Christmas in November, A Tradition

It has become a tradition for Katie and I to bake Christmas cookies and watch Christmas movies at the end of November, to kind of get in the Christmas spirit, so to speak. We both love Christmastime, so much so that it is probably unhealthy. This year, a bunch of the girls got together at Katie's to bake cookies and watch Elf, one of the bestest Christmas movies ever. It was great. There was a cookie baking FRENZY. I even made the famous Snowman Cookie, who has spent a little too long in the cold and therefore has cold little snowman nipples. (What?!) Unfortunately I forgot to snap some pictures, *sigh*. I did say that I would post pics from the first one we made when we started our tradition a few years ago.

So. In honor of our Annual Christmas Cookie Baking & Movie Watching Tradition, I give you the original famous Snowman Cookie.


Here we are after hours of baking and decorating. I was pregnant with Audrey at the time - aw!


The entire post from our first Christmas in November can be seen HERE. Merry Christmas in November!

Brrrrr

We woke up to find snow on the ground this morning! Folklore suggests that a White Thanksgiving means a Green Christmas and vice versa. Does a White-Day-After-Thanksgiving also mean a Green Christmas? Either way, Audrey is ready for the snow in her pink snow boots. (Yes, the pic is extremely blurry. The combination of Audrey being in constant motion this morning me not being able to hold the phone still to save my life made for a hopelessly blurry pic. I took 5 more and this was the best one.)


The snow has already melted, but it is still very chilly outside. I look forward to a warmer day tomorrow and Sunday; mid 50's and mostly sunny! Yay for more days to take long walks outdoors!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Eric, Audrey and I had a WONDERFUL time with Kyle and Jen staying with us for most of this week! We love you guys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, bloggers! I am praising the Lord today for so many things. I won't go into all of them now, but I will list my top 3.

Topping the list is Someone more important than everything in the world to me; Jesus Christ, my God, My Savior, My Friend. Far more important than any earthly thing. He took the sin of the world upon Him, becoming the final and ultimate Sacrifice for sin, therefore we can come to the Father and ask for forgiveness. We can become clean and new, with an eternal citizenship in Heaven. He is a tender, loving God. He is merciful. He loves me. I am so grateful, I am speechless. That doesn't happen often.

Secondly, words cannot express how thankful I am for my wonderful husband. Eric is truly a God send (how could he not be, given our story!), my soul mate. He gets me. Life isn't easy, but with Eric it's an adventure. Special. Exciting. He loves me despite my mile-long list of shortcomings and 6.5 years of marriage so far. I look forward to decades and decades more.


Lastly but certainly not least, my sweet baby girl. I could never have imagined it possible to have such a darling, precious, sweet-tempered little girl. She surprises me every day. To hear her exclaim "Mama!" when she sees me as she did for the first time tonight, breaks my heart. I don't deserve these things. I don't deserve all of this love. Yet I am so thankful for it. I'm blown away - speechless! Again! This doesn't happen often, enjoy it! :)



May you lift your eyes to the hills (Psalm 121), to the Lord, and see all of the people and things He has blessed you with today. "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8.

Have a great Thanksgiving with family/friends! BIG HUGS to you all!

Busy Bees

Audrey and I have been busy little bees lately, spending a lot time outdoors during the unseasonably warm weather we've been having this November. We take our usual walks around the neighborhood, sometimes going elsewhere to walk and talk with good friends. We have been visiting various playgrounds around town, which we enjoy immensely. As you can see.

Her sign for "all done"!

Static Slide Head!

Also entertaining are the many autumn leaves that have covered our lawns recently.



Hats are a fun accessory these days, especially Daddy's hats.

(Holding her chicky, a.k.a. Kicky!)

There are many indoor activities we also enjoy, one being playing the piano. Or trying to. I will give her lessons one day when she is a bit older. I think she will be a great musician.... her love of music is evident every day, even at this early age.


Another indoor activity is using Daddy as a jungle gym, ladder, stepping stool, or transportation. (My stupid phone settings weren't right when I took this pic, as you can see. *sigh* Too bad- cute picture.)


Something we look forward to every week is our Thursday morning play group. A few months ago I felt it on my heart to start a play group for young moms (Christian and non-Christian alike) with kids of any age (though most are infant - toddler). A few of us girls from meet together at one of our homes or another location (parks, the zoo, COSI, etc.) to let the kiddies play while we chat about mommy hood and life in general. It's a GREAT time for us all. If you are interested in coming, please feel free to reply to this or send me an email (rice.christy@gmail.com). The Lord has really blessed our times; it doesn't get better than great friendships and chats! This morning, we all met at COSI to visit the toddler/kids area. It was Audrey and my first time there, and I must say it lived up to all the hype! We will be going back, for sure. There was plenty for the average kid with a short attention span to do. There were structures of all kinds for them to crawl around in, over, through, and on top of. There were neat contraptions for foam balls to shoot through all over the place. There were lots of buttons that when pushed, produced all kinds of interesting sounds and lights.






Audrey's favorite part was the water room... I tried to keep her away from it but finally gave up. I decided the satisfaction of seeing her joy overrode my concerns about her getting soaked in her single change of clothes. It was worth it.

Yum. Mommy, don't think about the germs
floating around in this water. Just think about how much fun I'm having.

My little girl is the cutest, sweetest little stinker ever. Ever. Really. I can't get enough of her smiles and her sweet disposition. She cracks me up all day long. I have a perfect example from tonight, just one of the many hysterically endearing things she does every day. I was reading her a bedtime story called Yummy, Yucky.


On each page there is something yummy, then in contrast there is something yucky.

As I read I would say "Yummy, MMMMMM!" or something similarly fitting, and then "Yucky, EEEEEWWWW", shaking my head in disgust. After three pages, Audrey started giggling. Not just a light giggle. I'm talking bubbling up from the stomach, full throttle giggle. And she didn't stop. With every "Yucky, EEEEEEWWWW" she busted up into a fresh round of giggles, until we were both laughing so hard she couldn't breathe and I couldn't see through the tears. I cry a bit when I am laughing so hard there isn't a gasp of breath left in me... I got that from my Mom. Thanks a lot Mom! (Hahaha) She kept looking up at me like, "oh, you're laughing too!" (or "are you okay Mommy? I can't stop laughing but you look kind of scary with all of those tears running down your bright red face!") which would of course send her into another batch of giggles. We read it three times until finally the giggling diminished a bit. About five minutes after I said goodnight and turned the lights out, I passed her room in the hall and she was STILL giggling, laying in her crib in the dark. So really. My girl is just the cutest, sweetest, and funniest. Ever.