Our Christmas Card

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~ Romans 15:13

Rock the Night Away

To say that last night was amazing would be an understatement. It was Abi's first dance recital & she truly "rocked the night away." I was such a proud Mama. Pics & video are uploaded here. Abi was all smiles from start to finish, but I have to admit that it is still a little weird to see my 3-year-old wearing mascara ;)

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My Tiny Dancer

I have dreamed about this day since I found out that my first child was going to be a little girl. It's Abi's first dance recital!!! I've always loved to dance even though I stopped taking classes in order to participate in school sports and private voice lessons. I started really dancing again once I declared my Theatre major in college and continued for several years after graduation "just for fun." It's no secret that I always wanted a little girl of my own, and it tickles me to death that she enjoys music and dance and "drama" as much as her Mama. Break a leg tonight my tiny dancer!



"I'm so glad it makes you happy see me dance." Abi, after her first stage rehearsal on Saturday.

Wordless Wednesday: Past our Bedtime

Mouthwatering Monday - Cowgirl Cookies

I decided to start on the "teacher gifts" from the kids this weekend - as if I didn't have enough going on - dance rehearsal, breakfast with Santa, 2-year-old birthday party, going to see Peyton in The Nutcracker, church, shopping, naps, etc.

Anyway, several weeks ago I came across this post at Bakerella, and knew that this was the perfect gift for us to do this year. I remember my mother getting "Cowboy Cookies" as a gift from one of her students back when I was still in high school or middle school, and I had pretty much forgotten about them - until now!

The post provides excellent, easy-to-follow instructions & the variation possibilities are endless. You could use regular or holiday M&M's. You could separate out the colors to offer a variety of selection or color combinations. I chose to stick with the pink for a number of reasons. 1) I love pink, in case you didn't know that already. 2) We had 2 bags of pink M&M's left over from Abi's ladybug party in October. 3) I was able to score another couple of bags for a seriously good deal last month at CVS (with a coupon & ECB's)...need I say more!

I'm glad now that I started on these early because they do require a bit of finesse when it comes to packing the ingredients into these jars. My first attempt did not permit room for the sugar which is kind of an important ingredient. SO I decided we should bake that batch & see how they tasted! As you can see, even the dough is pretty!



And the finished product - or what's left of it!



I now have 10 jars with flour packed in, and well - that's as far as I made it last night. Below is a photo of the finished product from the original post. I can't wait to finish these & get them to the teachers...I think they will love them as much as we do! Enjoy!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Last Thursday I had a regional mortgage meeting down in Statesboro. I always look forward to seeing my friends and having the opportunity to catch up with their lives in person. We only have these meetings once or twice a year, but it is inevitable that they will fall on important days in the lives of my kids. This was not any ordinary Thursday. You see, it was also the day that Santa came to visit Abi & Drew's school. I had planned to leave really early that morning so I could move some funds to a local bank down there that is paying FIVE PERCENT interest on a high-yield checking account. Anyway, I'm sure Terry could have handled the preparations for this big day without me; but I just couldn't bear to miss.

As you can see, Abi-girl is quite excited about her visit with Santa; and as for Drew - well, the jury is still out!






Photo creations by Picnik!

Our Jesus Tree

I can't begin to express just how excited I am about a new tradition we started this year. My Uncle Mike gave us a set of Proclamation Ornaments for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago; and to be honest, I really hadn't given them much thought before now. I found them as we were unpacking Christmas decorations & was amazed at what I found inside the box. You see, our church is celebrating Advent with A Calendar of Devotions for families to read throughout the month leading up to Christmas. Growing up in a Baptist church, this is the first time I've actually participated in Advent and really focused on preparing for the Christmas celebration daily. The Proclamation Ornaments (which are apparently no longer being produced) include 25 ornaments designed to help us remember that the Jesus who has come is the Jesus who is coming again. The Scripture on each ornament shows an Old Testament promise and how it is fulfilled in the New Testament in the life of Jesus. Each ornament's design represents what we have in Jesus. The heart speaks of His great love for us. The cross speaks of His death for us. And the star speaks of the hope we have in our ascended Christ. The culmination of the ornaments, the Jesus Banner, is royal blue and speaks of His heavenly origin.




Our "Jesus Tree" is located just inside the living room, and each night before bed Abi hangs that day's ornament on the tree, Terry reads the Scripture & I read the devotional followed by nightly prayers. Even though the kids are young, and don't really understand what's going on; it thrills me to know that we are laying a foundation for them to understand the real reason for the season while establishing a meaningful Christmas tradition our family can carry out for years to come.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The tree is up...

and the stockings are hung...

now we are waiting for Santa to come!