Cookie Decorating

A much-anticipated annual event: cookie decorating at Honey's! Somehow this year I ended up with no pictures of Honey. :( (but hello, Nana!)

Santa and Mrs. Claus

We always do a trial Santa visit at Bass Pro Shops, and then later we go to the mall and get our picture made. But this year everyone was happy the first go-round, yay! Sophie and Nora did not want to talk to Santa or sit in his lap, but they agreed to not cry if they could have that candy cane. So here's the first picture since Nora was born where no one is crying. We saw Mrs. Claus at the library. She is much less threatening. ;) And there were more candy canes.

Snow Day

We had a rare snow day last week. My Southern kiddos sure loved the early Christmas present!

Pausing for Reflection

I've read these verses dozens of times, but I've been reflecting on them in a new light. (Isn't that a beautiful thing about Scripture? The Lord is always revealing new truths about Himself. His Word is living and active!) The Romans verse is about Abraham, and how he clung to the promises of God even when he was old and it seemed there was no way for God to make his family into a great nation. While the promise was yet unfulfilled, Abraham's faith grew strong as he glorified the Lord for what He was yet to do. The Isaiah verse is a familiar one, but as I was reading it I stopped for a while to be thankful that I do not carry my griefs and sorrows alone. Jesus Himself carries them. That's the beauty of Christmas: God is here and He is with us. O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom us from our captivity in this broken place.

Romans 4:20
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.

Isaiah 53:4
Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.

Mommy and Me Ballet

Nora has been wanting to take ballet like her big sisters since she could form the sentences to ask. She can't take a class on her own until the fall after she turns three, but she was elated to try a Mommy and Me class. She was adorable and she loved being a ballerina so much.

Thanksgiving 2017

We hosted Thanksgiving this year and were so thankful for our family joining us and for our new kitchen to cook in! Annie helped me make the rolls. The cousins were quite adorable together, as usual (although you can't see sweet baby Chloe in these pictures). Honey, Poppa, Mama Rita, Papa Gene, Aunt Linda, Uncle Chuck, Uncle Tyler, Aunt Kayla, Lilly, and Chloe joined us for the feast.

Favorite Resources for School

I think I’ve mentioned all of these before, but just in case, here are some of my very favorite school resources!
The Homegrown Preschooler, Kathy H. Lee and Lesli Richards
Honey for a Child’s Heart, Gladys Hunt
God’s Creation from A to Z, My Father’s World
The Well-Trained Mind, Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer
The Nature Connection, Clare Walker Leslie
The Story of the World, Susan Wise Bauer
Right Start Mathematics, Joan Cotter

Every Moment Holy

Thankful for a sweet Thanksgiving with our family today. We enjoyed hosting in our new kitchen, and starting a new tradition with a new liturgy. Have you heard of Every Moment Holy? It is a just-released liturgy for the everyday and special moments of life. Today we shared these words around our table:

A Liturgy for Feasting with Friends

Beautiful words to remember that as we feast together we are looking forward to the Feast of Heaven, where death and darkness will never triumph! You can order the book here.

Kitchen Reno!

Just in time to host Thanksgiving, our kitchen update is complete! We have been wanting to tackle the kitchen since we bought our house six years ago, but we were saving to do a total makeover and kept getting waylaid by things like flooded basements and failing retaining walls. We've been making do just fine but I have never liked our kitchen...especially the awful tumbled tile countertops that I could not keep clean. We have updated the rest of the house, and we wanted to do something with the kitchen before we list the house in the spring. We decided on a minor renovation and I think it turned out beautifully!
Here's a before picture and an after picture from the back door:

We changed out the light fixtures and cabinet hardware, put in new appliances, ocean black granite countertops, and took out the peninsula that took up so much floor space and made the small space even smaller. Then I put in a lot of elbow grease cleaning and painting and caulking. I just love the way it turned out and I'm excited to host our family Thanksgiving in two days!