Coast Guard Christmas Party...

Lauren Getting ready to go!

Excuse the hair, but this was the best one of both of us.

Hannalee is always up for a photo shoot.

We have never gone to the Coast Guard Christmas party. Usually it is because our Babysitter's christmas party is always on the same day. But this year, the Coast Guard provided child care at the hotel the party was at so we all went together. We had a good time getting dressed up. I think the girls thought it was pretty cool to see me in a "princess dress" since my normal get up includes some old jeans and a sweater. "What is that red stuff on your lips Mama?" Hannalee asked. I guess I don't wear much makeup usually either.
Well, all in all it was a fun night. The girls seemed to fair well in the child care, and Brian and I got to dance a few times.

Special Visit and Birthday pics

This last Sunday, we had a special visitor come to our neighborhood on a fire truck. It was none other that Santa himself. What was cool about Santa this year is that we actually know him. He goes to our church. The funny thing is, Hannalee and Lauren had no clue it was Mr. Gary.
It was fun to see our neighborhood have a tree lighting and have the kids all running around together.

Grinch...

A few days ago, a local radio station started playing christmas music 24/7. The girls think it is great. One of the songs they think is hiliarious is The Grinch. So, the other day when we were at the library we checked out the How the Grinch stole Christmas. We hadn't got around to reading it yet when last night the cartoon came on tv. The girls were excited to come home from dance class and watch the cartoon with me and Brian.
They really enjoyed it. But, I am beginning to realize that all classic stories mean a lot more when you are older as well. Here is the best part of the book:

Every who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, Was Singing!
Without any presents at all! He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME! Somehow or other, it cam just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't thought of before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas....perhaps....means a little but more!"

And what happened then....? Well....in Who-ville they say That the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!

I started thinking, sometimes we Christians get so Grinchy around the Christmas season, Grinchy toward all those who are against Christ in Christmas, making it a consumer driven, and making us say Happy Holidays to people instead of Merry Christmas. What if we Christian Who-villers, actually showed everyone love and com instead of getting angry and grumbly and grinchy that Christmas isn't what it used to be,what if we just showed them what Christmas means to us, if we went on just living what is in our hearts, then maybe by example, others would then see what the Grinch saw. That maybe just maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store, Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.....

Oh, and as side note: I have a five year old who thinks it snows on Christmas. I am in big trouble because we are going to Ga for christmas.

Blogging Block

I am having a little bloggers block lately. So I just thought I would post random things that we've been up to around here.
Hannalee and Lauren ran their first race on Thanksgiving morning. They were super excited to run a race like Mommy and Daddy do. Well, mostly daddy these days. They ran for the Toys for Tots charity. They were so pumped. There were about 20 other kids and four marines that ran with them. At the end, they each got their own medal. That was the best part. Thanksgiving dinner was yummy as usual, and at night we played a board game with Brian's mom.
Today is Brian's birthday! We are having a little cake and present time here and then Brian and I are going out on a date! Yipee!
Well, Christmas is just around the corner. I am getting excited just thinking about it. The girls are going to be in the Christmas recital for dance on the 12th as an angel and an elf. I am also super excited that our friends from SC are coming up for a visit!!!! It will be so nice to see them.
Hope everyone has had a super thanksgiving!

Literally.

Our morning was a little off today, and I didn't get around to doing bible time with the girls until right before naptime, which was fine. Today we talked about Cain and Abel. We didn't go into the fact that Cain killed Abel, but we looked at why Cain was angry at Abel, and why God wasn't pleased with Cain. God basically asked Cain, "Why are you angry? If you just would do what is right then you will be accepted, if you don't do what is right, sin is waiting at your door to grab you it longs to have you but you must rule over it"
Hannalee looked up bug eyed and said, "Sin is outside my door and is going to GRAB ME?" (She took this very literally)
No, I said, it is not really outside the door, sin is waiting to grab your heart away from God if you let anger in.
" MY Heart???"
" No no, not really grab your heart...."
Hannalee said, "Mommy what is sin?"
I am kind've confused. Haven't I explained what sin is before? Maybe I haven't really explained that word. I mean we talk about bad and good, but have we really talked about sin?
I simply said to her," Sin is anything apart from God, and what he tells us is right"
I asked her then if she remembered what Adam and Eve did, and she told me, and I said that was sin, when God says don't do something and you do it, that is sin, when God says do something and you don't, that is sin.
We talked about it some more, and then we repeated the bible verse.
" How do you stop sin from grabbing your heart mommy?"
" What does the verse say?"
" Do what is right."
Yup. Literally.

Rain, Pumpkin Muffins, Chili, and Tyler Perry....

The rain is coming down and it doesn't look like it is going to be stopping anytime soon. This is one of the times I am happy we live where we do. Our front yard is becoming a mix of slop and mulch. Hopefully this weekend the noreaster will be no more and we can depart from the house.

This post is driven by boredom so excuse it's frivelousness (I don't even know if that is word).



I love when you can cook something and it tastes like you went through a lot of effort. I am a big fan of Rachel Ray. I like things that are done pretty quick. I do like baking and cooking, but sometimes I just don't have the time to do three hour recipes. I thought I would share some of my favorite easy recipes. I mean you can't mess these up at all recipes and they are yummy fall/winter faves.



1. Pumpkin muffins: (Chocolate Chips optional, but everything tastes better with Chocolate)

1. One box of spice cake mix(don't follow cake instructions, you just need the mix)

2. One can of pumpkin (1 cup or so)

3. One egg.

Mix together, put in muffin tin, 350 degrees for around 20 min.

That is it, easy easy and soooo good.



2. Salsa Chili

My sil gave me this idea when she made a white chili, and I thought it could work in this style as well.

Cook 1 pound ground beef or turkey whatever you like, in a stock pot.

Once browned add in 1 Tbs of Cumin and 1 tbs of Chili Powder

Drain one can of Black Beans and one can Kidney beans and add to the pot

Dump one jar (16-24 oz) of medium salsa, or hot depending on your taste, in the pot and let simmer for about 20/30 minutes on a medium heat with the top on the pot.

Thats it, and it tastes so good. Brian loves it. And you have a really easy dinner in less than 30 min.



I was thinking of sharing some of my favorite things, and it being all rainy outside I was thinking of my favorite thing to do when it is rainy and that is watch a good movie.

I know some of you might think I'm a little weird, but I love Tyler Perry movies. I mean I have seen most of them and I haven't seen a bad one yet. Even the Madea ones. Madea appears in most of them, but some aren't based on her.

Here is why I love Tyler Perry. He deals with some real issues in his movies without glorifying them or making them too graphic. The other reason I love Tyler Perry is that he presents the gospel in every one of his movies. He is a Christian and he uses that in his films to show the redeeming power that Christ can do in your life. My favorite parts of his movies are usually the church scenes. The most moving one was in Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It made me cry. But his movies are light and funny, and real, so they do contain some content that might not be suitable for the little ones to see obviously. But if you were like me and shyed away from these movies, take a chance on one, they are pretty good and funny, and if they aren't your cup of tea thats okay too.

Well Happy Noreaster. Hope to see you again when the sun appears again.

An ordinary Monday night...

Well, things are slowly coming back to normal around here. The candy is diminishing, thanks to me mostly :-( , but our diet of pizza and candy has started to be replaced with regular meals with an occasional dessert. I really could do without pizza for a while. Anyhoo, Hannalee is enjoying every minute of being a five year old, proudly announcing that she is almost 6 now. That girl cracks me up. Well, Lauren and Hannalee are both on the go as much as ever and I feel like slowing down. It isn't like they do a lot. It just takes up so much time. Last night before dance class we decided to take Lauren home during Hannalee's class so one of us can do one on one time with her. It sounded like a plan. After Lauren's class was over and Hannalee went to class, I took Lauren outside to go to our van. Dance on Mondays is extremely crowded so sometimes I have to park in the Sherman Williams parking lot. Usually no biggie, except for last night it seems. I should have known something was wrong when I saw a group of people on the side of the road with there mouths open and phones video taping. Maybe nothing, but then the fire trucks came...and like all the others I joined in with my mouth wide open. There was a car on fire in the parking lot! Like major flames shooting up in the air. The fire trucks came and I just stood there helplessly with Lauren in my arms as I watched the firemen do their jobs. It took longer to put out the fire than expected. I was going nowhere.

My mind kind of went blank last night. Peaceful I guess. I saw the firemen work and I was amazed. The ones who were up close to the fire trying to put it out had no fear. The flames seemed to be engulfing them but they were not burned and as the fire would be put out in one spot it raged on in another and they never stopped. They weren't going to stop until it was out.

You know, it wasn't until this morning that I thought of all the things that could have gone horribly wrong last night. My van for one, was only about 20 feet away, but God spared it. The fact that the fire didn't spread past the one car, how damaging could it have been if it had reached the paint store? If there had been any gasoline on the ground it could have spread so easily.

I saw them work in the midst of the fire and I was at peace with all of these things. I knew in my heart that whatever happened things would be fine. But that image of the fireman and the car. Maybe God, wanted me to see that. He had purpose, no fear, and he was not going to stop even when more and more flames come up, calling for help when he needed it, working together as a team to put out a dangerous situation. I started to understand a lot last night.

I want to live my life like that fireman. I don't want to literally be a fireman. But, what if I, as a christian lived my life like that. Preparing my self for a fire, or trial. Sure when there aren't any we can sit around the station(church) and talk and fellowship, but we are also sitting there learning and preparing for what may come, so when we do get called to put out the flames we go and run to it and we don't get discouraged when it seems like the fire won't die down, we keep throwing ourselves into the flames trying with all our strength to put it out. Because we know if we don't it would only spread into a bigger fire, which then would not be able to be contained.

Thank you Lord, for sparing my car, and for the brave men who do put out fires. Thank you for the many blessings you have given us.