Sewing, and Painting, and Baking...Oh My!

We have had a very busy December! I made almost all the gifts that we gave this year, and like an idiot, I waited till last minute to make everything. I'm the world's worst procrastinator. Anyway, for Daniel's family I made braclets for all the gals, casserole cozys for Daniel's sisters, 3 matching make-up bags, a camera cozy, and travel bagies to carry splenda packets, tea bags, & on the go juice drink packets. For his dad we bought a nice shirt that I had found on clearance for $1.00! Shhh- don't tell! For his grandma I made a corkboard organizer with pocket.
For my family: I made a purse & matching wallet for my mom, and heat therapy bags for her hands (she has Raynaud's Disease). For dad I made two different sized heat therapy bags, for my mammaw Bryant I bought a skirt for a couple of dollars from Sears!
Everything turned out really well, but for next years gifts I'm going to start on gifts way in advance so I can actually enjoy the Christmas season.
For some of my friends I made placemats, coasters, and goody bags. Here's a picture of a good friend of ours opening the gift I made for him: this was special! I painted a portrait of his mom's old farm house. Needless to say... He LOVED it!!!
This man and his wife took us with them to the train display in downtown Cincinnati. The kids had a blast and one of the best parts: it was all free fun! Here are some pics.
We also made a ton of homemade cookies and visited all the elderly widow ladies in our church. They love the kids and I'm sure they enjoyed the cookies, too!

I hope you all had a Christ-filled Christmas, after all, Jesus really is the reason for the season!

Shock Family Holidays

Our trip to Alabama went really well! It was so good to see everyone and enjoy some family time! We hadn't seen some of them for three years. Rachel, Daniel's sister, has been in Germany for the past three years (her husband is in the Navy), and last year Ben, Daniel's brother, couldn't come to Alabama because he was serving over seas (he's in the Air Force). Thankfully everyone was able to be there with the exception of David, Daniel's other brother. Here are some family pics.

daniel, sophia, & noahthe kids are playing with learning laptops thier great-grandma got for them. getting ready to open gifts!

Fun & Joyful Memories!

The busy and fun-filled season started off with Sophia's 4th birthday! She loves all things princess, so this was the theme for her birthday party.

Mammaw & Pappaw Moore got this cute little princess costume for her-- she wore it for a whole 5 minutes! She said it was too itchy; she's so particular...sounds like someone else I know- hmmm, I wonder who it could be?!Here's a picture of the cake I made for Sophie. She said she wanted a cinderella castle cake, so this was as good as I could get it. The towers lean a little bit- but, hey, she was thrilled with it! two peas in a pod! I love my little ones!

'Tis the Holiday Season!

The holidays are quickly coming upon us and to kick it all off we start with Sophia's birthday party on the 15th of this month. It's so hard to believe my little girl is turning 4! She's such a sweetheart!

Then, on the 17th we will head out to Alabama to be with my husband's family for the week of Thanksgiving- and that's always a blast! We have a really great time. We actually celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas during that week because it's the only time we can all be together. Daniel's siblings all live in different states... Indiana, Michigan, Louisiana, Virginia, Alabama, And we live here in Ohio. Then December is packed with lots of fun Christmas parties with friends and family (hey! maybe we'll get to see eachother this year, Ami!). I love this time of year. It gives me the warm fuzzies. I love making things for family and friends. Ilove Christmas music. I love the snow--- I just LOVE it all!!! I especially love the true meaning of Christmas. What a gift that Christ was born into humanity, so He could know the things we go through, so He could know our joys and our pain, and so He could one day walk up Calvary's hill so He could lay down His earthly life here so that if we choose to, we can live eternally with Him in Glory! What a SWEET LORD I have!

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Sad days ahead

Wow. What a sad day in America. My head is still spinning. You know, God IS a merciful & gracious God, but He's also a God of wrath & judgement. I fear America will soon be under the fierce hand of the Lord.

People think that Hitler was just horrible- and he was- but voting for a man that is for killing babies is just as bad. Our country slaughters millions of innocent little babies every year; don't think for one moment that the God of the universe will just nonchalantly overlook that. There's a judgement coming. You can count on it.

This is the day!!!

This is the day that the Lord hath made! I will rejoice and be glad in it! No matter what happens today, election day, God is still in control, He's still in charge, and He always takes care of His own.
Voting is such a blessing! What a joy to have this kind of opportunity! Some countries do not have the choice. Can you imagine? What a privilege we have here in the blessed USA. We must, however, choose wisely. This is so important! Our forefathers fought and many were killed so YOU could have this freedom. GO VOTE!

Calling all Artsy/Craftsy Chicks!

Help! I really need some good ideas. I'm making homemade Christmas gifts this year, and I'm a little stumped on what to make for men. My cousin, Ami, gave me some yummy ideas to cook up for those special men in my life; just one problem: My hubby can't have chocolate, and he's not real big on sweets--totally boring, I know. My dad is a farmer, as are my brothers. What does a girl make for a farmer who has NO other hobbies?none. Notta. Other than wellness bags, which I found on sew, mama, sew, I'm not sure what to do. If anyone has any good "farmerish" ideas, I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. Thanks, Ami! Love ya!

Politically Incorrect, and I don't care!!!

Who's voting for Obama? Not I! I mean, really, do you think a socialist government ran by a muslim would be a good thing?!! Uh...I DON'T THINK SO!!!! What is wrong with people? Why are people so blind? If Obama gets the presidency, and I'm afraid he will (God forbid), I wonder what my children will go through in thier lives. Would a socialist permit parents to homeschool thier children? Probably not. I bet they'd have to attend a public school ran by the government. Who knows what they would inject in the minds of our children. So, I'm voting the McCain-Palin ticket- not because I'm all that crazy about McCain, but because he's really the only choice we have. Again, who wants a socialistic government? Communisim would be next. Wake up people!!!!!

Josiah was born!!!

My sweet cousin, Ami, gave birth to a beautiful 8lb. 7oz. baby boy named Josiah! I'm so excited and happy for ami and her husband Eric! Congratulations to the whole family!

What a Blessing!

Last week my family and I went to Camp Canaan in Somerset, KY. We go there every year; but this year was even more special. My Grandmother got the opportunity to go with us this year! My Mammaw took me every year when I was a kid. I learned so much, enjoyed so much, was blessed so much; and now I got to return the blessing. My Mammaw is 71 years old, and I'm so glad the Lord has let her be a part of my life this long.

Teens having fun!

Last Sunday we had our church teen class over for lunch. We had pizza, chips, cookies, & pop. We also watched a movie called "Facing the Giants". I love that movie! We also goofed off, and my husband and the guys of the group practiced playing some music together. They seemed to have a pretty good time. Teens are so intimidating to me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because when I was a teen I never seemed to fit in anywhere with anyone. Oh, well. Hopefully we can be a good influence and an encouragement to these great young people.

I DID IT!!!

I did it and I'm sooo excited!!! I've gotten everything organized, cleaned, and decorated in my master bedroom. It looks and feels so nice. And I love the fact that I can walk thru my room in the middle of the night, and not worry about falling and breaking my neck.
My next projects will be to get started on homemade Christmas gifts! That's going to be so much fun!

Let's get ORGANIZED!!!

By nature, I'm a very unorganized, chaotic person. I seem to do things 'spur of the moment' and only if I'm in the mood to do things do they get done; which by the way, drives my husband insane! Sometimes I drive myself insane. I mean, really. Why does it seem soooo difficult for me to plan ahead, and organize, and keep everything tidy? I like organization. I really do. I just can't seem to accomplish it. But, I'm really going to try. My master bedroom is in desperate need of, well, a lot. It's my 'catch all' room. My bed is drowning beneath scrapbooking supplies, scraps of fabric from my last several sewing projects, (none of which I have completely finished, yet.), yarn, projects I have planned to complete for Christmas gifts- you name it, I have it somewhere in the deep abiss that I call my bedroom. I want my room to be romantic and warm, yet functional. So keep your fingers crossed, girls, I'm goin' in- and by God's help, I am going to get this mess organized!!!

I'm glad that's over!

Sophia's surgery went very well, thankfully! She's already breathing and sleeping better at night. She is starting to have some pain, though. Hopefully we can coax her to drink plenty of fluids, otherwise she'll have to go back to the hospital to get hydrated via I.V.
Please keep her in your prayers.

What a snore...

No, really! I mean my little girl snores bigtime! so we took her to an e.n.t. specialist. We found out that her toncils are abnormally large and that she needs to have them removed. She will be having surgery on July 1st. I'm going to the library tomorrow to rent some books & cartoons that we do not already have, & Sophia has gotten to pick out 100% fruit popsicles as well. She's very excited about getting to eat as many frozen treats as she would like! Hopefully the surgery will go well...please pray!