December plans

Whew, December always brings about hustle and bustle for everyone and for us it seems even more so since in our immediate family we have 2 birthdays in December, Lydia's and mine. In our extended family including ours, I think its 5 altogether. We usually do family birthday parties recently since the girls don't really do well with a lot of people but maybe this summer we'll have a "family birthday bash" as I've seen other families do and invite a few friends.
I am looking for some simple service activities for our family to do this season. Today, we had an impromptu opportunity to learn more about what the Salvation Army does during the Holidays during a routine trip to Walmart. MJ got to ring the bell and shout out Merry Christmas. No extra donations came in but some smiles did:) We also plan on baking and taking treats to neighbors. I'm also keeping my ears open for the  Holy Spirit's leading on other opportunities.
We are planning on going to a local Christian radio station's free Christmas concert tomorrow. Probably will have to leave early but it's worth a try. Also our church always puts on an AWESOME Christmas program. The Family Connection Center also has a fun calendar for December too. Also I finally found a couple churches that will watch all 3 kids for me on Saturdays so I can have a little time for myself! This time of year will probably be devoted to Christmas shopping. We also love to go looking at Christmas lights and might go to the Rose Garden Light display in Orangeburg. I love Christmas as we celebrate the baby boy that was born to save us! It hits home a little harder to the girls now when I explain that Jesus was a baby boy just like Nathan. Then Nathan smiles so sweetly and I can see the lights go off in their little heads. So cute!
Lydia turns 5 years old this year so I gave her my little family responsibility speech that I gave MJ at 5 and will give Nathan too at the same age. I explained that she is both a big sister and a little sister and that she is to help baby brother, Nathan and also big sister MJ whenever she can. I used the signs to go along and she signed and said them with me so I think she somewhat understood, however, I think her will is a whole other issue:)
Well, will post pics later as we go into this very special time of year.

Thanksgiving pics

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends in Atlanta. We spent a few days with my sister Carrie and her family. While we were there, MJ learned how to play the Wii, Mario Kart. She got up early in the morning to play it and the other kids got up too because their schedule is to get up at o dark thirty for school. Even Nathan gets up that early because his sisters are up. We had a fun time visiting with Carrie, Falecia and Mariah, drinking lots of coffee, eating good food, and swapping stories. We got to visit with Shawn and his partner Craig during the Thanksgiving meal. Shawn made the kids a little tipi to play in and it was a big hit! I got to do a little shopping for interview/picture clothes and Carrie managed to work some in between all the fesitivities. We also took a little side trip to visit my friend Michelle and her family who live in Marietta before we headed home. While we were gone, my landlord, did some work on our home so it was good for him too that we were gone for him to do the bulk of the work. It was nice to be able to go and get out of town for a few days. We had a really nice time and got home Saturday evening and were rested enough to go to church today. Ready for school tomorrow!