Check out the party

Stop over and visit Linda at Prairie Flower Farm she is having a great party.  She will be giving away A Gooseberry Patch Cookbook.  She also has some new things for sale.  Check them out! 

Wishing You A Merry Christmas

Luke 2:7-19 (KJV)

 

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;

because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

As you reflect on the Christmas story this year,

may its meaning be new in your heart.

Have a Blessed CHRISTmas!

Christmas Cactus

I have a Christmas Cactus that was my moms.  When mom got sick in September of 1993 she had me take home one of her Christmas Cactus's .  This cactus had never blossomed for her.  That year to my surprise the cactus blossomed for me.  It was so beautiful!  Since then it has only blossomed a few times and never as much as that first year.  I believe God gave us those blossoms when we needed them most.

 

I have kept it alive over the years and it has grown some.

It has been a couple of years since it has blossomed. 

This year it has about six blossoms on it.  YEAH!

I think of mom and how much we still miss her at this time of year.  She loved Christmas.

Mom loved the Lord and her family and it showed in everything she did.

I decide today to make my four year old niece some doll cloths to go along with her Christmas present.

 

 This will be fun, it has been awhile since I have made doll cloths.

Off to start sewing!

Merry CHRISTmas!

Winter Wonderland!

Yesterday we woke up to a  Winter Wonderland, it was so beautiful out side.  My pictures do not really show how it looked.

 

I had to go into town in the morning and wish I had taken a camera.  It may be cold here, but days like this make it more bearable. 

Made a batch of cut out sugar cookies so our grandsons would have some to decorate later today.  Also made up a gift package for my neighbor.  She has had a very bad cold for a while now and is having Christmas at here house this weekend.  Their three daughter and families (ten grandchildren all of them little) will be home for the weekend.  With working and being sick she hasn't had the time or ambition to do much baking.  Made her up a gift bag with cookies, frosting, and sprinkles to enjoy decorating with the grandchildren. 

Have a school Christmas program to go to this afternoon, then celebrating our grandsons birthday later. So hard to believe that our oldest grandson will be thirteen tomorrow.  What a blessing he is. 

Merry Christmas!

Discovery

I was reading a Christmas devotional this morning and it was talking about Christmas morning without wrapping paper.   With out the wrapping paper the joy would be short lived as it is exciting to unwrap the gifts to see what is in them.

God created us in a way that causes us to enjoy the process of discovery.  Have you ever noticed that sometimes it is more exciting finding something than having it? 

God tells us in scripture to seek Him.  Proverbs 8:17b   And those that seek me early shall find me.  
Jeremiah 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me,when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

God could have revealed all of His truth to us right from the very beginning, but He chose to reveal Himself to us a little at a time.  God allows us to enjoy the process of discovering Him.

Don't let yourself get discouraged over what you don't know about God, but be excited about unwrapping all there is yet to discover.

God's gift of Himself to us

is a present we will always be unwrapping.

Snowed In!

Snowed in this morning. Some places we had huge drifts and other spots there was almost nothing. The news reported the the highway from Marshfield to Stevens Point was impassable this morning.  The grandsons were excited to be snowed in and have to spend another day with us.  Although they were looking forward to hearing grandpa sing in church this morning.  Will definitely be having a white Christmas this year.

The neighbors snow pile looks like it usually does close to the end of winter. 

 

Had to shovel out the drift to take the dog out this morning.  

Spending a quiet day at home.  Grandpa and the boys watched the Packer game and I watched  "Wind At My Back" Christmas special. 

Finished the Advent Calendar that I was working on.  Decided to hang it as a wall hanging instead.

And she shall bring forth a son,

and thou shalt call his name

JESUS

for he shall save his people

from their sins.

Matthew 1:21

IT'S SNOWING, IT'S SNOWING

We are getting snow, possibly up to 14 inches with blowing!

 

 This pictures is a little fuzzy from the blowing snow!

Grandson out doing some shoveling until Grandpa gets done at the neighbors and 

blows our driveway.  He went out into the yard and let the snow from the snow blower hit him and

came in covered with snow.  Said it was like being in a blizzard couldn't even see the house.  Made his day!

Yesterday I had to sub in the pre-k room, there were 28 little ones.  Went from that to helping at the preteen  Christmas party at church last night.  The kids had a lot of fun.  They sang, had a short Christmas devotion, played charades acting out titles to Christmas songs, did an ornament exchange,  played musical chairs, decorated their cookies and finished up with ice cream sundaes.    The boys had a lot of fun.

Spending the day with the grandkids, making popcorn balls, fudge, and watching some Christmas movies and enjoying the snow.

It's snowing harder and the wind is picking up, I think we will be snowed in soon!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It's A Wonderful Time of the Year

The stockings are hung with care.

 

The tree is decorated.

With help from our grandsons.

Grandpa put on the lights and the garland and the boys did most of the ornaments for me.

Standing on a chair to reach the top, trying to hide a Packer ornament!

The house is decorated.

We have had this nativity set for many years.

This set is very special to me because it was my mom's. 

The Christmas village.

Have to have some snowmen.  

Baking has been started and some of it already eaten!

These cookies are for a Cookie Exchange this Saturday at my cousins.

Chocolate Chip cookies with M & M's and white chocolate drizzles over them.

When I need a break a nice cup of Christmas Tea (Russian Tea)  hits the spot!

 

Russian Tea

10 c. water

3/4 c. sugar or honey

5 tea bags

Bring water and sugar to a simmer and add tea bags simmer for about 10 minutes.

 Remove tea bags.

1 - 12 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate undiluted

1 - 12 oz. can frozen pineapple juice concentrate undiluted

1 tsp. cloves

Add to the simmered tea and simmer an additional  20 minutes.

Serve warm or cold.

Later today my plan is to get some gifts wrapped.  My husband is working a shutdown tonight and tomorrow so it will give me some time in the evening to do some wrapping and sewing.  Still have a couple of gifts that need to be finished.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS