Happenings

This verse stood out to me today.

Psalm 16:7-8 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

If you dare listen to the news or pick up a newspaper, this is a good verse to remember. I WILL NOT be shaken.

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Last night, we had dinner with my sister and her family.

You can't beat $1.49 for a Happy Meal. After dinner, we went to see a live nativity. After waiting in line for about 30 minutes, we found out it would be another 1.5 hours. I'm sure it was wonderful but the children were not going to hold up. We left and went to Santa's house. A precious husband and wife in Apex are opening their home every night through Dec. 23rd, to the public. They have it decorated beautifully, he looks great, and they hand out small gifts to every child. Next door a live handbell choir was playing. It was a real treat.



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I borrowed a super idea from a sweet friend.

Salt dough ornaments are easy to make. The recipe is simply flour, salt and water. The recipe can quickly be found on the internet.

Making salt dough ornaments will be a new tradition in our home.

I was surprised by how cute they turned out. What treasures they will be!

I've included a sample of each family members work.

Bucket's Christmas volcano? yeah...I don't know, either.

Fig's fish (remember, he's only 3)


Mojo's reindeer


Banana's bell...so funky!


Rosebud's Chocolate chip cookie...nothing says Christmas like a Chocolate Chip cookie!

Triple H's Wreath... I was impressed with her sculpting ability.


Scooter's silver snowflake... NICE!


John's "J" for Jesus...always the Spritual leader.



...and my lil red mitten...I'm so proud. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

But I saved this one for last. You see, this is more than a salt dough ornament. This is a spiritual mile marker. Every night, John has led us in an advent devotion. We've had some interesting conversations, but a good bit of the time we are wondering if anything is being caught. After all, some are under the table, a few are wrestling on the side, we even caught the 3 yr old playing with matches. But we perservered. A couple of nights ago we had an interesting discussion about Jesus' statement that we must drink His blood and eat His flesh. Who would have thought that our 7 year old son was actually paying attention?

We asked him what his ornament was supposed to be...

"This is Jesus' blood and skin!" he answered emphatically!

It will definately have a spot on the tree.