Christmas in a Flash

Christmas seemed to come and go this season. Here is a bit of an overview!

Preparation

This was the first year that Jackson was able to take part in the preparation of Christmas. He helped decorate "his" tree with little Peanuts Nativity ornaments. Troy shared all this Peanuts Christmas decorations with Jackson and there were even some he could play with!

Jackson was also able to help with some holiday baking. We pulled a chair up to the counter and he helped me make chocolate brownies and frosting. He was really good at holding the measuring cup while I measured ingredients and helping me stir everything. His specialty, though, was the taste-testing the frosting! I did a lot of "baking" this season. For some reason, I really, really enjoyed it. I found a few recipes that turned out really well. One of my favorites was the Oreo Truffles. They were really rich, but absolutely perfect with a glass of milk! I also made some Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies that were delicious. I suspect these delicious desserts may be the cause of my lack of weight loss this holiday season!

Parties!

We had a few parties to attend this season. We hosted our 4th Annual Tacky Ski Sweater Caroling Party. That was a success, although, Troy and I were very tired after it and decided to do this tradition every-other year, perhaps. I know all you party-goers would be disappointed to hear that! For this party, everyone (or almost everyone) came to our place sporting their tackiest of tacky sweaters. We had a contest for the tackiest sweaters. Tim and Michelle were our finalist, and Michelle was voted the winner. We also went to a near-by nursing home and sang Christmas Carols. This was my favorite part of the night. I enjoy the smiles and reactions we get from the people in the nursing home.

We also attended our 12th Annual Citrus Group Party. I look forward to this party every year. This is a yearly get-together of the "Citrus Group" (a group of Troy's friends from college) and their wives. This party is always fun because all his friends have really become my friends too. Kimm always does a great job of hosting! We ate dinner, talked, laughed, cried (well only some of the kids, who will remain nameless). The kids decorated gingerbread men (Thanks, Tess!). We also had a gift exchange and the kids had a used book exchange. All together, as it is every year, it was great fun!

The Mission Inn

Every year, we try to make it to the Mission Inn to look at the beautiful light display there. This year, we actually made it to the lighting of the Mission Inn! We went with Joey and Kirsty and met both of our families down there. Jackson really enjoyed the fireworks. We also had the opportunity to go down to the Mission two more times with friends. Every year it seems there are more lights up! Apparently,

there was over three and a half million lights on the Mission Inn for the 2009 Festival of Lights. Amazing! The only critique I have for the Festival of Lights is that they keep their stores in the downtown mall open later! We were trying to find a place to eat around 7pm on a weeknight and every restaurant was closed! It seems to me that they are missing out on a lot of business!

Presents

It has become somewhat of a tradition to give our families framed photos of us for Christmas. This time around, I wanted the photos to be special and creative, so I asked my brother-in-law, David to take them. They turned out well! I'm posting some of my favorites. To wrap the framed photos, I purchased a roll of plain brown paper for 25 cents, and a set of finger paints from Target. I rolled the paper out on the floor, put the paint on paper plates, put Jackson in some old clothes, and let him have a go at decorating the paper himself. I loved to see his creative side come out! He got paint all over himself, me, the kitchen floor, and, of course, the wrapping paper. It was well worth it because each recipient of a photo frame also got a little masterpiece from Jackson! I may make this a tradition as well!

Family

The holiday season is always a fun time to get together with extended family. Troy's aunt and uncle from Missouri came down for a visit the week of Christmas. We had a blast going to their favorite sandwich shop, D'elias Grinders, which, I'm going to say has wonderful sandwiches, my favorite being the Chicken BLT. Its always a treat to go there!
We also went to Logan's Candy Shop where we saw candy canes being made. This was very interesting to watch and we got fresh, warm samples at the end of the tour. I will never eat a cold candy cane again! (I hope Angie doesn't mind, I borrowed the photo from her blog!)

Dress

Madelyn's first Christmas dress...sweet!

Christmas Day

Sorry folks...Christmas Day deserves a blog post of it's own, so I will post that ASAP! :)

Attention Last Minute Shoppers!

If you still have a few more gifts to buy, click here for a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase at JC Penney! Or click here for $5 off of 5$ at Hallmark!

I'm trying to use as many coupons as possible this holiday season to save some bucks, so I thought I would share a few with you!

Those Long Hallways

It was a year ago last week that Mark got into his accident. The day was Friday, December 12th. I had been Christmas shopping and preparing for our annual Christmas party we were to have that evening. I forgot my cellphone. So many frantic messages from Troy greeted me when I got home. I called him right away. It didn't look good, he said, and I needed to come right away. I immediately canceled any plans that we had for the rest of the day and headed to the hospital. It was a long, tear-filled journey. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. All I could think of was Angie and Nolan. What it would mean if we lost Mark...if they lost Mark. I continuously prayed for them as I drove toward the hospital and away from the setting sun. For Mark, his earthly journey ended just beyond those long hallways at Mission Hospital. For Angie and Nolan, their journey of life without Mark began just beyond those hallways. I know that life without Mark may seem very much like those long, seemingly never-ending hallways at Mission. This time of year is extremely hard for everyone who experienced loss with Mark, but especially Angie and Nolan. Please keep them in your prayers this holiday season. Please pray for comfort through this seemingly never-ending grief that they are experiencing. If you haven't visited it lately, Angie writes of how she is dealing with life this time of year at PrayfortheLamberths.com. Some other dates to keep Angie in your prayers are December 19th, which is what would have been their 11th wedding anniversary, and January 8th, the first anniversary of Mark's death. While you are lifting Angie and Nolan up in prayer, please keep it in mind to pray for the comfort of Mark's parents, Jimmy and Barb, and siblings, Matt, Amanda, and Amy. The Lamberth family has been through quite at bit this past year, but God has blessed them with enough strength and perseverance to get through it. I thank God for those daily blessings.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
-Matthew 5:4

I Apologize!

I must apologize if I have bored you, my dear readers (if there are any), with my lack of posting this month. It seems I am having trouble balancing posting photos and updates on Facebook and on my blog. Besides my mom, which I need to get signed up for Facebook, do I have any readers that aren't on Facebook as well? I have contemplated quitting my blog because I can update nearly everyone on Facebook. However, I love to write and I feel I still need that outlet. Although its rare that I get a creative inspiration to write, due to lack of sleep and time, I like that I have place, my own little place, to write whatever I need to write. And I suppose it really doesn't matter if anyone reads it or not because that isn't my purpose. The purpose of this blog has become to write about my life in a more creative way. I am sure those faithful readers...my two aunts...appreciate any post with photos of Madelyn and Jackson, though! I'm am going to make an effort to make the postings on this blog different than the generic postings of photos on Facebook. And so without further ado, here are some more blog posts...

Its Hip to Save

Have you all heard of this blog? My good friend Tiff told me about it last week and since then, I have snagged some pretty sweet deals. Unbelievable deals, actually! Check it out! http://hip2save.blogspot.com/

Big Little Helper

Jackson got a lawn mower and a vacuum cleaner for his birthday. He was very excited to help Daddy mow the lawn the other day. It made for some adorable photos! Jackson also helped me vacuum the house the other day. I love that he loves to help us...and I hope that attitude lasts through adulthood!

Madelyn @ 3 Months

It is hard to believe that 14 weeks ago today, I gave birth to this precious little girl. She has grown so much since then, weighing in at about 12 1/2 lbs and about 22 inches long. She has been smiling and cooing for a while. I love the way she interacts with me and the way I can keep her attention in "conversation" for quite a while. She is hanging on to toys now. She likes to chew on soft toys, so her favorite is to chew on a stuffed rabbit toy's ear. Its amazing to see her personality come out already. If she is left alone in the swing for more than a few minutes (she can't hear or see anyone), she will let out load noises until someone pays attention to her. But, if I am in the same room with her in the swing, she will sit their happily (if she is changed and fed). She is a happy baby! She is very similar to Jackson in that way. Even though they both were a bit fussy at night often (due to gas probably), Jackson and Madelyn both were happy babies. Jackson still is a very happy boy.
Speaking of Jackson...he loves his baby sister so much! He constantly tells me, "She's so cute, Mommy!" and if we are going somewhere, he makes sure to ask, "Madelyn's going too, Mommy?" She loves him as well. When he comes into the room, she lights up and sometimes smiles and waves her arms and legs in excitement. I hope they are always this excited about eat other!After three months, I finally got Madelyn's room finished, aside from a curtain and a light I need to hang up!
Oh...and if you are wondering, she isn't sleeping through the night yet. Everybody seems to ask that question. We still are waiting for that to happen. She has a routine and goes to sleep on her own at night, which is a start. She still feeds twice a night, though. That time will come...soon...I hope!!!!