Looking ahead from behind me . . .

So as 2008 comes to an end, it takes my mind through a series of what I learned exercises. Some lessons I learned the easier way, but unfortunately many I learned the hard way. I guess you could say I'm kinda stubborn. Over the years that stubbornness has lessened, but there is still a lot of work to be done in that department peeps, yep a lot of work. Anyway . . .

The verse that came to mind for me regarding this past year is found in 2 Corinthians 12 (some of ya'll already know where I'm going ~~ you smart little boogers ~~ anyway) verses 7 - 10:

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment.

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

9 But He said to me,

'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.'

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

So this morning as I thought about this past year and how I wanted to convey my feelings on to "paper", this verse came to mind. And so did this question; Why is it that Christ's power is made perfect in weakness? Why couldn't it be made perfect in strength? Well the answer to that is pride. Pride started this whole fallen humanity mess we find ourselves in, and pride is the downfall of every person who leaves this earth without accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. And for every believer pride is also a HUGE obstacle that we face every day.

For many years I had a problem with prayer. I've had people look at me and say "no way not you!!" But it's true. Prayer was difficult for me partially because I am a speck on a planet in the universe our God created and He is God and well, you know. But then there was also the issue of just stopping, taking the time to humble myself and listen. Oh I could spout off a bunch of prayer requests, but when it came time to listening I was terrible at it, really terrible. But over time, God has so used events in my life, people in my life, resources and many different things to break this pride in me that said I didn't have time to stop and listen. God knew me, He knew my heart, He knew I loved Him. Well, yeah He did and does, but He also has given us a free will to choose Him, and to choose the best way. And part of that certainly includes listening to Him, which cultivates a DEEP personal relationship with Him. DEEP.

Over this past year I have had numerous doc appointments, bad news, good news, 2 knee operations, and many other things that have brought me joy and pain. But I will tell you one of the biggest lessons I have learned over this past year is that HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT!!

When I was lying in the hospital bed at MC in November, and in so much pain that nothing I did relieved it. I couldn't get in a different position, I couldn't rub it away, I couldn't distract it away with TV or some other electronic devise, no it would not go away. And this was no ordinary pain, this was pain on a scale I had never known. I had a talk with God in this dark, lonely hospital room and I told Him that if I was to get through it, it would be because He was there sustaining me. Because unless He did I simply didn't know what would happen. It was bad.

But God . . .

Don't you love that about Him. I needed Him and there He was. Did He take the pain away? no it was still there, but oh the grace. His grace was truly sufficient for me. Some how I got rest and some how I just moved on in baby steps with Him at the helm. He is trustworthy, truly trustworthy.

I have come to better understand that His power is made perfect in weakness and not strength. Because if it was made perfect in strength we would never come to Him. We'd constantly be thinking we could do things on our own. It is very sad.

So I felt the urging of the Holy Spirit (because oh yes I am so listening these days ~~ Hallelujah!!!) to read these verses in The Message:

"Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head,

I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.

Satan's angel did his best to get me down;

what he in fact did was push me to my knees.

No danger then of walking around high and mighty!

At first I didn't think of it as s gift, and begged God to remove it.

Three times I did that, and then He told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness."

I had to smile at these verses in The Message, especially the part about this being a gift and all and pusing me to my knees, and no danger of walking around high and mighty. Yes God has a plan in all of this, and He has a plan for me specifically in all of this. I don't believe we go through hard things like this just to be the same on the other side ~~ NO WAY!! God is doing a work children ~~ He is doing a work!!! I'm excited to see where this journey takes me.

What is really interesting is that the last few days God has been asking me a question.

Are you okay with the situation if it doesn't get better? If your knee stays right where it is with the pain and limited movement will you still trust me?

I must be honest, I find these questions so interesting and hard. Because of course I want to get better, and I don't even think for a minute He is saying that I won't, because I so believe I will, but what I do think He is saying is will you trust Me no matter what. Can you be okay with the situation right where you are and you move forward in Me?

The answer to all of those questions, (I am happy to say) is an overwhelming YES!!!

"I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' "

Psalm 91:2

So whatever you are facing today, may I encourage you to face it hand in hand with Jesus. He wants to help you. Cry out to Him. Desire Him. Pray. Ask Him to show you His glory ~~ He will ~~ He so will!!!

Thank you for a glorious blog year for me. I've made so many friends through this blog and so look forward to making more friends who can teach me more stuff, like . . . knitting (you know who you are =)

I love you all!!!!

Have a Blessed and safe New Year's,

Resolution or Revolution?

Ahh new beginnings ~~ there is something about them, isn't there?!!

Just like clean sheets on a bed, fresh and smelling good ~~ I love clean sheets, anyway ~~

I also love the thought of new beginnings. The last few years I have made a New Year's Resolution, but most of the time that has involved my weight, always wanting to lose a few pounds. But this year I have felt God moving me in a new direction for this new year.

I have several books that I have never read or have only read parts of, and I really feel God impressing on my heart to read these books and apply these truths in conjunction to His Word of course. There are many wonderful books in my home library, books that I bought knowing that it would help me in a particular area, but then would only read a part of it and not finish it.

So I am pulling out my books and all the stops (just like to say that =) and reading this year.

And this is what I will be doing. I will post a Monday Morning Review of the book I read that last week (hopefully I read one a week, or so). And then if you would like to read it you have my very meager opinion of what I thought of the book. Of course this is not in anyway a formal review, just my opinion.

So I wanted to give you a few of the titles I will be reading . . .

First I am going to finish going through this in my prayer time . . .

I bought this a few years ago and only got through day three (how pathetic am I). But I am now putting this wonderful guide to prayer in use. It really is insightful and is helping me in my prayer life. So I will be finishing this over the course of the next 10 weeks (I think that's right).

These a just a few of the books that I'll be reading. Amongst these titles are "Twelve Extraordinary Women" "The Calling" "The Feasts of the Lord" "Jesus on Leadership" and many others. You probably also see "Voices of the Faithful" and "Jesus Freaks", these two I will be doing in conjunction with each other. "Voices of the Faithful" is a daily devotional and "Jesus Freaks" is a book on Martyrs that you can read chronologically. So come Jan 1, I'll be starting this daily devotional.

And this is the book I am currently reading and will be reviewing next Monday, hopefully.

It is "Here am I Lord, Send Somebody Else!" by Jill Briscoe. Don't ya just love the honesty in that title? If you've read this book or any of the books in the future that I'll feature on MMR, please feel free to let me know what you thought of the book or if you plan on reading it.

Now let me just leave you with a few more CHRISTmas pics.

This is Sky opening up the Leap Frog Gma and Gpa got him.

How cute!! I just love the concentrated look on babies faces as they do things . . .

like opening gifts!!

Here is Chase and Tonya looking so cute, and Sky not interested at all in the pic ~~

Nope he's more interested in getting his hands on that frog!!!

And as promised I wanted to show you the beautiful earrings Dak bought his mama for CHRISTmas.

Aren't they lovely?

(heehee ~~ great pic of them huh?!!)

Okay so here is my profile, can you see them now?

I know their kind of hard to see, but take my word for it . . .

THEY ARE LOVELY!!! Thanks Dak!!

Resolution or revolution?

I believe that if I keep this resolution, God will honor that and revolutionize my life with this obedient step.

So what about you?

Will you be making a New Year's resolution that will revolutionize your life?

If so let me know, I'd love to hear it.

Have a Blessed day,

P.S. If your resolution is of a more private nature and you just want to share it with someone or need a prayer partner in regards to it, you can e-mail me as well. (Just thought I'd throw that out there =)

P.P.S. -- P.S.S. ?? Anyway, I am still tweaking the new blog header, so what about this one?

Feel Free to Browse

Welcome ~~ Welcome ~~ Come in and browse CHRISTmas at the Winslow's!!!

Notice the crutch in the above pic? Nice touch huh?

Okay anyway . . . =)

This is me and my baby sis!!

Dak and his Grandmama!!

Dick and the very cool, ultra sleek, backpack replacing, hiking bag . . .

How great is this?

Dick and his Wolves in Yellowstone, National Geographic movie from Dak.

We love us some Yellowstone and Dak =)

Oh how sweet it is . . . Dak and his Ipod Nano Chromatic. This little gizmo is extremely cool. You shake it and it goes to another song. You turn it sideways and it landscapes.

What will they think of next? And all for the price of a regular Ipod.

Oh yes and cushy headsets to go with . . .

So hubby bought me an Ipod dock . . .

And why would he do that if I don't have an Ipod?

Hmmmm . . .

Because . . . .

The suspense is killin' ya huh? =)

Yep, Dak already had an Ipod and he was soooooo sure we'd gotten him an Ipod Chromatic for CHRISTmas that he took all his music and videos off of this one and wrapped it up for his mama. How sweet is that ~~ And now I have an Ipod ~~ SWEET!!!!!

And again he was so sure that he bought me a leather case as well . . .

Oh and by the way . . . that is a GREAT accessory to have with an Ipod!!!

Oh boo, I thought I got the pic on here, but Dak also blessed me with a BEAUTIFUL pair of silver and amethyst earrings. He always has the same limit every CHRISTmas to spend and he always manages to get a really good deal for his mama. This year it was Amazon. I'll get a pic posted soon . . . ya gotta see this beauts!!!!!

Here is my nephew Adam and his fiancee Megan with his grandma (my mom =).

Here is Adam and Megan. These two are just the sweetest things going in the betrothed department. And man can she cook!!!!! She makes the BEST Oreo balls you have ever tasted and this year in mint as well. WELCOME TO THE FAMILY MEGAN ~~ You my dear are a keeper!!!!!

This is just kind of a random shot of me and the beautiful milk glass dish baby sis got me.
I LOVE me some milk glass, and double bonus, this is an original!!! Cha-ching!!
Okay so this is just the best right here. If there is something I really like and use a lot, it is my aprons. Mom for CHRISTmas always makes our gifts. It is terrific. Because they are always original and so thoughtful by mom. She thinks of each indivual person and the colors they like etc. Just GREAT!!!!!
So this year she made us girls one of my fav things ~~ APRONS!!!!!
How cute is this?
From left to right: Georgia (BFF), Dena (baby sis), Me (self-explanatory =), Rhonda (big sis) and Megan (nephew's finacee)

Here is the before all the present opening craziness!!

Notice the two Santa hats? Yep Dak and I don this every year to hand out gifts ~~ love it!!!

Will my BFF Georgia got me a beautiful birdhouse for CHRISTmas. I have wanted one for so long. I need to take a close-up shot . . . it is sooooooo GREAT!!! Love you friend!!

Here is Dak just after said birdhouse is installed.

Here we are with my fav cousin (don't tell my other ones =) from KY.

Left to right (again): Devin, Dak, Heather, Me and Kae in front ~~

Love these guys soooooooo much!!!

So glad they got to come see us!!

Well I know this was a lot of pics, and I still have more, but I'll leave it here for now . . .

Our little Scoot . . .

He is sooooooooo much fun!!!

What in the world did we do for entertainment before God brought us Sky?!!

We hope ya'll had a Blessed and very meaningful CHRISTmas!!

Tomorrow I'll be sharing some New Year's fun with you . . . . so stay tuned for that =)

PS What do ya'll think about the new header? Too much? Let me know ~~

I'm Here . . .No Really I am!!!

Hello all!!! So sorry I haven't written in a few days, but whew it has been one busy weekend, starting last Wednesday, but oh how fun. I will be updating ya'll on all the fun happenings, but tonight I want to leave you with this . . .

Please disregard the boxes in the backgroud and just focus on this cute face, and those hands ~~

He reaches for you now . . . oh my stars too cute!!!!!

We Wanna Wish You a Merry CHRISTMAS!!!!!

We are Blessed beyond measuse because of the babe in a manger. We just want to pass on love and warm wishes to each and everyone of you.

Pic #25 on the 25 Days of CHRISTmas pics is from our family to yours . . .

We wish you the Merriest of CHRISTmas days and the thankfulness and love that CHRISTmas brings to your heart everyday.

Thank you for being a part of our lives.

When things calm down a bit, I have so many pics and fun things to share with you, and we aren't even done yet . . . sweet thang comes over on Saturday =) teehee YAY!!

When Dick prayed yesterday he thanked God for the sacrifice He made to send Christ here for us. I just loved that. So often we think about the sacfice of the cross, but often times we forget what a sacrifice the Father made just sending Him here. Christ, His son had ALWAYS been with Him and now He was giving Him up, for a time, to come here, knowing ALL that would happen.

Thank you Father!!!!!

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!

Have a Blessed and safe day,

, Dick and Dakota

Merry CHRISTmas Eve!!!!!

Pic #24 on our 25 Days of CHRISTmas

This is Dick and I, CHRISTmas 2003. I thought we'd take a little look back today.

I love this man so much. He makes everyday special. He loves me with faith and tenacity, we have faced a lot together in the 10 years we have been married. He has stayed by my side through all of my physical issues (and there have been many) and he has ALWAYS made sure that I knew he was my biggest fan. I look so forward to every day that God gives us together.

Merry CHRISTmas, honey!!!

And then this little booger ~~ how cute is Dak. He is 11 here. What a difference 5 years makes in a child's life huh? This is one of the sweetest pics that we have together. One of my fav's ~~ I love it.

As you can tell from the video a couple of days ago, Dak is a fun-loving and high-energy kid. He has definintely kept this mama on her toes. Now that we are in a more grown up time of life for him, it is so fun to see him goofing off and enjoying CHRISTmas.

I love this kid!!!!!

So from our house to yours,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU,

The Way in a Manger

~~ Pic #23 on our 25 Days of CHRISTmas ~~

Can you believe we only have two pics left in the '08 installment?

So today's pic is a sweatshirt, because after all we are suppose to show pics of CHRISTmas viewed through our eyes and this one says it all to me.

He is "The Way" can I get an Amen?!!

I found this sweatshirt in Mardels a few years ago, and if I'm thinking correctly, it was only $5.00. What a deal!! And I wear it a lot during this season and sometimes even beyond. I love it so.

I am currently working my way through BMoore's study on John and will begin her study on David next week, but I wanted to share something with you that stuck out to me to in light of this season.

"John remained nearby Jesus, whether his Leader was on the mount of transfiguration or in the depths of Gethsemane's suffering. John affectionately leaned on Him during the feast but also followed Him in to the courts for the trials. John clung to Jesus when He raised the dead, and he clung to Jesus when He became the dead.

John stood nearby when human reason implied that his faithful Leader's mission had failed. He could not have comprehended that the plan of the ages was going perfectly. Yet he remained. He who looked on a face that 'shone like the sun' (Matt. 17:2) was willing to look on a face that was bloody and spit upon. He stayed nearby during Christ's brightest hour and His darkest hour. The young disciple knew Jesus in the extreme. John was willing to look when others covered their eyes. And he beheld Him. How can we behold what we are unwilling to see?"

At this time of the year, and really everyday of every year we should be beholding Him. But especially this time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, to remember what He went on to do is so very important to us as believer's. We must not lose sight. John was willing to look when others covered their eyes. Am I? I must ask myself the hard questions and answer honestly to grow in Him.

Jacquie had another amazing post yesterday. You really should check it out. The song this time that she features is Mary Did You Know? Did she know? Perhaps not fully at His birth. But by the time that Jesus is on the cross and He tells John to behold his mother and Mary to behold her son, I believe that she most certainly knew. He was Immanuel, God with us indeed.

One of the hardest scenes for me to watch as a mother in the Passion of the Christ, is when Jesus is walking the Via Delarosa and Mary sees him from the alley. As a mother you never want your child to suffer, but suffering to such a degree would rip your heart. This woman who had given birth 33 years earlier in a stable with hay and animals - This woman who had watched this child grow and do miracles and grow up - This woman who had prayed for her baby and loved Him more than she thought was possible - This woman was now watching the child she birthed die the most unimanigible death.

I fear in our comfy 21st century homes we lose sight of what Jesus' birth really meant, really means. He was not just a way in a manger, but He was THE Way in a Manger. And I love Him so.

Thank you Jesus for the incredible sacrifice you made. To leave Glory and come here to be born in a stable, to live perfectly, and die such a horrendous death, and then to rise again on the third day defeating death, hell and the grave . . . Oh What a Savior!! Thank you Jesus from the bottom of my heart. I love you, Amen

Merry CHRISTmas indeed!!!

For Your Viewing Pleasure . . .

So our pic #22 on the 25 Days of CHRISTmas is actually a video thanks to Dak.

Now if you are wondering what he is dancing on, it would be my exercise step. Too funny son ~~ skaaaadooooshhhhh (dak's language for awesomeness =)

Enjoy,



PS So are the only words to this song "Call on me" and "I'm the same boy I used to be" ?? The answer to that would be YES!!! And it goes on for like 5 mins ~~ Oh yeah and that is a hairbrush microphone ~~ cracking me up son!!

A Very Special Visitor . . . and So Much More!!!

Yesterday was such a fun day. First we got to see little squirt. Oh joy, joy, joy!!! And then I squeezed in a little nap (okay a little rest), I told ya'll (in yesterday's post) I was very busy yesterday =) And I also finished up some tags for gifts ~~ oh I came up with some new designs thanks to Gooseberry Patch ~~ I heart you GPB ~~ and then also, oh I don't know what else, but it was a fun relaxing day.



Well along about 5;00 pm or so I got a call from our neighbor's that live across the street and they wanted to know if they could come over for a minute. Of course you can. So over they came . . .

May I please introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Claus and pic #21 on our 25 days of CHRISTmas. How cute are they!! And yes they really do live across the street. Very clever of that Santa to park his keester in our neighborhood ~~ how GREAT is that!!

Okay so their people names are Joe and Linda, and can I just say that they are some of the kindest people you will ever meet ~~ truly. They give until it hurts and then they give some more. They give of their talents and time and they are adorable people, inside and out.

I have come home and found gifts on my doorstep, because they know of my health situation right now, and they just give, give, give. They are amazing.

Here I am with Santa and the Mrs.

And here is my sweet man with Santa and the Mrs. How cute is this? I love him so!!! So are you wondering why Santa is pointing upward in these pictures? Because it is all about him. He is a minister in Prison Ministries. How great is that and all they do is all about Him.

He tells you that he dresses as Santa in the Spirit of giving and that is what CHRISTmas is all about: The Spirit of Giving ~~

And yes they came bearing gifts. I'm going to highlight the plaque they brought in another post, but they brought me a beautiful plaque, a beautiful spoon rest (too beautiful for a dirty spoon I can tell you that), a sunflower calendar for my fridge . . . Oh yeah and this is another thing to tell you about them, they remember stuff. I'd told Linda once that Sunflower's were my favorite flower, so lo and behold, the calendar she included in our goodie bag had beautiful Sunflower's on them and oh yeah another thing about her, she is a beautiful, caring writer. She thinks about what she writes, it is a beautiful thing.

Let me just give you a sampling of her work. This is what she wrote on the back of the calendar: "You are a sunflower in the garden of life, dear Dawn!! We love you!! Joe and Linda xo"

Now granted, believe me I know I am NOT ALL THAT!! But I love her heart and they way she expresses herself and she does it with great fan fair and abandon. It is truly wonderful.

Okay so back to our goodie bag, umm ok, also Joe came carrying an adorable reindeer that stands on his own, adorable ~~ and then in the bag they gave us a gift certificate to our new Murfin's (right spelling =) in town, a GC to The Breadsmith (YUMMEE!!) and a GC just for Dak to Wal-mart. They are sooooooo very thoughtful. Thank you so much J & L ~~ we love you!!!!!

So what am I getting them, oh yeah bread. I'm making mini-loaves of bread for our neighbors. Yes very lame, but maybe next year I'll have my act together. Anyway . . .

So what else did we do yesterday? Oh well, because of the fiasco of last weeks grocery shopping and my lack of list organization last week (I don't know what happened) and because of the 5 gazillion people out, we decided to go grocery shopping at about 9:00 pm. It was GREAT!!! So fun and I didn't even get a moto cart, nope me and my crutches hangin' out. It was a beautiful thing =)

Okay so one more thing ~~ yep told you there was so much more =) My blog friend Heather L.A.S.S tagged me with the "8 Tag". So I'll leave you this, on this fine and freezing (windchill below 0) morning.

8 Show's I watch:

1. The Today Show

2. John Haggee on Sunday Morning (until I can return back to church)

3. Dancing with the Stars

4. The Biggest Loser

5. American Idol

6. Smallville (I know weird huh? Its the guys fav)

7. Makeover Home Edition

8. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy (I like to test myself =)

8 Favorite Restaurant's

1. Zio's (YUMMEE Italian)

2. Lola's (a local sandwich shop ~~ love it)

3. McAlister's

4. PaPa Murphy's (yeah the kind you bake at home)

5. Garden Cafe

6. LaHacienda's (a locally owned Mexican place I love ~~ not sure if this is the name of it, but I love it!!)

7. Panera Bread

8. Mac's (on the Mayo Clinic campus ~~ great Greek food!!)

8 Thing's that happened to me today

1. I got out of bed (it's still early)

2. Added more ornaments to our CHRISTmas tree

3. Worked on an arrangement on my bench

4. Ate YUMMEE toast from the bread that J & L brought us yesterday from the Breadsmith

5. Ate a banana

6. Drank a cup of delicious Holiday Peppermint tea

7. Took my medicine

8. Tried to find more wrapping paper, but failed, oh boo ~~

8 Things I look forward to:

1. Watching Dak come into the man that God has designed him to be

2. Watching Grandbaby be wonderful in all his growing up stages

3. Chase and Tonya's wedding

4. Some time alone with my man this spring (do we have something planned, no, but a girl can dream =)

5. Getting past 90 degrees

6. Driving again

7. Getting back to church

8. My up coming Bible Study on the life of David

8 Things I wish for:

1. My mom to be healthy

2. Dak to realize his potential and be all that God has called him to be

3. To see ALL of the ladies on The List that Kelly has posted to realize their dream of being a momma and also the ones who are waiting on a husband to be a wife.

4. For babies all over the world to be taken care of ~~ it breaks my heart to see babies not taken care of and so many of us out there that so wanted more children and would take care of them.

5. My husbands heart to be healthy

6. To be able to hike with my husband and son and grandbaby in the spring.

7. To see my family and friends who do not know Jesus to come and know Him and know the freedom and joy of living in Him.

8. I wish for all of our hearts to be turned to Him in this season . . . He is the reason!!

So I'm now suppose to tag 8 people, but please play along with us it you'd like. I know this has gone around a lot, so I'd hate to double tag someone =)

Have a Blessed and lovely Lord's day,

Cuteness . . . just stinkin' cuteness . . .

Pick #20 on the 25 Days of CHRISTmas ~~

I ask you . . .

D O E S I T G E T A N Y C U T E R T H A N T H I S ? ?

O R T H I S ? ? . . .

I got to see this little bundle of cuteness today. He is getting sooooooo big!!!!! And he is now holding out his little arms. It is the cutest thing. Did I mention how CUTE he is? And he is now starting to like his walker. He only likes to go backwards, but I was sitting there holding my arms out to him and he started going forward, it was so fun. This child will have it figured out in no time!!! He is coming over with his mommy and daddy next Saturday for CHRISTmas . . . WOO-HOO BRING ON THE CUTENESS!!

Sorry this is a late post today. But it's been a pretty busy day and hubs has had stuff to do on the computer today. I have a lot of stuff to tell ya about, but we'll see about getting that done in the next few days.

Oh, one more thing, I'm so excited about tomorrow's pic, so stay tuned . . .

It's in the Bag!!

Pic #19 on the 25 days of CHRISTmas . . .

Is a bag ~~ what?

Well I really like The Inspired Room blog. If you haven't checked it out, oh you should ~~ it is delightful. Well, I was over there browsing and saw this and loved it, so thought I'd come up with my own little version. And I saw on the Nester (love her too) that she did her own version as well, so please check her out here.

Now my version is not as grand, but the title of the post that this idea came from is "Holiday Decorating: Using What You've Got" ~~ Amen sister!!!

So that is what I did. Like I've mentioned before, not all of my CHRISTmas decorations are out, so I don't have all of my floral pieces and fillers out, but I had a few things and some everygreen garland that wasn't being used, so I decided to give it a try.

Well I think it turned out pretty good, and

it is sitting out on my porch right now . . .

oh yeah, and it's sitting here in blog world too . . .

Ohhh Ahhhh isn't she pretty? Now granted it isn't on a grand scale, but CHRISTmas started in a stable in Bethlehem, anything but grand surroundings, but oh my word what a CHRISTmas it was. In all it's humble beginnings, it brought to us the best gift ~~ the gift of life ~~ REAL life ~~ ETERNAL LIFE ~~ Thank you God for loving us so much you would send Jesus, Your only child, Your Son to be born on CHRISTmas day and live a sinless life and then to die . . . to die on a cross for my sins . . . Oh the Cross . . . Thank You Jesus for Your sacrifice . . . Thank you for Your love . . .

I was checking blogs last night and I found this on Jacquie's. You really need to check this out. The song in the background is "Breathe of Heaven" by Amy Grant (I almost put by Mary, hmmmm) ~~ This song holds a very special place in my heart. I sang this song in a church service several years ago, and as I was practicing and then singing in the service my mind and heart went back to Mary all those years ago and the extraordinary life she was holding inside of her. Truly amazing.

This post was going somewhere completely different, but God has a plan. Maybe someone today needed to be reminded in the hurry, in all the hustle and bustle, in all the busyness, that Jesus came, during this season, for us. He came to conquer sin and conquer it He did . . and His time here started during this season. I am so thankful.

Remember to take some time out to be thankful . . . teach those youngin's . . . hug them a little closer . . . hold your honey a little closer and remember the True Reason for the Season!!

16 Year Old + Snow Day = Loads of fun!!!

Well this week has been all about fun!! This is the first day this week that Dak has had school. And I think he was hoping for a clean sweep of no school this week, because this is finals week. Now yes we all no he is putting off the inevitable, but if you are a teenager and have a legitimate excuse for missing finals, it is a good day, or in this case a good three days =)

So let me just show you some fun we had ~~ which in fact is pic #18 on the 25 days of CHRISTmas. Dak and I made this last night. It was so much fun. We make this every year and it is displayed on our table as part of our centerpiece through all the holiday get togethers we host. Which between family and friends is usually a few. Anyway . . .

Tada ~~ May I introduce you to our humble Gingerbread Cottage ~~

We have so much fun making these each year. And this year was extra fun, because we made it while the Muppet CHRISTmas movie was on last night. I will be showing more pics of this G-bread cottage later complete with side views, and then you will notice the snow looks a little wind blown on the roof ~~ yes poor thing has had to endure a blizzard of Winslow proportion. So fun!!

Okay so we have had such a fun time since Dak has been off this week. We got his CHRISTmas shopping down via the internet. It is the first time he's ever done his shopping online, but time and my lack of driving skills right now, and ability to be out and about has dictated that we do something a little different. It was so fun.

So we have been wrapping the gifts that we bought online the last few days and that has been GREAT!!! I also did a lot of my shopping online myself this year as well, because of the same reasons. It's actually been fun ~~ do any of ya'll online shop for CHRISTmas presents? It has been too easy. Now if everything comes in on time ~~ I may be hooked =)

So yesterday my friend G, who is a school teacher at a local school in our area didn't have school either, so she came over yesterday afternoon and we played . . .

Mexican Train Dominoes!! Have ya'll ever played this? It is so much fun. It is an annual tradition in our household that we play MTD's at least one time on a snowday each year, and usually more than that. We just had the BEST time ~~ thanks G.

Oh and one more exciting thing ~~ our itty bitty town of about 1,100 people got a Murfin's (is that spelled right? ~~ anyway) and it opened yesterday. That was fun. I went in and got my Murphin's (???) card so I can start doing some major savings.

Okay so I just used "fun" in this post 10 times. I love doing fun things and hanging out with fun people ~~ I highly suggest it.

So have a fun-filled and Blessed day,