Christmas is (by AP)

Christmas. What does that mean to you? To some, it means giving. To others, it means getting. To most, it's a time to look forward to. It can mean being extra good, no school, and spending more time with family and friends. To me, it's all of these things and more. To me it also means driving through town with my family and looking at all of the lights, having fun and celebrating Christ's Mas (meaning more of Christ).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the reason we celebrate Christmas is because every now and then, everyone needs a little more of Christ, a little more hope, and a little more love. That's what Christmas is all about.

This is my testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love this man

I am so grateful for your love, encouragement, and all you do for me and our little family. We're so lucky to have you and hope you have an awesome birthday!

tis' the season

. . .of cookie baking and decorating!

While decorating cookies, AP poured sprinkles in his hand then dumped them in his mouth. AJ exclaimed, "[AP]! That is wasting them!" He said, "No it's not. There going straight to my belly where they would end up anyway."

Motherhood is like that sometimes

Today I thought my son was sleeping. He was tired. I put him in his room for a nap. It got very quiet for about 30 minutes. And then he hollered for me. When I opened the door, I got quite the sensory experience. I have heard horror stories about little ones finger painting with the goods in their diapers. I was grateful to never have had this experience. Especially because it is one of the things I was sure I couldn't handle should it ever happen to me. Well I handled it. I spent this afternoon scrubbing the walls and doors, steaming the carpet and rocker, and washing bedding (I have to say I have never been more grateful for my steamer and the box of medical gloves I keep on hand). I think the smell is finally gone and everything is thoroughly disinfected. It wasn't pleasant, but on the upside his room was long past due for a good deep clean. Oh, and I am now fully motivated to potty train.

all about hair

D (while running his hands through my hair): Oh mommy, you hair is so pretty. It looks really great. I'n glad you fixed it so nice.

Proper trash disposal

On Wednesday AP took out the trash, but instead of putting it in the bin he left it sitting beside the garage door. Well the cats tore into it and scattered it everywhere.This has happened before so this time J had him write a paper about proper trash removal. Here it is:

There's a right way and a wrong way to take out the trash. The right way is to put the trash in the trash can. By this I mean the big green trash can by the side of the house. If its not there, look for it. It's probably by the curb waiting for the trash guy to come pick it up.

There are also many wrong ways to take out the trash. I'll give you four.
1. If the cans not there, leave it to the cats.
2. Don't do it at all
3. Throw it in the neighbor's yard (not saying I do this; I never have, this is just an example I am giving).
4. Eat it (yuk! Who would do this? Again, just an example).
[insert something here that was so small we couldn't read it]Oh, is my writing shrinking? Sorry. Here! Too big for you?! Oops, looks like I forgot to put the trash in the can. . . which is why I'm writing this paper.

Here are some reasons, not, not, NOT to forget to put the trash in the big green can:
1. So you won't get punished
2. So you don't end up with an extra big mess to clean up
3. So you don't have to write a page-long paper about proper trash disposal (like this one; and if you are copying this, shame on you! You should now have to write 3 (yes I said THREE) papers.

The end

In my spare time. . .

As you may be able to tell from my lack of posts recently, it has been very busy around here! In my spare moments I have been working on these:
They are Christmas gifts for our Young Women. Each leader (we have 13) contributed their favorite Christmas stories to be made into books for each of our girls (we have close to 50). Sweet Jill copied and bound them and I have been embellishing them. I am glad to say they are now finished! Now I can use my spare time to get ready for Christmas. . .