Diaper cake

I wanted to show you all a craft/gift project that Joy and I did together. We had a family that had a baby just recently in our church and we wanted to do something a little different for them. I had seen others do diapers cakes and wanted to finally try one for myself. This is my first attempt at it. It was a fun project and one we will enjoy doing in the future.

Having had five children myself, this really makes one of those practical gifts, but allows it to be packaged so much prettier than just a wrapped box.

Joy liked it so much she wanted to know if we could make one to keep as a centerpiece around the house! Until next time.

More Christmas

Here are some more pictures of Christmas scenes at our house.

This is a basket from our den that I filled with ornaments, ribbon and berry picks.

Here is a garland on the top of our baker's rack in the dining room that I decorated with leftover ornaments, ribbon, lights and a few berry picks.

This is a console we have in the living room that has two lovely Lenox pieces that my Uncle Harry (my father's brother) bought. They are gorgeous. You may not be able to see it well, but the sleigh was one of the presents he got for us this year. He always gets the most wonderful presents for the family. He is great about getting educational toys for the kids, and Jonathan and I have appreciated them so much. He came down this year and spent Thanksgiving with us. It is always wonderful to see him. It was especially nice having a part of Dad's family for the holiday. I will try to post more about happenings with the family soon. God bless you all!

Christmas at our house

Here are some scenes from our house this Christmas season. We wish all of you could visit us in person, but since you cannot, we thought we might bring a little of our home to you.

This is a Christmas scene from our buffet in our dining room with some of our Snow Village houses. I didn't get around to putting them all up this year. But, I enjoy looking at them and seeing all the fake snow. I miss being in the mountains of North Carolina where we were sure to get at least one good snow a winter. For now, this will have to do. :)

This is one of the ornaments that we have on our "Jesus Tree." I found a wonderful store owned by a Christian artist when we lived up in the mountains and her store carried these wonderful ornaments with the different names of Jesus found in the Bible. We have about 15 of them. We also put small nails, crosses, crowns, etc.,any ornament I can find that reminds us of our Lord. This is the first tree that traditionally goes up and the last one to go down.

This is a picture of the "Jesus Tree" from a distance in the living room.

This is a small tree we have in the corner of the dining room...mainly red and white ornaments. I move this tree around to a different place everytime we move. That's one thing about the military...it always gives me new decorating ideas! I will post more later.

Goodbye Ms. Susie Hunter

Yesterday we got a call from a dear friend from our church in South Carolina...a dear elderly woman from our church had passed from this life to the next. We remember her for her sweet, gentle spirit. She exuded the love of Christ and was ready to meet her Maker. She was a dear widow who missed her husband and still would get misty-eyed just talking about him. When I told Joy she said, "Now she is happy, because she is with her husband and Jesus." The Bible says in Psalms 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." We grieve because of the loss her death brings to our lives, but she is rejoicing in the presence of Christ. I just pray that I will leave a remembrance of as sweet a spirit as she did when God calls me home. She will be missed.

My Stair Steps

Here is a recent picture of the children. Julia will be three in February, Joel is four, Joanna is five, Josiah will be 8 in February and Joy turned 12 in August. She is now taller than her mother! Of course, those of you that know me, know that is not extremely tall. :) I did not get Christmas cards off this year, so our Christmas and New Year wishes will be done here on the blog. We value all our friends and family so very much. We have so very much to be thankful for...Christ being the greatest gift of all. Remember during this hectic season that although decorating and opening gifts are enjoyable, it is the memories we make with our loved ones that will last forever. I hardly remember a single gift I got when I was a child...but it is what we did as a family that remains forever etched in my mind. Make those precious memories with your loved ones while you can. Tell your children about God's greatest gift in sending His Son. Hold your children close...remember that they are God's gift to you. We love you all so very much!

Fall Fun!

Aren't they cute?

Okay, Dad's outnumbered here, but he still has size on them!


That's a little too much action for me. I am going to play princess and collect my fall leaf bouquet.

Okay Dad...I'm getting bigger and faster...I'll give you a run for your money!

As most of you know, we are now in a rental home off post. There are of course, advantages and disadvantages to both. But, we are definitely enjoying our home here in a quiet neighborhood in Fayetteville. We have some wonderful neighbors and the children are enjoying their much bigger yard. We have LOTS of trees in our new yard...and with LOTS of trees, comes LOTS of fall leaves. So, we decided to have some fun with those fall leaves before raking them up and hauling them to the street. These pictures were taken out in the front yard. I did get in on the fun some too, but took some pictures to make a memory.

Finally back again!

It has been so long since I have blogged. I have taken a much needed respite since the death of my father to just do some thinking and trying to get caught up on the much needed routines of life. I hope to be back on a more regular basis now. There is so much to catch everyone up on! The family is currently all well and we have had a great holiday season. We will be telling you all more about that in the following posts. Jonathan is currently on leave until the fifth of January and we are all enjoying quality time with him. I did not get Christmas cards off this year, but instead will be posting some pictures of the family on upcoming posts for all of you to see. We hope all our family and friends had a wonderful holiday season. It was difficult for us, this being the first Christmas without Dad, but we are still rejoicing in the celebration of the birth of Christ. Let us hear from you all...feel free to leave a comment and let us know how all of you are doing too. We love hearing from you all!