Let the Games Begin

This Christmas there seemed to be a theme in the gift-giving. GAMES. This year I want to spend more time playing board games with my girls. They did get some games to add to their Nintendo DS and WEii collections, but they also got some new board games for us to play together.

Paige was excited to get Risk. Mind you she is the only one who knows how to play it. I'm sure she'll be the winner for quite awhile.

Leah got a couple of fun games that I know we'll enjoy as a family.

The You Gotta Be Kidding game a.k.a Would You Rather...? has some funny questions like..

Would you Rather eat 10 pounds of cheese OR

Would you Rather eat a bucket of peanut butter with nothing to drink?

There are gross questions too...

Would you Rather eat fried monkey brains OR

Would you Rather eat the raw guts from a huge snake?

There are some insightful questions such as...

Would you Rather go back in time one million years OR

Would you Rather go into the future one million years?

I'll be curious to hear how we answer these questions.

So do you have any recommendations for good family games?

I'd love to hear about them.

I ♥ Comments...

Blame it on the Turkey

We had a great Christmas with the grandparents in town this year. Buster enjoyed capturing some pretty candid shots of our parents as they were visiting us. They may not come back after this post. I'm sorry I couldn't resist. Who among us hasn't succumbed to this behavior after a big turkey dinner?? I know they will get me back some how ~ some way.

I ♥ Comments

O Little Town of Bethlehem

The words to the Christmas Carol O Little Town of Bethlehem were written by Phillips Brooks in 1868. He was an Episcopalian Minister in Philadelphia, PA. He was able to travel to Israel in 1865 and spent time in Bethlehem and rode on horseback out on the same fields where the Shepherd were believed to be the night the Angel visited them and told them...Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:8-20)

He didn't pen the words to this Carol until a few years later for the children's choir at his church.

I love the feel he gives us for the town of Bethlehem and what it must have been like that night. The picture he paints of a town and it's residents basically going about their nocturnal routine....sleeping deeply in the still night and darkened streets oblivious to the miracle that just took place in their midst.

It makes me think of our lives and the towns in which we live. The routines, the comings and goings, activities, life as we know it just happening. Some realize the miracle that we know happened over 2000 years ago and sadly some do not.

The people of Bethlehem did not know what happened that night. It was just another night in Bethlehem. It took Shepherds who came into town and saw the baby with their own eyes and then spread the word.

I pray for the town I live in and hope you pray for yours as well. I love the last line of the last verse that says "O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord, Emmanuel."

Pray that the meek souls of your town will receive Him still, and let the dear Christ enter in. (verse 3)

♥

Merry Christmas,

Christmas Control

For the past 20 years I have decorated our Christmas tree to my exact specifications. Yes, I had the picture in my head and to the best my budget would allow I'd decorate our Christmas tree.
This year my girls wanted to decorate the Christmas tree. Keith brought in all the decorations and the tree. He put it together (we use a fake tree) I did not attach one, NOT ONE, ornament this year. I relinquished total control of Christmas decorating to my 13 and 9 year old daughters. Here are some pictures of what they did. They proved to be totally capable. I thought the tree turned out very pretty. They decorated the dining room table and buffet with all kinds of things they found in the boxes.

I'm glad they did it. I'm enjoying it and they had a great time doing it. They wouldn't let me come into the foyer until they were done. I was confined to the kitchen (big change) until they were finished decorating. Then they brought Keith and I in for the big Reveal. I LOVED IT!
Thanks Paige and Leah, I love you.
Mom

We'll see if they are as eager to help when it comes time to put all this away. ;)

Wordless Wednesday

S is for Shepherd

My friend Liza shared with me about a local writer/artist who lives in our community.

She has written two children's books. I read them both and they are precious. Wanted to let you know about them. One is an alphabet book entitled S is for Shepherd. Here is a sample of the first page.

The book is hardback and each page has a scripture verse that corresponds with the letter. Her artistic style is similar to European folk art. I purchased the S is for Shepherd for my niece and nephews for Christmas (sssshhhh don't tell them).

Tricia's newest book is about manners and incorporates counting too. It is Be Kind Be Sweet.

These books would make great baby shower gifts or gifts for preschooler/younger elementary aged children.

Here's Tricia's website if you want to see more:

http://web.me.com/tricialowenfield/tricia_lowenfield_design/Welcome.html

Merry Christmas

♥

ROY G. BIV

My new blogging friend Vic at Cariboo Ponderer had a link to this personality quiz you can take to see what color of the rainbow you are. Well....I'm brown. Not very colorful huh. It says I'm a deep thinker. I'm not sure how deep of a thinker I am, but it was fun to do the quiz. Click on it and take it and see what color of the rainbow you are.

Your rainbow is shaded brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You appreciate the roughness of nature. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Polish Pottery Give Away

Allison at Life in Germany is having a give away to celebrate 50 followers of her blog.
It is really a beautiful piece of Polish Pottery. Go check it out. I hope it ends up at my house. ♥

My Firstborn

I have seen this blog survey on different blogs and most recently at Betty's. I decided to answer the questions about my firstborn. Here goes:


1. Were you married at the time? Yes


2. What was your reaction when you found out you were pregnant?

I was really nervous. I had a miscarriage before this pregnancy.


3. How old were you? 29

4. How did you first find out you were pregnant? I took a home pregnancy test.

5. Who did you tell first? My husband (over the phone- He was out of town)


6. Did you find out the sex? Yes, I couldn't wait.


7. What was your due date? November 2, 1995

8. Did you deliver late or early? Believe it or not I went labor on my

due date and had her on my due date.

9. Did you have morning sickness? Just a little, but not bad at all.

10. What did you crave? Pringles Potato Chips ( still do :) )

11. Who/what irritated you more? No one really irritated me that I can remember.
But I'm not a big water drinker so having to try and drink lots of water was irritating.

12. What was the sex of your first child? Female

13. How many pounds did you gain? I think around 35

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? A few times I went

to the hospital because I was having contractions or Braxton Hicks (sp).

We figured out it was because I was dehydrated and not drinking enough water. See #11



15. Where did you give birth? When I was 7 mons. along my husband was transferred from Utah to California. So I went back to Tampa and stayed with my parents while Buster found a house and moved our stuff to CA. So I ended up at Women's Hospital, Tampa, FL.

16. How many hours were you in labor? 13 hours



17. Who drove you to the hospital? Husband aka Buster



18. Who watched? My Mom. Buster wasn't up to it.

Oh, and since it was a teaching hospital I think about 14 student nurses and doctors. Who knows. I lost count.

19. Was it natural or C-section? After pushing for 2 hours with not much
success. I had a c-section.

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? YES. I arrived at the hospital already dilated to a 7. I was in a lot of pain. They did an epidural pretty quick and boy it changed my world for the better.

21. How much did your child weigh? 8 lbs 9 oz

22. What did you name him/her? Paige Victoria

23. How old is your firstborn today? 13

This is a picture taken at my grandparents house when Paige was about 7 weeks old. Please excuse the big glasses on the parents. Yikes.


Copy these questions and do a little reminicising about your firstborn child. I'd love to read it.

Christmas Cookie Exchange

TracyP is hosting a Christmas Cookie Recipe exchange at her blog. I'm suppose to post a favorite Christmas cookie recipe. Well, I didn't have much time to make what I really wanted to so I'm not posting my absolute favorite Christmas cookie which is the peanut butter cookie with the Hershey Kiss on top. I had these ingredients on hand so I decided to make this recipe.

Peanut Butter Chip Triangles

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


1/2 cup packed light brown sugar


1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine


1 2/3 cups (10 oz) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips, divided


1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)


1 egg slightly beaten


1 teaspoon vanilla extract







Heat oven to 350. Stir together flour and brown sugar in medium bowl; cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly [see Leah working hard to "cut in" the butter]. Stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter chips; press mixture on bottom of 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean in a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla; stir in remaining chips. Spread evenly over baked crust. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into 2 to 2 1/2 inch squares; cut squares diagonally to form triangles.

Enjoy and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Meme

A while back my friend Michele tagged me with a meme.

It's been in on my bloggy list of things to do. So finally here it is:

Ten Years ago I:
* Figured out I was pregnant with my second baby (Leah)
* Was in the process of moving from California to Alabama (funny how we always seem to move when I'm pregnant)
* Had a three year old running around.
* Was house-hunting in Alabama and found the perfect neighborhood!

Five things on today's "to-do" list:

1. Go to Moms In Touch
2. Meet with pool repair guy
3. Brunch/Prayer time with Community Prayer Leaders
4. Go to grocery store
5. Do Laundry

Five Snacks I enjoy:
1. Pringles
2. Salt and Vinegar Chips
3. Cashews
4. Reese's Cups
5. Chips and Dip

Five things I would do if I were a Millionaire:

1. Pay off our mortgage.
2. Pay off my parent's mortgage.
3. Give to my favorite charities and missionaries
4. Take a trip to Italy
5. Travel more as a family

Five places I've lived:

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Utah
4. California
5. Alabama
(6). Texas

Five jobs I've had:

1. Sunkist (all of these were Admin Asst. Jobs)
2. Worked for real estate attorney :( (boring)
3. Worked for real estate developer (loved this job)
4. Tampa General Hospital (fun, met lots of people)
5. University of Utah Hospital (worked with a great group of women)
(I went on Maternity leave and
have been on maternity leave for 13 years.) haha


I'm suppose to tag 5 others to answer these questions:
If you read this and want to be tagged.
Consider yourself "tagged".