365Project.2013 | Week 52 ...and a happy surprise

Why yes, it's the 2nd day of 2014 ... and I'm just now posting about the 52nd week of 2013, but such be life. :)

356. My crazy munchkins ♥

357. The adorable gift that wasn't.

I finally pulled together the energy to make super-cute snowman ornaments with my munchkins, with the intention of giving them as gifts. We gathered supplies. We gathered children from the far corners of who knows where. We laboriously worked through Matthew's GREAT distress at the thought of painting his hands. Only to discover that tempera paint does NOT stick to ornaments. In case you were wondering. Maybe next year.

358. Our neighbors blessed the kids with a multi-color pack of Playdoh ... it was well enjoyed. :)

Our Christmas Eve tradition continues ... ♥

359. SO glad to have Grandma and Grandpa here with us for Christmas! ♥

It's amazing how quiet and still Peter is when he has a 609-piece Lego kit to put together. :)

360. And then, we were off to the beach! 8-ish hours later ... we arrived at the Outer Banks. :)

361. We were blessed by the Lord and Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy a beautiful vacation right on the beach! What a refreshing time! In between flying kites, collecting shells, and touring, we enjoyed reading, playing games, and watching movies. It was wonderful to simply relax together away from everything else.

Sunrise from our beach house deck!

 

Grandma and Grandpa! ♥

It was perfect kite flying weather!

362. We were just a few minutes from the Wright Brothers Museum and thoroughly enjoyed our visit!

363. The Aquarium was really cool ... but a much more difficult location for photography. ;) And of course I forgot to take pictures of the family cuddled on the couch for their first intro to Mary Poppins. :)

364. Travel day. :) The grandkids discovered that Grandma is an EXCELLENT reader ... "better than the audio book readers!"

365. 2013 finished with shelving and rods in our CLOSET!!! Woo-hoo! :D

And a fantastic spread of appetizers put on my Grandma and Hannah ...

Thus ended our 2013.

We are so thankful for the abundant grace
with which God blessed us this last year,
and we are looking forward to
what He has in store for 2014.

In particular, we are beyond thankful that He has chosen to bless our family with another little one.

We had an ultrasound the week before Christmas, and our little one was growing well with a good strong heartbeat. Jenny is now ten weeks along and continues to be exhausted and generally nauseated, which is a very good thing in our book. :) We appreciate your prayers for the continued growth and health of this newest member of our family. ♥

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas,
from our family to yours!

 

 

We pray that in the hustle and bustle
of what is often "Christmas"
you will be able to take time
to remember and know
the Greatest Gift ...
Immanuel, God with us.

 

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel
(which means, God with us).

Matthew 1:23

 

With love,

 

Chris, Jenny

Hannah (8), Peter (6), and Matthew (3)

365 Project | Week 51

Weeks seem to fly by at the speed of light, and this year has done the same. :) We are, however, very excited to be half-way through our school year and are thoroughly anticipating our two week break. :) Not that I took a single picture related to either of those facts, but that's life. :)

 

349. Due to the nature of being in a college-town, we have our Christmas program a bit earlier than others around the country might. This was the Children's Choir in our program last Sunday evening.

350. Peter thought up his own challenge this week ... a carousel from K-nex! :) It was VERY cool. :) As you can see, he even made horses to go on the posts! :)

Me thinks riders would be a tad bit dizzy though. ;)

351. Ah. I guess I did get a school picture ... Hannah with her persuasive letter asking Grandma and Grandpa to come down a little bit earlier than planned. :)

352. We broke the #1 rule of photography ... always take at least TWO pictures. :) Here's about two-thirds of our class with their craft from our Christmas party Wednesday evening. Obviously not everyone was ready for a picture, but everyone enjoyed the evening. :)

353. Peter and Matthew felt it would be good and appropriate to decorate the couches.

354. With all assignments finished up by Thursday, our last day of school was enjoyed with friends. :)

355. And now the school room has become Mommy's wrapping station. :) At least I've started ... I still remember one year when our friends who had joined us for fellowship on Christmas Eve ended up helping us finish wrap gifts before they left for the night. :) (Remember, Debbie???) ;)

 

Once again, pictures seem to capture just bits and pieces of life ... especially when I keep forgetting to take them! :) Chris continues to make progress on our closet, someone delivers one or more packages on a daily basis, grocery shopping and errands and trips to the library keep happening, Christmas cards were mailed out, mountains of laundry are washed and folded, meals are prepared and cleaned up from, ... etc. etc. etc.

 

Probably the hardest thing this week was Mommy running over Matthew's bike with the van. :( So. So. Sad. Many lessons learned and a very shook up Mommy, but Praise the Lord, NO one was hurt--Matthew was inside when it happened. And by God's grace, there was enough left in the Christmas budget and a bike left in his size at Walmart, so that a replacement can be put under the Christmas tree. ♥

 

Anyway, that's where we're at. Looking very much forward to Grandma and Grandpa arriving to help us celebrate Christmas!

365Project.2 | Week 50

It's been a busy, full week ... yet, what week is not? :) I'm thankful for my munchkins and their energy ... even when it exceeds my own by what seems like a hundred-fold! :)

 

Day 343. Christmas decorations ... :)

 

Day 344. One little boy was exceptionally excited by his early Christmas present ... a Handy Manny ornament from Miss Emmy and Callie. Although he had the shirt, he had never seen "Handy Manny" until he watched it with his friend Callie on Good News Club day. Now he makes it a point to wear his Handy Manny shirt every. single. Tuesday. He was utterly delighted with his special ornament! ♥ Thanks, Miss Emmy!

Day 345. Random tidbit from our house ... marking the hardboiled eggs is a coveted "chore." ;)

Day 346. Happy squeals from the Mommy of the house ... primer (and now paint!!) cover the walls of our closet!!! :D You may wonder why I am quite so excited ...

These 18-inches in the front entryway have been my hanging space for the last 18 months. I am looking forward to 1. Having significantly more room. 2. Having my clothes in my bedroom. In case you were wondering. :)

Day 347. Somebody's learning how to use a leaf blower ... :)

Day 348. And among a couple other significant activities this Saturday, Hannah played "Silent Night" in her first ever piano recital!! :) She did a wonderful job ... especially considering that she's had only three lessons! :) Her time spent playing piano with Grandma over Thanksgiving definitely helped! :)

And here she and Faith-Ann are with their teacher. :) SO thankful for the people God places in our lives.

 

And amazingly, we now embark upon our last full week before Christmas ...

Mommy has planned a decidedly "light" week of school ...
hopefully we can make it through at least a few subjects. ;)

365Project.2 | Weeks 48-49

We were blessed with a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa during Thanksgiving week, and since we were visiting, I was not blogging! :)  Here's the highlights from the last couple weeks.

 

Day 329. Hannah-bug convinced Mommy to rearrange the living room furniture. Her Daddy has hinted at the idea rather unsuccessfully for about four years running. Funny thing? I really like it! :) So why did I wait so long?

 

Day 330. Fun times with Grandma and Grandpa! Lots of snuggles, stories, building, and games. :)

 

Day 331. After quite a few days of rain, everybody was glad to get outside! :)

 

Matthew really took off with his Imaginets this week!

And Hannah loved playing from a beginner hymn book Grandma brought with her! :)

Day 332. Thankful for food and family! ♥

Day 333. Taco Bell lunch with Grandma :)

Day 334. Decorating for Christmas. And for the record, as I was preparing for this post, I realized that I have yet to take a SINGLE picture of the completed decorations. And the house is not in picture mode at the moment, and I did NOT feel like tidying, so ... you're just going to have to wait. ;)

Day 335. Got some great family photos this morning before church ... LOVE this one of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa! :)

And I'm also rather partial to this one Dad got of my hubby and me. ♥

Days 336-339. Back to school. Just two weeks left till Christmas break, and focusing can be rather, ummm, challenging. ;)

Day 340. We thoroughly enjoyed BJU's annual lighting ceremony ... we even got our picture taken by the campus photographers! How fun! :) (I hope they don't mind that I saved a copy of our picture from their FB page!) :) It's amazing what a difference the right flash/camera makes--my pictures are always (more than) a bit blurry ... theirs? Not so much. :)

Day 341. A rather busy day ... to the groomers for Toby, a church funeral for Chris and the big kids, Christmas goodie making for Mommy and Matthew, church work project for Chris and Peter later on ...

Chocolate covered pretzels and popcorn this year ...

Day 342. And the one and only picture of decorations I could take this afternoon without expending any effort ... ;)

 

I know it's a busy time of year for most everyone ... I pray that in the midst of it, you're able to take time to reflect on the incredible gift we've been given in the Son, Jesus Christ.