It's Going to be a Long Winter.....

Things I actually said today:


Stop throwing that ball at the lightbulb!

Do not put tape over your nose and mouth ever again.

Please don't run through the kitchen when I'm cooking dinner.

Take the pillowcase off your legs and walk on your feet like a big boy.


Boys......gotta love 'em!

Co-op Christmas Part 2

Last Friday our co-op met for our final time in 2009 to do more Christmas baking and crafting. It has been such a joy to have this time with all ages together, focusing on Christmas activities! I love our little home-grown co-op! As before, the younger ones were free to participate as much as they wanted, or just play. Some of them just played. :-)



The rest of us did three different activities and we just cycled the children through all three. One of our activities was rolling out, decorating, and baking sugar cookies. Each child went home with an entire tray of cookies that they had made themselves. Some of them decorated quite meticulously, and it was so fun to work with them and watch what they made! I am still finding sprinkles on my floor. ;-)











We also made these drip ball ornaments. They were easy to make and look quite beautiful! It was our goal to make crafts that were suitable to give as gifts and these definitely fit the bill. We actually left all the ornaments at my house to dry overnight, and then I sprayed them with sealer the next day. The sealer gave them a glossy, shiny look and they look spectacular on the tree!









Our third activity was dipping candy canes in melted chocolate chips to make fancy stir sticks for hot chocolate. This was a big hit! Each child went home with 2 of these.




Later that afternoon, after co-op, our daughter made a whole bunch more to give away as gifts.


The next day we tested out the stir sticks we'd made. They work! And they're delicious!!

Our Home at Christmas

This year I decided to participate in The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, so this post shows what our home looks like at Christmas time. If you would like to browse through pictures of other homes at Christmas, click on the Tour of Homes link above and you will find lots of great decorating ideas, recipes, fun decorations to make with your kids, and pictures of beautiful things that just delight the soul.

I'll try not to narrate too much but let the pictures speak for themselves.



(skates my husband actually wore when he was a little boy!)


This is our entryway, so the nativity is the first thing you see when you come in. I love our nativity set, and I love seeing it every time we enter our home, reminding us what the true meaning of Christmas is.


We even have a little nativity in our half bathroom!




In our dining room we added a new decoration this year, the homemade orange pomanders our children made (from oranges and whole cloves). Our dining room smells sooooo good!


Gingerbread houses made by our three oldest children.


Winter village on our piano.


The mantle in our family room.



And under the mantle, our toy nativity that the children play with each year.

And finally..... the tree!


Some of my favorite ornaments:




Finishing the tour in my kitchen, here are some cookies and hot chocolate to share!

Oatmeal Jam Cookies

Mix together in very large bowl:

1 1/2 cups butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Add:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal

Mix well. Place a dollop of dough on greased cookie sheet. Put about 1/2 tsp of jam on top of dough, and top this with a 1/2 tsp (or less) more of dough. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Jam will appear as a "ring" around top of cookie after baking. Enjoy!

The Mother of all Garlic Presses

You may not think you want to read a post about a garlic press today, but you really, really DO. Go check it out here!

Movie Night - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

We recently read this wonderful biography of Gladys Aylward, missionary to China. It was an amazing account of what an ordinary person can do when they are obedient to God's call. After being turned down by a mission organization as "not qualified" to become a missionary, Gladys figured out a way to get to China on her own. She worked in a remote region in mountainous north China, and transformed from a hesitant, frightened woman to a confident, beloved, fluent Chinese speaking member of the town, even forsaking her British citizenship and becoming a Chinese citizen. When the Japanese invaded her region, she singlehandedly (well, with God's help!) led a group of 94 children more than 200 miles out of the war zone to safety. It was truly an inspirational read, and it was thrilling to share with all the children.


We decided to watch the movie adaptation, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, for movie night. We told the children it would differ from the actual account in numerous ways, and boy were we right! They condensed her harrowing 6 week journey to even GET to China (which included being kidnapped in Russia and narrowly escaping being sent to Siberia to work on machines for the rest of her life) into just one long train ride and a short jaunt on a mule, and in true Hollywood style they added in a romance with a Nationalist Chinese Army officer that did not exist in real life. The real Gladys was horrified by the movie version of her life, feeling that her reputation was forever tarnished.

However, we are learning that movie versions rarely equal the book version of someone's life story, and to discern the differences and then focus on the major themes that both share. The movie, despite veering from the truth in several places, did have as its major theme the determination Gladys had in following what she believed to be God's call on her life, and the ways in which God helped her and provided for her as she obeyed that call.

The movie is very well done and was fun to watch. As long as you read the book first and know the true story of her life, this is highly recommended! And again, I am so very thankful that Tapestry of Grace schedules these biographies as part of their curriculum. It has impacted me personally in a very deep way to read these true accounts of ordinary christians in our time who are sold out for Christ and determined to follow Him no matter what. Now we are reading a biography of Corrie Ten Boom, as we focus our history studies on World War II for a few weeks. Talk about inspirational!! When we finish the book, we will be watching The Hiding Place with our older children.

Christmas Tree - 2009

We decorated our tree last weekend! I was so busy enjoying the experience that I forgot to take many pictures. I LOVE decorating our tree each year, and I love listening to our children as they take out beloved ornaments they haven't seen since last January. "Oh, I love this one!" and "this is one of my favorites!" and "oh, I remember this!" were heard over and over. Traditions, I'm tellin' ya. Good, good stuff.


For the first time we put it right in front of our sliding glass door. I love that it's basically the center of our family room, and it can be seen when we're outside (though we're not spending too much time outside right now). It does take up lots of floor space, but it's worth it I think. It's only for a month!


After decorating we had hot chocolate.




And sat and admired our tree.

Since then I have sat in the dark each night right before going to bed with just the tree lights on, and admired their beauty, thanked God for the day, and prayed over the day coming. It has been so refreshing. What is it about tree lights??