Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

New Family Pic

Here's the family picture that Megin's husband Josh took. I really really like it :) This is the un-edited version. Josh it going to tweak the pictures a bit so that there's less yellow tones and not so much washed out. I just couldn't resist sharing it with you guys.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Christmas Gifts for 2008

So, I got this great digital camera from my husband for Christmas. I. Love. It. It takes really good pictures. I keep it in my purse all the time. Did I mention that I love it? This is probably the first picture I took with it. Michael and Jamie are reading a book that my mother and father-in-law bought Michael. If you have boys you must get this book!! It's called 'The Dangerous Book for Boys'.

Not sure if you all remember or know of our Christmas gift giving tradition for our family. Here's a little recap. We give gifts to each other that fit into three categories. God Provides - He takes care of even our simplest needs. Growth - God desires a growing relationship with us. Good Gifts - God blesses us even when we don't deserve it or expect it. We don't necessarily limit the amount of gits to 3, but we do buy for each other in those categories.

Michael got socks for 'God Provides'. Pretty sure he's gotten socks every year! Maggie was actually tougher to buy in this category. I got her a comb and a brush. Jamie bought me long johns. I bought Jamie a lunch box. I know, it was a stetch for that category. But, I figured God provides food for us daily and one of my goals this year is to try to make him lunch more regularly.

We bought Michael some Christian comic books for his 'Growth'. Maggie got the Playmobile Nativity Set. I bought Jamie a music CD. And Jamie got me a subscription to a magazine called Just Between Us.

We were pretty conservative with the 'Good Gifts' category. Michael got a Star Wars ship and a baseball hat (pictured above). Maggie got a little Polly Pocket set. I bought Jamie a tool belt and season one of "How I Met Your Mother". Oh, and I got my camera. YeeeHaaa!! The kids also got various great gifts in their stockings. Toothbrushes, tooth paste, snow globe, key chain, ... Oh, and tons and tons of wonderful things from grandparents and aunts and uncles!

Monday, January 07, 2008

A sad day

I had to take our tree down today. Our pick up day for it is tomorrow so I had to do it. I wasn't ready to see it go.

I loved my tree this year. It was really pretty. White lights, red beads, silver ribbon, red bulbs, and all clear glass ornaments. I had a sheer silvery table clothe under it for the skirt. All the gifts were wrapped in silver or red foiled paper.

Ah... the upside to it is there's a huge open space in my living room so it actually looks clean in here :)

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

So much to tell

Wow! So much has happened in the past week. I want to share it all with you! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Advent, Michael's stitches, family in town, sledding... I'll try to post about it all and change the dates on the posts to reflect the day that it happened. Make sense?

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

a first for us

Christmas afternoon we headed to Livonia. We met at my sister and brother-in-laws. We ate a wonderful meal of bbq ribs and cheesy potatoes (we're known for our non-traditional holiday meals!). We opened presents and hung out. It was a lot of fun! The kids had so much fun together.

The day after was... eventful. Again, I'm terrible at recounting stories, but this has to be shared with you all!

My parents have a stationary baby gate in their home. It has two sides that are attached to either side of the doorway and in the middle is the gate part that opens and closes. Michael, my super smart 6 year old, was holding himself up using the two sides and swinging? forward and back. Well, apparently he wasn't sure how to stop himself and fell face down on the ground. Right onto the bar that stabilizes the whole unit.

The blood... oh the blood. I almost threw up and Jamie almost passed out. It was crazy gross. Jamie and my mom and my brother took Michael to the emergency room. He had a few cuts inside his mouth and a few little ones on the outside. He ended up getting a few stitches in the corner of his mouth. And, three of his bottom teeth were loose. Overall he was pretty ok.

I had to take him to an oral surgeon the next day about his teeth. There's still a little bit of concern. One of the loose teeth is a baby tooth, no biggie. But the other two are adult teeth. Their roots have not been established. So, he's been on soft foods and has to go back later this week for a check up.

He's doing great now (Jan 1). The swelling on gums is completely gone and his stitches are healing very well. We'll find out Thursday how his teeth are holding up.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Day

Last Christmas we started a new thing with our gift giving to the children. We decided to give gifts according to three categories that reflect characteristics of God. God provides for our needs, God delights in us, and God desires to have a personal relationship with us and for us to grow closer to Him.

Michael:
God provides - he got a new pair of gloves. Waterproof ones. Let me tell you, he was really really excited!
God delights - these were the 'fun' gifts. A lego set and the game Sorry!
Growth - the book titled "I'd be your Hero" by Kathryn O'Brien. Great book about godly character.

Maggie:
God provides - socks... again. I think she got some last year too.
God delights - ok, this was the big one this year. She got an entire kitchen set. My Aunt gave it to us to give to her. It's all made out of wood. Painted pink! There's a stove, sink, fridge, and hutch. 4 pieces! Plus, loads of food and dishes. So much fun!
Growth - we gave her the girl version of Michael's book called "I'd be your Princess". Love it!

That's all we got the kids. Oh, they did get a few things in their stockings. Books, snacks, hair pretties.

I like the gift giving plan. I think we'll stick to it!

Merry Christmas!

This has been a great Christmas season for us! And, it's not over yet!

Last night we went to our church's Christmas Eve service. My mother and father-in-law went, and my Aunt too. And a family that we're friends with... we go way back. They have three boys. One is in Michael's class at school and one is Maggie's age. I sat with my in-laws and Aunt and Maggie. Michael sat with 'all the boys' a few rows ahead of me.

Highlights of the service: My good friend Bethany (I sometimes refer to her as my neat and tidy friend) danced to the song Breathe of Heaven. It. Was. Awesome. She did such a great job. I'm so proud :)

Ok, here's where I want to tell you a super funny thing that happened during the service. But, I'm a terrible story teller. But I'll give it a go.

So Rick, our senior minister, is doing a short sermon during the service. Towards the end he starts talking about how he loves Christmas Eve. How that's when things slow down. How everything is closed up for a day or two. How you can't go to Walmart, Target, Meijer, or even... he pauses... and says "Oh, sure 7/11 is open but who would want to go there?".

Michael shouts out "I do!". Thunderous laughter followed. Oh my goodness, I was crying. Partly because it was really funny. The timing was so perfect it couldn't even have been planned better. But also because I was super embarressed. I recovered, so did Rick, and thought for sure only Jamie and I would really know who said it. The place was packed and there were tons of kids and Michael was sitting in a sea of boys.

But, as I was walking down front for communion, about 20 people patted me on the back and said "Man, I love your son" and chuckled. Ahh... it was a good time.

After the service we came back to our house and had a few people over. We nibbled on pigs in a blanket, veggies, cookies, and nachos and talked.

This morning my in-laws came over (they live across the street) and also my Aunt spent the night. We opened presents together and watched the kids play. It was so nice. Arch, my fingers hurt but I want to tell you about their gifts and stuff. It was a great year present wise.

The only reason why I'm typing right now is because Maggie is sleeping, Michael is playing, and Jamie is gone helping at a Christmas Breakfast that our church puts on every year. He should be home soon and once he's showered a few times (he's a cook this year) we'll pack up the van and head over to my sister's for the evening.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

It's the little things

I'm totally done with my Christmas shopping. Everything is wrapped and under the tree. Except one gift that can totally be figured out by a little shake from my boy.

I'm really not stressed out at all. I've had some things hanging over my head but so far everything is completed. We've got some Christmas party's this weekend and I'm not too worried about getting my stuff together for them. I've been keeping everything simple. It's working!

Maggie and I have been shopping every day this week... except today. We are basically taking a day off from our normal routine. This morning we went over to my friend Bethany's house. She has two little girls that Maggie really enjoys playing with. Bethany and I try to get into some deep conversations but settle for the little bits here and there between the interruptions. It's really a lot of fun.

Here's my exciting news. I bought a new coat and boots yesterday! My old coat is about 10 years old and I donated my boots to the Ukraine clothing drive over the summer because they've grown too small since the kids have been born. I think I had them for about 10 years. Maybe longer.

I love my new coat. I bought a chocolate brown wool pea coat with a hood. I've heard from two people that it looks pretty good on me. And my boots are wonderful too. I was just looking for something to wear if I ever shovel or go outside with the kids. That's usually once a year. But, I found a pair that I like to wear all the time. Bummer that they're black though. They don't match my new coat, oh well. The only dark brown boots I found were the dressy leather kind. I bought a pair of Totes brand that are warm and water proof. Just what I need while trudging through parking lots and such.

Good friends... good clothing... It's the little things that make me happy. Actually, those two things are quite priceless. Ah, I'm having a nice day :)