Christmas Eve, 2021!

The Christmas Season is finally here!  It's Christmas Eve Day and we are so excited to celebrate Christmas!  I planned a quick surprise for the kids after school yesterday and it was Ashlyn's Christmas gift!  I told them to get their shoes and jackets on and that we were going for a surprise!  They had no clue what I had in mind.

We drove to the mall and I acted like I had a few things to get yet for Christmas.  When we walked into Clairs, Ashlyn's eyes got big and she looked around.  I told her that we should ask the lady if they sell clip on earrings.  Her happy face went to "Oh, OK." But then instead, we walked up to the counter and I asked if they could do a piercing?  Ashlyn's eyes got even bigger and she said, "For me?"  I thought she was going to cry!  She was nervous and excited and happy all at once!  

YES!  We picked out some earrings for her and she took a seat!  Austin was along and all eyes!  :). She didn't cry.  She was too excited to feel much of anything I think!  

Doesn't she look adorable!

She was so thrilled!!!!

When came back home and the kids have been so busy creating paper airplanes with the book Jody gave Austin for Christmas!  There are 200 pages of paper and new ways to make paper airplanes and they are well entertained by this!  We added them to the tree branches in Austins room!  Looking pretty cool!

I made my first orange garland too.  There were some orange slices left over from the school parties and I dried them and made a garland.  And, and the bluebirds arrived!!!!  I am so excited to watch these birds feast on the dried worms and food right outside my kitchen window!!!!  I love bluebirds!!!!!

Christmas Eve was spent right here at home!  We opened our Christmas stocking gifts and ate some good food!

Intensions were to have a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit and a charcuterie board along side shrimp and oyster soup.  Well, the fountain didn't work right so we just dipped the chocolate.  It was just us here at home and very relaxing.  I feel asleep watching The Star!

Matthew tried fixing the chocolate fountain but couldn't get it working.

I always lay in wonder on this night on how it must have really been so long ago when Jesus was born and came into this world as a baby!  How was it for Mary and Joseph to travel so far and be so tired to then not have a private, warm, dry place to sleep in that night.  God had it all planned out but it sure didn't seem like much of a place for the Son of God to be born!  I gave birth to four babies and I know how hard labor is!  My toughest labor and delivery was with Matthew.  

When I remember my labor and delivery experiences, I can't help but wonder how it was for Mary!  I was induced and labor was hard!  I'm sure Mary's contractions were hard as she stopped to try to breathe through them in the busy city streets and the bumpy roads and long travels put her into labor!  I was at least in a hospital during labor with medical assistance!  Not Mary.  She was with Joseph, young and having no idea how this was going to all take place but one thing she did know ... labor was hard and coming on strong and she needed a place to go for birth SOON!  Joseph was trying!  He was looking for a room, anything or anywhere to get out of the cold, wind and crowded streets!  I'm sure he was praying for direction!  When they were offered a place, after searching and searching, they took the offer of a cold, damp cave where the animals bedded.  Was it what they expected or good enough for a birth???  It was all they had and they took it!  Mary was still in hard labor, maybe in so much pain that Jospeh was the only one unpacking their bare necessities they had with them for their trip.  

I remember being in labor with Matthew and as I was sitting on the side of the bed, tears were flowing because the labor was so intense and I finally asked for an epidural.  Oh what a heavenly feeling when the pain subsided!  Not for Mary!  She had to push through the pain!  She had no meds or doctors to help ease her pain!  All she had were the words to remember in her mind that God said to "not be afraid".  Jospeh was there with her and God would have to help them!  

After much labor, my doctor finally said that baby is too big and we would need to go for surgery!  I remember being so tired and weak and saying to myself, "God, all I want is a healthy baby and I know my body will heal!"  I was too tired to care much about the rest of the delivery but I had good people that helped my through and Mike was beside me the whole time!  I was wheeled into surgery and 32 minutes later, Matthew was born a healthy baby boy and I was so happy to have labor and delivery over with!  I never dreamed this delivery to go this way.  I was so grateful to be in a place where I could get help!!!  Thank you Jesus for helping me through this delivery!!!!

Mary may have wished for assistance???  Maybe the inn keepers wife was there to help her?  Maybe it was just Joseph being there to help?  I wonder if she ever dreamed her labor would go this way?  We don't have all these details in the Bible but Jesus was born there that night!  The mess, the smells, the blood, the tears, the sweat ... all happened in that stable in the busy town of Bethlehem that night.  I am sure Mary was so happy to have labor subside and to finally hold her miracle newborn baby!  To look at her baby, the Son of God, must have been so incredible!  They counted ten tiny toes and ten fingers.  They washed the newborn and wrapped him in swaddling clothes.  Joseph cleaned up the feeding trough, a manger, and made a bed for the newborn KING!!!  I'm sure he was relieved to have this part of their journey over with too!!!!

Mary and Joseph had a calling to raise the Son of God and they obeyed!  Even when it was really tough and the previsions didn't seem ideal!  There's so much to learn just in this one holy birth story!!!!!  It's true!  It really did happen!  You can take the facts we have in the Bible and add real life to it and it makes the story so meaningful!!!

Christ was born!    

Christmas week!

This is Christmas week and we are enjoying so many festivities!!!!  Christmas really is the best time of year!  Mike's mom gifted us Lapp Sisters to a very beautiful day at Longwood Gardens!  It was planned for all of to go but last minute it only suited three of us.  We walked through the conservatory in awe!  Everything is just so gorgeous!!!!  I mean like heavenly beauty!  So many flowers, plants, trees with real fruit growing on them and poinsettias and water fountains and so many Christmas trees!  I loved it!!!!  Thank you so much Mom!!!!!

This place is a gem in our area!!!!!!

Then Lena mentioned something about eating a late lunch at the Terrian and what a wonderful suggestion!  I love the Terrian too and their food is amazing!  This was a great Christmas outing!

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I needed this day to be at home and gather up my menu for Christmas, double check my lists and go grocery shopping!  With having such a busy past weekend, and then out of the house all day on Monday, I was so happy to be home on Tuesday!  I wrapped up those gifts we bought at Cabelas and even got some baking done!  All the while, having Christmas music playing nonstop and enjoying our cozy home!

The littles are enjoying some fun specials happening at school this Christmas week!  This was silly sock/slipper day!

Let's take a minute and talk about sports!  Mike and I have cheered together with every sport our kids have played so far (baseball, soccer, volleyball and basketball) and we want to be their biggest fans!  If possible, we are there!  I think it's important for our kids to know we are cheering for them and the team!  It builds confidence!  It's life lessons when I think back of Matthew's first basketball games and losing every single game.  That was not fun or easy!  He, and the team, have worked extremely hard to get to this level now and it's showing up in wins!!!  We think they have the best coach and he works the guys in practice with intensity!  Again, it's paying off because the Warriors have not lost a game yet this season!  Last nights game was incredible!  High energy!  Matthew broke the school records for the most points for one player to score during a game!!!!  Lot's of cheerleaders and this actually gives me tears when I watch teachers sitting along the sidelines cheering and hangin out with their students!  When parents show up and cheer for their kids!  It's just wonderful to be in a community of people that LOVE their children and cheer them on!  

The gymnasium was packed and most were wearing some sort of "christmas sweater".  I love how our school brings energy to the players.  During a time out, in the fourth period, one of the boys from the team ran over to where most of the school students were cheering and said, "Coach said to get loud!"  Oh boy, they jumped up to their feet and started clapping and cheering even louder!  The players turned it up another notch and won the game with much sweat and energy!  I literally get tears typing this because if our world could just cheer on our teenagers like this in life, our world would be different!!!!  Our world would be better!  Kids, especially teenagers, need encouragement.  They need us parents and others around them to clap and cheer for them!  Life isn't always fair or easy!  That's life but what if we would just let our teenagers know how much we love them and are their biggest fans, it makes an impact!!!!!!  Every time I attend a game that one of our kids are playing in, there is a moment that just gets me!  When everyone is cheering and hollering for the team, it reminds me of how it must be in heaven with angles up there cheering on us Christians!  We should do this with our Christian believers here on earth!  It's amazing how much encouragement and energy it gives!

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This has been my breakfast the past week or so and it's delicious!

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Friends of ours opened up a new cafe right above the school High School!!!!  This is going to be a treat for all locals but especially to the kids at Linville!!!!  Wow!  Steve and Ruth make really good food and I couldn't wait to go on their opening day!

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We had a beautiful Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve Service at church!!!!  The worship team did a glorious program and I was loving it because, you know, I love Christmas songs!!!!

We finished the evening with hot chocolate and cookies.

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We attended the Christmas parties at school!  Ashlyn's class decided on doing another breakfast at school! Zayla was hanging out with her a little while Lena was in another classroom!  She's so cute!

Austin's class had a snack, played Bingo, had story time and made a craft!

Little Miss Zayla made herself right at home with Austin's desk!  :))). We all love Zayla so much!

It was also Christmas Sweater Day at school and I put this together in no time flat because we forgot to be creative with it the night before.  I stapled a reindeer paper plate to Austin's sweatshirt and we added a ribbon for the nose.  Easy!

And isn't she just too cute!!!!!!  She's big stuff in these school hallways!

I also put this snowman together for Austin's class.  Pinterest has so many fun, creative ideas!!!!  The kids liked this guy!

And as we were leaving school, Ashlyn was telling her friends, "See you next year!"  She thought that was cute to say!  :). We grabbed a snapshot with Dr. Hurst and I love how she adds such good humor and spirit to the School!!!!

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Christmas Vacation has now begun for the kiddoes and we cannot wait to spend the days off of school celebrating the birth of Jesus!  We plan to eat good food!  Watch Christmas movies!  Do puzzles!  Sleep in and stay up late!  Open gifts!  Burn candles.  Read the story of Jesus' birth!  Relax!!!!!

Merry Christmas and may this be the best time for you and your family!!!

A December Weekend!

 

Things are looking like Christmas everywhere you go!  Lights are at many homes!  The malls are busy with last minute shoppers.  Cafe's are serving up all things peppermint and gingerbread!  The smells, the noise and the Christmas music are just wonderful!  I love it!

On Saturday Mike and I went to Cabelas to grab a few gifts for the bigger kids in our family!  It was just him and I and we love outings like this together!  We drove from the shopping spree back to pick up the littles at Tony's but they had a fit when we said we were going straight to Matthew's basketball game in Harrisburg.  They don't always love going to these games and Jody said they could stay at their house!  Boy, were they excited!  Thanks Jody!  Mike and I cheered for Matt's team as they won yet another game!  We are so proud of the how these boys play all out and with such determination!  This team is very intense and so fun to watch!  Then we grabbed a bite to eat with some basketball family friends before picking the littles up!

We stopped to watch these lights on the way home.  We opened up the roof window and watched the singing lights!

On Sunday we had a Christmas service with a short play done by the children!  So sweet and who is that adorable wiseman I see!!!!!

And this is us!  Merry Christmas!

Then .... we went straight to my parents house for my family gathering!  We gathered with gifts, hungry bellies and a bunch of excited kids!

Mom and Dad hosted the family in their rec room and we enjoyed the best foods and gifts!

My parents gave the children rollerblades for Christmas and it was a hit!!!!  They were rolling all around the rest of the day!

Some other gifts that were given ...

We ended the day with playing Four Up and Four Down!  This family is so special to us and we them all!!!  Many thanks to Mom and Dad for hosting us!!!!!

Merry Christmas Riehls!