What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas

How was everyones' Christmas? I hope it was lovely and sweet, every minute of it.

Ours on the other hand~ not so much.

Since Christmas Eve, it has looked very much like this, as a matter of fact.


Which seems wonderfully serene, except that when it doesn't look like that, it looks like this:


Christmas Eve was wonderful. My sister hosted this year to give me a break since we just moved. It was grand.

The beautiful hostess~


Later that night, however........Matt spent the night throwing up and the children spent the night coughing up lungs and I spent the night running from room to room... to room.

I LITERALLY woke up every single hour after 1 am. No, I am not exaggerating.

Christmas Day Matt was still feeling awful so I took the children to church by myself-to one right down the road- while he slept. I wore the shawl that I crocheted (but must still blog) with a red dress and felt very Christmasy. The children were angelic in church. (Still praising God for that Christmas gift!) That night we went to his parents' but by then I started feeling pretty bad myself. I took not a single picture there.

Matt had Monday off and what should have been wonderful family time, ended up being us sprawled on couches and cringing every time we had to swallow or in my case, move my head. We still aren't well, so finally, I screamed UNCLE!! and decided against doing the 12 Days of Christmas this year. Bummer too, boy did I have plans....

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas, in no particular order.




My brother makes THE BEST truffles ever. And this year they SPARKLED!


This is for Cameron. Who says, whenever I bring out my camera, "We'll be seeing THAT on the blog."


I post the above picture for the sole reason that he is almost out of that outfit and I remember when Raggedy Andy wore it.

(In lieu of a mantle, I brought in an old handmade ladder from the barn. Matt had to practically cut in half to fit.)

Is Judah the same size as Adele'? Why YES. He is!

For two years Corynn has been begging for me to buy a coconut. She got it in her stocking.

Andrew got a starfruit but graciously shared it so that everyone could have festive breakfast plates.


Some of the homemade gifts included:

plantain salve in an herbal medicine basket
Button napkin rings made by Adele' and Corynn:


Garlands. By EVERYONE.


The children on my side of the family, since there are SO many (a happy predicament indeed!) draw names. Corynn got her cousins name, who just HAPPENED to be getting a kitchen set for Christmas. She made her felt food for it. I think she covered all major food groups.


Andrew also drew a girl cousin and decided to make a necklace to go along with a teddy bear. He enjoyed necklace making so much, he couldn't stop!


And for my new nephew I made a Peter Rabbit sweater. I know, I know. The same sweater I always make. But his Mama always admired my childrens' sweaters and I thought she would appreciate one of her own. I made it with same coloring as Judah's for no other reason than it mimicked Peter Rabbit well, so it went well with the book I got him.

I also made a hat which was HUGE and finished it with just minutes to spare so I didn't get a picture of it.


Sick or not, Christmas is still the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR.

God gave Himself Flesh in order to give everlasting life. For us. And our children. And our childrens' children.

10 comments:

Cathy said...

Sorry to hear you were all sick. Isn't it ironic when these things happen, in the midst of Our Big Plans. Kind of like my family getting sick the night before a scheduled flight. Hope you are all well now. I've been following your blog for a couple years, and enjoy it very much. God has been very gracious to your family and mine.

Jen said...

So sorry to hear you all were and still sick! Praying you feel better soon. On a side note, I love the ladder idea, it looked so cute!!!

MameyJane said...

Thank you for being the most inpsiring blog I've ever followed! You inspire me in so many ways :). So sorry to hear that sickness visited your home. I can sympathize because it's been the same here for us. Hoping it will pass soon. And, what are you feeding Big Judah Man? Miracle Grow!? :)

Mary P said...

Hope you're all feeling better now. I found your blog a while ago through the Concordia Sisters blog, and I'm finally commenting. I'm amazed at your pictures, as I have always loved taking photos and have an expensive camera but now that I have two children (I know, only two, that's nothing, right? :-) I can't seem to find time to juggle the babies and the camera. So the camera gets neglected. Good choice, right? Anyway, may the Lord bless you and your family today.

Unknown said...

Heehee, my computer is SUPER slow so I just looked at your post for like an hour! ;) Precious lovely photos of Christmas...love all the little peeks!! :)

I pray and hope you & your family are on the mend! :(

PS - I ALSO got a quill pen/ink well for Christmas! :D It's going to take a bit for me to master it though. ;)

Anonymous said...

Hope your feling better!
My good thing.... My hubby bought me a DSLR Nikon for christmas!
Sad... His grandfather suddenly died on dec 20 we had to fli early Christmas morning to Cali from Ohio with our one year old and my 8 month belly, today thurs we bury him. But he is a believer!!!!
So we are enjoying sun not snow and good teamwork on flights! good in the sad!
Love
Bobbi : )

Abigail said...

I know they illustrate a wretched (retching?) few days, but these photos are lovely, as always.

No worries about standing us up, either, especially with such a rock-solid excuse! We had Luke and Jae-Ryong (and Hannah and Candida) spend the night on Sunday, and by Monday lunch, the promise of you and yours visiting filled me with panic...um...gave me INCENTIVE to rush around in a flurry and clean the horrific house. That night, although I was disappointed to not enjoy YOU, we did enjoy a miraculously clean house and a spicy chicken bread bowl feast. Next time, though, I expect you to be there! No excuses. :)

Also, I am completely impressed by both Andrew and Corynn's handiwork. I swear Andrew must have more beading patience than I do to stick to a pattern from start to finish.

Well done all around!

p.s. Where did you find such gorgeous tins for the salve? I'd like to buy some for making lip balm.

Abigail said...

p.p.s. I especially love that picture of Matt and your brother. Stunning.

p.p.p.s. The juxtaposition of sacred scripture right next to Mammon Pajamas made me laugh. Doesn't he know that a man can't have two masters?!

Abigail said...

p.p.p.p.s. I think the ladder idea is brilliant, too.

Just for good measure,
p.p.p.p.p.s.

Rebecca said...

Cathy~ so sorry for your loss! Hoping your trip went smoothly.

MameyJane~ his hair follicles give all their strength to his body growth. At this rate, he will be bald for ever.

Mommy~ I'd take the mantle anyday! ;-)

Mary P~ EXCELLENT choice. And thanks for stopping by. (And I popped over and saw your great photos, so I don't want to hear it!)

Amy~ you DID?! That is awesome. I used mine last night. As you will find out.

Bobbi~ OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! great gift! You will love it! So sorry to hear about your loss. Praising God that loss is sweetened in the precious knowledge of His care.

Abigail~ Still, the point is you HAD to rush around for us. I hate myself for that. And the Mammon PJs? I laughed at that too.

And the lip balm~ is it plumping?