Merry Christmas!

It's getting close, and somehow, I am all ready!!! The shopping has been done for a few days, gifts are wrapped, more baking than usual got done, even the Christmas letter got out ON TIME, and basically, I am quite calm! This is how I always want it to be, but it doesn't happen! We have even had plenty of time to babysit Tucker...he IS a puppy and demands our full attention! Mostly, he has been a joy to have around and keeps us smiling and laughing. There's just something about a puppy! Spike is not quite so impressed with the little guy. Actually, he is scared to DEATH of him. He just moves too fast and is too small to even see coming at you! Carissa and Tucker are already home and staying with us through Christmas, Joshua and Jen will come by lunchtime tomorrow. We will have our traditional chicken salad for lunch tomorrow, go to the Christmas Eve service at 4, out to the Propp's for their Christmas Eve party, then back home to open gifts. On Christmas morning we will open stockings, then Joshua and Jen are flying to Michigan to be with her family. After we get them off to the airport we'll be on our way to Brooksville to be with Cary's family. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Puppy

On Wednesday morning, Carissa called to tell me she thought she wanted to get a puppy. Well, long story short, she has been dragging me around town ever since! Today was the day! We got to bring him home! He's been to Grandma's house to visit, and has now been sent home for the night. I've always heard that's the way it works! Far be it from me to change history! He is a Morkie-that's part Maltese, part Yorkie. He does not have a name yet, a few choices are being thrown around! He is three pounds, will get to about 7 pounds, and is nine weeks old. He is adorable, but the best part is seeing the smile on Carissa's face!

Gingerbread House

Yesterday afternoon we had our little girls over and made the gingerbread house together. We had a HUGE rain, so it was nice to just be inside and do something fun! Grace, Claire, and Kaylee did a wonderful job and I think we all had fun doing it!

Christmas in the Air

We are into all the Christmas activities around here. Cary has completed one weekend of the pageant, still one to go. I have been working on the shopping, wrapping and baking. Kathy is back from her mom's service, so I had lunch with her today. It cooled off for a few days and seemed like Christmas...well, for around HERE it seemed like it! They say it will cool off again this weekend. We just turn the air back on in between! There's not much news around here, just thought I should check in.

The Christmas Tree

On Sunday, the whole family gathered for decorating the Christmas tree. Cary and I had gone and bought it and gotten the lights on it on Saturday. Being the organized person that I am, all the kids had to do was pick from their own box of ornaments which ones they wanted on the tree. It seemed simple, we tried to make it easy. However, Carissa could not pull herself away from her school work long enough to help on this FAMILY project! Jen said our tree looked like a Weeble. You know, those things that wobble, but don't fall down!!! Good thing we love that girl! Joshua and Kaylee were no more excited about it either. Jen did her best to rally the troops. Well, it finally got done enough to get a picture, but I think next year we just won't have a tree! Oh, I'm sure I'll be over it by then!

Paula Deen Wanna-be

I have never been a great cook. I know it, I just do the best I can. Since finding Paula Deen, I've been a bit more interested in trying. I just think she's a stitch, and she's got my attention! This week, I tried making her Malted Milk Ball Cake. I had NO idea what I was getting myself into! First, I had to find out just HOW you buy MALT, and WHERE in the grocery store you can even find it! That took more than one trip to the store, and trusting some young MALE thing that worked at the store that this product really was what I wanted. I did not own cake pans, so they had to be bought. Finally, the process was taking action! After I got started, I found out that I needed THREE cake pans, not TWO!!! Who ever heard of using cake pans anyway? A 9x13 has served me very well over the years. So, a call of panic to a neighbor gets me out of this crisis. All three pans come out of the oven and now I am supposed to put them on WIRE RACKS. Why, I wonder??? Well, we just didn't dwell on that part. Now they are cool, and we have to STACK them with icing between the layers. Sounded easy enough. However, the layers weren't the same size, and they kept sliding on the icing. I put it in the fridge and kept checking on it every few minutes to see that the icing was setting and that the layer was not crashed somewhere in the fridge. OK, so it was all said and done, we tested it out on our friends, John and Lisa. I thought the whole point was that it would TASTE like MALT. But, NO! I guess the malt just makes it moist. Moist, it was. Good, it was. The whole process over-rated, it was!

Where Have I Been???

I can't answer that question! I have no good answer! There is a lot I should have written about, but I just have not been at the computer too much. My sister, Donna, had a birthday last week, I made my first cake from scratch, I've been doing the whole shopping thing, and I am even working on a CHRISTMAS letter! I recently told you about my friend, Kathy, and her sister dying. That was just about a month ago. Last week, her mom died. We called her "mamaw" around here. She lived in Kentucky, but came to visit often when she was younger and her grandchildren were younger too. She simply adopted my children as her grandchildren and they loved when she came to visit. Since my kids spent so much time at Kathy's, they got in a lot of visiting time. God took her very quickly, and we are thankful for that. This time of year has become bittersweet for me. I love the season, but I will forever be reminded of my last days with my own mother during this time of year. Not long before mom died, I found a new author that has become a favorite, Donna VanLiere. I've read all her books, and I decided that I would go back and re-read all of them. I just finished "The Christmas Shoes" the other day and something stuck out to me this time that did not before. It is a quote from her, and I have really pondered it since finding it. Here it is:

Death's power is limited---
It cannot eradicate memories
Or slay love
It cannot destroy even a threadbare faith
Or permanently hobble the smallest hope in God
It cannot permeate the soul
And it cannot cripple the spirit
It merely separates us for a while
That is the only power death can claim
...No more

So, during these last few days when death has been on my mind a lot, these words have also stayed close. I am dwelling on those memories, remembering lots of love, thanking God for threadbare faith that found new strength THROUGH death, and praising Him for hope and a spirit that has known new strength because of the journey. I'm so thankful for a sweet baby that came to this earth to give us life, and abundantly!