HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Happy New Year!! I hope that everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Ours was peaceful. FYI, I'll be switching my blog music back to my regular music AFTER our last Christmas celebration is over -- Sunday, 1/10.

Nathan asked my neighbor if I could borrow her camera again--for Christmas day--so I was able to take pictures! We plan to purchase another, but we want to wait for tax money. Things are slow at work for Jim, so I want to spend money wisely. Good stewardship is a goal of mine for the new year. My interest in photography is growing! I love taking pictures--just about EVERYTHING!

I'm not a New Year's person. The old year goes out and the new one comes in quietly in our house. No celebrations. And I don't like making "resolutions". However, it IS a new year, so I chose to make goals instead. Here are some goals, off the top of my head (not necessarily in order of importance):

1. Be a better mother; spend more time WITH my boys.. not just live in the same house.
2. Be a better homeschooler; be more organized but still have flexibility
3. Be a better homemaker; again, organization
4. Do whatever I can to make selling our house and buying a house with acreage happen sooner than later
5. Make Christmas gifts throughout the year, so that I'm ready!
6. Take more pictures of more things!
7. Be a better blogger
8. Be a better friend--keep in touch better. Happy that FaceBook helps with that!
9. Be a better follower of Christ
10.Be a better wife; learn the art of submission ;o)
11. Be a better steward

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! ~Philippians 4:13

That said, we had a productive first day back to school. Still can't figure o
ut how Melissa and Tami do it with 8 children each!

Back to Christmas. We had a peaceful Christmas Eve. We decided to stay home this year, instead of going to church. I took the boys last year while Jim worked. It was kinda depressing. I wanted to spend the evening with Jim, so we had our "service" at home. Had all my wrapping done before Christmas Eve--oh, except for the 3 pairs of jeans that I ended up buying that day WITH the boys! I didn't have a chance to get out in that week. Okay, so they weren't surprised, but that's okay! Yes, I went shopping -- with kids in tow -- Christmas Eve day! Am I crazy? Yes! Actually, it wasn't that bad probably because it was early in the day. AND Walmart was smart enough to have the registers well manned!

Christmas morning was nice too. Christmas Eve and day is just our family. The boys opened gifts quickly. The pictures will say more about that. After which we had a breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls. Then there was LOTS of video watching. The boys got several videos: Daniel Boone TV series (seasons 1 & 2); comedian Tim Hawkins (both videos); Golden Age of Steam and America by Rail (train video sets of 4); Homestead Blessings series (6 videos--a family gift for all of us); Guidepost Junction video (w/Jodi Benson) for Owen; and Andy Griffith Show (seasons 7 & final season) They also got some audio series(s) -- Jonathan Park (Vol. 4 & 5) and Adventures in Odyssey--The Truth Chronicles. Plus a couple of other AIO audio albums on cassette. They're no longer available at cbd.

Although Jim and I are NOT opposed to technology, I think that kids, when allowed to, can become dependent on things like video games, hand-held video games, the Wii, texting, MP3 players, etc. My boys have played the Wii at my sister's, but we don't want one for our home. Unfortunately, that doesn't always go well--unsupervised, that is. Nathan and Jared are allowed to play computer games at home (racing, driving or learning games) for 20 mins. a couple of times a week. Nathan bought a truck driving game, but it didn't work on our dinosaur computer! When we upgrade, they'll be able to use it. They received MP3 players from our neighbors, but they will be limited. At this point, they're just listening to the radio and recording messages! We'll figure out the music downloads when we can! All that will be under supervision; songs must be approved by me. Believe it or not, there are a few songs on the Christian radio stations that Jim and I don't approve of them listening to over and over... sadly. Yesterday, Nathan wanted to listen to his MP3 player while he was shoveling. I told him that he couldn't since he was working with his dad and his brother. If he was shoveling alone OR mowing, that would be different. We want to promote family communication not isolation. Properly used, the player will be fun for them!

Jim's back to work, which is always sad after vacation. This was his first vacation in 2 years! Remember that Jim doesn't get "weekends" off. He always has Sundays off, but his 2nd day off is an assigned floater. He never knows earlier than the afternoon before what his day off will be. So we can't do weekend things--like visit his mom in Plattsburgh. It makes it hard. BUT it's a season that we'll get through! It could be much worse. He could be on the road for 5 days to 2 weeks at a time!! God is good.

Jim worked on Saturday (his regular day) so that he could have the whole next week off for vacation. We just hung out together on Sunday and watched videos. His mother called us and said that the weather was supposed to be bad for Monday, so we waited one more day . We left a little before noon for the 3 hour trip up north. The boys were thrilled to go to Nana's -- we hadn't been there in almost 2 years (for her birthday in Feb. '08) My boys, Nathan and Jared, are into the sites and smells of memories. We had a nice time visiting with Jim's mother and his brother's family. Jerry's kids are growing so fast! We left around noon on Thursday--New Year's Eve. On Saturday, Jim made the mistake of answering the phone when his boss called. He thought that he called about his truck that was in the shop while he was on vacation. Nope. He asked him if he could work. :o( I wasn't very happy about it, but the hours are nice to have. It put a damper on him relaxing his last couple of days.

Then my family's Christmas gathering was cancelled for Sunday. We'll get together this coming Sunday. The weather wasn't so nice anyway. Now I get to listen to Christmas music for an extra week! That's my excuse.

Well, here are the pictures:

Jared and his new cap gun!

Owen pouting because JARED got a gun!

Owen and his Bibleman figures form Nathan and Jared

Jared with new train from Doc

The Pajama Cowboy

Jared and his new hat from Nathan and new gun.

Our Happy Birthday, Jesus cake

One of Owen's favorite gifts--a "vitamin" case!

Nathan with his trains, some he got for Christmas

Nathan with his train gifts from Doc!

Owen with his new cowboy boots

New Year blessings, joie

PICTURES! YES PICTURES

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PICTURES! Yes, pictures! Thanks to our friend and neighbor, Pam! My mother-in-law came down (3 hrs. away) on Tuesday. I asked her to bring her software for her camera so that I could load it on my computer. That way, whenever she comes to visit I can get the pictures right away. She doesn't have a computer, so she just uses her memory card at Rite Aid. I took several pictures of the boys for our Christmas photo, only to discover that we never thought of her USB cable! She never uses it, so she didn't think of it... Then that same night, I called our neighbor who has the same camera as my broken one. In fact it's because we liked hers that we decided to get the Fuji FinePix! I was able to borrow it for the next couple of days. I took LOTS of pictures. 71 of the boys the first day and 102 of them the next day. Believe it or not, there were only 3 pictures to choose from (out of 173--so you don't have to do the math!) Sure there are a lot of fun ones--making faces, turned away, laughing with mouths wide open! It was difficult to give back ;o( Didn't realize just how much I missed taking pictures!

Christmas is coming too fast for me! Not ready yet. It took me quite a while to get in the Christmas mood. I don't know why... maybe it's the weather. We had a little snow a couple of weeks ago. That helped. It sure is cold now though! Glad I'm not in Virginia or Maryland!! That's where my mother-in-law is now visiting Jim's brother! They're getting hit hard!

Last Sunday was the Christmas Cantata at church. My niece Leighanna is in the adult choir. Nathan, Jared and my other niece Rebecca sang in a small group of 9 kids for a couple of songs with the adult choir. At the last minute, Jared had a small solo in one o the songs--the other boy didn't feel well. It was sweet to hear Jared. They sang the contemporary version of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Typically I don't like modernization of traditional songs, but I really like this. It's arranged by the lead singer of Casting Crowns. Here's a link to a video of the song.

This coming Sunday, my boys and my nieces will sing in a worship choir for the Sunday School Christmas program at church. I can't wait! They have a 2-hour rehearsal tomorrow, and Jared really wants to sing a solo! They'll know who gets what solos tomorrow! I wish Nathan would do a solo, but at this time, he thinks it's a fate worse than death! Owen can't wait until he can join a choir!! They all sing well. Both N & J can sing harmony, which I think is a blessing. A couple of weeks ago, I heard Owen sing a harmony line in a song. I was so excited! I taught them when they were very young -- it comes naturally to me. They also listened to the Gaither Vocal Band regularly when they were little, so hearing those harmonies helped reinforce harmonies.

Owen will be dressed as a shepherd singing with his Sunday School class.

Next Wednesday, Jim's Mom comes back this way -- she'll fly into Albany from Baltimore. She'll spend the night with us, and the boys and I will take her half-way home where we'll meet Jim's brother Jerry who will pick her up. For some reason, she was okay taking the bus to Albany, but she doesn't want to take it going back home. It's the day before Christmas Eve... it'll be a really tight squeeze, time-wise, but we'll get it all done (I hope!!)

I still haven't composed a Christmas family letter! I don't know if I will get one done this year.

Here are a few holiday pictures...

Blue Ribbon Sugar Cookies (we love them, and they're super easy to make!)

Owen posing in front of our tree (doesn't he look innocent?)

Our basket of Christmas books

Just one of the many goofy photos I got the 2nd day!

I think it was finally getting to Nathan! This was near the end of 102!

Gotta call it a night. It's late again. I never manage to get to bed before 12:30! Until next time...

blessings, joie

MORE SNOW!

This is our second snowfall of the season! The boys are outside shoveling our "parking lot". The idea is grand until they do it for a short while. Then they're complaining! Not a good thing...

Update: Nathan and Jared ended up doing a great job on the driveway! Dad was really pleased!

I'm adding a few pictures from Christmases past...





20 years ago with my sisters!



I can hardly believe it's already the 9th of December! I'm not ready for Christmas yet! I cannot proudly boast that I'm done with my shopping. Hey! Christian Book Distributors (CBD) has a free shipping deal going on until midnight tomorrow (12/10) I'm definitely taking advantage of that! Your order has to subtotal $35 or more to get the free shippig--easy to do! I placed one order already for Christmas, but I found that there are several more things I want--marked down 90% Gotta love that! Just enter promotion code 305633 at check out!




Sisters 1972



Hoping to make cookies and watch a Christmas video today. Sadly, Nathan and Jared don't seem to be interested in Christmas videos this year.... :o( It kind of surprises me. Owen has watched The Little Drummer Boy 4 times already!

Christmas with my cousins--1964

(I'm front and center!)

Instead of "Keep Christ in Christmas", we believers should "Keep Christmas ABOUT Christ!" There's a world of difference!

Until next time...

blessings, joie

DECEMBER ALREADY!

Well, the Christmas season is upon us. It doesn't seem that long since we celebrated last year! It's a little like the Twilight Zone!

I'm writing this blog AROUND the pictures I posted from Picasa. I can't change the order, once they're on, but I can move my text around.

As you can hear, I put up my Christmas playlist on the blog! It was fun creating it! There are a LOT of songs that I would've like to put on it that just aren't on Playlist.com.

I STILL have no camera to use; it's so frustrating. Not sure what I'll do for Christmas. I really don't want to get a cheap camera just to get by. Since I love to add pictures on my blog, I decided to use some from LAST Christmas.



A cute photo of Owen from LAST Christmas

This is the picture I took last year of my neighbor's lawn that they used for the Christmas card. I was so tickled!


We have our tree up and many colored light strands around the house. We even have lights up outside this year! I think it's the first time ever. A few years ago, Jim thoughtfully put up C-9 lights along the A-frame of the roof. When we plugged them in, they didn't work anymore! We were all disappointed. After all that work, I told him to forget about them... Nathan's the one that's hung ALL our lights this year. He enjoys it and I have no problem letting him!

Our tree from last year with some notes I was going to scrapbook with.

After much thought, I've decided to let Nathan start his own blog. Actually, it was MY idea! I read recently on a homeschooling/homesteading blog of the value of kids doing blogs. I want it to be his, but he has rules to follow. I consider it an on-going learning project--part of school. He'll develop skills in: typing, vocabulary, punctuation, spelling, creative writing, communication, and faith-training--just to name a few. I'm excited about this. Jim, on the other hand, doesn't share my excitement. I assured him that Nathan's time will be limited, and EVERYTHING will be approved of by me before it is posted--even down to his playlist! We spent time last night creating his blog playlist together. Since the advertising messages are sometimes offensive, I'M the only one who will be on the Playlist website. My goal is to help him with the sharing of his faith, his ideas, and his interests. He's already planning on adding recipes, Scripture verses etc. I have to be careful, as I'm very controlling, and want this to be his. Again, as in life, there are rules to follow. He's only put a very short post on so far. Last night, after creating his playlist, it was too late. So shortly he'll be creating a new post. Check out his blog at www.nathandslife.blogspot.com Your encouragement and comments will be so appreciated by both of us! Add yourself as a follower to his an my blog! It only takes a click if you have a google account. If not, it only takes a minute to sign up!

(last year's Christmas photo shoot)

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Until next time...

blessings, joie

PERSONAL APPEAL

Please think about the "KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS" war that's going on. It's NOT showing Christ's love. Showing His love is living in a "Christ-Like" manner We should remove the obstacles that keep us from making Christmas ALL about Him. We MUST NOT have an "in your face, I'm gonna say Merry Christmas whether you like it or not!" attitude! NOBODY can really take Christ out of Christmas--not even our government. They can try, but it's up to us as Christians to personally make Christmas about CHRIST in our own homes and in our attitudes toward others!! So say "Merry Christmas" this season. But do it lovingly. Leave the pins, buttons, and bumper stickers home this year!





On that note... I don't think putting up a Christmas tree is a bad thing. We're not worshipping the tree. In fact, I DESPISE the song "Oh Christmas Tree". We're not saying that Christmas decorations have supernatural god-like powers and can take the place of Christ--they can't see us when we're sleeping and know when we're awake.

Focus on Christ with the music you listen to, videos you watch, and the books that you read with your children. Winter songs are nice, but I try to keep them at a minimum. I'm still planning to put my Christ-centered Christmas books list together, but it's so time consuming, and I've not yet had the time to do it.

Until next time...

blessings, joie

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Just sitting here compiling and enjoying my http://www.playlist.com/ Christmas playlist. I sneak Christmas in a little bit everyday! I know that a lot of people struggle with Christmas being out in the stores WAY before Christmas. It's what stores do -- sell things! It doesn't bother me because I'm thinking about Christmas gifts in September (do I start my crafts then, when I should? No! In fact, I haven't started yet, and it's 30+ days away!) We don't do anything with Halloween, and for me it doesn't take away from Thanksgiving either. As believers, we should be thanking Him everyday for our blessings anyway! We don't save it all for one day of the year, do we? I hope not! And what are we MOST thankful for? A REDEEMER! So to me, it's all one big holiday celebration to honor our God and King!!

We love our new car, Mark! For us, it's like a brand new car! Still no camera, so still no pictures. Jim's hinted that we might replace our digital camera with an upgraded model! YAY! I don't think they make the model that we have anymore: Fuji Finepix S5200.

Haven't figured out yet what I'm going to do about a family Christmas photo. I think I'm going to ask my sisters to take pictures at our annual Thanksgiving family dinner. We'll get together the Sunday after Thanksgiving for a traditional turkey dinner. I our home, on Thursday, we've decided to make homemade pizza a tradition for Thanksgiving! This will be our 3rd year. We'll have our family dinner at Donna's on Sunday. The day AFTER I'll make a roast chicken and have the traditional sides. (Jim and I prefer chicken over turkey). It's always nice to eat "leftovers".

I better start putting together my yearly Christmas letter! In the past I've kept notes in a word processing document of what's happening during the year. This year, I forgot. So I'll just have to go by memory.

Nathan's latest passion is learning about raising ducks! He wants to start in the spring, but I don't know if we really can do anything here. There's just so little room on our lot. Half our lot is taken up by the house and "parking lot". Everyday we read the duck-raising book together. It's his choice to do it with me. He also enjoys Bible reading with me. Again, his idea. We're both reading the book of Luke, so he asked me a week or so ago if we could read it together. We're also trying to get devotions in during the day instead of at night. We always seem to run out of time, and we're in a hurry to get through them. It shouldn't be that way. I really enjoy reading allowed to the older boys after Owen goes to bed, but we haven't had time to do that lately. The book we're reading is Carry On Mr. Bowditch.

Speaking of reading allowed, Owen wants me to read Jotham's Journey to him this year. Jim and I have talked about it. Jared was almost 6 when I started to read it with them. We're considering it. Jim actually doesn't think it'll be a problem. I know that some people won't agree with that; but we as parents know our own children better than anybody. I know what he can and can't handle. If I find there's a part that just won't do, I'll skip over it. I also want to purchase the next book in this series Bartholomew's Passage.

Nathan's making our own Advent candles this year. I bought the boys a candle-making kit last spring. It has metal votive candle molds. So this year we'll use votive candles instead of tapered ones.

Last year in my Christmas letter, I mentioned how Jared was FINALLY a real reader. I was so excited because, before that, I couldn't get him to read more than one book here and there. He was really into reading Hardy Boys books last Christmas time. Unfortunately, the spark fizzled out right after I wrote the letter!!! It's taken him pretty much all year to get that spark back. Now I think it's here to stay! Because he's not a fast reader, I think it's been discouraging for him. Although he reads his Bible daily, I don't think its the same as reading for entertainment. Besides, Jared is busy doing other things in the summer.

I'm considering letting Nathan start blogging. I'm not sure how yet. I'm reading about kids learning through blogging. It's also a way for kids to share their interests and projects with family and friends. It's also good for typing and language arts skills!

Went to our local thrift store last weekend for the first time in ages. Hit a jackpot. For $2, we bought 1 Hardy Boys double feature book (Jared's thrilled), 2 decorative votive candle holders (for Nathan to use for Christmas gifts), 2 decks of cards (for Nathan's card collection)1 Scrabble game (see picture below) 1 shirt for Owen (the reason why they gave it away is because the collar is crooked! It'll be fine for play around the house! Lately he's been a cowboy, so his bandana covers it completely!)

I just love dimensional decorating with letters!

I love my new Christmas tree embossing folder!

I'm going to try and add an old picture -- from my childhood or of our ancestors with each blog post...

My mother's maternal grandmother,
Maria Toth Graf

Until next time...

blessings, joie

NON-SANTA CLAUS CHRISTMAS VIDEOS

FYI: There are several Christmas videos (and books) for young children that aren't about Santa Claus. I've enjoyed discovering and acquiring these over the years. Here is a list of the videos that we still enjoy! I will post my list of books as soon as I can. I'm eager to hear more ideas! Just leave a comment! ***NOTE: This is only a list--to give you ideas of what is out there. These are videos that we have in our home library only. The links will take you to Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, or Ebay where you can find more information and/or purchase them on your own. ***

* The Donut Man, The Best Present of All

* Quigley's Village, Christmas Story

* The Little Drummer Boy (yes, the one we watched when we were kids!) *

* Veggies Tales, The Toy that Saved Christmas *

* Veggie Tales, The Star of Christmas

* Cedarmont Kids, Christmas Favorites

* Cedarmont Kids, Christmas Carols

* The Crippled Lamb

* Alabaster's Song

* Bed Bug Bible Gang Christmas

* Christmas Is

* Red Boots for Christmas

* First Christmas (clay animation)

* The Christmas Story Keepers *

* The Beginner's Bible, Story of the Nativity

* The Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible, The Nativity

* The Visual Bible for Kids: The Birth of Jesus (w/Kirk Cameron)

* Nanny & Isaiah Adventures, The Secret of the Second Basement (featuring the Peppercorn Puppets)

* The Prince of Peace

* A few marked with a lavendar asterisk are available in our local library system!


I'm CONSIDERING getting the new Veggie Tales video about St. Nicholas, but only IF they don't indicate that that's where Santa Claus comes from. St. Nicholas wasn't a magic, supernatural being with supernatural God-like powers that "knew when you were sleeping and knew when you were awake and knew if you'd been bad or good." AND if you were bad, you just might be punished with coal in your stocking and no gifts!

I also just learned that there's another Nanny & Isaiah video "...welcomes the Savior". I'm going to buy it used on Amazon. I'll add it if we like it.

Some of these videos are only available "used". Some of my links take you to Ebay or Amazon Marketplace.

SO glad I don't have to give up these precious videos yet -- with Owen being little still! I'll miss them when he grows out of them! I'll play them for myself then! Or I'll just MAKE my kids watch them!! ;o)

I hope this list helps! I'll add to this list if I find anymore videos.

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blessings, joie