Whirlwind of Faith, Family & Fun!

Partially this is my fault... I had a big family and I came from a big family and I married a man from a big family.

The exponential mathematics of all that a few decades down the line become their own crazy dance of busyness! And it's wonderful.... And I manage to sneak in quiet time, too, because I am just a little frenetic, so quiet time is a blessing... not only to me, but to EVERYONE AROUND ME!!!

Lots of cooking went on over the last two weeks.... Not lots of picture taking, however, but that's
okay! 

Eggnog pie and chocolate cream pie for the Herne family party:

I love the eggnog pie on the left, but the dark chocolate with whipped cream topping is still the family favorite!!!!

And then we did the strudels for our Blodgett family party (Farmer Dave's side of the family):

And we did Make-a-Memory day with grandkids, but it got abbreviated because one family was sick and one of my helpers got sick... and there's only so much you can do, but we got beautiful ornaments made with the help of my dear friend Christina:

This was a clever idea! I cut out the creche scene from black construction paper, then the kids put it on clear Contact paper.... then placed brightly colored bits of tissue paper on it... then covered it with another piece of Contact paper.... and then we cut them out to give us the appearance of "stained glass" windows.

They look so nice on the Christmas trees! Moms and Dads were so excited! :)

And we did a picture ornament for each child, too... with craft sticks as the "frame" (glittered, of course!) and the child's picture and a backing piece of shirt-box cardboard glued to the back of the frame.

I love picture ornaments!!!!

Finn and Lena had Mary and Joseph (and the donkey, even though there is no donkey in Luke's Nativity telling. I'm sure he just FORGOT TO MENTION IT or supposed we'd assume there was a donkey... )But I digress.... anyway, they moved Joseph and Mary around the dining room as part of their preschool work... and on Christmas Eve, they moved Joseph and Mary to the stable... and baby Jesus was born! Notice the beautiful star they made to shine in the "sky" above the stable.

And those three wise men that came calling? They're over here, because they haven't arrived yet!!!

Mary and Joseph are busy caring for the newborn king..... and notice how soft his bed is because for every good deed, children were able to tuck a piece of yarn or straw into the manger bed... so we can keep the baby warm!

Christmas lights.... the old white resin Nativity scene that now needs strategic placement so that the worn and broken parts aren't facing the road.... Oh, how I love that old Nativity scene!

And the bay window with the window boxes filled.... and lighted. That way it twinkles inside and outside! I love the simplicity of this and it costs nothing more than three strings of lights at Walmart. I use trimmings from bushes for the "greens" and pop in some ribbons or sticks or anything I've a mind to use out of the Christmas boxes... and a few simple ornaments.

 Then our beautiful Santa and his sleigh with 9 reindeer.... and these guys are vintage special around here! Created by Farmer Dave's Uncle Chuck Blodgett and Great-great Grandma Blodgett, these reindeer and the sleigh are so dear to my heart! We hired Casey (another young friend) to paint the reindeer this summer. She got six done, so next year three reindeer and Santa need some touch-up work.... And I must get out the jigsaw and create a few more antlers because we've managed to break a couple! But I'm getting handy with a saw.... :)

We had beautiful church services and a lovely Children's Mass at a local church on Christmas Eve where we gathered with lots of kids, friends and old school chums of my kids... and that reminded me of how special it is when families come back.

When we all meet up again.

When we share the prayers, joys and wishes of the holy days surrounding us. For unto us a child is born...

Unto us a son is given!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday week AND a blessed and prosperous New Year!

And I forgot to announce winners from a few weeks ago! Oh, silly me!

Winners of either a Kindle copy of "Christmas on the Frontier" or a hard copy of "A Cowboy Christmas" are Kathy Eberly and Kathy Muller! 

Let me know which book you'd prefer, ladies!

And congratulations to both of you!!!!

Multi-published, award-winning author Ruth Logan Herne loves to write beautiful stories with unforgettable characters to make you smile... laugh... and sometimes cry. Author of nearly 50 novels and novellas, Ruthy writes in the wee small hours of the night which is about the only time her big old farmhouse and pumpkin farm are quiet... and she loves the occasional quiet time! Write to her at loganherne@gmail.com or visit her website ruthloganherne.com, friend her on facebook or follow her on @Twitter! She loves hearing from readers and writers!