To mothers everywhere....I found this posted here The Mother Letter Project
read and be blessed!

A Letter From Mary

Dear Mother,

As you celebrate this day,
when the baby savior came to be with us,
you may imagine what I must have thought
as God With Us was birthed into my arms.

Mother,
Both you and I
have opened to the immensity of his light.
Just as his Spirit overwhelmed me,
so you have let his lambent wings enfold you.
He made his flame unfurl its life in you,
and as you opened,
opened to the gifts in your arms,
He made his joy uncurl inside of you.

Both you and I
have been given the gift of Love.
Just as he made me to love this Jesus baby,
he let an ecstasy of love inside of you
fan out like leaves of joy before your sons.

Dear Beautiful Mother,
You have given all to him, have let yourself
be sifted clean, while daily you have sent
your heart surrendered trilling out before Him.
Your prayers flutter and unfold
like fronds of tender foliage for your sons.
Your open palms are ornaments of God.
Our Lord is glad.

Dear Tender Mother,
Do not be afraid of being less.
The God of Immeasurably More
has birthed his gifts in you, has shone
his light on you, unfurled
his brightness in you, birthed
in you these sons as gifts for the world.

And, yes,
His light is light in you.
Your sons are heirs of light.

Dear Mother,
day after day,
as you serve your little ones,
He is swarmed in love around you.

Dear mother,
He
Is
Swarmed
In
Love
Around
You.
Your sons are heirs of light.

Caroline Hruska

I don't think I will be blogging much the next few days. So I wanted to say Merry CHRISTmas to everyone. We are going to have a quiet Christmas Eve at home...(well as quiet as a house with 7 kids is!!) We plan on finishing up our advent study, singing some hymns and celebrating communion together. The kids will all open their secret sibling presents and we will also have lots of yummy finger foods to much on!
Tomorrow we are off to Brians parents house for the day. To visit with aunts and uncles and cousins.....
I pray that your Christmas is all you want it to be and more!!

I will leave you with my latest project...I altered a cd case into a frame for Brians desk....sooo fun!!


Blessings Alisa

I made this frame for Brians desk at work..... a little present I just finished up! This was fun to do and sooo easy! I used my Scarlet Lime November kit....I really am enjoying their kits!! I like the way it turned out!!
This is the card I made for him for Christmas...he usually does not read my blog so I think it is safe to post these!!



And these cute note holders I made for the girls....I saw this somewhere on the web and I can't remember where. I cut chipboard to size and painted one side and put paper on the other. I used mod podge to seal it. I then decorated a clip with ribbon and clipped the post it note to the chipboard. Fast, Fun, and soo cute!

Here is my layout.....today was writing about your stockings.. I grew up with santa filling our stockings the stockings were always a very big deal...lot's of neat stuff filled our stockings. I do the same for my kids now. The stockings were all hand knitted by Brians Aunt Barbra. We lay them under the tree and that is the first thing the kids can open and dig into while we get our sleepy eyes open.

My to do list is the topic of todays prompt......I really don't have much left to do a few quick errands that I want to finish up today.....I think we are supposed to get some icy mix the next couple off days. So I am off to target...and Aldis.....and the post office! Have a warm day!!! It's -4 here!! BRRRR!!!
For this post I took my actual page from my day planner and used it as the journaling for the layout....it was longer than the page so I just folded it under......fast and easy!!

We have been busy making this all week....so yummy and really easy!


1 pkg. candy canes, unwrapped and crushed (place in thick ziploc and bang with a rolling pin or hammer)
4+ cups white chocolate (look for one that has cocoa butter in it, use the white chocolate wafers for candy making that you find at craft stores only as a last resort)
1/2-1 t. peppermint extract (you can use mint, but peppermint is better)
1 bag milk chocolate chips (you can use semisweet, but I prefer milk)

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Melting the chocolate won't take long. Take off the heat before chocolate is entirely melted and stir until smooth. Add peppermint to taste. Spread in ungreased 12x7 jelly roll pan. Place in freezer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle top with milk chocolate chips. Completely cover the white chocolate if you want layers of chocolate, or sprinkle in rows if you want a more marbled look. Place in warm (350) oven until milk chocolate is nearly melted (2-5 minutes). Spread with rubber spatula to smooth or marble. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Place in freezer until hard (12+ minutes). Break into pieces

Make alot it goes fast!!

So I had a bunch of emails about the recipe for the bark......so here it it is! So easy and ohhhhh so good!!

1 pkg. candy canes, unwrapped and crushed (place in thick ziploc and bang with a rolling pin or hammer)
4+ cups white chocolate (look for one that has cocoa butter in it, use the white chocolate wafers for candy making that you find at craft stores only as a last resort)
1/2-1 t. peppermint extract (you can use mint, but peppermint is better)
1 bag milk chocolate chips (you can use semisweet, but I prefer milk)

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Melting the chocolate won't take long. Take off the heat before chocolate is entirely melted and stir until smooth. Add peppermint to taste. Spread in ungreased 12x7 jelly roll pan. Place in freezer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle top with milk chocolate chips. Completely cover the white chocolate if you want layers of chocolate, or sprinkle in rows if you want a more marbled look. Place in warm (350) oven until milk chocolate is nearly melted (2-5 minutes). Spread with rubber spatula to smooth or marble. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Place in freezer until hard (12+ minutes). Break into pieces and store in airtight container....

that's it.....make lots cause it goes fast!!!

The prompt was to take pictures of what was going on today.... snowy views, wrapping presents, sledding and making peppermint bark were on the agenda for today. And I am officially done wrapping as of today!!! And I am also caught up on this project!! Yeah!!

Here is that view I promised you yesterday...this is my view this morning as it started snowing again...another 6 inches! Then the sun came out this afternoon and Caleb and I headed out for a sled ride down our drive.
In the window you will see our manger....this is a new tradition this year. The tradition of the straw. Every time we do a good deed for someone else we put a piece of straw in the manger....doing someones chores....being kind...sharing something.....it all counts! And as we turn our hearts towards each other the manger fills up with straw and hopefully by Christmas we have a soft bed for the baby Jesus to lay on. Because isn't it all about our hearts and loving one another...not just at this time of year but all year long!!

Christmas is only 4 days away....are your hearts ready?

I took these pics last night!! This morning we woke up to about 15 inches on the ground and we are supposed to get more tomorrow! The kids have been sledding all day and I have been busy inside cooking and scrapping!! Stew is in the crock pot and the rolls are in the oven...the house smells sooo good!
Caleb was so funny..this is his first year where he can really go out and play with the others and he is loving it!!
The only bad part about snow is the shoveling.....but we all pitched in and got it done. Time to go get dinner on the table....I am thanking God today for the beautiful view from my front window into the woods....(I wanted to share a pic but it's getting too dark to take one) I will share my view tomorrow!!
God bless!

These are some shots from yesterday while the snow was still falling!





Yesterday we ended up getting over 15 inches of snow.....and are expecting 6 more tomorrow! WooHoo! The kids have been out sledding all day and I have been busy creating!! In the kitchen and in the scrap room!! Stew and rolls are cookin and I am finally caught up on my Christmas Journal. I am so proud of myself for keeping up with this and it has been alot of fun!!

Day 18 was about the food....so I left a space for pics of our Christmas feast...




For day 19 I wrote a prayer to our heavenly Father. This is an envelope that I hole punched and will use as the page. Inside it is a slip of paper with my prayer on it....



Day 20 I decided to take a picture of all our cards hanging on the wall....I know there is still a few more days till Christmas but we have not gotten as many cards this year...everyone must be cutting back...I did not take the pic yet of the cards but this is the page it will go on.

Head over to my scrap blog to view the latest entries in my Journal Your Christmas class. I am really enjoying the daily prompts and creating something almost everyday! We are expecting over 12 inches of snow today so I imagine I will have some time to scrap more over the weekend! The kids are looking forward to being snowed in!!! Here is the link http://lifescrapspsalm78.blogspot.com/2008/12/caught-up-and-on-roll.html

Have a blessed day!!

Well I have been busy catching up with my Christmas journal entries the last few days. Day 8 is 3 pages long ....the prompt was on capturing Christmas in photos around your house but also about journaling on something that is different this year. So I did both!


Day 9 was more on your families traditions....

day 10 was on gift wrap and bows and such....

I was really happy with how day 11 came out. This one is all about our Christmas tree. I amde a flap for the pictures of us getting the tree and when you open it there is an enlarged pic of the tree and my journaling of the event.


day 13 is about the music I like....

day 14 is about presents... not what kinds but the traditions we keep in our family...when do you open them and that sort of thing

day 15 ....who will we see at Christmas....it's all about the visitors!!
day 16 is what I am grateful for this Christmas

Day 17 is about the perfect gift.....I copied a Christmas letter posted on Ann Voscamps blog
it is about the perfect gift that Jesus gives us....click here to read it. It is the greatest gift of all!!


I plan on getting the last 2 days entries done later today.....we are awaiting a huge snow storm that is supposed to dump up to 12 inches of snow on us .....so I should have lots of time to scrap!!

I am seriously behind on my Christmas journal.....I have all the ideas in my head but have had no time to produce the pages.....so today I am determined to get caught up....problem is I also need to catch up on the cleaning, cooking , baking and wrapping....hmmmm, talk about multi tasking!!
I'll post the pics later when I get them done!! I am still really enjoying doing the journal, even though the pages have not gotten done yet I have journaled and thought about each days prompt right away.
blessings Alisa

My friend Ann has written so beautifully about the greatest gift.....

These are the weeks before Christmas.

The darkest days of the year fall gently down upon us. And in the hushed quiet, in the dark of the come-early night, we sit with bated breath. We've been given a gift. One we didn’t have to make, bake, sew, buy, wrap, bag or tag. One we are simply given and softly nudged to accept.

This year, will we open our present early?

Come. Just unwrap the paper from this corner, peeling back the tape. Go ahead. Look. It’s all right—keep breathing. I know, I know … breathtaking, isn’t it?

Jewels bestowed upon the commonplace, treasures that could never be asked for, riches that wouldn’t dare be written on any wish list.

please follow this link and continue opening your gift

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2008/12/open-your-gift-early-celebrate.html

blessings Alisa

We have started a new tradition this year. I really wanted a real tree....we go back and forth depending on the year between putting up our fake tree and getting a real one...so this year there are no small babies ; ( ......and so I really thought a live tree would be nice.
Well we really do not have $50 to go buy a tree but Brains Dad has 80 acres of woods with millions of white pine trees....not your typical Christmas Tree but an evergreen none the less!
So off we went into the woods last Saturday to pick the perfect tree.



The great thing was the boys could cut as much as they wanted too....yes they cut at least 10 pine trees down (Pop-Pop will be happy because these little pine trees make it hard to hunt and keep the oak trees from thriving) So the boys could cut away until we found that perfect tree!
And here it is! We are going for that natural look......and you know what I really like it!! It is different and we are all enjoying our Special Piney Tree!! And a new tradition has been born!!
Merry Christmas!!!

Brian and I needed to be out today....my Mom is in the hospital for pneumonia and we wanted to go down to visit. Soooo Emily thought it would be fun to help the boys to decorate the gingerbread house. They had a blast and even took pictures for me knowing that I would love to have them to scrapbook.



What do you wear to decorate a gingerbread house? Emily thought it quite appropriate to let Caleb do it in his diaper....less mess to clean up and wash was her philosophy. Yes she is beginning to think like her Mom.....I love it!!!




And my Mom is going to be fine but they are keeping her in the hospital for the weekend to make sure. I know she will enjoy these photos of the boys as well!!