Christmas rush

It's that perfect time of year. For us here in Ohio the snow is falling and it's full of Christmas bliss.......oh yeah and all the busyness and craziness of this time of year. We spend so much time like everyone else rushing to get things done and stressing ourselves out worrying about deadlines and presents and even homeschooling.

 But my husband was so right when he said last night to me that it will get done, don't worry so much. And slow down and enjoy this season. It's true. Sometimes we get so caught up with doing the next thing that we forget that this is a season when we should really focus on what's important to us. Stop and evaluate if we are doing that.

The truth is that although I haven't done much Christmas shopping yet, I do have a time set up to go and get it done. Unfortunately this year Steve won't be able to go with me since he has been working crazy hours, 7 days a week all this month, but the nice thing is my sister-in-law heard that I was going alone and jumped in and said she would love to go with me!

God answers our busyness in ways that we may not understand or even see until we slow down. I am blessed with a husband who has a great job, even if the hours are long in December. And with a great sister-in-law. He has blessed me with a sewing machine, tons of scrap fabric, and pinterest to help me come up with some really cute presents for those I love.

How is God blessing you in this Christmas season?

Midwife appointment

I had another appointment with the midwife. It went well. The baby is very active! You can hear the kicks and squirms on the doppler as she tries to get the heart beat. And the heart beat was nice and steady in the 160's.

Also I was able to schedule my ultrasound! December 24, which will be a fun day to get the ultrasound done. We have a fun gender reveal that we will be doing for the kids. I am going to buy some cupcakes that are blue frosting or pink frosting and wrap them. Then once we get all the kids together they will get to unwrap the gift, find out if they are getting a brother or sister, and get a delicious treat! Win-win!

Renewing our wedding vows

Renewing wedding vows on an "off" year. It is always a subject that brings up questions. For our 12th wedding anniversary we renewed our wedding vows with a big party and ceremony in our back yard. It is so important to work on your marriage and to show Christ's love to your spouse. The 11th year of our marriage was a really hard year. Close family and friends know all that went on but the important thing is that we drew so much closer together and focused on working through issues and came out on the other side much stronger.

It was a beautiful ceremony that our pastor performed for us. We decided to do both the traditional vows and then we also wrote vows to each other. it was such a special moment that we both needed. I would encourage anyone who wants to reaffirm their vows to go for it!

I worked for a long time trying to come up with cheap ways to make the whole event feel like a backyard wedding and be classy yet fun and laid back. Due to the help of wonderful family and friends it came together beautifully!

Doesn't she look so cute! And I even saved the dress that Savanna wore in our original wedding and that's what Natalia wore. It was really neat to have her wear it. I am hoping some day one of the kids might use it in their wedding for their flower girl.

 I really love this picture of us. It's right after I came outside and Steve saw me all dressed up. His look of awe was perfect! And the fact that my sister caught a picture of us kissing was the best timing.

 It was hard to pin the boys down to get a picture of them and it's one of the things I wish we would have done but this is what us girls looked like all dressed up. My mother-in-love was so sweet and took us to a resale shop and that's where we found the dresses.

 We discussed how to deal with Hayden's one year wiggles and the solution was to let him wonder. We assigned a friend to watch him if he wandered to far but instead it was cute how he went back in forth. He loves being in his daddy's arms so you see him there a lot too.

 My sister-in-love was so sweet and came over and did my hair. I love it!

 Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the cake in it's full glory but I used a cupcake stand and made cupcakes for the bottom layers and then this small cake for the top. The sad part is the cake fell before we got the picture. Still you can see how nice it looked.

I wish I knew how to flip this picture but this is what we made as a table decoration. The blue mason jars were in a friends basement. We simply printed labels off, added ribbons, rice, little jewels, and a tea light candle. 

I also like that someday when the kids get older we have experience pulling off a cheap but gorgeous backyard wedding.