new year's eve

wow! i seriously can't believe that 2009 is just a few hours from being retired into the history books. some 365 days dead and gone, never to return again. it's funny but the older i get the faster time just seems to fly by, why is that?

today, i've spent trying to reorganize the girls' rooms. something that seems to happen every year after christmas. i guess, it's because christmas seems to bring on a new mess of toys and such. we took the girls to lunch and bowling earlier today. in typical lacey fashion, she forgot her socks? yes, we asked her before we left the house if she had socks on. "yes" was her reply, but somehow between the five minutes from our house to the bowling alley they mysteriously just disappeared. uh? oh lacey....so, kev ending up spending $3 on a new pair of socks that were two times too big for her at the bowling alley. yes, these were the smallest they had. check it out!

i love learning new stuff...

yesterday in our sunday school class, we learned something very interesting and something which i didn't know about...the twelve days of christmas. i had no idea what exactly this "silly" song was about other than receiving a bunch of stuff such as ten lords a leaping, and nine ladies dancing, etc. but in fact, the twelve days of christmas actually contain hidden reference to the basic teachings of the christian faith. i found it extremely fascinating learning what each "gift" meant and its reference to the bible. here is what i'm talking about...

religious symbolism of the twelve days of christmas:

• my true love refers to god
• first day - a partridge in a pear tree refers to christ
• second day - two turtle doves refers to the old and new testaments
• third day - three french hens refers to faith, hope, and love (the theological virtues)
• fourth day - four calling birds refers to the four gospels (matthew, mark, luke and john)
• fifth day - five golden rings refers to the first five books of the old testament known as the torah (genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy)
• sixth day - six geese a laying refers to the six days of creation
• seventh day - seven swans a swimming refers to the seven gifts of the holy spirit
• eight day - eight maids a milking refers to the eight "be attitudes"
• ninth day - nine ladies dancing refers to the nine fruits of the holy spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control)
• tenth day - ten lords a leaping refers to the ten commandments
• eleventh day - eleven pipers piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles
• twelfth day -twelve drummers drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the apostle's creed.

talk about a new appreciation for a song that usually drives me crazy. hope you learned something new, too.

seriously???

lacey is probably the only four year with a ninetendo ds. her cousin, brooke pasted down an old one to her. lacey loves it!!! she thinks she is as big as her sister and all her cousins. she has even taken it a bit extreme....don't you think?

the presents have been unwrapped,

the food has been eaten and santa has come and gone....i'm a little sad that christmas is actually over. it seems so much went into the preparation of that one special day and then in a blink of an eye its all said and done. ah!!! this year, we hosted christmas at our house to almost 20 people! i loved it! god has truly blessed us! it was wonderful being surrounded by the people you love along with good food.

the girls had a great christmas full of many surprises! they woke to find a note from santa saying he couldn't get their present down the chimney because it was too big and to look out on the patio. well, we checked out the patio and guess what? there sat a big box with a trampoline in it! they were so excited! lacey had been asking for a little one, not a big one! so she couldn't believe what she saw! they also got their american girl beds that they had been wanting for a while, so that was exciting, too.

but probably the biggest surprise of all was the fact that my sister got engaged. talk about a beautiful ring! she was so happy and beeming with joy as she showed off her ring. congrats little sis! i'm so looking forward to the new year and all the new and exciting things that await us. i have no idea what lies ahead but there is one thing i know for sure - life is an adventure and it's meant to be enjoyed!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

let the festivities begin

for the next 72 hours this family of four will be celebrating christmas. i honestly can't believe that it's finally here. the last of the presents were wrapped this morning...yeah! and now i've started baking and preparing for our guests that will visit our house on friday. the girls are excited at the thought of santa's arrival along with the fact that they finally get to open the presents that have been under the tree for sometime. it's at this point in the "game" that instead of getting stressed out or excited, a sense of peace falls upon me. our journey to the manager is finally here and god's miraclous gift of jesus is presented to the entire world. wow! what a humbling thought, that this tiny baby born would take upon the sins of the world in order that we might live in eternity with our father. that is truly the greatest gift we can ever receive, how blessed are we? let's celebrate....

santa cow?

look who we saw at chick-fil-a?