Winding Down

So as I have been cleaning up and prayfully preparing for the New Year, I have been reflecting on the year we've had. When I look back through all of the pictures from the year I am warmed with such a feeling that is nearly indescriblable; God has been so good to me, so good to our family and I sometimes feel undeserving of all the blessings that we have been given. I actually find myself questioning WHY we have been so blessed and so watched over. It breaks my heart to hear the stories and see the pain that others are going through. I often find myself wanting so badly to do something but am left feeling helpless.

Why can't some families Just. Get. A. Break.???

But then I'm reminded of the words from Luke, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

So I will count my many blessings, pray for those who are hurting, and march with my head high into the New Year with those things that God is calling me to do and try to do it well. I'm being trusted with much. I'm being asked to do more. So I will.

Christmas 2009

Christmas began the first weekend of December for us when we treated our big boys to a weekend in Chicago.

We visited the Shedd Aquarium during the day and strolled down Michigan Ave in the evening.

The next day we went and saw Star Wars in Concert.

It was pretty much complete awesomeness!!!! The boys were all so excited when the first note blared from the stage.

I had a real hard time getting into the swing of all the things "to do" at this time of year. In fact, if we hadn't of had a snow day, I don't know when our tree would have gotten up. But it did.

After the tree is up and the lights are in place one of the kids hangs the first ornament....

...to help us remember WHY we celebrate Christmas.


The snow day also helped us to get a jump start on our baking. I made sugar cookie cutouts and we spent an evening letting the kids decorate. Little Dude had a blast! BuhBuh and The Boy were very, um, creative????


The Boy had a music concert that we attended. He played in the band and sang in the choir. I was pleased to hear some Christian Christmas music played at the "winter concert".

We had the opportunity to host Christmas Eve with my side of the family in our home. I enjoyed getting the house all ready to have some of my family over. We opened gifts, had a candle light dinner complete with birthday cake and ice cream and attended Christmas Eve Candlelight service at our church.

Christmas day was spent at in our home, just the 5 of us. At 7 a.m. I had two little monkey's standing above me in the dark, bouncing just a little and announcing that it was Christmas morning and WHEN were we going to open presents??!!!

We actually didn't get started with the morning until almost 9 a.m. because Little Dude hadn't been feeling well and also didn't get to bed till late. He then had a very restless, coughy night. So we waited for him to wake up on his own. The big boys were very patient.

The Boy noticed that he was getting a lot of "big kid" kind of gifts. But seemed OK with that.

He actually got A LOT of Iowa Hawkeye stuff. He now has a Hawkeye decorated room and enough Hawkeye apparel to wear for 2 weeks straight.

BuhBuh's favorite things were all the new Star Wars guys and ships he got. He was also excited to receive his first "real" Bible.

"This is the BEST book ever!!!!!" He said excitedly as he opened it up.

Little Dude got A LOT of new trains. So we thought it was only appropriate for him to have an engineer costume to wear while playing with his new trains.

It was a fun filled morning of flying monkey's....

baby Jaba the Hut reading the Bible....

and enjoying a new tradition of searching for the pickle...

The Daddy found a pickle ornament and it is a German Tradition to hide it in the tree and who ever finds it wins a prize. So while I made their favorite Christmas breakfast of Monkey Bread they searched high and low. They gave up and tried again. They argued with one another and got very frustrated with this whole process. The Daddy enjoyed every minute of it!!! I even looked for it to no avail. It's hard to find a green pickle on a green Christmas tree!!!

It was only after an attitude judgment and the drive to win that The Boy took a different approach to his search...

and found the pickle.....

The prize??? A penguin that poops out candy.

Yummy!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with their gifts.

We had another candle light dinner that evening then snuggled up on the couch that evening to watch Elf.

We celebrated Christmas with My Sweetie's family on Sunday afternoon and had an enjoyable time grazing on yummy food and watching the kids open gifts.

Last night my mother-in-law offered to take all 5 grandkids all night long. My Sweetie and I were able to have a Monday night dinner and a movie date which was a gift in itself. I'm enjoying a quiet morning home alone....which I'm suppose to be taking advantage of the opportunity to clean up....but haven't quite gotten that far yet. I wonder how much I can get done in the hour I have remaining before I go pick them up?

Hope you and your families had a very Merry, very Blessed Christmas.

Say WHAT!!??

BuhBuh: MOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

Me: What?

BuhBuh: I think Little Dude has a broken ear drum!!!!

Me: WHAT??!!!

BuhBuh: He's NOT listening to me!!!!!

Sunday

Sermon Notes:

"The ones who truly change to align with God's ways will be rewarded, and those who refuse lose their reward. This is justice and that is good news" Ouch!

"The reward is available to ALL OF US regardless of what we've done in the past or are right now. THIS is GOOD and THAT is GOOD NEWS!" God's Prevenient Grace is amazing. I thank God for this EVERYDAY. I know I would not be where I am in my faith without it.

"We're like a Christmas tree. As we open ourselves to God's call, as we follow the way of Jesus, as we let God decorate us, we become more beautiful until that day when Jesus comes and says to us, "Well done!" This was the BEST part!!!

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It was nice being in Church today. Last weekend we were out of town. Wednesday was a snow day. It had felt like a LONG time since we had been there. You don't realize how much you miss it until you miss a Sunday AND a Wednesday.

Yesterday was a baking frenzy. My friend and I get together every year and bake treats then share with one another.

So, today we had a restful day. I dozed with Little Dude then we all went outside to play in the snow. Once Little Dude got over his fear of snow, it was all good. I didn't take any pictures. Sometimes it's just nice to live in the moment rather than living behind the camera.

We warmed up and snuggle up and watched Christmas Vacation.

BuhBuh knew that tonight we got to light THREE Candles on our Advent Wreath and suggested we read the Legend of the Candy Cane. Again.

What a lovely Sunday. Just what I needed to be ready to tackle the week ahead!

Snow Day

7+ inches of snow
30+ mph winds
60 extra minutes in bed
2 excited boys home from school
1 Daddy working from home

45 minutes curled up on the couch
1 Veggie Tale Movie
1 little boy on my lap
1 little boy head resting on my shoulder all snug under a blanket.
1 not so little boy tapping through his iPod still laughing along at the movie

2 sets of rosy checks
1 dryer full of snow clothes
2 cups of hot chocolate
1 extra bowl of marshmallows
3 warm and happy bellies

70 Carmel Truffles
206 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
50 sugar cookie cut outs (to be decorated later)
2 Christmas CD's
1 Christmas tree set up by a pair of big hands and decorated by 3 sets of smaller hands

3 showered/bathed boys all warm in their jammies
2 candles a glow; one for hope and one for peace
3 Christmas stories about God's amazing gift
3 gifts of my own all tucked into bed
1 blessed and thankful mommy for the day that we've had

1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style

©By Sharon Jaynes

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family – It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

http://writeathome.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/i-corinthians-13-christmas-style/

God Winks

Monday night I said a prayer.....after reading a story from the book "When God Winks at You" of a young boy who wanted to test the mysterious power of God, I was prompted to do the same. I wanted to see if I could "receive a direct, personal communication by way of a wink" from God.

I prayed that I would get a phone call this week so that things can continue to progress with my candidacy for ministry (I haven't written much about that yet. Stay tuned. I'll get to it!).

I felt a little guilty praying such a selfish prayer. First of all I had just given God a time frame. I KNOW better than that! Second, there is so much need in this world that is so much greater than mine, and THIS is what I pray for???

By Thursday afternoon I felt a little frustrated.

I came home tonight to a message on my machine from my District Superintendent saying she's going to be in town Thursday and would like to meet.

I think God may have just winked at me.

I won the very first giveaway from Jill's blog!!!!! YIPPIE!!!!

Christmas Traditions

Several years ago I attended a Hearts at Home Conference. I had heard great things about it and decided I was going to go! It was a good day. I was refreshed and inspired and ready to go back home to be my husbands wife and my children's mom. I have decided that one of my goals for the next year is to attend again.

Jill Savage is the amazing woman who started this ministry in search of some "co-workers" to walk alongside of in the profession of Motherhood. It has grown and blossomed into Hearts at Home and moms from all over the world can attend one of these amazing conferences, read her books, follow her blog and even "attend" a conference on line.

For the next 25 days on her blog, Jill is having a 25 Days of Giveaways. (I love giveaways.) Jill will begin a Christmas discussion where her blog readers can enter several different ways. One of them being commenting on her blog and another by blogging about what she's talking about. She will have a new item to giveaway each day that stands alone. Each time you enter you are entered into the Grand Prize drawing which is a FREE Hearts at Home Conference Registration. What an AMAZING opportunity!!! In addition, if you follow, you'll be sure to get inspired by what other moms/families are doing in their lives to be a blessing to their families. So, check it out if you are interested and leave me a comment if you decide to follow her blog.

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Day 1: Family Christmas Traditions

I love to do things to create memories during the holidays. At Christmas there are several different things that have become Tradition.

For the past several years we have had our own Advent Wreath. Each night during Advent before bed we light the candle(s) for that week and talk about what they mean and then share either a Christmas Devotion, Christmas story or read some scripture. Over the years we've done a lot of different things but ultimately it's about taking just a few minutes to focus and celebrate and remember the real reason we celebrate the holiday. On Christmas morning before we do anything else, we light all of the candles and the much anticipated Christ Candle in the center and let the candles burn down.



Every year for 10 + years my best friend and I have gotten together for a day of baking!!! It's always so much fun and I look forward to it every year. We make a big ole' mess, bake a lot of goodies and at the end of day/night we share what we've each made and end up with lots of cookies that we then share and bless others with.

Like most communities we have families who are in need and there are Angel Trees located all over town including our Church. I use to take one angel per child that I had. The past 2 years we decided that we wanted to adopt an entire family. Anyone who knows me knows how much I HATE to shop. But when I'm out buying shoes for a mom and dad who need them and coats and hats for kids who need them, I actually enjoy shopping. We involve our kids and tell them what we are buying and why. They help shop, wrap and then deliver the gifts so they can be given anonymously to the families. We live in a small community but choose to not know who we are helping. On Christmas morning I am filled with that warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that there is a family near by who we've blessed and helped to have some things that they needed and to have some gifts for their children. Money is a little different this year than it has been the past couple of years. We aren't going to be able to do as much as we have done in the past, but we have money set aside specifically to bless another family or two this Christmas as well.

We have also made it a tradition to stay home as our small family on Christmas day. We have established this boundary and our families have respected it. After the candles have been lit we take pictures of the kids with their stockings that their Great-Grandma made for each of them. Then we open gifts. After the gifts have been open they dive in with daddy while I go and make Monkey Bread for breakfast. Then we enjoy the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying each other. I don't make a fancy meal. We don't even get out of our jammies for the entire day. It's just a day to be and enjoy one another.

It is taking me a while to get into the spirit of the holiday this year. The tree isn't even up yet and probably won't be for another week or so. The commercialism of the holiday gets to me more and more every year and the fact that their are people who celebrate the holiday without giving one thought to the fact that it is meant to celebrate the greatest gift we've ever been given makes me sad. I know why we celebrate and I work hard to keep Christ the center of home at Christmas and all year round. Taking some time to remember what we as a family do to celebrate Christmas has helped put me in the mood a little more and it excites me that my baking day is coming up in a week and a half! Maybe I should add the Christmas CD's back into the rotation to help me as I bless the home today. <3

Published!

Our community puts out a little local newspaper every week. BuhBuh's class wrote about what they were thankful for and it was published in this week's paper.


"I am thankful for God because he helps me. I am thankful for my mom and my dad because they love me. I am thankful for my dog because I love him"

Give Thanks

There are lots of holidays that I have issues with. I'm always so glad when Halloween is over so that I don't have to keep having the conversation with my children on why we don't dress up as evil, scary things. The commercialism of Christmas makes me nutty. If you watched any of the You Tube videos I posted, they pretty much sum up my feelings. My soap box is SO tall on that subject I don't even want to go there. Hence the You Tube links.

I really like Thanksgiving though. Believe it or not, I don't have any soap boxes in my back pocket. Thanksgiving is a time where family and friends come together for a day and sit around a table for a day of sharing. They share a meal, they share conversation, they share their joys and sometimes their pain as they reflect on the past year. They come together in love for one another.

This is just what Jesus did in his ministry. He shared meals, shared conversation, and listened to the joys and pain of the people he was with. Relational ministry: being with others and simply loving them for who they are and where they are. Our family should be our first mission field and Thanksgiving is a great time to do relational ministry. In fact, you've probably been doing it all along without even realizing that's what you have been doing.

Thanksgiving is simply a time to be together; a time to look at the past year and give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says at we are to, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

We each have been given so many blessings. Some big, some small and some in which we may have to squint to see, but a blessing nonetheless. Give thanks for all that you have been given. Enjoy this season of sharing with your family and friends.

Tis the Season....

Here are a few links to check out. The first one is what I showed at the beginning of a sermon I gave last December. The other two are ones worth checking out too. Let them sink in then watch them again.

What Would Jesus Buy


Advent Conspiracy: Spend Less, Worship More



Advent Conspiracy: Worship More

Thanksgiving Turkey

BuhBuh: HEY MOM!!!!!!!!! Can we go huntin' for our Thanksgivng Turkey this year????

Me: UH.....you'll have to ask your dad about that one. (he was so excited about this idea. I didn't want to break his heart, ya know?)

BuhBuh: OK! Because 'da oder (the other) day when I was on my way home, I saw two turkeys walkin' and gobblin' across the street.

Enjoyable Outings with Little Dude

Little Dude has really been a sponge lately. He seems to have exploded with vocabulary since having his big brothers home this past summer. He is really able to communicate with us and we have been able to understand him better.

I've enjoyed all the fun that this adorable 2 1/2 year old has brought into our home this fall.



Once of my favorite things, believe it or not, is to take him to the grocery store! I know, weird huh? Trust me, we have had days in the not so distant past where going to the grocery store was a chore. He doesn't like to sit in the cart anymore. NO WAY! So, I just plan it out so that I don't need a lot and that we have plenty of time and I let him walk. We talk about all sorts of things and it's just a nice time when we are connected to each other. He helps push the cart , likes to put things in the cart and gets oh so excited when we find the marshmallows! Especially when he knows that we have run out at home. He knows when we are at the grocery store he gets a cookie. He knows when we are at Target that we get a Starbucks. When he's not helping me push the cart he's walking down the isles tagging the items on the shelf saying, "duck, duck, goose, duck, duck, goose" Every now and then he mixes things up by getting down on his hands and knees and either says "oooh-oooh ahhh-ahhh" as if he's a monkey and sometimes he says "ruff, ruff" like he's a dog. I wonder what the other shoppers think???

Another one of our favorite things to do is to go to "class". Twice a month we go to MOPS. He has LOVES going!! It has been good for him and good for me. Last week when we were getting ready to go, I let him know we were going to class. He was SOOO EXCITED! He began to tell me about the trains. I started asking other questions about class and asked him if they sang soungs in class and he sang to me, in the right tune and everything, "Jesus 'wuvs me" and even tried to sign it. SO CUTE!!! I hadn't heard that before. He sings it ALL the time now.

We have also enjoyed our weekly library class. He likes doing projects and isn't shy at all. He's in the younger group and I might consider putting him in the older group in the winter, if I don't hibernate.

What a blessing it is that I'm able to be home with him and experience all of these little things that make me smile.

Sabbath Sunday

Sunday was a good day. After a good worship service and message at Church we came home and had some lunch then decided to go on a family outing. We packed up and headed about an hour away for some caves. However, after getting there and hiking down to the entrance we saw that the main parts of the caves were closed for the winter as to not disturb the bats who were hibernating.

I'm perfectly ok with leaving bats alone. So we hiked around elsewhere in the park.


We let the boys climb...

and explore

and enjoy being boys.

It was hard for this mommy not keep the leash short in fear of them smashing their heads on a rock, but they were careful and had fun.

These are my favorite kind of days; days when we can just be together doing something fun as a family.

BuhBuh had the best quote of the day. He said, "Anyone can cross the water walking over rocks....but I'm going to walk through the water." And he did just that....stopping a few times along the way to empty the water from his boots

Happy 13th Birthday

Me: Do you know why you are so special to me??

The Boy: Because I made you a mom.



The Mommy: Do you know what my most favorite thing to do is??

The Boy: Being our mom.



I can hardly believe he is 13. I can hardly believe he is TALLER THAN ME!!!! I know, it's not a huge task to accomplish, but this guy was my smallest baby!!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!!

One of the best decisions I ever made was to quit my job to stay home with my kids. I do wish that I wouldn't have been so selfish when he was little so that I could have been a better mom when he was younger. But, we have made the best of the time that I have been home with him since. I think it has paid off. I remember the sweet summer before he started kindergarten that we had together before our family grew. Since kindergarten time has gone faster than I could have ever imagined it to have gone.

Now he is 13 in 7th grade.

He's wanting to be more independent; searching for his place within our family and among his friends; questioning the way the world works; relying on his strong faith in Jesus to keep him grounded; working hard to make good grades; trying new things; experiencing the ups and downs of crushes; growing in height; growing in appetite; growing in intellect; growing in faith.

He is an amazing young man.

His birthday was last Wednesday.

The Daddy may have just out done himself with THIS streamer art!


The Boy has always enjoyed the fact that his birthday falls on Veterans Day....he NEVER has had to go to school on his birthday. I tell him that's one gift I gave him to last year after year. :)

On birthday mornings we let them open their gifts from us. He did in fact get one of the items from his list.

He's been pretty happy with it. I have to admit, it's REALLY COOL!!!! Is it sad that my son's IPOD is cooler than my cell phone????

Our traditional birthday breakfast are cinnamon rolls. They all expect it!

The Friday after his birthday we had a family dinner with his grandmas and grandpas and some of his aunts and uncles and cousins. All in all I think he enjoyed celebrating his special day.

I'm not really sure how to parent a teenager. But then again, I wasn't really sure how to be a parent of any kind when he was first born. The only thing I DID know was how to love him.

Our family has certainly changed over the past 13 years.....

Even though we were young parents when we had him unsure of what the future was going to bring and with lots of growing up to do ourselves, I am so blessed that it began the way it did and when it did....

Because I LOVE where it has lead.....


Happy 13th Birthday, my sweet boy. Thank you for making me a mom and us a family. I love you!

Freely, Freely

We sang this hymn in Church today. It wasn't the first time we have sung it, nor even the second time. But today, for some reason I recognized the beauty of the lyrics. I had such a lump in my throat that I could hardly sing.

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name,
I've been born again in Jesus' name,
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to.

Chorus:
He said, “Freely, freely you have received; Freely, freely give.
Go in my name and because you believe, Others will know that I live."

All power is given in Jesus' name,
In earth and heaven, in Jesus' name;
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His power as He told me to.

Chorus

Sleeping Habits: The Good, The Bad and the Cute!!!

Sometime after my babies turned one they turned into not so good sleepers. Not that ANY of them ever slept through the night as babies but it seemed that I allowed for bad sleeping habits to develop. Habits that I take full responsibility for and habits that I have had to break.

With The Boy it was as easy as me leaving the work world to be a SAHM and getting him on a schedule the summer prior to him starting kindergarten. For BuhBuh it took some tearful nights and an established, predictable bedtime routine. He will still occasionally come down to our room if he's had a bad dream. This is something I know he will grow out of and as seldom as it is, it isn't really much of a problem.

Little Dude was so used to nursing to sleep that once he was weaned I didn't really have a plan on what to do next. At his worst he would go, go, go until he crashed late afternoon, stay up late at night and go to bed in our bed every night. It was exhausting.

For the past few months we have done things to fix this. He is now sleeping in a toddler bed (still in our room), we have an established, predictable bedtime routine, and he has been taking naps during the day which has made the evenings a little easier to get through. I am happy to report that Little Dude is falling asleep on his own, in his own bed and staying there all night. I have reclaimed at least an hour where My Sweetie and I have to ourselves in the evenings before I head off to bed.

Last night I discovered we may still have one or two little problems.

One of them being THIS is NOT where I put him to bed last night!!!!

Either I need to get him to take a nap during the day in his own bed, or it's time to move him out of our room completely!

The List

We have a rule in our house. You are not allowed to speak of your birthday until two weeks before. The Boy will be 13 here in less than two weeks. We've talked about the different foods he wants, made arrangements for his family dinner and talked about what he would like to do with friends this year. He also presented us with this list.

"The Boys" Birthday and Christmas List

1. Hawkeye covers for my bed

2. I Pod Touch (Seriously, why not just a regular I Pod???)

3. DSi (You have a DS. You don't need the latest greatest thing)

4. Cell Phone (You don't talk on the phone. When we feel that a cell phone is a need, like when you start driving, then we will talk about it later.)

5. Money/Gift Cards

6. Lego Republic Gunship

7. A Computer (You will never have Internet access in your room. So you might as well just use the family computer downstairs. But I'll gladly put this on your high school graduation list.)

8. WOW-World of Warcraft ($15 a month when you are only allowed video games on weekends when you've done all your homework doesn't sound like a very good deal to me. I don't think we need access to yet another addictive game)

9. XBox Live (Considering the XBox is Daddy's, probably not.)

10. Yu-Gi-Oh Cards

11. Dungeons and Dragons mini characters

12. Cream Puffs (You'll have to hope your great-grandma does this for you!! And if she does, will you share??)

13. Mini Fridge (The house isn't that big. Walk downstairs and get yourself a snack)

14. Small Plasma screen TV (I really like you a lot and I would prefer if you would watch TV downstairs with us. Also I can monitor what you are watching that way.)

15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid-Dog Days

A boy has to dream I suppose. Hope he's not too disappointed come time to open his gifts.

Poor Kiddo....

It's hard to be The Boy when his mom is me.

Yesterday....

**The Boy: UGH! I feel like a Pastor's Kid! Always one of the first to get here and one of the last to leave.

Me: I'm sorry???

Pastor: No you're better behaved. The PK's are usually trying to sneak out.


Today.....

Me to The Boy: You know I'm going to be teaching your Wednesday Night group for awhile.

**The Boy: That's THREE of MY church things now!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do you have to be so involved???? Why do you have to love me so much???

Don't you feel sorry for this poor child???

**Note** He was generally smiling and using his "fake" whine during these conversations.

So long October...

Soccer is done. Football is done. First quarter report cards were good and so were conferences. This has been a busy start of the year. Our trip was refreshing and just what I needed to hopefully carry me through the holiday hustle. It has taken me this long to get back into the swing of things though...but we've managed to finish out October.

We had a day which the weather was perfect and the leaves were beautiful. I tried to get some good fall pictures of the boys.



The Boy had is fall music concert. He's once again in both choir and band.

We attended a family Halloween party. The party was at 4 on a Saturday. At 1 in the afternoon we still had no costumes. We bought all of the camo gear that the Good Will Store we visited had on its racks.

I turned 33. My Sweetie bought me all kinds of goodies for me feet. Then he and I drove an hour and a half away from home to an Italian restaurant. The drive was lovely, the food was great. We also celebrated with a Sunday brunch with my mom, dad and brother.

This past weekend was Halloween. The boys were adorable as always and we now have a TON of candy. I sent two gallon sized Ziploc bags with My Sweetie to work. We still have two large bowls of candy.

October was Ministry Appreciation month. I sent out 31 cards of appreciation and thanks to different people in our church.

Here we are in November. I'm sure the next two months will fly by. Looking forward to all the fun upcoming events in the next couple of months but I'm also looking forward to the months of January-March when life kind of slows down for the winter.