Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop!!!

The Wonderful Simply Stacie, My Wee View, Little Yayas and Stockpiling Moms is hosting a Holiday Gift Giveaway hop and I wanted to get involved with it too! There are over 200 blogs participating in this draw so you will have many chances to win!!

So I am giving away a $25 dollar gift card for Best Buy!! 

For your 1st entry all you have to do is Follow this Blog (via Goggle Friend Connect on the right side)

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Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop!!!

Last Diaper

Well its only a few months later then I had initially planned but at least it's happening.

 Tonight Jaclyn is wearing her last diaper. 

I start toilet training in the morning!

 Saying goodbye to this stage for me is a sad and happy time. 

Sad because it means that my children are no longer babies.

Happy because it means I don't have to change anymore diapers! And because my children are learning to have more independence (this is also a little sad). 

It's times like this when my children are going through another development stage that I am thankful that I take so many pictures of them. I love going back and remembering what they were like as younger children/babies and seeing how far they have come.  It makes me more excited to see what kind of a people they will be when they grow up.

Now back to toilet training, I have to tell you that I am super excited that we are starting this tomorrow. 

Both Jaclyn, mommy and daddy are ready to be done with diapers!

David is also excited for Jaclyn to be out of diapers and wearing underwear. 

I think that David has felt like Jaclyn was left behind because she was still in diapers when the rest of us wear underwear. 

For instance tonight when I took David into the bathroom for his night pee, he said to me "mommy, I'm glad that Jaclyn will be wearing underwear tomorrow and not diapers, because then she can be just like you and me and daddy"

 And then earlier when David was saying goodnight to Jaclyn he told her "Jackie, when you have to go pee or poo on the toilet you tell me and I will help you in the bathroom and call mommy for you, OK". Jaclyn responded with "OK David, thanks"

I have a feeling that toilet training Jaclyn is going to be a bit of a family ordeal.

Last Diaper

snow, snow, snow!

This is what I woke up to this morning and it is still snowing

View from my front window

 My front entry way

 My backyard

I know that it is cold and it means that we all have to wear more layers of clothes and that the roads are not always the best for traveling but I love snow.

I love the way that it looks and how it brightens up the trees! I also love that sometime I get snowed in, its a great reason to stay home and play with my kids or catch up on some reading with a cozy blanket and cup of hot tea!

snow, snow, snow!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I just love Christmas!!

I start to play Christmas music on November 1st and then we decorate our house sometime in the last two weeks of November.

Both of my kids love Christmas as well and they start to ask when we can decorate our house even before they hear Christmas music, and even more after they have seen the first snow fall. David has asked us everyday for the last few weeks if today is the day that we will decorate for Christmas.

I am happy that are kids have had such good memories with Christmas and that they get excited about doing things like putting up decorations. This afternoon, after what seemed like the longest wait for my kids, we brought out the decorations. David got home from school and we decorated our tree and our house together as a family.

 My little girl after the tree was up.

 Our Tree

I asked David if I could take his picture with the tree and this is the pose he gave me.

 The kids watching a Winnie the Pooh Christmas movie after decorating.

This week I should be able to finish up my Christmas shopping and start on my Christmas baking. It is amazing how putting up a tree and decorations really feels like the Christmas season has fully come.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Book Review: Then sings my soul

 Is there a festive season of the year that is complete without one of your favorite hymns? Not only do hymns connect you to great memories, but they also reveal the faith of those who lived throughout history. As Robert Morgan explored the stories behind some of the best-loved hymns, he found fascinating accounts of tribulations, triumphs, struggles, and hope - ordinary people who connected with God in amazing ways, sharing their experiences through song.  Taken of the back of the cover of Then Sings My Soul

A lot of people sing songs without paying attention to the words. I have always been someone who likes to know the words of the song I am listening to or singing. The book Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan takes singing a song one step further by telling the stories of how and why a song was written and who the author was who wrote the music. This book covers 150 Christmas, Easter and many other favorite hymns.

The layout of this book is where one side has the song lyrics and music and the following page(s) tells the story. Personally I love the way the this book is written, when I am reading a story I can go to the song and read the words as well which makes the story almost more personal for me. When I was growing up I heard a lot of older hymns and I have really enjoyed reading the history of the songs.

For instance, the song Great is thy faithfulness by Thomas Chisholm was given new depth of meaning after hearing of the life of the author.  Having had a life of up's and downs which included sickness, job issues and other troubles, Chisholm discovered faith at age 27, and through the next years began to discover the truths of the bible in scripture.  This was written after reading through lamentations, and though it is not in any way part of a hugely dramatic event, it showed the steady work and faith of someone growing in their faith through many up's and downs.

Although this book is not incredible, it certainly helps to bring added meaning to many songs that we sing, and I would recommend it to any who have a desire to think about what we sing in Church.

I am a member of Thomas Nelson Publishers Book Sneeze program. Thomas Nelson provided me with a free copy if this book in exchange for my review of this book and I am not required to provide a favorable review.

Book Review: Then sings my soul

Potlucks

I love it when our church gets together for potlucks! Just last week we had one of the life groups in our church over for a potluck. It was wonderful getting to know some of the people in our church a little bit better and sharing a meal together.

There were six kids here that were older then David and Jaclyn and they loved having older children wanting to play with them and in their bedrooms. 

At the end of the night, when most of the families were getting ready to go home, our kids were a bit overwhelmed and over tired. To give them a bit of a mellow time we ended up setting the kids up on our bed to have a little quiet time while watching Little Bear. They were so cute we had to take some pictures.
 

Potlucks

My New Hair!

This afternoon I went and had my hair cut and colored. I haven't colored my hair since before Jaclyn was born and for the last year Chris has been cutting my hair. 

So as you can imagine I was a little nervous about how my hair would turn out. 

Before

After

What do you think?

My New Hair!

bed time

My family was asking about Jaclyn's hair and how curly it is now. I thought that this was a good picture to show some of her curl.

I took this picture after the kids decided one night at bedtime that they were going to sleep in our bed.

I just love the faces they make while they are "sleeping"

bed time