For unto us...

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”/ The Grinch

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. / Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Only in the movies.

The other night while hubby was working late I watched one of my favorite Christmas movies: White Christmas. I love this movie...it's so old and classic and just a bit cheesy. I do not, however, hope that we have a white Christmas. I'm just not ready. I need to watch It's a Wonderful Life next time Billy works late...he's not quite as thrilled with watching movies older than we are. But I was raised on old musicals and Disney cartoons, so it's not quite Christmas without it.

The movie was topped off with some yummy cheesecake from Cheesecake factory. Some friends from church gave us a gift card for this delicious establishment at the shower for Baby J. I highly recommend giving gifts of food to the mother of the baby you are showering...it's pretty awesome. ;) It definitely made my night even better.

I'm also getting pretty good at firing up the ol' fireplace by myself when Billy isn't home. It only requires opening the thingy-that-lets-out-smoke (that I don't know the official name of and am too lazy to google) and throwing in one of those duraflame logs and lighting it. Presto...I'm practically Laura Ingalls or something.  Cozy evening coming up.

I'm going to miss the tree when we take it down after the holidays. It's taking up space in that empty corner of ours that needs a chair, and between that and the fireplace our house is extra cozy looking right now. I leave the lights on the tree turned on pretty much except when we are sleeping. Doesn't matter if it's daylight...there's something sad about a tree sitting there without it's lights on.

While I'm not hoping for said white Christmas, that can stay in the movies, I don't mind enjoying all the other cozies this season has to offer...from decorating sugar cookies, to wandering the mall, to eating the overload of chocolates that have been gifted to Billy at work. (I mean last night he brought home an entire basket of Godiva randomness. His coworkers are trying to kill me.) What are some of your favorite Christmas-time traditions?

See more "Festive" shots at YouCapture. The third shot is for Texture Thursday, last is for This or That.

Naptime Pastime

{ First off...please let me know what you think of this new layout. Confusing? Ugly? Love it? Trying to decide if I like it or not and would love some feedback please! }

We had a real teaser of a day last weekend as far as Baby J goes. It was one of those "this is it" days that ended up not being it. I do have a lot of those, but this time we were even ready to have someone watch the other two hooligans.We were pretty sure there would be a baby by the end of the day, and after a long morning/afternoon of intense contractions (3 min apart for a while there) there was no baby.

He's still happily kicking away in my belly. And honestly that's ok. He can stand to bake a bit longer. I'm officially full term today, though, so I'm ready whenever he is. I was pretty cranky after all that contracting...and I'm a bit ashamed to admit I sat my sore, exhausted self on the couch and cried for a few minutes. I thought no one was watching, but Merrick spotted me, and offered to wrap me up with his blanket. It was so cute I cried harder. Billy apparently felt pretty bad for me too, because he let me open my Christmas present. ;) (My new Camera)

I didn't put up too much of a fight, and yesterday during the hooligans naptime I got in a little playtime. I'm so thankful for this gift. I'm sure it's going to be put to work. My last camera (which was another Christmas gift from my parents...a Canon Rebel XS) definitely earned it's keep...and I've used it so much that the shutter button is extra sensitive and the eye piece is gone. But it's still in good shape...I just think I'll let it have a little vacay.

I'm looking forward to getting better with this new camera. I still haven't had a lot of time to fiddle but so much with it. But I can see what I'll be doing now during naptime. Don't know if it's been nesting or what, but I've become a chore-finishing monster during naptime the last few weeks. I see that going right out the window, however.

The first shot is for Sweet Shot, Third shot is for Simplicity, Last shot is for Communal Global.

Balanced

The other night we "made" Christmas cookies with the hooligans. I didn't actually make anything, thanks to Tollhouse...but we did roll out the pre-made dough and cut out the cookies ourselves. I feel like that should count for something right? ;) As previously stated, I don't bake anything for the sake of those around me.

The kiddos really seemed to have a good time. We aren't very "crafty" around here, which is an area in which I know I need to improve for their sake. They love doing crafts and coloring...and always bring home lots of artwork from when we go to the gym in the mornings and they get to do craft time in childwatch.

There were a few cookies that had "help" in the decorating, but as you can see from this shot Merrick decorated one of his cookies with a "snake" that apparently had legs, hands and "cheeks". I didn't realize snakes had those body parts.

Cheeks or not, the snake cookie was devoured in a short amount of time. I think this is the kind of craft we wouldn't mind repeating.

"A balanced diet is a Christmas cookie in each hand."

 

Check out more shots at Monday Rewind. The last shot is for Macro Monday.

No Title.

Sometimes I get tired of staring at the blog I just wrote, wondering what to title it. So I won't bother. My brain is fried...my entire body aches...I have a giant pile of presents I should be wrapping but don't want to...cute kiddos who are having a picnic on my porch...and my Christmas present/push present (a 5D Mark ii!!! EEEEE!!!) is sitting under the tree staring at me. Obviously, I cannot be expected to name a blog post at this point.

Yes, I already know what I'm getting for Christmas. My hubby and I are awful at keeping presents a secret, and at giving them on the appropriate date. A lot of people give us grief about it, but I kind of love that about us. It's nice to be given a gift that someone is so excited about they just can't wait to give it to you. So the fact that my Christmas present is still in the box is a major feat of determination on both our parts right now.

Another reason for the lack of focus is that aching body thing I was talking about. I'm about 37 weeks so the fact that things are already progressed enough to be considered in "active labor" (if you know what I mean), but am not officially in labor is pretty annoying, and to be honest it hurts. I did this with Tirzah...it was a long last month of false labor and wondering if it could be weeks or any-minute-now. I'm up a lot of nights and have lots of contractions, but they never get any more consistent or closer together, so we wait. And we try to wait patiently.

But I know how good Baby J is gonna smell...all tiny and new, so it's hard. Much harder than waiting to open that box staring at my from under the tree. (I have already specified to Billy, however, if I go into labor before Christmas that box is going to the hospital with me...I will need to use it. Yes, NEED.) I am definitely gonna have made out like a bandit this Christmas as far as awesome presents go. I mean, look at the gifts I already have in the above picture. Peanut butter mustaches and all...they are pretty great.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 

James 1:17

The first shot is for Scripture and a Snapshot, Second is for Sunday Snapshot