

But #1: I was afraid the size 18 months I bought in November might not fit Ethan by Christmas and #2: they are too cute to not wear all month.

Last night, after dinner- we took the boys in these p.j.'s on a drive to look at Christmas lights. Hot chocolate + cute p.j.'s + Christmas music + sparkling lights = one perfect, simple night.

the [vegetables] of our labor:

Our backyard garden might not be feeding the multitudes anytime soon, but it's nice to pick fresh zucchini and roast it for a last minute dinner side dish...

the christmas tree saga continues...

There was the year our fake tree fell over.

Then there was the year we got a permit to cut down our own tree, but had no luck.

And last year, our pre-lit fake tree only lit 2/3 of it's lights.

This year:

We got the prettiest noble fir from Oregon (ok... delivered from Oregon to Costco).

And, it turns out Ethan keeps trying to 'decorate' the tree with all of his toys. Stuffed animals, balls and cars have been thrown into these lovely branches. I'm hoping our real tree this year can last until Christmas with all the abuse it's getting at our house...

seasonal coffee

I love the cute red holiday cups at Starbucks.

And I love Starbuck's seasonal drinks.

I especially loved their buy one, get one deal they had a few weeks ago.

But this morning, I'm at home with the next best thing:

simple service project:

Our MOPS service project was to collect boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

What a great way to kick off the holiday season

(and a perfect project for our preschool aged kids!)

smells of Christmas

The pumpkins and turkeys have been packed away.

The boxes of tree trimmings are pulled out.

The dining table chandelier shades have been switched from cream to red.

& this is what we're smelling at our house:

turkey day

We had a nice little family dinner that Holly so graciously hosted, despite not feeling well.

The cousins wrestled, played baseball in the house where grandma accidently got hit in the face with a ball, Ethan chased their dog Reggie around determined to pet him, Chris' dad got a release from his cardiologist to eat what he wanted for this meal and he thought it was all "so good", the kids didn't think the food was as good as Al, but really liked the rolls and yes, Ethan's pants had to be unbuttoned after Thanksgiving dinner...