Belated Birthday Baby!

 

 Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl

You have brought such joy and such unspeakable gladness to this family. God bless your little life and may He continue to protect you and draw you closer to Himself.

Date Night

 

I read blogs written by people I don't know. One of my favorites is Young House Love. The couple who writes that blog wrote a book. Then they came to Houston to sign the books. Andrew and I got dressed up (by dressed up, I mean that Andrew put on a shirt that involved a collar and I wore my hair down), hired a sitter and drove into the big city. We waited in line for a couple hours, but it wasn't too bad. We eavesdropped on the conversations of the people in line around us, as we texted each other comments about what they were saying. The store employees passed out hot chocolate and cookies as we waited. After my book was signed, we had us some deliciousness that is Niko Niko's, and we were home by 11:00.

Date nights are important. We try to get one in at least once a month. They help us like each other more and to have conversations that aren't being listened to by our eldest, who we call Ears McGee.

Happy Date Night to you!

xo
amanda

Gratitude

I read this quote somewhere. I played with it in photoshop, had it printed, and wrapped it up as a Christmas present for Andrew. It will hang in our kitchen, eventually.

My husband is starting his own business. It's a business that has its slow time during the winter months. To say there wasn't as much in the budget this Christmas as in previous years would be an understatement. I really love giving gifts and baking and traveling and decorating . . .  oh, and eating out. As we worked on the budget, my heart got all twisted and upset and kind of angry at the thought of having to do without.

We worked really hard and stayed mostly within the budget we set. I was creative with gifts and decorations. Grammie gave the kids a little extra so they didn't really notice the pinch. God provided Andrew with a couple unexpected jobs.


We spent some time with some relatives who are wealthy. They can afford to pay someone to clean their house, do their laundry, decorate their Christmas trees, get hair and nails done for every social event. I struggled with the idea of spending time with them. I didn't want my heart to be envious. It turns out we had a wonderful time. Having loads of money doesn't mean your life is perfect.

The pinch also allowed me to have some conversations with the kids about Christmas, and Jesus . . . and what Christmas is really about.  We also talked about the relatives and their arcade room, their media room, and the play room . . . and where true happiness comes from. Those things are very, very fun, but they don't satisfy the longing of our hearts.

God has blessed us in unimaginable ways. I am truly thankful for all we have. The above quote is true. Our Christmas was definitely enough, and for that, I am grateful.

xo
amanda

Christmas 2012

Oh, the fortune cookies.

Pictures

Cutting green beans for Thanksgiving dinner.

Watch out!

God's peace with you today.

xo

amanda

Thankful Tree

 Around Thanksgiving week, I printed this free printable from A Holy Experience. Each of the leaves has a scripture about being thankful on it. We cut and wrote and hole-punched and tied string a couple of nights during dinner. We wrote or drew pictures of things we are thankful for on the back of each leaf.

It was sweet to see what the kids came up with. We are very thankful for Heidi and for mommy and daddy. Daddy made one for Elise that said she was thankful for Blankey. Eva was thankful for Elise and Elise is apparently thankful for Eva, too.