My Scrap Space

Well, here is my Scrap Space...a room of my very own. Notice the pink? Yup, I got to use pink!! With a house full of boys, I am happy to have a room I can be a bit girly in. I wanted 2 pink chandeliers in the room too but Wes thought that was a bit much. I am still looking for some sort of lighting in there as when we finished the basement we put 2 halogen fixtures in the room and I have come to dislike halogen lighting as it is waaaay too spotlighty and creates harsh shadows that don't do well with my scrappin'. My Ottlite helps tremendously at my scrap table! I have a few albums on the go at the moment...been working on our California scrapbook, and have a baby Asher hospital scrapbook that is almost complete...and Aidan's scrapbook sits on top of the computer desk. I am so far behind...but that is okay...I enjoy the process of creating these life long memories so much. I think I am going to set a goal for myself come January 1...a resolution you might say. I want to get so many pages done per week...anyone want to join me in this challenge???

Christmas Snowmen

Well here Addison and I are on Christmas day at my parents. There wasn't a whole lot to do, other then eat so we baked some snowmen sugar cookies. My grandma who lives in Edmonton gave Addison a snowman cookie kit so all we had to do was add an egg, some margarine, mix, roll and cut. Oh ya, we baked them too :) Probably the best Christmas baking I have done all season...all thanks to a very special 2 year old who must wear his "hat and apron" when he helps in the kitchen now.

Word made Flesh

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord...Suddenly a great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and sahying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:8-14 (emphasis mine)

Merry Christmas my friends! Today, so many many years ago, the Word of God was made flesh. How can we even comprehend that? Can you imagine being Mary and giving birth to the Savior of the World, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords? Wow! I am reflecting on that this morning.

Wes is at work today, will be home at 8pm tonight, Aidan is at his dads and I am home with the littlest guys. It doesn't feel like Christmas morning, or how I remember it as a child. Is this what happens when you grow up?? Haha! We, as a family of 5, will celebrate the birth of our Lord by exchanging gifts tomorrow morning as Wes has to work nights tomorrow night so we will also enjoy a turkey dinner at my mom and dads before he has to head to the gas plant. I am looking forward to tomorrow and time with all of my boyz!

Today we will go over to my parents for the day and hang out there. It is different for them this year too as my sister and her family won't be around. It was nice we got to see her on Monday when we went to Edmonton to see her and my grandparents. I am getting anxious for the birth of a new niece or nephew, and I guess she is too.

On the weekend we had a nice celebration with Wes' side of the family. The photo above is a family photo from Saturday.

Lord, we give you all the praise as you sent your only Son to be the Savior of the World. We thank you for how you have blessed our lives so abundantly and we pray that how we live our lives is pleasing to you and glorifies your Name.

Birthday Party

Tonight we will begin our Christmas celebrations. Wes' sister Jennifer and her husband Colin and their 2 little ones Zachary and Rachel are coming to Red Deer to spend the weekend with our family and Wes' parents (who also live in RD). Tonight we have invited them over for a birthday party for Jesus. Wes and I have decided that we will do this every year and Addison was quite excited about the idea saying we should make Jesus a Lightening McQueen birthday cake...and then he talked about a "baby cake"...maybe because Jesus is portrayed as a baby so much during this season because of His birth. I asked Mama G to make an angel food cake, partly because I am afraid to try it and it not turn out, and secondly it will be one less thing to get ready for the festivities.

I was sad, it actually made me cry, that my parents said they wouldn't come over tonight for dinner and the "party." My mom claimed she had "too much to do." I could be all sarcastic about it in an attempt to disguise my hurt but I won't. I wish my family believed in our Heavenly Father and wanted to celebrate Him like I do. That is one of my biggest struggles as I wonder sometimes if my family even knows me at all in how I want to live my life as a Christian. Wes and I keep praying that they will want a relationship with Jesus someday too.

Well now that I am emotional all over again, I will try to re-focus on our day. I have been doing some cleaning and tidying toys as I know a truckload full are probably headed our way over the next week of celebrations. Asher is sick with a cold again...he was up 5 times last night just wanting some mommy cuddles which I won't complain about one bit. He is napping at the moment and Addison is playing with a wooden nativity scene and says he is building a castle with the pieces.

I haven't taken any photos for a few days now...I can tell by my mood. The happier I am the more photos I seem to take. I don't know why I don't feel happy...it isn't that I feel sad, just "blah." Do you know that feeling? I am disappointed that Wes has to work again this Christmas but am trying to focus on the 4 days he has off of work before Christmas Eve in which time I pray we will get some nice family time. My sister is due to have her baby in the middle of January but is feeling that the baby might come early so she doesn't want to travel from Beaumont to Red Deer in the event that the baby comes so I don't even really know what we are doing for Christmas with my side of the family. Maybe that is why I feel unsettled. I am looking forward to this weekend and spending some time with Wes' side of the family. Barb (Mama G) is cooking a turkey dinner tomorrow and we are opening presents at their house tomorrow morning sometime.

As I hear Anne Murray singing Christmas songs on the TV I am going to sign off. I will let you know how the party goes... Remember the reason for the season is Christ our Lord.

Hockey - Giesy Style

Sooo...another winter brings on another backyard hockey rink. This is Wes' passion in the winter...building and maintaining a "rink" so the boys can play on it in our back yard. Addison got skates and a helmet this year (he is 2.5 years old) and he has been out there everyday since it has been cold enough to be frozen all the way through. Aidan has already spent HOURS out there...yesterday I would say he was out there a total of 4 hours playing hockey with boys from the neighbourhood. Again, as I sit and type at the kitchen table I can see and hear the older boys playing....and yes it is dark out. BUT leave it to Wes to assemble some rink lights so they could play at any time of the day or night. Wes gets so much joy out of watching people use his creation and is out there almost every day scraping off the snow, flooding it, painting the lines on it again if they get scraped off by the boys skates. It is amazing to watch how good Aidan has gotten at skating and at playing hockey in the two years we have done this. I say "we" but it is really Wes that puts a huge effort into the rink creation for our boys. I can imagine how we are going to have to move to a house with a larger yard at some point so all of our boys can have friends over to play out there. My husband rocks.

Christmas Beauties

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking photos of 3 Christmas beauties....Melisa, Rebeca, and Amanda. I was not feeling very creative, like I sometimes feel but I am happy with the results and I hope Mom Naomi will like a few of the photos too!

I am at a time when I am questioning what I want our children to believe at Christmas. As I raised Aidan, I taught him (like so much of society) that there is a Santa Claus and he lives in the North Pole, makes presents with the elves, we write him a list of all the toys we want...and then something magical happens on Christmas Eve night as his reindeer pull a sleigh through the air, around the world and deliver millions of presents all in one evening. I guess one doesn't think about different time zones when explaining this all.

This year I started talking to our 2 year old about Santa, and as he would look at the toys in the Sears Wishbook or in the Toys R Us flyer I would tell him he would have to ask Santa for the toy. He had it down pat..."mommy I ask Santa...Santa bring me the Rocket." Wes saw this and kinda questioned me on this...I can't remember exactly what he said but it really got me thinking.

At Friendship Factor today the guest speaker asked the group of ladies a question...and it has stuck with me all day. "What do you remember as a child about Christmas?" I remember a big deal being made about Santa and presents. Growing up in a non-Christian family I don't ever even remember Jesus' name being mentioned...well I guess it wouldn't be as my parents didn't think that was the true meaning of the season.

I want our children growing up knowing the real reason for the season. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth. I don't want it to be about Santa and so many other things that take away from the REAL meaning.

That is it for now...so many thoughts on this topic...