This Present Joy

1) This face on Christmas morning For some reason, I thought we would be getting up at the crack of dawn today, but we actually slept in until 7:30. . and J and I were up before the girls! (I'm sure that's the last year for that to happen for awhile.) And, Carly would have probably slept even longer than 7:30, but I tiptoed in her room after we heard a thud from that part of the house (thinking maybe she had rolled out of bed). As I peeked towards her bed, she opened her eyes, and then it was all over. "Merry Christmas, Carly!" 2) This little girl opening the bag of Santa gifts We opened stocking gifts first and then we pointed out that Santa had left a bag of gifts for Carly and Hannah (I think Carly thought that it was an actual wrapped present for someone.) J and I loved how Carly wanted to play with each stocking gift that she received--as opposed to just tearing through everything and not even stopping to appreciate them. 3) That same little girl with her crown a...

1) Making cookies for Santa with Carly 2) Carly's request to leave clementines out for Santa's reindeer 3) Hannah sleeping in her "big girl bed" (aka crib--she's been in a cradle up to this point!) 4) Getting a good night's sleep (this would be 7 hours or more) 5) Pretzel and rolo turtle cookies

1) Snow during the Christmas season (or daydreaming about snow during the Christmas season) 2) Listening to Carly play 3) Playing board games with friends 4) M&Ms (dark chocolate!) 5) Gingerbread coffee creamer

1) Watching Carly invent a game with her puzzle pieces and a box 2) The joy that little kids derive from the simplest things--see #1 3) Embellishments for cards and tags 4) Warm winter socks 5) Leftovers for dinner (this one may sound odd--but I am a big fan of taking a break from cooking dinner)

1) Jalapeno jack cheese and crackers 2) Lemon sugar cookies I just returned from a trip to Whole Foods, and I have to add that to my list of "places that I like to go and just wander the aisles"--but note to self, don't go when hungry. 3) Hannah's sweet smile, even when she's not feeling well 4) Post-it notes 5) Daydreaming about a vacation Sitting on the beach--a stack of books next to me--sleeping in--no agenda except to relax

1) Watching Carly try on "big girl" bracelets and necklaces at a store 2) Anticipation of winter weather 3) A Christmas ornament from a friend 4) Brunch I could have brunch every day--I think it easily ranks as one of my favorite food groups, if it can be considered one: fruit, eggs or an egg casserole, pastries (muffins, breads, cinnamon rolls), coffee, bacon or sausage, waffles, pancakes. . . I have to stop. I'm making myself hungry. 5) A trip to the bookstore

1) Waking up at 7:00 am (or earlier) and running into my brother's room to see if he was awake. 2) Listening to Christmas hymns and carols downstairs by the Christmas tree, reading the real Christmas Story in the Bible. 3) Going to see "A Christmas Carol" musical play at the local theater 4) Running downstairs Christmas morning to see if Santa had eaten the cookies we had left out for him--and he had! Only a few crumbs remained. 5) Getting together with extended family Christmas Eve to open presents and play Bingo, our annual family tradition (it got pretty competitive--we were playing for prizes after all!)

1) Christmas Vacation I know the official title is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation--but for my purposes, it's just referred to as Christmas Vacation. I've seen it numerous, numerous times--but it always makes me laugh. 2) A Christmas Story I remember watching this movie for the first time with my brother. We laughed and laughed when Ralphie's brother fell down in the snow in all his snow gear garb, and Ralphie's narrative voice said, "Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense!" 3) Elf 4) White Christmas 5) It's a Wonderful Life

Some favorite Christmas hymns: 1) "What Child Is This?" 2) "O, Little Town of Bethlehem" 3) "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" 4) "Joy to the World" 5) "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful"

1) Looking at Christmas lights There's just something about Christmas lights, don't you think? It's like a festive road trip, and it's not complete unless it's done with a cup of coffee in hand (or in a cup holder in the car!) We've looked at lights a few times already this year, and we have a few more neighborhoods to visit. Here are a few pictures (I'm sad to say, the pictures don't really do the lights and displays justice--they were beautiful, especially the last one. It was like Clark Griswold's work, minus the obnoxious part.) 2) Getting a Christmas package in the mail 3) Holiday stamps 4) The Container Store during the holidays Even if I don't need one tiny thing, I am lured into The Container Store at this time of year with all their wonderful holiday gift wrap, bows, boxes, and anything else they have emblazoned with snowflakes or Christmas motifs. 5) Making snow angels in the snow I loved doing this when I was little (and even now!)

1) Garland 2) Christmas tags 3) A holiday latte from Starbucks 4) Breakfast for dinner 5) Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs

1) Naptime 2) Cheese nachos with jalapenos 3) Embroidered Christmas stocking A friend of mine introduced this to me--I'm working on Carly's for next year. Bucilla has an entire line of stockings that you can make. 4) Winter scarves 5) Chicken enchilada soup

1) A warm winter vest 2) Watching Carly skip into preschool 3) Glitter on Christmas crafts 4) Carly's affection for Hannah and Hannah's affection for Carly 5) Praying as a family

I am a nostalgic person. I have great childhood memories, and holiday memories are no exception. My mom did a great job of making holidays extra special for us. Here are a few of my favorite things: 1) The felt Advent calendar that hangs on our refrigerator--I would save the angel ornament for the last day (my brother was extra generous and usually let me take the ornaments out of the pockets and adorn the tree with them) 2) All the holiday goodies my mom made: chocolate peanut butter balls (Reese's has nothing on these--they are dangerously good!), English toffee, cut-out sugar cookies, gingerbread men. . .just to name a few 3) Decorating the Christmas tree together, listening to Christmas music 4) Christmas lights on the house--I loved falling asleep with the multi-colored lights on my bedroom window twinkling and shining through the curtain 5) Getting out the nativity set every year--I would arrange and rearrange the wise men, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, along with the...

1) A cozy, warm blanket 2) Dinner at a friend's house--amazing meal of roast, potatoes, salad complete with strawberries and seasoned pecans, asparagus. . .wow 3) A friend's homemade eggnog cheesecake 4) Ribbons and bows 5) Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors Christmas CD

1) Hannah's dimples when she smiles 2) Sleeping in until 8 3) Nativity set 4) Hannah's improved eyesight 5) Hannah "talking" to us

1) Giving 2) Watching Frosty the Snowman on television J claims that this version is not the "original" but it was cute nonetheless. 3) Having dinner at a "long-lost" favorite restaurant 4) Chocolate layer cake 5) Catching up with friends

I am devoting an entire post and Joy list to this evening's excursion. We visited Santa at the children's hospital where Hannah had heart surgery. (There is a local support group for all the heart patients and this was their holiday party.) We piled in the car and were hoping to arrive early, but when we got there, we saw that other families had the same idea! Santa wasn't there when we arrived, but as we milled about and looked at the Christmas tree and some decorations, Santa emerged from a doorway. When Carly saw him and heard him exclaim, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!"--the look on her face was priceless. Without further ado, here's today's list: 1) Carly's eyes when she saw Santa walking into the room 2) A room full of heart patients, ranging in age from newborn to middle school Let's just say I forgot how many heart surgeries this hospital does--probably one a day, which in my book, considering the complexity of it all, is A LOT! 3) Seeing s...

1) Talking with Carly about Jesus's birthday and why we celebrate Christmas 2) Roasted almonds 3) Hummus and pita chips (can you tell I'm hungry?) 4) Christmas ornaments I walked through a store recently and wanted to buy one of every ornament they had. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I'm sure the shop owners thought I was half-crazy, I walked around the same displays for so long. They had the most unique Christmas ornaments--some vintage, some glittery, some wood-carved, some beaded. . . .I would have liked to have taken some pictures to post here. Maybe I'll go back to the store and ask. . and put to rest any question they may have about my state of mind. 5) Getting to bed early--and early these days is 10 pm!

I used to think I was an on-time kind of gal, but the past months and years have slowly eroded that to more of a somewhat-on-time, usually-few-minutes-late kind of gal. I'm working on it. Maybe I'll add that to a New Year's Resolution list. Or maybe not! ANYWAY--here are some Joy lists from the past few days. 1) Hot chocolate, overflowing with mini marshmallows (and replenished with them half-way through the drink) 2) Dinner at a local steakhouse for J's company Christmas party 3) Carly referring to eyebrows as "eyebrowns" 4) The sound of Carly's giggles and laughter. Talk about heart-warming. . . 5) Dancing (twirling) with Carly in the living room

1. Reading a series of books I love it when authors write a series of books. Some of my favorites: Francine Rivers and her Mark of the Lion series, Liz Curtis Higgs and her series beginning with Thorn in My Heart, and my current reading of Beverly Lewis and her Abram's Daughters series. 2. An organized desk (make that an organized house!) 3. Hamburger and french fries (gotta have the hamburger well-done, maybe medium well, with the works) 4. Pinecones I love decorating with pinecones this time of year. There's just something about them that evokes a sense of winter and freshly fallen snow. I remember tromping through the snow when I was little, collecting pinecones to take home (and decorate with glitter!) 5. An encouraging word from a friend

1. Hannah's "cereal face" She is still in the phase where more cereal ends up on her face than in her stomach. I'm always amazed at how perfectly content she seems with rice cereal smeared all over her cheeks and chin. I realize you can't see the cereal in this picture, but trust me, it's there (or perhaps I just wiped it off and took the picture. . there's no telling). 2. A blustery winter day (I know it's technically still Autumn--but not on a day like today) And, this type of day brings joy only when I'm properly attired for it (i.e. gloves, scarf, warm sweater. . or when I'm sitting inside drinking a cup of hot chocolate, apple cider or coffee) 3. Footed Jammies. . .matching Christmas jammies at that! 4. Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors---Drew and his wife Ellie sang at a Christmas party last night; they were awesome! Check them out on itunes. 5. Coffee and dessert

Today was one of those days where we stayed home. All day. It's actually kind of nice to have days like today every once in awhile. To be home with no particular agenda certainly lends itself to fun play time with Carly and productivity around the house. So, without further ado, here's today's Joy List: 1. A play doh cake that Carly made to celebrate Grammy's birthday, complete with pink play doh candle and pink play doh flowers as an "icing" border. I like to think that it was an almond poppyseed cake with almond frosting--yum. 2. Heart-warming conversation with Carly: C: When you grow up, you can be a princess with lots of different dresses. Me: What do you want to be when you grow up? C: Umm. . . a little princess with you. It's nice to know that I have some time before I grow up. . .at least in the eyes of my 3-year-old. 3. Decorated Christmas tree 4. Peanut butter and raspberry jelly on crackers--one of my all-time favorite snacks would be peanut butt...

1. Ornament exchange with sweet friends 2. Hot apple cider 3. A fun gift from a dear friend--a composition book (a cute one, no less!) and a Starbucks gift card, so I could, as she called it, get "coffeed-up" and then sit and write. 4. Playing hide-and-seek with a 3-year-old; she gets so excited anticipating the seeking that she counts "1. . .2. . .10 ready or not here I come!" 5. feeling energized at 7:30 am I would post some pictures of the ornaments and the fun gift from a friend--but it's late and sleep is calling. . . until tomorrow. . .

I love this time of year. Truth be told, on those "let's get to know you" emails or games where you're asked whether you prefer summer or winter, I usually respond summer (I mean what's not to like when you can wear flip flops day in-day out, strawberries are in season and ice cream or snow cones are readily accepted as a daily staple?) But, that's another post in another 6 months. I do love this time of year. I love the crispness in the air, the fact that it gets dark at 5:30 pm (which to me, means it's time to snuggle in the house with the family), hot chocolate on the menu, Christmas music on the radio, Christmas lights on houses and above all the celebration of Christ's birth. Because all the holiday gaiety and festivities point to that. And therein lies our hope and joy. The past 11 months have been filled with unknown, many tears, much rejoicing, many appointments and most of all, the daily routine of caring for a toddler and a newborn with some ...

Dear Carly, It's hard to believe that just over 3 years ago you made your entrance into the world. It feels like just yesterday you were a little baby, crawling around the house, then teetering on two legs--and now galloping and skipping through the house. From the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep at night, you are ON--playing, talking, dancing, reading, talking to your animal friends. Your best buddy is still your puppy dog stuffed animal (and when people ask you what his name is, your reply is simply "puppy dog"). Of course, you have a posse of stuffed animal friends that stick together--Fluffy, Goosey Duck, baby puppy, Lovey, Buddy. . . and when I say stick together, you like to have all of them in bed with you at night. And, you know if one is missing. And you are relentless in calling for the missing friend until it's found. You are a sweet little momma to your babies. You love being outside. When we go on walks through the neighborhood, you like ...