Last night I hosted the first offical ladies wine tasting night! Some of my mommy friends came over and we paired varous wines with cheese and chocolate. We ate, we drank, we played and we laughed. It was a ton of fun and so nice to get a break from the kids. Thank you to our hubbies who stayed home to take care of the kiddos. I am so grateful for wonderful friends! I am hoping this turns into a ministry opportunity to reach other women. I leave that up to God to decide.
Well, I always knew I’d be in the ER with Isaac since the moment he started walking at 10 months and was literally running the next day! This kid is constantly climbing, jumping, running and everything at faster speeds and higher heights than most kids his age. Today I was awoken by Sonny yelling for me (William and I were catching up on some zzzz’s upstairs after a rough night) and running around the house. Isaac had apparently fallen into our downstairs coffee table and split open his lip. He was crying but actually stopped after a short while. We threw on something other than our pjs and dropped William off at my parents on our way to the hospital. 4 hours and 3 stitches later we were all exhausted, hungry and ready to come home!
I have to say that I am so proud of Isaac – he really was amazing and such a tough little guy. Also, Sonny and I were a great team in keeping Isaac occupied for all that time especially when he was way overdue for his nap. And I thank God because it could have been much worse and we were blessed with a good doctor with skilled hands. Apparently his cut was one of the toughest places to sew back just right – if you’re off by one millimeter his lip would never look the same again. So…though are high hopes of Isaac being a male model are now dashed (yeah, right…) we have come through this little episode a little wiser and more prepared for our future visits to our local ER.
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It all started with the tree… first we lit it up.
then we decorated it…
and lastly we admired it.
We made cookies with our friends, they were yummy!
We enjoyed some snow.
We made more cookies to give to our neighbors…
We did traditional holiday things like go to Warm Beach~ The Lights of Christmas…
We showed our Christmas spirit…
We shopped ’til we dropped (or at least until we wore out William)…
We learned all about Jesus’s birthday as the meaning of Christmas. Subsequently we lost baby Jesus for about a week until mom found him in the folds of our recliner a few days before Christmas and was overly excited about it!
We had family over for ham and homemade mac & cheese on Christmas Eve per tradition…
We got prepared for Santa…
And we were thrilled with what he brought us.
We helped dad open presents in case that would make things go faster…
Mom got us matching shirts… Dad was REALLY happy about it!
We realized new toys can go with old toys…
We played with mom’s toys too!
We realized presents can be as big as us…
But big brother’s presents are the best!
and tried to hold out as long as possible before crashing for a nap…
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!
Love, Carmen, Sonny, Isaac & William
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One of the best things about having children and your own family is the ability to start your own traditions. Of course we often carry over those from our own childhood but this year I am excited about a new tradition to all of us.
A few weeks ago I was praying in the car and was overwhelmed with gratitude that I have Jesus in my life after 27 years without Him. I suddenly realized that I am doing NOTHING to tell others about Him or give them the opportunity to know Him. I am so grateful to those in my life that introduced me to Jesus and never gave up on me until the truth finally sank in. I need to remember to do that for other people around me.
So, in conjunction with a quieter, Jesus centered Christmas season where we have cleared much of our schedule and are trying to avoid the malls and over consumption, we started our new tradition. This year I decided to make small gifts for our neighbors (20 of them to be exact) that would consist of a variety of cookies and a card/note telling them that “Jesus is the reason for the season” with an invitation to celebrate His birthday at our church with us. I was grateful to have an easy, relaxed way to reach out to our neighbors and show God’s love.
For the past week I have been making cookie dough like a madwoman. Yesterday I had a bake-a-thon and got all the goodies ready. I have been working on the cards for the past few days and tonight we put them all together (while trying to referee Isaac away from all the cookies – though I think he snuck 3 or so) and delivered them to our neighbors. It was so much fun and everyone was really surprised and grateful for the gesture. We also met a lot of neighbors we didn’t know! It was added fun in the snow and both boys did awesome. We have decided to make this an annual tradition and who knows, maybe next year we’ll make 40!
I do have to say, I thought I would be stressed in doing this but I wasn’t at all. I quite enjoyed it and I felt so aligned with God’s intention for us during this very special time of year!
Now, a step-by-step guide…
1. Start with buying candy and baking cookies…
2. Bake more cookies…
3. Get a taste tester 
4. Bake more cookies…
5. Keep baking (I recommend making the dough ahead of time and freezing so all you do is bake the day before)
6. Find some entertainment while you are in the kitchen
7. Bake even more cookies and frost them if you dare. For an added challenge, flavor the frosting
Red = peppermint and Green = almond
8. Pull all the goodies together!
9. Make sure your cards/notes are ready…
10. Arrange cookies for each gift…
11. Wrap it up, add a card and a candy cane…
12. Make them festive…
13. Line them all up…
14. Get out the snow gear, the sled, flashlights and a smile, go door to door and have fun!
15. When it’s all done and said, come home and warm up with hot cocoa and leftover cookies!
Merry Christmas everyone and remember, Jesus IS the reason for the Christmas season. Our family hopes you are finding a special way to celebrate His birthday this year.
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Just a note to say that I am going to skip most of November and go straight to Dec happenings. I DO have things I want to post about but time and computers make it difficult to get it all done in a timely manner. So, I will try to come back to Nov soon but for the meantime…hello December!
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Says Isaac everytime we pass our two local firestations. Luckily, they host pancake breakfasts at least twice a year and Isaac gets to see the fire engines up close and personal! We make sure to attend as often as we can especially becuase Isaac gets to replace his fire hat which is usually broken by the time the next breakfast comes along. It will be fun when both he and William can go in the little house that teaches kids how to escape in a fire (remember the same house when you were a kid? I do).
yes, that IS a napkin on William’s head…I didn’t want to spill syrup on him OK?!
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This year Halloween was pretty low key. We dressed the boys and headed out to CTK for their annual Trunk-or-Treat. We stayed just long enough for Isaac to play a few games and get a few pieces of candy – it was just enough! Then we headed to the Kallin’s with the Adams for a yummy early dinner and to let the kids play in their costumes. It was a really fun evening and I don’t mind not having to be home for our non exsistent trick-or-treaters!
Royce got some great pics of all the kids….
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Isaac was blessed with TWO birthday parties for his 2nd birthday this year! That way we could control the chaos just a little bit better. He loved blowing out his candles and singing ‘Happy Birthday’
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I know, I need to update in a bad way! Truthfully it’s been super busy and I am waiting on some Halloween pics to post so I can stay in a timeline. I hope to be updating this weekend!
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You are more than your daddy and I could have ever dreamed of. We had no idea how much we would love you and LIKE you! You are a wonderful boy, tender at heart, full of energy, athletic and amazingly smart! You give the best bear hugs, love to wrestle, are facinated with books, trucks, planes and motorcycles and you are a wonderful big brother! I thank God for you as often as I can. Happy 2nd Birthday “Bubba Bear” I love you – Mommy
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