An Evening In Our Home

Last night Daddy had a Speed The Light Rally to go to. Normally, we would have accompanied him, but Sarah has not been sleeping well at night, so we are all a bit on the tired and grumpy and sick side of things. So we stayed home and worked on Eli's birthday invitations.

2 Scrapbook Layouts

A random post about the insanity in my head. Took WAY too long to cut this all out with an exacto knife. Lately I've been doing really complicated, drawn out pages. ??
Found this drawing while I was cleaning out Sarah's room yesterday. Isn't it sweet? Her preschool building, I especially enjoy the flags and the stars. :)

Photo 365, Photo #4

My kids watching their favorite music video (as of the past week)... They are absolutely enthralled with the toys from 'when mom and dad' were kids. ha ha.

Photo 365, Photo #3

Sarah's mailbox she bought for $1 at Target a few weeks ago. She sweet-talked Daddy into screwing into the wall next to her room. She also wrote her name on it (love her learning-to-write-without-lines handwriting) and then I attached some puffy flower stickers I had. We leave her little notes in the box, putting the flag up to indicate new 'mail'. She loves this!

Happy Birthday Lori!

This girl has stood by my side for 13 years now!! Holy cow! We met back in Sociology class in 1997 at Morningside College, and life has never been the same since. (ha ha, wasn't it simpler back then??) Anyway, we have walked with each other through so much since then; meeting Mr. Right, engagements and marriages, the excitement of new pregnancies, the loss of miscarriage, job changes, financial hardships, doing our taxes (usually together!), and countless hours of scrapbooking together. If you call my phone and it's busy, she's usually on the other end and we are cleaning house together or folding laundry or making supper. She's my 'just blurt it out and get it off my chest' person, never judging me, always loving me. And willing to tell me what I need to hear. I am so thankful for her friendship. Here's a little look at our life together through the years. :)

This is from February or March of 1997, when we first met. (see? she hasn't changed one bit!) We really liked to shop back then, when we were rich college kids. :)

hanging out in her room talking about boys.

This is from the next year, About a month before Rob and I got married. We had gone to a wedding in Lincoln, NE. It got a little silly on the way home. :)

And this was taken on Rob's and my wedding day. Lori was my maid of honor, I had no idea how important our friendship would remain at that time, but I'm so glad she was!

Sadly, I don't have any photos from her wedding a few years later. I was hurting my brain trying to think about why, but then I vaguely remember doing a wedding scrapbook for her, and giving her the remainder of the photos. Maybe she'll scan a pic of us and FB it to me?? It would complete the post. :)

This is quite a few years later (we have lived hundreds of miles apart for most of our friendship!) in Branson, MO. This was the fateful weekend that God called us back to school and upended our entire life! :) Such a good weekend. Very cool that Lori and Jay were a big part of it.

Met in Sioux City for a double date one Christmas.

Mini golfing with our boys.

Playing bunko at our house in Illinois.

Shopping with Kimmie in Illinois. (somewhere there's a great photo of us shopping in Walmart in AR, but I can't find it this morning. bummer too, because it's hilarious!)

pretending to be sisters.

Sharing a house for a few months.

laughing it up in my red kitchen.

pretending to be supermodels.

enjoying Galveston beach on my birthday last year.

and finally, during my Iowa trip last fall. love this gal. Here's to 13 more years!

(just for laughs, this post could also be titled 'the many hairstyles of Anna', notice how Lori is pretty classic and rarely changes her hair!)

Photo 365, Photo #2

beautiful January day in South Texas. Oh, how we've waited for it. Having to coldest winter on record, 62 feels perfect to me!

Photo 365, Photo #1

hey all..

Someone at church on Sunday was telling me about the 365 photo challenge, taking a photo a day for an entire year. At first I kind of brushed it off, one of those, 'it would be neat but impractical, too busy' kind of things. Then later I started thinking about it, (while I was doing dishes or cooking or something mundane like that) and realized what a great way it would be to grow my skills as a photographer.

So, I'm going to make an attempt, and post them all on here.

Here's yesterday's photo. I didn't have a lot of time yesterday, because I spent most of the day either in a meeting or out shopping with Jen for her big conference at the end of the month. I was not going to lug my camera to the mall. :) not for 6 hours anyway!

Wonder what I'll photograph today?

A Shout Out

to the lovely Autumn Starnes.

This gal is pretty much amazing, happens to be a missionary to Thailand (how cool is that) and she's a very good friend. I got to spend last Saturday evening chilling with her and do some photos for her new prayer cards. Very sweet.

Tonight, I found the sweetest, most encouraging email in my FB inbox. I am blessed.

Remember Autumn in your prayers, will you? She's very far from home.

New Year's Resolution # 9

This is a resolution I've been working at for a while now, certainly goes back before 2010. It's been rather like a muscle, slowly building up my arsenal of meals and the will power/ determination to sit down and plan it out.

I posted on FB last night that was planning meals for the rest of January and several people asked me to share. Today was my first real grocery shopping trip of 2010, and I wanted to go with a plan in mind. Also, my mom will be here at the end of the month, so I wanted to have thought that through as well. So far this year, we've only eaten out once, and that was using a Christmas gift card, so I'm pretty proud of us! This is a big area of 'money leaking' in our house. Our busy schedules make it easy to cop out and have fast food for dinner, but our bank account does not need that kind of abuse!

So here you go, evening meals from today through Feb. 1st (simply because my mom will be here through then and I'll grocery shop again after she leaves). If you'd like the recipe, I will be more than willing to site a source, just post a comment.

Saturday 1/09 homemade chicken vegetable soup and Rhodes bread. (made from yesterday's leftover roast chicken, smells so good!)

Sunday 1/10 brinner with Lifegroup. Breakfast burritoes and french toast, juice, milk, fruity breads.

Monday 1/11 homemade mac and cheese. microwave veggies.

Tuesday 1/12 Chicken and Dumplings. microwave veggies.

Thursday 1/14 Ravioli and Spaghetti Sauce (seasoned with sausage), garlic bread, asparagus.

Friday 1/15 Crunchy Onion Chicken, cheesy brocolli and cauliflower.

Saturday 1/16 Deanie's Beef Stew, Rhodes bread.

Sunday 1/17 Lifegroup. Walking Tacos, Chips and Queso, bars for dessert.

Monday 1/18 Tatortot Casserole.

Tuesday 1/19 Grilled Bruschetta Chicken, garlic bread, zucchini.

Thursday 1/21 Pork Chops, applesauce, microwave veggies.

Friday 1/22 (Eli's birthday party) $10 any size, any topping pizza from Pizza Hut, Moonlight Salad, Best Chocolate Cake ever.

Saturday 1/23 Chicken Pot Pie

Sunday 1/24 Lifegroup. Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, dessert.

Monday 1/25 Apricot Chicken, rice, microwave veggies.

Tuesday 1/26 Taco Ring, doritoes.

Thursday 1/28 (Mom arrives!) Ribs in the crockpot, salad, bread.

Friday 1/29 Chicken Divan with rice, cranberry sauce and Cherry-O cheesecake for dessert..

Saturday 1/30 Chicken Stirfry (zuchinni, peppers, mushrooms) with rice.

Sunday 1/31 CHURCH DINNER, Iowa Potatoes, Sheet Cake

Monday 2/1 Steak on the grill, sauted mushrooms, layered salad.

Notes:

1.) You probably noticed I skip Wednesdays. Rob and I generally fast on Wednesdays before service. Kids might eat cereal (a favorite) or boxed mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches or corndogs. Always simple.

2.) I only write meal plans for evening meals. For lunches I parcel out leftovers into freezer bags so Rob has a variety to choose from. The kids eat chicken nuggets or PB&J sandwhiches, fruit, crackers, & a cookie most days. I generally have a lunch meat sandwhich. very exciting, right? but when mom is here we may mix it up with egg salad sandwiches, or maybe splurge on Panera one day.

3.) Substitutions. Yep, some nights I totally don't feel like making dinner. Or what I made isn't what I'm hankering for. For this reason I always keep a Chicken Voila (freezer dept, $3.64, feeds my whole family) and a Tony's Cheese Pizza ($2.50) on hand. I also have a few alternatives that are relatively less work, bacon quesadillas (a family favorite) and cheddarwursts ready for a quick replacement if the mood strikes. In a busy home like ours the key to a successful meal plan is flexibility. And there's always Kroger's $4.99 rotisserie chicken, which is one whole dollar more than an uncooked chicken and usually feeds 2 meals in our house. Good to give yourself some options.

4.) We are not healthy eaters by any means. But we serve small portions so I think it balances out. :) I'm not a brilliant cook, but it's edible.

How Anna Got Her Groove Back...

true confessions.

I spent most of the afternoon scrapbooking.

at least from 11 am till 2:45pm. (oh, and from 8-10 with Lori last night, too)

I completely neglected most of my responsibilities and got in touch with my creative side again. Felt guilty the entire time, and realized while cleaning up how very much I needed it. The last 3 or 4 months in the Thoreson household have been insane non-stop and I am so grateful to have a bit of down time.

So now you get to see what I was up to.

This first picture is for Lori. I was raving about these ancient stamps that I paid way too much for back in 2002 or something. Ordered them from twopeasinabucket.com and they were backordered for months. The day they finally came I was so disappointed by their general cheesiness (and over-price-ed-ness, just made that word up for ya) but I love the way they actually stamp out. Some of my favorite stamps to this day, and I rarely use stamps any more, mostly out of laziness. (I told you this was true confessions)

Next is a layout I threw together on Wednesday afternoon. I just wasn't feeling well and couldn't focus and I'm not too thrilled with it, sadly too, because I love these pics of my kids.

Then we get into last night's work. This plane just lifts my heart to heart to happy places. I saw this paper at Michael's yesterday for a whole $.59. Normally cheapo paper annoys me, and this was extremely thin, low quality paper. But the design was so happy and I was instantly inspired. So I handed over my 59 cents and brought this paper home and immediately backed it with some cardstock for stability, popped the plane with an exacto knife and some pop dots and went at it with alpha stamps and stickles. Love the end result. (even though there isn't a photo, ha ha) I'm on a big kick to scrapbook our family values lately. Years ago (when Eli was a newborn) I decided that scrapbooks would be a history album for our family. If anything ever happened to me or Rob, there our love would be, poured all over the pages of our family scrapbook. He'd know us, inside and out. So we scrap the good with the bad. And now I'm really trying to document our core beliefs, our dreams for their futures, and anything I can think might help them along their journey one day. (for those of you that don't know, my dad lost his mom when she was 27. I thought for the longest time I wouldn't live past then, I had her exact same name. Made me a bit paranoid about leaving a legacy for our little ones.)

This next page was inspired by a project that Heidi Swapp is organizing. Love her stuff. Don't have time (or money) to follow all of her inspiration, but this little .pdf was a very fun freebie and just happened to work perfectly with my already written New Year's Resolutions. Love it in the blue and grey and black and white. Messy, but fun!

And while I was photographing, I realized that I hadn't photographed the two albums I recovered. I'm partial to the D-Ring American Crafts albums. Because I'm uber-cheap (big shocker, right?) I usually buy the naked album and then cover it with fun wrapping paper from IKEA or Hobby Lobby. It's a process, but it makes my albums extremely unique. Plus, I love the way they line up on my bookshelf. Eventually I want to go through all my albums and put them in chronological order (ha ha, only ten years of albums) and replace all my old, broken post bound albums with these great American Crafts ones. Then it would be really cool to stamp the year on the spine so they all line up cool-like on the shelf. Quite a plan, isn't it?

I wasn't very pleased with the results on the red and black houndstooth one, but I liked the pink pretty well. Need to be on the lookout for some more fun colored wrapping paper, but it's been a while since I've been to IKEA again.

Back to the matter at hand. I started this page last night, and then finished it this morning. Love the story of this, just thinking about fairy tales and dreams coming true. I want Sarah to dream big for her marriage one day, and save herself for that godly man that the Lord has designed for her. I pray for my children's marriages almost on a daily basis. I know what a good marriage can be and it is the greatest gift and I'm so grateful for it.

Can't believe I got to do another snow page this year. I had bought this page kit about 2 years ago and then got it home and thought "I live in South Texas, when will I ever use this??". Lucky me, it's snowed two years in a row!

Next in line is our Trinity Christmas card page. Fun because I designed this card. Well, mostly. And we printed it with my company, so it felt like a pretty massive accomplishment. :) Did the pictures, too.

And this is by far my favorite page of the day. I love this photo, it just makes me warm on the inside. And you have to understand that Sarah asks for hot cocoa almost every day. :)

These last two pages are a spread from youth convention. Had a lot of fun with them. And I should clarify, Rob was trying to show how big my head was when I took the picture, but I thought it was a great statement about youth convention. Oh, and that bottom picture is Rob on the stage, receiving the offering. I love how his head is on the projector. (love Rob)

So that's it for now. Might scrapbook a bit more tonight. Feels good to relax a bit.

randomness

Such a good day. Not that I was busting out in happiness on the inside (like I usually am) but just a good day. Rob and I did make it to the scrapbook store, where I found the most beautiful sparkly butterfly garland for a certain young lady's August birthday, and also a good stash of wonderful new trinkets to inspire my pages, all at 35% off. Then we headed to Baybrook and got the Shuffle fixed (at no charge, yay!) and picked up the new Magic Mouse for my computer at home. I *heart* it so much! Who knew you could love a mouse? But it's from Apple and uses Touch technology, so? there you go.

Had some quality time at the hair salon with Jen this afternoon. That was relaxing, and my hair looks like me again. yay. Came home to the ribs I had set up in the crock pot at noon. yum. Nice quiet evening with the kiddos. They went to bed early, no problems from Sarah (sigh of relief). And then I scrapbooked 3 whole pages between 8 and 10. And I'm so excited about them, total put-your-heart-in-them pages. I'll share tomorrow. I may scrapbook again, because it really helped. a lot.

Funny random conversation Rob and I had while I was scrapping and he was lamenting over the Texas game... (I had been rambling about how I should have restocked some of my stickle colors at the store today)

Rob: "You know how much you care about football?"

Anna: "ew. yuck."

Rob: "That's about how much I care about scrapbooking."

Anna: "awww. but it's our family's history albums."

Rob; "I care about the end product, but I don't care about stickles and cutterpedes and stuff."

duly noted. You have to appreciate complete honesty in a marriage, don't you??

probably going to be seeing this conversation in a scrapbook page some time in the near future. :)

Off to cuddle next to my hubby on the couch while he watches (blegh) football and I cuddle with my chamomile and a good novel. life is good again.

Thursday is Around the Corner.

(she sighs in relief)

It has been a rough week.

How is that possible? It's only Wednesday?

2010 has been a little stressful thus far, and I can't even put my finger on why. I just feel, out of sorts. Normally I don't post much when I'm out of sorts. Notice, I've only put one little video up in the past 6 days. :)

But I want to be real. My life isn't perfect. (hey, I never claimed perfection, did I?) But I'm just off my mark right now. Having a hard time staying focused. Having a hard time accomplishing anything. Haven't been sleeping very well either.

Trying to really press into God and hear from Him. Would you be praying for me? Sometimes you can use a little help from your friends. :)

Tomorrow is Thursday and I am ready for some quality time with my North. We are going to go to the scrapbook store (because he's amazing like that) and spend my 35% off your entire purchase coupon. We also need to run by the Apple store for a repair on a Nano that isn't working. I'm excited to spend some time reconnecting sans kids. (I love our kids, but we've been with them 3 weeks non-stop and I've missed our Thursdays) Then at 1:30 I have a hair appointment (cut and color) with the fabulous Jennifer and she'll certainly put a skip back in my step. And I'm thinking, tomorrow night, though I have work to do (always and forever) that I'm going to scrapbook and get my groove back. Sounds like a wonderful Thursday, doesn't it??

I LOVE this Song!

(it's so me and Rob)

happy Wednesday!

So Long 2009...

I can't believe it's here and gone already. 2009 was most definitely the fastest year of my life. In some ways, it feels like we crammed a lot into one year. Highlights?? Well, let's consult the years old questionaire, shall we??

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
learned to swap heads in Photoshop! :)

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
somewhat better than most years. Funny, how I always think, 'this is the year I'm really going to change my life' and how it just slides away. But the reality is (resolutions or not) I have a pretty good life and my little list is only going to improve an already great life. Mostly, I love the opportunity for personal growth and change. I love the fresh slate. A friend on FB said it should be called New Grace Day, rather than New Year's Day, because we all get a clean start. Who doesn't need that?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope. Guess we are all aging out, eh? J/K. Attended my fair share of baby showers though. And Lori will be bringing another little life into the world in June...

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. thankfully. always trying to die to self though, and that, my friends, would be helpful.

5. What countries did you visit?
never set foot out of the good ole' USA. But I did make it to Iowa, Arkansas, and Florida this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
last year's response was 'more free time'. Ha ha. I'd like more wisdom in 2010. And grace to use it. (please)

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 16, 2009. Rob's ordination. It was an amazing spiritual experience and a firm reminder of our calling.

8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
turning a profit with ATP. Praise the Lord!

9.What was your biggest failure?
my stinky fender bender in June. Wound up costing a lot, in time, money, and insurance premiums. ugh.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really. God is good!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Nikon d90. Used it most every day since then!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My kids. They are doing awesome in school. Plus they are just amazing. I love this age!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Once again, the people in Washington have sunk to a new low. It's like they don't even realize they are dragging a whole country behind them.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage. Bills. Fancy electronic devices. (Touches, Nikons, TV)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My new Nikon. 5 days with my mom two different times this year. Iowa in the fall. Shooting the Camiolo family. (so cute!) My 30th birthday with Lori. 90th Anniversary cookbook. Weddings 2 & 3. Our anniversary session. (a lot of these have to do with photography) Christmas with our 8 and 5 year old. Ordination..... In the words of my dad "Anna, you're always excited about something!"

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
In the Valley of the Dying Sun by House of Heroes. Just a really, really good song that randomly gets in my head, often.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder?
Happier. Moving towards that longtime goal of contentment. Wiser. Experience is definitely on my side. Maybe a little less excitable??

thinner or fatter?
same-ish. I think. Our scale's been broken for over a year. It's a major priority, can't you tell?

richer or poorer?
richer. I think.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
scrapbook and blog. ironically (and sadly) that's my answer from last year. I can't ever tell you where all my time goes, it just does. I pretty much never stop moving (unless to edit or FB), but still there are never enough hours in the day. My to-do list is never-ending.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
forgetting to trust God. I'm learning, oh so slowly.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
It's done and gone. Fastest Christmas ever. How bad is it to be looking forward to next week when everyone else returns to work and school and I can finally get something done around here??

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
yes. This year with our children. I've obviously always loved them, but this year I am in love with them. And of course, that hunk of a man I married, he still thrills me too!

23. How many one-night stands?
Never in a gajillion years. I'd rather have my 4270 nights with Rob. obviously.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
still love the Office. But Community is highly entertaining as well!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
no haters.

26. What was the best book you read?
the Shack. wow. totally altered my world view, for the better. Love that book.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Lenka is pretty good. Other than that I've fallen off the music scene pretty badly lately. But the $25 iTunes gift card Rob gave me for Christmas should help remedy that. I'm holding off on it as a reward for when I get caught up on some work...

28. What did you want and get?
silly thing. An iPod clock radio for the bedroom. Rob also gave that to me for Christmas. (love that man)

29. What did you want and not get?
an anniversary ring. maybe another year.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
How sad is it that I can't think of any brilliant films this year? I will say that I really enjoyed The Happening. Still catch myself pondering it from time to time. Fame was a pretty major disappointment.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30. Lori was here. The youth group (and Jen) had a major surprise party for me. It was utterly amazing and my favorite memory from this year. The cake was the best part! No, I take that back. Having Lori and Jen there was the best part. Wish Kimmie could have joined us. Won't heaven be awesome when everyone is there??

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I had spent quiet time with the Lord every single day, rather than just most days. He is my everything.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
modest eclectic flair. (dark jeans, tee's and flats) That's last years answer, but it still applies. I've added earrings and the occasional giant floral pin, much to Rob's chagrin. And a fabulous grey military jacket + scarves. super cute.

34. What kept you sane?
my Lord and Savior, my daily talks with Lori and that guy I sleep with. Photoshop, though sometimes I think it steals my sanity too. Scrapbooking, when I find time for it. Music. Podcasts. Really discovered the power of the podcast this year.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Stalking Tara Whitney's blog a lot. She's really talented. Her styles a bit more eclectic than mine, but raw and passionate and I find it inspiring.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Watching our country spend itself into bankruptcy. grrrr.

37. Who did you miss?
My Northern peeps. (and Nashville-ians)

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Lori O'Dea was pretty phenomenal at Women's Retreat.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
God's Word is far more powerful than most people realize. There is life in His book.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

Live Like Your Dying by Lenka

One of these days you’ll be
under the covers you’ll be
under the table and you’ll realize
all of your days are numbered;
all of them one to one hundred.
All of them millions.
All of them trillions.
So what are you gonna do with them all?
You can not trade them in for mall.
no no


Take every moment; you know that you own them.
It’s all you can do, use what’s been given to you.

Give me a reason
to fight the feeling
that there’s nothing here for me.
Cause none of its easy,
I know it wasn’t meant to be.
I know it’s all up to me
So what am I gonna do with my time?
oh


Ill take every moment, I know that I own them.
It’s all up to you to do whatever you choose.


Live like you’re dying and never stop trying.
It’s all you can do, use what’s been given to you.

All of the moments you didn’t notice;
gone in the blink of an eye.
All of the feelings you couldn’t feel
no matter how you try.

See you next year! :P

Oh Night Divine...

What a wonderful season we have been enjoying. And ironically, I thought I'd have a bit more time for blogging. (ha ha) This week has absolutely flown by. We celebrated Christmas today, and it was delightful. I, of course, have pictures to share, but I'm too tired and it's too late to fuss with all that. Just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas and remind you that Jesus is the best gift of all. If you haven't received Him into your heart yet, don't go another day without Him. He offers us hope, peace and joy. Who doesn't need that? blessings, dear ones, blessings.

In the Wee Hours

Ok, not quite. But I am up and going at 6am on the first day of Rob's Christmas break. Sare came in our room coughing, I got up and gave her some medicine, put her back to bed. Laid in bed and thought about all the things I needed to do. She came back to our room, so I left her sleeping on my side of the bed and decided to get a head start on the day instead.

Beginning with blogging. :)

Things are good here. Really enjoying the kiddos break. Unfortunately, it's flying by. Like, in the Thoreson world, tomorrow is already Christmas day! of course, I haven't finished wrapping, not because I'm a slacker, but because UPS and the PO still haven't finished bringing the presents. Nothing like the last minute, right? (grr) Everything but the couple packages that showed up last night at 5pm is wrapped, but I'm expecting the bulk of it today.

Very few of my fun projects have gotten finished. Mostly, I've just done a lot of baking/cooking/cleaning. All good though, needed to be done. I did get a chance to scrapbook a bit yesterday, and that was relaxing for sure! Posting a few photos, but the bulk of them are from my snowstorm scrapping session a few weeks back.

Eli made this paper last week during Sunday School. It was much larger, but I asked him if I could cut it down to include it in our scrapbook and he was very cool with that. I love the "I saw him!"

I've been working on this page forever. Had it designed for about 6 months, and the paper pulled, then actually started it a month ago. It was a bit labor intensive. My kids were very impressed with the cut out glue and scissors though, so that was worth it. :)

Sarah drew this self-portrait on Thanksgiving day. I especially love the hearts in her dress and the high heels on her feet. :) So very her.

And Rob loves this song, thinks it should be Sarah's theme song. I though it worked for both kids though, and thought the lyrics really fit with this photo.

Sarah's Kindergarten photo. (I got a kick out of the 'Oh Dear')

And you can't have one without the other, I actually started with this photo. Eli drew this amazing timeline of his life and I had to include it in the family book. I'm realizing I've been doing that a lot lately, but I love their little drawings and stories. Sarah keeps making 'books' by drawing on a stack of papers, telling a story, and then stapling it together. Super cute.

And these are a few photos from Sarah's Crowning. That was one of our neatest moments this year, for sure. She's working hard on her Daisy material now, and is hoping to achieve Honor Daisy this coming fall.

We had our youth Christmas dinner this past weekend, and it was really special. I so enjoyed hosting all of our students here in our home. It felt like family. And so often I feel like we've sacrificed our relationship with our real family to love on these teenagers, so it was neat to share our traditional holiday festivities as a youth family. Everyone had a wonderful time, the food was excellent. My favorite part was Monique's gift to us, a homemade brie. It was fantastic! Excuse the terrible photo, I should have pulled out my real flash. Cutting corners always hurts in the long run. (note to self)

Last night we went to Pastor and Linda's for our annual Christmas with then. It was so sweet, they made hot dogs and macaroni for the kids then we opened presents. Then we sat around, enjoyed the cheesecake I made (which turned out awesome) and talked till about 10pm. It was very nice. No pictures though, I know that Linda isn't a big picture person, so I respectfully left my camera at home. :)

Well, I have a huge list to tackle, of course. And one last session before the holiday this afternoon. Then tonight we are going to enjoy a potluck/party with some good friends and tomorrow, my friends, is the day my kids have been counting down to for over a month! :) I should have some good photos to share!