2011 Annual Christmas Letter

Greetings to all my friends and family!
I do not know which annual letter this is for us...I can't remember when we started a letter...maybe the year we got married or maybe it was after E-Pie was born.  It seems like yesterday that I wrote the last one. So much growing is happening here in our home.

My little man turned 3 this June and we had a big celebration to kick it all off. But this birthday was different from any that we have had before. In lieu of gifts for C-Bear this year, he asked his friends to make a donation to help provide relief for the victims of the tornado disasters in Alabama. I was really surprised that C-Bear was willing to forgo presents for himself so that he could help others, but I am one proud mama! (more about the party.)

We took a little drive up to Maine in July to visit brother-in-law and his family. We stayed almost 2 weeks which included traveling time. It was so much fun to spend time with them. The kids had such a blast playing with their cousins. It was like no time had passed from the time they saw them last. They just picked up where they left off. I love the closeness that they share even though we live 18 hours away. We definitely feel blessed to have family we LOVE to spend time with. And it doesn't hurt that my sister-in-law is an AWESOME photographer! She definitely has an eye for taking great pictures. (More about Maine.)

We traveled to Minnesota in August to celebrate K's grandmother turning 100! It was really nice visiting with family, and I am glad the kids got to meet their Great-Grandmother. We got to see the Mainers again and E-pie got to celebrate her 5th birthday (yes, I know she is growing up way too fast) with her cousins at the Mall of America. (More about Minnesota)

The summer of travels ended with a family trip that included my side of the family in Destin, Florida during a hurricane storm. I wanted to start an annual family trip with large extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, and parents. We decided to rent a house for Labor Day weekend. It was a good thing that the house was beautiful and comfortable because we spent most of the weekend sequestered inside due to the inclement weather. I am not going to let this discourage me from planning another one next year. It was kind of nice to be stuck together and begin and end our day together.

We adopted a new member into our family this summer. Spanky came to us from friends at church. God must have heard my many pleas to get the perfect dog for our family because he is certainly that.

I got to take a fun girls' trip (sans family) out to California to visit a close friend before she had her first baby. It was so much fun to travel around and see sights, eat yummy food,  and just hang out with my girlfriends. (More about my trip.) Well, from this trip spurred a desire to run a 5K race (which is a little more than 3 miles for those who don't do metric). Running with a friend definitely makes running more bearable. Although,  I think I am allergic to running, because I sneeze uncontrollably after most runs. Regardless, I am happy to report that I can mark running a 3K off my list of things to do in life even if it took me 38 minutes.

We celebrated our 9th anniversary this year! I cannot believe I have been married to the man of my dreams for 9 years!!! God certainly knew what he was doing when he put us together. I truly feel blessed and honored to have K as my husband, best friend, and better half.

Homeschooling continues to be going well. I cannot say how blessed I am to have this opportunity to teach my own children. I never thought I had enough patience to be doing this but God has given me many opportunities to practice this skill. E-Pie and C-Bear amaze me in their capacity to learn. We have lots of fun when we get together with other homeschooling friends. Most of all, I love being able to spend time with my children in an unhurried way. C-Bear and E-Pie both tried T-ball this summer and both enjoyed it but I think E-Pie still prefers her dancing. She started taking ballet at Perimeter Church this year and has enjoyed it so far. E-Pie has also started taking piano lessons from our neighbor and is doing very well. C-Bear is trying out soccer and has enjoyed it.

This year has been another blessed one for our family. I am thankful everyday for all that God has provided for us. Our small group from church has been a big part of our lives this year as we spend time growing closer to God, delving deeper into His words, and serving others. It is such a joy to know each day how much He loves each one of us. We wish that your year has been a joyful one and we pray that the new year will bring you the gift of faith, the blessing of hope, and the peace of His love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!

~H

Counting down the days to Christmas!

It's December!!! This month always seems to fly by because there is something going on everyday...well, of course there's schooling. We have activities with church, families, and friends. Don't get me wrong. Although, it is a busy time, I really enjoy most everything we do (shopping not so much...online shopping this year!). I love the enthusiasm that my kids are experiencing especially when it comes to helping others during this time. I love visiting with friends and family...sharing meal or just cookies and a chat. I love the togetherness that happens during the holidays. 


We are doing our Advent Calendar of activities again this year. I made this last year and inside each little box (made from holiday cards that we have received from years past) is a little treat for each of the kids and an activity that we will do that day. Here is a list of most of the activities that we are planning to do this year give or take a few. I change things around as needed. But unlike years past where I will just "modify" on the spot, this year, I have to actually have the correct paper in the box because a certain someone is starting to read a bit ;)

Buy Christmas tree and decorate
Make a Christmas craft
Bake cookies with friends
Drive around and see Christmas lights
Watch The Christmas Story Movie
Play a family game
Sit by the fire, drink hot chocolate, and read Christmas stories
Open stocking
Celebrate the reason for the season with friends with a Happy Birthday Jesus party
Visit Santa Claus
Make a gingerbread house
Stuff, stamp, and mail our Christmas cards
Watch a Christmas play
Eat snowman pancakes for dinner
Write a letter to Santa
Make Christmas cards 
Bake a birthday cake for Jesus
Make ornaments for our tree
Take a candlelit bubble bath
Have a dinner picnic under the Christmas tree
Stuff stockings for kids in need
Help Mommy wrap presents
Go caroling
Listen to Christmas music and dance
Go to Stone Mountain
Ride a Christmas train
Go ice skating
Visit a live nativity

We added a Jesse Tree this year, too. I heard about it from a friend at church and was very interested so I did some of my own research. I wanted to refocus this Christmas on the reason for this season- Jesus! If you have never heard of the Jesse Tree or want to know more about it, I have compiled a few resources  that I am using or have found interesting. Some include printables.


A Holy Experience
Tired Need Sleep
a Dolce Vita

The Voice

Simple Mom

Catholic Culture

Reformed Church of America

E-pie graciously donated her little tree to become our Jesse Tree.

Day one ornament

We are also doing the Elf on the Shelf. We started last year or maybe it was 2 years ago...I can't quite remember. E-pie named him Dopey since she was really into Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He is not a mischievious elf. He just hides in different places each night...Except when we forget to move him the night before and tell the kids that he must really like that spot since he came back to it after visiting Santa.

Hiding in the barn...E-pie tells us, "I have good news and I have bad news...good news is I found Dopey. Bad news is  he is in our toy."

Dopey heard us reminiscing about one of E-pie's first ornament from her grandparents so he decided to show us he was listening... 

I have read 2 posts regarding Christmas and Santa that I really like:
The Christmas Conundrum by Jen Hatmaker


The Truth About Santa
But, I really don't want to take away from the magic of Christmas because my kids will not be at this stage of believing for very long. I think if we keep our focus on Jesus and not the commercialization of Christmas, we can also keep the magic of Christmas.


Anywho...hoping this season is one filled with joy for you and your family. Our Christmas cards have arrived. I have hopes that they will be mailed out before the New Year ;)
Coming Soon...I will be posting our Annual Christmas letter online this year!


Blessings,
H


PS My links are broken somewhere and not sure how to fix it. Sorry if they are not working for you.

Good-bye 2010 and Hello 2011

Happy New Year to all our friends and family! We hope that 2010 ended joyfully and that 2011 rolled in sweetly for you all. We've been busy but it hasn't been stressful. We started this New Year's off by spending time with Hubby's parents' at their lake-home. So basically, I've started off this year not having to cook or clean but taking it easy and enjoying my family. Granny and I took the kids to watch the movie Tangled on New Year's day before bedtime. E-pie had a grin from ear to ear the entire time, even when she had her jacket over her head to protect her from the suspenseful parts and C-bear enjoyed eating popcorn while sitting on my lap stating to me a few times "Me eat all the popcorn". He sat still and watched the entire movie although at the end he told us he didn't really like it. E-pie told us it was her favorite movie besides Peter Pan. I actually really liked the movie and will purchase it when it's released so that Daddy can see it, too.

Having fun at Granny and Pop's

Poparuski grill-master

Stripey...new porch pet

Enjoying the sunshine on the new front deck

having fun with umbrellas...and no one got their eye poked out :D

We also got to celebrate my grandfather turning 85 years old! He is still pretty active. He could probably beat you at a ping pong game.

Grandfather with grandkids and great-grandkids

Grandfather with his own kids and their spouses.. my parents and aunts and uncles

Why so serious?

I love this picture with my Mom...Hubby forced her to smile ;)

So going backwards...we spent New Year's Eve morning ice skating with the kids for the first time. I had purchased these groupon deals for the Marietta Ice Center awhile back so we finally got to use them. I was a little worried that the kids, especially C-bear, would not want to step foot on the ice. The rental skates were really uncomfortable, but to my surprise, the kids were willing to go out there and hold on for dear life give it a try. Daddy was a little better with his patience quota than Mommy was. We both took turns with each kid. E-pie eventually could scoot along a bit while holding one hand. She told me she wanted lessons. We'll see. There is a closer place to our home so we might give that a place a try to in the near future and see what the kids think about ice skating the second time around. I think Hubby has some dream that one of our kids will play ice hockey. This got me thinking that we could start a tradition of trying something new for our New Year's tradition. We wrapped up the afternoon with some BBQ and getting lost driving around the Alpharetta, Roswell, Milton area.

checking out their surroundings

C-bear before Daddy checks him into the wall

I wanted to start the New Year's off with our house cleared of our Christmas decorations so that's what I planned for the evening. However, the kids and Hubby had better plans- play with the new Legos. I didn't argue and I guess it was wishful thinking on my part. I'm pretty OCD about how everything gets put away anyways but thought I would try to include the family. It was a nice sound in the house...quiet...as I was taking things down and putting them nicely away, they were quietly tinkering, building, and playing. Now all the boxes are in the attic, the tree is in the driveway for recycling, and the house has some available space again :)

We took it easy for Christmas, too. Normally, we host but this year since we hosted Thanksgiving, Hubby requested that we take this holiday off. I agreed since my Mom wanted to host at her new home. No traditional holiday meal but good ole hot pot...yum! If you've never experienced hot pot, it is a must try. We had our house all decorated even the outside this year with wreaths. We were going to do lights outside but never had the time...next year. Christmas Eve we went to our church for their special candlelight service. That night, we all opened one gift under the tree. After getting the kids to bed, Hubby was saddened when he realized that kids had forgotten to set out cookies for Santa. So he set them out so that the kids would find the remains the following morning along with a letter from Santa. While the children slept, the stockings were filled and Santa left the kids some really cool presents beside the fireplace. Granny and Pop visited us on Christmas morning and demanded that I did not cook because she knew that I would spend hours getting everything ready and not be able to enjoy the kids opening their presents. So they brought down lunch. I could get used to this.

excited about their new ride

We spent the day leisurely opening presents and playing with new toys. We got to have Skype with family in Maine. We took naps. We went to dinner at my parents and spent it with my enormous family. The kids got a really nice F150 truck from my parents that they are a little nervous about driving/riding in. E-pie is actually pretty good at maneuvering around in it but is frightened by it's movements. And it SNOWED...on Christmas day!!! How cool is that? The kids got to play in it the next morning.

I like the wreaths but I think our gas bill will be a bit higher this month

snowman made by nieghbor

snow angel made by my angel

snow tractor made by neighbors

surprise attack

got hit herself

Other holiday fun pictures...

making gingerbread cookies with Daddy

Cheese!

my little ballerina

ready for the show

E-pie dancing her winter recital...she did AWESOME!

Snow machine didn't work at the recital so God made real ones ;)

Ten Commandment train ride at the park

decorating  Rice Krispie Treat houses 

E-pie really wants to eat hers

Proudly wearing their Mutt and Company shirts from the Mainers :D

Can't believe E-pie is 4 years old

This was her at 5 months old.

Watching the videos from PNP.com where Santa talks to the kids...very cool!

E-pie is astounded that Santa knows so much about her.

WOW! What a wonderful way to wrap up one blessed year to begin another exciting year of growing spiritually, physically, and mentally. Here is to wishing you and your family a great one in 2011!

~ H