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

If only.....

In a few hours from now, it will be OFFICIALLY December, and there is miraculously NO snow whatsoever on the ground!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! If only Minnesota could go just 1 winter without all of the white stuff, I'd be elated!!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that the snow has held off this long!!! It will certainly make the winter seem shorter (OK, 4 mo long instead of 5,LOL). Do I sound like I'm a snow hater? Maybe I am!! Its pretty ,and all,but shoveling, and driving, and feeling confined to your house for months on end isn't what I call fun! Many natives feel that Christmas isn't a Christmas without snow on the ground! I'd like to share my thoughts about Christmas w/o snow, and why I think its JUST as Wonderful!! I know many of you from Minnesota aren't agreeing with me as you read this, but... if your a Floridian, you can empathize with me and know where I'm coming from. :)

Christmas in Florida is of course snow less. All I ever needed was just a little nip in the air for it to FEEL like Christmas was on its way. Decorating your house with lights was a pleasant experience since you weren't freezing your figures and ears off! With the weather being warmer, people can decorate their houses SO elaborately with lights, its just gorgeous to drive by and see. One thing I really miss about Christmas in Florida is going Caroling! Its too Frigid to go caroling up here! We were in a church choir in Fl, and we would all pile onto a flat bed with hay and drive though neighborhoods singing and drinking cocoa. You didn't freeze, it may have been a little cold, but not too unpleasant. Cliff was in a local church choir here in Mn for over 5 years, and caroling (outdoors)was never done (beyond indoors at the nursing home). Man, do I miss Florida!! Each winter that we are up here, I seem to miss things more (I'm of course reminded of the things I miss in my least favorite season). But, alas, Minnesota is where I live, and the snow is gonna come soon, so I might as well grin and bear it :) :) :) Not liking snow doesn't make me a Grinch, I just happen to think that a Christmas w/o snow, can be even More wonderful than with it!!

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a goodnight!!!

Being Thankful!!

I can't believe it... it has been a whole year since I have had this blog, and I have written a total of about 6 posts, LOL!! How sad is that?!?!? I'm gonna try to do better, and I guess I already am, since I have written about 3 in the last week. I'm really not a long writter, but having a little something for you to read is better then nothing, RIGHT?

My heart is so thankful today to have family to share this special holiday with!! Family really does make life better :) I have a really great relationship with mine, so being around them is very enjoyable. Since we live far from our family, I never take a visit for granted! I'm very overwhemed just to be seeing them in the flesh!

I took the time to read my 1st post LAST Thanksgiving, and it was really interesting for me to read where I was, and what my thoughts were at that time! CLiff had just gotten a temp job for a 2 mo period of time that we were hoping would turn into permenant. That didn't happen, and here we are 19 months into lay-off and having to apply for an extention of benefits here next week! Hopefully it will be approved, or we will have to think of plan B rather quickly!!!!

Well the topic is Thankfulness, so here are just a few of the things I am thankful for THIS YEAR!

1. My Family

2. Health (since we have NO insurance at the moment)

3. God providing for our monthly needs through my daycare business

4. Friends to laugh with :)

5. Cars that run

6. A roof over my head

7. Having my Mom and Brother up for a whole week

I hope that you TOO had an awesome, memory making day!!! :) God Bless!!

COREY

Family!!!!!

Well my Mom and Brother just arrived today from Tallahassee, Fl. I have been anticipating this day for weeks now! This past week just drug by, cause I was trying to wish it away just so Saturday could come :) Well with my house all clean and ready for guests, I started to wonder how I was gonna react to seeing my brother after 2 years! I wondered if I would cry, or hug him and not let go. Lots of these similar thoughts played through in my head! Of course I new when I saw my Mom, that I would give her a big hug!! Well when I did get to see my bro, I didn't cry, I just gave him a kiss on the cheek and a big hug :) Two years is WAY too long to go without seeing your sibling!

I'm gonna savor each of these next 6 days that I have to shop, go to coffee, Macy's 8th floor, and lots of other things that we have planned!!!! I miss my family SO much! But when they come, I truly value each second we have with them :)