One Brave little boy

Today we started immunizations. I know...we are starting late, but I have been hesitant. I grew up with a mom that rarely gave us antibiotics, had her own home remedies, and has a firm stance against immunizations. So you can imagine my agony and hesitation over this. But after prayer, and questions, and some research we decided to just do a few that our pediatrician suggested. So after putting it off we took him in today and he got his first shot. He cried a little bit but over all, he was a very brave boy. He was a again brave as we went to the chiropractor and then a charmer as we went shopping. Now he is sleeping, and mommy is stealing a few quite moments as I watch Sense and Sensibility. Have you seen it? If not then you must. It is a gloomy day outside but our hearts are all warm. I hope you are having a fabulous December 30th too.

A little Tear

Christmas was wonderful...a little different, but wonderful. Christmas even dinner was at our house this year since Megan and Kendra were spending Christmas with In-laws. And surprisingly everyone made it despite the weather except one dear friend. My mom even stuck her head out the window on their drive into town so that they could see! We had a fabulous time (I got to wear my new White Black top). Appetizers were delightful, the meal was delicious, and Dad even played his guitar while we sang Christmas songs. It was perfect! Everyone packed up to go, and after some pushing, and shoveling the house was quite and Joel and I were snuggled up with our pen and paper ready to write our letter to Jesus. Then the phone rang. It was my mom telling us that Sam and Molly got stuck (but the way she started to tell me scared me because I thought they had gotten in some sort of accident) But alas they were fine, and they were on their way back to our house because they could not make it any farther. So we had some guest for Christmas morning. But we made them go finish sleeping in our room while we had our little family Christmas. We gave Israel his little toy guitar and had so much fun seeing him bat at the package and chew on the paper. Then we headed out to brave the snowy roads and see if we could make it to my parents home. We packed shovels, and scrapers and blankets just in case, and I had a bottle ready for an emergency. Thankfully we didn't need any of it, and we arrived safe and sound. We had to park in a driveway right off Indian Road and hike back almost a 1/4 of a mile with all our stuff in a foot of snow! We laughed about it and joked how we would tell Izzy of the fist Christmas he had when it snowed and we had to walk up hill both ways! Which really would be truth! We completed our second Christmas and then ended our day at the Kelleys with our third Christmas. We were very tired out, but we had a blast. I was a little sad on Saturday, knowing that Christmas was over, but it was not too bad knowing that we had 2 more Christmas celebrations to enjoy. But alas, those passed and yesterday was the official day that Christmas had ended. It was a sad day. It came too quickly this year, and passed to quickly. No more parties, no more festive activities, and no more Christmas music. Isn't that depressing? Ah well, I better get over it though and look forward to all the fun things coming up. I will keep you posted.

So have a happy New Year!

Christmas spirit

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

They say that giving is better than getting...as a kid I wasn't sure this was true, but as I have grown older and hopefully more mature, I have come to experience the overwhelming excitement when you hand someone a gift that you have thought about and worked on hard for so long. You are...or at least I am giddy!!! Well today I get to give only because the Lord has graciously provided. I get the joy of taking 2 little girls, (although they are not so little anymore) who are very dear to me shopping for some new clothes! I am sooo excited! I have longed to do this for a long time and now I finally get to. In the past I have been blessed by the generosity of others and now it is my turn! Although I cannot give as much as I would want to, I am still thankful. I pray that this is a fruitful adventure and that the Lord blesses us with lots of good deals and fun finds.

Israel, I hope that as you grow, you will see that giving as Christ gave is so much more fulfilling that receiving. I hope that you see that first in daddy and I. We love you!

Where has time gone?

Today my son is 6 months old! Joel and I can't believe it! We marvel at how fast time has gone, when at the same time it feels like we have always had him. We honestly cannot remember what we did with our time before he came. Some how we filled it up, but I know we are spending our time in a much more worthwhile way now. Izzy is our little precious! He is changing and growing so fast and we are enjoying every minute of it. We look forward to many many more years with him. We love you Izzy!

We'll love you forever
We'll like you for always
As long as we're living
Our baby you'll be!

Okay, Here it is! I finally got my dress from White Black! It is absolutely gorgeous! Well, I think so. Here are some pictures.

This is the full length picture:

 Here is a closer picture of the bust...I wanted to show you the special extra fabric that makes it so beautiful!

I was able to get it on sale so I bought these pieces of Jewelry...also on sale, but i am not sure if I am going to keep them. I cannot make decide if I want to get another article of clothing, or keep this necklace and bracelet. I do feel so pretty in them. What do you think I should do?

Anyway...I can't wait to wear these beautiful things! Thank you honey for taking that picture and winning us this opportunity!

Helpful tip

If you are like me, then you love candles and the soft, soothing, romantic feel they put off. But when the candle gets so low you can't burn it anymore, yet there is still some wax down there keeping you from putting another candle in, what do you do??? Well, this is what I would recommend.

For the candle normal candle holders
- Bring a small amount of water to a boil
- Set the candle holders in it and let the wax melt
- Immediately pour the wax into a plastic/foam cup and then immediately wash out the rest of the wax with really hot water and a sponge.
- I would recommend wearing gloves because the hot water can burn!! (learned from experience)
- Let dry

For fancy candle holders that look like wine classes (like my descriptions?)
- Use a knife to loosen the remaining wax and dump in a paper towel
- Pour a little bit of vodka into each candle holder and then use a steal scrubby and water to scrub out. you are left with a shiny clean residue free candle holder!!! 

Christmas Time is Here!

It is December 3rd, my decorations are up, our tree is lite and sharing its wonderful pine tree smell with us, Eggnog is in the refrigerator, candy count downs are full (2 should be missing) and I am happy! I love this time of year. We try to do something Christmasy every day or night to keep us looking forward to Christmas all month long. It has been fun so far and I can't wait for the rest of the month to unfold. Our schedules pick up pretty fast hear in a couple days. But for now, we are just enjoying setting the mood, trying to get over our colds (all three of us were hit) and finishing up teaching for the semester! Well I need to go change a dirty diaper so...mommy duty calls!