Family Trip and Valentines

Warm sunshine, family time, and a good road trip...what could be better!
70 degrees in February in PA..come on!! It was WONDERFUL! What a gorgeous day. We (accidentally) picked the perfect day for a family trip.

We started off the day with a tour of the Martin's Potato Chip Factory in York.



Finishing up the hour and a half long tour with some hot chips fresh off the conveyor!!



And then Christian found some additional ways to get use out of his hair net and a stray beard net from the tour. He threatened to wear them into Sheetz. We didn't think he would.... apparently we underestimated him.




Then we went to Hershey's Chocolate World, rode the chocolate ride for the millionth time and of course... ate some chocolate. Hershey is our faithful/regular family stop-off. As Mitch always says, "Hershey is on the way to Everywhere!"



We really do stop off at Hershey every chance we get...but we rarely go in the park. Which leads me to the following story: Mitchell used to tease me and say that I could write a book called "How to spend the Day at Hershey Park without ever going in the park." We've had this tactic for many years now that we stop by there when we are on our way home from Lancaster or some other eastern destination at evening time. We stop by a half hour before closing and you can enter for FREE! Yes, that's right, free. My troops have learned that, if they RUN, in a half hour they can get in 2 big rollercoaster rides. Think I'm crazy? Seriously folks, it's like fifty dollars a person to get in!! Multiply that by seven and the results are staggering!




...which leads me to my next story:
A few weeks ago while standing in line for 3 hours in the frigid cold for Winter Jam, I met a lady who works for Hershey and gets park tickets in her paychecks. She offered to save them up for me until she has 7 so now we will go...You guessed it...IN the park! Cool!!!



The boys were uncontrollably drawn to a pile of snow by the arena that was so huge it will perhaps be melted by June :)
They felt the need to conquer it...





Faith enjoyed watching...



All in all we spent about 2 hours just walking around the beautiful grounds soaking in the unseasonably warm air and sunshine.

The girls...



And the boys...



And then, since it wasn't quite time for dinner yet, we stopped by the outlets. The girls and I went to the Disney Store while Daddy and the boys went off to do something more masculine!

OK, so there we were, walking through the Disney Store and Gracie said, "You know ever since I was a little girl I've always wanted a princess dress." Ok, I thought, I'll just let her try some on just for the fun of it. She pulled a beautiful white princess dress off the rack and held it up. I knew it was too small, so I rummaged through the dresses to find her size. When I reached the very back dress, I held it up and I knew it would just fit her. Here's what got me all choked up though: It was the very biggest size that any princess dress came in. Seriously, it almost made me cry. So, I waited until she almost didn't fit into a princess dress anymore to get her one?? Does that make sense??

We did try it on. And it was beautiful. And she did make her daddy come see it. And we did(n't) buy it. This momma has become one "cheap-skate" momma and the price tag (or should I say pricey-tag) was pretty steep.

But, now I regret it. Oh my, where is my little girl going? Wasn't it just last year that she fit in all the princess dresses?

I think tomorrow morning may find this momma on the phone to the Disney Store buying one white princess dress for my precious princess!

***********
And to finish up this post. I absolutely have to talk about what Gracie did on Valentines Day. This girl spent all week locked away in her room saying she was getting ready for Valentines Day. I really didn't know what all she was doing but I did know she was making things and she did get my mother to take her to the Dollar Store.

Well, on Valentines Day at 12:00 AM, here came Gracie, sneaking around to each bedroom, wearing a beautiful red dress and fairy wings that she made, and giving out gifts she had bought with her own money and valentines she had made herself.



Each thing was so special and I don't know if the other kids quite understood how much of herself she put into it. Each persons valentine was handmade and each gift was wrapped by her. She told me "I had money I was saving just for Valentines Day." She spent hours and days making things for everyone.









She even made a set of fairy wings for Faith...



This is one sweet Sweetie!! She is a gem to this momma! I love you my Grace!
Mommy noticed how much of yourself you put into what you did!

Post-Christmas Post

I had to begin this post with my sleeping ballerina. Here she is all "zonked out" in her new fluffy tu-tu which we bought over at "2000 Tu-Tu's"
http://www.2000tutus.blogspot.com/ to help bring Mary-Kate home. The girls love them!! They are gorgeous. Great job, Mindy!!



And...are we going to be fighting the boys off with a stick or what...




That said, I will now turn back to Christmas. Oh how I've wanted to write about Christmas. I am even writing this now knowing that it will not contain all I'd like it to contain because I'm still not typing very well yet. However, one can only get so far past Christmas and still write about it. I want to put down thoughts about Christmas traditions because they have become such a blessing to our family...well worth sharing.


When our oldest, Mitchell, was about 6 (that's 12 years ago) I became discouraged by what Christmas was. All the hype, buildup, shopping, rushing, tons of presents, and then..nothing...it just seemed empty...like there should be so much more. I kind of felt like we rushed around for a month getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birth and then when Christmas day came, there was no time to devote to Him.

So, I read some books..the only one I remember the name of was "Making Christmas Memories" by Cheri Fuller. There were others. I pulled together lots of ideas that we still faithfully practice today, but the biggest idea that I pulled together and have done faithfully every year since is to use an advent chain for the entire month. I fill out my entire December calendar the end of November and put one special thing on each day. Many days are as simple as reading a Christmas story by the tree with hot cocoa. Some days are attending local Christmas pageants, or having the kids gather some of their own toys and clothes together to deliver to a local charity, or caroling, or making some cards for people in the retirement home. It may be "family tree decorating night" or maybe a splurge to a Christmas concert. I try to keep big activities to a minimum and they are "special days"...maybe a day is as simple as baking a batch of cookies together. I write each day's item on a strip of red or green paper and make all the strips into a paper chain. (I discovered early on that I had to cut the strips fat and tri-fold them so they can't be read until they are actually opened. I also learned the hard way to make sure I don't lose my copy of the calendar or I have no idea what's coming up.) Every morning when the kids get up, they open a chain link and read what we are going to do that day. It has been such a blessing. I try to really use these activities to focus on Christ and so by the time Christmas day arrives, I feel like we've really focused all season on Jesus. It's funny that at 18 and 14, my two oldest still come down to open the chain every morning and participate in the day's activities. Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas around here without our Christmas chain.



We also have a book called "The 25 Days of Christmas". A devotional we read every dinnertime by candlelight. I told the kids tonight at dinner that I'm always kind of sad when our special Christmas devotion book is over.

Also, when Christmas cards come in the mail, they are placed in the center of the dining room table to wait for dinnertime. At dinner, they are handed out to different family members who read them aloud and then we pray for each family who sent the cards.

Tree decorating night has been special and I tried to get a few characteristic shots of the kid's tree as they did it. Each child has their own box of ornaments because every year we take them to a Christmas shop to choose an ornament, my grandmother also has always gotten each child an ornament each year...something that suits their interests. The boys are so funny. (Gracie and I are always commenting that when girls try to be funny, it just annoying. But boys are just naturally hilarious.) The boys started a few years ago designating different "sections" on the tree. If one of the girls puts an ornament in the wrong section, it is promptly moved!

Here are some of their sections. Oh, it made me laugh. What in the world am I going to do when these guys are all grown and gone!

First, we have the "Sporting Goods" Section"...



Next, the "Music Section"...



You guessed it, the "Train Section"...



What tree is complete without a "Car Section"...



Then, we have the section where the boys graciously allow their sisters
to hang their pink, girly ornaments...



And, if you twist, bend, and crane your neck, you just might get a glimpse of the spot they've lovingly deemed the "Embarrassing Section". This rather large section on the very back of the tree is where the boys proudly display all their "baby's 1st Christmas" ornaments and such.



When I went down to turn out the tree after everyone had gone to bed that night, I found one seemingly malicious hunting ornament with his rifle pointing right at one pink ballerina. Hmmm... coincidence?... One can only wonder.

And one final "note" of tree decorating would be to point out that Matthew's new ornament wasn't hung on the tree until several days "post tree decorating". Now, one might ask, "Is Matthew's new ornament "IN" the music section....or...could it be that Matthew's colossal G cleff now "IS" the music section?






...and the boys stayed up late with me on Christmas Eve and made all the stuffing for me. Matthew refused my "pencil in the mouth trick" for chopping onions because he was quite certain that onions only burn the eyes of whimps. Ten minutes later found him donning ski goggles supplied to him by Christian, and 3 pencils in a futile attempt to turn back the clock.














Ahhh...kiddos. Gotta Love 'Em.



A photo of my 2 favorite ladies, "Gammy" and "Aunt Susie"


And last but not least, Matthew turned 15 this week. Where do the years go?




 

Typing Malfunction

Oh, I have wanted so badly to do a really nice Christmas post. Especially after I had a hardcover copy of my blog printed for my Dad for Christmas and realized..."HEY - there's no need to feel guilty about not having time to scrapbook anymore because those babies will make awesome keepsakes for the kids!!" If you've never checked out the bound copies of your blog you can order over at "Cutest Blog on the Block", check it out. I was thrilled!!

Anyways, the post is unfortunately still in my mind's-eye because it is long and my typing skills are at a bare minimum due to a broken finger...sigh...maybe next week I'll be able to type better.

Depraved Indifference

I copied this over from another blog. When I first saw it, it made me cry. When I watched it again, it kind of made me mad at myself for all the years I spent in my own little world not really caring about the hurting of others.

Of Birthdays, Cars, and Seasons of Life

Before I begin this post, I want to share something really important. Please take a moment to check out the 2 links on the right hand side of my blog. One is called "2,000 Tu-tu's" and the other is called "Orphaned No More" Both of these moms are trying to raise their funding to bring home 2 more precious children. Both moms are making and selling items that would be great gifts for girls on your Christmas list. One is, of course, really pretty tu-tus of different colors. The other is handmade bracelets. I am definitely going to get these for my girls for Christmas to help out these moms. Thanks for taking a minute to look and please share this with others too. If you have a blog, you can add the links to your own blog too, in order to spread the word further. Thanks.

WELL...
Four Years Old !! Our little Faith turns 4! Last year on this day, we did have a party...but she had no idea what we were doing. The whole thing scared her and she had no idea what presents were. Tonight we were reminiscing about her "lightbulb moment" last year when she finally understood that the presents WERE for HER. She literally just sat and looked at a pile of presents because it meant nothing to her. We tried for a while to explain and when she finally understood, her eyes got big and she started pulling the presents in towards her with wide eyes saying "That's-a-Faiful"



Well, this year...SHE KNEW. She knows aalllll about parties now...you know, being our "social butterfly and all".

Uncle Dan and Aunt Jes...here are your goodies making their appearance half way across the country. She loved them! We started your book already.




Aunt Sue and Cousin Jennie make the blog!
As you can see, Miss Faith got lots of jewels for her birthday.



Jennie, our family cake decorator, wisely talked Faith out of her "Blue-flower- with-a-kitty-on-it-and-Spongebob" cake. And talked her into a princess cake.
Yeay, Jennie.




Happy Birthday...Happy Four Years Old!!!


Well, now....

Here's someone who's older than 4 years old!

This week Mitchell bought his first car! My hubby says this car is every teenage boy's dream car. Seriously, it is gorgeous. It's Way Cool...do you think it's cool to say "way cool"? He worked many long hard hours to save the money for it!



We drove to Virginia to get his car and it was such a gorgeous day. I oohed and aahed the whole way about how the leaves are still hanging on the trees down there...and of course it was warmer...Ya know, "the grass is always greener," right?

There is this incredibly beautiful tree in my yard that has become the "last tree standing"



It looks like this...













...when everything else looks like this...

I don't ever remember not wanting winter to come like I do this year. I don't know why. It's almost been like a sentimental feeling of sorts..wanting to hang on and not head into that barrenness.

There's this song that has grabbed me...


So I've been thinking alot about seasons. And how maybe for different seasons of our lives God has different work for us to do. My dear brother and his wife just filed paperwork to adopt from Ethiopia. My kids joke all the time about our family really being able to sing "Jesus loves the little children" with each child singing their own color! The reality of it all strikes me deeply though....that God destined us for this calling...and that He knew long before we took our first breaths, what He quietly speaks to our hearts, but our minds still only know in part. I think about how my wonderful parents were divinely veered off the comfortable road, to now walk with their children in gathering orphans from all corners of the earth. We are not capable. We are not wise enough. We are not even strong enough.

But He is.

Father, I write this post for You. That as You unfold Your plan, be it in times of beautiful color...or times that feel barren...that we would walk it without question.

The Photo Shoot

I now remember why it is that I rarely get family photos taken. It all started with the search through the deep recesses of closets for matching clothes. Then it turned to curlers, props, and lots of barking commands (on my part). And lo-and-behold, several hours later...we produced the following....among about a hundred others that made us laugh as we looked through them.







































I have recent individuals of Mitchell and Faith so just Matthew, Gracie, and Christian got individuals today.










I must say I was quite pleased.










Of course girls love having their picture taken.







Our dear sweet friend Mattie (hi Mattie :) took them for us.










A fine looking bunch of kiddos if I do say so myself.
















Oh, look....here's Mattie now. Many thanks, Mattie.