These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I was feeling a little unmotivated this year to decorate the tree.  Maybe because I'm all decorated out from moving.  Believe it or not, the Energizer Bunny Decorator has run out of steam.   But when I started to pull out the ornaments, my spirit was lifted up as I remembered some of the wonderful memories we have kept over the years.  For the boys, when you read this one day you will know the ones that are most special to your mom.

I have to share the coolest one first.  Check out the glitter writing.

So these two ornaments were packed in a bag together.  Patrick made this ornament in 1968 when he was two.  Look at the initials.  S.S.  In the same bag, there was another one made when he was seven years old in 1973.  When I first pulled these out our first Christmas together -- I thought for sure we were meant to be! I was Soryda Seng who was born in 1973!!   It was destiny. :)

Here's one his late grandma Marion gave him as a child.

She is thought of much at Christmastime.

 

This one always brings a smile.  Caelan has one too.

And if we're lucky (or I'm hinting the reader who buys this)

we will get one for Tristan, too!

 

And my friend Michelle who got married around Christmastime, gave out these ornaments as favors.  They chose a horse because they owned a farm in Clifton.  Funny thing about that is that I wasn't even invited to the wedding.  Patrick was and invited me as his guest.  Little did I know that the bride would end up being one of my favorite people and dearest friends!

 

This was a cute one my Mother-in-law gave us the Christmas after we visited them in Cape May and went up the lighthouse.  Lots of winding stairs!

 

I'm becoming quite fond of this ornament below.  It's the plainest one on the tree.  I gave one of these to all my girlfriends last year as a reminder that it doesn't matter how fancy your tree is or how much you do,  God sees the heart and sees through all that stuff.  So, worry less about the "doing" of Christmas, and focus on the reason that we celebrate it.  I can't put this one up without that reminder, it's great!

The King of Kings who sits upon the Throne, humbled himself as a man and was born in a lowly manger.  He came to serve and to die as a ransom for many.  This one came with the nails that hung him to the tree.

When I start to get anxious about the gifts to buy, and having the house ready for guests, and all the time it takes to make casseroles and baked goods for others, I am reminded gently that joy is in the giving because the Lord gave us the greatest gift we could ever have.   He gave us the Savior of the world.

Getting Hot in the Kitchen - Patrick's Birthday

After 8 years and 3 kids, it's important to keep the love alive and not fall into the hum drum of married with children.  So instead of the usual birthday dinner, we decided to get hot in the kitchen. Get your heads out of the gutter, we took a cooking class!

On the menu was Braised Chicken with Caramelized onions and peppers.  Patrick is searing our chicken!  Then you add the rice, and stew it with tomatoes.  The dish is topped with fresh basil and huge chunks of cheesy Parmesan.

Our side was a Spinach salad with heirloom tomatoes and shallots.  Patrick really enjoyed making his own vinaigrette: one part vinegar, two parts olive oil and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.  And a little sugar and fresh ground pepper.   For dessert, I whip up a chocolate mousse with macerated (fancy term for add sugar and white wine) strawberries.

And voila!  You have your finished dish to enjoy!

We bought a bottle of their wine and had a great dinner for part 1.

Part 2 dinner was on his real birthday, Tuesday, where the kids got to celebrate their daddy.  On that menu was grilled lamb chops, sauteed spinach and um..Pillsbury crescent rolls.  C'mon, I'm a lot of things, but a baker I am not. 

 

To prove my point, You can ask Patrick later how I totally messed up the boiled spoiled spice cake.

We did a lot of good eating.  To the most adoring husband and loving father I know.  Happy Birthday Patrick.  I thank God for you.

Turning Five Makes a Happy Camper

I'll admit it. I cried like a little girl this morning.

Awkwardly, in front of all four of my boys who were looking helplessly at each other and didn't know what to do. Well, I'm not ashamed. It's not every day that my oldest son turns five. Five is like a rite of passage! I saw flashes --the first time I laid eyes on him in the delivery room, and then the first time he walked, and the first time he read a word out loud all flashed in front of me...and I just lost it. Tears of joy. Funny thing was...Caelan came up to comfort me and said, "Mommy...um, I'm five too." It was really sweet.


Micah celebrated his birthday on Tuesday with his friends and despite efforts to do a party at Pump It Pump or Chuck E Cheese (all venues that are technically easier for mommy), he chose a party at home and the theme? Camping.

Daddy built the coolest tent with leftover trim from our other house project. :)

To kick off Camp Micah, the kids made their own personalized camp bracelets.

We tried to do Micah's favorite things. He loves, loves, loves BUGS.
Miss Shannan helps them with their crafts.

One thing both Micah and Caelan love is soup. So, we incorporated the story of stone soup into his camp site. All the kids got to drop in vegetables, the stone, and the spices. I didn't know how it would go over, but they were so mesmerized by the story. It was a total hit. Note: Awesome faux fire (with fan and tissue paper) built by daddy, too.


Afterwards, they surprisingly all ate the soup. Some asked for more. I wonder if hearing the story made them so much more into the soup.


To balance our meal, we had roasted fruit on a stick and not-so-hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows. And you can't go camping without the s'mores! Super thanks to my sous-chef Michelle G. for preparing all of this!




Daddy took off from work to celebrate his son. He said I won't ever remember those two hours at work, but I'll remember I was there at my son's fifth birthday. The best two hours of vacation ever spent!


Everyone seemed to have a good time...the princesses, the dalmatian, the Fireman, Batman, Spidy...and even Tristan!

Happy fifth birthday Micah-man.
What a huge milestone! We love you so much.

Let's Get Together To Give Thanks

Our 2nd annual Thanksgiving celebration at our home was a success. Praise Him! It was exactly what I had hoped for and prayed for. People felt connected, loved and relaxed. Even me!


This year, our dinner for 10 couples started with a wine tasting in our basement. The winner of this year's wine-tasting was the Sharers. They were really good at it!


Then a fabulous buffet! The food was pretty amazing. I forgot to take a picture of my turkey masterpiece! But here are some parts of it:



Awesome husband giving a good thanksgiving speech. :)

I have so much to be thankful for,
one of which is the authentic friendships of these
women in my life.

Fall Memories

With Caelan's birthday in October, and Tristan's half birthday behind us, we have one more birthday next week to celebrate. It's very weird to think that Micah will be turning five. It's such a huge milestone!

This fall has been chock full of great moments:

Kicking off our Halloween---anyone know a family of ninjas? We do!

I love their fierce pose. So adorable. Also to add to great times --Micah and his uncle (visiting from New York) go bowling together!

The Arizona cousins came for a visit!

The weather has been funky. One day rainbow. The next day snowstorm.

The boys and I are going through the storybook bible in a year. One day after reading Daniel in the Lions Den, Micah draws this picture below. When I ask if it's Daniel's three friends on top, he says, "No mommy, they are in there with the lion. The three guys on top are God, Jesus and the One that lives inside my heart." Absolutely stunned, I say casually, "Uh huh..that's right." Inside my head, I'm thinking---Wow! My son just drew the trinity. How does he know about the trinity?? I never taught him about the trinity. Amazing.


And in his own spiritual way, little Caelan prays. This one is "Dear Lord, help me to be kind as I'm sitting on my brother's face."


Yes, that in a nutshell is Caelan. Let's see what else? Yes, the girls and I have an overnight getaway. We basically went out Friday night and then booked a hotel room and talked until 3 AM! Had breakfast at the hotel, heard an amazing sermon by Andy Stanley in the room, and went to high tea the next day.



It was fun to get a way with those gals. While we didn't get much rest, we did get rest for our souls as our time together was very encouraging. Some times you need to just get away and just be girls. Building great memories in November! More to come....