It's About the Cross ~ Our childen's choir sang this in church. I love this song.

Who oo oooo ooo,   ooo   ooo,    Whoo ooo ooo whooo,   dodoo doooo

Verse 1:
                        It's not just about the manger

Where the baby lay
It's not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day

It's not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
Oh, it’s not all about the wise men
Who traveled from afar

                          Chorus:

It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

                                    It's about the stone

That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

                                    It's about the cross

It's about the cross

Verse 2:

It's not just about the presents
Underneath the tree
It's not all about the feeling
That the season brings to me

It's not just about coming home
To be with those you love
Oh, It's not all about the beauty
In the snow I'm dreaming of

Chorus:

It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

Duet:                            It's about the stone

That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

Choir:                           It’s about the cross

Bridge:

                                    The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate

                                    It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about God's love
Nailed to a tree

                                 It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me

                                    It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross

Our Christmas Season part 1

We have been so busy this month.  I am so thankful that we finished school on Dec. 3rd.  Other than reading & math, we won't be doing school until Jan. Woo Hoo!

Our main craft/present this year was making scarves for everyone.  It has been a lot of fun.  Since I was pretty much making them the night before we met up with our friends, I didn't have time to take pictures.  UGH!!!  Only a few more to go.  :)

We always put up the decorations the day after Thanksgiving.  This year, we decided to string popcorn for our tree.  This was the first time we had done this.  It was a lot of  fun.

This was the first year that the boys put the lights up outside.    Collin came up with a very inventive way to carry the ladder.

 Will was the only one that had the nerve to go up the ladder. (Including me)  He did a great job.

This ladder was very heavy.  I'm sure the neighbors had a funny show watching us try to move it. Collin called Papa to come over to help us move the ladder.  Then Papa, Collin & Faith started blowing the leaves.  When they were 1/3 way into it, Tony was able to join them & finish the leaves with the lawn mower.

 

 November 29th was my Nanny's birthday.  We went to her new grave to see the head stone.  It was nice to see, but I'm not big on visiting graves.   We stayed a few minutes.

Then we went to her house.  That is where I could feel her presences.  I could see her working in her garden, meeting us at the door with so much joy, hugging her hello as well as goodbye.  While walking around in her yard, I found a perfect single white rose.  She was so proud of her rose garden.  It was such a wonderful reminder of her.

Our co-op Christmas Party

 

Several of the girls decided to sing for us.  Faith (on the left in pink) decided that she wanted to sing with them.

 After this song, the kids & I sang "It's About the Cross".  I love that song.

The preschool co-op class was able to join us for the party.  This was the first time that they made marshmallow atoms.  So cute to watch them.  Faith with her favorite friend in co-op, Eli.

Will

It's fun to watch the older children verses the younger children when they are working on a project.  The older children are very serious as to where things go.

 Collin - in camo.

The younger children really just don't care ~ as long as they can eat the marshmallows.

Toy Soldiers

 We went to our friend, Jacob's Christmas play for his school.  Faith was so excited to see him.  She wanted to know why she couldn't be in the play. :)

Faith & Jacob ~ 

He was the best Toy Soldier that we've ever seen.

Karen, you did a great job on his costume.

First Christmas In Heaven

Wow!  This month has flown by.  We have been so busy.  I realized that I haven't posted anything since Dec. 1 & that was a re-post.  I have many wonderful things to post from the last few weeks.  Hopefully, when things slow down a bit, I'll be able to sit down & write about them.  There was one thing that was on my mind & I just had to put it down on paper computer.

On the way to church today, I started missing my Nanny.  God reminded me that this was her first Christmas in Heaven.  I had been so wrapped up in my sorrow, that I had forgotten to think about what my Nanny is doing right now.  What a Christmas I am sure she is having.  To see Jesus, to walk along side of Him ~ to be in the presence of The King.  What a wonderful peace to know that when she asked Jesus to be her Savior, at the age of 84, she then became a child of the King. 

A sweet dear man from our church gave me something & told me to read it later.  When I got home & opened it up it was perfect for what God had reminded me about.  If you've had a loved one that has gone on to be with the Lord, I hope this will help you. 

First Christmas In Heaven

I've had my first Christmas in Heaven,

A glorious wonderful day!

I stood with saints of the ages,

Who found Christ, the truth, the way.

I sang with the heavenly choir, 

Just think!  I, who longd to sing,

And oh, what celestial music

We brought to our Savior the King.

We sang the glad songs of redemption,

How Jesus to Bethlehem came,

And how they had called His name Jesus,

That all might be saved through that name.

We sang once again with the angels,

The song that they sang that blest morn,

When shepherds first heard the glad story

That Jesus, the Savior, was born.

O, Darling, I wish you had been here,

No Christmas on earth could compare

With all the rapture and glory

We witnessed in Heaven so fair.

You know how I always loved Christmas,

It semed such a wonderful day,

With all my loved ones around me,

The children so happy that day.

Yes, now I can see why I loved it,

And oh, what a joy it will be,

When you and my loved ones are with me,

To share in the glories I see.

So, dear ones on earth, here's my greeting,

Look up till the day dawn appears, 

And oh, what a Christmas awaits us,

Beyond all our partings and tears!

~ Author Unknown

Jude 22

 Ireland

I wanted to teach my children to help others ~ mainly missionaries.  Will & I came up with Project Jude 22. "And of some have compassion, making a difference:" We wanted to crochet scarves & send them to a missionary so that they could use them in their ministry.  (Jude 22 is the Murray's Missionary verse.  Since they live in the Philippines & we couldn't send scarves to them, we decided to use their verse for the title since they mean so much to us.)  Our church supports the Snode family in Ireland.  I sent her a letter asking her if they would be interested.  She was delighted about our project.

We decided to ask some ladies in our church if they wanted to be a part of our mission project.  We were blessed to have 3 ladies in our church: Mrs. Donna, Mrs. Helen & Miss Kim to donate their talents.  We were also privileged to have the Boyle family from our co-op to lend their talents.  36 scarves are about to be sent on their way to Ireland.

I am so honored to be able to help "the real heroes".  We've been praying for the Snodes and for the hearts of the people that God will be putting in their life.


I am so sad to say that I didn't get a picture of all the scarves before boxing them up.  They were so beautiful. 

Love Traditions

I wanted to re-post our Christmas Tradition list from last year.

I love holiday traditions. Here is a list of our Christmas Traditions. Some are silly, some are small, but they are all done with love.

1. We start our Christmas off by watching the Nutcracker, which Tony plays the trumpet for.
2. Paint Ceramic ornaments
3. Make (or buy if it's cheap) an ornament with each child's picture in it.
   
4. 25 gingerbread men. We have 25 foam gingerbread men that we string up along the stairs. We have names of friends and families on them. For 25 days of Christmas, we take one gingerbread man family & pray for them through out the day.
5. Wrap 24 Christmas Books. I wrap them up. The kids get to pick one book and unwrap it then we read it each night.
6. When Christmas cards come in, we pray for that family. We also do this when we are addressing our Christmas cards to send out.
   
7. We (try) make crafts for our teachers and some family members. For a homeschool family, we sure do have a lot of teachers. (Church and extra curricular activities) Many people don't give a little gift anymore to their teachers. I feel that it is important to do this as well as send a card of encouragement along with it. There have been many times when I've wanted to quit because I thought I wasn't getting through to the kids. Then someone sends a little gift and or a card & that was the encouragement I needed to keep serving the Lord.
8. Look at the Christmas lights while singing Christmas carols.
9. Dance crazy to Christmas music.
   
10. Having a family Christmas tea with all the trimmings.
11. Write a letter to Jesus.
12. Watch Christmas movies with popcorn with just the TV and Christmas tree lights on.
13. Christmas scented bubble bath. (I can't smell, but the kids really enjoy this.)
14. We make a Christmas paper chain with parts of the Christmas story & the count down on it. We take one down each night and read it. Then we imagine what it would be like to have actually done the part that we just read.
15. The last 3 years, we've taken the 23rd as a day of celebrating Jesus' birth- a birthday cake, read the whole story, act it out, and sing only Christmas carols through out the day. I've tried and tried to do it on Christmas day, but it is so crazy. When I wake up on the 26th, I felt guilty because we really didn't celebrate. No one really knows when Jesus' birthday was.
16. We started this last year & will continue it each year.  On the 23rd, we do The Adornment Tree.  Mrs. Ann our pastor's wife does this every year with the Sparks.  I asked her for a copy.  It is ornaments of: Baby- name Emmanuel, The Door, The True Vine, Living Water, The Light of the World, Bright Morning Star, The Lion from the tribe of Judah, The Lamb of God, The Good Shepherd, Crown - The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, The Bread of Life, & Cross- Savior.  A small story goes with each.
17. We put out sheep food for the shepherd's sheep on Christmas Eve.
18. We have a Christmas breakfast on Christmas Morning.
19. We go to the grandparents house and meet up with the cousins.

I do love Christmas. For me, it is really important to instill into my children what Christmas is all about. I like to spread it all through out the month.

I would love to hear about your Christmas traditions.

Our Thanksgiving Day

 
I wroke up and made 2 chocolate pies while listening to a wonderful Christian group, The Fox Family.  What could be better than singing praises to my Lord on Thanksgiving morning?

When the kids woke up we started stringing popcorn for our Christmas tree while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  This is the 1st year that we've strung popcorn.  It was very relaxing & will save on buy "tinsel" this year. (Somehow we lost ours 2 years ago & wasn't able to get any last year). 

After stringing up popcorn, it was time to start making my Nanny's macaroni & cheese.  It is so funny how food can stir up memories of your loved ones.  It was nice to have a little bit of my Nanny here with me on this Thanksgiving Day.

As I was fixing Faith's hair, she told me that she wanted to have BBD hair.  (BBD is her daddy's nickname for her.) She was talking about her BBD Mii on their Wii game.  She had to turn the game on so I would know how to fix her hair.  Nothing like going to Wii for hair tips. 

The "girl" on the top left is BBD.

We then headed off to our 3rd annual Turkey Bowl.  Since we meet at my in-law's house for Supper, we have all day to play.  We have really enjoyed this.  We are usually the only bowlers in the bowling alley.  This year was not exception.

Lucky Turkey

Tony had hurt his back a few years back. This was the first year that he was able to bowl.   

I bowled too, but no since I'm the photographer in the family,  you won't see any pictures of me.

 

Will is our competitive one. He likes to win all the time.

  

Faith just has fun bowling.  She pushes it with her feet, rolls it Granny style, drops it with a little swing, lays on the floor & pushes it.  Any way that you can roll it, she does it.

 

Collin has really improved & is now able to send it down the lane one handed.

  

We have 3 trophies for the kids.  Notice the "Golden Turkey" trophy.  I found this at His House for $0.50.  Whoever wins the Turkey Bowl gets to keep this coveted trophy until next year.

Drum roll please ************  The winner of the 2010 Turkey Bowl is................

Faith DeLaine.  Woo Hoo! 

She won the first game & tied with Will on the second.  

I guess when you play for "just the fun of it", it pays off.

After the Turkey Bowl, we raced home to put the mac & cheese in the oven & then headed off to Tony's parent's house.  We had a great meal & fun fellowship.  

After supper, we were entertained with A Turkey Feast play put on by the kids.

The settlers came running out with (Nerf) guns hunting their turkey.  After killing their turkey......... (played by Faith She told them that she would be the turkey, but that they couldn't use the Nerf bullets.)

the turkey was dragged off to be prepared........

 

for the feast for the pilgrims.

Growing up, a friend & I used to put on plays for our parents all the time.  This brought back some good memories.  I'm sure that our children, niece & nephew will remember their plays down the road with fondness too. 

We had a great Thanksgiving.  November sure did go by so fast.  I can't believe that next week is December.  I hope it will slow down a little.

The Day of Thanksgiving

I am thankful of facebook.  It has been fun to find friends from my past as well as family that I don't get to see to often. It's fun to catch up & to watch their families grow.  To share the good times as well as the bad.  Somethings may not be worthy of talking about on the phone, but it's fun to see the little things that go on in people's lives.  You find out what they like, don't like, their views on things, what their kids are doing, sad things that they are having to deal with as well as funny things that happened during the day.  It has given me an opportunity to pray for them in so many ways. It have enjoyed taking the journey of life with my "friends".

This is the last of my 30 days of Thanksgiving.  It has been exciting to look around me & remind myself that I have so many things to be thankful.  God has blessed me far more than I deserve.