Sonlight Garden

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to a blanket of white. It is just so beautiful. I grabbed Terry's jacket and shoes and snuck out and snapped a couple of pictures while the snow was still on the branches. If the wind picks up around here the snow will fly off of the trees and it changes the whole look of this winter wonderland. The kids are begging me to get out there so I have to go and dig out all of the snow gear. I am praying we have the right sizes of boots, snowpants, gloves, etc. for everyone. Wish I would of planned ahead on this one. Oh well. it will all work out. I plan on continuing on my mountain of laundry today and knitting some more of Catherine's sweater. I see a lit fireplace and some Mexican hot chocolate in our future. Enjoy your day friends!

Christmas Eve 2012

That is my Joseph carrying the cross! Patrick also served, he carried the incesnse. It was his first time assisting with the incense. It make me almost cry when I see my boys assist at Holy Mass.

This is my favorite statue of our Blessed Mother. I love the look on her face. She is life sized and just so beautiful. 

We had such a wonderful evening all together! Merry Christmas!

 

preparing

The tree is decorated. Christmas music fills our home. After a major clean of the kitchen (a move the refrigerator kind of cleaning) we just finished a two day bake-a-thon. Mary Jane is quite the baker. We need to make one more batch of peppermint bark for teacher gifts. That needs to get done today. Also on the list...I need to make the pyrogies, wrap presents, Finish addressing Christmas cards, and grocery shopping for our Christmas eve and day meals. Terry is home so he and I will do this together :0)

I was in Walmart on Thursday getting all of our baking supplies and I started to get all choked up. I was thinking about my children and Terry and my Dad and how we are all going to be together over these next few days. No place to go. I feel so blessed to have this time together. I was so excited and overwhelmed at how blessed I am. In those same thoughts I think of those in Newtown, those families, those babies. I pray and beg mercy and grace for them...for all of us. 

Well, I am off for now. I promised John Paul he could help me make the dough for the pyrogies. I may have to give him his own little batch. Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny this week in a Yarn Along!!!

 

I am knitting the Bulle tunic that Ginny had posted about. So sweet. I am knitting mine for my 8 year old daughter Catherine. I am knitting the size 7/8, but now that I am thinking about it I am kind of bummed that I didn't start knitting the 9/10. I am afraid she will only get this winter out of it. I have had thoughts of starting over because I am only in the beginning stages, but then I look and I am on page 3 of the pattern and, well, I have gotten this far. (I am a very slow knitter) I would try and alter it but I wouldn't know where to start and well, I'm not sure that is even possible. Oh well. Catherine picked out the colors. The body of the sweater is Malabrigo in olive and the pockets are Madelinetosh in Alizarin. I love how soft the merino wool is. It is very nice to knit with.

I am reading, or pre-reading  The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I love how it is writtten, very well, storybookish.

 "Mary" Gabriel said, and he laughed with such gladness that Mary's eyes filled with sudden tears. Isn't that sweet?

My only issue so far is with the Last Supper. Instead of Jesus holding up the bread and wine and saying "This IS my body. This IS my blood. Jesus says "My body is like this bread." It is not a huge deal as I can tweak this while I read it out loud. I also ordered her book  Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing. In flipping through this it also seems like a winner. I am enjoying the way she writes, very conversational. 

 

and then there were four

He climbed up onto the table and JACKPOT! He found the lone gingerbread house sitting on the table. He was so very proud of himself. The poor gingerbread house didn't stand a chance.

 

gingerbread day

 

It was gingerbread house day yesterday. I had just poured myself a nice cup of coffee, sat down with my bunch with my camera in hand, and then...Henry, little stinker, reaches up and knocks my coffee over. John Paul was not happy, pour guy. We cleaned it up quickly and proceeded. No reason to cry over spilled coffee, however, I almost did because I used up the last of my half and half on that spilled cup. Oh well.

It was bittersweet this year. We assembled these while Joe and Julia were at school. It made me a little sad not seeing their faces around the table. They are getting older. All of them. As we were putting them together I was reminded of years past and how much fun we've had keeping this little tradition. When we started doing this a few years ago I never thought there would be a day when they wouldn't all be here doing this together. So, I am learning to savor these everyday moments. These children are growing up. Next year I think we will do our house building during Christmas break when mid term exams are over and see if I can lure some "big" kids in on the construction.

in pursuit of purpose

 

Happy Friday friends!!

How is it going? We are doing great! We are chugging along at about 90mph. Last night I was looking at an old "cookbook" I have. It was put together by the homeschool group I belonged to in Florida. I was reading about some tips on bulk cooking and the type of meat to use and different recipes that you could use the meat in and all of a sudden a light bulb went off and, I know this sounds silly, but I was suddenly reminded of the days when I was on top off things and , "Oh yeah!", meal planning and bulk cooking, and just a plan in general!! (that was probably the longest sentence in history) Life has been flying past me and I feel like I am constantly playing catch up. Life is running me instead of me running it. It is a very helpless feeling and one that I need to change. I have really been struggling with this and praying about it. I have been in a kind of funk for a while and I believe this is why. I have had no time for any of the "fun" stuff, like knitting or sewing or BLOGGING or anything creative. I haven't been encouraging this in my children either and it is leaving me feeling a little zapped. I apologize if I sound whiney. I mean the big picture...I have no reason to complain, I really don't. At all. I just feel that some changes need to be made, the housekeeping and home management, the meal planning, the creative pursuits...they need to happen. Purposefully. Ok, my rant is over. Any advice?

I ordered some goodies to help me in my creative funk. I just ordered some yarn and a pattern. It is a tunic for Catherine. While I was looking at the yarn Catherine begged me to teach her to knit again and well, I just couldn't resist. She is doing really well and is making something for someone for Christmas. I can not say what that something is or who that someone is because they read my blog. So that will remain a secret.

(fyi-this picture is totally staged! Just keepingit real)

I also ordered the Winterwoods ABC's Cross Stitch Sampler from Alicia Paulson. I heart it!! It came packaged so beautifully and she included a handwritten thank you note and I just gushed, and showed all of my girls. Have you ever read her blog? It is eye candy. And their new baby girl is just beautiful!!! So thrilled for them! Her name is Amelia! I love that name ;0) Anywho, I can't wait to start this little project. I'm not quite sure where to start, but excited just the same. I have never cross stitched before. I am excited to learn something new though! I wonder how long it is going to take me? With my track record... check back next year and I will probably only be half done. 

Let's see what else... Our Amelia turned six!! SIX!! She is precious. So full of life that little one. Her three older sisters are so shy and reserved and she is just, well, NOT. She just cracks me up! She had a nice day. For her birthday dinner she wanted sushi. We went to a little local place that is just awesome. It was a nice treat for everyone.

Well, that is all I am going to be able to post for now. My natives are getting restless and my dryer just buzzed for the fifth time today, so I am out of here!

God Bless!