I can't believe it!!

I have all my Christmas stuff down AND we got a tree on Saturday the 5th!!! Now THAT is some sort of a Christmas miracle for me! I am looking forward to my sisters coming over on Friday and Saturday to make cookies. The cookie making is usually done at my Moms but she is away this year so it's up to us to accomplish this huge undertaking. I'm not sure that even 4 sisters can accomplish what one amazing Mom can do. Let's see if I can even remember all the cookies she makes...

peanut butter balls

russian tea cakes

cream cheese cut out sugar cookies

little crescent things with a nut in the middle with powdered sugar all over it (can't even remember the name of this one!

peanut brittle

peppermint bark

ginger bread cookies (mostly for Daniel I think)

That will be another Christmas miracle if I can ever do it all like she does!

My sister Julia does a really good job I think she can make just about everything my Mom makes so she will be our COOKIE MASTER on Friday and Saturday. Annika, Valarie, and Laura may come too. I can't wait!

Saying Goodbye to Santa

When our kids were young, we pretended that Santa brought some presents. He even put his own signature on the gifts he gave. We didn't want to lie to the kids and make them think Santa was real. We knew that if we did that, the day would arrive when they would realize there is no Santa. They might then wonder what else they had been taught that was also a lie. So we told them there was no Santa - but we all pretended there was (strange logic, I know). I still have Santa ornaments and figures. My very most favorite is a Mr. and Mrs. Santa kissing couple. It is the cutest thing ever! But, this year we are saying goodbye to Santa for good. I know I could someday teach Grace about good ol' St. Nick and his love and generosity. But I feel I have no time for this as I now know first-hand how fast children grow into adults. We have so little time to teach them precious truth. Christmas is about the birth of the Savior. It's about the redemption of God's people. It's about the arrival of the King and His kingdom. It's about God's love and His generosity (His grace). When I watch Grace grow up, I want to see the sparkle in her eyes when she comes to understand God's redemptive plan and the huge sacrifice He made in giving His only Son. I don't want her to be self-absorbed with thoughts of, "What will Santa bring ME tonight?" How to do this, I'm not sure, yet. But, I know it begins with saying goodbye to Santa - even the cutest ever kissing Mr. and Mrs. Santa! It continues with putting actions with my faith and going out of my comfort zone with people.

I know it has a lot to do with these verses in Philippians -

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:3-8

Grace won't have the warm memories of the secular Christmas music I grew up with nor the "fun" of anticipating Santa, so she won't miss our old traditions (we'll just create new ones for her!)... It's me who has to let go of these things! I don't know yet what other warm memories and traditions we will develop in place of Santa. I have some ideas, but it will be an adventure to see where the Lord leads us. For now we will keep the tree and stockings, but Mr. and Mrs. Santa will go. Stockings are kind of related to Santa aren't they? Hmmmm.... That may be the next thing to go, but not this year. Joey and David are 14 and 15 (although they look like 17 and 18 year olds) but they love stockings like 6 and 7 year olds! I would still want to do candy and fun presents but put them in something other than a stocking maybe? How about a manger? Would that be weird? I don't know, we'll see...

I'm excited to discover the new traditions that I know the Lord will teach me by His spirit. It's hard to say goodbye to comfortable things which have warm memories. But, as Paul says in Philippians, "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13a-14).

Grace

I had an appt. today. Everything looks normal and good. My fibroid didn't grow much at all so that's good. I have felt weak and tired all day. I took a long nap and forgot to bring David to piano. I have to leave to bring Joey to TKD now. I'm feeling Grace move allot more now. I gained 8 lbs the last 4 weeks too, Yikes!

I need to live to be 200 to catch up.

You won't believe what I did tonight....I worked on cutting out more applique pieces for Benjamin's quilt......He's 3 now.

I also worked on a couple lavender strawberries of Julie's that I am giving her for her birthday....her birthday was in April.

Baby Grace is on her way!

I had an ultrasound at 19 weeks. There is really a baby in there! And... She's a girl!

Grace: an unmerited and undeserved gift or favor bestowed by God

Oh, Debbie I added songs for you :)

I have been sooo tired lately and my brain is just in a fog. I have had no interest in blogging but my sister Debbie requested that I update my blog so everyone knows what is going on so here is my mess from my foggy brain Deb. Warning: Loy did not edit this so it's a mess. I used spellcheck though! Thank you Lord for spell check!

I feel like I've been holding my breath for 14 weeks! I am 14 weeks 5 days today and I don't really feel pregnant. I'm having symptoms and everything but I can still wear my same pants and they are comfortable. I don't feel like I'm growing. I've only gained 3 pounds in 14 weeks too. At around 7 weeks I thought I was having another miscarriage. I had spotting and some cramping. I thought that I was going to loose the baby but I had an ultrasound and the baby was the right size and had a heartbeat. They did find that I had a cyst on my ovary and a fibroid somewhere in my uterus. I had my 8 week appointment and my midwife did an ultrasound and the baby again was the right size and had a heartbeat. Then the longest 4 weeks I have ever had to wait slowly went by. I was very nervous at my 12 week appointment. That whole 4 weeks I had symptoms but did not feel anything happening in my belly. I don't mean movement from the baby or anything like that, I just don't feel anything. I would think by now I would feel a blob or a pressure or something. Well at my 12 week app. the moment my midwife put the Doppler on my belly a loud strong heartbeat came through. It was wonderful to hear. I waited 4 long weeks to see if this baby was still ok and all I got to hear was about 45 seconds of a heartbeat. Torture I tell you, torture! My midwife has to retire which is sad. He delivered David or Joey I can't remember which one but I had him as a midwife thorough both David and Joey. The person he recommended me to see was my sister Debbie's midwife and is currently my daughter in law Laura's midwife. I see her in 2 long weeks! Maybe I just cant believe I'm pregnant or maybe since it's been 14 years since I've been pregnant I just don't remember what it is like. I wasn't showing until 6 months with my first pregnancy but I'm older and fatter now. You would think I'd be showing at 8 weeks! Or maybe when you have a miscarriage it really affects you. It's hard to believe everything is ok. Over the last week there have been a few times that I thought I felt the baby move but it still doesn't make me feel pregnant! All my books say it's way too early to feel the baby move so I'm not sure, but it feels like what I remember from before. Debbie said she felt her baby early. I will know more in two weeks. I decided at my 12 week appointment to assume everything is ok unless i have signs of a miscarriage rather than everything in not ok because I don't feel pregnant. Most of the time I'm doing ok. I'll have a day here and there where I just worry and feel like something is not right. On those days I just have to pray and trust God that no matter what happens He is in control. I should be having an ultrasound in a few weeks too. Hopefully they will be able to tell if it is a girl or a boy.