Our Celebration At Home

Our Christmas was full of family time, celebrating Jesus's humble birth, good food and lots of great gifts.  In this post, I will share some photos of our little family enjoying Christmas at home.  

We traveled this Christmas, so we decided to let our kids open their gifts from Scott and I before leaving on our trip.  The two days we spent celebrating were so sweet.  One night we sat and read the Christmas story and talked about it.  The next morning, with bed heads, we gave our gifts to one another.  Then, we had a wonderful pancake breakfast.  Then, I packed like a mad woman.  :)

*much more to come 

This is our precious Kalen.  I love pictures of the kids while they are sleeping.  This was the night before our family's Christmas celebration.

Madelyn is pictured here reading to Brady the night before our Christmas gift giving.

Scott and I went to a skate park in Chapel Hill and purchased Jules his first skateboard.  It is so cool!

Here's Maddie with some fair trade earrings.  

Peace and Joy

The coming of Jesus at Bethlehem brought joy to the world and to every human heart.  May His coming this Christmas bring to each one of us that peace and joy that He desires to give.

~Mother Teresa

Merry Christmas to you all.  May your homes be full of love and joy.  Enjoy!

Playfulness & Togetherness

Here are some cute moments caught by me and my handy dandy camera from the past week or so.  The kids are back home and we are really enjoying Christmastime together. 

 

Kalen and Brayden paused to pose for me.  Then, off they went on their brooms or horses.

The kids have been enjoying chess and checkers lately.  One afternoon, I caught Madelyn playing chess with Jules.

You are looking at two superhero dragons here.  Isn't the backdrop of folded laundry lovely!

Julian set up  this really cool Playmobil Rock Castle scene.  

Several nights last week, we cuddled up together and watched parts of the Faith Hill Christmas Concert on PBS.  Those were sweet moments.  

10 Years

Scott and I are celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary today! Hooray for love! I am so thankful for what we have. What we share is so pure. We remain determined to love each other and give our all to this marriage and our family.

10 Reasons I love being married to Scott Allen Morrison

He is devoted to me.
He knows I am not a morning person and loves me anyways.
He is an amazing and playful Daddy.
He cares about me.
He makes me laugh and can always make me smile.
He takes care of himself.
He cherishes me.
He likes to watch movies with me.
He wants to be home.
He is a really great dancer. :)

Home Alone

Mom and Annette have the kids for several days.  We met them yesterday after the party.  They are keeping the children so we can have some alone time and celebrate our 10th Anniversary.  When we met them, Annette and Mom gave us a bag of goodies to celebrate with; money to eat out with, a vegan apple pie, chocolate clusters, and sparkling Organic Apple Cider.  I was totally surprised by that; it was totally enough they were willing to care for our kids for four days.  JJ, Mads, Kalen and Brady were so excited.  Even though it was a little hard pulling away, I knew they would have a ball and we would treasure our time together, just Scott and me.  

Indeed we are enjoying ourselves.  Last night, Scott took me out to Mellow Mushroom and then to the new performing arts place in Durham hosting Harry Connick, Jr. and his band.  It was amazing!!!  I have always loved Harry.  

Today, we are off to Chapel Hill to do a little lunch and shopping.  Tah tah!

Roller Skating Party

Our homeschool group had our Christmas party at Wheels yesterday.  Wheels is a roller skating place.  We went there last year and had a lot of fun.  They had fun, but fell a lot and were classic beginner skaters.  This year they looked like pros.  Julian, Kalen and Madelyn skate a lot around our home on the sidewalk.  We were so proud to see them zipping around the skating loop.  There is a clip at the bottom, I think you'll be able to pick out Scott and Julian, then Maddie and Kalen.  

Fun With Crayons

The kids and I have been super busy lately making gifts for family members for Christmas.  It has been super messy, but so meaningful.  

I will only show one craft that we copied from a magazine that Mom gave me.  It is relatively easy and totally doable with children.  Madelyn, Kalen and I made these super cute crayon blocks (or hearts).  You just chop up some peeled crayons and put in an ungreased cute pan.  We happened to have the same heart pan that the magazine suggested to use.  You put your oven on 150 degrees and let them cook/melt for 15 minutes.  You let them cool then pop them out.  If they don't come out easily, just stick them in the oven for a several minutes, then they should come right out.  I hope some of you moms can give this one a try.  I think it makes a cute gift and gets your kids involved.  

Raisin and Peanut Clusters

I have a super easy recipe for you all.  I made these for a party the other day and they turned out great.  They are sure to be a hit in your households or at a Christmas gathering.  (shh . . . it is vegan)

Raisin and Peanut Clusters

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c vegan chocolate chips

1 c whole roasted peanuts, salted

1 c organic raisins

* Melt chocolate in saucepan.  Stir until melted.  Mix in peanuts and raisins.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax or parchment lined trays.

* Refrigerate until hard.  Store in the refrigerator in airtight container.  

Enjoy!

recipe from my cookbook Sinfully Vegan by Lois Dieterly

Act of Emptiness/Love of Stuff

. . . seeking wholeness in consumer goods is an act of emptiness, not joy.

to read more on this follow this link to Scott's blog and read a thoughtful article.

African Children's Choir

This morning we went to a concert that the African Children's Choir presented.  It was amazing.  This is the same choir that sang for American Idol's Idol gives back (or whatever).  Remember?  Powerful little people, I tell you.  Our kids loved it.  I was tickled Scott's schedule allowed him to go with us.  It was a sweet time.  There is a clip at the bottom and a link.  Enjoy!

If you want to learn more about the African Children's Choir follow this link to Friends of Mirembe.