Happy New Year, Friends!

God With Us

We’ve been singing God With Us in church quite a bit recently and I’ve been struck by the chorus in particular:

All that is within me cries
For You alone be glorified:
Emmanuel, God with us.

Perhaps it’s the longer notes of the word Emmanuel or maybe it’s simply a well-written song in general, but it gets to me. Like lump-in-the-throat gets to me, every single time.

Emmanuel. God with us! All year long we sing this song and all year long it rings absolutely, positively true. It’s not a song meant only for the Advent season, but it applies so perfectly at this time of year. God is not a distant figure, a Creator who has stepped back from his creation. He sent his Son to earth to redeem his beloved people from the distance sin had caused. And so we celebrate, with gratitude, the birth of Jesus Christ.

This amazing God, loving and righteous, is with us. Emmanuel.

December 2

On Monday, Livia wanted to bake gingerbread men. We didn’t do it.

On Tuesday, Livia wanted to bake gingerbread men. Knowing she wouldn’t like the spicy cookies, we convinced her we’d make sugar cookies in little gingerbread men shapes. But still, we didn’t do it.

On Wednesday—that would be today—Livia wanted to bake sugar cookie gingerbread men, but got distracted by Bolt on Netflix online. I pulled out the ingredients, took a few photos for the December Photo Project, actually made the dough, and that was it.

Will all Livia’s cookie wishes be fulfilled on Thursday? Stay tuned. It doesn’t get more exciting than this, folks.

**You are very welcome to join the DPP at any point! We’ll continue updating our participants list through the weekend.

Winter Weekends at the Zoo

Our children’s zoo opens it’s doors for two weekends in the winter. I never want to go because, let’s face it, who likes to walk around in the winter winds of Nebraska when you don’t have to? But Thanksgiving weekend here was amazing weather-wise, so off we went. I like this shot of Livia and my niece Madeleine because they were entirely engrossed in a completely empty turtle exhibit. Muddy leaves were all that covered the concrete basin, but they found it quite interesting. We had a fun afternoon together, complete with vanilla ice cream cones and a walk with Shiloh through the park. The girls were really sweet to one another—not one squabble over a toy. Praise God for cousins!

It’s the last day of November, peeps. Stretch those fingers, squint those eyes, do a few laps around the yard to wake up your brain in preparation for the December Photo Project! Twenty-five days straight of photography fun in one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. Our list of participants is growing and I get more excited each time someone signs up. Grab a badge and join the challenge of the 2009 DPP!

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a really relaxing and delicious day yesterday as we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sets of parents. There is something quite decadent about two turkey dinners in one day, I must say. What I really felt was the wealth of riches God has given us: our parents (now grandparents to Livia) that have raised us faithfully and loved us unconditionally over the years. We are incredibly blessed by our families.

As much as we enjoyed our folks, we did miss our siblings. So Bean, Adam, Kris and Andrew? Can’t wait to see you at Christmas!

Pictured above are a few of the side dishes we ate at the Lawton dinner. There was the sweet potato souffle and bourbon cranberries from Needs More Butter sitting next to The Pioneer Woman’s corn/wild rice dish. We ate our fair share of green bean casserole and stuffing, and of course, the star of every Thanksgiving meal, turkey. Liv and I ate turkey sandwiches tonight and I can’t imagine a better way to eat leftovers than slapping them between mayo-coated slices of bread. Mmm, mmm good.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, what is left of 2009? A lot! The December Photo Project starts shortly (make sure you sign up—it’s fun!), then we have the national holiday known as My Birthday, and finally Christmas. Jesus’ Birthday. Somewhat of a larger event than mine, I suppose. ; )

Boo at the Zoo

We met up with the Weeks and Kirk families last night to enjoy the Lincoln Children’s Zoo Annual fundraiser, Boo at the Zoo. Livia chose to dress up as Tinker Bell for the second year running, which was fine by me. Halloween in Nebraska is almost always a cold-weather event, so my Tink is dressed in a green sweats. I think that will become my yearly challenge—how can I dress my little trick-or-treater warmly?! As you can see, I dressed up too. I love becoming someone different for one night.

Our Birthday Girl

Happy birthday, dear Livia! Happy birthday to you! May you always love small creatures, chocolate, your parents and Jesus (not in that order). We love you dearly, big five year old.

Hard to believe you were this small at one time. I’ve been getting teary today thinking of how blessed I am to be your mom. God gave us a huge task when he called us to be a family—He is good and has sustained us through the last five years of you!

We’ll love you forever and ever, Livia Raine. Happy birthday.

Love,
Mommy

New Life

I’ve surrendered part of my sunny kitchen counter to future hopes of tomatoes and radishes, zinnias and marigolds. It still amazes me that tiny seeds can yield a seedling, and then a large plant with flowers and maybe edible fruits and vegetables. A little moisture, a little sunshine, and there they go, the seedlings unfurl their leaves towards the light. Livia tends to these babies with great care as well and it’s fun to watch her excitement at the new life.

Spring is all about new life. I found myself explaining to Liv the difference between Easter Sunday and our Easter/spring celebrations of bunnies and eggs. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve loosened up about a lot of things, but I still believe it’s very important to teach my child the importance of Christ’s resurrection apart from the hoopla of colorful eggs and chocolate. Some folks do their egg hunts and baskets on the first day of spring to separate the concepts for their children (great idea, by the way). So far we separate them by repeated conversations about Jesus’ death and resurrection—and by holding our egg hunts on a day other than Resurrection Sunday (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!).

Livia learned the real purpose of the cross as I explained Jesus’ death to her. It’s amazing how the cross has become something we talk about and refer to with casual ease, and yet it was an instrument for a horrific death for criminals in the past. As a Christian, I can see a certain beauty to the cross in the same way I can refer to tomorrow as “Good” Friday. Still, I struggled with sadness as I explained how the Son of God was hung on a cross to die. At times in parenting, you wonder if you’re explaining too much. But Liv grasped the concepts in a very easy way and moved on to laugh out loud at a silly picture of Doubting Thomas pointing at Jesus’ scarred hands. We talk more about Thomas’ gaping mouth now than we do the cross. LOL.

Bring on the bunnies and eggs—we certainly have fun with them. Come Sunday we’ll be celebrating the resurrection of Christ and the truth that our awesome God has conquered sin and death.

Valentine’s Day Ideas

Last year was the first time Livia handed out little Valentines cards to her classmates. It was so darn cute to see the teeny Incredibles cards and envelopes we found at Target. She received a few really creative handmade items last year as well—and I was inspired to make something at home this year. So before we get too far from V-Day, here’s some of the craftiness we came up with this year. (Next year I’d like to try hanging hearts and heart-shaped pancakes.)

The recipe for shortbread hearts can be found on Needs More Butter, our community dinner recipe blog.

I took the ruler idea from the Family Fun website, which has quite a few cute V-Day card options. Since Livia was sick and missed the Valentines party at school, I just might be able to make this sweet gift come together for her teacher as a belated Valentine.

**I should point out that finding six-inch rulers is far more challenging than it should be. If you think ahead and order online, you should be fine. If you want to be like me, I recommend buying four rulers from Hobby Lobby, then driving to Target, Michaels and ShopKo before returning to Hobby Lobby and giving up your perfectionism just a small bit in order to buy five more (gasp!) non-matching six-inch rulers. I ended up thinking about a certain preschooler’s Valentines far more than any adult ever should. Don’t be like me; buy online.

Happy V-Day!

I could not have been happier with a special delivery to my door yesterday and here are the reasons why. 1) My husband gave me this delightful gift. 2) I love chocolate truffles, and 3) these phenomenal chocolates are handmade by my very talented friend Elaine Cranford.

Aren’t they beautiful? They are, honestly, the best chocolates I’ve ever eaten. Divine.

For more information on these truffles, check out Zola Chocolates.