It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I had a crazy December (like pretty much everyone else)!

It was SOOO busy but it was followed by a wonderful 11 day break.  Me Hubsy and kiddos are always off for about a week and a half at the holidays and I am blessed to be able to take off that time as well.  It is such a wonderful time of year to be restful and spend time with family.

Really recharges the 'ol batteries :)

We watched movies.

You'll notice these are all kids movies and I'm not afraid to admit I love 'em :)

We ate tons of sweets.

Um yep, I pretty much polished this baby off all by myself  *shame*

We crafted and played.

I used to LOVE these weaving looms when I was little.

We took advantage of some great local attractions.

Like the Carnegie Science Center. 

They had an unbelievable model train display.  To say my boys were big fans is an understatement.  My little E can't get enough of trains.  They had all of the seasons incorporated into the display and they even had the lights changing from day to night

And the National Aviary.

We even got to feed them fish and worms directly from our hands.  Well, not the eagles of course....scary.

We managed to take some time to revamp a few 
rooms in our house too.

Our bedroom

Vera Wang bedding from Kohl's...click here

I absolutely LOVE it!  I used to make fun of people that have "sitting" areas in their bedroom (all you do is sleep in there anyway right?) but now I have one and since the room is so pretty now I just want to spend all my time in there!

L's bedroom

I'll be doing a separate post for this one ;)

Our Basement

This one's far from complete but we recently added a projector and movie screen down there for the kids to watch movies and play XBox.   I avoided the whole gaming system for 6 years but knew it was only a matter of time and this year me Hubsy was able to score one at no cost!  So I guess I really couldn't argue.  Well you can hardly watch movies and play games without somewhere to sit...hello Goodwill!!  We scored a loveseat and chair with ottoman for cheap.  Watch out creepy spiderwebs, you're the next things to go!

Partying with the family can't be beat.
Getting to spend all that time together as a family is so rewarding.  

I look forward to it every year and I KNOW it means the world to my boys.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!

It had to be written....

I had to write this.  

Just as part of my own healing.

I had to say good-bye.  

Not just a see ya' later.  

A permanent kind of goodbye.

The good part was I got to say it in the living now.  

And for that I will be forever grateful.

My grandfather on my mother's side passed away on Sunday 12/11/11.  His health had been declining prior to his passing so I was lucky enough to make sure I could visit him one last time.   It was a day mixed with wonderful and also heartbreaking realizations.

It was a trip I made alone.  

No Hubsy, no kids.  

And even the drive itself was remarkable.  

Frost covered all of the trees and grasses, there was fog....and yet the sun was shining, 

glistening off the frost.  

It had a very other-worldy feel to it.

I arrived at the nursing home to meet my mother who has been caring for my grandpa.  When I first walked in the room my only thought was "that can't be him".  He had lost so much weight, but when I looked at his face it was him alright.  The nurses came in to give my mom an update.  As they tried to adjust him in the bed it really started to hit me just how frail he had become.  I could not stop the tears from falling.  I tried to be quiet, I did not want him to hear me crying for him.  Finally I excused myself to the bathroom just to go ahead and let it out.  Trying to choke off the emotions often makes it all the harder.  After I had myself a good cry I went back into the room.  

A nurse came in that was not assigned to my grandfather that day but she just wanted to see how he was doing and she helped out even though she didn't need to.  My mom was sitting on the side of his bed trying to give him some water.  All he wanted was water to quench his terrible thirst but even that was difficult.  He was able to speak to my mom though I could not understand much of what he was saying.  But she has been with him.  She was able to make out what he was saying much the way a mother is sometimes the only one who can interpret her little one's speech.  I can't express how happy I was to hear him speak.  The sound of his voice was such a comfort to me it didn't matter that I could not understand him.  I got to hear it again and that was beyond precious.  I watched as my mom tried to answer his needs and provide him any comfort she could.  This business of helping one reach the end of their life here on earth is so unbelievably important. I know what it is like to be cared for by my mother and I was totally struck by my gratitude that he had her to help him through this time.  

It truly was like watching an angel.  

God used my mom to provide some peace for him.  

It was beautiful.

As the time approached for me to leave, I was so reluctant to go. 
The finality was really wearing down on me.  

I looked into his blue eyes and kissed his forehead.

My mother handled that with absolute graciousness too.  Helping me with the best thing to say and comforting me after I left the room and headed to my car.  How she had the strength to be there for me in my grief after what all she has been through in the past several months I don't know.  

But she is strong.

One of the strongest I have ever known.

I guess God just gives you what you need to get through it, even if she didn't feel very strong at the time.

I've said goodbye to lots of people in my life, and many were probably for the last time.  But knowing it is the last time makes all the difference.  It was one of the hardest days I've had and yet I am immeasurably grateful to have had it.

May he rest peacefully in the arms of Jesus.
No more pain.
No more worry.
Simply surrounded by love.

So much to say....

.....so little time to say it.

My friends, I have had A LOT going on.  

I truly wish I had the time to be able to share it all with you.

Good, bad, and ugly. 

But I guess they don't call this the busiest time of year for nothing!

Not only are Christmas preparations in full swing but its the craziest time of year for my job too so I have been racking up the overtime...not fun.....the extra money will be a plus though.

I keep dreaming of all the crafting and jewelry designing that I would rather 

be doing but alas, it will have to wait (sigh).  

At least its looking like Christmas in my house.  

Actually it was even before Thanksgiving but I'm still enjoying the lights and all the Christmas music we've been listening to.  We drive around and look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood at least a night or two a week.  There is also a HUGE light display at a nearby park so we'll be sure to hit that up in the next few weeks too.  

Watching my boys in awe of the season is just awesome!  

The way they love to shout out when they see a house all lit up, or are mesmerized at the Christmas specials on TV, or sing Christmas carols in their sweet little kid voices...it's truly priceless.  

Even me Hubsy gets a little emotional about it :)

So anyway, I probably won't have much time for blogging until the New Year but I will try to keep up on some of my reading.  I truly hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with the love and peace of Jesus!

Happy Holidays!

We Encourage - Featured Follower - Carissa

Carissa is a simply amazing young woman.  

I know some of my followers are also her followers...so you already know that ;)
But if you aren't, go check her out at lowercase letters.....  like now!

You'll be glad you did. 

This a a woman of faith.
This is a woman of poise.
This is a woman I truly admire and I want to encourage her to keep sharing her
heart with the blog word...
and beyond (she's an aspiring writer too ya know).

This talented mama has a flair for photography (see some of her pics below) but most admirably she has a dedicated heart for God.  And she expresses her faith journey so honestly.  We're all broken, but Carissa always comes back to relying on God's grace and shows us that we can too.

Carissa explains that her favorite post is heaven, hearing, and other good news 

"because it reminds me how God has been faithful to provide for us."

In this post she explains how God as provided for her and her family as well as some others.  It would do us all a world of good to recognize the myriad of ways in which God provides for us..

And now, here are some of Carissa's beautifully captured moments.

Thanks for so openly sharing your heart Carissa!

call me blessed

Favorite Things Friday

I haven't linked up with Rachel in a while and wanted to reflect
on some of the joyful moments I have had over this past week....

finding joy

* Getting prettied up in my new dress for a hot date with Me Hubsy out on the town.

* Enjoying good company, good food, and acts of kindness at the fundraising dinner for St. Anthony Special Education Program (the site of the aforementioned hot date) held at Heinz Field.  I will probably never get there for a Steeler game but was glad for this opportunity to see the facility.

* Putting out our Christmas lights. Yes we are already decorating.  Me Hubsy is of the mindset that it is better to do it now while the weather is warm and I can't say that I blame him!

* Hearing my sweet baby saying his nightly prayers in that cute little toddler voice....too sweet!

* The "second-hand booger"...that deserves it's own post I think ;)

* L behaving much better this week.

* I think my favorite part though was getting more organized on the home front so I can spend more time playing with my kiddos and less time running errands.  I sure hope this continues!

Happy Friday!

You know it's love when....

your Hubsy covers for you to your MIL to save you face.

Me Hubsy did this very thing.  

Not to condone dishonesty but I can't help but appreciate this sweet display of his love.  

We all know I am not a domestic goddess.  

Well if I am not, my MIL most certainly is...at least where cleaning is concerned.  

She has cleaned houses for a living y'all.  She knows clean very well.  I am always embarrassed when she comes over cause I just can't keep up with our mess.  She NEVER makes bad comments to me about it though and often offers to help, just want to make that clear.  But she did ask Me Hubsy the other day a question about one of my cleaning habits and he gracefully covered for me, said I cleaned it regularly, and saved me some pride.  Albeit false pride since I know I don't really do a good job at cleaning but hey...I'll take it.  Somehow there is always a sense of appreciation and love when you know your Hubsy stands up for you to his mom.  I guess it is that reaffirmation from the Bible that he has let go of his mother and father and is clinging to his wife.

Has your Hubsy ever covered for you?

Three days of goodness

We just had 3 days of much needed goodness....especially after my last post (thanks again for all your supportive comments).  And I'm feeling a bit more like my positive and upbeat self.  Being over my illnesses may have something to do with it.  I was essentially sick with various things for almost all of October...yuck.

It started Saturday morning when we woke up to snow.  And while I would normally think it's too early, it was just the thing for a comfy day at home.  I woke up to the sight of my boys' heads bobbing in the window trying to get a look at the snow.  They kept at it all day.

Me Hubsy was happy not to feel guilty about all the yardwork he wasn't getting done.  I cleaned, did TONS of laundry, listened to music, made sure L got his homework done, and baked.  I felt like Martha Stewart y'all.  Or some less stuffy domestic diva at least.  Nothing like a sense of accomplishment.  I should have taken pictures of my clean house cause it only lasted for about 45 minutes.  We baked sugar cookie cutouts for Halloween, too bad the icing looked more peach than orange after we colored it...L said it looked like skin...next time I'll just buy the darn can of bright orange icing at the store.  The poor pumpkins looked anemic!...I'm sparing you the pics :)  But they had candy corn eyes and were absolutely delish!  

Needless to say they did not survive long in our house of sweet eaters.

 Me Hubsy also came home from Lowes with this awesome canning kit - that he got on clearance of course. 

I've always said he should be a professional shopper.  If there is a deal out there, he's gonna find it.  Anyway we ended up tossing a lot of the produce from our garden this year because we just couldn't eat it fast enough.  We intend to expand out garden a bit next year so we're really excited at the prospect of canning some of it.  Hopefully it won't be too difficult.  Have you ever canned before?

Sunday my sweet Mother-in-law took us out to breakfast.  Such a treat.  Then we went to visit some friends while Me Hubsy helped put heaters on their roof.  The kids had a ball playing together.  Later L said he was going to marry Baby Lila....they do indeed each have a thing for these two girls....time will tell ;)  Once we got home it was time for naps and I was going to begin my Herb and Butter Turkey breast with mashed potatoes.  This was going to be the crown jewel of my domestic weekend.  I have NEVER cooked a turkey before.  It all started out exactly as planned.  I set the timer and basted that baby every 20 minutes.  It was smelling seriously heavenly in my house.  I had visions of actually serving the food on platters and such instead of just serving from the stove like I normally do.  I think I may have even had on an apron in my little fantasy :)  And of course I dreamed of the whole family loving every delicious bite.  But instead we ended up having just mashed potatoes and sans gravy to boot (don't worry I did make the kids a hot dog too), and nobody was dishing out compliments to the chef.  I bought my turkey breast from Aldi's and there was "something" on the outside of it that was curling down into creases and looked like it was raw inside when it wasn't.  Of course I didn't realize this at first and ended up cooking it an extra 30 mins before I realized.  By then we were not in the mood to eat it.  I did pour the butter herb juices over it and had one bite to make sure it was as good as I expected.  All the flavor was there thankfully....next time I will purchase a higher quality turkey breast without any mysterious "stuff" on it.  And I will take pics and post the recipe because....the flavor is indeed worth it!

It was time to fit in the pumpkin carving before bed.  Me Hubsy loves to do fancy faces.  They turned out pretty good I think.

Halloween night was great...all except for the rain.  My two little spooky ghosts had such a good time.  I thought for sure E would not keep his costume on long but he wore is the whole time.  I really lucked out that they wanted such easy costumes.  I like to consider them "throwback"....hehehe. They actually got a ton of compliments.  There's just not too many ghosts these days.

I love that the boys love handing out candy to all of our "customers" just as much as getting it.  It was a great night watching my little spooks enjoy themselves so much.  

That is the best part of parenthood I think.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween too!