♫Oh the Weather Outside is....Beautiful! ♫

Glorious snow! 6 or 7 inches of the beautiful white stuff, and still coming down royally! :) The woods look like Narnia, Licky is having trouble walking through it, and when I look outside I fee like I'm in a snow globe that has just been turned upside down! :) Thank you Lord for this gift! :) ~Rachel

Merry Christmas!

John 1:1-5 and 14
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

"Jingle-Bell Time is a Swell Time..." :)

Hi guys! I'm sorry for lack of posting, but this Christmas season is super busy for us all, but especially Mama! And since I am the oldest girl, of course that makes me busy too! :) I have been trying to do a post with pictures for several days, but Blogger won't let me upload them! It shows me a little code that says "javascript (0)" or something, and anyhow, it doesn't work! :)

It has been a funny sort of Christmas season for us, and it took me *way* too long, but finally, I'm getting in the Christmas spirit! :) Wanna know some of the things that got me going? (Besides the knowledge that Jesus' birthday is soon, and hearing the whole stunning story again!)

• Hearing any Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, (etc.) Christmas song. It's gotta be from back then to give me warm-fuzzies! ;)
• Watching "Eloise At Christmastime"
• Wrapping my presents and sticking them under the tree
• Being let in on a Christmas secret, and firmly believing it is the most serious thing that must be kept on pain of death, but devising all sorts of dangerous clues in the meantime! :)
• Doing Advent as a family
• reading "Shepherds Abiding" by Jan Karon
• working late to finish a present or two
  
• Sitting late at night and feeling my eyes grow droopy as I gaze at our Christmas tree (though I find this works best the years we use colored lights)
• Wearing red
• Seeing and eating one of Sarah's *adorable* gingerbread men
  
• dancing to "Jingle Bell Rock" and "All I Want For Christmas Is You" to make the younger kids shocked ;) (They actually crack up laughing at my antics, it's so not me! :)

So now there is only one thing missing to make my Gearing-Up-For-Christmas complete! :) And that would be going Christmas Shopping with Daniel!!!! That will fully put me over the edge into Christmas-dom! :) You might remember my Christmas-Shopping-With-Daniel post last year... :) I just re-read it, and it made me laugh! All of my shopping is done except Dad and Mama's gifts...I need to get thinking! But since they love anything we give them, that shouldn't be too hard! :)

"I Love You Two" :)

Aw, this is such a sweet song- one of my favorites from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"! :)
Watch it here:
(Sorry, but it wouldn't let me embed it! :)

You Know You've Got a Cold When...

All you want for Christmas is:


;) ~Rachel

A Year of Books

All year long, just for an experiment, I wrote down each book I read and finished. I wanted to see, by the end of the year, what I had read, how well I remembered it, and things like that! :) So here is my list, and I'll rate the books in it on the five-star scale! :) Ready? (Oh, and the ones with smileys beside them mean that I recommended that book to at least Daniel, Matthew, and Mama! :)

"The Little Boy Down The Road" - Douglas W. Phillips **** (four stars- I consider five stars a gripping book you simply cannot put down- this was a great, relaxing read though!)
"Let's Roll" - Lisa Beamer ***** ( 5 stars-This book was about the wife of Todd Beamer who was a major part of spoiling the hijackers' plans in the Penn. flight)
"Glory, Duty, and The Gold Dome" - T. Nathanial Darnell **** ( 4 stars; very satisfying read, especially as it included lots of politics :)
"To Have And To Hold" :) -Mary Johnston ***** This was an amazing book, and one that I couldn't put down, so it gets at least five stars! :)
"Rob Roy"- Sir Walter Scott **** (Four stars- the Scottish brogue, however much I love it, was a bit hard to get through at times, also, the plot dragged a bit, but still a great book!)
"I Will Repay" :) -Baroness Emmuska Orczy ***** (5 stars!!! A book in the Scarlet Pimpernel series cannot get less! ;)
"Eldorado" :) - Baroness Emmuska Oczy ***** (5 stars, but truly this ought to get at least 10 for the amount of excitement and can't-put-it-downedness it contained! I almost literally worked myself into a fever over parts of it! :)
"Sir Percy Hits Back" :) -Baroness Emmuska Orczy ***** (5 stars- those three were my fluff books for the year! ;)
"Laddie" - Evelyn Whittaker *** (3 stars- very simple, short, story)
"Mildred At Roselands" - Martha Finley **** (Better than the Elsie books, still has plot dragging problems)
"Ivanhoe" :) - Sir Walter Scott ***** (Flowery language, but WAY worth it to read this classic! :)
"The Name" :) -Franklin Graham *********** (Can we give enough stars to a person who writes a whole book about the power of Jesus's holy name? I don't think so!)
"Rose In Bloom" :) - Louisa May Alcott ***** (Very satisfying end to this Eight Cousins sequel :)
"Great Expectations" - Charles Dickens *** (3 stars...one of the stranger, darker Dickens books)
"1776" :) - David McCullough **** (4 stars- amazing history, but feels lacking at times since McCullough doesn't come from a Biblical world-view)
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" - Anne Bronte **** (4 stars...uncomfortably accurate peeks into the life of an alcoholic's wife...she didn't know he was one when she married him. Very sad, but very poignant, and worth the read for an older young man or woman who can divulge the great lessons in it :)
"Wives and Daughters" -Elizabeth Gaskell ***** (five stars- Great literature, but it has a horridly tantalizing ending- poor Ms. Gaskell died in the midst of writing the last chapter, so we never do find out what happens! :[ )
"North and South" - Elizabeth Gaskell ***** (five stars, great book)
"Preparing to be a Helpmeet" - Debi Pearl ***** (Five stars- she packs the punches and hits young women in the exact places so many of us struggle- great book, but take her "relating to young men" advice (at times) with a grain of salt. She doesn't always literally mean what she suggests! :)
"Lorna Doone":) - R. D. Blackmore ***** (five stars, GREAT book! :)
"Daddy-Long-Legs" - Jean Webster *** (Okay book...fluffy...not much in it...cute storyline though)
"Nicholas Nickleby" :) -Charles Dickens ***** (5 stars, as usual, his books are long, but so worth it! :)
"The Princess and Curdie" -George MacDonald *** (3 stars- good book, but this is a sequel, and I'd never read the first book, so it was lacking, for me)
"The Maiden's Bequest" - George MacDonald **** (4 stars, a very good book)
"Ogdan Nash- The Life-work of America's Laureate of Light Verse" -Douglas M. Parker *** (a very interesting book, but since Mr. Nash was not a Christian, his life was rather...plebeian at times)
"Bleak House" :)- Charles Dickens ***** (5 stars- amazing book, loved every moment of it, found Esther Summerson to be an amazing roll-model, but you've heard that all! :)
"Passion and Purity" -Elisabeth Elliot ***** (5 stars, timely advice for older young women)
"The Witch of Blackbird Pond" -Elizabeth George Speare **** (4 stars, but first let me assure you that this is not about a witch at all. These suspicious Puritans assume this girl is a witch because she grew up on a plantation in Barbados, and can swim, and does things differently than they. :)
"Let me be a Woman" - Elisabeth Elliot **** (Four stars, the format felt kind of exclusive, since she wrote it as a letter to her daughter, but it's still super good! :)
"The Adventures of Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ***** (5 stars, and a perfect read it you don't mind feeling rather dumb yourself in the light of Mr. Holmes' cleverness!)
"The Maker's Diet" - Jordan Rubin ***** (Very good book)
"Miserly Moms" - Jonni McCoy **** (Good book)
"Revision and Self-Editing" -James Scott Bell **** (four stars, very good, practical advice)
"The Cricket on The Hearth" -Charles Dickens **** (four stars, cute story, but short)
"Barnaby Rudge" -Charles Dickens *** (When he wrote this book, Dickens hadn't found his beloved style yet, so it's rather a boring book till the half-way point, and after that, a bit confusing still)

There you go! My year in reading! 35 (or 36?) books! That's approximately 14, 239 pages of text for you! :) And I really felt like I didn't read much this year! :) ~Rachel

Attention: I think we should all worry about Global Warming... ;)

White Christmases.....there's a whole song written about them....they are the staple of Christmas paintings....but I've never personally seen one. We almost had a white Christmas a few years ago...turned out to be a White-December-26th! :) One year at a Christmas party a few years back, we were talking about snow in the winter in our area (virtually non-existant some years) and one boy quipped: "♫ I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we've never had.... ♫"
But this year there is hope. This will be our third round of snow down here this winter already! Amazing! Today we are expecting 3-6 inches of the glorious white stuff! :) I understand that for farmers snow is bothersome and in the way, but no one, even the Scroogiest Scrooge who lives within the confines of an apartment house can't resist feeling a quickening of the heart when he sees a patch of fresh snow. Whenever I wake up to a world cloaked in white, the first words that flood my heart are: "Although your sins are scarlet, I will make them white as snow..." and, just as God's grace covers my sins, the beautiful snow covers the fallow fields, and the bare trees, and turns the ugliest corner of the yard into a glistening cathedral.
Has it never inspired you with somewhat of a sense of adventure to see a stretch of snow that has never, ever, ever been walked on before? I am still little-girl enough to put on my boots, and tramp over to a patch of pristine snow, pausing at the edge to let the beauty sink in, and then tromping over it, looking over my shoulder and laughing at the big tracks I make.
It's a part of winter that I doubt I'll ever get over! :)
So I am eagerly awaiting the promised snow, the third of the season, wishing for a White Christmas at last, while wondering...
Just why is everyone so worried about global warming? :) ~Rachel

A Simple Math Equation

25-15=10 Days til Christmas!!!!! :)

and I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a *lot* of work to do!
-Sarah

:D :D :D :D At Last! :D

~Meredith and Stephen~
December 11, 2010

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. and ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

May the Lord bless you both as you begin a new life together! :)

Wedding Bells Ahead :)

"Come, let's be a comfortable couple and take care of each other!
How glad we shall be, that we have somebody we are fond of always, to talk to and sit with." ;)
~Charles Dickens

This Saturday, December 11, 2010, will be the first wedding of in "Our Group"! Meredith Alexander has long been an inspiration to the young ladies in our circle who personally know her, and to many other young women around the world with her blog: Striving To Serve at Home.
The very first week our family began attending our home-church, it was the Alexander's last week there, and so I have not been able to get to know Meredith as well as I wish I could, however, I still look up to her as a shining example of what godly womanhood can be, and count her among the young women who inspire me and who I want to be like someday! :) Meredith chose to stay at home after graduating high school, but, contrary to what many would like to believe, she has had one of them most vibrant lives of any young woman I know! I cannot count how many times I have got on her blog and come away inspired and renewed by what I read. Most people, when they think of a "Stay at home daughter" conjure up some picture of knitting needles and freshly baked cookies, and someone playing the harp. (Not that I have a problem with any of those things! :) But Meredith has started numerous businesses, run a tractor service, baked cheesecakes for a tea house, and absolutely poured forth creativity, all the while choosing to live under her father's household during her single years! Meredith's devotion to the Lord, and her family, has been so encouraging to witness!
The amazing courtship story of Meredith and Stephen has been such a blessing to me, especially as I often wonder, "Is there *anyone* around for me?". Her story really shows God's amazing plan for our lives! Click here to read the story. I don't know about the other girls, but Meredith has been a bit of a celebrity in our midst! ;) I do feel like I have been watching a wonderful movie and finally, finally, the lovely Princess has found her Prince "once upon a time".

So tomorrow we are going up to their area to help with the wedding. Tomorrow the weekend of the Princess's bridal festivities will begin. Sleeping Beauty has been awakened, Cinderella has tried on the glass slipper, and since the Lord Jesus has been in every detail of their relationship so far, I have full confidence that Meredith and Stephen will live Happily Ever After. :) ~Rachel

A Christmas Letter From Us Two

If you remember our Title Tale from a while back, you'll probably love this, too! :)

Ye Merry Gentlemen, It came upon a midnight clear:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me the Holly and the Ivy. 'Cause Good King Wenceslas Saw Three Ships come sailing in and Hark the herald angel sings, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas". O come, all ye faithful! Here we go a-wassailing to... Oh... Little Town of Bethlehem. We three kings from orient are walking in a winter wonderland and rocking around the Christmas tree. I'll be home for Christmas with Silver and Gold, so Let It Snow. Christmastime is Here, Frosty the Snowman! Angels, we have heard on high that Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer had a Blue Christmas. And Mary, Did you know that it's Christmas in Killarney? Jingle Bells Rock and Sleigh bells ring on our Sleigh Ride. It's been a Silent Night, except that Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.
All I want for Christmas:
-Is you
-I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
-All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

But....I'm Getting Nothin' for Christmas. :(

We're Dreaming of a White Christmas,
~Rachel and Sarah

Deck the Halls! :)

I am getting so excited about Christmas! This is a time of year full of traditions, so maybe that's why we love it so much! :) Yesterday the girls sweetly decluttered all the surfaces so that we could decorate today! Yay! :) Hopefully Sarah will take lots of pictures of our tree decorating so that we can do a fun post and you can see our tree! I've discovered there are 3 kinds of tree decorators:
~The Elegant Beauty
~The Cram-As-Much-As-You-Can-Just-To-Be-Glitzy
~The Cram-As-Much-As-You-Can-Because-It-All-Has-Memories

We belong to the latter version. Our tree always looks like it belongs to a large family. First it is wrapped from the inside out with lights. Then we have legions of paper ornaments made by eight little hands over the years, mixing with elegant glass balls. We have lopsided pine-straw hearts hanging proudly beside olive-wood ornaments from Israel. There is a Christmas Pickle hidden somewhere in the branches. There are the little tin marching band people to hang up, the floppy little fabric music note that must have it's story told every year to the youngest family members who do not remember. There is the beautiful pearly blue glass ball to take out of it's velvet case, and the crystal dove with the olive branch to carefully hand to Mama to hang up. Then of course, amongst all the finery, we string popcorn and cranberries, and red and green wooden beads. We perch gold-painted pine-cones here and there. We older ones find the ornaments an old baby-sitter gave to us, and try to remember her. (I never could!) :)
To an outsider, and especially the "Elegant Beauty" tree person, our tree looks like mayhem. But it is a tree filled with precious memories and love. A tree that represents 22 years of family life. It's our tree, and has changed very little (barring the introduction of even *more* paper ornaments) over my whole life. And there's something extremely comforting in that knowledge, you know? :) We love our tree, and valiantly guard it against tinsel, and I hope that even people who are more particular about their decorating, can see that our tree is not a work of art, but a history of our family. Just as colorful, varied, and homey as we are :) ~Rachel