Memories

Lately, I've been thinking about Christmas' past. One Christmas sticks out in my mind because it was a Christmas of confessions. Of course my children chose to confess their sins AFTER they were grown so they couldn't get into trouble.

Our family opens gifts on Christmas Eve night right before midnight so that everyone (except me) can sleep in on Christmas Day. We started doing this when Farmer Boo shared that he didn't think there was a Santa.

A few years ago we were opening gifts and EG's Daddy looked up and said remember the first year Mom let us stay home alone during Christmas break and we talked Baby Chef into opening all the gifts and rewrapping them? Farmer Boo and Baby Chef started laughing! I had never known all these years that they had done that! I remember the year very well and they acted so surprised!
What good actors I raised!

I'm sure they've done a lot more things than I care to know about. There's one thing I've decided....There are just some things moms don't EVER need to know.

12 Days of CHRISTmas

When my children were growing up, we were always singing. Thank goodness love is deaf  : )  The Twelve Days of Christmas was one of our favorite songs this time of year, and my children would race through it to see who could get them all out first without any mistakes. By the end of the song, we were usually laughing so hard that getting through it was a difficult task. This is such a fun song, however, there is evidence that shows that The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the basic teaching of a Christians' faith.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me - a partridge in a pear tree - The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, just as Christ takes care of us - as His children.

2nd day of Christmas - 2 turtle doves - The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God's self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world.

3rd day - 3 french hens - The Three Theological Virtues:  1) Faith, 2) Hope, and 3) Love (1 Corinthians 13:13)

4th day - calling birds - The Four Gospels: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, and 4) John, which proclaim the Good News of God's reconciliation of the world to Himself in Jesus Christ.

5th day - five golden rings - The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch:  1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy, which gives the history of humanity's sinful failure and God's response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world.

6th day - six geese a laying - The six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world (Genesis 1).

7th day - swans a swimming - The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)

8th day - eight maids a milking - The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)

9th day - nine ladies dancing - The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness, 6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control.  (Galatians 5:22)

10th day - ten lords a leaping - The ten commandments: 1) You shall have no other gods before me; 2) Do not make an idol; 3) Do not take God's name in vain; 4) Remember the Sabbath Day; 5) Honor your father and mother; 6) Do not murder; 7) Do not commit adultery; 8) Do not steal; 9) Do not bear false witness; 10) Do not covet. (Exodus 20:1-17)

11th day - pipers piping - The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James.  (Luke 6:14-16).  The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans.

12th day -  drummers drumming  - The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed: 1) I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5) On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7) I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8) the holy catholic Church, 9) the communion of saints, 10) the forgiveness of sins, 11) the resurrection of the body, 12) and life everlasting.

I hope you enjoyed this rather long post!

December-How did you get here so fast??

It's hard to believe December is already here and it's been a month since my last post. I'm counting the days til December 18th when Baby Chef comes home. It will be the first time I've seen her since September 13th and much too long for me!

My life has finally settled into somewhat of a routine-work, visit the nursing home, then back home for the usual...dinner, laundry, etc. except for the fact that I'm addicted to pinterest and have tried more recipes and craft projects than I care to talk about for fear that anyone who reads his will think I've gone insane.

I've decided that making cupcake towers are my favorite project thus far. I'm a bit disappointed that I discovered how to make them after Baby Chef's wedding. Here are a few of my creations.