My Cookie Craziness

I love going all out with cookies at Christmas. Clicking on the photo will take you to my cooking blog for the whole deal :)

7 Years

7 years ago and now a day or two past I married this man.

3 children later and we are now 5 strong! These 3 little blessings are teaching us more life lessons than we could have ever have imagined.

We have shared so many special moments over these last years.

I will never forget how we went skating when my dear friend J was in Latvia. Mr. G and I had just started getting to know each other and I still remember the music that was playing when we skated together.

Then we were married, not once, but twice, in both our countries.

Years passed.

 Memories were made. 

Babies born.

We laugh, cry, quarrel and make up.

And through ups and downs we have become a family.

Crowded

Her time had come and together with her new husband they were trudging along towards a crowded Bethlehem. 

Between contractions and bumps they made their way towards that noisy city; full of travelers there to register. 

This young woman with her story no human could ever believe without faith, was carrying a babe that would change the course of history. 

They searched from inn to inn and house to house for a place to rest their weary bones. 

Between signs and pains of birth this crowded city ignored. 

Then at last they found a place to shelter them from the night. A stable, small and meant for beasts. 

Yet, here in this humble place of crowded slumber. 

A King was born. 

- - - -

The other day we were building a Lego manger scene with the kids. For the first time it struck me how very crowded that stable must have been. With animals, and later shepards there would have been little to no privacy.

But Jesus came to be with the people.From the very first hours of his life he was with the people- born in an overflowing city and crowded stable.

Later in his life he was always compassionate to the people, never pushing them away for the sake of his privacy.

In our times we sometimes fret and complain because we have no space, no worldly mansion, no place of our own.

Yet perhaps we need to look beyond that to the one who came to prepare for us a home that will never fade, and learn a lesson from him who didn't even have a place to lay his head.

Advent Calendar

I had never done an advent calendar with my kids, and am not sure that we ever did growing up either. But since this year we had our big calendar on the wall that I had made for the kids, it just seemed like we MUST have an advent calendar.

I really didn't even know what that meant. . I did some research. I decided I didn't want my kids just to get treats every day. I want them and myself to be prepared for the real meaning of Christmas by doing something meaningful. I searched Pinterest and found lots of ideas.

The one we ended up doing was found here, and here is our version of that.

Thanks to my friend Ieva and her amazing Sizzex I made these little envelopes and ornaments. Each day has an assignment to help us prepare ourselves for Christmas. Some of those are: make a manger scene from play-dough, help someone in need, bake Christmas cookies together, read the Christmas story, get a Christmas tree, etc.

So far the kids are really enjoying this and I like that it keeps us in a mood of preparation for the birthday of the KING.

What are you doing for advent?