Here's Christmas 2008

Well, here's my first shot at making a video. A few disclaimers... It's a practice run for Tori's graduation video I'm working on. I'm sure there is better software out there but this is what I've got. Some of the pictures were taken with my video camera - not recommended. It's probably a little lengthy for non-family readers, maybe even some family members, but feel free to take a look at our wonderfully whacky family if you've got about 6 minutes and 19 seconds to spare.

It's "a little dicey in the middle, but that finale... WOW!" (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory) Ahhh... I got two of my favorites in, Johnny Depp and Harry Connick, Jr.

On The Home Front

We've got a lot going on right now and it won't be slowing down any time soon so I probably won't be posting much this week. Sure as I say that, though, I'll be inspired and have 20 posts a day.

Anyway, here's what we've got going on:

*we are finishing up our bathroom remodel

*packing up Christmas and other stuff we won't be taking to Singapore to put in storage in an effort to declutter/stage the house

*doing other necessary house fix-up items

*putting the house on the market asap (tell all your friends!!)

*working on Tori's graduation video (HUGE project considering she lived her first 10 years or so before the digital photography age)

On that note, if I figure out how to put music behind the pictures on the video program I'm working with for Tori's grad video, I'll be posting a Thanksgiving and Christmas video this week just to catch up. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat in anticipation.....

Have a good week and a Happy New Year if I don't make it back to blog world before then.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas has been great! Relaxing, fulfilling, lazy, and great! I'll post a photo slideshow soon, still haven't even done that yet for Thanksgiving, but here's one we took today of our family. We normally stay in our pj's on Christmas day for as long as we can stand it. Some of us can stand it longer than others.

The shirts we're wearing are from Compassion International and they say "Please" in different languages. In an effort to spread the message to "please help fight hunger" a portion of the price of the shirts goes to the Global Food Crisis Fund and hopefully helped provide food for someone or two. We like the shirts and have enjoyed spending our lazy Christmas day in them.

Hope your day was relaxing, fulfilling, lazy and great too!!

Christmas Tale : The music coming from the house

On Christmas Eve, the king invited the prime minister to join him for their usual walk together. He enjoyed seeing the decorations in the streets, but since he didn't want his subjects to spend too much money on these just to please him, the two men always disguised themselves as traders from some far distant land.


They walked through the centre of the city, admiring the lights, the Christmas trees, the candles burning on the steps of the houses, the stalls selling gifts, and the men, women and children hurrying off to celebrate a family Christmas around a table laden with food.


On the way back, they passed through a poorer area, where the atmosphere was quite different. There were no lights, no candles, no delicious smells of food about to be served. There was hardly a soul in the street, and, as he did every year, the king remarked to the prime minister that he really must pay more attention to the poor in his kingdom. The prime minister nodded, knowing that the matter would soon be forgotten again, buried beneath the day-to-day bureaucracy of budgets to be approved and discussions with foreign dignitaries.


Suddenly, they heard music coming from one of the poorest houses. The hut was so ramshackle and the rotten wooden timbers so full of cracks, that they were able to peer through and see what was happening inside. And what they saw was utterly absurd: an old man in a wheelchair apparently crying, a shaven-headed young woman dancing, and a young man with sad eyes shaking a tambourine and singing a folk song.


'I'm going to find out what they're up to,' said the king.


He knocked. The music stopped, and the young man came to the door.


'We are merchants in search of a place to sleep. We heard the music, saw that you were still awake, and wondered if we could spend the night here.'


'You can find shelter in a hotel in the city. We, alas, cannot help you. Despite the music, this house is full of sadness and suffering.'


'And may we know why?'


'It's all because of me.' It was the old man in the wheelchair who spoke. 'I've spent my life teaching my son calligraphy, so that he could one day get a job as a palace scribe. But the years have passed and no post has ever come up. And then, last night, I had a stupid dream: an angel appeared to me and asked me to buy a silver goblet because, the angel said, the king would be coming to visit me. He would drink from the goblet and give my son a job.


'The angel was so persuasive that I decided to do as he said. Since we have no money, my daughter-in-law went to the market this morning to sell her hair so that we could buy that goblet over there. The two of them are doing their best to get me in the Christmas spirit by singing and dancing, but it's no use.'


The king saw the silver goblet, asked to be given a little water to quench his thirst and, before leaving, said to the family:


'Do you know, we were talking to the prime minister only today, and he told us that an opening for a palace scribe would be announced next week.'


The old man nodded, not really believing what he was hearing, and bade farewell to the strangers. The following morning, however, a royal proclamation was read out in all the city streets; a new scribe was needed at court. On the appointed day, the audience room at the palace was packed with people eager to compete for that much-sought-after post. The prime minister entered and asked everyone there to prepare their paper and pens:


'Here is the subject of the composition: Why is an old man weeping, a shaven-headed woman dancing, and a sad young man singing?'


A murmur of disbelief went round the room. No one knew how to tell such a story, apart, that is, from the shabbily dressed young man sitting in one corner, who smiled broadly and began to write.

(Tommy found this story on Paulo Coelho's blog. Based on an Indian story translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa)



Keep dreaming, keep hoping because one day, the KING will be coming.

Merry ”MasChrist” from the Stunz Family!


P.S. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Christmas music?

"Don we now our gay apparel. Fa la la la la la la la la"

Ok, I have Anna's permission to tell this story BUT she said only if no one comes up to her and asks her where her gay apparel is or who Don is. Deal? Please honor her in this or she'll never let me tell another one of her funny stories again!

So, my neice, Erin, and my sister, Colleen, are planning/hosting our annual Cousin's Christmas party this year. Erin designed the invitations and we got it, read it, put it on the table for future reference, time, gifts, charity, etc. This was about a week or so ago.

Yesterday, Anna and I are in the kitchen making dog treats (we've been doing that alot lately) and here's the conversation that went down.

Anna: she says with hesitation "Mom, what does g. a. y. spell?" Ok, I take a deep breath and pause for a minute to think about how the best way to respond to this question with 9 yr. old lingo.

Mom: "Well, traditionally, it means cheerful or joyful but today it usually has a much different meaning." (or as my neice, Erin, puts it - Christmas sweaters and merry)

Anna: "Oh, I thought it meant like two guys and two girls." She says with relief in her voice.

Mom: "Well, that's what I meant by today it has a different meaning."

About this time, it occurs to me she is talking about our party invitation - thanks, Erin! :) The light bulbs come on and I now know how to explain. Breakthrough!!

Mom: "But in the Christmas song it just means cheerful or happy. And it's probably not a word you want to use much of, really. Just use the word 'happy' or something like that. Okay?"

Anna: "Okay. Who's Don?"

I could stop here because it's funny enough as it is but there's a little more. We went to look at the invitation so I could make sure she is not confused. I asked her to read the front. Here it is:

Anna: "Don, we now are gay- and I don't know what that last word is."

We both laughed pretty hard.

fa la la la la la la la la.......

I don't have to...

teach school for 2 weeks!!!!!

I've never been the mom that is dreading the kids being out of school or is ready for them to go back. I'm their mom and I had them because I wanted them. Things get messier and definitely more chaotic around here when they're all home but I love having them home - as long as I get some "me" time every now and then and everyone knows when it's time for that ......

Two of our kids have been with me day in and day out this year since we are homeschooling so them being out of school isn't going to change things around here. And our other one, Tori is about to graduate so she'll be in an out of the house for work and college and starting to live her own life.

I do have alot of papers to grade and entries to make in our free homeschool software (which is great btw) to catch up on but I don't have to plan assignments or think about curriculum and ...

... I DON'T HAVE TO TEACH SCHOOL FOR 2 WEEKS!!!!!

Swords for Christmas

"I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34

When I read today's entry in My Utmost For His Highest, it struck me (no pun intended) pretty hard. I guess because it's Christmas time and we are thinking of Jesus as happy, joyful, soft and sweet in a Silent Night and Away In A Manger kind of way. But we aren't so much thinking about a warrior baby Jesus with a sword in his hand armed and ready to fight with us and fight for us. At least I wasn't. Until now...

This verse totally applies to Christmas if we are going to celebrate Christ's birth for the real reason He came. If we could have peace without Him, true and eternal peace, why did He bother? Maybe Christ didn't come to bring us peace exactly, but He did come to bring us the sword of reconciliation and redemption to cut deep and rid us of all the bad parts that keep us separated from the Father, which will eventually bring us peace - eternal peace. Yeah, I want that.

Anyway, I struggle with peace at times. I'm mostly peaceful and mostly confident that God is in control but I often hold on to things that I'm not willing to give up or just don't think about giving up because I'm too busy and I lose my focus. In comes the sword...

Today's My Utmost entry says:

"People want the blessing of God, but they can't stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter."

"If we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus, then why did He come? He came because that kind of happiness and peace is only superficial. Jesus Christ came to "bring... a sword" through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself."

Today's entry also says that "If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up - he may admit his sin, but would no more give up that thing than he could fly under his own power."

So today, I ask myself these questions. What am I holding on to that I won't let go of? Am I getting a sword in my stocking?

Bella-Full Dog Treats - Official Launch Day

This is Anna, Bella and Karat. (Karat passed away a couple of months ago. Anna likes the vegetarian treats because they have carrots in them.)

To catch up on what this is all about, you'll probably need to read this post.



Market testing is complete!! Bella likes them and is still alive. Even Jenny tried one of the vegetarian treats and said they weren't bad. She kind of started acting a little funny after but I'm not sure it was related to the dog treat. :)

So.........

Anna is ready to begin helping you make your dog sit, stay, speak, roll over or just love you with her homemade and healthy dog treats. She is only going to make the vegetarian treats and the peanut butter treats at this point. The meaty ones were sort of gross and they have to be refrigerated because of the meat in them so that would make them a pain. Bella did like them but as Jenny put it, "A dog would eat a shoe!".

The treats are made with whole wheat flour, non-fat milk and other real stuff. She will sell them for $8/container. She will be giving the money she makes to help Tori and Jakeb go on their mission trip to Kenya this summer. If you want some for your dog for Christmas, please order SOON!

(quarter shown for size - supposed to be funny...)

This is a great project for Anna to participate in something bigger than her, learn more about serving others and also for her schooling. She's learning alot about cooking, marketing and managing money, math, computer skills and various other life skills. We've had a great time thinking, planning, and cooking over the last few days.

I'm sure this is the beginning of something really cool.

Doggie Treats - Never underestimate the power of a 9 yr. old and a blog post.

Yesterday I posted about the doggie treats that Anna is starting to make to sell to help Tori and Jakeb (her big sister and brother) fund their trip to Kenya this summer. She's already got orders coming in and we're not even sure how much to sell them for or if our dog even likes them yet. On top of that, Jenny gave her a "shout out" on her blog so who knows where this will end up going. We have such great and supportive friends and family!!

Here's the story behind why Anna wants to do this.

Tori went on her first mission trip to Kenya this past summer. She was changed and fell in love with that region and the people there. She knew she would be going back. Jakeb couldn't go for various reasons but is going this year. Tori and Jakeb are both working now, Kohl's and DJ's, not so they can blow their paycheck and have stuff but so they can save for Kenya. And they are doing just that. I'm so proud of them and how disciplined they are.

Anyway, Tori's pictures and stories moved Anna deeply. She loves her big sister and saw the joy and pain in her heart. The joy of what she had experienced and the pain of not getting to be there now. She has thought through several different ways to help her get back to Kenya and then the doggie treat idea came up. Obviously, Anna is too young to go on this mission trip but Tori's experience there changed her and she is committed to helping Tori and Jakeb go this summer. In helping them go, she kind of gets to go too. What a great kid!!

She does have a name for her "business" - Bella-full. And her marketing tag line is "My dog Bella likes them and yours will too!" She even found a really cute pictures on the internet she wants to use.

Bella is our dog. Bella means beauty or beautiful thus the name "Bella-full". I think it's pretty clever.

So, more to come real soon on the three types of homemade, healthy treats she plans to make and how much they will cost. We are really in the earliest stage of figuring this out right now. We will try to keep the price very reasonable because we know if it's too much you won't buy them but we need to charge enough to cover the cost and have some left to give to Tori & Jakeb. We don't plan on shipping them but might would be persuaded if the price is right. :) We also don't plan on getting a tax number or anything for this, is that illegal? Not sure... I guess we'll figure that one out.

This should prove to be a fun and great learning adventure for Anna and our family.

My kids eat doggie treats!

Anna is trying to start making doggie treats to sell to help Tori and Jakeb go to Kenya. She's going to try some vegetarian treats, some meaty treats and the ones she made yesterday are made with peanut butter, whole wheat flour and milk and a little baking powder. She rolled it out and cut them into little shapes with small cookie cutters that we bought. Some of them were shaped like dog bones but the others are Christmas trees, hearts, bells, and angels.

So she's making them and Jakeb walks by the table and takes a bite. He thought they were spice cookies. They're made with stuff that's edible but they taste kind of bland. He looked very puzzled and then we told him they were Anna's dog treats and he immediately went to the garbage can.

I made Anna eat one because she needed to know what they tasted like if she was going to sell them.

Then Tori just told me that when she came home from work last night at 10:15, she saw what she thought was a cookie and ate one. Those were the overdone ones that didn't make the cut and we just hadn't thrown them away yet. She thought it tasted disgusting but she swallowed. I'm laughing out loud when she tells me this and immediately the blog post was born. She then saw the recipe laying out for the doggie treats and the bag with the others in it labeled "pb" for peanut butter and put two and two together. She's a smart one.

Bella (our dog) liked them alot! So if you want some, call Anna. If you buy some, just keep them away from your kids or they may start barking.

Moral of this story: Don't eat stuff off the counter until you know what it is because it might be dog food!

"Ringing" in the Season

Anna and I got to ring the Salvation Army bell on Thursday. Not sure if you remember Thursday or not but it was pretty darn cold! The day before, we had gone to Walmart to get some things and saw that they were ringing the bell in the walkthrough area and not outside. I had told Anna earlier in the week that we were going to freeze our buns off when it was our time but then when we saw them inside, I wasn't concerned. Obviously, because we didn't take a jacket, gloves or anything. We were dressed for cold weather but not for arctic! The lady before us moved the station inside, and we happily began ringing the bell. Until... about 30 minutes into our 2 hour timeslot, the mean Walmart guy kicked us outside. I understood but it ticked me off. In all of the Christian, Christmas spirit I could muster told him he needed to stop talking to me because it was patronizing. We grudgingly and grumpily moved outside. Tommy came and picked up Anna when he got off of work. It was just too cold for her to be outside. It took me about 10 minutes or so to find my smile. I was shivering so much I really didn't have to put much effort into ringing the bell. It kind of rang on its own. I later found out that the previous day people all got to ring inside! The nice manager must have been on duty that day. How unfair and what a uncharitable thing to do to kick a coatless, gloveless mom and 9 year old girl out to the curb! All in all, I'm glad I did it. I got to see alot of people, raise alot of money for a good cause (people seemed to feel sorry for me so I think they gave more), and I survived.

Then, because I love ringing the bell so much, I signed Tommy and I up for Saturday! It was a bit warmer and quite pleasant. The bucket was so full that I kept having to shove the money over to the sides of the bucket so people could put more in. I was struck by how things are seemingly so grim in our economy and especially down here with what Dow has done, that people were still able to be generous. It's so much fun to watch the kids put a few coins in. Good job, parents! They aren't sure what they are doing but you are teaching them, even in small ways, that they can be generous. It's also fun to watch the people avoid "the bucket". They won't make eye contact for anything and alot of them resort to talking on their cell phone as if I'm going to judge them for not putting a quarter in the bucket. I love watching people.

We also saw a lot of people we knew. I even got a "beautiful" necklace from a guy wearing his Christmas spirit from head to toe (including a red and green "Red Man" chewing tobacco cap).

As I said, he was dressed from head to toe in red and green. Red house slippers, green pajama pants, a dingy white thermal shirt, some type of funky belt and a navy blue terry cloth bathrobe belt around his neck and then tied into the sides of his belt. And the Red Man cap. He came over to us and stopped. Set down his Bucee's mug and took off his cap. Then he took off this long rope necklace that had several things wrapped, tied, twisted into it. One of those things was the necklace that apparently he was planning to give to me. It took him a long time to get it untangled out of there. He didn't say much. We watched and waited and I was hoping the whole time that Tommy was prepared to protect me or chase him down if he tried to steal the bucket. Anyway, he simply said that we were doing a good thing and that the bell ringers deserved a reward. I mentioned to him that it looked like that necklace was in there good. He said that he meant it that way and it was intended to stay there until it found it's rightful owner. ME! I thanked him, he thanked us again and he went on his way. Interesting story and pretty unresolved. Who knows what God is doing sometimes, right? I don't think I could begin to figure this one out. I do know I'm keeping the necklace. Not sure if I'll ever wear it, but I'm keeping it.

So, I got to ring the bell with my husband and daughter, see alot of people we knew and tell a whole bunch of people thank you and Merry Christmas and alot of them told me Merry Christmas back. We smiled and waved at a ton of kids and they smiled back and looked all impressed that the bell ringer people noticed them. Good times!!

We won't be here next year to ring the bell at Walmart - maybe we'll get to in Singapore. If you haven't done it before, it's so easy and pretty rewarding - you should! You may even get a necklace from Mr. "Red Man" Christmas!

Ever wondered what 30 batches of peanut brittle looks like?

I love making peanut brittle, especially when it helps pay for Christmas. I get to make something I love to share and others get to enjoy eating it and pay me for it. Win, win, I say...

My peanut brittle recipe is from my Granny Jones and I watched her make it when I was a kid and then watched my Mom make it and she is the one who taught me how. I don't use the microwave, I don't use a candy thermometer. I time it, using my favorite pan (just like the one my mom uses), my favorite spoon (just like the one my mom uses) and a gas stove! I stir it constantly and go by smell, appearance and I can just "feel" it when it's right. Jakeb and I have had some laughs about me becoming one with the peanut brittle. :) He is my peanut brittle fanatic! I can almost guarantee a perfect batch if the weather is cold and not humid. Since it's hot and humid year-round in Singapore, I'm pretty sure I won't be making it for a while. I'll miss it alot. It's like therapy to me and I love being stuck in one place fore 30 minutes at a time. It's a good excuse to slow down and think. I think I like making it much more than I do eating it. I made these 30 batches over the last two weeks and only one of them was not up to my perfectionist standard but it didn't keep it from getting eaten.

Anna was my little helper elf in packaging these gifts up to take to Dallas this weekend. I used popcorn to stuff around the ones that need to be mailed instead of buying packing peanuts. Since it's homemade goodies, I can get away with using the popcorn. I used white popcorn (real popcorn, not microwave in a bag popcorn) and made it with very little oil and then sprinkled shaved glitter stuff all over the top of it to make it look sparkly. Kind of looks like snow. I think Anna was impressed with her mother's creativity. It's not an original idea, not many of mine are.

I'm finished with my "big" orders and can now make it at a more leisurely pace, after giving my stirring arm a break for a few days. Yes, my patient family, you will be getting some too and you won't have to fight for the crumbs off of the pan. I'll make you a whole, real batch with real pieces and I won't make you pay for it! The crumbs, however, are really good on top of Bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream!

Selling Stuff

Before you read any further, let me just say that this blog will not be turning into the Stunz family classified ads. Mostly because there are only about twelve of you who read it so it probably won't do us any good anyway. But just in case.....


We’re selling our Pro-Form 930i Cooling Breeze folding treadmill with iFit technology.

The treadmill is in great shape and we have the manual and all information that came with it when we purchased it from Academy in Feb. 05. The online reviews say that is not recommended for heavy duty workouts but we have all used it, walking and running, and have not had a any problems with it. Tommy has run on it without any issues. (That may get me in trouble but I couldn’t think of a good way to say that it can handle some weight. That may get me in even more trouble…..) Anyway, it has a fan, it folds up and we’ve never hung a stitch of clothing on it! :)

We are also getting ready to put our house on the market after the first of the year and need to get a few things cleared out. It’s all about staging, right?

We have other things that we’ll be getting rid of so if you need something in particular, let me know. I don’t have time for a garage sale, we don’t want to put a bunch of stuff in storage for two years and we won’t be taking a lot of our things with us to Singapore so it needs to go.

Maybe you could help us spread the word that our house will be up for sale soon. If we could sell it to someone without involving a realtor we could all save a lot of money and we would then be able to financially help a family get into a good house. 2000 sq. ft., 4 large bedrooms (all upstairs), 2.5 bath, 2 car garage, lots of closet space, huge backyard, great neighbors, a lot of remodeling over the last 8 years, newly remodeled master bathroom, new a/c, plumbing pipes have all been replaced, the list goes on.

We’ll also be selling our white Toyota Camry ('06 or '07, I can't remember) that is also in great shape with low mileage, but will need it until closer to time for us to leave.

I know, you are probably saying that this is a cheap way to sell our stuff and I would have to agree. We are cheap and we do like saving money! And I don’t like answering phone calls from newspaper ads from people I don’t know. God has blessed us so we’re hoping He can bless others, our friends, through us selling our stuff.

A little slow in blog world...

Pretty much all of the blogs I read on a regular basis are not getting much action these days. I guess we're all busy. I'm too busy to write much these days, although the thoughts and will are definitely there, I just don't have time to sit here and write them down. I've got holiday pictures to share, our 20th anniversary trip to Santa Fe pics and stories (it was incredible!), black eyes from trampolines, school stuff, graduation stuff, moving to Singapore updates, and other random writings as usual. Some day soon, you're gonna get 15 posts a day for about a week.... Watch out!!

I'm always disappointed when I go to my reader and the blogs I look forward to starting my day out reading are not in bold with a number beside it. So I know it's not just me that's busy.

For now, I'm going to finish making my bazillion batches of peanut brittle and getting them all gift packaged up to deliver to customers and finish up the marbles boards that have been ordered. Then I can look forward to finishing the decorations in and on my own house and enjoy the Christmas season with my family and friends and hopefully blog a little.

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season and busy doing all the stuff that shows others Christ's hope, peace, love and joy.

'till next time.....

Advent, Art, Music & Justice (not necessarily in that order)

There are tons of things going on in my head, as usual, and I wish I had more time to post but I don't. I'd like to post about each of them individually (the first one I already have) but I'm up to my eyeballs in making peanut brittle and painting marbles boards, not to mention trying to fit the other things that go along with being a mom and a wife. So, I've just decided to combine them all into this post.


First
A reminder about the Taft Street Art Market. Art, gifts, coffee, music. It's going to be cool and it's this Saturday from 10-5. See this post.


Second
This past Monday was the beginning of Advent. Our curiosity about Advent has increased over the past couple of years but we still have alot to discover. For many years, we've bought the cheap chocolate calendars for our kids where you eat one chocolate each day leading up to Christmas Eve then you know tomorrow is Christmas. I'm pretty sure there's more to it than opening door number 1 to see what shape your chocolate is going to be. In fact, here is a link to an Advent Guide from Buckner International (an agency for orphans) that you can read daily if you want to. I haven't actually started it yet but I'm going to try to catch up and keep it up. You can even sign up to have it emailed to you each day. How convenient!

Third

Tonight begins a Christmas concert tour called "Gloria". Cindy Morgan and Shawn Groves are a few that will be taking the stage. The concert tonight is in Nashville but they are going to try to show it live on Shawn's blog tonight at 7 CST. Here's Shawn Grove's blog link. I'm pretty excited about this and wish I would have found out about it sooner. Tommy and I went to Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb" tour last year and it was incredible. If you ever get a chance to go to it, you have to! I hope this concert is like Andrew's (yes, we're on a first name basis). I hope it's more of a story concert with really good music as opposed to another singer's rendition of Silent Night. I may be wrong, but we'll see. I love Cindy Morgan and Shawn Groves.

Fourth

This coming Sunday, Dec. 7th at 6:30pm, our church is hosting a benefit concert for IJM. Tickets are $20 and you get a tshirt. Go check it out here.


Fifth
Sara Groves' Christmas CD is really great. I bought it yesterday along with Shane & Shane's Christmas cd. That brings me to five this year so far. If RSB or Alisa come out with one, I'm in trouble.... See this post. Anyway, Track 2, "It's True", has Sara's little boy, Toby, reading from a children's book telling the story of Jesus' birth in words kids understand. In the song, Sara talks about baby Jesus coming and she says that "the play begins with Baby God" and says that He was "the God who came down to find you". He came down to find me. I'm so glad He did! Little Toby also reads that God was like a proud dad who had been waiting for "all these years" to show Him off. It's Christmas time! The time when we celebrate that "Baby God" came to earth in a barn and God set out a bright star to show us The Way to Him. He knew where I was. The star was super bright, it made the other stars pale in comparison. There were only a few shepherds around to show Him off to. No high fives, no blue bubble gum cigars that say, "It's A Boy" on the wrapper. Just a silent bright star, some hay and a bunch of stinky animals and a proud and tired mom and dad. I hope that I, in some way, can help our "Father God" show our "Baby God" off to the world and lead others to find Him.

OH! One more thing, I know our economy stinks right now and thinks are tight for a lot of us but if you happen to find some extra cash laying around or feel compelled to give something that's not extra but may have even been planned for something else that you really don't need, consider giving to Advent Conspiracy. Check this previous post out for more of why this means something to us. "It costs us an average of $.98 to provide clean, safe water to one person for one year: every dollar makes a difference." http://www.water.cc/

Well, this has been a pretty long and random post and probably not even all that well-written but like I said, I'm a little preoccupied with other stuff but I had all of this in my head and it had to come out or it might have exploded. There's more, but this is all I have time for. I know you're bummed about that.

Christmas Music - How much is too much???

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas music!!!

Tommy seems to think that I should only buy one new Christmas album per year and he tries really hard to "encourage" me to adhere to his way of thinking but I can't remember if it's ever worked or not. He has fun trying to limit my purchases but I think we both know that his attempts are futile. I have a cd case full of only Christmas cd's. It went with me when we evacuated for the hurricane! I don't have very many weakness but Christmas cd's and really good candles (like my friend, Laurie J. makes) are up at the top of my "things I gotta have" list.

One year I really did try very hard to only buy one new Christmas cd. I wanted to honor my husband and thought that I could surely do this. I had already bought my one and was very happy with it. I was walking through Hastings (when it was still inside the mall) and a new Harry Connick, Jr. Christmas song was playing through their system. I wanted it sooo bad! Harry is my all time favorite Christmas music and I have every one of his Christmas albums and probably almost every one of his others as well. Anyway, I didn't buy it, although I really wanted to. I walked out into the mall to continue my shopping and a mall employee lady came up to me and gave me a mall gift certificate for $15 because she caught me smiling!! Well, that was just a sign from God so I thanked her, continued smiling, and went right back into Hastings to make my purchase.

This year, I have already bought three! One of which is the latest Harry Connick, Jr., another is Chris Botti (it's really good for background music) and then the Hotel Cafe' Wintersongs with people like Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Barreilles (don't really recommend it, some of the songs are good but not worth buying the whole cd- go to itunes and hand pick the good ones). AND.... Tommy even bought one!! Yo Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy & Peace holiday album. It's really pretty good. Tommy even likes it. He plays cello and other famous artists, that measure up to Tommy's musical standards, play and sing along. It's mostly instrumental.

I'm already up to three new albums this year and I really want another. It's on sale right now too. That's a sign right??? I need to go get Sara Groves new Christmas album. She is my all time favorite artist period and I know that I have every one of her albums. I'm still waiting for Robbie Seay Band's Christmas album and one from Alisa Turner. Definite "must haves" to add to my ever expanding collection.

I thought about doing another hint, hint, wink, wink post but that would be a little obvious, huh? I am going to buy it myself soon, though. So if you plan to put it on my front porch, make it quick! :)

So can you have too much Christmas music? It's pretty apparent what I think.

We proudly announce.....

...that we have a new daughter!!

We are incredibly blessed to be able to sponsor one of the Daraja choir girls that stayed with us in October. Our monthly sponsorship will ensure that she gets a good education. Mercy ("Marcy") had already become a part of our family along with Rahab and Gladys when they stayed with us but now we get to stay in contact with her and keep up with what's going on in her life. What an amazing priviledge!!! Mercy is is 13, she loves to dance, sing and she loves bananas! Along with an amazing life's story, she has such a fun personality and brought a smile to everyone she came in contact with while she was here with us.

I'm not at all trying to bring attention to us but I do hope to bring attention to BrightPoint and share how excited and grateful we are to have this opportunity. The monthly sponsorship cost through BrightPoint is very reasonable. Click on the picture below and go to their website to find out more.

Tori's Blog

I just wanted to let everyone know that our daughter, Tori, has joined the world of bloggers. She has alot going on in her noggin' and she is a really great writer. She's also a pretty busy girl these days so her posts may not be as frequent as she (or I) would like but they are insightful and a good read so go check it out.

Tori's Blog or http://tstunz.blogspot.com/

Taft Street Art Market

Mark your calenders for next Saturday, December 6th, 10-5, for a fun-filled day of shopping for handmade gifts, painting your own ornaments and live Christmas music!

It's at 2115 Taft Street in Houston. Here's the link to the church (Ecclesia Houston), Taft Street Coffee House (great coffee and teas!) and art gallery where the art market will be at.

10% of the proceeds go to Advent Conspiracy.org which funds wells being built to bring clean water to those who need it all over the world. (Living Water International)

I'm Thankful For Fruit

Below is this week’s update from some friends of ours, Nate & Barbie. They are missionaries in South Asia. I’ve asked their permission to share and kept the content just as they wrote it. The abbreviations and misspellings are on purpose so as to not draw attention to themselves for security purposes. It was very humbling to me when I read this. Once again, I am moved to ponder all that God has so graciously given us. So, I’m thankful for fruit. I have three bunches of beautiful bananas and a bag of apples and oranges in my kitchen right now. We are having some friends over for breakfast in the morning so some of them will be eaten. But there are only five of us in our family and chances are some of it will be thrown out if we don’t eat it quickly enough or use it to bake with. We are blessed and will probably never have to go without fruit.

“Went to the next-door slum/garbage-picker colony to share fruit with the kids and songs about JC again...

Our family enjoys going out to the community next door each month. We try to give them something nice, and sing to the crowd about JC. It’s just hard to try to make sure each child gets just one piece of fruit - and then to realize there is not near enough to go around anyway!.. The grimy mass of arms and hands reach up, grasping, straining, each one connected to a dirty little face, with bright expectant eyes. You can imagine any one of them thinking...,

"Something different! These strangers came again, and are giving fruit today. Maybe I'll get one. I hope there'll be enough! This is fun. We don't understand these people very well, but they sing to us, too. I understand some words. But, I hope I get one of those fruits. Most of my day is spent running around our colony, in and out of the rows of huts made out of trash. We play games. I also spend a lot of time sorting through bags, peeling labels off of plastic bottles, and helping pile the stuff that's no good in the corner. Its pretty dirty here, but we're ok. And, I hope I get some fruit. My head itches a lot. And sometimes my stomach hurts - bad. But, I always eat my rice. We don't get much else. Hardly ever get fruit. And my clothes are too big - and dirty. I hope to get some other clothes to change into soon. But, good clothes don't come along very often. People just don't throw 'em away. But, maybe I'll get a piece of fruit! None of us can read - but we can find the good stuff in the trash. That's what we do, and mom and dad don't think we can do anything else. We don't get to go to school - mom and dad never did. So, they don't care whether we go or not. If we had the money to go, the school might not let us in anyway. Most people treat us like animals. But, I like fruit! There are a lot of us kids here. Some will get two fruits, if they can. There's not always enough. And sometimes I don't... Well, not this time, either. Maybe next time. Maybe, next time..."

Be thankful this week. Be thankful!”


This is a prayer that they have asked us to pray for the children of South Asia. Before you click the “x”, please pray for our friends, for their safety and the work they are doing and for the children of South Asia.

"Pr that every child in [south Asia] will soon hear about a Saveur who wants to carry them."

"HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH"

Can you hear it? The Hallelujah Chorus??? Come on, sing along with me.... "HA llelujah, HA llelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hal lehe lu jah!" Ok, now refer back to this post from last week to get a clue as to why I am singing.

Tommy and I returned from our WONDERFUL trip to Santa Fe, NM last night. We left NM at 3:45AM, drove to Dallas to pick up Anna and then arrived home at around 8:30PM. Really long day in the car and it was sooo good to be home. Tori and Jakeb had stayed home because they are working kiddos now. They purchased our Christmas tree yesterday and had it all set up and smellin' awesome! They rearranged the furniture and everything, got the decorations out and even set a few up. Great kids!!! We all love Christmas time! Sure wish it was cold!!

So I get settled in after a long day, we bring all the stuff in, I visit with the kids a bit and ooh and aah over the tree and then go upstairs to change into my pj's. I turn and look into my bathroom and something incredible was sitting on my toilet. My toilet, you say? Yes, my toilet. It was this..... my very own.....


Tori said that one day this week she came home to find it sitting on our front porch. She didn't quite know what to do with it until we got home so she put it on my toilet assuming I would pee my pants when I saw it. I was pretty darn excited!! I refrained from peeing my pants, though, even though we had been in the car for quite some time and I really did have to go. TMI, I know, sorry...

So, to whomever reads this blog, one of the twelve :), I thank you. H0pefully I can thank you in person one day if I find out who you are but even more than that, I hope I get to bring it over to your house full of something yummy and liquidy (it won't leak!) to share with you. I'll be watching to see who has that telling smirk on their face when I see you next, so if you don't want me to find out you'd better practice up on your lying face.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We really have sooooo much to be thankful for. And now, I'm thankful to have a new crockpot that won't leak!

Randomness

Tommy sent these quotes to me the other day from one of his favorite authors. I can’t tell you which one because some of the others on the list are not really appropriate for a family blog. Not bad, just inappropriate for this venue. If you want to know where they came from, you’ll have to ask Tommy. :)


Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

In the '60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

Hint Hint Wink Wink...

Last night we were sitting around watching mindless tv, Home Improvement, I think. A commercial came on and they might as well have just shown the picture and played the Hallelujah Chorus in the background. The commercial would have been cheaper and it would have worked for me. I gasped in delight and one of the kids elbowed Tommy and said "hint, hint, wink, wink". :)

It's a sealing crock pot! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! How many times have I spilled soup or chili or bean or wassail in my car or on ME??? I thought it was awesome when I got the crock pot that had a carrying bag. There's not too many things that I MUST have but this is something I really think I must have one day! It definitely falls in line with some of the most ingenious creations ever!! Can you tell I'm excited about this!

Well, I pretty much know I won't be getting that from Tommy for Christmas because he doesn't usually like getting me appliances for Christmas and that probably wouldn't really fall in line with thoughtful gifts. But, I am going to plan on getting one before we move next year. Heck, I could pack it full of soup and it wouldn't spill!

20 Years of "I Do's", "I Still Do's" and a few bad "do's"!

November 19th was on a Saturday 20 years ago but today, this Wednesday, November 19, 2008, marks mine and Tommy's 20th wedding anniversary. What an achievement!! We are pretty proud of ourselves in an unprideful kind of way. I've said it before that I can't believe that we are old enough to have been married for 20 years.

Someone asked me a few years ago how you know when you've met the one you're supposed to marry. Is there a way? My answer to her was that if you can't imagine your future, your life, everything you do from this point forward without him then that is a really good indicator. There are other factors, of course, but that's a pretty good test. I knew Tommy for a year before I was even attracted to him, we were friends, and really good ones. But there came a point where I knew I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. Thankfully, he came to the same conclusion about me. :) I still feel this way and am so grateful for what we've shared over the last 20+ years. We have been incredibly blessed by God.

We wouldn't be here, in this place, 20 years later, without our parents, our children, our siblings, extended family members, mentors, and friends who have helped shape who we are and challenged us to be better at whatever we do.

We knew each other for 3 years before we got married, about 2 of those were dating and engagement. Tommy attended his last college class on Friday morning, drove home that afternoon, and we got married the next day. We were 21 and thought we knew it all. Boy, did we get a clue real fast! The last 20 years have brought good times, tough times, adventures, victories and even failures but through all of that, we have learned to love each other more deeply and honestly. Our choice to a lifelong committment is definitely what has seen us through.

The next 20 years and hopefully more will hopefully bring good times, fewer tough times, adventures, victories and even fewer failures. Bring it on! We want to be that old couple that still holds hands and the love we share is honest and apparent - the old couple that young couples look at hoping that's what they will look like one day.

So... I've put together a photo documentary of our "I Do's" and a few bad "do's" that we have sported over the last 20 years for you to enjoy, laugh at, tease us about, etc. Man, what were we thinking in some of those? We've come a long way, I think. We're proud of our family, our accomplishments, our committment and our life we've made together. We've learned from our strengths and our weaknesses. We've grown and we know we're not done. We're proud of where we've come from, where we've been and where we're headed.

The song in the photo album is an old Cindy Morgan song called "How Could I Ask For More". It's "our song" so to speak and just makes me cry every time I hear it. It's so perfect for us. Enjoy the pics and the journey through time. Turn your speakers up and tell the kids the be quiet.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I hope the world can see how much we love each other cause "We Still Do!" and we always will.

Anna's Harvest Feast Project Was A Success!

Anna hosted her first harvest feast last Saturday for her school project. She worked so hard on this and it went over quite well. She easily made a 100!

She chose several people who came over on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth and also a few Indians who were at that first harvest feast hosted by the Pilgrims. She researched and wrote up a bio of each person and everyone that came on Saturday read about who they were. We learned alot, ate alot and had a great time. She planned games like hopscotch, marbles and hide & seek but there were very few children and the adults ate too much so no one really felt like playing. I'm pretty sure that's how it would have been in 1621 too.

Tommy's parents came with cornbread. My parents and sister and neices came with their version of Indian head pieces with turkey feathers and had made up names for themselves. Names like "Woman Hollering", "Runs With Idiots", "Forgets Name" (she's almost 50!) and "Poke A Hole In Head" (she just had her wisdom teeth removed). Another sister came later, the one who is directionally challenged, her name was "Sakaga Which We'". I have such a weirdly creative family, eh?

Anna chose for my dad to "play" the part of Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe that joined the Pilgrims at the feast. The Wampanoag brought 5 or 6 deer to share at the original feast so my dad brought deer jerky that he made from his own deer meat.

Great job, Anna!!!


When you play the slideshow, you can click on any picture to zoom in. Also, the pics are repeated so I could fill up the album. Haven't quite mastered Smilebox yet. It sure beats posting individuals in blogger, though!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

In case you're interested, here is a website that we found a ton of helpful and interesting information about the Wampanoag, the Mayflower, the Pilgrims and Plymouth.

I Love My Kids!!!

It seems like just the other day when Tori came into our lives and then just a few days later came Jakeb and then maybe a week or two later came Anna. In only one week, Tommy & I will celebrate our 20th anniversary and it's been almost 18 years since we started this parenting thing. Can we really be that old??? I don't think so. I'm not real sure how this happened. We must have time warped or something.....

Our kids are growing up - quite nicely I might add. I don't think I could be any more proud of them. (Is that correct grammar?)

Anna, being in 4th grade now, went back to her Kindergarten teacher's class last week and read to those precious little5 yr. olds. Could Anna really have been that little just a few years ago? It was so sweet to see her sitting in that big rocking chair reading to them.


Jakeb started his first job last Tuesday at DJ's BBQ. He turned in his application and was hired on the spot. Since we homeschool, he gets to work during the day then he does his school in the afternoon. He got his first paycheck yesterday. Pretty impressive! We are planning his 16th birthday party (it's not till March but we have to start planning now because of what he wants to do). 16 years... man, time flies!

Tori starts at Kohl's tonight for her first "real" job. She goes for orientation and then will start working for real next week. I'm thinking she's going to like her first paycheck too. She and Jakeb are both saving for the next mission trip back to Kenya so the bulk of their paychecks are going in the bank for that. Tori graduates just a few short months from now and is gearing up for a full schedule at our junior college this Spring. She was accepted at UNT and will start there in the fall of '09 as a sophomore.

Major change is in the air for the Stunz family. It's just the way it was designed to be but there will be lots of tender, tearful moments ahead for mom, I'm afraid. I love my kids!!

The History of Holidays

Anna and I are busy planning a Pilgrim's feast for her history project that compares the similarities and differences in how the Pilgrim's celebrated their first harvest feast and how we celebrate today. We'll have Captain Myles Standish, Elder Brewster, Samoset, Squanto, Chief Massosoit, Governor William Bradford and several others in attendance. It's been a very interesting project and should be alot of fun for our family.


I came across this on the The History Channel. I'm posting it, mostly so I can keep track of it but I thought I'd share it with you as well.

Go check it out for some interesting and fun historical facts that you and your kids can read, watch and listen to about your favorite holiday.

Smart Aleck Test Answers

I'm a smart aleck. Pretty much our whole family is when it is not disrespectful, even though sometimes that line is crossed.

Here are some actual test answers (although I didn't check snopes) from some smart aleck students. I think some of these really should have deserved extra credit but my kids better not get any ideas! I'm sure these answers weren't from home school students! And my kids would never....... :)

Consider Christmas Part 4 - What the Kids Had to Say

If you're just joining in on this string of posts, start here and read up.

I asked the kids to describe what they thought about Christmas last year in a sentence or two. Here's what they said:

Anna (9) I did not like at first but I liked it after.

Jakeb (15) I liked it because I felt good afterwards that we had done that but it was still hard to find something good to give. The joy of receiving wasn't as great but the joy of giving was way better and I still got some good gifts.

Tori (17) It was worthwhile overall. It was not something you decide you're gonna do the week before. It takes too much time to plan the gifts and make them meaningful, especially for someone like me who waits to the last minute.

Here is Anna's recipe for Ice Cream Sandwiches. Life happened and we haven't made them yet but we're going to this week! Man time flies!!! She found the recipe on Food Network and wrote it out for me to make it more personal and like I said before, put all of the ingredients together in a gift bag with the recipe - minus the ice cream which was in the freezer. We ate the ice cream a long time ago.

This is probably the last post on this unless something else profound comes to mind. As if this has all been profound in the first place...

Have a meaningful and merry Christmas!

2007 Letter - Consider Christmas Part 3

This is the 3rd post in this Consider Christmas series. There's at least one more, maybe two to go on this topic. Go down a bit or click here and start at the beginning if you're just tuning in.


Below is the letter that we sent to our close family last year. Since this was so involved and we knew it would take time to plan, we sent it out pretty early - in October. We sent it out on nice green linen paper with a few Christmas designs on it and we all signed each one.

Like Tommy said in Part 2, we're not trying to "toot our own horn", although he didn't quite say it that way. I think he used a more intellectual term. :) We've been asked about how we did this so we thought putting it out here would be the best way to explain it.

October 2007

Well, Merry Christmas Family! Yes, this is a bit early but we figure the stores are getting ready so we should get a jump on things as well. We are planning something for this Christmas that we wanted to make you aware of as soon as possible. Mostly because we’re really excited about it but also because it will affect the gifts we will be giving. We also thought that it might influence the way you decide to spend, purchase and give your gifts this year.

Over the past year+, several experiences have raised our awareness of our desire to purchase and consume when the simple need for clean water in Africa and other countries is so critical. We have so much while people around the world are dying from malnutrition and disease due to the lack of clean drinking water. Tori will be going on a mission trip to Kenya in July 2008 to help build water wells. Jakeb, Tori and Andrea have been involved with our Student Ministry’s water project called H2O4K (water for Kenya) and we as a family have decided to make this need a focus for our Christmas giving this year. Christ, and His birth will remain our main focus, of course. We feel, though, that by taking some of the excessive consumerism we typically participate in out of this year’s festivities and focusing on real giving (giving water, giving life) that we can make a real difference. We think we can do this while still enjoying our favorite traditions and the good feelings we get when we share gifts. …more about this later in the letter.

To make a long story not quite so long… We have committed as a family to give a set dollar amount to an organization called Living Water International. You can check out this organization at www.water.cc.

What we’ve chosen to do this Christmas comes from an idea we’ve been following called “Advent Conspiracy”, www.adventconspiracy.org. This idea encourages us to “worship more, spend less, give more and love all”. The statement at the top of their website is, “Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption.”

Since the bulk of what we normally spend on Christmas will be given to providing water, we will be spending less on gifts so we can give more and in turn love all as a part of our worship for Christ who did the same thing for us. This simply means that instead of giving a toaster to those on our Christmas list, we’ll give something that costs little or nothing but is given from the heart with the one we’re giving to specifically in mind. Who knows, these gifts may even be better than some of the stuff we’ve given in the past.

We are not trying to change what you do for Christmas. The traditions we all love, giving gifts, enjoying family time and celebrating, are all part of God’s design for celebration. We believe this! For this year, and maybe just for this year, we have felt convicted to do things differently. We know that this may be a little “out there”. We’d love for you to understand that this is not something we’re forcing our kids to do. In fact, they were involved in making the decision to do this from the start. We think that through the process of creative planning, the gifts we give will be a lot of fun. We also have special things planned for our Christmas morning that might just make it the most memorable Christmas we’ve ever had. We are excited about doing this as a family!

Are we canceling Christmas? No. Will we still have a Christmas tree? Emphatically, YES! This was one of the mandates from all three kids! :) Will we eliminate all excess in our celebrations? Probably not. Will we judge others for how they choose to celebrate Christmas? Absolutely not. We all enjoy giving and receiving gifts. We’d like to ask you, though, to consider this when you plan your Christmas shopping trip - spend less, or none at all, on the gift you would give to us and give either all cash or a small gift and the rest in cash. Should you decide to “spend less and give more”, we’ll add your money to ours and it will all go to Living Water International.

This may all sound a little forward but we’ve always been told that it never hurts to ask and we really believe in this project and want to make a difference. We know we can’t fix the problem, we just want to help. Each time you take a drink of clean water from the sink in your kitchen that is only steps away, first, be thankful. And second, be thoughtful of how you might join us in this effort. We are looking forward to spending this holiday season with you!

Merry MasCHRIST!! Merry CHRISTmore!! Merry Christmas!!

If it were easy ... Consider Christmas Part 2

You’ve heard of the five love languages right? There are basically five ways that people feel loved and one of the ways I feel love from people is when they spend time with me. So the way we did Christmas last year appealed to me because I got to show people love in the way I feel loved – how selfish is that?

I gave Anna a day at the zoo and it was an amazing day. I gave Tori a concert ticket of her choice and we went and saw Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michelson and others. We had a good time listened to good music. I signed Jakeb and I up for the Hog’s Hunt 25k and we had an awesome time training for and running a race through Huntsville State Park together.

I think the kids enjoyed their gifts from me but I have a feeling I probably got more from my presents to them than they did.

My favorite gift given to me was a Bible. Andrea bought a journal and she and the kids hand wrote some of my favorite passages in it. To know that they took the time to write some of the words I love so much and to know that they know me well enough to know what to write was very meaningful.

It is so easy to break out the credit card or spend some cash to buy those on my Christmas list the latest gadget or a cheese slicer or something. And like Andrea said that is not always wrong. In fact this year we are doing a version of Christmas that looks like what we have always done while being mindful of what we learned last year.

To do Christmas the way we did it last year was hard work but it is a Christmas we will never forget. And even though it seems a bit self-righteous for us to tell you about it, we hope we can help inspire others to do the same and experience Christmas at a different level. It is like someone told us about moving overseas – “if it were easy everyone would be doing it.” It is worth the work.

Consider Christmas

Last year we approached Christmas drastically different than we ever had before. For several years, Tommy and I had been increasingly convicted that what we did for Christmas should be different, less consumeristic and materialistic and more thoughtful, but we never really quite knew what to do with that conviction and how to apply it to us until last year.

We came across Advent Conspiracy and it intrigued us so we dug in. We got the kids together, showed them videos (below) and explained what we'd like to do this year (last year). We wanted to make sure that they were okay with it and wouldn't get to the other side of Christmas and feel like we'd taken Christmas away from them but we wanted to teach them that Christmas can be less focused on "me" and that is the way it should be. We wanted it to be balanced and not just yank the tree skirt out from under them. Our goal was to help us all realize how greedy we are and how all the money we normally spend on often cheesy Christmas gifts could actually help others live - not just have stuff they don't have but to LIVE, survive, breathe another day.

We sought out an organization that we wanted to give to, we made thoughtful gifts or bought them, spending less, some of our gifts involved no money at all but involved lots of thought and time. We sent a letter to our closest family members that we exchange gifts with and asked if they wanted to participate as well. It was honestly the most challenging way we've ever celebrated giving at Christmas but definitely the most fulfilling. I weaved a basket! Tori gave Tommy a breakfast date and me a coffee date, Jakeb painted something for Anna's room, Anna gave me a recipe for ice cream sandwiches (one of her favorites) and all the ingredients along with it so we could make them together. I gave Jakeb a driving trip to Pearland (him driving since he got his permit) with a stop at Starbucks, of course. Tommy made my dad some rockin' glazed and seasoned pecans that we got from our huge Texan-sized pecan trees in our yard. We had such a good time thinking, planning and giving. With what we saved and what family members gave, we were able to give a substantial donation to water projects through Living Water International. We gave the donation online on Christmas morning together as a family. It was pretty cool.

Giving as we did last year opened all of our eyes to how consumeristic we are and honestly, how greedy we are. But it also opened our eyes to how thoughtful we can be and how fun and fulfilling giving can be. It was a great Christmas. We've tweeked it a little for this year but we are still focusing heavily on giving or making gifts that are meaningful. No one is getting a toaster or waffle iron this year. :)

Consider Christmas with us this year as to how you will buy and give. Let me encourage you to plan your budget, write it all down, it's amazing how much money we spend this time of year and most of us don't even know what we've spent until the dust settles. It's not wrong to spend money, we have been blessed and there's nothing wrong with spending but as you consider this over the next few weeks, my guess is that while you're out shopping, you'll see a few things that turn your stomach. We are generally a greedy and materialistic society.

Consider buying meaningful gifts or making them. Even though making a gift often costs the same if not more than buying something, and it takes alot of time, it is a way better gift. Consider buying gifts that help others around the world. Or consider matching what you've budgeted for Christmas with a gift to an organization of your choice.

More than anything, consider Christ this Christmas. I believe He'd say give of yourself everytime. Spend time with those you love. Give memories that won't end up in a storage building or a garage sale next spring.

WOOHOO, WHAT A RIDE!

God gave me several things this morning that made me smile as I started out my day. This was one of those. Thought you might could use a smile today too. I pictured me skidding sideways into Heaven with my arms stretched out in an attempt to balance myself and a big smile on my face. I slide up to meet my Jesus and say, "Hey! I'm here!" :)

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely and in an attractive and well preserved body but rather to skid in sideways - Mocha Latte in one hand, chocolate in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOOHOO, WHAT A RIDE!"

(Thanks, Laurie!)

Real Teachers Have Big Sonic Drinks

Today we had a few interuptions so Anna was finishing up a Science paper at about 5pm while a friend patiently waited and curiously looked around our school room/office. She was pretty impressed that Anna was getting to do school with her skates on and a pixie stix shoved in her mouth. How's that for a couple of homeschool perks?

Anna's friend told me that I should have a big Sonic cup. It puzzled me. She meant that I needed one because that's what all the teachers at her school have on their desks.

Definitely tomorrow! Cause I'm a real teacher too.... the large drink on my desk will finally make it official. It's like I've found the missing link, the last piece to the puzzle!

What a mouthful!

Crunchy, Peanuty, Perfectly Yummy Mouthful!

I LOVE baking over the holiday's!! When it starts to get cold out, I just want to be in the kitchen and forget that anything else exists. I love to bake. Over the past several years, I've sold goodies to help pay for Christmas but this year, I just don't have time this year. I'm narrowing the choices and I'm only going to make peanut brittle this year. I make it the old-fashioned way, no candy thermometer and about 30 minutes of constant stirring. It's my Granny's recipe and I remember her and my mom making it when I was growing up. It's probably my favorite thing to make. While I'm stirring, I get lost in stories and memories and just feel so good when the batch turns out. I'm 2 for 3 so far this season.

Soft, Incredibly Delicious Gingerbread Mouthful!

These cookies are not homemade but they are one of my holiday favorites. I discovered them years ago but I have had trouble finding them over the last couple of years. When I saw them yesterday in Houston, we bought two bags. I was nice and shared a couple with Tommy. They are a soft, mildly flavored gingerbread cookie with a thin, crunchy coating of icing or glaze. Oh my goodness, they are soooo yummy! Perfect with a strong cup of coffee.

A mouthful of Anna!

A friend's dog got a mouthful of Anna's face last night! It's more like a bunch of scratches and her jaw is sore but the prognosis is good. Our friends felt horrible. She was at their Halloween/fall party and they were grilling hot dogs and wings. Anna was trying to hug him while he was working on a bone. Not a good idea. They think the dog was probably a little on edge due to the chaos of kids playing and the smell of meat cooking. Sensory overload, I guess.

I hope your holidays are filled with all sorts of yummy mouthfuls! Try not to eat anyone's face, though, because "that would be canibalism and it is frowned upon in most societies". (Johnny Depp from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory)