Christmas Cheer

So, um, yeah, I know Christmas was "so three weeks ago," but I'm going to tell you about it now anyway. Why? Mainly because I want to and also because this blog is a scrapbook of sorts and I'd like to record events that happen to us. So here goes our "so three weeks ago" Christmas:

Christmas starts for us on Christmas Eve. We exchange gifts with Tim's extended family. We have two adorable ones on that side.

Our nephew, Chase - his first Christmas!

 Our cousin, Karson - his second Christmas.

As you can see, David is very excited about his new grill.  Now he can be like Daddy.

Boy she's growing up so much.  What a little lady!

Next up is Christmas at our house on Christmas morning.  

It's stockings,

Our DSi's from Santa (look he brought me one too!)

and of course, our mess!

Then onto Tim's sister's house for brunch and, what else? more presents!

Chase takes a little nap.

David is very excited about unwrapping all those gifts behind him.

 A yoda alarm clock!!!  Alright!!

 Silly Bands - now she has over a 100 of them.

 The long anticipated pillow pet.  She begged for one for months!  And has slept with it every night since then.

 Yay! More video games.

 Dance Central for the Kinect!  So excited about that game!

Then it was home for a nap, shower and some relaxing (between opening up new toys for the kids).  Last on our agenda was going to my parents house for Christmas with my side of the family.

This is my nephew, Nathan - he's the strong silent type.

 One of Julie's favorite gifts - her own sewing machine.

 There's me, handing out gifts.

 My neice, Kaylie, and her daddy - doing what Daddy's do, getting stuff out of packages.

 David's new 3 level car garage - way cool!

 My other nephew, Micah.  His mommy and grandpa are having lots of fun with his new track.

We thought that was it for the night - home, bed, relaxing...then we looked outside...at ALL the snow.  And we couldn't get our van out.  So...we ALL spent the night at my parent's house - all 13 of us.  Good thing they have a big house!  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  The kids had a big slumber party downstairs in the den and the parents played 8-handed pinochle.  We finally got the van out on the 26th and made it home. Yay!

My funny "indoors" boy

Sometimes the things kids say are just so funny, you have to write them down:

Every night before bed we go over our kids Awana verses with them.  This past Saturday night, Tim was helping David with 1 Peter 1:25 "The Word of the Lord endures forever."  David did great, knew every word (as usual).  After he recited it back to Tim, Tim asked him "Do you know what the word 'endures' mean?"  David replied "Duh, Daddy, if you're not outside, you're 'endures'."  So there you have it, the Word of the Lord indoors forever!

Books I Have Been Reading - Winter 2010

Time to once again give you an update on all the wonderful books I've been reading. Surprisingly, down here in the South, it has been very snowy this year.  So I've had lots of time to curl up with a some books (and some not as good ones).

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life
  This story is about a 20-something girl who takes a job in Iceland as a nanny.  There are some twists and turns to it but not enough to really keep my interest.  The main character keeps making the same mistakes over and over and doesn't seem to learn from them.  It has a vague nod to the book "Jane Eyre," but once again, it didn't really keep my attention.  I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 other things Dave Ramsey taught me 

Great book!!!  I have been following Jon Acuff's blog for a few months now and it always cracks me up.  He now works for Dave Ramsey (financial guru) and decided to write a humorous book about things he has learned while working there.  It's fun, easy to read and great to give as a gift.  It's 5 out of 5 for me.

Loves finds you in Lahaina, HA 

  I got this book because it was on sale for $5 at Lifeway.  It was a $5 well spent.  Bodie Thoene sweeps you back in time to Hawaii in the late 1800's.  Hawaii is not yet an American territory and is still rules by a monarchy.  You follow the story of Princess Kaiulani in her quest to do what is right for her country.  This is based on a true story that was told to the Thoenes back in the 1970's.  I'd love to study more on this history because it makes me cringe to think of the things we did to get Hawaii as a territory.  It's a great story and I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

The 5 love Languages of Children
   Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts, expanded his research in this book to include the love languages of children.  As in the first book, children feel loved most in one of 5 love languages - physical touch, gifts, quality time, words of affirmation or acts of service.  I totally agree with that part of the book and like his examples.  However, he has a lot of information in there about discipline that I just don't agree with.  I stopped reading the book after reading the first chapter on discipline.  So, my assessment is that it's good for the first half and gives you insight into your kids and their behavior, but borrow it, don't buy it.  It gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Riven 

   I borrowed this book from my sister.  She absolutely loved it.  I thought it was good, but can't say I loved it.  For the first two-thirds of the book, you see a portrait of 2 men whose lives are spiraling out of control.  One is on the path of drugs and crime.  The other is a preacher who feels like he has been forgotten by God.  To me, this part was very depressing.  You see characters constantly making bad choices and years and years are going by with no resolution or solution.  I actually had to call my sister to make sure the book got better.  It did.  By the end, you see God at work in both men's lives.  In my opinion, there was too much of the depressing parts to give this all 5 stars.  So it only gets 4.

Secrets of Harmony Grove 

   This is by my very favorite author, Mindy Starnes Clark.  I love everything she has written and this is no exception.  Once again she offers a great, stand-alone mystery novel that draws you in and doesn't let go until it's done.  In this book you're taken to the heart of Amish country to a quaint little Bed & Breakfast where everything is not what it seems.  I stayed up til 1:30 AM reading this several nights in a row just so I could find out who did it.  It's a great book!  5 out of 5 stars.

I hope you are having a wonderful week.  Find a good book to curl up with this weekend.  If you find yourself reading one of the books on my list, feel free to send me your review of it and I'll put it in one of my posts.

CSN: A great place to spend Christmas money

Did you have a very Merry Christmas?  I hope so.  Mine was Merry and very busy (hence the 3 week hiatus from blogging).  I'll be telling you all about it this week.

If you're like me, you might have gotten some Christmas money to spend.  Before you spend it all at the mall, be sure to check out the tv stands at CSN.com.  Remember them? The online site with 200+ stores to shop at?

Wanna know what else I like there?

This electric blanket

It has 2 digital controllers, so Tim and I can each be as warm as we want.

I also like this DVD storage box.  It would really cut down the clutter in our house.

Some of my Christmas money just might be spent on those.

What about you?
What are you spending your Christmas money on?