Its Tradition

Here we are it is Christmas Eve and our family "traditions" are in full swing. It is a little different this year seeing the kids no longer believe in Santa. Cookies were made but nothing is being left out - they know mom and dad eat them - and no reindeer food is on the lawn. However, we have many other traditions that need to be kept!   

Tonight we went to our church for the Christmas Eve service.  It was a wonderful time of singing carols and listening again to the true reason for Christmas, Jesus birth. The most wonderful part was a living nativity scene that was performed by the kids from our children's church program. So cute!

When we came outside from the service, snow was falling....such a wonderful sight!

Once we got home, we prepared the popcorn we would eat while watching "The Polar Express". I think this is the 3rd, maybe even 4th year we've watched it.

Of course before the movie, the kids opened their Christmas Eve present of new pajamas. Once everyone got comfy and settled, we brought out our newest addition to the family, Jingle, to join in on the Christmas Eve festivities. Jingle was not too interested in sitting still on Emily's lap and decided it was time to have a supervised tour of the living room, kitchen, dining room and Matt's room. The poor little guy had to adjust to the slick wood floor and tiles while trying to hop. He had quite a few slips and slides but he held his own. Sadly, we had to put him back in his cage after he hopped out of the laundry basket we thought would contain him so he would stay and watch the movie with us. 

I love the few traditions we have established with our little family. The kids are at the age now that they know what to expect from Christmas Eve and Christmas and even though the idea of Santa has changed it hasn't changed their love of the traditions we have in place.

What is most important is that they know the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus, our Savior's birth. He is the greatest gift that has been given to us and the greatest gift we can receive. 

Soon we will all be going to bed and Christmas Day will come filled with family and other "traditions".  Merry Christmas to all of you!

Welcome Home Jingle

Oh my goodness, we are making another attempt at a pet. Many of you know we had a Guinea pig earlier this year. Sadly, Strawberry was with us for a very unexpected short time.

Dave and I haven't been quick to jump on the pet wagon again.  My biggest fear being that another pet would be with us for a short time and the kids would be devastated again. BUT we must overcome our fears especially when you have a 10 and 7 year old desiring a pet. 

For months now, Emily has been telling us and everyone she meets how much she wants a bunny. Several weeks ago Dave took the kids to a pet exposition and the talk of bunnies became constant. It seemed like everyone I talked to who knows Emily had heard of her deep desire for a bunny.  

This past Saturday Dave took the kids out to run some errands and during that time they went to a local pet store. The store sells fish of all kinds, many exotic animals along with household pets like.......you guessed it dwarf bunnies. Of course, Emily fell in love with a little black bunny. Later that same night we all went back to the store to see the bunny and the other animals (they sell pure bred English Bulldogs which are so cute). By the time we left the store, we paid for the little black bunny and scheduled to pick him up today - Christmas Eve. 

We had to tell Emily before going to church yesterday that although we know she is excited about the bunny she did not need to tell everyone at church that we got him. Trust me she would have announced it from the pulpit if she could have.  

For the last day and a half, we have been trying to determine a name and settled this morning on Jingle. A name appropriate for the time of year he came home. 

He is a little cutie.  His cage is in Emily's room and since we brought him home the only time Emily has left his side is to make a Gingerbread House.

We are very happy with our newest addition to our family. According to Emily, this is the BEST Christmas ever!!!

Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas Visit

The kid's were very excited for Grandma & Grandpa's annual Christmas visit this year. Especially because they would be coming to town the day of their school's Christmas program.

Emily & Matt were excited to show them their new school, teacher's and friends. Although the kid's had to go to school on Friday, they enjoyed the time that that they did have with them the rest of the weekend.

Saturday we went for a family breakfast at Grandpa's favorite place to visit in NJ - Flapjack's. After that, we went to a few specialty food stores they don't have in their part of NY. At night, Grandpa and Grandma taught Emily and Matt a new game. Sunday brought church, lunch out, football watching for the boys, napping for Kathy which was followed by caroling and the opening of Christmas presents.

We had a wonderful visit and look forward to next year.

HCS Elementary Christmas Program

Thursday night was a special night because Emily and Matthew participated in their school's elementary Christmas program. 

This year the kid's started attending a Christian school. Most people ask us why we chose to have our kids go to private school and our answer is simple - we felt God wanted them there. Sadly, God has been removed from the school system.  What I find interesting is that I am expected to be tolerant of what has been deemed as "politically correct" and yet what I believe in most, God, has been removed from the educational arena. This in itself is a whole other post which I am not yet prepared to write. 

I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to hear my children along with their fellow schoolmates sing and speak of the true meaning of Christmas - Christ, our Savior's birth. 

Emily was thrilled that she along with the girls in her fourth grade class got to sing a portion of "Go Tell it on the Mountain." Matthew was excited that he was chosen to play Joseph while the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classes sang "Away in a Manger" & "Silent Night".

Oh, sweet Matthew that boy is one enthusiastic performer. He sang with such happiness.  

What made this "event" even more special is that their Grandpa & Grandma Wessel came to NJ for their annual Christmas visit and made it in time to attend the program.

A friend did make a video of the program but I am unable to get it to load on my blog.
Let me just say it was excellent! Well done kids!!

The Gift of His Son

Today I went and put up the new bulletin board outside my church's sanctuary.

This is not your "typical" Christmas season/winter themed board which comes as no surprise as I've come to learn that I am not a typical bulletin board creator.

With this year having been an election year and our church doing a "Pray for America" campaign during the election season, I thought it would be appropriate to continue focusing on America and that God is ultimately in control of all things.

Many people are concerned with the condition of America and I felt it was important to bring it back to the One who created us and has everything in His hands.

I made the White House from foam board and used paper/card stock for the elements of the flag. Originally I was going to just put on a title of "Pray for America" and include a verse of how we are to submit to those in authority. Then this past week my son's Bible memory verse for school was Isaiah 9:6: 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulders and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor

the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.

Although I wanted to use the whole verse, I felt it was best to just focus on the portion:

...unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulders....

I'm so pleased with the outcome and what I love is that this board makes you think and consider what the message is. For each person, it may mean something different but to me it means that God graciously and mercifully sent His Son and I have a comfort and peace in knowing that in all circumstances God is in control.

My "White House"

I'm working on another bulletin board for my church. 

This particular board is outside the sanctuary and will be up for the months of December, January & February - I do the two bulletin boards there on a 3 month rotation basis.

Because I've already done a winter themed board in another part of the church, this one needs to be different. Usually I coordinate with the pastor on his upcoming sermon theme and create a corresponding board but with his approval I went with a different approach this time.  

Seeing it was an election year and the inauguration is coming up, I felt a board focusing on how God is in control of all things including those in authority over us would be a good theme.

Today I started the main element for the board - The White House. Once again, I'm using my favorite "material" foam board.  I made two layers in order to give it more dimension.  

First, I sketched out the top and pillar portion.

This is what it looked like when I cut away the excess board.

Next, I layered the pillar portion on to an additional piece of foam board and sketched the top portion and windows which I cut out next.

Here is the final product.  

It is hard to see in the picture but there are a few additional pieces that add a little more dimension.  I'm planning on laying the black piece underneath and making the window panes in each window.

This is of course only step one for this board.  You'll have to stay tuned and see the final result, which I am hoping to have up in place by Wednesday of this week.

A Little More "Joy"

You would think by now I would be done with decorating for the Christmas holiday but I just seem to be coming up with more decorative projects.

This past week while working on a Christmas present for a good friend I was inspired by the colors and paper I was using.  Last year I made a few decorative canvas projects but not for my own personal use. This project helped me rectify that.

I took a small square canvas and painted it with Martha Stewart's chipotle red - love this color. I then adhered a sheet of  card stock to the canvas.  When I was making the Christmas banner last week, I cut out this wreath and berries using the Joy of the Season Cricut cartridge. The letters are glittered chip board.  I took some red gems and adhered them on each berry and did a top and bottom gem border.

I'm so please with the outcome. I think I will make another canvas for the winter/snow season and then there is always valentine's day.

I created another seasonal vignette on the raised hearth of our  stone fireplace. I found these candle sticks on sale at Pier One Imports. Three pine cones placed on the pedestals create this scene. The pine cones are cinnamon scented which adds a wonderful element to the room. I'll definitely be using this feature in the winter/snow season just unsure where I will be using it in my home. 

Believe it or not, I do have two more Christmas decorating projects in the works. We'll see if they make it out for this year or next year. 

Time is Flying....

Once again, I find myself behind in posting on the blog. However, it is not due to lack of activity.  

The past two weeks have been filled with one "work" project after another for me.  My hours of 10-2 seem to fly by and although I get quite a bit done, there is always another project on the horizon - which is a blessing.

We did take our annual family December getaway this past weekend. We headed to Pennsylvania and stayed at the Shawnee/Wyndham resort. This is our third time there. It is only a little over an hour away from home and the kids love it there.  

As always, the time went by too fast.  The kids had a hard time getting up for school this morning but are excited for the week as Thursday night is their school Christmas program and Grandpa & Grandma Wessel come in that same day for their annual Christmas visit. 

Its hard to believe that soon I'll be posting pictures of Christmas day.

Loving My CrockPot

I love the idea of the crockpot!  Put ingredients inside, plug it in, turn it on and dinner is ready later in the day.

My last crockpot didn't bring me joy. It seemed like every meal I made got done way before the time it was suppose to and if I didn't adjust the cooking time the meal would taste scorched. So much for easy cooking!!

I've seen so many yummy recipes on Pinterest for the crockpot, desire to make my meal time making a little more "easy" but knew this wasn't possible with the machine I had. So, about a month ago I went and purchased this new CrockPot crockpot.  I figured why not go with the brand that actually has the name of the machine - I also did get recommendations from fellow crockpot users too! 

To date, I have used it twice.  As much as I love easy cooking, I love easy clean up and even when I sprayed my old crockpot with cooking spray I always spent a portion of the night scrubbing away at food gunk.  I had seen these slow cooker liners advertised and decided to try them.  Let me tell you - so worth the cost!!!

The first recipe I made was for Sunday sauce or spaghetti sauce for this Polish Hungarian. I'll write more about that in another post.  Last night, I made a meal and it was awesome!!  Its called Crockpot Ravioli Casserole and the recipe can be found at Becoming Betty. The outcome was fantastic so I won't complain too much about having to saute the beef first, cook the pasta according to the package. directions or that after cooking for 6 - 7 hours you have to add the last 4 ingredients then cook for an additional 30 mins. I did mention I like easy, right? As I said, the delicious result was worth the extra steps and it is a meal I will definitely make again. Sorry no picture of the food, I wasn't thinking clearly last night. 

Enjoy if you make this and let me know what you think.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Today my plan was to work on the elements needed for another bulletin board but I just wasn't up to the task of making precision cuts on foam board so I switched up my "work" schedule.

Instead I started working on a few Christmas gifts I've been asked to make. While preparing all the items I would need for the gifts, I remembered my conversation the day before with my friend, Debbie, where I mentioned the idea of making a Christmas  banner for my home. 

It has been over a year that I made my first banner at the request of friend for a party. Who knew that would lead to multiple banners being created. Sadly, I've come to realized that I've never made one for my family or home. It seems silly that I've created banners for other's but not for those who have my heart. Today I rectified this matter!

As a Christian family, we recognize Christmas as the day we celebrate our Savior, Jesus Christ's, birth. Since Emily, our first child, was born, we have been having a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas night as our dessert and yes, we sing "Happy Birthday" and Emily and Matt interject in "cha, cha, cha" for Jesus as well. As the kid's have gotten older, they look forward to this celebration. 

So, the first family/home banner I made says "Happy Birthday Jesus".  It is hanging in our dining room where our Christmas tree is. This room is also the main entrance into our home so all who enter our door will see and know that we celebrate the birth of our Savior during the Christmas season.

Cast Your Vote

This morning I put up this winter themed bulletin board at Emily & Matt's school.

I was asked by Emily's teacher if I would create a board for the month's of December & January. An idea came quickly, as this class LOVES to take polls. I can't tell you how many times upon entering her classroom for pick up I've been asked questions like "should people be allowed to have exotic animals as pets? Should people be allowed to buy extra large sodas?" You get the idea.

Taking the class into consideration, the bulletin board is taking a poll. Each student can cast one vote for the day they think will be the 1st "SCHOOL CLOSED" snow day in the month of January. The students will cast their votes by Christmas break and when they come back the number of votes for each day will be posted on the calendar. Then it is just a waiting game to see when the snow falls. 

When I went to pick the kids up this afternoon, several students had a already cast their votes (even though I had forgotten the pen for the voting notepad that morning during its assembly). One student voted that they wanted the snow day to be the 14 - 18.   Hmmm, so much for one day!!!  

I Feel Blessed....

Blessings come in so many different "packages".  I feel blessed to have a wonderful husband and two great kids..... things aren't always easy but I choose to look at the things God has provided and praise Him! Things may not always be what I "desire" but what He desires and in the end I want His desires to be mine!   

God has blessed me with a creative talent and just recently He has shown me how to use it for His glory both in the home and out of the home. I have been abundantly busy this past week and am  "booked" for the weeks to come.  I love that God has taken my love for crafting and made it a blessing to others. 

Here are the projects I worked on last week and today during my new work hours of 10 - 2:

These are title placards and "icons" I created for a friend's school classroom.

HCS Perpetual Calendar Changed for December

The winter themed bulletin board at Bible Baptist Church

Christmas decorations at home - Dining room centerpiece and stair vignette.

Elements for HCS Winter Themed Bulletin Board - SCHOOL CLOSED snow day poll. Going up tomorrow.  

On the agenda, another bulletin board at church and several Christmas projects for friends/clients.  

God has truly sent many blessings my way!!