It felt like Christmas came early at my house yesterday. My kids love family and it’s hard during holiday times not to have any around. So it was a fun thing to have my aunt and uncle come have dinner with us yesterday during their visit to Arizona. We had a wonderful dinner and went to look at the temple lights and nativities after. The lights were beautiful and the international nativity collection was really fun. We even caught some of a performance outside while walking around.

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Family Sharing Holidays

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, ‘My dear child, why are you crying?’ The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family. The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires.

‘Is this your thimble?’ the Lord asked The seamstress replied, ‘No.’ The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies.

‘Is this your thimble?’ the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, ‘No.’ The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

‘Is this your thimble ?’ the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, ‘Yes.’ The Lord was pleased with the woman’s honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, ‘Why are you crying?’ ‘Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!’

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney. ‘Is this your husband?’ the Lord asked.

‘Yes,’ cried the seamstress. The Lord was furious. ‘You lied! That is an untruth!’ The seamstress replied, ‘Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said ‘no’ to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt.

Then if I said ‘no’ to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said ‘yes,’ you would have given me all three. Lord, I’m not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT’S why I said ‘yes’ to George Clooney.
And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is:
Whenever a woman lies, it’s for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That’s our story, and we’re sticking to it.

Signed,
All Us Women

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Funnies Blogging

It was the last thing I had time for today. But how on earth can you say no to those baby blue eyes pleading with you to “Please, please mom can we make a gingerbread man? I’ve never ever tasted one in my whole life!”

Sometimes you just have to make time for things like this.

Clearly he’s delighted. As we dressed the snowflakes, trees and teddy bears with frosting he kept saying “Mom you are so awesome!” Now that’s more payment than you can deposit in any bank and it lasts longer too! So with all that praise I pulled out the big guns and wrote his name on one of the cookies. He gobbled it up with sheer delight.

I decided to share his picture here so his teacher can see it. He wants so much for her to see it but was very worried with how to do that because if he tried to take it to school he might break it. (You gotta love this kid who thinks of everything.) So I told him we’d take a picture to share. You see, they’ve been reading books at school about the gingerbread boy all week. On Monday he’s going to run away and the class is going to try to find him. Friends and relatives in other states are invited to send a letter or postcard pretending to site the gingerbread boy sharing where they spotted him and what he was doing. Then they will mark those letters on a world map as they search for him. If you want to join in the fun send me an e-mail or leave your discovery notes in the comments leaving me the state where he was seen. I’ll print them out and send them in for him.

How can I not be overjoyed that I took time to make a gingerbread boy with him? Just look at those eyes!

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What did I ever do before life with kids? Moreover, what did I do for entertainment?

The Christmas season is so much brighter and more joyful with kids. Not only does it bring back memories of my own childhood, but it’s like you get a magical moment here and there where you see the world through their eyes.

About three weeks ago my little guy was having a bugger of a time remembering the name Santa Claus. He came back so excited from a turn on the neighbor’s little electric motorcycle and immediately asked me what the name was of the one who brought gifts at Christmas. I told him Santa and he quickly brought his hands together in prayer form, closed his eyes, lifted his head toward the sky saying the cutest prayer to Santa I’ve ever heard about please bringing him one of those little motorcycles that goes really fast! He ended with a quick thank you, amen and then ran back to wait for another turn. I heard that prayer at least a half dozen times over the next couple weeks. Now he remembers Santa’s name and he’s moved into making a list. Which, I might add, is growing every day. But first and foremost is the little motorcycle that goes really fast!

Do you remember that excitement? I do. But seeing the twinkle in his eye and his excitement is a whole new level for me.

The craziest things delight them too. Last week while listening to the radio I told my son to listen for a silly word in the song “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” when the phrase of figgy pudding came up I sang with it for emphasis. He let out one of those belly laughs, not the surface giggle but the real deal that warms your heart. Then through the laughter he started saying, “figgy pudding, figgy pudding, figgy pudding.” After a few seconds I hear him say, “Oh here’s a good one mom: figgy, PIGGY pudding!” More laughter. Then he was on a roll. We got figgy, boogie pudding , figgy, boogie, piggy pudding, and a variety of other combinations. I was in stitches listening to his laughter and crazy phrases. Now when we’re out he tells his sister to be quiet because he’s listening for the figgy pudding song. His teacher would be so proud to hear how he’s mastered rhyming.

My daughter says she wants a Hummer Limo. She has an obsession for limousines, the bigger the better. Her favorite request is to drive all the way from our house to Grandma’s in a limousine. Some girls want a doll, mine wants a limo.

So what joys are you experiencing this holiday season?

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Not so wordless this week….last night was my daughter’s Christmas Concert at school. It brings back so many memories for me of those special programs I did when I was in elementary school. Although this time the perspective is from the adult looking in. It’s an educational point of view. Speaking of which a few parents might need some lessons in picture taking etiquette as well as backside exposure when taking said pictures. If it hadn’t been so obvious, I would have snapped the nearly full moon shot I got more than once from parents doing a partial crouch. Yipes!

[blenza_autolink ww]

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Wordless Wednesday

It’s that time of year again when I’m in holiday mode. I was just reviewing some of the things I’ve done and shared here as gift ideas on my site and realized the only files I’ve gotten up there are Christmas related. I guess we know how well that goal of getting files uploaded is going! I only have a few up but they’re easy and fun.

This year I’m keeping my kids busy with homemade goodies we’re working on all month long for gift bundles. I’m doing a relaxation one with homemade soap, bath salts and candles, a food one with homemade jam or syrup, dipped chocolates, toffee and gingerbread cookie trees, and a personalized/family one with personalized liquid hand soap pumps, big multi-colored crayons, books my kids write and anything else that hits our fancy this year. I’m as excited as they are to work on our craft projects this month.

I wanted to do the 12 Days of Christmas again for my sweetheart, but with last month getting lost in a time warp I just ran out of time to get it started this month. I suppose there’s still a little time but we’ll have to see how organized I can get everything else first!

I hope to find time to share some holiday traditions and memories because I love that sort of stuff! Anyone else have some great ideas or shares of what you’re doing this year?

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Homemaker Sharing Organizing Food Holidays