Christmas Pictures with Letter Props

Last year we took our pictures with letter props.  I highly recommend it if you have kids.  It gave them something to hold and keep them focused, and it keeps the picture fun and fresh, so it still looks in theme if one of your kiddos is doing his or her own "look." 

I went to Michael's and bought J, O, and Y from the wooden letter aisle.  That's it!  You could spell out your last name, you could spell out NOEL or MERRY.  Think about the size of your family and that will help you pick out the length of your word.  Go early to get your letters, though!  Christmas crafters come and take the popular Christmas letters.  I had trouble finding some of the letters for crafts later in the season.

Have fun with it!  This year we are taking a year off from a formal picture session and just making a card with pictures from the year.  Here are some poses from last year's photo session . . .

My youngest is 2 and 1/2 here, and he was acting very much his age that day.  We had to tickle him to get a smile.

Here is what to be careful of avoiding--having your kid cover his or her face with the letter. 

It's a wrap!

Memory Ornaments

I have seen those pretty ornaments on Pinterest with the curled pieces of an invitation or birth announcement in a clear glass Christmas ornament.  I have always wondered how you can easily read it all, though.  There are just some things you want to be able to revisit and read!

This year I decided to make memory ornaments for my boys.  I bought clear plastic ornaments at Michael's and then wrote out memorable moments for each boy over the past year.  I Mod Podged these onto the outside of the ornament and then stuffed the clear ornament with Burlap.  The top will have a tag eventually that says, "Carter 2012" or "Micah 2012." 

A burlap ribbon tied at the top would be pretty, but I didn't have any at home.  White ribbon looked nice too.

Carter had a fun year of firsts:  started first grade, learned to read, lost first tooth, played baseball/t-ball for the first time. . . Micah also had some fun things to remember:  Potty trained, started preschool, started speech, and learned his ABC song. 

I also added likes and dislikes to the lists.  Since all this is pasted on the outside of the ornament, I easily can go back and remember the highlights of each year as these ornaments dot our tree.

Start your own family memory ornaments.  They will be fun to revisit each year and the beginning of a fun family tradition.

Beautiful Decline

Romans 8:18-25
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

It is getting scarier and scarier to look in the mirror in the morning.  Wrinkles, skin splotches, gray hair--things aren't staying put together the way they were fifteen years ago.  I have daily medicine for my thyroid and vitamins to help keep the germs at bay.  I am reminded often that this physical shell is not going to work forever.  Even with exercise, diet and hard work, we all fade physically.

My husband made the observation that we hit our peak physically in our teens and twenties, and the rest of our lives are a slow (sometimes fast) decline.  Rather than be depressed by this, he pointed out the positive to what God has put in place.  Because we age, we spend most of our wiser years being reminded by God that this earth is temporary, that our world and our bodies are cursed with sin and death, and that we need to focus on eternity and the more important eternal status of our souls. 

Through aging, God motivates us to have faith in Jesus as our Savior.  Our mortality and physical failings should prompt us all the more to know we cannot rely on selves and our good works.  We are incapable and frail.  If we can't keep our health and physical appearance in check, how can we save our souls?  It reminds me of the Matt Redman song, You Alone Can Rescue, that opens, "Who, oh, man, can save himself, his own soul can heal?"  No one.  We can't.  Thankfully, Christ gave us righteousness and paid for our sin on the cross if we repent and have faith in what Jesus did.  Our souls can be saved through Him.

I often think that this fact explains why the world is so obsessed with physical perfection, makeup, cosmetic surgery and youth.  The world does not want to dwell on God, the sin plaguing us all, and the need for a Savior to repair the separation we have from God.  Blemishes, wrinkles, gray hair, extra pounds, and disease are reminders that we die and physically fail because of sin.  We are cursed by sin and separated from our Creator.  Such physical problems remind us we need a relationship with God.  We need a Savior.

Though it is painful and hard to age, as Christians we can find hope in the experience.  We can realize the world is slowly fading away, just like our bodies.  It is a beautiful decline to those in Christ, to those with the promise of Heaven.

Hebrews 6:19-20   "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."

Birthday Flight

My birthday was at the end of September, and my sweet hubby surprised me with an afternoon flight to Catalina for lunch and pictures.  Our sweet friend, Jason, has his pilot's license and offered to  fly a rented plane for us. 

We took off in a rented 4 seat plane from Orange County and landed in the "airport in the sky" for lunch, a short hike and some picture taking.

What a fun hubby I have!  He completely surprised me, and it is a birthday adventure I'll always remember!

Enjoy the pics!

Getting ready for our adventure

Flying in the cockpit

The beautiful coast of Catalina Island

Twin Harbors, Catalina Island

Enjoying lunch on the patio at the airport in the sky

Taking a mini hike and enjoying the island

Airport in the Sky with my sweetie

The historical hanger at the Catalina Airport

The controls were so interesting!

Our thoughtful pilot, Jason

A Night Away in Julian

We had a perfect fall weekend, even though the temperatures were still in the high eighties and low nineties.

We left home on Friday night and had a family get away in the quaint little town of Julian.  Julian is a historic, beautiful, little town in the middle of the southern foothills of Southern California. It is known for its annual Apple Days and the many apple orchards all around.

We had apple picking time, a tour of a gold mine, "gold" panning, a mini train ride, and lots of good country cooking and eating. 

If you live in Southern California, set late September or early October aside for a day trip or quick weekend to Julian.

Here's a little documentary in pictures.

We picked organic apples at Apple Starr farms.  The boys loved it.

The apple trees were filled with tons of apples ripe for picking.

Success!

Cheesy posing

What a beautiful day!

The downtown district in Julian is so quaint and cute.

We visited Smith Ranch to do a train ride, "gold" panning and tour a gold mine.

The little train we rode up to the gold mine.

The Smiths collect historical artifacts on their ranch.  This flag has only 48 stars and dates back to Roosevelt's time, and the cannon is from the Mexican American war.

 

Micah LOVED all the educational lessons they were teaching.  We got to feel the equivalent weight of a brick of gold.

They got to pan for gold.  When they found the "gold" nuggets, they took it into the general "store" and traded it for licorice sticks.

Micah wanted as much "gold" as possible so he could get lots of licorice.

They had a rope bridge obstacle course which Carter loved.

They had a historic gold mine on their property dating back to the late 1800's.  We all took turns going inside and seeing the quartz veins running through the walls and ceilings.

Carter and Micah got to ride into the mine on an old fashioned mine car.

I got to wear the obligatory hard hat. . .

Another view of the historic downtown buildings.

Caramel Apple Mini Pie Pockets

I woke up this morning feeling very fallish.  Is that a word?  I saw pumpkins at the grocery store and had pictures of crunchy leaves and pumpkins on the porch.  It is still hot in Southern California, but I still had a sense fall is here.

I decided to try out a Pinterest idea to welcome fall.  Taste of Home has a recipe pin for pumpkin filled crescent rolls, but I wanted to try it with apples.  I also threw a container of caramel dip into my grocery basket and decided to make the pies caramel-apple filled.

Besides some sugar from your pantry, these are the three ingredients you need.

I sprinkled sugar over my crescent rolls to sweeten up the "crust."

I separated the cresent rolls, added a tiny bit of cinnamon, and used a dollop of caramel dipping sauce in each roll.

I topped the caramel with a little bit of apple pie filling.

I pinched together all the sides to cover the filling until it looked like a little pastry ball.

As it baked, the breading spread and made little pie pockets.

While the pies were still steaming and hot, I drizzled more caramel across the top.  Here is what the gooey filling looks like once you dig into the pie pocket.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 crescent roll container (8 per container)--butter flake kind

sugar for sprinkling

cinnamon for sprinkling

Melted caramel or caramel dip (about 1/2 cup)

1 can of apple pie filling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375

Spread out the crescent rolls out on a sprayed cookie sheet

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the pastry

separate the rolls into individual crescents

Add a small dollop of caramel in the middle of each crescent

Add a small dollop of apple pie filling in the middle of each crescent

Pinch up all the dough sides to cover all the filling and keep it inside.  It results in looking like a pastry ball.

Cook at 375 for about 10-12 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from oven and drizzle caramel over the top while it is still piping hot.

Christian Encouragement: The authority and validity of the Bible

Our church's Women's Bible Study started up again this week, and it was GOOOOD!  I love our women's ministry director.  She is one of the brainiest people around, but she is full of compassion and grace.  She talked about God's Word and the validity of the Bible and what it says.

I don't know about you, but I am flabbergasted when my non-Christian friends dismiss the Bible as mumbo jumbo for the unintelligent.  If one spends any small amount of time studying the validity of scripture, one realizes that intellect can only lead you to believe in God and the absolute truth of His Word.

People say we are arrogant for believing OUR way is the only way.  Unfortunately, it isn't OUR way.  It is God's way.  He wrote it down in scripture and decided it and our belief is a humble, dependent belief in Him.  Then, people dismiss the Bible as just "another religious book."  If you really take the time to study the historical validity and prophetic truths that have come from scripture, people can't really find a solid argument against scripture.  What it boils down to, ultimately, is that they don't want God as their Creator and authority telling them what is right and wrong.  That is humbling and makes our sinful flesh bristle.  That, however, is where God can step in and soften our hearts, which are hard as stone and slaves to sin without Him. 

Stephanie, our women's director, used Greg Koukl's 5 point finger illustration to help us remember simple arguments for the Bible's accuracy and validity.  It was powerful, and I wanted to share it with you here.  Next time someone dismisses the Bible as just another "religious" book, have these 5 "finger arguments" ready for discussion.

1.  Ring Finger--You wear a marriage ring on your ring finger, which stands for the unity of 2 people--husband and wife.  Use this finger to remind you of the unity of scripture.  Scripture was written over 1,500 years, by 40 authors inspired by the Holy Spirit, on about 3 continents.  Despite this span of time, scripture doesn't disagree.  Though there are obvious points of view and personalities, the difference in authors almost strengthens the fact that the points, laws, prophesies, all agree and fit together like a perfect puzzle.  When people take scripture out of context, they can twist scripture to sound any way they want, but if you read verses in context and entirety, it all is united and in perfect harmony.
Other religious books change over time, have things added or subtracted, or they have parts that contradict.  These are often only written by ONE person and yet it still isn't unified.  The Bible is completely unified despite so many authors and such a long span of time between start to completion.

2. Pinky Finger--P in pinky stands for Prophecy.  The Bible is FULL of prophecy, and this is what God uses to fingerprint scripture as FROM HIM.  He doesn't give VAGUE, mystical prophecies, but he gets EXACT.  He names names and gives dates and lists places that haven't happened yet.  Guess what?  They happen.  People don't study this because it is so irrefutable.  In the Old Testament alone, there are 300 messianic prophesies about Jesus that came to pass.  In Isaiah 44:28 (written about 700 BC), the Bible names the ruler Cyrus by NAME a couple hundred years before he ever ruled (550 BC).  The Bible talks of Cyrus as allowing Jerusalem to be saved and delivered.  In fact, Cyrus was a Persian King who took over Babylon when Babylon held the Jews.  He allowed religious tolerance (unheard of for conquering kingdoms at the time) and even sent the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and temple.  You can go today and view the Cyrus Clay which proclaimed all this in Great Britian. 
People might say that Jesus just knew the prophesies about the Messiah from studying the Old Testament and he tried to fulfill them.  Well, here are 3 prophesies he had no control over that came to pass.  Memorize these. 

Zachariah 9:9  This verse talks about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and how the people would receive him well.  This foresaw the triumphal entry.  Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey.  People laid down palm branches yelling "Hosanna!"  God, save us!  Though Jesus could have purposely found a donkey, he couldn't have controlled how hundreds of people would receive him entering into the city.

Micah 5:2--Jesus is born in Bethlehem.  Bethlehem is a tiny city.  The likelihood of being born there is small, even back then.  We know the story.  The census happens and brings Joseph and Mary back to Joseph's hometown.  She has the baby in a manger.  Christ could have no control over where or how he was born.  This was prophecy fulfilled.

Isaiah 53:9--Isaiah 53 is all about Christ's crucifixion.  This specific verse talks about how Christ would be in the grave of the wicked.  He was killed on a cross between two thieves.  Then the verse says he would be put in the grave of a rich man.  A rich man, Joseph of Aramathea, buys Christ's body from Pilot and buries him in his private tomb.  Again, these are circumstances Christ couldn't control.  They were spelled out way ahead of time.  Isaiah 53 has tons of specifics--his bones wouldn't be broken (the legs were broken of the still alive thieves on the side of him), he wouldn't speak out against those hurting him like a lamb to slaughter, he would be pierced in his side (a sword was thrust into him).

These are great prophesies to know and memorize because they are revealed as historical fact with many witnesses and accounts and they are things Jesus couldn't formulate himself.

Many scholars studied these prophesies and said, "Well, these parts of Isaiah must have been written after Christ.  They couldn't come to terms with the exactness of the prophesies and the historical data that pointed to the facts that they happened!"  That idea lasted until the 1940's when we discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The first book pulled out of the cave?  Isaiah in entirety.  It is dated to 200 B.C. by archeologists.

3.  Middle/Big Finger--This finger should remind us that the Bible talks about BIG topics like life and death.  Many religions talk about  philosophical stuff.  Karma.  Be kind.  Love nature.  The Bible gets down and dirty with specific topics--death, life, love, murder, hate, hell, Heaven, God, creation, judgment, sin. . . It doesn't use vague cookie fortune type quips to fill its pages.

4.  Pointer Finger/Index Finger--The Bible is a historical index.  It is reliable.  Archeologists can only agree that the Bible is historically accurate.  People and places are authenticated.  It doesn't have any error.  Historians and archeologists actually find information IN the Bible that helps them understand discoveries. 

5.  Thumb.  The emperors in Rome would decide a gladiator's fate with a thumb up (life) or thumb down (death).  The gladiator's life was affected and changed by one finger.  The thumb should remind us that the Bible changes and affects lives.  It is active and sharper than a two edged sword.  It is a fragrance of life to Christians or a stench of death to those who reject God.

I hope this helps you remember a visual to have apologetic discussions with others when discussing the Bible.  I recommend The Case for Christ for further reading.  A great book discussing the huge gaps and scientific lies in evolution is Bones of Contention. 

Thanks for reading through a deeper post today.  I pray this truly will be a helpful tool when evangelizing.