Mondo Beyondo

Tulipgirl encouraged her readers to join her in making a "Mondo Beyondo" list. In Tulipgirl's words, a Mondo Beyondo list is "...the list of all the wild and crazy dreams we have, the things that are so out there it is almost scary to write them down...the ideas that tug at your heart and are almost out of reach even of day dreams"

So without further ado...my Mondo Beyondo list:

1. Buy lots of acerage, live off the land and off the grid.
2. Build a huge gymnasium type room for the boys to bounce around in.
3. Learn to play the piano really, really good (no more EZ music!)
4. Sew a wedding/extremely formal gown just for fun.
5. Have a huge convention to meet all my blogging buddies IRL :D
6. Learn to speak a rare language where I would be called on to translate all over.
7. Go to cosmetology school for the sole purpose of giving my boys cool haircuts.

Some Christmas Pics

Christmas Eve

 

Christmas Recap...

It was wonderful to be with family for Christmas, this was the first time since Isaac was a newborn. We were hoping to see more family, but since Jeremiah's dad is out of town we didn't make it to Baraga.

• The food... My mom spent the week baking, baking and baking some more. Cookies, fudge, chocolate ball thingees, cinnamon rolls, cheese cake...I ate and ate and ate some more.
  
• Cousins...The boys and Riley played together all day every day. Although, even after a sraight week of playing with a girl, Elijah still refered to her as a "he".
• Christmas day...was great. A little crazy. People handing kid's gifts left and right. Wrapping paper everywhere. I haven't seen Christmas morning like that since my brothers and sisters and I were little. Jeremiah and I did not overdo it with the boys gifts and i'm so glad because my sister and brother got them tons of things too.
  
• Last year I was wondering if I would have a daughter to buy American Girl stuff for this Christmas, which of course I didn't. However, I got American Girl perfume from my sister which I love! :D
• Jeremiah and I got to go and see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe on Monday. We both really enjoyed it. We took Jonah with us, and he was very good.
• Yesterday, my dad came home from work and showed me an ad in the local circular for a store going out of business. You could fill up a bag for $10. This was a Ben Franklin type of store and they had craft stuff, sewing notions and fabric! I filled up a bag to the brim. I felt like I was robbing them. I shared half of the stuff (mostly fabric) with my mom who was working and couldn't make it to the sale.
• Last night we packed an insane amount of stuff in our non-extended back minivan. I had hoped to bring Riley back with us for awhile, but there was no way we could fit another person and more luggage.
  
• My brother's girlfriend (of 2 years) is great! I was kind of hoping there would of been a Christmas proposal but there wasn't.
• Unlike our trip up there in September, I took tons of photos this time! :D
  

More from Elijah...

Last night I tucked the boys in upstairs and brought Jonah downstairs to rock. About a half hour later Elijah wanders into the living room.

"Elijah, what are you doing up? Are Isaac and Sammy sleeping?" I asked him.

"Yeah, they are sleeping" he tells me. "There are two guys upstairs sleeping and one guy down here walking around - thats me."

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Maybe if the Coffee Pot had Wheels...

Last night we arrived at my parents home in the U.P. (thats Michigan's Upper Penninsula, just in case you didn't know).

My three year old niece lives here so I was excited to see the girl toys! I wanted Sammy to play with me at her little kitchen set. "Look Sams, a mixer just like mommy uses! Look! The coffee pot makes real noise!" He was interested...until he spotted the car that goes with her doll house. Than it was over. I was left to eat the plastic eggs by myself.

Together We Can Create an Interesting Post...

Okay, I've thought and thought, and typed and backspaced, and posted and deleted...but I have nothing.

So, i'm asking you, my readers, to tell me about the last/most interesting/strangest thing you have googled. Elaborate as little or as much as you want.

As for me, the last thing I googled was about sewing twill tape onto a hoodie. Exciting isn't it?

Oh..and um...lets keep it clean please. Not that any of my usual commenters would post anything bad.

Who Needs Television?

 

Jonah and Grace

Don't they make a cute couple? 

God doesn't give us more than we can handle...

Right?

Okay, I have to write this post. Its been building in me for years. Everytime I hear somebody say "God doesn't give us more than we can handle" I have to bite my lip. I know that it's something people say to comfort others or themselves, however, the verse is taken way out of context. I saw this once again tonight on a message board. The way people use this phrase makes it seem like God is up there saying "hmmm...I got this cancer, who can bear it? No..not him...ah! here's somebody who can bear it, guess I'll give it to her." The confusion stems from this verse:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

In actuality, this verse is saying that there is no such thing as a temptation that is impossibe to say no to, that there will always be a way to escape sin.

There are many, many things that we can't bear in our weakness. However, the good news is that 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us that God's grace is sufficient and that in our weakness God's strength is made perfect.

So really its not a question of if we can bear something with our own strength, its a question of will we rely on God's strength and grace to handle it?

Happy Birthday Isaac!!

(Thats my attempt at a Sponge Bob cake in case your wondering)

In his own words, Isaac's six favorite things on his sixth birthday:
1. Getting presents
2. Being a good boy
3. Playing with friends
4. Eating Cake
5. Wearing my Spiderman costume (bday present)
6. Building my truck (another present)

What's Your Nerd Score?

Saw this at Heather's and wanted to join the fun...

A Healthy Tip

Want to know a painless way to make things healthier? Buy some whole grain flour and mix it with your white flour so you have a 50/50 mixture. Than you just use it as you would white flour. I started making pizza dough like this last year, than decided to use it for everything. I have made pumpkin bread, cinnamon bread and at least six or seven different types of cookies and nobody ever noticed a difference. Although, once I made banana bread with 100% whole grain flour and that did taste noticably different (the boys still ate it).

Seven Sevens

Blest With Sons tagged me for this.

Seven things I hope to do before I die:
1. Have a daughter (one can hope).
2. Have some kind of business based on sewing.
3. Grow a magnificent garden.
4. Learn to enjoy cooking.
5. Spoil a few grandbabies.
6. Wear out a lot more walking shoes.
7. Get better at sending notes and cards to people I care about.

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Keep my bedroom neat. Never in my entire life.
2. Comfortably sit in direct sunlight. A little voice in my head screams "shade! shade!"
3. Sing.
4. Stop eating chocolate. I've tried.
5. Force myself to read something uninteresting.
6. Pay full price for anything.
7. Talk in front of a group of people without blushing. I'm probably turning red just thinking about it.

Seven things that attract me to my spouse (significant other, best friend)
1. His gorgeous brown eyes.
2. He never complains about my cooking.
3. He is constantly educating himself.
4. He votes on his principals even when his candidate doesn't stand a chance.
5. He reads his Bible every day.
6. He is not embarrased to wear a baby in a sling.
7. He is an incredible father.

Seven things I say often
1. Stop that!
2. Hang on...
3. Is that how we ask?
4. Get out of the fridge!
5. Than don't eat it.
6. I can only do one thing at a time.
7. ____ come here.

Seven books or book series I love
1. Anne of Green Gables series - L.M. Montgomery
2. The Zion Covenant series - Bodie & Brock Thoene
3. Little House on the Prairie series - Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. The Mark of the Lion series - Francine Rivers
5. Emily series - L.M. Montgomery
6. Love Comes Softly/ Canadian West Series' - Janette Oak
7. The Heritage of Lancaster County series - Beverly Lewis

Seven movies I would watch over and over again
1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Emma
3. Witness
4. Kate & Leopold
5. It's a Wonderful Life
6. Breakfast at Tiffany's
7. Roman Holiday

Seven people I want to join in this “Seven Sevens” meme
1. Melissa
2. Sandy
3. Risa
4. Jamie
5. Bekah
6. Genevieve
7. Kether

Daddy + Sling =

A happy baby! 

Attention Redheads!

After browsing this site for more than a year, I finally tried some of the mascara (ginger red). I have to say that I am not disapointed.

Can Somebody Explain To Me...

Why December 25th is a Federal Holiday? Why do all the stores close? Why is okay to observe Christmas yet not say it?

Yesterday in a gift shop I saw the coolest quote:

Write your sorrows in the sand,
carve your blessings in stone.