Wildnerness at the Smokies

Just back from Wilderness at the Smokies and it was very nice. It was an all indoor waterpark/hotel. We stayed in a nice hotel room and had all of yesterday and today to frolic in the waterpark. It was pretty big with a number of rides, and a wavepool and jacuzzi. We saved the jacuzzi for the end each day. The best was the "toilet bowl", also called Storm Chaser. You go down an enclosed water slide then it drops you down into a toilet bowl like area and you slosh all around until you get ejected out the end slide. The kids loved that!

A lot like Splash Country, but without the sunburn or the heat.

What kind of day will it be today?

With all the kids home, it's a question I ask daily. Will the kids all get along today and be friendly or will it be one big "love-fest" (NOT). Today was a mixture of both and I'm hoping to end the week on a good note...

Gabriel visits with a NH friend tomorrow and Thursday. His friend, Owen, is visiting his grandparents who happen to live in TN. Then we will pick him up on Thursday and we are all headed to a hotel for the night. They also have an indoor water park at this hotel, so that is the added bonus.

Have stocked up on our favorite Izze soda for New Year's and also bought some sparkling juice (grape and strawberry). Will probably watch our taped Star Wars movies and play Bogdan's new game (Star Trek Scene it) and Gabriel's new game (Creationary).

Prayer to the Holy Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, like you we are members
of the Father's family. We pray that our family
love may reflect his love on its openness to all
people. May we forgive even when not forgiven,
and be patient with one another’s weaknesses.

Jesus, give us peace, unity and strength to
meet the difficulties of daily living. May we
use our family resources to improve the
quality of life for all people and ourselves.
Let us show joy in serving, for whatever
we do for others, we do for you.

Mary, inspire us, that our love may be
strong but not possessive. Let our willingness
to give depend on the needs of others
rather than on the cost of giving.

Joseph, help us to be attentive to the
Father's will. Let us be ready, as you were,
to act whenever he calls us.

Christmas Snow!

The kids were so excited that we had snow this morning and it is expected to snow for tomorrow too! Yahoo!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Merry Christmas

A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake.

Amen

A unique Christmas gift

We just bought 2 chickens, 2 rabbits, a goat, 2 lambs and 2 pigs. What??

Through the ministry "Gospel for Asia", they give these animals to families all over Asia. They use the animals for income, food and subsistence. An interesting way to give to the needy.

Remembering Bertha

Remembering Miss Bertha today, who passed away over the weekend. She was a hospice patient who suffered from brain, spinal and stomach cancer. So, her death was bittersweet. She was loved by many people and will be missed by them. But, her pain is no longer and she is on her way to her heavenly home.

Smells and tastes of Christmas

Around here we have many smells and tastes of Christmas. Among them are Sugar Cookies, decorated with sprinkles and sugar fresh out of the oven. Pork Pie, a family tradition, that now most of the family eats. Cranberry bread, made with real cranberries and orange juice to give it some extra zest. Always eaten the next day, better after it sits a day. Tapioca pudding is Bogdan's ultimate favorite homemade dessert. He would and could eat a huge bowl of it at one sitting. Real, old-fashioned made over the stove with large pearl tapioca, milk, vanilla and sugar. But, my favorite thing that will always bring back Christmas is homemade caramels. We just made them and just the taste of them reminds me so much of my grandmother, who made them for the grandchildren when we were growing up. They are melt in your mouth good.

Strange Way to Save the World

Sure he must have been surprised
At where this road had taken him
'Cause never in a million lives
Would he had dreamed of Bethlehem
And standing at the manger
He saw with his own eyes
The message from the angel come to life
And Joseph said...

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside a stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

To think of how it could have been
If Jesus had come as He deserved
There would have been no Bethlehem
No lowly shepherds at His birth
But Joseph knew the reason
The love had to reach so far
And as he held the Savior in his arms
He must have thought...

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside a stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

Tron

We all saw Tron:Legacy in the IMAX 3D movie theater last night. It was great. Lots of visual effects, not as great a story line, but a great experience.

Gabriel has finally set up the trains and they are all over the living room. He can even pull 5 cars behind the big train. Marian is having fun playing with them too. He decided against putting it around the tree, because the tree is too big and there's not enough space.

We are off to our Advent Potluck Party today. Hopefully, it will be a nice gathering. Gabriel is organizing an obstacle course for the kids.

Rocky Road Freeze

8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup milk
1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
8 oz. tub of Cool Whip
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chunks
8 graham crackers slightly crushed

Mix cream cheese, milk, pudding mix and Cool Whip until well blended. Mix in marshmallows, almonds and chocolate. Spoon into cake pan that is lined with plastic wrap. Press graham crackers onto top. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours. Turn over onto plate to serve. Enjoy!

We thought this was the perfect dessert for a freezing rain day with the roads covered with black ice (Rocky Road Freeze, ha-ha-ha)

Black Ice and Freezing Rain

Definitions:

Black Ice=A thin, nearly invisible coating of ice that forms on paved surfaces.

Freezing Rain=Rain that falls in liquid form but freezes upon impact to form a coating of glaze upon the ground and on exposed objects.

Black Ice + Freezing Rain=What Eastern TN is experiencing right now.

And the alternative equation is...

Black Ice + Freezing Rain=NO SCHOOL

Freezing rain

The weather is reporting freezing rain coming our way. The kids, once again, are hoping for bad weather, because that may mean they have no school. We all agreed that the "Snow storm" on Sunday shouldn't have caused a school cancellation but just a 2 hour delay. That's how it would have worked up North...

Sweet Little Jesus Boy

Sweet little Jesus boy
They made you be born in a manger
Sweet little Holy child
Didn't know who You were

Didn't know you come to save us Lord
To take our sins away
Our eyes were blind
We couldn't see
We didn't know who You were

Just seems like we can't do right
Look how we treated you
But please Sir forgive us Lord
We didn't know it was you

Sweet little Jesus Boy
Born a long time ago
Sweet little Holy Child
We didn't know who You were
We didn't know who You were

Cookie Central

Here at Cookie Central we have:

Sugar Cookies by Anna
Spritz Cookies by Gabriel
Gingerbread Cookies by Karen

Eating by all!!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Well, my kids are happy! It's actually snowing outside, and it's sticking! They have canceled school in every area school except for here :( But, there is great hope (at least in my house) for a cancellation tomorrow. We'll see. Oak Ridge schools are weird in that they don't go with the rest of the county. Although we are in Anderson County, when the county cancels school it doesn't necessarily mean that Oak Ridge district is canceled. So, we have to check the website or wait for the phone call from the school.

UPDATE!! School is canceled tomorrow, the kids are SO excited.

Chilhowee Park

We wanted to check out the lights at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville last night. Yearly, Comcasat sponsors a show of lights in this outdoor park. It was a nice evening, not too cold and they had everything there. Lots of lights, and free everything (hot chocolate, hot dogs, eggnog, ice cream, face painting, balloon twisting, and a gospel choir!) Tons of people there!



Today we went to the latest Narnia movie and we won a free t-shirt! They were giving away a number of movie related items in the lobby afterward and we won a t-shirt. The kids won some free french fries and ice cream from Chick-fil-a. They loved that!

Tomorrow we are off to "The Nutcracker", the girls have never seen it live before!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Watched the classic Christmas movie last night. The kids still love it! Bogdan's favorite part is when Shroeder plays "Jingle Bells".

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

~Luke 1:46-55

Remembering Pearl Harbor

With our recent visit to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, we have a different outlook on this day in history. The kids were able to see and learn more than they could just in a history book. They have so many things there, but here are a few pictures.

Children Go Where I send Thee

Children, go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
I'm gonna send thee one-by-one
well one was a little bitty baby
wrapped in swaddling clothing
lying in the manger,
Born, born, born in Bethlehem.

Children, go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
I'm gonna send thee two-by-two
Two for Paul and Silas
One for the little bitty baby
Born, born, born in Bethlehem.

And the other verses

Three for the Hebrew children
Four for the four that stood at the door
Five for the gospel preachers
Six for the six that never got fixed
Seven for the seven that never got to Heaven
Eight for the eight that stood at the gate
Nine for the nine all dressed so fine
Ten for the Ten Commandments
Eleven for the eleven deriders
Twelve for the twelve Apostles

Freezing weather!

It's been hovering at around 25 (F) all day today, with what TN calls flurries. Honestly, in the north, the weatherman wouldn't even report these minor flakes.

We want some REAL snow!

Decorating the house

Gabriel put on our calendar on Saturday "DECORATE THE HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS". So, we spent the whole morning decorating. It was fun to bring out all our decorations and ornaments. The kids have their favorites.

Unfortunately, we also lost one of the three kings!! But, then we remembered that his head fell off last year (perhaps from a sword fight?) We found him on the fix-it table, which is usually a huge collaboration of things. Bogdan was able to fix the king with a little glue and now he is as good as ever. Looks like he's had a little throat surgery, but he'll do fine.

Christmas Tree

We found a new place for Christmas Trees this year. It's called Buttermilk Farms, and it's a bit out of the way, but oh so worth it! They only have 2 types of trees and we chose a Norway Spruce. It's beautiful and 9 feet tall. (thanks for our cathedral ceilings!)

Gabriel proclaims it the best tree ever!

Sleepwalking

Ok, weird thing happened the other night. Marian sleepwalked. Not only did she sleepwalk. She went outside our house!! She woke up to find herself in my car!! Then she found herself locked out of the house. She put on my coat which was in the car and tried to knock on the door to wake us up. Apparently, we are too sound sleepers. She went back to the car and slept until morning, when she broke into the house by using the credit card trick (shown to her by her brother). Smart, ingenuitive and lucky! We warmed her up as we listened to her story with mouths agape.

An Advent Blessing

May...
the spirit of Christmas which is Peace...
the gladness of Christmas which is Hope...
the adoration of Christmas which is Joy...
and the heart of Christmas which is Love...
be yours now and tomorrow.

Christmas Picture 2010

Best Christmas CD's

Barry Manilow "Because it's Christmas"
Brian D'Arcy James "From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn"
Harry Connick, Jr. "When my Heart Finds Christmas"
Partridge Family "A Partridge Family Christmas Card"
George Winston "December"
Straight No Chaser "Holiday Spirits"

And the all-time favorite, can't be Christmas without it, "A Christmas Carol" narrated and acted out by Patrick Stewart

Hawaii Postings

For those of you who have looked at our Hawaii postings, look again, we've added some photos! We are also trying to make a short slide show movie of the trip, so look for that coming soon.

Minecraft

Gabriel and Bogdan have found a new obsession! It's called Minecraft (find more about it on http://minecraft.net ) It's an online game of building, a completely new world and watch out for those Zombies! It looks like a Lego world because it is rather blocky. They love it and have been playing off and on all weekend. Even Marian likes it!

Welcome to December

December started off with a new Advent calendar. This year we splurged and bought a Lego Advent calendar and the kids love it! They get to build a new little figure or item each day. I think it works better now that they're older, the little pieces aren't getting lost.

Girl Scouts is focusing all on FOOD this month and we are actually going to attempt a semi-homemade meal at my house! Spaghetti and meatballs, with a brownie sundae for dessert.

The weather forecast is predicting snow mixed with rain this weekend and the grocery stores are already crazy. Here in the South when a snowflake "might" hit the ground, everyone runs to the store and stocks up on bread, milk and bottled water. It's pretty funny!