Saturday, December 26, 2009

it took him 13 years to say it

pops is my father-in-law. i have known him for 13 years and on many occasions have told him that i love him. his response was either thanks or okay. and coming from him it was okay. cancer began a battle with his body several years ago and this past summer as he was leaving our home i gave him a hug and said those words again... his response was i love you too. it took me 13 years for me to hear those words.
pops is a physically strong self made man who can be intimidating at times. and until today he did not know jesus. he knew who jesus was... through the gracious life of his wife, through the moral and godly men who call him dad and hopefully through the women those sons married. but he did not KNOW jesus. cancer now has this strong man lying in a bed ~ confused at times, angry at times and impatient at times. several weeks ago he entered the hospital with pneumonia and we are not sure he is coming home. my mother-in-law has been at his side continuously, only leaving if someone else is there to sit with him. on christmas day the sons set up a rotation so mom could spend a good portion of the day with her grandchildren. during this time my husband had a heart felt conversation with pops. "do you know that jesus died for you, dad?" "yes" "do you know he wants to spend eternity with you" "yes" "do you want me to pray with you to ask jesus into your heart?" "yes" john david started praying and his dad took over the prayer saying his own words, jumbled at times but understandable. john david then led him in a version of the sinners prayer which he repeated word for word. there have been times over the last few weeks that pops is unable to have a coherant conversation, so for a conversation of this length to take place was a miracle. pops has been unwilling in the past to get to this point, he needed to straighten out things before he would be accepted, could not understand why a God he had rejected for so many years would just now accept him without conditions. God waited for 75 years to hear those words.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

the family tree


we started little man a collection of fire engines his first christmas, so we now have seven fire engines decorating our tree.  m1 has a collection of five fairies and m2 has two snow buddy ornaments.
we always enjoy decorating the tree together.  little man puts all of his fire engines clustered together near the bottom so he can play with them.  m1 puts her fairies out of reach of m2 (i have several wings to re-glue).  m2's favorites this year are the fairy tale books (pictured above). i find her frequently standing by the tree looking at each book. it is so fun to hear the children's comments as we unpack ornaments... remember this one, i love snoopy, etc. it's fun establishing family traditions together.

Monday, December 21, 2009

behold... the lamb (cake)


today is christmas party day at school. since the children attend a christian school the emphasis is on the LAMB of GOD ~ our perfect sacrifice. at christmas and easter they have a special lamb cake as part of their celebration. so, this is what i spent most of my time doing yesterday. every time i make one i always rush downstairs the following morning just to make sure the head is still attached...

Sunday, December 20, 2009

a baking question

if i am using 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of shortening, 8 cups of confectionery sugar plus vanilla, does it really matter whether i use whole milk or skim?

Thursday, December 17, 2009

the children's christmas tree

the children's tree is a wonderful magical place where all the handmade ornaments go. ornaments made at school, church and during creative moments at home... a lovely final destination when all grouped together with an adorable chain link garland. the children enjoy putting their things on this tree and arranging them just so. even at the young ages of 7 and 5 (no m2 creations yet) they are saying, "remember when we made this years ago". so funny!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

seven years old (or half way to 14)

yesterday was little man's 7th birthday. cupcakes were shared with classmates at school but the party was today... at chuck e. cheese. we usually do parties in the backyard with games, a crockpot full of chili, and hotdogs, but with temperatures only forecasted for the mid 40's we needed to do something inside. a few boys from his class at school joined us along with the grandparents and a great time was had by all.
korry, little man, christian ~ we adore these spirited boys!

little man and carlos ~ we adore his sweet nature
 m1
m2 and granddaddymommy and m1
little man and chuck
the cake ~ made by mommy with love

stop reading if you don't want the gross part! we interrupt this party for a throw up accident near the motorcycle arcade... m2 was walking around with a smile on her face, leaned over, threw up and then continued walking, leaned over, threw up and then continued walking. my parents offered to take her home so we could stay and enjoy the party. THANK YOU! after pizza, cake and a visit from chuck i packed up and headed home. carlos, sam and m1 stayed and played for several more hours. everyone had fun. happy birthday little man.
p.s. it was also my uncle joe's birthday who passed away in october. at breakfast little man commented that God must be throwing a huge party today for uncle joe's birthday

Friday, December 11, 2009

looking back...

i am editing this post since the category over at I ♥ Faces was hillarious outtakes.
this was the reason no one received christmas cards from us last year.
hoping that the picture taking experience this year is a much happier one!