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. ;)