Carrying Christmas Into the New Year

"If, as if Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves to be so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary? For each one of us, there is a desert to travel. A star to discover. And a being within ourselves to bring life."

Author Unknown

I read this quote on Christmas & have thought of it often. It takes hold of the Christmas Spirit & shows you how to carry it in your hearts every day of the year. We were created to be, we were created to discover our star, and we were meant to take the time to "brood" over the coming of the women we were created to become. Sarah Ban Breathnach says, "Our lives are gifts from God and what we do with them is our gift in return." May you carry the Christmas Spirit with you throughout this New Year and may you find happiness in the gifts you are giving to Him.

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas

We took a trip to Northern VA to John & Leslie's wedding. What a sweet couple! John is Danny's younger brother. We were also able to spend lots of time with our familes. We had three mini-Christmases wrapped into one visit!

On Thursday, we got back to Richmond and had our own Christmas.

Santa was good to the Dow girls this year!!! Our little tree looked even smaller with all of these big gifts!
Christmas morning was magical. Our home was full of joy, love, and grateful hearts. The snowfall was the cherry on top.

This year we got the girls a trampoline. Danny spent Christmas afternoon putting it together. I'm not sure if it was for the girls or himself :0).

Christmas night made me think of A Christmas Story when the parents turned out the lights & enjoyed the snowfall. What a beautiful end to a perfect Christmas.

~Merry Chirstmas~

From our family to yours~ We wish you a very Merry Christmas & many blessings in the New Year~!

Just What I Needed!

What a perfect snow day. Although we only got 2 inches, schools were closed. When I found out last night I was a little stressed, but I think it was just what I needed. We slept in a bit, stayed in our jammies, made sugar cookies, and went on a sledding adventure. I've been running around like crazy these last few weeks, so it was nice to slow down and enjoy the day with my girls.

Surprise!!!

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland!!!!! Last night the weather forecast said there was a slight chance of light snow flurries and this is what we got! That's Richmond weather for ya~

Simple Abundance

A sweet friend gave me this book for my birthday & I love it! It has short readings for each day that inspire you, bring you comfort, and gets you thinking. I read a great quote yesterday that I thought I'd share~

"I do hope your Christmas has a little touch of Eternity in among the rush and pitter patter and all. It always seems such a mixing of this world and the next- but that, after all, is the idea!" Evelyn Underhill

Grand Illumination Night

Last night our neighborhood had it's annual lighting of the Christmas tree. It was FREEZING out, but Santa was coming, so we decided to go. I'm so glad we did! On our way there, it started snowing!!! The kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement! See the snowflakes!!

Mmmm...snowflakes taste good!

Of course, the highlight of the night was seeing Santa. Can you believe Anabelle had the gall to ask him for an iPad??? Seriously? I don't even think she knows what that is. We told her she might have offended Santa because his response to her was, "That costs a fortune!" Yikes! You definitely don't want to offend Santa!

~The Light of the World~

Last night I drove down the street where you can see our house from a distance and was amazed at the view. Danny strung a multitude of lights this year in both our front & backyard. It's a beautiful & magical moment when you stand under them beneath the black sky and it warms you when you gaze at them through the windows. At the start of the Christmas season, I was overwhelmed with the rush & anxiety that can come with it. I found myself dreading the work ahead of me and even sighed at the thought of pulling out those Christmas decorations. How sad is that?? It wasn't until last night when I stood outside in cold night air by myself & took in the view my husband worked so hard to create for us that I felt that peace & joy. The view of the lights was simply stunning and what a beautiful reminder this is of the greatest light of all! The true reason we celebrate this season. It's such a simple reminder, but one that gets lost so easily. I'm so grateful for my husband who worked so hard to light up the house for our children and for me :0).

John 8:12 "I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Anabelle Turns 9!

I just can't believe my baby is 9!!!

She designed her cake this year & her Dad put it together. We also took her to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Christian Youth Theater. It was fabulous!!! She was so surprised when they announced her birthday at intermission. So cute!

Here's Anabelle with Dad's famous "Big As Your Head Pancakes!!!"

Here's Anabelle after her dad smashed her face in her piece of cake. She once went to a friend's party where the father smashed his daughter's face into the cake as it was custom to do it for children in the country where he was born. Anabelle thought it was so cool, she's wanted to do it ever since (Susan...that would be Isabela...ha!). This year she asked it we'd do it & we just shrugged it off....well, she got what she wanted & look at that face!

Happy Birthday Anabelle~!~!

Reflections Contest

The girls entered the Reflections contest this year and chose photography. Last year Anabelle won 2nd place for her photo of the red rose and this year Elise won 3rd place for her picture of two friends. The theme was 'Together We Can'. Anabelle chose to take a picture of two people holding hands which I thought turned out really well.

Here are pictures of the girls & their work along with Elise & her sweet teacher Mrs Rudd who came out to support her :0).

Occoneechee State Park

Okay...this was truly our last campout for the season! It got down to 31 degrees which is a little too cold for me :0). Here are the kids all bundled up. They said, "Mom...we can't move!!!" Here's me right after waking up in the morning. I'm trying to show you that you can see my breath...that's how cold it was! Despite the cold, we had a fabulous time.












Occonneechee is a great park located only 1 1/2 hours from Richmond on Lake Kerr. I chose it because it had a visitors center with information on the Occonneeche tribe. The kids loved the framehouse that you could walk in, the animal hides, the clothing exhibit, and the arrowheads on sale for only $.50. They also had a framehouse hut outside and a nice short hiking trail along the old plantation house. It had signs along the trail that explained life on the plantation & where old buildings were located including an ice house & well.


We also spent time fishing, playing at the playground, and frolicking through the beautifully colored forest. The leaves were amazing. I found this one tree with brilliant yellow leaves & a dark almost black trunk. The leaves would float to the ground with the sun streaming through the branches...just gorgeous! I love this picture of Elise!!

It was a weekend with great history lessons and great fun!

Paper Mache Turkey Idea

So each of my kids still have at least 3 lbs of candy and I'm trying to think of a creative way to get rid of it. Selling it at the dentist office didn't sound appealing to them. I stumbled across this.

How fun would that be? I would just have to make sure we had lots of kids around to get that candy out of my house!! The instructions to make it are here:
http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/repurposing-your-leftover-halloween-candy/

The Wizard of Oz Party

Let me just begin this by saying that I'm taking a sabbatical from home parties :0). I still have the song 'Over the Rainbow' stuck in my head. Seriously. Judy is just belting it out right now in my brain as I sit here. Sometimes if I'm lucky, Judy will be replaced w/ the munchkins. At least with them there is some variety....how sad is that...ha!

Aside from the little voices in my head, the party went great! I had so much fun preparing it and watching it come together. I think the kids had fun, too :0). Here are some pictures of the decorations. I used some Madame Alexander dolls around some old Wizard of Oz books in the dining room and here's a shot of the table. I decorated the dining room where the kids would have cake and outside. I had Halloween decorations already up, so I didn't want it to be overkill! Here's a little house I found at Goodwill for a $1. It was a wine box that I turned into Dorothy's farm house by making a roof . Then I added the witch's legs underneath using a pair of Strawberry Shortcake's tights & stuffing.

We also made ruby slippers out of red posterboard & sprinkled red glitter on them. I hung them outside & in. Lastly, I made a tornado out of wire & stuffing to hang from the chandelier. I also found a little polly pocket dollhouse and glued that to the side like it was Dorothy's house in the cyclone!

For party favors I got a box of animal crackers & these little wooden tigers & lions from Michael's for $.30 each. With I also added a spiral lollipop & a glow stick. With Halloween the next day, I didn't want to overdo it with candy. Inside the bag, I put a little note that said, 'Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!'

When the children arrived, I wanted them to walk down a yellow brick road, so I asked Anabelle to help draw one with chalk in the driveway. I also made a sign that said, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" with an arrow pointing the way to the backyard. We hung some streamers & balloons and had the movie soundtrack playing.

Once everyone was there, we started the Toto craft. Beforehand, I got a big fat black pipe cleaner and cut it & molded it to look like a dog sitting. Then I prepared all of the cutouts to glue on as it's face. Once they finished the face, they placed it in a little basket with a blue & white gingham blanket. They turned out really cute!

For snacks we had 'Magic Broomsticks' (chocolate covered pretzel sticks w/ sprinkles), 'Glinda's Bubble Punch' (pink raspberry & cranberry punch), 'Wicked Witch Hats' (bugles), 'Sweet Scarecrow Mix' (praline chex mix), and 'Haunted Forest Apples'.

For games, Danny made a scavenger hunt for the kids where they had to find Dorothy's ruby slippers because the mean witch hid them. He had some great clues hidden all of the yard. Here's Sadie once they found them for her.

We also played who can roar like a lion. This one was easy. They kids sat in a circle and took turns roaring. Lots of laughs on that one! We also
played a feeling guessing game w/ a box I made. I called it 'What's Behind the Curtain'. I put an object behind the curtain & they had to feel it and guess what it was. I put things relating to the movie like the tin man's heart, a lion, and an apple.

Lastly, we played Toss Toto in the Tornado (using a parachute and Toto doll) and Melt the Witch. This was super fun! I drew the wicked witch w/ washable markers and asked the kids to try & melt her w/ water using water balloons. I was SO happy she looked all drippy!

Another fun thing I showed the kids was the tornado tube. You can buy the piece at School Crossing. I put blue food coloring in to give it some color and added a Monopoly house inside the tube. When you spin it, it makes a tornado!

We ended the party with cake & ice cream inside. This year I kept it simple in the cake department and ordered a rainbow one from Costco and just added a little Dorothy figurine on top.

We were blessed with a wonderful day to celebrate a wonderful person! Happy Birthday Sadie!!!