What makes your holiday special?

It's that time folks!

Do you know where I am going with that?  Any sort of inkling?  You probably know the season, if you blink it will be our boys birthdays season.  Yes, it will be January! 

We strive to keep Christ in the season, we have devotions, and read our bibles.  We desire an intimate relationship with Him.  We still fail at times though.  Miss the mark.  Get caught up in the moment.

Part of me wants to just say, "Happy HalloThanksMas Eve" and get all the holidays wrapped up in one.

What do you do to keep each moment, each holiday special?  What traditions help keep your focus where it should be?

For starters, will keep Halloween a time of friendship, hanging out with those friends, remembering manors while trick or treating, and creativity in designing your own costume.

We will focus on the holiday at hand, for the most part.  Meaning, I want to be frugal with Christmas spending, so I may shop a bit now, but will still enjoy the holiday that is present.

Will you share what makes your holiday's special?  Any one of them coming up!

Sugar Rush?

~ cold mornings ~

                    ~ warm covers ~

~ so hard to get the kids awake ~

Enter in the ultimate offer in our household, "be downstairs in five minutes or no hot chocolate!"

Yes, they moved.  One more quickly than the other, but both moved

because neither wanted to loose the priviledge of hot chocolate.

Got that started and got out the whipped cream canister (we own one that you add the cream, sugar, and such, then the charger.  Like this over at Amazon!)   Down side is that they have to come to room temperature to open up, clean, and start over again.  Never fail - use the kitchen aid and just all that we made.  Both boys were happy to have extra whipped cream and if they crash from lack of sugar, it'll be my own fault.  Will have them go gather wood if need be.  It is that time of year!

Good Moments

Craziness!

That one word sums up life during the last 5 or 6 weeks easily. 

Lots of weird health stuff going on, that I'd rather not share over an open, easily searched blog. 

Lots of very long school days; long and stressful.  We still believe we are following what God has called us to do, in homeschooling.  That doesn't always make things easier, it just crystallizes your focus.

During these moments of being tired from life, there have been moments where life hits a sweet spot.  Those moments that make the rough days more manageable. 

    Today has had it's moments of extremes.  School has been hard; getting organized has been hard; cleaning has been hard; getting prepped for picture day tomorrow has been hard; getting laundry done has been hard; getting bread made - wait not that!  :)

  So, finally hit something that felt right today ~ making bread.  Who knew?  I didn't realize how therapeutic it was, most of the time, for me.  It felt like something was going right.  Follow the recipe, check for stickiness, add more flour slowly, hand knead for a few more minutes, let it rise with a towel over it and heating pad under the bowl.  Found my moment, my good spot, for the day. 

During this, found a couple others.  Our oldest is taking a photography class at co-op and he needed a few extra "action shoots".  Had him couple take a couple of the dough mixing.  One is good and blurry which should make for good discussion in class.  Then sent both boys out, with the dog and treats, to get the dog moving and take more action shots.  So here's a couple of my moments, captured by my 13yo, budding photographer.

Manual Setting

Think he threw the treat and Charlotte missed it!

What have been you good moments today?  If you came here via Facebook, please leave a comment here.  Taking a sabbatical from Facebook for awhile.