my intentional season

Happy Christmas!

So I married an amazing man,

(yes, you are, Bud, so deal with it).

It's true, he is the guy who helps me

put into words the struggles of my heart,

and tries to guide me toward the only One

who can meet me in them and get me out of them.

I am thankful for you, best friend.

After weeks of clinging to anything but the Creator,

I found myself surrounded by answered prayers,

but completely struggling to find joy in them.

So after a slight sob fest,

I bucked up and set my phone alarm to wake up before the little ladies,

and put it to my mind to start my day,

seeking Jesus first.

I opened a devotional where I had already quit mid-read, 

and read the words,

"Are You Running on Empty?"

Yes.

Yes, a thousand times, yes!

It's how I had been feeling for weeks!

After talking about the importance of taking care of yourself,

she began talking about the most important part of self care,

seeking solitude for

recharging and refueling,

or for me, refocusing.

She used examples from Jesus' life,

and ended with Paul's prayer for the Ephesians in his letter.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith --that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know that love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly that all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Ephesians 3:14-21

So, during this season filled with many wonderful gifts,

and after a year full of sorrow and wonderful things,

I hope to continue to seek Him first,

remember His love,

so I can be filled with Him,

and pour that out on my family this season.

I do hope you all have a beautiful Christmas finding the Son,

and remember to MAKE time to find Him, yourself!

I know I will!

**Joy to the world! The Lord has come!**

**Let earth receive her King!**

(incredible photo by Haze Nakai, Thanks Haze, and Happy Christmas!!)

full of Christmas

That was a crazy Christmas!
We drove for miles and miles to arrive at my parents house.
Lots of movies watched, cheerios thrown,
and "Are we in Cincinnati (pronounced Cinsimmatti) yet?" asked.

Upon arriving, it was a blur of a Wedding weekend.
My older sister promised herself to my new brother,
and I couldn't be any happier for them.
It was a beautiful night,
exhausting, but simply beautiful.

Sunday, my sweet mother took Nora girl
to the Nutcracker ballet performed by the Cincinnati Ballet.
The rest of us stayed behind and played games with family 
and snacked on 
truffles (leftover wedding favors) 

and Graeter's Ice Cream.

Tuesday, we saw the movie Frozen,
and absolutely loved it.
We dressed up in our fancy clothes and 
attended the Christmas Eve service at my home church.
Mostly, in the lobby, ha!
It was wonderful to see my childhood friends
and church family.

Christmas day,
my favorite!
I spent most of the night in my daughters' bed due to bad dreams,
and woke up to my 
22 year old brother,
sneaking in at 7:30 to wake up the girls for presents.
(He and his sweet wife stayed at my parents house for more hang out time!)
After waking up everyone in the house,
gifts were torn into,
 squeals and "thank you"s exchanged, 
and then we feasted on pancakes!!
My mother happens to make the best pancakes in the world!

We sat all day by the fire, talking,
watching movies, and resting.
We feasted on peppercorn pork loin, mashed potatoes,
peas and corn, cranberry sauce,
hundreds of rolls,
and chocolate creme pie for dessert!
It took hours for the girls to calm down for bed that night. 
It was perhaps the fault of the 48" Superman
my brother bought for the Cord.
I think they just wanted Christmas to last forever!

uncle bubba and his gift for Cordie

We drove back the next day,
and stopped at Levi's family's new home,
for a couple nights of more feasting and presents.

We have had a whirlwind of a Christmas,
but exchanged so much love,
support and joy,
we feel full,
tired, but full.

I am thankful for you all!

Please bear with me for lack of pictures, I have a new camera and have yet to procure a way to transfer my photos!

Christmas Senses

It's almost here!!

Ahh, I am so excited for this day!

:: Seeing ::

all of our ice and snow melt.
We are glad to be back outside, 
I would still love a white christmas though!

:: Hearing ::

One of my very favorite bands made a Christmas album,

you should give it a listen,

then buy it, 

because it's that wonderful!

 :: Smelling ::

Hot Apple Cider,
my good friend, Devin, showed me an easy recipe
with few ingredients,
and we cannot get enough of it!

 :: Wrapping ::

I have finally found my favorite style to wrap gifts in,
brown butcher paper and colored baker's twine!
I picked up all these fun colors the other day at Hobby Lobby!

Thank you Nana for this gift!

 :: Tasting ::

B U C K E Y E B A R K ! 

recipe pinned from here

20 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate 
 16 oz peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar

melt 10 oz. chocolate in microwave safe bowl 
35 secs at a time, stirring in between.
Once chocolate is smooth,
spread chocolate out on a 
baking sheet lined with parchment paper,
about 1/4 inch thick.
Stick in freezer to firm.

While chocolate is firming up, 
mix peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar well.
Remove chocolate from freezer, 
and spread peanut butter mixture over the chocolate.
Put back in freezer.

Melt remaining chocolate, the same as before.
Once smooth, remove chocolate and peanut butter from the freezer.
Spread the remaining melted chocolate on the peanut butter and stick back in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Remove and use a butcher knife to cut the bark into pieces.

This bark is delicious and great for sharing!

also for sneaking some...and a peek at my dirty kitchen

the weekend I almost died getting donuts

Friday morning, sweet, sickly Sonora woke up to find snow

all over the ground, inches deep and still falling from the sky.

In her raspy voice, she squealed, "It's snowing! It must be my birthday!"

I reminded her that her birthday was after Christmas,

and she said, "So it's Christmas?"

and again, dashing her hopes I replied.

"No."

"Okay, so we are going to be flower girls today! Cordie-"

"No, your Aunt gets married in two weeks."

"So why did Jesus give us snow?"

"Jesus gave us snow so we could be home together,

play in it together, and enjoy this season together!"

And that is just what we did.

We also ate lots of warm, yummy food,
and drank our weight in coffee, cocoa and tea.
I left the house to pick up some donuts on Saturday morning,
and came to realize that our roads covered in ice, ice on ice,
which was quite scary.
But I drove 5 mph around the corner and back,
and for some reasons the donuts tasted so much better than usual.

We also made snowflakes for our house, 
and continued our Nativity story timeline.

Cordie is proud of her first snowflake

Sonora checks the stockings everyday

Pip's favorite spot and lately she likes to accessorize her outfits

What did you do this weekend?

Hello December!

I really really love all that you have to offer,
I just wished you could have spared the nasty cold bug.

And in my sweet Nora's words,
"I hate fevers. Fevers are stupid...
I can say that because everyone thinks so."
I think she just wanted to use the word "stupid".


But we are on the mend,
and the other night we snuck out in our pajamas,
bought a few milkshakes,
and enjoyed the Garden of Lights from our warm car.

story time :: lately Penny just lays her head near her sisters'
it's one of my favorite things.

working on our nativity story timeline

one more look at her first pigtails

I am excited to break out a few more traditions

in the next few weeks.

I love this season!!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?