Bookworm ;)

For the past year now, I have gotten to dig up the bookworm in myself. For many years I didn't have time to read when my boys were little. Now that my baby is 4 years old, I can FINALLY do some things for myself without having my kids under foot! Those years were very tiring and rewarding too, but my "ME TIME" tank was empty most of the time! We give to our kids, and don't take time for ourselves. Well now I have the time, my kids don't need me as much, and WOW, is it REALLY WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!! I never thought I would come to this place, but when you are in the thick of toddler hood and baby world, you can't see your life EVER getting easier! It does of course, and it changes in different ways then you would think it would, but you of course adjust. It is Very nice, and as much as I miss my boys being cute chubby cheeked toddlers, I really like this new phase of life that we are in too. For awhile I struggled with not ever having another baby, but you do have to stop somewhere, LOL! It is nice to feel that you are needed, but your children will always need you in some kind of way. Watching them grow into the children that you have molded them to be is SO rewarding! That's the awesome part of being a Christian parent is raising our children up to Love and Serve the Lord! That's our calling as Godly parents!

Well back to my topic :) Now that I have time to read again, I feel as if I have gotten a piece of myself back that was lost! It is rewarding and enjoyable to sit and saver a book! I have missed it for too many years, and man, am I glad I can enjoy it once again!

Cookies.......

One of the things I LOVE about this time of year, is having a REALLY good excuse to bake! Of course, having cookies any day are always a treat :) I have to admit, that cookies do seem to be one of my weaknesses, and when I bake, they don't seem to stay around long, LOL. Have you ever had to hide food from yourself just so you will forget about it throughout the day, and so you won't eat it all? If you don't hide it from yourself the whole family will mad at you when they go to get a treat. Well, sadly, that is me!

This year I set an evening aside for us to bake as a family! It was really fun, and I think that this is gonna be our 1st annual cookie night as the Allen family! Most times I would just let the boys be involved, but for some reason I thought it might be nice to have us all cut out and decorate the cookies together, and it was! Thank God everyone was in a good mood after a long day at school and work. So we cut, decorated, baked and then when they were done I poured everyone some Eggnog and we had some warm cookies before bed! Now that is my kind of bedtime snack :)

Jack Frost comes nipping at our noses in Mn

Well we had our 1st snow fall today that resulted in having to shovel the driveway! I can't really complain too much, cause it DID hold off until the 2nd week in December :) Yes, it is pretty, and seeing the excitement on the my kids faces is fun.

We have been laying low this past week. Not too much has gone on in our house. I did attend a beautiful Ladies Christmas tea last Friday night at Emmanuel Christian Center, and saw many old friends (we attended there for 5 years before moving 45 min away, thus finding a church much closer to home). The evening was just breathtaking. There were 54 tables with 8 ladies seated at each. The Hostess of each table decorated their table SO elaborately! It felt like you were fine dining at a beautiful resturant. We were read several Christmas stories by the guest speaker, and had a wonderful time visiting :) I just LOVE having girl time (especially since I'm the only one in MY family)!

I'm a little behind on Christmas shopping this year. Usually I have it all done by this point, but I'm finding it extra hard to think of things to buy my youngest little boy Nicholas. When you have 3 of the same gender there isn't much that he likes that I don't have already! If he had been a girl, gift giving would have been MUCH simpler! Of course I love him to pieces, I'm just saying :) So.. my gift ideas for him continue to give me woo.

This weekend I'm planning to do some Christmas baking with the boys. They all love to help pour ingredients in :) Its a fun thing they do with Mommy! Well, until next time :)

What Christmas Is All About


Christmas will always be for us
A time to reflect on Christ
The gift God gave to all the world
Was the gift of His life

We know Christmas is not about tinsel
Nor fancy Christmas wreaths
Nor is it about all the decorations
That adorns our Christmas trees

And it’s not about Holly or Mistletoe
Hanging from our doors
Nor is it about the gifts that are left
By the jolly Santa Claus

Christmas is more than all of this
And the only reason why
We celebrate Christ’s birth together
And the wonder of His life

So remember as you celebrate
Just what it’s all about
And invite the Lord to join with you
Instead of leaving Him out

For He will always be the reason
We celebrate this day
No substitute the world may offer
Can take that meaning away

© By M.S.Lowndes ~ 2007