Quote from my Dad

“Parents, if you love your children, do all that lies in your power to train them up to a habit of prayer. Show them how to begin. Tell them what to say. Encourage them to persevere. Remind them if they become careless and slack about it. Let it not be your fault, at any rate, if they never call on the name of the Lord.”~ J.C. Ryle

Christmas #2

Christmas Eve morning we had our own family Christmas. We started out with Daddy making us french toast (Rylie's request). Then we gave the girls their most important gift, new Bibles! Rylie got a "big girl", "real" Bible. She is very proud of it! Anna got the new version of the Jesus Storybook Bible (our hands down favorite children's Bible, and the new version comes with CD's of the Bible being read). Ryan read the Christmas story from Luke 2 out of their Bibles, then we had a special Nativity activity. There are 7 boxes that you open and read a little book that goes along with it. Each box has a different piece of the Nativity scene. The last box has a mirror in it to show that the gift you can give to Jesus is you. It is a great reminder of the reason for Christmas.
Then we opened our gifts. It was so fun watching the girls excitement. We had gotten Anna a dinosaur because she loves Dinosaur Train, but this dino moves and roars. She was completely freaked out! Poor thing kept saying, "I scared!" We thought she would love it! Maybe in time.
The gift Rylie wanted the most was a salon chair. She wants to be like her Aunt Elisa and do hair. I love this picture of Ryan doing her hair! He's such a good Daddy!
After we opened all of our presents we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate His birthday cake.
It was such a nice time together! I love my family!

Convicting, But True!

Pay Attention

2009 at 11:32 am | by Carolyn Mahaney

Mothers are responsible to mold and shape lives; to raise children who, in the words of G.K. Chesterton, “require not so much to be taught anything as everything.”

“I might as well be at the controls of a moon shot,” reflected one mom, “the mission is so grave and vast.” And so it is. The training and discipline of our children in the fear the Lord is an awesome task, demanding of our full attention (see Deut 6:5-9).

That’s why, if there’s one concern I have for this generation of mothers, it is the potential for distraction.

Blogs, facebook, twitter and texting allow moms at home to stay connected with the outside world like never before; the Internet makes it possible for women to contribute skills and gifts to the church and the marketplace, while at home with their children. These are all tremendous blessings, and when used wisely, can bless and serve our families and glorify God.

The Proverbs 31 women, long before the Internet, managed a wide range of tasks for the good of her family and community. (But did you notice what time she woke up each morning?) Depending on a woman’s capacity, gifting, personal discipline, as well as the ages and number of children, there may certainly be room for other things.

But we must be watchful that these “other things” don’t distract us from our primary task of mothering. We must walk carefully through this season, with all its opportunities, and make the best use of our time with our children.

Truth is, we can’t effectively train our children on the side. We can’t discipline them here and there. We can’t teach when we’ve got a free moment. We can’t mother intermittently.

Inconsistent training is ineffective training.

If we are distracted by projects or pleasure, we may miss valuable teaching moments, opportunities to encourage, disobedience that requires discipline, or a chance to show affection. These moments, once lost, are gone forever.

So ladies, may I encourage you, as I do my own daughters, to give training and discipline your first and full attention. Walk carefully, and keep your eyes on the mothering road.

More thoughts tomorrow.

(from GirlTalk)

Christmas #1

Our Christmas started Wednesday night with a visit from Aaron and Becky. We had dinner and opened presents. They got Rylie a "big girl" doll, which she loved! Becky had even gone on ebay and found extra clothes for the doll, so Rylie has a cute box full of doll clothes to play with. Anna really enjoyed taking the clothes out of the box and bringing them to Becky and then putting them back in the box. She did that over and over again. She really liked her monkey and baby doll that she got, but she was sick, so she mostly just wanted to snuggle with Mommy.
I was so touched by the photo book that Becky made me! I teared up when I was looking at the pictures she had included. She also got me the Pioneer Woman cookbook! I have been wanting that for awhile!
Ryan and I got lots of other gifts from them too! We were spoiled!
Then we baked and decorated out Happy Birthday Jesus cake for the next morning. Rylie was very specific on how she wanted it decorated. White with yellow around it and a cross in the middle. She said that Daddy could eat the cross, since he is a Pastor!
We had a great evening, thank you Aaron and Becky!

Scenes From Grandpa Jim's Ranch

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Rylieisms

When looking at my braclet, "Mom that looks great on you, everyone looks great in silverware."

When singing a Christmas song, "Glory to God, He sold the Earth". When Ryan tried to correct her, she argued with him and said, "no, God made the Earth so He can sell it."

When she was looking out of the car window, "When I look outside, it scares the Lillies out of me."

You know your kids watch too much tv when. . .

. . . Anna says, "I want to watch Caillou, on demand."

. . . Rylie says, "It's not smart, it's Kmart smart."

Obsessed

"People who are obsessed with God have an intimate relationship with Him. They are nourished by God's Word throughout the day because they know that forty minutes on Sunday is not enough to sustain them for a whole week, especially when they will encounter so many distractions and alternative messages."
--Francis Chan; Crazy Love

Miscellaneous December Pictures

Decorating the Tree

Christmas Crafts

I love reading all the creative blogs out there, especially at this time of the year. Every year, I try to add some sort of homemade element to my Christmas gifts. I would love to do more this year, but I'm feeling a little behind, so I don't think that will be happening. I do have a fun, different Christmas gift idea that I will tell you about after Christmas. (I'm giving it to my best friend, Becky for Christmas, so I can't reveal it until after she gets it!)
Here are a couple things I made the other night. Rylie wanted to give her friends at school something so I made these lollipops out of candy canes for her to give to them. They turned out okay, but I burned my fingers 500 times making them!
I got these little notebooks from the Dollar store (3 for $1) and alerted/embellished them some to make them cuter. I used scrapbook paper/supplies that I already had on hand so it only cost me .33 a piece. Not a bad price!
I got some cute free things (that I will have to tell you about after Christmas!), but I needed some kind of holder for them, so I made these paper holders. They would work as a gift card holder as well.
I had bought a Jamba Juice gift card that didn't come with a gift card holder, so I made one for it. I found this idea on another blog (I don't remember which one to give it credit.), to make a gift card holder out of an empty toilet paper roll! I thought it turned out cute, Ryan was a little grossed out! I hope the person I'm giving it to isn't grossed out as well!

Christmas Banquet

Susan, our wonderful piano player and good friend!


Our good friends, (and almost neighbors) Dave and Michelle.

The annual "carvers", Scott and Jerry.

Pictures

I have a ton of pictures of December happenings, that I want to record on here, so please bear with me this week as I post a million pictures!

Little Girls

Scenes from the Christmas Tea