Card Player

Although the days inside are long during the winter, there is one thing that I love about these colder months. We have a home that is freezing downstairs so we are driven to live a lot of our time upstairs in the coziness of our master bedroom (if we had a kitchen up there I don't think we'd ever leave). Part of our room is like a sitting area so I've created it to be a game and puzzle area for all of us to enjoy--and enjoy it we do!

The problem with this area of our house though is that with all of those puzzles and games--all of the pieces explode on a regular basis. So this year for Christmas, I gave myself a $30 gift of organization and tackled that particular area of our home. I am so glad I did because we have spent a large portion of our vacation time doing my favorite winter activity...playing board games and doing puzzles. We can now see the forest for the trees and the kids can clearly see the "homes" of each item. The older kids have been having a "Clue Fest" and playing detective. The younger ones have been playing "Guess Who" and being junior detectives.

In the midst of all of this game playing though has been Daughter of Purpose trying to figure out what's going on. The other night I finally landed on a game that she could play and she is now so delighted to play along with us--especially with her handy card holder. Now she can be her own team instead of having to be on Mommy or Daddy's team for a more complex game. It's like a junior Uno or Winnie the Pooh Uno. It's perfect for her color, number and matching skills. Here is a picture of the happy card player that can now join in on a winter family tradition.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Tomatoes

Never have a met such a child as Daughter of Purpose. You see we are not a tomatoe kind of family, but yet Daughter of Purpose regularly walks around the house with a snack bag full of cut up tomatoes as a snack. Since tomatoes just don't make it onto our menu, I'm not quite sure how I figured it out, but she absolutely loves them. They are like candy to her. Even though in the past I never bought tomatoes, they have become a regular thing for me to buy since I really can't complain about her snack choice!

Just the other night, Daughter of Purpose went to the grocery store with me. In the produce section we stumbled upon "grape tomatoes." I had no idea they existed, but if you were in that part of the store with us, you would've thought she'd won the lottery! She even came up with a plan of how to get her siblings to eat them with her because she knows she is alone in her love of tomatoes in our home. She decided that I should serve them up as grapes--telling her siblings they were grapes and they would surely enjoy them with her. I didn't have the heart to tell her that they'd probably notice the red color right away and know I was telling a fib!

Well, I got out those grape tomatoes today and she couldn't have been happier.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

The Dress That Keeps on Giving

I need to be sewing my children's Christmas gifts so this is a brief post, but I just couldn't pass it up. Above you will see some very special dresses on our girls. They wore then today for church.

Way back when Nate and I got married, my mother-in-law sewed all of the cumberbuns and ties for our wedding. When Mini-Me was born, she used the scraps from that fabric and created a dress for her. Pretty cool, huh?

A few weeks back, my mother-in-law asked me if I still had that dress because she had an idea. Well frankly, I had forgotten about that dress and I didn't know where it was. I took a gamble and there it was in my cedar chest. Eureka!

Well, guess what? That dress just happens to fit Daughter of Purpose and it gave my mother-in-law another idea. Since there was not enough of the wedding fabric left, she made a complimentary dress for Mini-Me to now wear alongside Daughter of Purpose. I suppose you could say that special dress has now come full circle. That dress is now extra precious to us. I think that when she's done wearing it, I will put it back in my cedar chest to save for my grandchildren. It's the dress that keeps on giving.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Drowning in Christmas

To all of those who are still faithful enough to check this blog:

I confess I am drowning in Christmas. I have not a gift for even one child in my home yet and I still have yet to sew my "ambitious gifts" for them. So the clock is ticking away and I am wondering if my children will get gifts for Christmas or rain checks.

Top this all off with a mommy with a stuffed up nose and a child with croup (probably more will join her ranks) and now you know why I haven't written for awhile. I dare say that I will probably not get a chance to write again until after Christmas--unless hell freezes over--and it is close, but not quite. Okay, so maybe it's not even close, but it sure feels like it to my wimpy self.

So in the meantime, if you're looking for something Christmas-y to read, head on over to my other blog, The Mommy Map, and click on the Christmas label on the right. It will take you to my Christmas thoughts. Merry Christmas!

Procedure Cancellation

Just a quick update...Daughter of Purpose was scheduled to have her procedure done last week, but Shriners had to cancel it to fit in a child with an emergency need. So she has been rescheduled for the end of January. Please continue to pray for her health that she would not be sick for her new date!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."