Our best pose???????

I drove an hour to hear my daughter play 4 songs on the keyboard for the chapel service at 'her' college. Why would I drive so far for a few minutes?? Because I'm a mom, and that's what we do. As a mom of all young children, I used to wonder when I would ever have time to have fun. When was it going to be my time?? Then I realized that if God blessed me with children, I should be looking for my joy in the everyday life with them....in the journey, and not look to a time in the future when I have 'free' time. I am 100% convinced that there's nothing that I could have ever done to have more joy than in the everyday life that God has provided for me. I learned to have an hour of free time every day JUST for me, and thoroughly enjoy the rest....well, at least most days! I repeat what I have blogged several times before, the days may seem long, but the years go by VERY quickly! If you don't have joy, I know that God would want you to have it...it is a fruit of the Spirit! I'd be happy to pray for you!! ****Picture taken while we were trying to take our family Christmas picture!

Fudge fit for a grouch......

One of my favorite holiday traditions is the awarding of our family's favorite clerk of the year, and grouchiest clerk of the year awards. We decide who has consistently been helpful and friendly in the stores that we have frequented over the past year, and give them a gift explaining why. We then vote on the grumpiest person and make them a prime person to pray for, for the next year. We also take them a gift thanking them for their service, and telling them that we will be praying for them over the next year. We leave out the grumpy part. I have been able to use this as a teaching tool explaining to my children that our actions, and interactions with other people ALWAYS leaves an impression. So, with God's help and His grace, we are to walk in love and ALWAYS try to be polite with those in whom we come in contact. This year we are giving DELICIOUS fudge. EASY,easy, easy and wonderful.... We call it Debbie's Fudge. Here's the recipe:

Melt 1 bag choc. chips and 12 ounces chunky peanut butter in a double boiler,

Take off heat when melted

Stir in 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Pour on waxed paper lined 8" pan

Cut in small pieces

Freezes well!!

I put pieces on a small, paper, dessert size plate covered with fancy saran wrap. This recipe makes 8 plates full, which I use for 8 gifts!

Martha Stewart Doesn't Live Here.

With the holidays around the corner, and magazine pictures displaying beautifully arranged decorations, who wouldn't want a perfectly decorated table and home?! For years I thought it would be so much fun to have the talent of Martha Stewart...along with her resources, finances, time, and adult help. Then, I realized that even if I DID have all those things, I wouldn't want to use them for a holiday gathering. It just seems to be a disproportionate amount of effort when I COULD be spending that time with my family & friends. So, it all comes down to being more comfortable with who I am. I would suggest that all busy moms become comfortable with who they are and the particular season of life in which they're living. It is very freeing. That being said, I thought I would share some of the decorations and favorite ways that my family celebrates Jesus' birthday in the coming weeks. Maybe not as beautiful as Martha Stewart... but funky, retro, Victorian, MY STYLE. Tomorrow I'll share my favorite fudge recipe.

Thanks to all the moms at Lancaster Alliance Church today. You're a great group :)

Do You Have a Minute?

I woke up Saturday morning groggy and grouchy. I hadn't felt that groggy and grumpy in a long time. I immediately remembered back to 25 years ago when my first son was born. He screamed from 1-3 times a night to be fed for the first NINE months of his life.....and that was after a midnight feeding. I was a walking 'zombie'! A couple months into it, I purchased a devotional entitled One Minute Devotions for Busy People. Isn't that horrible?! The worst part about it was that I doubted that I could fit them in. But, I made it a prerequisite for me to do BEFORE I allowed myself to eat lunch. Not only did it 'work', but I really did feel energized after only 1-2 minutes in my Bible. So, on Saturday, I knew what I had to do.......get into the word of God. I read one of my favorite Psalms. I started praising God, and thanking Him for everything that I could think of, and my grouchiness flew the coop! ( Much to the delight of my husband). If you have given up trying to have devotions, can you give it another try?? How about a minute? Oh, and if you're wondering, My next 7 children all slept through the night by 3 months...I learned how to 'do' it.

Some GREAT reading! .......and TWO thank yous

First I'd like to thank the women at E-town Grace Brethren Church. I have never met a group of women that have more fun than they do at a meeting! The Bible says that laughter is healthy and that was evident last night. :) Also, thanks to the wonderful moms at ACTS. You moms are at the hardest time in your mothering!! Keep going forward one minute at a time. Don't look too far ahead. Enjoy the journey. :)

These are some of my favorite books about organizing, mothering in general, and keeping life simple with joy. If you live near me, you can stop in anytime and I'll show them to you. :) If not, you can order from abebooks.com , or amazon.com , or half.com . The prettiest book, with the most pictures, is HouseWorks. Amazon has descriptions of each book.

Ah, take me away!

Don't have time, no,no, no, that isn't true, I haven't taken the time to blog today, so I'll direct you to an unusual blog on my sidebar. It's called 'Escape the Clutter', by Organised Thoughts. It's interesting. Maybe more to me because I'm leaving shortly to speak at a church about de-cluttering! I want to show my 4 favorite books tomorrow as possible Christmas gifts for moms who could use some tips! Try to have a relaxing and peaceful night!

Every year....

Every year one of our Christmas traditions is for me to read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, aloud to my children. I started when my oldest was about 9 years old. Every year we laugh, and at the end I cry. EVERY YEAR I cry. If you've never read it, I'd encourage you to borrow it from someone, or from the public library, and see what you think! Do you have any favorite books that you read to your children? I've pictured the treasury which includes 3 novels, but the Christmas novel is our favorite!