Feeling Blessed

I started this week out feeling challenged in my thoughts.  Most of us sent our kids back to school on Monday after the Newtown, Connecticut devastation this past Friday.  It was certainly heavy on my mind and my heart, knowing these children and parents would never see each other and innocent lives taken way too quickly.  I was a bit anxious about sending Corey back to school As I am sure most parents were.  I was then reminded to pray for our children before to have safe travels on the bus and at school during their day.  We have a grandma that takes her grand daughter down to the bus every morning and she prays over the children every morning.  I am now praying for them every morning also.  I should have already been doing this, but most importantly, I am doing it now.  I encourage others to do the same.  I had already made plans to volunteer in Corey's class for this Monday morning before we ever learned of Friday's tragedy.  It was wonderful to go to school and experience the children just as happy and normal as any other day.  They made gingerbread houses that morning and I was asked to come help with their project!  It was a very fun morning full of frosting and candy everywhere.  It was neat to see kids sharing with their friends who didn't bring much candy.  Such a great group of kids!

Here is Corey's gingerbread house!  Keep in mind it made a trip home on the bus and it is now Thursday and they made these on Monday.  It still looks cute, although some candy has fallen off and the frosting isn't at thick as it once was.

Monday was a blessing.  It was wonderful to see and know how the children were doing and how well the teachers did with the first day back to school after Friday's news.

Sunday we were blessed at church as always.  Our pastor talked about Newtown, Connecticut and we prayed for them.  It was such a blessing to be together with our church family and to also hear our pastor and his reminder that God is still in control.  We have also been learning the history and biblical insights on Christmas songs we sing as the sermons for December.  This brings more meaning to the songs we sing every year at Christmas.  That to me is another added blessing.  I hear these songs on the radio and they mean more to me now than they ever did before.  Oh come, Oh come, Emanuel,  Do You Hear What I Hear, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, Holy Night.  If you would like to hear the meanings for yourself, here is a link to a few of the recorded sermons.  http://www.christchurchva.org/Sermons.aspx

This week I was kind of slow in getting much of anything accomplished, but what I did do, I was very blessed in.  Spending time helping with Corey's class was so much fun and I enjoy all of the kids.  Getting gifts for the 2 families that the kids in children's church have adopted for Christmas this week and just knowing they will bless two families, both single moms with quite a few children.  Also this morning, I headed back over to Corey's school to deliver gifts I had for Corey's classroom teacher, special ed teacher who helps him for an hour each day, his para and his therapists.  I got to have some time with the special ed teacher and it was such a blessing this morning.  To be honest, I didn't really care for her at the beginning of the year.  We had a lot of things to get worked out for Corey and it was tough and I felt she wasn't very knowledgable of what Corey needed and not very helpful.  It was a tough time and I really struggled in my communication and acceptance of her at that time.  Since then, we have come a long way and we really appreciate each other.  We have been through some adjustments, both of us.  So today when I took in the gifts and she was in the front office, she came and gave me the biggest, warmest hug and told he how much of an honor it is to work with Corey and how wonderful of a child he is and how she loves working with me too.  It made my day!

I am thankful for a great week with many blessings!  I have far more blessings than this!  Heading in to Christmas, I feel joy and peace even with knowing that there was still a tragedy on Friday this past week.  God is good :)

Martha Stewart doesn't live here.

Ok, so I have to admit that I had big plans for this week.  Plans to really get the house in great shape before our Progressive Dinner with our neighbors this coming Saturday.  I did in fact get the house in great shape, but not in the way I had planned.  I had these Martha Stewart plans also for getting everything all decorated and for the desserts I planned since we are hosting the dessert part of the dinner at our house.  I started out with a to do list.  I had things for each day of the week to get done with the idea of a few fun things each day and then the real work that needed to be done.  In my procrastination, I saved all the work and harder things for, you guessed it, yes, today.  I got myself in gear today because I didn't want to spend the whole day on Friday doing all of this either.  I still have a few things to get done tomorrow, but most of the hard work is done.

Plans to make cake pops aren't happening.  I have already spent enough time in the kitchen and let's just say my cake pop trial run was just a hilarious outcome.

  I baked Christmas sugar cookies last Saturday and also made cookies Tuesday for the cookie exchange I participated in.  I made cookies that I remember making with my grandma.  Lot's of good memories making them and I remember them being very tasty.  They were anything but delicious.  Sure they look good, but they just do not taste good.  So I am thinking that the recipe I found online that was pretty close to grandma's was maybe not even the same recipe?  Who knows.

I ended up making a whole new batch of 4 dozen cookies Wed morning, the morning of the cookie exchange.  These are Apple Jumbles with Brown Sugar Frosting.

 What a busy, crazy, chaotic morning trying to get the cookies baked, cooled, frosted and packed up and ready by 10 AM and also have myself ready.  I pulled it off though.  I arrived at 10 AM and I was the first one there.  It was a good chance for me unwind and visit with Liz while the others trickled in over the hour.  My second batch of cookies were delicious and they were from a recipe I found online while I was finishing up some things in the kitchen and getting ready to take Corey out to the bus before 8 AM.  Of course, somehow I missed the whole ornament exchange announcement somehow in the invite.  I don't recall hearing about it.  Thankfully, Liz graciously took care of it. She had extra ornaments in case anyone forgot.  That is a well planned hostess.

I got home Wed afternoon after a visiting at the cookie exchange and I realize how many amazing and delicious cookies I had.  I decided that instead of cake pops, these cookies and the other dessert I had planned would work fine for the desserts at our progressive dinner.  This now was a plan about simplifying things and not spending so much time on doing things that would impress people.

This week started out hectic and I dreaded the cleaning.  I clean all week long, but we make messes all week long and I don't clean in detail every week.  It feels like everything gets messy as soon as it is cleaned.  Heading in to Friday and in to the weekend, I feel refreshed and glad I dropped some of the unrealistic expectations and plans I had made.  I am after all Michelle Wentz and not Martha Stewart.  There is a bit of anxiety and craziness that comes with trying to take on big projects that really would only make me happy in the long run and most likely no one else would notice.

Just a little reminder to myself.  I don't really need to impress others.  I am looking forward to our neighborhood Progressive Dinner now that I have become more realistic and practical and focused on just making our house nice and clean and keeping it simple :)

A great day!

Today was a great day! The weather was so nice!  It was a little chillier than yesterday, but still very beautiful and enjoyable.  One of the first things on my to do list today was making a trip over to Corey's school book fair.  At school they have a chance to write down what books they would like or are interested in and then bring the list home for the parents to look over.  I appreciate that the paper is small and not much space for a long list :).  I do see books as very important and I don't think children can ever have too many books.  Some of Corey's favorite books are along this theme of dinosaurs love underpants and aliens love underpants.  They are quite funny and we were able to add to that collection today.

Here is Corey's new book!  Aliens in underpants save the world!

He is pretty happy to have another of these silly books!  They are funny and we laugh a lot when we read them.                

After school today and homework was done, I made some amazingly delicious cranberry orange muffins!  The recipe called for fresh cranberries!  The picture does not do the muffins justice.  I already ate one before I took this picture and now I have eaten a second one.  Corey had one with his dinner also.  I am sure there will be one going in his lunch box tomorrow as well.

                                                                        &

With it still being quite sunny and beautiful out in December, I thought now would be a perfect time to post a picture of the beautiful front door mat my mother in law and her sister sent us last week.  I had no idea it was coming.  It was a wonderful surprise!  They had sent it as a house warming gift!  It was so very thoughtful and I just love it!

I am really appreciating living in a real house.  It is so expensive to live here and although there are plenty of people whom I know that live in single family homes, there are a ton of town homes here that families live in.  I love having our own space and this house suits us quite well.  The neighborhood is small, but friendly and Corey has a hand full of friends to play with.


                                        Our Home!      

And did you notice?  Our grass is still green in December!

Blessings to you all and hoping that your day was great too and I am curious, what are some of the foods that you love having during the Christmas season?  Some sort of cranberry orange bread is a craving of mine and now it has been satisfied.

Just for today

I had all these plans to post something fun, light hearted, happy and exciting today. Instead this will be  short today.   I had a hard decision to make this week involving a friendship and yet God knew what I needed as he always does.  I am so blessed.  Sure, I knew I needed to make a decision that was done with much prayer and really thinking through everything.  But in these times of letting go or making challenging choices, God always has a way to bring us encouragement and the drive to push forward.  I know the choice I made was necessary and God lets me know I am loved by him, I don't need anything else :)  That is quite re-assuring to me.

I was in the car out doing errands this morning and listening to Christian Radio. Lysa TerKeurst whom is so easy to relate to has a little moment of truth that she shares.

This is what Lysa had to say this morning.
Have you ever felt betrayed? Hi, I’m Lysa TerKeurst with Proverbs 31 Ministries. Many of us live with a fear of betrayal everyday. I know this hurt very personally.But I’ve learned whether I’m a little girl terrified by the absence of her Daddy, or a grown woman fearing history will repeat itself - there is power in remembering that God will always be with me. Sometimes I just have to say it out loud: God loves me and He will never leave me or betray me!God never intended for us to look at others and demand they give us love and security. Being overly dependent on others for these things allows fear to keep a hold on us. Instead, because of God’s love for us, we have the beautiful opportunity to give love and we don’t have to live in fear. For more, click on Lysa’s blog when you visit Proverbs31.org.


This doesn't really speak of my personal decision this week in friendship, but it speaks to my heart about God always being there and never leaving us.  I love that!  I needed that!

I visited the Proverbs 31 blog today and the devotion today was about baggage that we carry along with us and how we try to carry things that God was intended to carry and not us.  In fact at times we need to be carried and to let him do it.  I do know this is a time to let go and let God take care of things!  I am thankful that I am doing that.  I am thankful that God loves me so very much!

I needed this tidbit on the radio today.

Our Weekend

Yesterday Corey and I took Pat to the airport in the afternoon as he is going to be gone for a week to Africa.  I always try to think of some fun things to do to help the time go a little quicker when Pat has to be gone for a week or two.  We have been so blessed with amazing weather here.  I don't know if this is typical weather for the D.C. Metro area, if it is, I am happy to be somewhere that gets chilly, but not down right cold.  We have had some very nice warm afternoons here and the first 2 days in December have been so very nice in the afternoon.  Yesterday we went to Frying Pan Park.  It is a Fairfax County park, but they have horses and other farm animals.  They have a carousel and they were doing a hay ride, s'mores, there were seniors singing Christmas carols in santa hats.  Santa was there.  It was just a nice, fun time out in the country.  Best of all, it was a really cheap, fun afternoon.  I can see going there for more events in the future.  It was really quite close to the airport, so it was very handy yesterday to add that to our plans.  After we got done, we went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner.  I am not sure if that was a wise food choice for me as I am trying to get rid of some extra weight I have put on in the last 6 months.  I tried to make the best food choice I could and enjoy my time with Corey.

Today we went to church, we go to the 9:30 AM service which works quite well for our family.  We typically don't sleep in, so I love having this earlier option.  This afternoon Corey and I went to George Washington's Estate in Mount Vernon.  We have been there one other time and we had bought a year long pass for each of us when we went the first time.  It is beautiful and peaceful there.  They have some Christmas Trees decorated up very pretty that are on display for a short time, so I felt like it would be a great chance to go and enjoy the nice weather and see the Christmas decor.  While we were there, we saw a camel.

I think the camel is a special visitor during the Christmas season.  I do not remember seeing him before.

This is a short blog post today, but I am thrilled we got out and enjoyed the weather yesterday and today and only spent a whopping $9 total between the two adventures.  I think we did pretty good!  I was appalled that a drink at Mount Vernon, just a 20 oz fountain drink cost $3, but we had been walking around quite a bit and Corey was really quite thirsty. 

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  I will be typing away throughout the week, so feel free to stop by and see what we have been doing.