Merry Christmas

The best part of Christmas for me, was just having all six kids home. Nathan is still in the Marines, Emma is living with our niece in Fresno and busy with wedding plans, Mark is in San Luis Obispo. I miss hearing the laughter and screams of anguish over Sorry cards being drawn, sending an opponent back to start,. Or the positioning of who is going to get to sit in the back of the Suburban or next at the opposite end of the dinner table from their Dad.

They love to say that I made their favorite foods, because they are the favorite, but they know the truth- they are all my favorite. Spending a few days together was a treat I will remember long after the Christmas decorations have been taken down and cookies consumed.

Hope your family spent time together and remembered to think about the baby born in a Bethleham under the glow of starlight, visited by wisemen and shepards and eventually changed the world.

From our family to yours.....Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

Tis the gift...

We just finished our holiday baking! Dipped apricots, fudge, gingerbread men and sugar cookies. Flour and sugar were everywhere while Christmas tunes played in the background. The funnest thing we made was something the kids saw in a Family Fun magazine. A cute pretzel snowmen. They decided we should make them for teachers and friends.

I am sure that the recipients will be delighted at the whimsical snacks, but the real joy was in spending the day in the kitchen together. Long after the cookies are gone, the laughter will linger.

Take time to make a memory.

yo-yos and a good attitude

Last month was a blur.
It seems like tons of little things and a few big things crowded onto my calender. I can chose which of two ways to react. The first and most tempting is to freak out, stess out and reach for the nearest morsel of chocolate I can get my hands on. The second reponse is to re-balance and ask what really matters in life.
Is the stress really worth it and will it really matter in five years?
Take my favorite brown dress for example. I love that Land's End article and could have screamed at myself when I realized I had dripped a few spots of wax down the front. I did the standard iron it out attempt which worked , for some of it, but seriously it looked like I had just dribbled something down the front of me. So I did what any desparate woman on a tight budget would do. I made yo-yos. I had the fabric and the buttons.And bought a package of garage sale ric-rac.
I did something to improve my situation instead of complain about it. The result was that the dress is even better than before!
Somethings aren't as easy to fix as wax spots on a dress, but we can choose the attitude with which we view the problem. And who knows, maybe with a fresh perspective, a positive attitude and a handful of fabric scraps, things will look a little brighter.