Christmas

We're leaving tomorrow for our two week Christmas visits to Ohio and Pennsylvania. We start in Cincinnati at the Bedinghaus' for a week, then onto central PA to my cousin's cabin and then finally onto my parents for the new year. That means that today I'm cleaning, doing laundry and determining how to pack all of us for two weeks. We're really looking forward to spending the quality time with our families though, so all this work beforehand is worth it. 

However, I wanted to pause and write a bit about Christmas. I'm reading a book, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, by Doug Wilson and it's opening my eyes to things I've simply taken for granted or am immune to about the Christmas story. Things like the miracle that is Jesus obeying his Father and coming to earth as a baby that needed to be nursed and have his diapers changed. The fact that Mary yielded her body to God's plan without even a question, even though she was only a teenager. The fact that Herod killed all the babies under the age of two because he realized Jesus was a threat to him. There are many other things, but ultimately I am reminded and re-taught that Christ came to die for me and my sin. That is the good news of the season, of every season of the year. He came in such an unassuming way that completely turned the world upside down. 

These reminders have been such a comfort to me as I am grieving during this Christmas season, remembering the baby we lost in May. He/she would have been born any day now. That's hard to think and talk about in such a joyful season. I am reminded that we are called to become more like Christ by joining in his suffering, and that even in the midst of trial we can choose to be joyful. "Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4) Let me tell you, I am far from perfect and far from being steadfast. But I can say that the testing of faith does its work to produce steadfastness. This year has been hard and there has been much testing of my faith. I still think I have a long way to go to contentment, trust and deeper faith in God, but I am glad to know there has been improvement over this year and I praise God for that. It is certainly not something I did on my own! It is only by God's mercy and grace to me. 

My prayer for me and you this Christmas season is that we would count our trials as joy as we see the fruit they produce. No matter where you are at, who you are, Jesus came to earth for you. To walk with you through that trial, to mourn with you, to rejoice with you. To die and live again so that you may have eternal life. There should be no happier people at Christmas than Christians! We have been given the best gift there could ever be. 

Merry Christmas! 

Tutorial: Live Christmas Wreaths

Long before I was born, the women on my mom's side of the family would get together the day after Thanksgiving for "Craft Day." I always looked forward to craft day as a kid because I got to play with my cousins, but when I had a home of my own, I really loved it because I got to make a wreath. A few friends have asked over the years about our tradition, so I thought I'd share on here how we make our live green wreaths. 

The practice of making one is quite simple. The hard part (if you're doing this on your own) is gathering the greens and having a space large enough to spread the greens out and get everything messy. We've always done it in my aunt and uncle's garage, and while it's cold, it works great. As for the greens, everyone cuts and brings some to share. The key is to have a wide variety -- spruce, white pine, boxwood, holly, cedar, etc. If you don't have greens on your own property, don't hesitate to ask your neighbors or strangers. You're not cutting very much, so hopefully they won't mind a trim. 

What you will need:

- A wire wreath frame. You can buy these at any craft store in the floral department. They come in all different sizes.

- Green floral wire on a spool

- A cutter/trimmer. A scissors can work, but a cutter is best. 

- Ribbon, Christmas balls, pinecones, etc. to decorate. You can tailor this to your decorating tastes. We've also used spray paint in the past for things like pinecones which is fun. 

- Something to hang your wreath on. I have an over the door hook which is great, but as you'll see below, I hung mine differently this year and had to find a different solution. 

- Greens. 

Tools of the trade: 

     

                             Green floral wire                  Wire frame                               Pile of greens

Start by flipping your frame over so the raised side is up. Wrap a good length of floral wire around a point in the frame. This will be where you will start. 

Trim a small handful of different greens so you have a manageable bunch. 

Lay the bunch of greens on the frame and wrap the floral wire around the bottom of the bunch several times until it is secure. You will continue to make bunches like this, laying them on the frame in an alternating pattern. One on the inside, one on the outside, sometimes one in the center, continuing to wrap the floral wire around each bunch. It's important to make sure all your bunches are going the same direction. I usually work counter-clockwise, but either way is fine as long as you point the greens in the same direction. It takes some time to get used to making bunches using different greens, so take your time and keep looking at it to make sure it looks even and one part is not fatter than another part. 

Your wreath will start to come together, looking something like this. Keep going! It gets a little tedious in the middle, but the end result is worth it. When you meet where you started, fill in the last hole and then wrap the floral wire like normal. Give yourself some extra and wrap it around the frame like you did when you started to secure the wreath. Clip the wire off the spool. 

One of my finished wreaths. 

Two more. I made three of this size (12 inch frame), one 16 inch frame and one 8 inch boxwood wreath. It was a busy morning! 

My lovely mother working on her two huge wreaths. 

Liam's boxwood wreath in yellow and gray for his room. He did not help in the slightest; my aunt made this for him. 

I didn't do any decorating of my wreaths until I got home and found some ribbon I liked. I usually decorate in gold and red for Christmas, so that is the ribbon I went with too. Like I said above, you can decorate them any way you choose. 

This is my tiny boxwood hanging on my Brad Smith mirror. (Excuse the poor photo and the light switch!) I simply looped the ribbon through it and pushed a push pin through the ribbon into the wall behind the mirror. The best part about boxwood is that it lasts forever. I could keep this wreath up for six months if I wanted. I may do that, with a different ribbon of course. 

The other three wreaths went outside on my windows. I watched too many YouTube videos on how to make the bows, but I'm pleased with how they turned out. They are hung by suction cup hooks directly on the window. I gave the fifth wreath to my pastor's wife for her front door. 

There you go! I hope this might inspire you to take on a project like this, or if not this, another simpler project. We made darling burlap wreaths at our mom's group last week that were super simple so I know those kind of wreaths are out there! 

Thanksgiving

Is it even worth posting these pictures and thoughts about Thanksgiving? Perhaps not, but oh well, this is my life. I've already moved on to making lists and things on Shutterfly for Christmas presents.

But, I would be remiss to not mention the fun we had over Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania. We made the trek on Tuesday and stayed until Sunday. Wednesday I made over 300 cookies for my dad's open house, which was fun. Thursday we were at my aunt's house all day. She makes the most fabulous meal, something different every year. It was a treat and a joy to be there. Friday we spent time at the open house and then had dinner and a cookie decorating party in the evening with friends. Saturday we went back down to my aunt's house for our annual wreath making day with the women in my mom's family. Saturday night Rob and I went out {on a date!} to see Skyfall. Sunday we drove all day back home. Whew! What a trip. In the midst of that Liam played and played and played with toys at Grammy's house and had an all-around fantastic time too. 

I love Thanksgiving for the reminder it is to be grateful for the many, many good gifts God gives to us. It also exhorts me to remember that every day there are equal opportunities to be thankful for the wonderful, ordinary blessings of life. 

Commence photos to prove all that really happened... 

Trays and trays of my dad's favorite cookies, Butterscotch Oatmeal. 

Playing, playing

The beautiful table at my aunt's house for Thanksgiving

Liam and Grammy reading after eating.

Some of dad's pots at the open house 

Bowls of icing waiting for cookies

You should see the creativity that flowed from this group...

I thought Liam would really enjoy this process, but he did a few cookies and wandered off to play. Of course he ate every one he decorated. 

The finished product + good friends. I've known Adam and Lydia since birth. Now that we're all married, it is even more fun to spend time together. 

This is the wreath my aunt made for Liam's room {yellow + gray!}. It is hanging on his door and is pretty adorable. 

One of my five (!) finished wreaths. I could not believe I made so many this year. I'll have pictures of the final ones hanging at my house, plus I'm planning to do a tutorial on how to make these, so stay tuned! 

The whole wreath making group. Aunts. Cousins. Sisters. Nieces. And a brother. Love. 

Recently...

Our life speeds along as life tends to do and in its course this poor little blog gets neglected. It's a good thing I do not care one whit for blog stats because I'm sure mine would be in shambles.

Anyway, recently we've been spending a lot of time doing Playdoh. For real, that is my life. Liam wakes up talking about Playdoh and goes down for his nap talking about doing Playdoh after his nap. Playdoh time mostly consists of mama making "peas", "swirls", "noodles" and cutting out animal shapes with cookie cutters. Currently Liam's favorite thing to do with it is dump it in and out of the containers. I can't honestly say it is my favorite time of day, but I make the most of it and try to be cheerfully involved with Liam.

Playdoh nose! 

Liam has also discovered singing which is a joy. My heart rejoices when I hear "Jesus loves me" and a church song based on Psalm 8 that he loves. It is so funny to hear him singing the words and getting them all mixed up. I got him up the other morning and he told me he was singing and talking about packages in his bed. The kid loves a good package and is delighted to see the UPS man pull up.

We are also experimenting with "mama's quiet reading time" which means about 20 minutes a day of Liam reading or playing quietly by himself while I read my own book. This might not seem like a big deal if your kid is a good independent player, but mine is not so this is huge. So far we've had two successful days so we'll see how that goes.

We still have A LOT of Liam and mama reading time! 

Each day has joys and challenges and I am trying to remember that the years are short and these days at home with just Liam are so precious. That is not easy to remember when he is pushing my crazy button, but I try. God's grace is sufficient for each day and I am so thankful for that.

Here are some other random pictures from our life lately: 

We had some gorgeous late fall days with temps up into the 70s. We busted out the shorts and t-shirts again and spent some time "painting" with water on the sidewalk. 

Liam's two best buds, Peter and Lucy, joined in the fun

Rob went for four days to a conference in Florida at the end of October, so we stayed as busy as possible. Here we spent an afternoon and evening with Liam's other best bud, Liam Tucker. 

Also while papa was gone we had dinner at Steak 'n Shake. I hadn't been there since college and it was just like I remembered. 

We had a pumpkin carving party with our small group one Sunday. Liam loved the candle in the pumpkin after it got dark, but not the yucky stuff inside. 

Roasting marshmallows over the fire

Loving on that s'more!

We didn't celebrate Halloween, but Liam did get a cookie with black icing that he thought was delicious...

We've been trying out Kefir {store-bought - I'm not adventurous enough to try making my own!} to get more probiotics into Liam before the winter rounds of stomach flu hit. Contrary to this picture, he loves it and calls it his "smoothie". 

Our last batch of cherry tomatoes before we pulled the dead plants up. 

Helping mama make pumpkin bars. Liam is fascinated by the kitchen and loves to "help" cook and bake. 

Liam loves games, particularly marbles, dominoes and Rumikub. He obviously can't really play, but I've found it's a great way for him to learn numbers, colors, counting, sorting, etc.  

I snapped this picture before church to send to my mom and brother because Liam is wearing a cardigan my brother Ben wore in the late 80s. 

Rob's 27th Birthday

The year rolled around again to Rob's birthday on Saturday. Unfortunately he spent most of the day doing school work, but we still managed to sneak in some fun and escape from school for a few hours. 

Friday night we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Bloomington, Siam House. They have an extensive menu of Thai food, and I always say I'm going to order something different, but I don't. Neither does Rob. We only go there about twice a year and we always order the same thing. I can't spell it or pronounce it, but it's this red curry with coconut milk, cinnamon, chicken, potatoes, onions, cashews and a whole lot of magic wonderfulness. It's a little sweet and a little salty and all around amazing. I always wish I could cook like that when I'm eating it. But then I suppose it wouldn't be such a treat to go out to dinner there! 

Friday evening and Saturday I was in the kitchen making Rob's birthday treats. He didn't really want or need any gifts, so my gift was love and time and treats.We invited a bunch of friends over Saturday night so don't worry, we didn't eat all the treats ourselves! I made him a salted caramel cheesecake {thanks Joy the Baker} and a Biscoff Pie. Oh and Liam helped me make cupcakes for the kids at the party. 

I know you are all salivating for a bite right now and let me tell you, the treats were good...

Cheesecake and Biscoff pie 

I, of course, loved the salted caramel cheesecake the most, but the big hit at the party was the Biscoff pie. Biscoff is a European spread similar to Nutella, but not chocolate. You may have had Biscoff cookies on a Delta flight before. They are a gingery type of cookie that some genius turned into a spread. It would be delicious on toast, apples, by the spoonful, etc., etc. I substituted it for peanut butter in this peanut butter pie recipe {if you make this, follow the instructions from the first person who comments} and made a gingersnap crust instead of a graham cracker crust. 

Here's a close up of the Biscoff jar {empty of course} so you can go to your nearest grocery for some. 

It is always good to celebrate a birthday, especially one of someone you love so much. I couldn't imagine doing life without you, Rob, and I'm glad for every day the Lord gives us! 

Election Day...

As if any of us could forget, it's election day. I was reading this morning in Hebrews 1 where the author quotes Psalm 102:25-27: 

"Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, 

and the heavens are the work of your hands. 

They will perish, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

but you are the same, and your years have no end." 

What an excellent reminder for us today! The God of the universe does not change based on the whims of our political system. He is the one who ordained the system and already knows the outcome. We can rest in his sovereignty and not fear, no matter who wins at the local to national level. 

Taylor Homecoming 2012

Hard to believe, but its been five years since I graduated from Taylor. Where does time go? We decided to make a weekend out of my reunion and Homecoming. We had a blast all weekend and it was fun to take Liam back to where we met and fell in love. Taylor did a great job planning the weekend and welcoming families to campus. 

It's amazing what can change in five years. We ate dinner Friday night in the dining commons and Rob and I were floored by how much the food and options there have changed! I wandered around unsure of what to eat and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of food that is immediately available. Those kids don't know how good they have it! Imagine someone making you all that food every day and doing the dishes too. But then, the Brotherhood was there in costumes and chanting about the Snake {sorry, only Taylor people will understand that!} and I was reminded that some things at Taylor never change. We also had a chance to tour the new science center and other new facilities on campus. It was exciting to see good things coming to Taylor. 

The main reason we went back though was to see friends from near and far. We kept running into people all over campus and having "catch-up" conversations. It was great to talk with people we have history with. And bonus, we got some quality time with aunt Kayla and Chris. Liam was a star with all her friends. His comment in the car was, "Go to Taylor. See aunt Kayla and girls." Oh dear, we have a heartbreaker on our hands! 

One of Liam's favorite places all weekend - aunt Kayla's bed! 

These two are buds. 

This is another reason why Liam loves aunt Kayla...a huge ice cream bowl she made for him! 

View from the top of the new science building 

What a treat to see this girl! I heart you Christianna. 

Checking out the football game {Taylor lost, big surprise} 

This was by far the highlight of the weekend for Liam. We spent over two hours at the blow up activity area where Liam braved and LOVED the big slide, anything he could climb on and the bouncy house. Kudos to Taylor for adding area this for kids. 

I wish you could see his smile better in this picture! He was beaming every time he came down.

We finished out the weekend with a trip to Ivanhoes, the best ice cream place in the world. I had a pumpkin shake....

Liam had his third ice cream of the weekend, cotton candy! 

And Rob had chocolate peanut butter pretzel sundae. Yum! 

Thanks Taylor for the great memories, old and new!