We had a really nice Christmas. I enjoyed our trip to Atlanta and our church's Candlelight Christmas Eve Service. Christmas Day we watched A Christmas Carol (1999 version with Patrick Stewart, my favorite) together. And, it would not be Christmas in our house without watching A Christmas Story!!

We adults napped while the kids read, built Legos, listened to music, and had a fun Xbox tournament with friends they've made all over Georgia. Technology is great for helping the kids keep in touch with their friends!

In the evening we had some lovely center cut pork chops that had been slow cooked in a delicious apple cider salsa; broccoli, corn, baked potatoes, and bread. The culmination was a Candy Cane Pie (with a chocolate french silk base) that Tom had found at Aldi's for our dessert. (Aldi's is a discount grocers that is in Gainesville and is Tom's latest obsession).  While watching the movies, we also baked sugar cookies.  Yes, lots of  sweets but it's only one day a year.  

We also spent time on Christmas Eve doing devotions, lighting our Advent Wreath, and talking about how blessed our lives are because of Jesus.  He is everything, isn't he?

Now for some fun stuff.  I thought I'd do a little Christmas survey on my blog.  Take time to answer this questions for yourself~or send me your answers. Id' love to see them!!

Favorite Christmas Song/Album:  O Holy Night and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  My favorite CD is one we got years ago from Franklin Graham's ministry. It has great songs on it you don't find a lot of other places, with unique arrangements. I love Carol of the Bells, One Small Child, I Wonder As I Wander, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and Some Children See Him, to name a few.

Exercise on Christmas Day or take the day off?  Totally depends. This year Tom ran and I exercised and it was quite enjoyable.

What do you usually eat on Christmas morning?  The last 5 years we had French Toast made with a delicious Cinnamon Raisin Bread from Panera.  The nearest Panera Bread to us is in Gainesville so we got a frozen Monkey Bread from Walmart. It can be cooked in the oven or microwave and costs all of  $2.98 per loaf.  My dad had it for the kids several years ago at his house and they simply LOVE it. Tom and I had some homemade cinnamon pecan bread that a church member sent us too.

Favorite Holiday or Christmas Tradition?  I have several.  One is being home on Christmas day without traveling. Very laid back and so much fun. A second would be our Christmas Eve Candelight Church Service. I love having communion on this holy night and being in the church with only light from everyone's candles at the end while singing Silent Night.  I also love our week long adventure to stay with my family in Kentucky. I see them so rarely and this is a big treat for all of us.

Real Tree or Fake Tree?  Well, since I'm allergic to all pine trees...

Christmas Pajamas...yay or nay?  Yay just because they were a gift from my Mother in Law several years ago and I pretty much wear them all winter long.  I have one other pair of winter PJs but these are the warmest. Plus they have snowmen on them and I am crazy about snowmen!

Where do you spend the holidays?  Sort of already answered that. In Atlanta at my inlaws the weekend before Christmas; home on Christmas Eve and Day; Kentucky after Christmas at my parents' home.

Foods that you always have?  The dinner in Atlanta is very traditional~turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, beans, dirty rice, rolls, and a frozen fruit salad to die for.  At home we usually have baked ham and french toast but tried something entirely different this  year and that was fun. At my parents, I always, always get authentic Scottish Shortbread made by my father....yummy!  

Favorite Sweet of the Season?  Hands down, Peanut Butter Cookies made with Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kisses (I made them gluten free this year and they were fabulous) and my dad's Shortbread.  (I'm allergic to wheat and there is so much of it around at this time of year. That's why Maddie did the PB cookies gluten free for me and they were wonderful~and saved me a few sneezes and headaches in the process).  :D

Open Presents on Christmas Eve or Day?  Christmas Day.

Favorite Christmas Movie?

Goofy:  Scrooged; Christmas Vacation
Literary:  A Christmas Carol
Family Tradition:  A Christmas Story
Animated:  Rudolph

Favorite Christmas Book or Story?

Short Story:  Agatha Christie's The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

Classic:  Dicken's A Christmas Carol

Other:  Agatha Christie's Hercule Poiroit's Christmas

Exercise:  Here's what I've done since Sunday.

Sunday:  LBN Strength Workout; Firm Get Chisle'd Cardio (15 minute)

Monday: LBN Metabolic Cardio (intervals)

Christmas Day:  Firm Get Chisel'd (weight workout)

Today:  Karen Voight Steady State, lower impact cardio day wtih Quick and Slim Cardio and Complete Sleek Cardio.

We've had a really nice week. Maddie has made a lot of cookies. She even made gluten-free Peanut Butter Kisses (dark chocolate kisses, of course) for me and sugar cookies with M&Ms for my Bible Study gals tonight.  We've done some deeper cleaning of the house.  Tyler and Wes had a Scout party and Tyler had a birthday party. We've also slept in, watched A Christmas Carol together, and simply hung out.  

I've also had fun cooking!  I downloaded a couple of new cookbooks for free on my Kindle Fire and tried two new recipes. Neither have meat and both include items my kids ordinarily won't touch~and they liked both. Now that's an accomplishment.

Today my Mother in Law and Father in Law picked the kids up and took them to Atlanta. Maddie is going to help Grandmom make the turkey and do some cooking to prepare for our Christmas dinner on Friday night.  Wes and Tyler are going to help Big Daddy in the yard and just hang out.  They took several card games to play at night because Big Daddy is a card fiend and they love that about him. They should have a great time.

Tom and I have a lunch tomorrow with a Sunday School class and I have to take Tucker in for his shots.  Then we'll leave for Atlanta on Friday and be home on Saturday. It's fun to travel for the holidays but truly, there's no place like home to me.

I think that God placed that yearning for home in our hearts. A place to dig in, make it ours, be free to be who we truly are.  Not wear makeup, put on nice clothing, and just BE.  Won't it be wonderful some day to shed the trappings of this world and the focus on appearance and stand in the presence of the One whose appearance will be the most beautiful thing we've ever seen?

I think about that a lot this time of year.  Probably why "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is a favorite hymn of mine. It captures the longing and pathos of a desire to have Christ come and be present in the most tangible way possible. 

In the meantime, we wait.  And live, love, and have joy fill our hearts as each day we draw closer to the time when we will open our eyes and see.  

P.S.  And, lest you think otherwise, I like it here. I am overjoyed that I'm getting to watch my children grow, be a part of our church, see the changing seasons, and simply live. I thank God for these gifts which are reminders of the true living to come.

Workouts:  Hmmm, I've been doing a tough schedule this week. The Firm Express Kickstart Your Metabolism rotation. You do 40-50 minutes of high intensity workouts a day, including some bursts where you go all-out.  I feel good about getting so much accomplished in a shorter time~and less guilty about taking Friday, and maybe Saturday, off from exercise. And, eating a few more treats!! :D  Oh, I've also walked Tucker a couple of days this week too. We missed getting to do that with the rain we had at the first of the week.

What I've been reading:  I'm on book 4 of the Missing Series, Taken. So far, Sent is my favorite. This is the story of Henry Hudson's crew kicking him and his son out of their ship in a mutiny in Canada. As a side note, I've learned more about scurvy than I ever wanted to know and am EXTREMELY grateful for the navel orange I've eaten each day this week. ;)

Today I sat down to blog and suddenly writing about all the neat things we did this week (and we did some), the fun we had, the books we read, the workouts I did, seemed unimportant. The death of innocent children in an elementary school has taken over my mind.  I've prayed.  Cried. Talked to my children and hugged them.    

There is no sense in anything like this but the realization that the world needs Jesus.  I pray this causes us to commit even more to being the hands and feet of Christ and reaching out with his story of  hope to a dying, desperate world.

I posted the link below on my Facebook page this afternoon. I hope this prayer from Max Lucado gives you hope, as it did me. 

Oh, how the world needs Jesus. All I can do is, in fact, the most important thing: weep and pray.

A Christmas Prayer

www.huffingtonpost.com

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

I've been thinking about our beagle, Penny, lately. She died at the end of July and was about 14.5 years old.  She had been through illnesses, a tornado, falls from a 10 foot porch, and other things that would have killed lesser beasts. This is her picture taken last Christmas.  I sure do miss her.  

She reminds me of how I want to pursue Jesus. She would be dead asleep but aware of my every move. When I left the room for any length of time, I'd hear her claws pattering after me. She'd find me and hang out, just to be near me. She was my girl.

I want to do the same with God~be so close I'm always where he is, following fast on his heels. Where he is, close to his heart, is my place.  

So thanks for the lessons, Penny.  And thanks for the memories,

On Saturday I got a chance to go see the play A Christmas Story with a friend from church. We had a BALL.  The funny thing is Tyler wanted to go so we got him a ticket. I told him he had to sit all alone with two unknown people and he didn't care as long as he got to see it~it's a favorite of his. It was fabulous and Ty loved all the kids his age in the show.

Today Wes and I went out for an end of semester review. We talked about his accomplishments and his goals for next semester.  We outlined how he should work on his Scarlet Letter paper.  And, we picked out some American lit books to read next year too.  Ty and Maddie will each go over the next two days.  We go to McDonald's and they have an Egg Nog shake, Holiday Mint McFlurry, etc. and just enjoy a rare treat.  Lots of fun.

Today's workout:  FINALLY!  Not a workout since last Monday. I did Firm Dangerous Curves Ahead as my light weight/body weight workout.  Added bonus was 25 minutes of cardio and some nice abs in the mix.

What I'm reading:  Book Three of the Missing Series:  Sabotaged.  In this installment, the kids are back in North Carolina trying to return the original Virginia Dare to Roanoke Colony. I've got to get done tonight because Ty's reading the books and is chomping at the bit to start this one!

Well, I've not been exercising and it's bugging me!  My upper back felt awful yesterday and not very good today~I guess I slept on it wrong. It's a pain to get old. :))  

Tonight we have Bible Study and the kids are throwing a party for the younger children at church. Tomorrow is the day the kids volunteer and Maddie has her last basketball practice of the year.  Tom and I have a District Christmas Party for Pastors in Gainesville. Friday we're heading to Atlanta to celebrate my mother in law and father in law's birthdays, which are a week apart, and won't be back until Saturday. Whew!  I'll probably be walking and stretching a lot and not worrying about formal exercise until next week.

What I've been reading:  I finished Found and am getting ready to start on Sent, of the same Missing series. A fun read for sure!

P.S. Wanted to share this because I just love it!

Here are my "elves" and the tree they put up on Saturday.  Looks like elf Junior is not happy(actually he had a ball and is just mugging for the camera).  Now if we can just find our angel that goes on top!

Last week we ended up having a basketball game, parade, decorating, etc. The kids had a blast.  I'm just glad they love to decorate as I don't like it. I'd much rather bake cookies.

This week we're pushing to get some work finished before the holidays. Wes is writing a paper comparing and contrasting the two men in Hester Prynn's life in The Scarlet Letter.  Tyler is petitioning us to pay him for school work since I told him that's his job as a kid and he says you're supposed to get PAID for a job. Oh Tyler, I hope you never stop being the funny creature that  you are!

Workouts:  Thursday~WHFN Lean; Friday~Ellen Barrett Power Fusion; Saturday~Holiday Workout(yes, it's a real workout); Sunday~3/4 mile walk to and from Burger King as I locked my keys in my car there in the morning when I ran there to get an iced coffee. Tom keeps telling me it's close enough to walk, lol~just wish I hadn't had to do that in my nice boots.

Today~Jessica Smith's 10 Pounds Down Better Body Blast (light weight/bodyweight/cardio and ab circuits).

What I'm reading:  I just finished Bill O'Reilly's Killing Kennedy. I've always been fascinated with the murder of John F. Kennedy and this book is well done and worth the read. It's historical but reads more like a novel.  I'm getting ready to read Killing Lincoln by O'Reilly but may read The Missing series book one Found first (a YA novel with historical settings that looks GREAT).  I think I need something lighter to break up O'Reilly's books.