~Merry Christmas!~

I wanted to take a moment and wish everyone who comes by here, a very Merry Christmas!

This Christmas marks our first Christmas as a family of three. We haven't opened gifts yet, but I'm excited to see The Baby's face as she sees all the gifts. I am quite sure that she'll be far more interested in the paper and bows than the actual gifts! :-)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

(Isaiah 9:6)

~Busy~

No matter how much I plan ahead, this time of year is always busy! Same for you?

I finished getting my Christmas cards out today, so that's one check off my to-do list! :-)

The biggest items on my list are to finish my sister's wedding afghan, and to finish The Baby's Christmas dress! Both need to be finished within the next few days.

Right now I'm relaxing for a few minutes before I start working on them. I ran out of bread so I've got a loaf baking in the bread machine.

Just wanted to say "hi"! Have a great day!

~No Cavities!~

It has been well over a year since I got my teeth cleaned. I've been experiencing some teeth sensitivity so I really needed to get to the dentist.

I didn't get to the dentist often while I was growing up, and my first experience going to the dentist as an adult was not so very fun. We were still in California at the time, and the hygienist and dentist spoke in another language the whole time they were working on my teeth. Except for when they said, "open wider!" which they said quite loud and often. My jaw ached for the rest of that day!

Well, there is value in seeing a good dentist, and I found a great dentist here. While I still didn't like people's hands in my mouth, at least they didn't keep barking "open wider" (they actually used their little dental mirrors - imagine that!).

And then, our insurance changed. I was quite miffed about that. Well, I finally looked up a dentist that will accept our plan and trekked off to the dentist last week. No cavities! Whew! And this dentist and hygienist did just fine. In fact, dare I say, they were just as good as my old dentist's office. Though I'm still not happy about losing my old dentist, at least I found a comparable replacement!

Now I just need to remember to floss daily. I hate flossing! But I know it is important for the health of my teeth and gums! As for the sensitivity, I got some new toothpaste to try, and if that doesn't work there are several more options that the dentist can provide. Hopefully the toothpaste will do the trick!

When was the last time you went to the dentist? Did you get a good report? Or are you like me and need a reminder to floss? ;-) Have a great day!

~Sunday~

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the LORD is good:

blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

~Christmas gifts~

I just love the Christmas season! I love the music, the weather (especially when we get to go to California and escape the snow! LOL), picking out perfect presents for loved ones, and of course celebrating our Savior's birth!

We've decided to start the tradition of giving three gifts to The Baby for Christmas. I have seen this several places, and I really liked the idea!

Each gift represents one of the gifts the Wise Men brought to Jesus. I've seen several different ways to do this, but this is the way we chose:

something to treasure
something to grow spiritually
something for the body

This year, the gift to treasure is Sophie the Giraffe:


The second gift, CBH Ministries' Songtime Vol. 2:


And the last gift, three hairbows from Briar Claire:


I really think that this "formula" for gift-giving will be something that will grow well along with The Baby.

Images from each respective link above them.

~Looking out the window~

~This one's for my mom~

My mom somehow doesn't find as much humor in the Baby Blues comic strip as I do. Maybe it's too true to life? Anyhow, I got a big laugh out of this strip, from November 15:



My sisters and I used to put on circus shows for my mom. We'd drag her out to the swing set and have her watch our show. She'd grimace and groan and squelch screams. And say, "Are you done yet?" "No, Mom! The best part is still coming!!!"

Because, after all, we were The Winner Girls!!!! Dun-tu-dun!

Comic strip image source

~Sunday~

Galatians 6:10

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,

especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

~Snow!~

We had a cold October with no snow, followed by a warmer November. We had a dusting of snow the day after Thanksgiving, but it didn't stick long.

Our first real snow for the year started yesterday.


The snow sat on top of the power line until the sun came out, and then it looked like this:


I always enjoy the first snow. There is something magical about it, until it turns into black slush in the grocery store parking lot. ;-)

~Cleaning Project~

Yesterday I took advantage of a very long nap, and cleaned my hallway.

Our house does not have a back porch, mud room, coat closet, front entryway, etc. So we have nowhere to hang coats and store stuff. Except, there is a hallway right off the kitchen, and the second half has some hooks. So we use that area for a coat closet. There is no real purpose to this hallway, since it doesn't go anywhere. The attic door is off the back part of the hallway, and the bathroom is off to the right.

I'd rather not have anything in this hallway, because I just don't like seeing it all out in the open, but it is what it is. =)

It has been ignored for far too long. Here's a before:


I took everything out, washed the curtains, cleaned the floors and woodwork:


And then put the necessary items back in:




All the lovely stuff junk in the front part of the hallway got put away, thrown away, or given away. The stereo had a mind of its own! It would randomly turn itself on, if you pushed the volume button, it would switch from cd to radio, etc. I gave away the table, CD holder, and stereo on Freecycle.

Now I need to find a suitable container for the gloves and hats, and I'll be done. I'm much happier with this space now!

~Hello, Hello!~

Hi! I didn't really mean to take a break over Thanksgiving, but it kind of just happened! It was a nice break, anyhow!

I hope you all (the American readers) had a great Thanksgiving! My brother is attending college about 14 hours away from us and he was able to get a ride to be with us over the holiday. It was so nice to have him with us! We enjoyed being together.

We didn't do anything ultra-fancy. We had ton-zoodles of leftovers, which were all gone by the time my brother left! We had Thanksgiving leftovers for more meals than I had planned on. But they were good the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth time, so why not? LOL

Today I was going to do a WIP Wednesday post and then I realized that today is Thursday. Haha. Even though we went to church last night I was still thinking today was Wednesday!

I'll be back to posting regularly! (As soon as I get my days figured out! LOL) Have a great day!