Celebrate the Family

So two things hit me square in the face this Christmas season-

1. How much I love the family I married into. I am really, truly, completely blessed that my husband is wonderful and comes from a wonderful family that I thoroughly enjoy. This is a good thing too because I spent a lot of time with them this Christmas, and enjoyed every minute of it! I love all you O'Connells out there! And congratulations to my 'little' brother Matt for popping the question to this awesome young woman named Leah. Can't wait to call her my sister too =: )

2. How much I MISS TERRIBLY my family, especially as this was the first Christmas I can remember being so bare of my own Diamantopoulos clan. I DID, however, get to see JD and Sarah and their adorable girls in early December (see below), and I DID get to see Peter and Laura on Boxing Day, and I WILL see my sisters in the end of this month, so it's not as bad as it seems. Still, change is strange. Fun side note: it is now possible on this amazing thing called Skype to view 6 different families in 5 different states in one awesome hour =: )

 

Ellie on the left was born in March, and Penelope is a little older than Luke.

                                                  See what I mean by MISS TERRIBLY!?

Hope you had a good Christmas season too. Isn't it a comfort to know that God sent His angels to shepherds (poor, cold, and lonely) and Wise men (rich, comfortable, smart) alike? No matter who you are He came for YOU. No matter what you've been through He lives for YOU. One of the songs that really touched me anew this year (probably because I just had a baby boy) was "Welcome to our World" by Michael W. Smith:

"Tears are falling, hearts are breaking, how we need to hear from God!

You've been promised, we've been waiting; Welcome Holy Child!"

May your heart welcome HIM. 

 These were the brothers that were home for Christmas

Happy New Year!

Something I am truly happy about...

Don't expect this to be 'deep' or anything. But sometimes something that could be frustrating, annoying and bothersome turns out to be not so. You know when an appliance breaks, it always (following Murphy's Law) has to break when it's the day before Christmas, or the husband isn't home to help deal with it, or there's no money in the savings to fix it or buy a new one...Well, my friends, the God who created the universe and set the stars in motion ALSO cares about our every need and has shown His providence, amidst all his other more important tasks, in our refrigerator needs.

It could have been a lot worse, but it went so smoothly I wanted to post about it.

Our old fridge has had some problems for a couple years, and suffice it to say, it decided to officially die the day Ed went on a business trip for 5 days. No biggy, there wasn't much in there and I have an extra $10 yard sale fridge downstairs. So leg exercise went in for the next week until he got home. Then I searched before Thanksgiving for a good black Friday sale and found one at Sears for cheap! PLUS First Energy/ MetEd is doing this appliance program where they'll haul away your old appliance AND pay YOU $50 bucks, and if you upgrade your appliance to an energy star rated one they'll pay YOU $50 bucks. Total cost for brand new fridge? $400! Amazing!

(That seems like a ton to me, but have you shopped for fridges lately?? Normally they are Mucho bucks!)

All this to say we have a new, beautiful, clean fridge IN OUR KITCHEN that WORKS! I'll tell you what, I won't ever take my dear white fridge for granted ever again. And now on it's white walls I'm gathering all my Christmas pictures. So if you send me one I will look at you everyday, just so you know =: )

P.S. there are only two circumstances in life that will ever warrant my refrigerator being this clean. 1. when my fridge dies and all the junk needs to be removed and it needs to be cleaned so awful smells don't ensue whilst I wait for it to be picked up, and
2. When I get a new fridge and it COMES THAT WAY!

What can you be truly happy about today? Even if it's a simple thing, remember God loves bringing pleasure to His children in big and small ways. Cheers!

good things for moms...

Somehow I happened on some sites today that brightened my day. There are few companies out there that embrace the stage of having little babies, and these two websites definitely do that. If you click here and enter promo code "candie" you will get 100 % off what looks to be a very comfortable and gorgeous baby sling. And if you click here and enter promo 'seven' at checkout you will get a 'free' and beautiful nursing cover. You still have to pay the 10 bucks in shipping, but hey, you can't even buy cool fabric like this for $10!

Little things that make me happy. So if you are a nursing mom or know a nursing mom or soon-to-be nursing mom, I'd check out these sites.

Cheers!

Simple things

...that bring pleasure to God.

Simple. Not easy.

To change how we live, we must first change how we think.

So here's a few challenges I have laid down for myself. Perhaps you will join me?

~ Don't just think about people, pray for them~

I certainly think about tons of people all the time, but how often to I pray for them? Even short, simple prayers? I'd be loathe to answer that right now. But what a better world this would be if Christians everywhere prayed as easily as breathing.

~Do to others what you would have them do to you~

11 words to sum up a life goal. Starting with my husband and children.

~ Wag more, bark less~

Enough said.

And since I heard somewhere that three is the magic (or maximum) number for the finite human brain to really grasp new ideas, I'll stop there. And if you're like me one of these statements is enough to keep me on my toes for quite some time. But how I long for MASTERY over my thoughts to become prayers, to practice the sweet kindness I crave others to give to me, and to complain much less and have genuine excitement for life much more!

I'd love to learn what your favorite sayings/verses are~

Until next time, Happy December!