3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Monday, December 26, 2011

The Christmas Pagent

My husband and I had been happily 

married (most of the time) 
for five years
but hadn't been blessed with a baby.



I decided to do some serious
praying and promised God
that if he would give us a   child,
I would be a perfect mother,
love it with  all my heart
and raise it with His word 
as my guide.



God answered my prayers
and blessed us with a son.



The next year God blessed us 

with another son.


The following year,
He blessed us with
yet another son. 



The year after that we
were blessed with a daughter.



My husband thought we'd
been blessed right into poverty.
We now had four children,
and the oldest was only
four years old.



I learned never to ask God 
for anything unless I meant it
As a minister once told me,
"If you pray for rain,

make sure you carry an umbrella."


I began reading a few verses
of the Bible to the children
each day as they lay in their cribs.. 



I was off to a good start.
God had entrusted me
with four children and
I didn't want to disappoint Him.



I tried to be patient the day
the children smashed
two dozen eggs on
the kitchen floor searching 
for baby chicks.



I tried to be understanding... 

when they started a hotel for

homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours
to catch all twenty-three frogs. 


When my daughter poured
ketchup all over herself and 
rolled up in a blanket to see
how it felt to be a hot dog,
I tried to see the humor
rather than the mess.. 


In spite of changing over
twenty-five thousand diapers,
never eating a hot meal 
and never sleeping for more
than thirty minutes at a time,
I still thank God daily for my children.



While I couldn't keep my promise 
to be a perfect mother -
I didn't even come close...
I did keep my promise
to raise them in the Word of God. 



I knew I was missing the mark
just a little when I told
my daughter we were going 
to church to worship God,
and she wanted to bring
a bar of soap along to
"wash up" Jesus, too.



Something was lost
in the translation when
I explained that
God gave us everlasting life, 
and my son thought it was
generous of God to give
us his "last wife."



My proudest moment came
during the children's
Christmas pageant.



My daughter was playing Mary,
two of my sons were shepherds 
and my youngest son was a wise man.
This was their moment to shine.



My five-year-old shepherd
had practiced his line,
"We found the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes." 



But he was nervous and said, 
"The baby was wrapped
in wrinkled clothes." 



My four-year-old "Mary" said,
"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. 

That's dirty, rotten clothes."


A wrestling match broke out
between Mary and the shepherd
and was stopped by an angel,
who bent her halo and lost 
her left wing. 



I slouched a little lower
in my seat when Mary
dropped the doll representing
Baby Jesus, and it bounced
down the aisle crying, 
"Mama-mama." 



Mary grabbed the doll,
wrapped it back up
and held it tightly as
the wise men arrived.



My other son stepped forward
wearing a bathrobe 
and a paper crown,
knelt at the manger 
and announced,
"We are the three wise men,
and we are bringing gifts
of gold, 
common sense

and fur."


The congregation
dissolved into laughter,
and the pageant
got a standing ovation. 



"I've never enjoyed a Christmas 
program as much as this one,"
laughed the pastor, 
wiping tears from his eyes 



"For the rest of my life,
I'll never hear the
Christmas story without
thinking of 
gold, 
common sense 
and fur."



"My children are my pride 
and my joy and my greatest
blessing," I said as I dug
through my purse for an aspirin.

author - Unknown

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Look who we caught in our living room

Create your Santa captured in your home next Christmas HERE, you can also catch other Holiday Legends like the Easter Bunny OR the Tooth Fairy. Have fun creating a magical moment for your kiddos. 

Merry Christmas!

We pray you are having a wonderful Christmas Weekend!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Goal #1 for 2012

I saw this beautiful room on Pinterest, besides loving the headboard and the earth tones in the room, I also LOVE the bench at the foot of the bed and it INSPIRED me.

I have a hopechest at the foot of our bed that I got when I was 16.  At the time I loved the style of it (and I still do) but it kind of locks me into a country style in my room and I would love to update its look without changing it.



















So I am thinking I would love to get some burlap or tan linen and make a cover like this along with a foam cushion under it to give it some POOF.



















So goal #1 for 2012 is to MAKE THIS! Have you started making your goal list for 2012?

Saturday, December 17, 2011

SMART ideas from Pinterest

I think this is an amazingly genius idea for kids OR even creating a bed worktable for my laptop and I love the color choices in the ones pictured.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Decorations

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner for Show us Your Life - Christmas Decorations, a' la mode Holiday Home House Tours, and the Blue Eyed Bride for Oh What Fun today.  I am linking up my three previous posts about our Christmas decor here in Cole Land :-)  BAD Mommy I still have to post the boys bedroom decorations, but I didn't get their stuff done until 2 days ago and we have been going going since then.  You should head on over and link up too with these lovely ladies.
You can take a tour of our home decked out with our Christmas decor HERE
You Can see my previous post about our Main Christmas Tree HERE
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and you can see Rachel's room all decorated in White, Pink & Aqua for Christmas HERE
Hop on over to Kelly's Korner, Blue Eyed Bride, and a' la mode and link up a post about your Christmas Decorations.

Friday Blog Hop

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Mama to 4 Blessings and Melissa at Home Grown Families! They invite us to join them every Friday to make more blog friends!

It's very easy to join in on the fun!
Add your main blog (PLEASE DO NOT LINK UP GIVEAWAYS) link (they ask that you please follow the hostesses in the first 2 spots (Mama to 4 Blessings & Home Grown Families.) Then leave us a quick comment letting us know you are following.
Then start blog hopping!
This is a great opportunity for you to visit other blogs on the link up and comment on their blogs! When people comment on your blog please let them know that you are part of Friday Blog Hop then return the favor and follow them back! Please grab their Friday Blog Hop button and add it to your blog and spread the word!
Please only enter your MAIN blog link and please G rated links ONLY - NO CURSING.  Home Grown Families and Mama to 4 Blessings are family friendly blogs.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Drive through Bethlehem

Wednesday we went to Brice's Creek Bible Church annual Drive through Bethlehem, we didn't like skipping church but our week has been so busy and Thursday night (the last night of the presentation) is Jon's preschool program.  The "town" really got hit bad this year when hurricane Irene came through, but they have done an amazing job rebuilding and improving the drive through experience.  They not only have pretty amazing costumes and sets, but they have LIVE animals and the boys LOVE seeing and touching them through the car windows.  Here is our Bethlehem tour.

Long car line, we waited almost 45 minutes before we got into "town"
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The Roman guard greeted the kids
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Houses that Inspire

I haven't done this in a while here on my blog, but I do it all the time . . . . . drive by houses and dream.  There is a community near us called Carolina Colours.  Carolina Colours is inspired by vibrant, historic coastal towns with a genuine sense of community. Sidewalks and bike paths connect diverse residential neighborhoods with Brice Creek, Carolina Lake and the Towne Lawn & Park. The Activity Campus features the social Pavilion, Golf Course and planned Pro Shop/Swim/Tennis/Fitness Recreation Centre. To service life's daily needs, a Retail Towne Centre is planned for the future.

I have fallen in love with this community and love driving through it all the time to see it's sidewalked lined streets and neatly manicured lawns.  They truly have planned a diverse style of neighborhoods available within the whole of the Carolina Colours campus.  My favorite is the Bayberry Park neighborhood.  I think I love it the most because the homes are on smaller lots yet still provide lots of space within their floorplans.  The size of the lots make it much easier to maintain, and this type of neighborhood is attractive to couples with small children especially those affiliated with our Marine Corp. base because of spousal deployments.  With David being a former marine and working still on the base, military families mean new friends and a way to help a neighbor during deployments, of course service person or not, we would make friends with our neighbors, HA.

This is the current house I love.
Simple from the outside with a nice inviting porch on the front, and LOTS of space on the inside.
I know this may be hard to see, click on the picture for a closer look OR go HERE to view the listing.  Here are the things I love about this house:

  • Study at the front of the house with large window (potential studio for me to work from home)
  • Divided floor plan with the kids rooms on one side of the house and the Master on the other
  • Open floor plan for the main living space
  • Bonus space has a full bath so it could be used as a guest space and a family room
  • The molding details throughout the house
Here are the things I am not in love with about this plan:
  • Master Bathroom, not a very nice layout
  • Wish it had a walk-in Pantry (but for this size house I guess this one is OK)
  • I would want the door to the Laundry/Pantry space to be moved so the Laundry room felt larger
A few pictures from inside the house, wish there were more but this is all they have.
 
 
 
A girl can dream can't she?  :-)

Listing Price:  $299.900
Heated Sq. Feet:  2,277
Bedrooms:  3
Bathrooms:  3
Study
Bonus Room
2 Car Garage

Wordless Wednesday

Our Christmas Card

I linked up with Walk with me by Faith
(bad screen shot, it looks much better in person)

We did a family photo shoot on a beach near our home a few weeks ago.  It was quit the event taking the boys on a beach with easy access to water.  We warned them before we even left the car to stay out of the water, HA. We might as well have said JUMP IN THE WATER! My niece Hilary helped us out with the photos I was in and I took the individual shots of the boys.  IN the end the boys not only got into the water, they got in on our romantic shot, which of course is just like what happens around the house so it became a part of the Christmas card.  I love the end result of our photos and the card, but it sure took a lot to get the ones I love, LOL.  We selected a design with a little more whimsy this year because we thought it was more fitting of where we were and are in life with the kids.

I pray that you have as much fun making your family photos and sending out your Christmas wishes!

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Ornament Exchange Part II

Last month I joined up with Leah over at The Imperfect Momma for the Christmas Ornament Exchange and today I got my special package in the mail from my partner Kim from A Wish for Her.  She did such a wonderful job selecting ornaments for our tree that fit in with our green & red color scheme and she even included a bonus ornament for Rachel's tree.
 I love the playfulness of this Merry Christmas sign ornament.
 Kim even considered how important the TRUE meaning of Christmas is to us and picked out this red glitter cross ornament.
and this is the adorable Pink dress ornament that Kim picked out for Rachel's tree.
Thank you Kim and Ashley we love our ornaments!

Believe

What does Believe mean to you this time of year?
This season of the year this word gets used a lot . . . . .
Sometimes it is used in a way that is very specific . . . . . .
Other times it is used in a way that is more vague and leaves room for interpretation . . . . . .
And sometimes it is right on target and points to the reason we celebrate . . . . .
But the reason we celebrate isn't really about the BABY . . . . . . . it's about Him being our Savior
and us declaring the news to all.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, 
who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

White Christmas for Our little Princess


Welcome to Rachel's White Christmas
Christmas decor in Rachel's room
Rachel's Christmas Tree
 
 
One of the Nutcracker ornaments added to her tree this year in honor of our trip to see the Nutcracker with the New Bern Ballet Company this Sunday.
 
 I bought this Nutcracker before Rachel was born and before I was ever pregnant in hopes of one day hoping to have a girl.  Little did I know I would not only get my Pink Princess in Rachel, but that we would see the Nutcracker for the first time together.
 
 
 
 
 the other Nutcracker ornament I bought for Rachel's tree this year
Rachel's tree at night
 
You can see our main Christmas Tree in our living room HERE
&
The Christmas decor around our House HERE