Christmas is Coming...

The date on the calendar tells me Christmas is just around the corner but my to do list tells me I need to pick up the pace in order to be ready. Maybe some of you can relate!

As usual, things have been busy over here in our little area of the world. The kids are wrapping up school and they have been studying hard for semester exams this week! They take two a day and let me say that Wednesday at noon can't be here soon enough to end classes for them. I have read over more study guides and now know more about American History and the elements on the periodic table than I think I should.

Last week our church led our first Women's Christmas Luncheon at our local mission outreach that Brian and I work at each month. I had really been prayerful about this and I asked 5 or 6 other women to work along beside me. We had activities for the women and a devotion and then we served them soup and sandwiches and desserts.

It was so much fun and God blessed our time there more than I ever  expected! There were 26 women who attended and I was reminded that God always gives more than we ask or imagine He can do. The Bible tells us over and over again how faithful God is and I saw that by serving these women who are in such desperate need of his faithfulness and love.

This week I hosted my annual cheerleader Christmas party! The girls love to come and eat and play dirty Santa. Our squad is made up of so many unique personalities and all together they make up one fun (and loud) group! I always enjoy spending time with them and they never disappoint me with entertainment...

With exams this week came a break from basketball! We have had two back to back nights at home and it has been wonderful! Our family is caught up on Duck Dynasty and I have been able to do some Christmas baking and cooking. I made Mrs. Laura Bush's cowboy cookies over the weekend and they were amazing! Even the kids loved them!! I highly recommend you make them over the holidays. Tonight Kamdyn made some Christmas treats of her own...

...Oreo truffles! It took a great deal of concentration as you can tell but she is all done. These will make some good Christmas gifts for friends tomorrow.

On a totally different note, Brian gave me my Christmas present early this year. Some of you are not shocked by this because you know he doesn't like to keep a Christmas-present-secret. He bought me a new camera which I was most excited about!! The lens and capabilities will let me take pictures of the kids while they are playing sports among other things and that is why I got it early. I broke it in at our last home game and while I won't bore you with tons of pictures I do want to include these few here on the blog for now...

Taking pictures of three teen agers and two dogs is difficult but not impossible! This was one of our out takes today.

Kamdyn and Johnny were much easier to photograph!

And this is Brendan and Ellie. He was much more cooperative with her around!

There are no words for that picture! It basically just tells you all you need to know about our middle child and why we love him so much!!!

And as I write all of this out I am again reminded of how much God has blessed us and how precious each moment is. Like many of you I have watched the coverage and read the stories of the tragedy in Newtown, CT. My heart truly has been broken for those who lost loved ones and my spirit has been encouraged by those who gave their lives in place of innocent children. When I went to work Monday I was more aware of our security at school and I did wonder what I would do should I ever find myself in the situation that those in the office at Sandy Hook were in on Friday. While so many questions still surround this tragedy there is one thing I am most certain of - our God is sovereign and He holds each moment in His hands. Right now, I am thankful for the moments He has given me with my husband, our children, our family and our friends; those moments that I blog about here with all of you. And I will continue to pray for those in Newtown, CT in the days ahead as they find a new way to live moment by moment. I hope you will do the same...