Christmas Pictures

Christmas Pictures

I am linking up with Coutney at Women Living Well for "Women Living Well Wednesdays."

 

Christmas Day after church we decided to have a photo shoot around the Christmas tree. (It was part of our Christmas Bucket List.) Once I figured out the right setting for my camera to take good pictures in the living room we had fun. Have I mentioned how hard it is to take good pictures in this house? Well it is!

All parental rights were terminated on the 19th for the kids, so they are "free" for adoption now. I say "free" because before court on the 19th we were told that they would get things done quickly and we can have the kids adopted early next year. On the 22nd the kids and I went to pick up some gift that their biological mother had dropped off with their worker. While we were there and she was doing her "monthly" visit, she mentioned that there are only two adoption workers in the Northern part of our state, so it was going to take "awhile." Not that the fact that the kids have been in care for over 2 years means anything to them. I guess...

Anyways, all of that to say that legally we can post pictures of the kids now, but I think I will wait awhile, if not until the adoption is final. Just in case.

So here are some of the pictures...

Did I mention that we got a real tree this year and that it sheds like CRAZY!

The ones that show their faces are so good! But they will just have to wait.

The kids have been with us for 1 year and 2 days. S said something about them being here for a year today, and M said "So were Perry's now!"

I wish it was that easy!

Christmas 2011

I was going to post some pictures that we took earlier today of the kids around the Christmas Tree, but since I just forfeited a game of Monopoly so we can go to bed, I will wait until tomorrow! We had a great Christmas Day. One of the first that we get to spend with the kids hopefully. Derreck wasn't here. He is still at work, but was and is GREATLY missed by me at least. I hope and pray that one say the kids will get to the point that they really and cruelly, deep down miss Derreck or me when we are gone, even if it's only one day. Right now they could care less, and honestly that hurts both of our feelings. I miss that man when he is gone, especially around holidays when all I want to do is be with him!

Our family would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas from Louisiana and Pennsylvania!

Christmas Home Tour

Christmas Home Tour

I am linking up with Kelly from Kelly's Korner for her 2011 Christmas Home Tour! Since my husband hasn't gotten to see all of our wonderful decorating yet, I figured this would be great. So Derreck grab a nice hot cup of coffee (let's pretend I was there to bring it to you) and enjoy!

I wanted to make a wreath like this one to put on my front door or somewhere on my porch, but considering my fall wreath didn't make it 5 minutes I decided I would just leave this one at our store to sell. The reason my fall wreath didn't make it is...

Nimrod! Nothing is safe around him!

So I have this hanging on my front door





Simple but still cute.

As you walk in the front door you are greeted with garland and lights done by I. These are very pretty unless the kids have decided that they need to sit something on there and have knocked it off. :)

You will also see our stockings hanging up. Since Derreck and I didn't have matching stockings to begin with and we needed three more this year, I bought all new ones and the total cost was $5.00, nice, huh?

The angels that are above the stockings were suppose to be for The Sisters of the Lord ladies, but a lot forgot them the other night. So they are still there, waiting to be transferred to the tree handed out.





This is the fire place insert all decorated up. It has my nativity scene, the pumpkins that we glittered up and some candles! (The pumpkins were pretty and fun for the kids to do, but super messy!)

The piano that we moved into the living room, with some of our cards above it.



Derreck's table beside his chair. M and S decorated this themselves!

The coffee table, with no candles in the candle holders. (I keep forgetting to pick up some tea light candles.) Maybe next year!

This is on the kitchen table. If you look real close on the left side a lot of the red berries are turning white. I wander if M sitting there for meals has to do anything withe that?

I couldn't think of any where else to put my churches this year except for in my china cabinet. I absolutely love this though! I think it is my favorite part of the decorations! The family Bible is in the center and turned to Luke 2.

Finally our Christmas tree. We got a real tree this year, that I am told smells wonderful. It is really pretty though. Very full and even came with a cocoon that moths had recently came out.  Yes the kids and Joshlyn and Lyrica strung popcorn this year. Once again this was very messy, but they loved it.  









I also have a few hand made ornaments this year made from the kids! I have only one other ornament that was made by a kid and that was from Kody a few years ago. I am planning on doing a post of each ornament that they have made this year. If you don't like handmade ornaments, you might want to skip that post, because I have decided that I am loving them! (9 years is a lot of Christmas's to go with no "kid" friendly ornaments!)

Every year Derreck and I pick out an ornament for us to go on the tree. (I think I will do a post on these also!) Since Derreck wasn't home when this one got picked, I took a picture.



We also rearranged the living room, so here is a picture of it. The piano is on the other side of the tree.

This was a gift from Mrs. Debbie from church and is hanging on the back door for now. It's really pretty, I just haven't found the perfect place for it.

This is a flower that I received from one of my Sisters of the Lord the other night. Very pretty!



These beauties are also blooming out above my kitchen sink!

So there you have it. Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Card 2011

Christmas Card

I love Christmas Cards! But not too many of my friends do. Slackers I usually hate to check the mail. (Just ask Derreck...I could go for days without checking it, if it weren't for him!) Derreck likes the sales sheets/papers (which ever you prefer) and the catalogs and even everyday mail. I do NOT like this stuff. To me it is all junk, or work. It fills up my handy dandy binder, it fills up my mail organizer that Derreck made me, it even fills up the trash cans. It never stops!

But come December, I like to check the mail in hopes that I will get some Christmas cards! Last year I only got three. Very depressing if you ask me. I might need to find some new friends.  I even saved those cards, just in case I didn't get very many this year, so I would have some to display. Crazy, huh? I told you it was depressing!

Anyways I have received more this year already than what I received last year, but only three have officially came in the mail. However, I do have more than last year!

So Faith over at Walk With Me By Faith is hosting a Christmas Carousel. This is so fun. I wish I had time to look at every one's cards. I have looked at a couple, but not many. I did notice that the majority ALL of the cards that I did look at were family photo pictures. Ours is not!

One reason being that we wouldn't be able to "legally" put the kids pictures on the card until after we adopt them. And another reason being...I hate pictures. There are very few pictures of my husband and me since we were married. (There are more of us at our wedding than any other!) I will say this though...I have seriously been considering a family photo, but I have decided to put it off until the adoption is final. Then we can send every a family photo that they can crumple up in their kitchen drawers  hang on their wall.

Since we didn't do a family photo card, I can safely and "legally" put our card on here though!

So here it is...

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him"

"May the light of Christ guide you in the coming year."

"Have a very Merry Christmas"

 "When they saw  the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."

Matthew 2:10

I was looking for a way to hang the Christmas cards that I was hoping to get this year, and found a simple way. I just take paper clips, tie just a little bit of ribbon to them and viola...

Something to hold the cards to a pretty piece of ribbon, that you can hang any where you wish!

I hung mine in the living room, on a bare wall. ( I had really high hopes on the number of cards I would be getting this year!) See I have gotten quite a few so far. A few of the cards pictured here are Birthday Cards, but since my birthday is in December, I say why not include them too! (I also misplace one card that I received on Monday Night at our Sister's of the Lord Meeting. I am sure it will turn up somewhere.



The Nativity Story via Facebook

The Nativity Story - The Facebook Way

I bet if Mary and Joseph were alive and the miracle of Jesus was to happen in today's time this is how it would get told throughout the world. Too bad Jesus isn't spread as much as other gossip and slander is on Facebook. It can be such a great tool for God but there are so many dangers, that everyone should watch out for. But that's a different topic all together!

Enjoy:

Christmas Bucket List

Christmas  Bucket List

Two thousand and eleven

Make Ornaments     Drink Hot Cocoa

        Go Caroling    See a live Nativity

 Have a photo-shoot in front of Tree

             Make Gingerbread Cookies

 Decorate pumpkins to look like ornaments

 Go on 2 Dates            Bake Pies

Go to Natchitoches to see Fireworks

Drive around looking at Lights

Christmas Play  Christmas Dinner

Exchange gifts  Do kind deeds

Send out Christmas Cards

Get special ornament  decorate tree

Decorate the outside of house

 Play Christmas music and board games

Birthday Week

So Monday was my Birthday. I turned 28. Crazy to even think that, because I definitely don't feel "that old"! I had a great day that day, under the circumstances. I did recieve some pretty Roses from Derreck! I'm telling you this man is GOOD! He always makes me feel so special on my birthday, even if he is hundreds of miles away! Thank you Derreck, and I love you!

 

(This isn't the greatest picture, it was taken with my phone. They are so much prettier in person!)



My friends dad passed away early Sunday morning, so I was getting food for the family and helping out as needed.

The truck ended up getting stuck in our yard, but not because of anything that I did (just so you know!) We have been blessed lately with some rain, and I guess others just aren't use to mushy grounds and big trucks.

I also let my purse (with money in it) in a neighboring town that is about 40 minutes from our house. Swell right. Didn't realize it until we pulled up and I was instructing kids on getting everything out of the truck.

So I had to go back to get my purse the next day. I also found out that one of our friend's house burned the night before. She has four small kids with the oldest being four. Did I mention they are all small kids! They pretty much lost everything that they owned. To say that they need prayers is an understatement. (They also need to come to know the Lord personally!)

So the funeral was Wednesday and the burial site was about 25 minutes away from where the services were held. I attended both, and was on my way home when I received a call from my friend who just buried her dad. A tree has fallen in front of their car as they were driving down the road and they couldn't avoid it. So their car is possibly totaled. They need prayers also of course!

It has been a crazy week...

You never know when your time is going to be up...

You never know...

Only God does...

So we should strive to walk daily in His path of righteousness!

Flat Stanley & Our Thanksgiving Trip (Day 6)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Dear Tyler,

       We headed home today. But instead of driving across all of them states again we decided to FLY! Yep Flat Stanley got on a plane.

       We left the Scranton, Wilkes-Barre airport around 3:50 p.m. We then arrived in Atlanta, Georgia a little before six. We left Georgia about 8:00 p.m. While we were flying to Louisiana from Georgia we hit some turbulence and Flat Stanley’s stomach didn’t really like it! But we got to see lots of Christmas light from the sky!

       We arrived in Louisiana and then drove home. Today Flat Stanley leaves on another road trip with Cassie! I think he is really excited to see you!

       We have really enjoyed our time with Flat Stanley, and I hope that one day you can see the things that he saw. Maybe one day you can come visit and we can all go on a trip together! Wouldn’t that be fun? Like I said, “The more kids you have, the more fun!”

                                                       God Bless,

                                                       Aunt Gin-Gin

Flat Stanley & Our Thanksgiving Trip (Day 5)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Dear Tyler,

       Today we went to Hershey’s Chocolate World! It was sooo Sweet! First we got to make our very own chocolate bar. You could pick what you wanted in it! Then you got to see how it was made. You even got to design your own wrapper for you bar! Since it was a real factory, we didn’t get to take any pictures of Flat Stanley and he couldn’t make his own. He was a little upset, but I promised him that the rest would be really fun for him!

       After we finished that, we went to the taste testing room. We learned all about how, chocolate was made and the different tastes of the chocolates that they make. Flat Stanley really liked the Hot Chocolate that they served!

       Once we were done with the taste testing, we went to watch a 3D movie. This movie was AWESOME! It was about how the Hershey’s Chocolate Factory started. It had real smells, real bubbles, and real SNOW! REAL SNOW fell from the ceiling! Our seats also moved and made noises that went with the movie.

       After the movie, we went on a ride on the fake chocolate river boats, to tour the factory and see how things were done. We had cows singing to us, and got to see all the different steps in the process of making chocolate from some beans!

       Once we finished, it was time to head back to the hotel to do some laundry and get ready to head home tomorrow! I will write tomorrow about Stanley’s adventures in flying!

                                                       God Bless,

                                                       Aunt Gin-Gin

And this makes my 100th post!!!!!

Flat Stanley & Our Thanksgiving Trip (Day 4)

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Dear Tyler,

       HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! We really didn’t do too much today beside drive some more. But we did get to see the Amish communities in Pennsylvania.

       The Amish are people that dress in plain Black and White clothes. They might were different color shirts, but not anything crazy. The girls all wear dress, and the boys all wear pants and hats. They don’t believe in taking pictures, so we couldn’t get any picture of them.

       We took a buggy tour of their town and got to see a real Diary Farm. The Amish people all work really hard. They also don’t have any electricity in their houses. That means no T.V., or lights, or video games! While on the tour we got to talk to a six year old Amish boy, and he was so fun!

       We also learned that the kids in Amish communities start school when they are 6 years old and finish school and start working after their 8^th grade year. It was really neat to see how different they live than what the rest of America lives.

       I have some really exciting news! Before we left on our buggy tour, Flat Stanley found a girlfriend! Her name is Flat Olivia and she was from California! Isn’t that funny… even a flat guy can find him a girl!

       While driving in Pennsylvania, we got to drive through tunnels that went through the mountains! Flat Stanley really enjoyed this. It reminded him of going in the caves the other day! We finished the day off by driving a little more. I will continue tomorrow with a sweet adventure!

                                                       God Bless,

                                                       Aunt Gin-Gin

I had a few more pictures, but the kids were in them, so I couldn't post them!

Flat Stanley & Our Thanksgiving Trip (Day 3)

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Dear Tyler,

       Today we continue our adventures! We planned on going to the Creation Museum, but we had to wait for it to open. Since we were so close to some other state lines we drove into Ohio, and Indiana! We were right by all three states, so why not!

       Now back to the Creation Museum…It’s really neat. This museum is all based on what the Bible says has happened. Everything…including how the world was made. We got to see a Planetarium show, where you see lots of stars on the roof and it explained about our Universe and all the galaxies that surround it. It was really neat to see how little Earth is compared to stars. And God made it all!

       We then went through the museum part and saw all the life like people from the Bible. We saw Adam and Eve. Flat Stanley took a picture with them and with the Tree of Life! We also saw Methuselah, who was the oldest man in the Bible, he was 969 years old when he died! That is really old!

       We also saw Noah building the ark with his sons. They are building a real Noah’s Ark somewhere around the museum, but since they aren’t done; we didn’t get to see that!

       After we finished the tour, we got back to DRIVING!! We headed towards the Amish communities in Pennsylvania. While driving there we crossed into West Virginia and on into Pennsylvania! But soon after we started to get tired, so we pulled over to get some rest. I will write more tomorrow after we explore the Amish!

                                                God Bless,

                                                Aunt Gin-Gin

Flat Stanley & Our Thanksgiving Trip (Day 2)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Dear Tyler,

       Our adventures continued again today! They first began with guess what….

MORE DRIVING!!! We drove through Tennessee and on into Kentucky.

       Our first stop of the day wasn’t planned, but who can pass up a HUGE dinosaur on the side of the road! We ended up at Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky. They had tons of life like dinosaurs to look at, and take pictures with! We even got to dig for fossils. Guess what Flat Stanley found…. A real shark’s tooth! He was so excited.

       Flat Stanley was also caught joking around today. When we went to go into the bathroom at Dinosaur World, we found Flat Stanley acting like the bathroom man that you see before you go into the restroom. You know the one that tells you if you are going into the boys or girls room! At least he didn’t act like he was the girl!

       After we finished with the dinosaurs we drove a little bit more to go spelunking, which is cave exploring! It was really neat to go inside a mountain, yep a REAL mountain! Flat Stanley was really hard to take pictures of underground. But I think we got a few good ones! The cave guide even recognized Flat Stanley! How neat is that! Flat Stanley also took a picture with a deer!

       After we finished with the cave we drove some more, so that we would be closer to what we want to do tomorrow! We got a hotel room and got some much needed rest! I will continue our adventures tomorrow.

                                                God Bless,

                                                Aunt Gin-Gin