With God by my side...

all things truly are possible!!

even frosting 4 batches of christmas cutouts with 3 little boys!!  i have been putting it off all week, but with the cookie bake off creeping up next weekend, i knew i had to get these cookies frosted!  and i am so glad i did.  what i thought might turn into something dreadful, actually ended up being a lot of fun.  the boys never faught over who's turn it was to help with the sprinkles, no one tried to steal any cookies, no one fell off the kitchen chairs and the house and kids were actually pretty 'mess free' when we were done!  i was impressed!

tuscan is such a great helper in the kitchen, in all aspects!  frank is already teaching him many of the ins and outs... tuscan told me one day that he is going to be frank's sous chef!

  * for more pictures, check out my facebok page, there is a whole album of them!!

the magic...

i dont know that i could ever pin point exactly what it is about the holidays, but there is something that makes this early portion of the winter season so magical and i love it!  whether it be the smell of fresh baked cookies, the twinkle of the christmas lights, the kids rosey cheeks...or it could be the prospect of misletoe around the next corner, toasting warm eggnog with your love and the warmth of fleece blankets.  its all so magical!  and when the snow starts falling (unlike here) it makes it all ten times better!  what would christmas be without snow, i have always wondered?  i have never envied those that live down south during the month of december...by early february, yes, but never this time of year!  the sparkle of the snow only adds to the magic.  the excitement on the kids faces that first morning with a fresh coat covering the front lawn...priceless!  but whats even more priceless is getting that first 5 inches of the year, followed by a 45 degree day and pulling in your driveway to be greeted by....

FROSTY!!

maybe if our snowman can find 'magic in that old bills cap they found' we could lend it to our home team next year and maybe find ourselves in a winning season! but i wont hold my breath, because poor Frosty only lasted one day before he turned into a puddle and two branches on the driveway!

just thought i'd share...these are the fun things Frank does with the boys while i'm at work!  its so good for them that they at least have one fun parent!  although, they did "help" make the cutout dough with me tonight for bakefest 2009 at our parents house tomorrow - on the menu this year...cinnamon chip biscotti, lemon pudding cookies, cream cheese cutouts, peanut butter cup cookies, m&m cookies, oatmeal toffee cookies, snowballs, seed cookies, peanut butter bars...just to name a few!

Wishes...

It seems as though the theme for the Christmas season in the retail world this year is "12 days of wishing" and today i have been blessed enough to say that all the things i could have wished for this year, actually came true!

Frank and I closed on our house today!!  its a process we have been pursuing since march of this year and now just in time for christmas, we are once again proud homeowners!  the whole process was so smooth - although not stress free, but it all worked out better than we could have imagined and i give all thanks to God and to those who have been praying for us along the way.  Many of you know of the snags we had been coming up against the last few months and by the grace of God, the way was paved and we have reached the new starting point!

I can't say that this is something i put much thought into from my own heart, 3 years ago when we decided to stay in the house and buy it from Beth, but today - now that we have closed on it, i am feeling something special about the idea of raising my boys in the house their dad grew up in! How awesome, really... and in all truth, this house is perfect for us!  we would have never found this perfect of a situation if we had looked elsewhere, so i believe it to be just one more confirmation that God always has a plan and although we may not understand it right from the start, we have to trust in Him and just go with it.  He knows what He is doing way better than i ever do!

i would love to try and pretend/promise that i could bring you all up to date since my last posting, or even to say that i will still go back and finish the posts from our vacation - but lets be real - i dont think i can even remember what i did last week...so i will try to become more consistant again. a new year is coming and i really would love to keep up my blog again, so that i do have something to look back at when i get to a time in my life when i have the time to remember where the years went! i make no promises, but i can say...the more that hold me accountable to daily blog postings the better your chances are to getting one!  i love a challange, but sometimes i need a reminder!

I hope each and everyone of you is enjoying the beginnings of this holiday season and i hope you are all feeling as wonderfully blessed as we are this year!  God is good and with him, life is amazing!