New Traditions

Today is all about new Christmas traditions.
I mentioned a couple of posts ago that our family is doing Christmas a bit differently this year. Well, there are a lot of things that are different, actually.

First of all, we aren't exchanging gifts this year. There are many reasons for this, but let's focus on the main reason. Growing up, it didn't matter that my parents told me time and time again that Christmas was about Christ's birth. It didn't matter that we went to church every Christmas Eve to celebrate that fact, and I always sang a solo of Oh Holy Night. It didn't matter that we did things as a family to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ's birth. It didn't matter that we always adopted an "Angel Tree" family and helped deliver gifts to people in need - teaching us that Christmas was about Giving rather than getting, and that we should help out those that are less fortunate than ourselves. All of these things were amazing, and I give props to my parents for trying really hard to get the real reason of Christmas instilled into our little heads. But no matter how much they tried to emphasize Christ on Christmas, I still always looked forward to one thing - what I was getting on Christmas morning. That I was getting presents. From everyone. From Santa, from my parents, from my brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. I gave all of these people gifts as well, but that wasn't exciting to me. It was the gifts I got that mattered. What can I say? I was selfish.

Neil says that growing up, leading up to Christmas, he was always thinking about what he was going to get on Christmas morning. He says that even as an adult, he would be more excited about what he was recieving than what he was giving.

So we started thinking about this. We wanted a change. Our hearts were changing, and we wanted to get rid of the baggage. And do we really want Bella growing up expecting gifts on Christmas morning as we did? No, we want more for her than that.
We want her to really, truly understand that the day we celebrate Christmas is totally focused on Christ. And the only way we can teach her that, is if we experience it for ourselves.
We no longer want the focus on ourselves (meaning everybody - people in general). we want the focus on Christ.

Many may argue that the wise men brought Jesus gifts. And they did-it's true. But that's just it - they brought Jesus gifts. Not Mary, not Joseph, not the Shepherds...it was HIS day - not Mary's day, or Joseph's day...you get the point. It was all about Christ. That He, and He alone is worthy of our praise.
So instead of giving each other gifts on His day, we want to give our hearts to Christ. How do we do that in a tangible way? Well, that's a good question, and we're still working on it. But I think it means being his hands and feet. Doing what we are called to do all year long - love. and love is an action. I've got some thoughts in my head that have been brewing for probably about 8 years...maybe I'll actually follow through this year.

In the meantime...here's some other stuff we're doing instead of gifts:

1. The Jesse Tree. Not a Christmas Tree, although from a distance it may look the same, simply because we're using what we already have. We set up our "Christmas" tree, put lights and an angel on it, but the rest is quite different. These are no ordinary ornaments, and the tree doesn't get decorated all at once. It started out just with lights. A day at a time we add an ornament to the tree - and our tree tells God's love story over the course of 4 weeks. Each ornament is decorated with a symbol that represents something in scripture. Starting in Genesis, and leading up to the birth of Christ, we read a passage of scripture every night, then Bella gets to put the appropriate ornament on the tree that represents what we read.
examples: a mud-man for Adam, the ark and the rainbow for Noah, the burning bush and the 10 commandments for Moses, a harp for David... I love it.

2. Making a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake, singing "happy birthday" and celebrating that it's His birthday.

3. Having family worship time. I'm taking my guitar to Texas, as my family has requested, and we're going to sing and praise the Lord together as a family.

4. Enjoying each other's company and soaking it all in.
So many times, we've noticed that when it comes to our family gatherings, we would all be talking and hanging out together, and then as soon as it became "open gifts" time, the conversations would cease and all attention is focused on the opening of gifts. How sad, when we don't get to see each other very often! So this year we are just enjoying one another and having good quality family time.

5. Giving to charity. Somehow what we decided to do (not exchange gifts) with our immediate family (Neil, Bella, and I) had already started spreading to MY immediate family...which then started spreading to my mom's side of the family...
anyway, on my mom's side, we've decided to put together all the money that we would have spent on each other for gifts and give it to a charity. One person each year gets to choose what charity we give to.

So I guess you could say that all those things my parents tried to instill in me as a kid really weren't a waste after all. It's just taken all of us a while to really "get it." I'm excited to see what this year holds. So far, it's amazing...and it's not even Christmas yet! I feel like I'm anticipating the coming of Christmas the way I'm supposed to for the first time ever. And I feel closer to my Savior because of it. What an amazing thing.

Thanksgiving...a little late

Ok, so I know that Thanksgiving was almost a month ago, but here are some pictures from Nana & PopPop's Thanksgiving visit.

PopPop helping Bella do pull-ups:

Bella "smiling" for the camera - the first time she's ever done this. ha.

Bella and PopPop - again, smiling for the camera...

Posing in PopPop's Harley hat...

Swinging next to Nana at Waterfront Park...

Pretty, pretty girl...

"Steering" a submarine at the Submarine Museum...

We had fun just hanging out - and we'll be doing it again VERY soon!!

Bella, Bella

New stuff for Bella...

This is her winking:

This is the "gingerbread" house that she made at playdate on Tuesday (really, it was a graham cracker house...and mommy helped a lot. Bella was more interested in eating everything than actually making it...but she did put a lot of stuff on the house...)

YUM!!

And this is Bella feeding herself her first bowl of cold cereal. Cheerios. She was actually very successful and only spilled milk on herself once. :)

And this is from a while back (like...a month or so ago), but here's Bella playing with Play-dough. (I think this was the second or third time she had done it. much more successful than the first.)

Announcement!!

Neil made his official decision last week:
We're getting OUT of the Navy!

He leaves the boat late October/ early November 2009
Where will we be after that? God knows. we don't. and that's ok. We know he'll lead us to where He wants us to be.

Over the course of Neil making this decision, I kept going back to Psalm 1, which is what was spoken over us during Scott's sermon at our wedding. it says:

1Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2but his delight is in the law of the Lord
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yeilds its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

A lot of people have been asking how I feel about Neil's decision. The truth is, he's in the God-given position of the head of our house, and it's entirely his decision. Thank goodness!
I know that my husband loves the Lord above all else. He is seeking God's heart in whatever he does. Because of that, I know that wherever Neil leads us is where God wants us to be. And we will always prosper in the center of God's will.

Last year vs. this year

This is a re-post from last year. I'm reposting it, because this year, instead of just pondering what Christmas would be like if we did things differently - I'm experiencing it. And oh, how wonderful it is! More on that later, but for now, here's a poem that I wrote last year when God was really beginning to awaken my heart to the reality of Christmas. I hope and pray that this would encourage you to seek God's heart above all else this season - as we celebrate His Amazing Love!


Ribbons, bows, and shiny wrappings too
add to the chaos; dampen the Good News
Too many things done because we have to
another item checked off the list of things "to do"

no longer are gifts something given joyfully
the receiver expects them these days, you see
children waiting on what they will find
on Christmas morning, when they open their little eyes.
will they get what they wanted?
what they asked for? what they dreamed?
will their feelings be hurt
if they do not recieve?

rather than giving to those in need
we're selfishly motivated
and our kids learn our old schemes

The thought of Jesus' birthday
never crosses their little minds
even if they are reminded
by parents quite a few times

what makes us excited about this time of year?
is it the cold or the Christmas cheer?
or the presents we've received year after year?
How do we let God enter in and draw near?

Do we dare to be different?
Do we dare to make it real?
I wonder just how much better
Christmas would feel
If we dropped all the baggage
this time of year brings
and simply focused on the reason
we Celebrate these things.

out of love for us, God gave his Son
his birth led to the death
that gave us salvation.
Remembering that
should simply be enough
so why in the world do we need all this stuff?

get rid of the lights, the candles, and the like
and remember that God saved us
from an eternity of strife.
because of his love for everyone -
even me
He came so He could set us free!
what wonderful news
to human, fallible souls
as hard as we try
we can't do it alone.

And yet the One, who on this day
we all claim to adore,
gets lost and forgotten
just like the years before

so instead of the wrappings,
the ribbons, the bows
lets start telling the story -
the way it truly goes:
Jesus came
he's all we need
and with the angels
we'll be praising Him for eternity
if only we believe that He is THE way
Now THAT's something to Celebrate on Christmas Day!

Dancing Girl

Our First Family Camping Trip

Ragnar Relay

November 14 & 15, I finally ran the race I've been training for over the past 4 months - the Ragnar Relay. It started in Clearwater, FL on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and ended on the Atlantic Coast in Daytona Beach, FL. 196 miles total. It's a relay race with teams of 12 people. Our team ("PISS-OFF" - People In Serious Support Of Family Fun) ended up only being 11 people though...Neil got sick with some kind of stomoch bug and had to stay home instead of run. So 3 other people had to pick up his legs of the race.

Each person ran 3 legs (except those that ran extra). My legs were 5.3 miles, 4.8 miles, and 6.6 miles. Total mileage: 16.7 miles.

we left here on Thursday evening for Clearwater. We got there a little after midnight, stayed the night in a hotel and got a total of about 5 hours of sleep...

We started the race on the beach at 9am - van #1 was running first, so we (van #2) got a good breakfast and then...waited...at about 2pm, our van started their first runs - Cory first, then Jerry, Bryson, me, then Muriel... Scott ran Neil's first leg. Fortunately, I started running as it was starting to cool down and the sun was beginning to set. I started running just after 5pm - and ran 5.39 miles in 50:49...not too shabby with stifff legs.

then...we waited... and attempted to get some sleep on the floor of a middle school library, but it was unsuccessful. I think I fell asleep about 5 minutes before my alarm said we had to get ready to wait for the other van's runners to pass off the baton (or, should I say slap bracelet) so we could start our second leg of the race. So the cycle continued...into the wee hours of the morning...Cory, Jerry, Bryson, me, Muriel...and Virginia ran Neil's second leg. I think I started running this one at about 2:30-ish am. It was the hardest leg for me as far as elevation goes. Lots of pretty good hills - 2 really big ones. But despite all that - sleep deprivation, big hills, etc...I ran my best leg of the race - 4.59 miles in 42:04.

I finally got about an hour of sleep in between the second and third legs of the race...which I desperately needed. Everyone slept where they could - picnic tables, the ground...Then, it was off to run! Again we went through the whole cycle of people. My last leg was 6.6 miles at around 2pm in record-breaking heat of almost 90*F in mid-November - let's just say it was the hardest leg of the race for me. But I finished well - 67:05 - considering the circumstances.

Bryson ran Neil's last leg - which we thought was supposed to be like 6.5 miles. Turns out it was 7.9!! Props to Bryson for running the most mileage of anybody on our team - about 29 miles total!! He finished off the race, and he and Scott ran together for the last stretch toward the finish line...joined by the rest of us for the last 20 yards or so.

Our team finished the race in Daytona Beach between 5 and 6 pm. We finished 39th out of 57 teams in our category. But hey - we finished! And that's really all that matters.

Here's some pictures - thanks to Muriel - because I left my camera battery plugged in at home!

Our team hangin' out and getting ready for the race to start:

This is me running to the finish of my last (and hardest, heat-filled) leg of the race:



Our team at the finish-line: (back to front/left to right) Wayne, Bryan (driver), Virginia, me, Renee, Debbie, Amy, Jerry, Cory, Scott, Bryson, Muriel.

HE'S HOME!!!

Yup. That's right! My Neil got home on Friday after being deployed for 4 months!
Not only is it great for ME to have him home again, but Bella took right to him again (went right to him the first time she saw him; gave hugs and kisses too), and is lucky to give him breathing room at times :) She is VERY happy to have BOTH Mommy AND Daddy!

anxiously awaiting Daddy's arrival...



The Vans are here!!

Loving Daddy holding her after such a long time...

18-month check-up

We were almost a month late, but Bella had her 18-month well-baby check-up on Tuesday.

Stats:
25.8 lbs. (50-ish%)
33 inches tall (75%)
head circumference: 19 inches (75%)

The doctor also said that Bella's developmenal level was that of a 2 year-old. Of course, she was being super-shy and wouldn't hardly talk at all while we were there...

She also got the Hep. A shot, and we haven't had any problems with it :)
Yay for good doctor's visits!!

Obama and Abortion

So the election is only days away... so many things scare me about it. I've had nightmares of Obama becoming president. And that is a horrible nightmare to me for so, so many reasons.
Here is just one of the many...

Most of this video is taken from clips from Fox News, or from the interviews done by Rick Warren at Saddleback church. The one statement that speaks louder than any to me though is Obama simply speaking to a crowd of people..."I've got 2 daughters, a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old. I'm going to teach them, first of all about values and morals, but, if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

Um...correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that simply a consequence for our actions? How long will we continue to fool ourselves into thinking that we can con our way out of them?

Let me state it bluntly: We have a God-given Free-will. We have the "choice" to have sex before marriage or not. Through that decision, we are also deciding what consequences we are willing to live with, both good and bad. If we choose sex before marriage, and we end up with an unwanted pregnancy, that is a consequence of our actions...like STDs or anything else...and now we can make a "choice" about what to do about it. Do we accept the consequences of our actions and choose life - and either raise the baby ourselves or give it up for adoption to someone who is more able? Or, do we choose to end that life that was made, simply to save face or "get rid of" our problems?
"Freedom of Choice" can be very misleading. That "choice" - that easy way out, has consequences of it's own. It doesn't bring Freedom. Don't listen to the lie that says that having an abortion will rid you of your troubles. That choice actually bounds you up in heavier shackles than the original consequence. It brings pain. it brings guilt. it brings shame. it brings the shedding of blood to the most innocent of the innocent. Having that on your shoulders doesn't exactly make the load any lighter.

We can't escape consequences for our actions. We will always have consequences, no matter how hard we try to escape them...or how elequently we try to talk our way out of them. But will America continue to hide? To not hold people accountable?

On the subject of punishment: When did babies become a form of punishment, rather than an Amazing Blessing? I sat next to an Italian Catholic priest on a plane not too long ago... he said he "came from a place and time where pregnancy is not a disease and children are not problems...they are Blessings."
What a sad, sad day in which we live...

Americas Choice Now - Video

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Beautiful Bella Ballarina

Last night our church put on a public Fall Festival in Yulee in a big grass lot in one of the shopping centers off of A1A. It was pretty neat. Bella had fun going down the big-kid blow-up slide (just once - with mommy's help- before a lot of big kids got there...), and she got a balloon and a glow-stick bracelet. There was also a booth with huge balls to either throw the basketballs into the hoop or kick the soccer ball into the goal...Bella just wanted to play with the balls, but she did end up helping me kick the soccer ball into the goal, so she got some Sweet Tarts...and boy, did she like those!!

Anyway, I took tons of pictures of Bella in her Ballarina costume before we went, so here are some of those pictures:

twirling...

Twirling her ballarina doll...

And here are some from the festival...just to show you how much neat stuff was there...

"Jump"

Ok, so this is Bella's new attempt at jumping. She's really trying, she's just not quite there yet...

Bittersweet (the past couple of months)

Bella and Ryker

So last wednesday, we had play date over at Ryker's house. Here's some pictures of the fun that transpired:

Ryker "helping" Bella with her sippy cup...and Bella letting him :)



...and Bella swinging on the BIG swing for the first time, ever! She did great! :)

A Day at the Park

Bella and I went with my friend Skylar to Ft. Clinch National (?) park, in Fernandina Beach, FL, a couple of days ago. There is a fabulous completely shaded park area with picnic tables and all. It was the perfect day to play - and play, Bella did! I'm always amazed at how much more she can do on her own every time we go to the park...even if it's only been a couple of days! she had fun climbing stairs, crawling through a tunnel (I think she spent more time crawling back and forth in the tunnel than anything else), pulling herself up a couple steps of a ladder, and finally sliding down some slides. Of course, she had to spend some time in the swing too...both swinging and spinning (her new favorite).

Here are some pictures from her playing:

Going down the slide...

Crawling up the slide...

Climbing up the CORRECT way (via the stairs)...

...and Tunnel Time

Bread Recipe

I was asked multiple times for the recipe I used to make the bread shown in my previous post. So, here it is! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Happy Baking!

Whole Grain Wheat Bread
from pg. 68 of Instructions and Recipes for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer, 2006.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup, plus 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (105-115*F)
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup oil

Directions:
Dissolve 1 Tbsp. brown sugar in warm water in small bowl. Add yeast and let mixture stand
Place 4 cups flour, powdered milk, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and salt in mixer bowl. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 15 seconds.
Continuing on speed 2, gradually add yeast mixture and oil to flour mixture and mix about 1 1/2 minutes longer. stop and scrape bowl if necessary.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook* and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 min.
Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.
Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place (80-85*F), free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half into a rectangle, approximately 9x14 inches. a rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove gas bubbles.
starting at short end, roll the dough tightly. Pinch to seal seam.
Pinch the ends and turn them under. Place the dough, seam side down, in greased 8.5x4.5x2.5-inch loaf pan. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 400* for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350* and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

*Note: Dough may not form a ball on the hook. However, as long as hook comes in contact with the dough, kneading will be accomplished. Do not add more than the maximum amount of flour specified, or a dry loaf will result. When the dough clings to the hook, and cleans the sides of the bowl, enough flour has been added. May not need to use all flour in range specified.

Lovely Loaf

Isn't it beautiful? There's nothing like home-made bread.

I've been trying out different recipes lately, trying to find a good one I can make all the time that is both yummy and healthy...preferably made with only whole wheat flour. My goal is to eventually stop buying sandwich bread, and just make it and store it in the freezer until needed.

Well, friends...Here's the winner!!

By the way - it was the easiest recipe ever and it was the first time that my bread truly turned out right from start to finish.

Hooray for the Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough attachment!

I was thinking about getting a bread maker... not anymore. Don't "Knead" it. HA!

Finger Painting

Today Bella had some fun finger painting with food-coloring dyed cool whip. we haven't done this in a while, because she wasn't really "into" it last time. It's amazing what a difference a couple of months makes! She LOVED it this time...and focused a lot more on painting...and less on eating the cool whip :) She was actually kinda upset when we were finished painting. I'm not so sure if that was because she liked painting, or because I took away a really sweet snack...



And just for the record...yesterday was Neil's birthday. Neil, I tried to do a fun video with Bella to wish you a happy birthday, but she just would NOT co-operate. I suppose this icing-ish fun will have to do. But we do love you, and miss you, and can't wait to see you again! Hope you had a good day! (we'll celebrate mucho when you get home!!)

Rock Shrimp Festival 10k

So I heard about the Rock Shrimp Festival on Thursday night, and decided that I should run in the 10k this morning. I've been training like crazy, and thought it would be good to kind of evaluate where I'm at WITHOUT the stroller, and in a race situation. Plus, why NOT run it?

So, I woke up at 5:15 this morning, woke Bella up at 5:45, Skylar met us here, at the house at 6, and we showed up to the race at about 6:30 - just enough time to register, warm up, and stretch before the race started at 7am.

My only complaint: It wasn't the correct distance, so the mile markers were off, which made it difficult to pace myself with. I knew it seemed kinda funny that my first mile I did in 9:00 and my second one was 11:00?? (I'm not one to start out fast, so this was just odd...and 11:00 is slower than I run pushing Bella in the stroller. Just didn't make sense, so I had to check it out when I got home.) It's supposed to be 6.2 miles. It was 6.37, according to runningmap.com (which is the most accurate way I've found to measure).

No matter what, it was good just to do it. I can't really complain too much though, because I finished really well.

How I came out:

1st place in my age division (Women's 20-29) and 3rd place All-around for Women.

Time: 6.37 miles in 57:52
Average pace: 9:05

Here's some pictures from the race, etc.: