Christmas Cookie Rules…
       
1. If you eat a holiday cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.
       
2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.
       
3. If a friend comes over while you’re making your holiday cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend’s first cookie is calories free, (rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.
       
4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.
       
5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the holiday cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.
       
6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five – one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones.
       
7. Cookies eaten while watching “Miracle on 34th Street ” have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel.
       
8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.
       
9. Any cookies consumed from someone else’s plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!
       
10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It’s a rule!

So go ahead and enjoy those Christmas cookies…we only get them once a year!  Did you make any and if so what kind?

Wanted to share some photo’s of what has been happening in our life.  We have about 1-1.5 inches of snow today and it is still falling!  It is beautiful!!  Life has been busy and we are looking forward to slowing down and enjoying the Christmas season.  We have had birthdays, get togethers, Thanksgiving, baked cookies/candies and decorated the home for Christmas.  I just love this time of year.  All the lights and decor.  Love seeing how others decorate their homes too.  Everyone has a different style and it is neat to see the creativity.  I tend to be more natural/rustic, using lots of berries and pine cones.  What’s your Christmas style?

Marie and Renne at the Girls Morning Out

Karla got a goodie at Girls Morning Out

Phoebe and Morgan (Morgan is only 7 mo. old)

Decorating the window ledge above our front door

Jiffy Pop...lots of fun

Turtle candies

My mom's birthday cake

Mom and David

Ready for snow

First snowfall in our new home

Have a blessed weekend!

I hope you had a wonderful, peaceful, restful and blessed Thanksgiving!  I just love that holiday and I really thing it gets overlooked. 

We are in the midst of Christmas preparations.  We spent the weekend getting decorations and Christmas tree’s up.  It’s fun being in our new home, putting up the tree for the first time.  The house looks so pretty.  I will post pictures soon! 

Our church started a new sermon series called…”All I Want for Christmas…” and today was HOPE. 

Hope is the expectation of something good to come

That is what Christmas is all about.   A precious gift given to us, Jesus, so that we have hope.  Hope that the best is yet to come!   Hope that God’s love is for forever.  However weak and wayward we are, God can still work through us.  He uses us,  in all our messy ways to bring glory to HIM!  In our insignificance we are significant with Christ!   There is light for this dark world.  Jesus is the light and the way!  We are called to be shining stars to others, sharing what Jesus has done in our lives.  Do you share?

When my youngest daughter, Phoebe was 4,  we were heading to preschool and Third Day was on the radio.  They were playing  There’s a Light at the End of the Tunnel.  Now understand that Phoebe is a huge Third Day fan, so she was just singing her little heart out.  She yelled up to me and asked if I knew what the light at the end of the tunnel was.  I played along and said no, what was it?  She yelled, “it’s Jesus!!”  How stinking cute is that?  At 4 years old, I just thanked God for her young, sweet faith. 

So let me share that there is light for your life.  His name is Jesus.  He is our hope.  This Christmas, if your life is needing some direction, seek the Wonderful Counselor.  If you are feeling weak, seek the Mighty God.   If you are having family troubles, seek the Everlasting Father and if your life is chaotic, seek the Prince of Peace!

 I hope to share more of what is going on at our home.  I have declared December as my rest and reflect month.  The year is so busy and so I am claiming December.  Time with family, time with my hubby, time with my kids, time with Christ! 

Wanted to share this with you.  Enjoy!

I have lately been pondering on how to simplify my life.  Okay, you can stop laughing now.  Seriously, we live in a fast forward world and we wonder why we are fatigued, ill, depressed and aggravated.  Have you ever intended on doing something, something good and ended up so stinking annoyed tired and stressed that you sat shaking you head wondering what was wrong with you?  I have done that too  many times to count.

Mid-summer I felt a strong conviction to simplify my life.  I ventured over to our Family Christian bookstore and bought this study.

Becoming a Woman of Simplicity

This is an incredible study.  It has given me many things to ponder.  I would highly recommend it if you are looking to simplify your life.  One thing the author talks about is “good” vs. “best”  This has really intrigued me.  We all do many things that are good, but is it the best for where we are right now in life?  I started applying this to every opportunity that comes up in my life.  I have been asked to do several “good” things,  but I always say that I will get back with them on it.  I don’t want to impulsively commit and than be annoyed and frustrated.  I pray about how the “good” will impact my relationship with Christ, my family, my time and my sanity.  I used to be the yes girl, everyone would ask me to do things because they knew I would.  I used to be the people pleaser.  Well, learning through God’s word and applying some tools I learned in the above study, it has become much more easier to say “no.” I truly believe that God has broken me free of that captivity.  I also was a go, go, go girl and now I want to be home more.  I enjoy being home.  Now, I know that is totally out of my character so it is God!  Think about your weekly schedule.  How stressed out are you just thinking about it?  Especially with the holidays coming up, whew, anxiety rises.  There is hope! Jesus has a calling for each one of us.  I truly believe that when we live a surrendered, obedient life to Christ, our lives will be simpler.  Christ is faithful and wise.  Knowing Him and doing life with Him is the way.

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I were talking about living a simplified life .  We opened God’s word and this is a scripture we read ( we are in a Moms in Touch group, we pray for our kids and their schools)

Psalm 19:7-8

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

Do you see it?  The last sentence in verse 7, “making wise the simple.”  We thought that was so cool.  Not just the scriptures,  but we had just been talking about this very thing and then wham, God blesses us with this!  When you are wise, you are simple.  But, if you flip it “when you are simple, you are wise.”  Word play, I love it!  I also love that God’s law is perfect and refreshing to the soul.  Who needs some refreshing?  God’s laws also gives  joy to the heart.  Praise you Jesus!  God is trustworthy, thank you Father!

So I want to challenge you to look at your life, right now where you are and see where you can simplify.  Pray for God’ leading and for discernment.  Look at the “goods” and see if they are “bests”. What are your priorities?  It will be hard, trust me, but it is so rewarding and freeing.  This life places so many demands on us.  God doesn’t do this.  He just calls us to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and then to love others.  That seems pretty simple huh?  We are the ones that fills life with busyness.  We don’t have to live like the rest of the world, rush rush, hurry, hurry.  We can be different!  Actually that is our calling.  To be different!

Good vs. Best!

Fall is here and life is slowing down.  There is just something about the sun setting earlier.  I know for this go, go, go girl  it allows me,  in my crazy mind to slow down.  I want to be curled up on the couch with a good book, fire in the fireplace, a yummy cup of coffee and quiet!  Sounds heavenly doesn’t it?! 

I thought I would share through photo’s whats been happening lately.   We have had fall parties, birthday parties, family photo’s…so enjoy catching up with me.

We watched the new Disney Tinkerbell movie.  It is really cute.  After the movie Phoebe wanted to make a fairy house.  So, this is the finished home.  She came up with the design and decor.  Pretty cute huh…we took tons of pictures while she was creating it but there are just too many to post.

Phoebe's fairy house

Natalie and her friend Jazlyn

Phoebe at the cornmaze

Halloween Hippy

Halloween 2010

Natalie and friends from school

a fairy, a princess, a ninja oh my..

cozy and quiet

 So there is a small look at our life.  It’s simple but fun!  I hope you are enjoying fall and coming up with a holiday plan so you can rest and enjoy it.

Can you guess from this picture?

Okay,  that’s a tough one because this is not white.  Try these,

Phoebe yelled for me last night and told me she had a loose tooth.  Now this is something she has wanted for a while..we don’t know why.  So when she told me, I yelled to her to quit playing with her teeth.  Than she came running and showed me.  Yep, it was loose.  She asked how long it would take to come out and I told her sometimes it can take a few weeks and not to play with it.  We didn’t want it to break off.  Well, today at lunch she bit into a chocolate chip cookie and out it came.  She and a little friend went to the nurse’s station and that is where she got the cute, pink treasure box to put her tooth in.  She is so excited!  I am a little sad.  Just another milestone.  She is growing up too fast.  If anyone knows a recipe to keep them little, share it with me.

Oh, and what are teeth going for now a days?  She asked what I used to get when I was little, which made me laugh and I told her a dime, she asked how much that was and I told her ten cents.  She smiled and said “maybe I will get 25 cents”  So sweet!

“You cannot impart what you do not possess.”   

***author/speaker Susie Larson, Growing Grateful Kids  

Yeah…it’s here, like a beautiful wrapped present..FALL!  I absolutely love this time of year.  There is nothing like it.  I thought it would be fun to list our top 7 favorite’s of fall.  Here are mine,

1.  The changing colors, have you looked around?  I love the majesty of the oranges, reds, yellows and browns.  God is  Amazing!

2.  The cooler temps.  We had such a hot summer here.  The cooler temps are a reprieve!  Can’t wait for it to be closer to 65 degrees.

3.  Pumpkin spiced Latte’s at Starbucks, yum!

4.  Roaring fireplaces.

5.  Trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards.

6.  Jeans and sweatshirts.  Oh, add in boots, just bought the cutest boots!

7.  Baking!  Love to make anything apple.  Pumpkin mousse, pumpkin muffins, pecan pies.  Also add soups and roasts.

That was hard, my list is so long!  So now it is your turn.  Tell us what you like about fall.  I thought I would add a few links of some fun websites to check out.  Lots of fall ideas from cooking, baking, activities and decorating. 

 http://www.sugarpiefarmhouse.com/blog

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/

http://www.gooseberrypatch.typepad.com/blog/

http://www.southernplate.com/

http://www.aprongirls.blogspot.com/

Happy Fall Y’all!  I hope to be blogging on a regular basis, so we will be chatting soon.

Today is the National Day of Encouragement.   I follow a blog that is all about encouraging others and it is ironically called, (in)courage.  Sometime last week they tossed out an offer.  The first 400 people to reply to the post for that day you would receive a pack of encouraging cards and you had to send someone a card for National Day of Encouragement.  Can you say EASY! 

I love to encourage others and be encouraged.  I really love getting cards in the mail.  With all of today’s technology I really feel we are forgetting how pen and paper work.  Isn’t it nice to receive a card in the mail that someone took the time to find at a store, handpicked especially for you.  Birthday, anniversary, get well, thinking of you, new baby, new home, sympathy, that person spent time laughing, crying and pondering which card your heart needed to read, hear and see.  

Well when I received my pack of cards I knew who I wanted to send specific ones too.  My sister in law is struggling with major health issues, she received on.  My girlfriend is really lonely, praying that God will send her a friend in her neighborhood, she received one.  A wonderful mentor that spends so much time and energy loving other women, giving so unselfishly of herself..she received one.  Can I just say that I am having the time of my life reading and re-reading the cards pondering on which one to send to who. 

SO , how do you encourage others.  Do you bake special treats for them?  Are you crafty, making things for others?  Do you send out cards, either homemade or store bought?  Can I encourage you to hold each others hearts and nurture those in your life.  We are called to do life together, so let’s do it.  Let’s be there for each other’s accomplishments, fearful times, lonely times, times in question, joyous occasions, re locations, anniversaries, birthdays and new births.  The list of celebrations is endless.  Let’s not get so isolated in our own worlds that we miss out on blessing others. 

Be an encouragement today, you will be encouraged by doing so!

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,  just as in fact you are doing.  1 Thessalonians 5:11