and it came to pass...

...in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.


Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”


And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:1-20)


Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. (Matthew 2:1-12)

Nothing says cozy...

...like a log cabin. Or in my case a log cabin quilt. I don't have the log home, so until I do (someday... maybe... Robert doesn't see us moving from this house, so maybe God has a beautiful log castle reserved for me in heaven?), I content myself with making quilts. In my opinion, the Log Cabin Quilt is the mother of all quilts. It's the perfect solution for the piles of scraps that build up in any seamstress's studio, but I love it for it's contrasts and simplicity. I've been longing to make a big one for quite some time. Last February, I finally set to work...

Cutting small mountains of colorful strips. This is a quilter's favorite spaghetti recipe...

Sorting them by size (good thing we had a second table to eat on because our dining room table looked like this for at least a month!)...

Constructing the block, piece upon piece just like a real log cabin (hence the name!)...

At long last, I surveyed my tower of blocks, waiting to be arranged and assembled into one massive 8-foot square quilt!

Then I stopped.

We were moving back to Texas, and my sewing projects were the first thing to be packed away (so as not to distract me from my packing duties!). A week ago, after staring at my stack of beautiful quilt blocks for nearly six months, I dove into my project again with renewed vigor. We were having company for Christmas, and the gloomy guest room was in dire need of some cheery color.

For several hours I laid claim to the dining room floor, spreading my blocks in eight straight rows and eight straight columns. Little Son volunteered to help and eagerly set to work making sure no two identical fabrics were touching as we rotated and traded blocks to get the perfect formation. Normally, I have a serious dislike for puzzles, but this is one puzzle that never fails to intrigue me. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love Log Cabin quilts so much! The possibilities are endless.

After an hour of scrutinizing, we had it arranged to my liking, and I set to work assembling the quilt, block by block, segment by segment. The final assembly is my least favorite step in the quilt-making process. As it grows from manageable blocks to larger-than-the-dining-room-floor, I have to wrestle and maneuver those folds of fabric under my flashing needle. It's quite the workout! But when the quilt is finished, spread out in all its colorful glory, it's worth every drop of sweat and strained muscle.

The only thing left to do was take it on a photo shoot...

I never thought I'd live somewhere picturesque enough to display my quilts, but I'm finding that white fence has many more uses than simply keeping the kids safe in the yard ; )

My new quilt is gracefully draped over the guest bed as I type, awaiting the honorable purpose of keeping my Christmas guests warm and cozy : )

Cold weather calls for...

...Oatmeal cookies!!! Now, just for the record, I love EATING cookies, but I really do NOT like making them. More often than not, I'd rather go fold a load of laundry or load the dishwasher! Maybe it's because both of those things result in something getting cleaner and more organized. Making cookies just results in a mess that I have to clean up. I prefer to avoid causing myself more work ; ) Cleanliness aside, I simply don't get any big sense of satisfaction out of measuring and dumping flour, sugar, eggs, and oats into a bowl and mixing 'til my arm aches. I know, I know, some of you will ask, "Why not use a mixer?" Well, ummm, see, I HAVE a mixer, both a handheld AND a Bosch mixer, but both of those require extra time and effort to dig out of the cabinets, set up, then clean afterward. I know. Pathetic excuse. But really, I'd rather give my arm a workout and wash a single fork than spare my arms and have to clean extra mixer attachments and the mixer itself then have them cluttering up the counter until they're dry enough to re-stash in the cabinet. My arms need the workout anyway ; ) But all that aside, making cookies just isn't very high on my priority list.

So when my little family wants cookies, I leave it up to my hubby. I'm learning that, when he wants cookies, it's best to avoid the kitchen altogether until those cookies are spread out on the counter to cool. You see, he has a very unorthodox way of making cookies. He starts with all the dry ingredients, then dumps the softened butter and eggs in, and mixes like crazy. This really bothers me. Cookies are SUPPOSED to be made by blending the butter and sugar together, adding the eggs and vanilla followed by the flour, oats, and raisins (or just flour and chocolate chips if you're making chocolate chip cookies). It's a strategically-planned order, specifically designed to satisfy the cookie-dough-lover's taste buds. In MY way of making cookies, each step provides a different flavor and texture of dough to sample as you mix. Robert's process provides only one phase of dough that's worthy of a taste-test: the finished cookie dough. Robert is teaching this unique cookie-dough-blending method to our children...

We have our own little almost-barefoot contessa...

With the cookies baked and the children tucked safely into bed, the weather outside decided to turn unseasonably icy. Don't be fooled by the appearance of bare grass and what looks like a light dusting of snow on the brick patio; it's really sleet, tiny frozen droplets of rain that result in a thin layer of ice encrusting everything in its path...

It is now well below freezing. The only living things brave enough to venture outside are two well-fluffed mourning doves rousting on our back fence...

Yep, it's a might cold world outside right now. Time for a cup of tea, a fresh-baked cookie, and a cozy quilt : )

I love light...

...sunlight, lamplight, candlelight, twinkle-light, you name it : ) Christmas is a time of light for me, both physically and spiritually. In the nippy days of December, when everything outside seems dark and dead, Christmas arrives like a beautiful twinkling star on a dark night and like the comforting glow of a fireplace in an empty room. Light is hope. Hope is what God gave us when He sent His Son to be born, and I love to be reminded of that birth and the light that Jesus brings. Because of that, I love to decorate my house with twinkle-lights at Christmastime. They bring a welcome diversion from the blustery weather outside and give a constant, concrete reminder of God's greatest gift to us: the Light of the World.

My kitchen looking warm with a new boa of lights and evergreen
(evergreen for God's everlasting love)...

The small tree in our foyer. The purple candles are just 'cuz I like pale purple : )

Our cozy living room. We chose our tree based on the number of pre-strung lights ; )

Our tree twinkling in the darkness...

“I am the light of the world.
He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness,
but have the light of life.”
John 8:12

Brrrrrr...

...It's 28° outside with a wind chill of 15° and a chance of freezing precipitation (I love how they always make it sound so non-threatening with words like "precipitation"... it's called ICE!!!). I moved away from Maryland to get AWAY from snow and ice in December, and wouldn't you know, it has FOLLOWED me all the way down south! Little Son couldn't care less.

I'm convinced that little kids do not possess the proper nerves to feel cold. He got out of bed this morning and donned a t-shirt and shorts! And this is AFTER my confiscating all of his shorts two days ago in an effort to FORCE him to wear pants. Rather than look for a pair of pants, he went straight for his lounge/bedtime shorts. Obviously he is his father's son ; ) Although, I have to tell you, my shorts-loving husband is wandering around the house today in flannel pajama PANTS and a thick sweater... And there was our little boy, bouncing around the house in shorts, t-shirt, and bare feet. He makes me cold just to LOOK at him!

He walks up to me and asks where his fleece jacket is. I tell him, informing him that he is also going to wear PANTS and SHOES and a COAT. I know he has an idea in his little head that just throwing a lightweight fleece over his t-shirt will be plenty of warmth. And since I'd seen him outside in bare feet the other day when it was chilly, I figure shoes are probably the furthest thing from his mind too ; )

Off he went to get dressed. I did let him keep the t-shirt on as long as he wore the fleece over top of it, underneath his coat, and he got to go barefoot inside his warm snowboots : ) I think we were happy all 'round : ) Have fun playing, Little Son! I am off to keep warm under my latest quilting project and watch The Waltons!

we have a new...

...(hopefully permanent) addition to our little family. Meet Polly...

Polly belongs to some friends of ours. The times we've visited, Polly has always been excellent with the kids, which of course caught my eye : ) I knew our friends had been looking for a home for her (they "only" have almost twenty other dogs, including a new litter of eight puppies), so I broached the subject, asking if she still needed a home. Next thing you know we were making plans to "borrow" Polly as a way of "trying her on" of sorts. So Polly arrived at our house Tuesday afternoon. So far, things are going great. Her first day here was a little disconcerting for her, I think. For the first time in her year of life she was away from her dog-mom and human-mom. Needless to say, this left her a little insecure. She attached herself to me like a white shadow even sitting on my feet while I tried to cook supper! The next day was pretty much the same; everywhere I went, Polly went too just like Mary and her Little Lamb!

The last two days have been much easier on her. She adores Harper, making sure to check on her whereabouts every so often and give her a big doggie-kiss. She's learning that underneath Robert's gruff appearance is a really just a boy who will give her a pat or belly-rub any time she wishes. Nicholas is a little more controversial to Polly's world. He's overly-exuberance about having a dog in the house and so badly wants Polly to come romp in the yard with him, something she's not quite comfortable doing just yet. But they'll figure out a means of co-existing. Just today Nicholas finally persuaded Polly to play a short game of tug-o-war. As for me, well, I feel like I've acquired a second shadow! Polly's favorite spot is underneath my computer desk when I'm sitting in my chair. Basically, wherever I stop to sit down for a little while, Polly appears : ) I like having a dog in the house again. I've missed that quiet companionship that my dog Boaz used to give.

Last night we decided to be brave and give Polly a bath. She wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but when she realized it was an excuse to get a good massage, she at least made an effort to tolerate it. Her coat was white and soft to begin with, but after a bath and drying off, she is literally GLEAMING and feels like a luxurious velvet blanket. We can't NOT pet her : )

Here she is sitting pretty in the backyard, keeping a sharp eye on the kids from a safe distance away...

Polly's multi-colored side, showing off her brown eye-patch...

Trying to look elegant while curiously sniffing the breeze...

If things continue to go as they have the last two days, Polly will most likely become a permanent member of our family : )

Happy Birthday to...

...my very youngest brother, Ben!!! Today is his 7th birthday!!!

Being the oldest of nine children, I sometimes (OK, oftentimes!) forget my siblings' birthdays, but Ben's birthday will always be firmly etched in my mind. You see, something really cool happened on his actual BIRTH-day...

Well, actually, it goes back further than that, nine months to be exact. In mid-April of 2001, my then-fiancé and I broke off our engagement. The very next morning, while crying together, my mom confided in me another unexpected turn of events: she was expecting Baby Number Nine. She was less-than-excited at first. She'd been hoping to leave the childbearing season of life and enter into a season of mother-in-law-hood and future grandmotherhood. But God (as always) had other plans ; )

In the midst of my pain and heartbreak, God provided me a ray of hope; the promise of a new little life to join our family. That baby became a Baby of Hope for me during the next nine months. I just knew that with his birth God would bring something wonderful. HOW wonderful, I had no clue. Amidst the scramble of gathering things together for Ben's impending arrival, I remember passing the computer on one of my mad dashes through the dining room. I clicked the "Get Mail" button to see if there was any urgent news to pass on to either of my parents... like anything could be more urgent than a baby in a hurry to see the world!

The only e-mail to pop onto the screen was from a young man who had been the topic of much conversation in the past few weeks. A young man who I'd only heard of, not from. And even now, I was not to hear from him since the e-mail came into my dad's inbox, not mine. But it was far from the time to be dwelling on e-mails from young men. I had a new sibling coming who was not waiting for anything, not the midwife and certainly not his big sister's musings on seemingly too-good-to-really-exist eligible young men! So off I rushed to be of whatever assistance I could, leaving that e-mail to sit in my dad's inbox until another less crazy hour. That hour did finally arrive, but not until after my new little brother had made his grand (and hurried) entrance into this world. The rest, as they say, is history. I need only glance at my husband reading our son a bedtime story or at our two children trekking around the backyard to be reminded of the special gift God gave me with the birth of my baby brother. Almost like the gift He bestowed on all humanity with the birth of His own son; a gift of hope and a future.

For everyone out there...

...who probably thinks I've fallen off the face of the earth, be assured I AM STILL HERE!!! We're having serious domain-name issues, and I no longer have access to any of my e-mails or websites. Yep. Talk about frustrating. Actually, frustrating is WAY too mild of a word, but I'm trying to be nice...

For the techies out there who care about such details, our domain name expired last week, and our domain name registrar didn't renew our registration for some unknown (to us) reason. For nearly a week now all of our phone calls, e-mails, and online service-tickets have gone unanswered. Even phone calls directly to the domain-name registration company are of no help as they insist that it's against the law for them to do anything pertaining to our domain name without the express permission of this unreachable human being who holds all the power. Even their attempts to contact him are in vain. No one seems to care that we REALLY need to be able to access our e-mail accounts and website!

Anyway, I have no idea when (or even IF) we'll be back up and running, so in the interim, I'm relegated to free-blogging (my own term for the free, pre-designed blogs that have gotten so popular in recent years). Some of you will be thrilled as it means that you'll now have the option to comment on my posts. But really, this is not my preferred mode of sending family updates. I much prefer to use my web-editor to design my own site layout. So know this: I'm only doing this for YOU :)

P.S. If you're ever in the market to register a domain name, ask me who NOT to use!