Homespun Holiday January 12, 2012

What a wonderful, blessed Christmas we had!  Here are some of the highlights:

I scored this beautiful tree on black friday- next best thing to a real one, most people couldn’t tell it was fake!

The REAL garland to give the home a piney smell.  Also scored on black friday!

Ara and James loved the tree this year.  The ornaments were never in the same place and we had quite a few bite the dust, unfortunately.

Our first fire in the fireplace

Ara and I strung cranberries to make garland and then juiced the rest.

This year we did quite a bit of holiday baking!

Peppermint Bark chilling in the fridge

Baking Maple Granola for gifts…

Along with 6 dozen cookies: 3 dozen chocolate chip and 3 dozen toffee crunch

Packaged and ready to go and one left for Paul and I to munch on…

We took the kids to see the Christmas train display

Made gifts for our family…

…started to knit the kids stockings… and then decided to let that go this year, maybe next.

What a sweet Christmas it was!  Quiet, no places to rush off to, celebrating with family and friends the birth of our Lord.

So grateful for the blessing of God’s Son sent to earth and the blessings He continues to send everyday.

I hope you and your family had a very blessed Christmas as well!

Our Home (Part One) January 11, 2012

I praise God every day for the gift of this home.  Sometimes, I need to pinch myself to realize I’m not dreaming.

So, these aren’t the best quality pictures, as all I am working with is my phone camera right now, but they will give you a sense of this wonderful blessing we now call home.  Welcome!  Come on in.  The kitchen is where all the fun happens so we’ll start there.My cute son is a bonus .  Next, you have the living room all decked out for Christmas…Next, my kid’s favorite room, the playroom…  I feel so blessed to have this space to keep the toys out of their rooms!  I might have gone a little bit crazy with the pictures on this one but I love that they have this space!This side of the playroom is mostly Ara’s domain until the little girls are older.  Her dress up, new dollhouse from Mimi and Granddad and kitchen set that Papa made her.This side has the book nook which now hosts a green wooden toy chest for storage and seating, James’ shelves, and the millions of baby dolls/stuffed animals in the cradle.James’ domain:  Trucks and trains galore!  A boy has to have some space of his own with all these girls around!There is also a half bath downstairs that I will take pics of later and the upstairs which will be “Our Home” Part Two… TO BE CONTINUED…

My Ugly Heart December 6, 2011

• (DISCLAIMER:  I have no idea how those bullets down the side got there or how to remove them.  SORRY!)

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  photo found at rachelgoode.blogspot.com

• The Christmas season has a way of revealing to me what a sinner I am.  Fitting, since the holiday is a celebration of my Savior’s birth, but humbling none the less.
• Every year around this time I get bit by the bug.  A bug so rampant, I’m thinking it needs to be added to the strains of illnesses included in the flu season records.  As a helpful guide, I am including a list of symptoms.  You may have the Christmas bug if:
• 1. As you are shopping through Target, every toy you pass you imagine being opened Christmas morning by your child with a huge smile on their face, accompanied by the exclamation, “I love it!  You are the best Mother in the whole world!”
• 2. The words “Honey, we bought each other a house (or insert needed appliance, car repair, or plumbing job here) for Christmas, let’s not exchange gifts this year” make your heart drop with sadness no matter how right they are.
• 3. Your store daydreams change from #1 symptom to imagining your child unwrapping the boring things like underwear that they really need but don’t want with a disappointed look on their face, accompanied by the proclamation, “This is the WORST Christmas ever!”  (you only think that’s an exaggeration- I have a very dramatic little 5 year old.)
• 4.  You start wondering how kids during the great depression didn’t break their parent’s hearts after opening their one and only gift- an orange which was a rare treat to them.
• 5.  You realize now, more than ever, you are much more materialistic then you ever imagined…
• 
• Treatment for the Christmas bug includes a hefty dosage of reality:
• 1. Your child doesn’t need every toy in the store, in fact they are undoubtedly better off without it and so are you.  Not to mention, as the years pass, their enthusiasm for gifts drastically reduces and last year we were horrified to hear the dreaded phrase, “what else did you get me?” escape our child’s lips more than once.  ”Where did we go wrong?”, we asked ourselves.  After all, we had been careful not to make Christmas about the presents…or so we thought.  We didn’t “do” Santa, we limit our gift giving to a few special items per child, we read “The Three Gifts of Christmas”  leading up to the holiday, we even tried no gifts on Christmas day one year opening them on Christmas Eve instead so all of Christmas day could be focused on Christ’s birth.  How did we end up with such greediness coming from our children? Perhaps the first dose of medicine I needed to swallow was the reality that my children get the Christmas bug too.  Whats worse?  They caught it from me.  MODEL CONTENTMENT!
• 2.The house, furnace. dishwasher, new axles for the car, toilet repair, you name it was a BLESSING!  And despite the little pang in your heart that tells you otherwise, it is enough.  Gather friends and family in that gift of a home.  Warm bodies from that furnace mean warm hearts snuggled in their beds on Christmas Eve.  Dishes covered in food being loaded in the dishwasher make me grateful when I think back on six years without one and thankful that food was on those dishes around the table where my family joins together to eat.  Whatever you may have inserted in that blank, whether a car repair which enables you to travel and see loved ones or even the fixed toilet that saves your ears from the constant sound of it running-  GIVE THANKS!
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• 3. When needs are met, whether through Christmas or any other time of the year, teach your children to praise God!  ”Kids you know you needed new underwear, don’t tell me you didn’t notice the holes in yours and no- holiness isn’t a good thing when it comes to underwear.  Praise God!  He provided you with new underwear this Christmas!”  CHOOSE JOY!
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• 4. Oranges DO make great stocking-stuffers.  Throw in a ziplock baggie of cloves and let your kids decorate them to make pomanders for your Christmas table centerpiece.  BE CREATIVE!
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• 5. Pray that the Holy Spirit would change your heart about Christmas.  Pray that He would take your greed, selfishness, and desire to please anyone but our Savior.  Pray that He would transform your family through the power of His love and that we would all be awestruck by the wonder of His glory!  PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!

Ara and James at the Christmas Tree

My dear friends, that truly is “All I Want For Christmas”…  for God to take my ugly heart and give me one washed clean by His blood.  Hallelujah, HE DID!  And that is the reason for the season!

Blog Meme? ::right now:: May 30, 2011

DISCLAIMER- I might be stealing, if I am, I am ever so sorry.  In my blog surfing, several times I have come across what I believe is a blog meme called “::right now::”  It is a simple structured blog post to give readers a peek into your day using action words to describe “right now”.  Because I am not sure what blog it originated with, I am most likely not giving adequate “hosting credit” to it and so I apologize for the lack of online etiquette.  I believe it is a Monday Meme and today I found it on SouleMama.

::right now::

My Nature Girl

right now I am…

::wondering if taking a family hike today was such a good idea at 27 weeks pregnant with twins.  (going into the trail downhill, was much easier than coming out uphill and my balance was, lets just say, not so good)

::marveling at how much older my little girl seems everyday and the paradox that is her selective gift of being aware of details.  (how is the same girl who spies a camouflaged snail under a log on the side of a hiking trail not able to find her bright magenta flowered play boots daily when they are in the same place every time?)

::feeling large

::smelling the lingering smell of turkey bacon coming from the kitchen which reminds me of Grandma H’s house.

::thanking my parents for a very generous babies gift in the form of a new dryer that won’t take three cycles to dry clothes (going to be a life saver with three little ones in cloth diapers!)

::enjoying having spent the weekend with family and friends and having my sister home for summer break.

::looking forward to celebrating 6 years of marriage with my love this week!

::wishing you a blessed Memorial day with loved ones!

And The Twins Make Four :) April 25, 2011

I admit, I haven’t kept up too well since the littlest McKinney made his appearance in January 2010 and we moved to a rental home with no internet.  And yet, faithful readers, you still visit my page and I love you for it.  So, now that new adventures have popped up in our crazy lives, I thought I would take the opportunity to update you with our latest happenings which come in the form of an ultrasound we had a little over a week ago revealing that I am, indeed, carrying little girl twins!  Add closing on our very first home this week and you get a snapshot into the craziness that is my household right now.  Later this week, I will post pictures of the first home adventure but for now, I am off to pack and keep laundry going!  Thanks to all my subscribers for sticking with me through the dry spell, life needed to happen, it did and will continue to but hopefully now, I’m back for a while!  Have a wonderful week!

Feminine Friday- Holiday Decor on a Shoestring Budget December 12, 2008

Beautifying the house for the holidays!

Alright, this Christmas we had basically no budget for Christmas Decor but I wanted to share some ways I tried to add Christmas cheer to the house inexpensively.

Living Room

My Stepmother-in-law gave me this beautiful wreath that I hung ornaments on to make it festive for the holidays. It hangs above our green sofa.

(The light through the window made the wall look yellow but it is actually renter’s white.)

I hung garland around the edges of our two bookshelves on both sides of the couch and hung tiny ornaments on that as well.

I made three matching stocking out of scraps of Christmas fabric and hung them on the stairs along with garland.

Our mirror behind the chair features a festive ornament .

And the window seat will eventually hold the display of packages once I get them wrapped.

Kitchen

I tossed some ornament balls into my lime green pedestal for a centerpiece.

My lime green tea kettle matches perfectly with my Red, Green and White kitchen color scheme.

The striped kitchen towels.

Our memory verses written out in red and green to match.

Bedroom (AKA the Christmas Room)

Our living room is too tiny to fit the Christmas tree so it is in our room this year.

Ara bought this sock monkey ornament with her own money this year.

Here we are! Well, Hubby and I.

Christmas quilt on our bed.

So, that’s what I have up this year on a shoestring budget. If you blogged about your Christmas decorations, leave a comment in the comments section with your blog URL. Merry Christmas and a happy Feminine Friday!

Home Sweet Home May 24, 2008

Sorry, for the lag between posts. We have been in the process of moving into our new townhouse and are finally all settled in and set up.

I am reminded of a quote from “Under the Tuscan Sun” about new houses from the scene where she begins her remodel, “Go slowly through the house. Be polite. Introduce yourself, so it can introduce itself to you.” The other night I was becoming acquainted with all the new sounds and smells of our new place. I was looking forward to hearing the last of the squirrels in the attic from our old place just to be surprised with birds in the roof of our new one. The floor has its own creaking spots, and the dishwasher has a nice pleasant hum.

We would love to have ya’ll over!