Oh, the wonder of it all!

"The wonder of wonders that thrills my soul, is the wonder that Jesus loves me..." This is a phrase from one of my favorite songs, and as I reflect back on the last few days I love the fact that Jesus loves me! The days have been busy as we've enjoyed time with extended family, our immediate family, ate lots of sweets, endured overwhelmed, over-stimulated children, laughed, and reflected on how wonderful it is that Jesus came to earth as a sweet baby and is now the exalted King.

I've learned a lot over this Christmas season, mostly through the eyes of my children. The following are some thoughts I've gathered over the last few busy days:
      1) Although the holidays are a busy time of year, my children are young and they still need to take a rest on a daily basis!
      2) "Shatter-proof" ornaments does NOT mean that they are unbreakable!
      3) Hearing the children sing "Away in a Manger" and tell me the Christmas story in their own words is better than any earthly present I could receive.
      4) I've learned that my children were too young to get the concept of shopping for each other at the dollar store! (It turned into quite the experience...when it came time to open the gifts, everything that Wyatt supposedly bought for his brothers, he wanted to keep!) But, we will continue to work on giving to others
      5) I've learned that my children don't like to put money in the salvation army buckets unless someone is there handing out candy! (I asked Chandler why he didn't put his coin in the bucket and he said, "I'm saving it for the next store, because there might be a man there handing out candy if I put it in!"...the mind of a child!)
     6) Reading the Christmas story every night for six nights straight really has helped them grasp more of the story than I thought they were comprehending
      7) Children really are easily over-whelmed and my day will go much easier if I don't try to fit in too many things in a day!
    8) I love this time of year, but I'm glad it only comes once a year!

Wyatt's Christmas present...a Bruder Fire Truck!

Memories

Mom and Travis

Chandler and Garett's Christmas presents

I trust that you have enjoyed time with your loved ones as well. It is truly a wonderful time of the year.

Christmas Chaos!

The days 'til Christmas are flying by a lightening speed, and I would love to put the days on hold so I can treasure the memories a little more. But since I can't do that, I guess I'll content myself with taking pictures and loving the chaos.

One of my goals for December was to read a Christmas story every day to my children. I can say that we failed miserably on that...but hey, it wasn't really my fault! I discovered that our local library has a huge lack of Christmas stories and the ones that they did have were boring even to me! So, I used my meager selection from home and we've been reading Luke 2 every night. On my list for after Christmas shopping is to look for and collect my own Christmas stories.

We still have a lack of snow in our neck of the woods, so while we did take a short drive to look at lights, it just isn't the same without snow on the ground. But we did enjoy our time, and we may attempt it again before Christmas...we'll see.

Today we are taking the children to the dollar store to select gifts for their siblings. They are excited about that, and I'll have to take pictures of the results. Also, this morning we are headed to the nursing home to sing for the Grandpas and Grandmas.  So that is sure to be fun!

I've so enjoyed these days with my sisters home, seeing the excitement on the children's faces, and loving the quiet EARLY mornings that I have crawled out of bed to spend my own time reflecting on the Christmas story.

I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the days before Christmas and treasure the memories. I'd love to write more and post a few pictures, but a little boy at my elbow is begging to play farm. So, I am off to play "farm". Have a blessed day!

12 days of Christmas...Day One!

One of our goals this Christmas season is to take homemade treats to our neighbors and friends. Tonight I am going to a cookie swap with some ladies from church, so I know that we'll get a great start on our treat baskets! However, I decided that the boys and I would make some chocolate covered pretzels both for the cookie swap and for our goodie baskets.

Crushing candy canes!

Chocolate, pretzels, and candy canes

Wyatt liked the chocolate!

Two helpers

First of all, I should've imagined what the kitchen would look like after working with melted chocolate, pretzels and crushed candy canes! WOW...what a mess! We started in on our cooking right after breakfast this morning. I started the boys smashing the candy canes with the rolling pin, which they thought was great fun! Then we unwrapped and melted the chocolates in the microwave. I had the boys look through the pretzel bag and pick out the ones that were whole and unbroken...I think they broke more than they saved! Anyways, we dipped the pretzels, placed them on waxed paper and then sprinkled the crushed candy canes on them. After it was all said and done, the kitchen was a disaster, the boys were dressed in chocolate, the floor was sticky, but I loved it! The pretzels turned out beautiful, in my opinion, and everything else can be cleaned up...eventually. I love the memories and the time spent with the boys, and I'm thankful for a dishwasher, hot water, and a washer and dryer! Blessings on your day, my friends.

Finished product!