Well, I still haven't been able to figure out how to put the pictures where I want them...but anyway, here is the gingerbread house. As you can see, it did not turn out to be the charming cottage I had in mind, but looks more like an industrial building. The problem was that I made the roof panels much too small. Ah well, you live, you learn! I am sure it will be much better next time! It was deee-lish anyway. ;)

the great gingerbread house of 2009

Whew! this project may be harder than I bargained for! hehe ...its just gingerbread house, but hey, I try not to take on too much you know. :) Any how, the recipe that Jess sent me was perfect! I cut out all the parts and baked them yesterday, and today we put it together, ...er are in the process, anyway. Trenton ate too many gumdrops and after a fantastic hour or so fell apart completely as his sugar dropped. So now he is napping. Kitty is keeping him company. He is growing into an adult cat now who enjoys napping for hours, preferably near his humans. Yesterday he slept for several hours in Chloe's swing. I had been wondering where he was, as he usually stays in our company, and just happened to notice his location while I was straightening up the dining area. ...a perpetual job when your baby is at the food throwing stage. Sigh...sometimes I just leave all the food residue all day long, and then try to chip it off with a butterknife when I do my nightly clean-up. It truly is a thankless job, knowing that the condition is only improved until the next meal. But she sure is a doll baby, as my grandma likes to say.

Ok, I wanted to put the picture here, but haven't figured out how to do that yet. It always just appears at the top. urrrg, I wish I were a little more computer literate.

So when we get this house project done, I will post some pictures for your viewing pleasure... lol, speaking of your viewing pleasure, I was hunting and hunting for a picture of myself for the profile pic/mug shot. Boy, I really should clean myself up once in a while and take a pic. All I could find were pics of babies and husband, and occasionally one of myself in a robe or some other inappropriate condition. lol! Hmmm...so yeah...I'll work on that.

This year for Christmas my little family is going to be spending the day with my dear sister and her new Husband and their newly acquired little house in northern Indiana. I am excited and hopping for snow! Wish I could be with all my sisters and m+d, but it didn't work out this year. Maybe next year!

Alright, thats all for now! next up will be gingerbread house pictures!

some Christmas thoughts

Hmmm...just started blogging yesterday and on my third one...I think maybe I was really needing an outlet? :)

This morning I have read the Christmas story in Luke, and am so blessed and joyfully thankful for this Bright and Shining Gift! Oh how He love us!

I was especially delighted when reading about how Mary went to see her cousin Elizabeth following her visit from the Angel. Elizabeth was 6 month along at this point, apparently fresh out of her seclusion. The Message says she went away by herself for 5 months, "relishing her pregnancy". I love that! ...Anyway, Elizabeth says to her "Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true". I want to be a blessed woman like that!

The part about Elizabeth's relishing her pregnancy is lovely too... as a mommy myself I understand that in a personal way. Even thru the discomforts and various strange effects of pregnancy, I did relish it! I remember when I was carrying Trenton it was Christmas time and I was so tired and huge and I said to my sister Bea, wow, it really makes me think of how Mary must have felt, riding a mule for hours at a time...

Well I will leave you this morning with the words of Zachariah, in the temple after John was named and he regained his speech- "...thru the tender mercy of our God whereby the Dayspring from on High hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide your feet into the way of Peace"

The message of Christmas, light and peace.

Love and Fear

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". Right. We all know that. Lately, however, I have been seeing a few more layers to this onion.
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to tell you about something I have been reading, so Here you go! I am reading "He loves Me", a lovely little book by Wayne Jacobsen. It is a small book, but so dense that it takes some time to read. I can only read a few pages before I need to stop and digest for a while. Well, lucky for you, part of my process is writting out how and what I am thinking, so you may hear alot more about this book.
Back to the Fear of the Lord... You might notice that the text says "is the BEGINNING of wisdom". Well, it is not the end. (suprise!) In the tenth chapter of this book, Jacobsen delves into the end product...Love. The end of wisdom is LOVE.
...Let me just read some of it to you...

"If you don't love God, you would be well served to fear Him. At least that might keep you from behavior that would destroy you and others around you. But once you know how much He loves you, you need never fear Him again. In other words, this Father doesn't just seek your obedience, He desires your affection. He can have your obedience without your love, but He knows where He has your love, He will also have your obedience." (I love that part)

Now I bet some of you are getting concerned, oh no, she is drifting off into that "lovey dovey there-is-no-hell 'cause God loves us" nonsense. Well relax, I'm not.

But lets look a little further at the whole Fear thing...
"Fearing God can compell us to conform our behavior to His desires, but it will not last. Because it convinces us to act against our will, even when it leads us to righteousness, it does not change us. The behavior that results lasts only as long as the fear itself, which is why those who approach it this way will need greater levels of fear to stay motivated. God knows that responding to His love will take you much further than fear ever could. "Perfect love drives out fear" John continued. While fear may be the most powerful motivator known to man, Gods love is more powerfull still and in the face of it our fears are swallowed up in Him. Love displaces fear the same way light displaces darkness."
I John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love"

Good stuff, huh? Also on my mind is the idea of our almost subconsious efforts to DO what we should to be a good Christian. Is our relationship with the Father any result of our own doing? ...ok I will save that one for next time. Goodnight world.

a morning in december

I have recently been admiring the creative and interesting blogs of many of my friends, and finally decided that my life and thoughts may indeed be interesting enough share with others. As I am sitting here in the living room typing my very first blog, my son is on the couch with his father, looking over his new Highlights magazine (thanks Toot). They are having a fabulous time finding hidden pictures. Chloe is crawling back and forth between us, keeping tabs on everything that is going on. I can hear the kitten mewing, Jerry has once again shut him in the basement. They are not the best of friends, but I am gratefull that Jerry has allowed us to have a kitty. Both the kids love him! Miss Chloe constantly has new scratches on her hands, from her deliberate invitations to the kitty's pouncing. Trenton and "Tiger" spend lots of time chaseing each other around the house and playing a funny version of hide and seek.
The sun is shinning brightly through the glass patio door, giving no indication to how cold it really is outside. When will it snow? We are ready to make a snowman, although I still need to get Trenton some earmuffs. Ever since he saw some on his Pooh movie he has been wanting some.
My baby boy is growing up into such a interesting little guy. He is doing so well with using the potty and sleeping in his big-boy bed. Up until just a few weeks ago, he was still in his crib, without ever climbing out or protesting in any way. But suddenly he decided to grow up. ahhh...sigh. His boyhood is such fun. He often tells me I am his best friend, and more recently that I am a good cook! Haha, that was while we were making cookies! Now that I finally have an oven again, I have been making cookies nearly every day, and sending them to work with Jerry to keep me from eating them all. Made some very nice gingerbread cookies the other day off the recipe on the molasses bottle. Bought a new bottle, and what do you know, no cookie recipe! Of course I threw the old one away, so now I am searching for that same recipe online without any luck.
Well, I have spent enough time here for right now. I will write again soon because I want to share some of what I have been reading with you!