Decking the Halls

Okay, this post is a little out of order, but it has finally made it onto the blog.

The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.  We traditionally do not travel or have family in on this holiday, since we are usually home in Kentucky for at least a week over Christmas.  (By the way, last night while celebrating Christmas with the McLaughlins, Caleb informed them that he was "going home" to Kentucky next week for Christmas.  We all had to laugh, since the one the words came from has never actually lived in Kentucky).  Anyway, Thanksgiving is just a time for our little family to hang out together, rest, and start preparing for the Christmas season.  After we have stuffed ourselves with our Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving dinner the day before, we enjoy the leftovers on Friday and then get to work...fun work.  And did I mention, it is the ultimate pjs day?!

This year, we added a new tradition.  While the boys were doing the heavy duty tree unloading and assembling, I made mint chocolate chip cookies. (Has anyone noticed how most of our family traditions revolve around food?)  Needless to say, it was big hit!!  I even sprang for the fancy, schmancy Blue Bell mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Frugal me will rarely spend over five bucks on a half gallon of ice cream, but this was a pretty special day.  And it was worth it! 

Of course the best part of cookie baking is licking that yummy batter out of the bowl and off the spatula.  However, with the two boys, I rarely get to share in this part anymore.  I guess I am just not quick enough.

Caleb was quite the big helper this year.  What a difference a year makes!  He was able to totally unpack and decorate the tree in his room on his own.  He did a good job carrying items from the attic, sticking the branches in our big Christmas tree, and he did a dandy job with ornament placement this year.  In years past, he would try to see how many he could get on one branch.  And again this year, Seth did more supervising than actual assembling.  Both Mommy and Seth like this job. 

Workman boys...Hard at work

Seth did provide a little working music for the crew.

Of course, all workers need to take a zerbert break.

As always, my favorite part of decorating the tree is looking at all of our special ornaments we have gathered throughout the years and reflecting on the special meaning of each.  I remember when Eric and I were first married, I tried to have some sort of tree theme.  I wanted a gingerbread tree, and I think we may have accomplished that once.  Now our tree has a few remnant gingerbread ornaments, but it is mostly a hodge podge of family ornaments, mixed in with sweet ornaments that the kids have made, those we have received as gifts, and then the special ornament we select each year as "our ornament."  No rhyme, reason, and certainly no theme. That is okay.  I like it better this way. 

This year "our ornament" is a little snowman dressed in a UK football uniform with football tightly clinched in his arms.  If you know our family at all, you know that this fall, it was rare to see our Sethie without a football in hand and any time he was in a home with a football helmet present, it promptly went on his little head for the duration of our visit.   When we saw that ornament, aside from the whole snowman thing, we thought it really looked like our Seth. 

Setting up the Advent calendar is a very special part of our decorating extravaganza.  This is the second year that we have done Advent as a family.  It is a daily highlight, as the boys take turns pulling out a piece of our Playmobil nativity from the Advent calendar and placing it in our little Bethlehem.  It is so exciting for them to see which surprise piece will be uncovered that day. This year, we did it a little differently than the traditional Advent daily devotional.  I combined the birth stories in the gospels of Luke (2:1-10)and Matthew (1:18-2:12)and each day, along with the nativity piece, the boys pull out a strip of paper with scripture from the gospels and we add it to the birth story, so on the final day of Advent we will have both the Baby Jesus piece and the complete birth story that we have been building on.  It is a lot of fun and the Word is abiding in their hearts as they hear the birth story every day leading up to Christmas.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away, but we pray you are having a wonderful Christmas season, preparing to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour and resting in the hope that resides in Him alone!  We wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Lights and a Little Hot Chocolate

There are so many reasons why I love this time of year.  One of them is driving around in the evenings looking at the beautiful light displays.  What other time of year can you slowly drive by the same house twenty times, without the owners getting freaked out and calling the police on you?

Since I was a child, I have loved going on nighttime Christmas light drives.  And now that our boys get so excited about our drives, it makes me love it even more.  I remember my mom's enthusiasm when she would take us to look at Christmas lights and know it was truly genuine, because I don't know how you can not get totally into it when your children are giggling and shouting, "Wow! Look at that!" from the backseat.  Oh, and a ride through the lights would not be complete without hot chocolate.  This is the first year that both boys have gotten to partake in this part of the tradition, so that has made it even more special for them.  Especially, when they were given unlimited marshmallow access.

Two of our favorite stops this year have been the Winterwonderland that is found at the end of the Sunnyside subdivision, off Hillsboro Road (right passed the Grassland area, for you locals) and the Lipton Lights display in the Amber Glen subdivision, off of Liberty Pike. 

The Sunnyside display is such a fun display that encompasses an entire cul-de-sac of homes, with very large front yards packed full of lights, characters, and displays.  You can get out and walk around to get a closer look at the lights.  It is really neat and there is a very sweet story about how it came about.  The display's creators mainly began and continues this decorating tradition each year to honor the memory of their son, BJ, who died a number of years ago at the age of sixteen.  On a sign at the entrance of the display, it says that their son's favorite quote was, "We need more lights!"  A donation box is set up and proceeds go to Shriner's hospital.

The Lipton Lights house is just an awesome spectacle to behold.  The boys call it the "Dancing House."  The lights are synced to music that can be heard by tuning your radio to a specific station.  I didn't get any pictures or video of this house, but the Songers did, so you can visit Katie's blog or the link to the Lipton Lights' webpage to see some video. It truly is spectacular!  This family also has a donation box, with proceeds going to Happy Tales Human society of Franklin.

We Love Our Small Group!!!

When God says, "Go," He means it.  No matter how big the journey or how small the task, when He tells you to move, it is best to listen and get moving.  A year ago last month, Eric and I took a huge leap of faith and left the church that we had called home for four years and joined a church where we knew no one.  We had belonged to a Christ-centered, spirit filled church, where friends were our family and we were comfortable. So why was God nudging us to leave our church home? Well, God never said comfort was His goal for His people. Actually, in the Gospel of Matthew (16:24 NIV), Jesus said the contrary to His disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."   I am pretty sure he didn't just accidently leave out the part that says, "unless you are really comfortable."

I would like to say that once Eric and I felt God telling us to move that we immediately jumped up and obediently sought His will for us.  But in our humanness, we resisted.  We rationalized. We doubted.  We ignored.  We remained stagnant.  We actually fought it tooth and nail.  It took us a year and a half to finally listen to what the Holy Spirit was prompting us to do.  It took us a year and a half to MOVE.  
 
In the summer of 2008, Eric and I both began praying for God to reveal to us the church in which He desired us to serve.  The only thing we knew for sure was that we were to find a Christ-centered, gospel preaching church in our community. (Our former church was thirty minutes away in Nashville) But there are LOTS of churches in our community. I am still not sure how whole hearted our prayers were in the beginning, but we were finally moving closer to the "Go" position.

One morning, after a disasterous attempt at attending story time at the library with a rowdy three-year-old and a 15-month old, my mind was anywhere but on seeking out a new church. I was driving down a familiar road, passing a building that I had seen a number of times, and, out of the blue, I felt the Holy Spirit simply say, "I want your family to check that church out."   No blaring alarms proclaiming, "This is the one."  No light from heaven illuminating the building.  No, none of that.  Just a feeling of peace that it was time to trust God and engage in something new that God wanted to do in our family and further our purpose. It was time to MOVE. I went home and told Eric what I felt God had shared with me.  The next Sunday we were visiting Harpeth Community Church for the first time.  We made our membership official last November. 
 
To say that God has blessed us in our new church home would be a huge understatement.  What we found was not a perfect church, but it is a church that loves the Lord, seeks to glorify Him, and we hear the gospel and God's word from a phenomenal pastor each time we are there. Not only has God brought wonderful new families and relationships into our lives and our boys' lives, He has allowed us to remain close to some of our dearest friendships that grew out of our former church and small group.  We have had many new opportunities to serve God, our church, and our community, that we are better able to take advantage of now, since our church is just a few minutes away.  And one of Harpeth's goals to come alongside and equip families, including offering a family worship service, totally resonated with our family.  It was just what we needed at this season of our life.  And we didn't even know we were looking for it until we found it.  Or shall I say, God sent us to it. 

God always knows our needs better than we know our needs.  He is our Creator, loves us, and wants us to be in a place where we will grow in His purpose for our lives, so we can ultimately glorify Him.  May God forgive us for our lack of faith (and our stubborness!) that causes us to tarry when we initially hear His call on our hearts.  We do not have to have all the pieces put together or know the reasons God is asking us to Go, we just have trust in Him and know that, " ...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (NIV)
 
A couple of Saturdays ago, we had a wonderful dinner (Thanks Bowdens!!), delicious birthday cake (Thanks Griswolds!!) and then it was off to Opryland to fight for a parking spot...I mean, enjoy the Christmas lights.  It was a fun night of celebrating the Christmas season with good friends!
 
Here are a few of the blessings that God has sent our way in the form of the Powell small group:
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We are truly grateful for the blessings you so freely give, dear Jesus!

Tinkerbells

We have been listening to A LOT of Christmas music lately.  Seth really lights up and bursts into song when Jingle Bells comes on the radio.  It is really precious to hear him sing his little heart out.

"Tinkerbells, Tinkerbells, Tinkles all the way...."

I absolutely love Seth's rendition of an old favorite.

"I am a Jedi Fighter!!"

Have I mentioned that I love this Star Wars stage?

By the way, the life jacket is Biz's Jedi armor.

And the Blue Hair is Back!!!

Guess who beat the defending NCAA basketball champions????

C-A-T-S Cats, Cats, Cats!!!

Way to go, Kentucky!!

Last Game...for this Season, Anyway

I don't know who was more sad that the fall soccer season had come to an end...Biz or Eric and me.  We really weren't sure what to expect when we signed Caleb up to play soccer.  It seemed to be the perfect fit for our little guy who is overflowing with energy and doesn't like to stop.  But you just never quite know until they put on that uniform and get out on the field. 

Well, it was the perfect fit for Caleb!!  From the moment he strapped on those shin guards in September, he LOVED being on the soccer field.  It was so fun to watch him play something that he enjoyed so much.  And he was really good at it!  Both boys have been blessed with super coordination skills.  We know it is a gift from God, because it certainly did not come from their parents.  However, what Eric and I were most impressed with was how quickly he learned good sportsmanship and was such an encourager to his little teammates.  Caleb was one of the oldest soccer dudes on his team, so watching him demonstrate leadership at this young age was really precious to watch. 

Biz's last soccer game was two weeks ago.   It was probably their most challenging game of the season.  I think it ended up being a tie game, with Biz scoring seven goals in his final game.   Here is a picture of his last Hot Shots goal of the season:

SCORE!

But what was the most exciting part of the final game for Biz? 

Getting a REAL medal afterward!

(And Mommy was excited that they give participation medals instead of trophies now days...takes up much less space.)

Way to go, Biz!!  We will see you on the soccer field again in the spring! We can't wait!

Just Driving Through the Leaves...