It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Will flies home today and I'm excited but will be nervous until he is safely home. He has two layovers and a border to cross. My child will be wandering alone, save for Jesus and his guardian angels, around the Detroit and Toronto airport. Prayers, please, that all goes well!!

While he wraps up exam week, I continue with Christmas baking and making treats none of our waistlines need - haha! I've been enjoying the Pioneer Woman and Jamie Oliver Christmas specials on the Food Network lately. I'm also a sucker for the Hallmark Christmas movies that are always sure to have a happy ending! 

Zanna is busy wrapping up her last week of home school among all the other activities going on in her life. She has also been very serious about the memory work she has for the Christmas Eve church service. I've overheard her practicing her lines in the shower, in the kitchen while preparing her breakfast toast, in the back seat of the car and at various times on the couch. She's also been diligent in practicing her violin pieces that we'll be playing together for Christmas Day. The girl is self driven and motivated! She definitely gets nervous but ultimately thrives under pressure. Wish I was like that ...;)

And in case you're wondering - the new Christmas tree lights are a HIT!!! I love them as much as I could love lights. My quest for tree lights are over and I can bask in the soft glow of warm, real non-LED lights!! 

The only thing left to do is for Will to come home and put his ornaments on the tree:)

Praying you have a blessed Advent season as together we eagerly anticipate the coming of our Lord - His first coming long ago as a baby born in a manger, His second coming as we wait for that final day and how He continues to come in both Word and Sacrament, filling us up and sustaining our faith! Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

Hello, old friend!

Oh, how I've missed being here! In the last few weeks, I must have started a dozen posts in my head, eager to get back to this space.

First off if you're a regular reader you may have noticed I'm not doing an Advent book club this year. Always one that hates to disappoint even one person, I agonized over this but finally had to let it go.  I hadn't come across a book that particularly inspired me. But more than that, I have been working on writing my own study and had hoped there would be enough content ready by Advent. This is where the bulk of my writing, creativity and theological brainwork has been directed lately and I am exhausted. I only pray the finished product will somehow be a blessing to anyone that may come across it. Prayers, please as I continue work on this. If nothing else I'm learning and growing and that is truly a blessing!! And if anyone reading this happens to know how to format an ebook from Pages, feel free to share your knowledge.

We recently got back from our 3rd annual trip to the States for American Thanksgiving.  I LOVE being back in my home country, being united with my family - Will, my parents and my grandparents -  trips to Target, Hobby Lobby, big American malls all decked out for Christmas, and my fill of restaurants found only south of the US/Canada border - PF Changs, Cracker Barrel, and small town Wisconsin establishments that serve fried cheese curds, battered fish on a Friday night, and other various comfort foods smothered with cheese. Ahhhhh, so much to be thankful for!

This trip was different in that we didn't stay in a hotel one single time. We're on this kick of contacting people and inviting ourselves over. We're on a roll. Prepare to be contacted.

Especially if you're listed in the WELS yearbook.

This tactic requires guts and the possibility of rejection. But you never know until you try and the prospect of saving $100 a night and keeping points on our card for Will's plane tickets home is worth the humility. Plus it's nice to have a conversation at the end of a day with people that you haven't just spent all day in a car with. Not that I don't love my people, but conversation gets a little rough after the first 10 hours. I'm just sayin'.

Our new tactic was a great success and we made some new friends (friends of friends) and friends we got to know better. For our evening in Michigan with complete strangers, we played a game of Ticket to Ride. It was embarrassing, actually. I don't do well after 8pm and on top of that, there's something about sitting in a car all day that is ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTING. So to require me to think strategy much less hold a conversation after the hour I turn back into a pumpkin does not make for impressing new people. But I trudged through and mumbled excuses while trying to hide my pathetic yawns ... until the end of the game when all was said and done and I had WON!!!! They may have very well thought this charade was all part of my master plan to take them down. I hope they have us again!

I hate our car trips but I secretly love them. I hate to love them.

The packing and planning of outfits
The snacks to bring
The gifts to share
The copious stops at Tim Hortons
The podcasts: Issues, etc , The Washington Post Presidential series, Vinyl Cafe stories
Sirius XM: Fox News, the Holly channel
Using my cute Vera Bradley travel bag
Our stop at the first Target in our path - Marquette, Michigan
Figuring out which passports to use like we're Jason Bourne

Confession: I am slightly obsessed with finding the perfect Christmas tree lights. It has been an elusive goal since 2004 when our original lights bit the dust. Since then we've been through mini multi-coloured lights, LED lights, and different mini multi-coloured lights. The LED were a huge debacle. I hated them. If I'm driving through a neighbourhood of lights at night, I am like Jekyll and Hyde. LED's make me mad and regular ones make me happy. I can't explain it but that's what happens! So to have LEDs on my tree in my house is setting us all up for a crazy Christmas. That year was the start of the LED kick and the stores around here only sold them that season and not any normal, soft and happy lights. As a matter of fact, let's not go there. So after that nightmare, stores brought back the normal ones (maybe due to the heightened numbers of household disturbance calls) and we went back to regular, mini multi-coloured. But not yet being content with the light situation, I came close to purchasing some different ones last year at Target but didn't. They were adorable and in retrospect I was kicking myself.

They were back this year! Now we have nine boxes.

So here's hoping that this is the magic maker. Wayne sure hopes so; God bless him for putting up with me.

Thanksgiving was a delightful day of feasting, snowy scenes from the picture windows, and memories made from the likes of Norman Rockwell paintings. "A Muppet Christmas Carol" viewing was involved along with family favourite "Home Alone".

We were also out there in the big city of Rhinelander for Black Friday. There were deals to be had and we aimed to find them! And find them we did. We're not idiots, though. While the rest of us shopped, Dad signed up for a Kohl's card and got a voucher to skip the line that snaked through the WHOLE STORE and got us checked out at customer service (no line) along with an extra 25% off. I don't just get my mad shopping savvy from my mother but my dad has got it going on, too. We're a force to be reckoned with I tell you. Poor Wayne.

Being with Will was fantastic and the almost 4 month separation was noticeable in the inch he had grown. Just short of 6 feet, he's sure to at least be as tall as his Uncle Reid and Uncle Jeff.

I had bought each of the kids their own little LEGO Thanksgiving kit. Will wasn't interested in doing any of the colouring I had brought but he's still a sucker for LEGO. I have to take what I can get. 

And while I can't take a picture of every memory or moment made these days, I hope to remember the kids playing cards together in the back seat and at restaurants as they waited for their food to arrive. I'll remember sitting in church together, all 4 of us,  along with my parents and grandparents as the first Advent candle was lit at the front. I'll remember piling on the couch - a mess of arms and legs and elbows - and watching "Miracle on 34th Street" as a family. I'll remember sitting at Grandpa and Grandma's kitchen table and talking about heaven with my almost 91 year old Grandpa who's excited that his failing sight will be returned on the other side of eternity. 

Saying goodbye to Will is never fun but much easier knowing he comes home in a few weeks! My mother-in-law is also coming and I am looking forward to going from a house of relatively three quiet people to the bustle and extra noise of 5. I can't wait to get menu planning and cookie making and filling the stomachs of my loved ones! 

Our church had our 4th annual Advent by Candlelight last weekend and as usual it was lovely. I brought my big ole' camera along and everything but forgot to take one single picture. Oh, well. More to try to remember in my brain. But there was plenty of candlelight, lots to eat, and hymns to sing as we listened to different readers depict Jesus' mother, Mary, in the program "A Mother Remembers". 

I'm missing my Advent study this year even though it took me so much time and energy. It forced me to be in the Word at the busiest time of year. There's something to be said for that!! Lately I have been enjoying Love Rules: A Study of the Ten Commandments and it has been fantastic. Maybe even blog book club worthy someday? 

The Christmas tunes are playing loud in my house and my new favourite is A Celtic Family Christmas - Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy. I dare you to listen to it without stomping your feet! I had noticed in the fall they were touring and making an Ottawa stop at Christmastime. My dream was for us to go but by the time we went to get tickets it was too picked over. I was crushed!!! So listening to this will have to do and it is so wonderful!!! 

Other than the tree, the house is decorated and I'm loving all the twinkling lights. I'll try to take some pictures and take you on a tour around my house. For now, I'll leave you with Graceland. And in case you're wondering, those trees flash on and off. Elvis was awesome but tacky.

Falls News and a Recipe

Fall has arrived and the Le Creuset is working hard! Soup is magical - you throw a bunch of stuff in a pot with some liquid and you get a meal in a bowl that's just as satisfying as if you had a separate meat, starch and vegetable. But with less work. Magic, I tell you!

First off - back to school pictures:

I know they're my kids and all but they are adorable!! I just love those two to pieces!

Will's been working hard since August playing football. We've been spending our Friday nights live streaming his game through our family room TV.  I've no doubt my couch is way more comfortable than a seat in the stands, but then I miss the smells and feeling of being at a high school football game and hitting the concession stand for a hot chocolate. 

Part of me is a little bitter that it's because of football that I loose a whole 3 weeks of summer with my kid and then he doesn't even get much playing time. But it's worth it when it's still worth it to him to be part of a team, to share in the highs and lows with his teammates and to have the experience and fun of representing your school. 

For me, watching one of these live games gives me a chance to see exactly what my child is doing in the moment. I look for #82 and breathe a sigh of relief - he's good, he's alive and isn't he cute?!!!

Meanwhile, Hosanna had a chance to spend two nights at Upper Canada Village - a living, working museum set in the 1860's. For those two day and nights, she dressed and worked as a young girl would in that time. 

Will had done it when he was around the same age and had such a good time! They really get a feel for a different life in a different time and learn in a way that is so unique. 

Zanna and I accompanied Wayne to his pastor's conference in Vermont. We met up with the Gumm family and we moms proceeded to show our kids a good time by eating our way through Vermont. 

We packed 2 moms, 5 kids, an IKEA bed, stroller and a cooler into the minivan and headed up to Stow. We took the Trap Family Lodge tour (of Sound of Music fame) and learned the real story behind the famous musical. Truth is more interesting than fiction in this case! At least for the moms ... the kids were wondering when we were going to eat ice cream.

Next we headed to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory to take their tour which is really an 8 minute video, a brief birds' eye view into the factory (which wasn't running at the time) and the free sample at the end.  We followed this up by buying everyone more ice cream for what we liked to refer to as "lunch". 

We allowed for some important play time on the jungle gym area that helped burn off the sugar high before we piled back into the minivan for the next adventure (we're not stupid, you know!)

Last stop before heading back to the hotel to meet up with the guys was a nearby apple cider mill. This was really just a video that you watch the process of milling the apples and then you help yourself to a huge vat of cold apple cider. I would of tried one of the tempting apple cider doughnuts but then I just had ice cream. Next time!

We had a nice dinner out with the group before settling into the hotel for the evening. The kids burned off more energy in the pool and the older girls enjoyed a sleep over in our room.

The final morning continued our attempt at eating through Vermont. We toured the Cabot cheese factory and sampled every kind of cheese they make both before the tour and after the tour. I'm a sucker for cheese. A 3 pound block of sharp cheddar and $50 later we were out of there ... 

The colours were GORGEOUS and I'm not trying to be mean when I say I really feel sorry for those that aren't able to enjoy a real fall season of vibrant foliage and leaves worth pulling over on the side of the road to photograph while a logging truck almost runs you over while your children watch from the minivan. Totally worth the risk!! 

Finally, I leave you with the BEST recipe for homemade pumpkin lattes that are way better than the local chain coffee shop.

Makes enough for 2 servings:

2 cups milk (I substitute almond milk sometimes)
2 Tbl sugar
2 Tbl canned pumpkin 
2 Tbl vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup hot brewed espresso

Put milk, sugar and pumpkin in saucepan and stir until steaming. Off heat add 2 Tbl vanilla and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Transfer to a blender; cover and process for 15 seconds or until foamy.

Pour into two mugs, add espresso. Garnish with whipped cream and spices if desired. Which I usually desire very much.

All the Pretty Things

 I have had one of the neatest experiences this last month or so. For an avid reader, it's a dream come true! I've participated in my first book launch team. The author is the same gal I took the "Overflow" course from and I've enjoyed reading her blog for years. When Tyndale Publishing asked for participants to join their private Facebook group to read the book ahead of it's scheduled release date, I jumped fast on that bandwagon!!

The book is described as a spiritual memoir. It's the book Edie says she never intended to write because she bares her soul in all it's honesty and messiness.  

I have kept coming back to Edie's blog at www.lifeingraceblog.com for her inspiring pictures of how she decorates her home, for her delicious soup recipes and her insight into Christianity.  I have appreciated her passion and respect for Biblical confessional Lutheran theology after living most of her life without it. I've been encouraged by her heart for hospitality and her willingness to open her doors to everyone and anyone that made need some love. 

It's the pretty that has kept me coming back. 

It never occurred to me where all those passions she focuses on in her blog came from. I never considered that her story may not have began so pretty to look at. I never imagined the reality behind all those pretty things. 

As our launch team read through the pdf of her book, we were treated to a weekly Facebook live book club with the author herself. She and "her people" became like old friends to the group of us. She would give us nuggets of information during these live calls like "what happened to cousin so and so", "who married who after a 30 year divorce",  and "why southerners love a good funeral", etc. Her sister and cousin became celebrities to us and we were so excited to "meet" them on these live calls. 

When reading memoirs in the past, I hadn't really thought about the impact on the author as readers flippantly leaf through pages of some person's real life. As the launch team began to react to her words and read her wounds, she reacted too. We were all a crying mess as she processed other people processing her life! 

The connection between words and human soul was never more evident and obvious for me as her life literally became an open book.

Her childhood was definitely a worthy page turner. I can't say I related much to her strong, southern upbringing (although I do have 10 months of life in Tennessee under my belt), her alcoholic father or divorced parents. I wasn't sexually abused as a child and didn't have need to visit a relative in prison on a regular basis.  

But what really struck me was that within the community of the book launch team, more people than not did relate. And that struck me to the core. Edie's words were starting to inspire a confession revolution! Women were being emboldened to share their own story that they had tried to bury deep and forget. They began to say out loud the things they had only dared to whisper to themselves. As they began to acknowledge the extent of their hurt and brokenness, Edie's written words were reminding them of the Saviour we all need to make us whole again. 

As the book moved beyond the injustices of her childhood, it went on to speak honestly of her own mistakes and sins of adulthood. This may call for even more bravery for the author to admit her screw ups and the consequences they bring! This was something I could relate to if I'm being honest with myself in regards to my own mistakes and sins. 

As I continued to "turn" the pages of my pdf, I suddenly began to understand better her need to nourish the people in her life with food and love and hope. I now saw more than just the pretty things she's showcases on her blog - I saw a woman broken by the sin inherited by human nature, the same one I'm broken from. I saw a woman hurt at the hands of others, as I have been in different ways. I saw a woman make her own mistakes and insist on learning the hard way, as I'm prone to do. I saw a woman in need of redemption and being led into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus. Redemption is my greatest need too,  and maybe we have what matters in common with different details. 

The message I take from her book is inspired by her openness to put herself out there for the sake of not just her own healing but perhaps even more important - for the healing of others. We all have a story that showcases our own brand of stupidity, hurt and hardship. When I am brave and open and honest with my fellow sisters, I may just move beyond the superficial and the seemingly "pretty things".  The unique challenges that I have experienced can be used by God to encourage and support and meet the needs of others going through their own hurt. Making myself vulnerable to others may just be the beginning of their healing. Bringing what I have to give to someone's fire is Christ working through me. What a privilege this is! 

Watch the book trailer here
Issues, etc
Guest blogger 
Life{in}grace blog
Amazon

Backyard Scrapbook

I have adored our backyard this season! We had so many days of gorgeousness that I have spent a crazy amount of time enjoying the extra space we have for only about 4 months out of the year. 

It's always an interesting experience for me what I can manage to keep alive the whole summer and what just doesn't work. I have to laugh because what else can I do?! 

The above picture is what I was beginning to think were weeds that I was watering from seeds all summer. Imagine my surprise when they finally started blossoming flowers! But they had to grow crazy tall before they did and some extend beyond the top of the fence. Who can figure?

This is the first year I've kept herbs alive. We've enjoyed a lot of basil! Included in the pot is also peppermint, thyme and oregano - none of which I really know what to do with. The peppermint is interesting to chew on, I guess. But what else? The other's I might use in spaghetti sauce when I get around to it but if you have any ideas, let me know. Parsley was also in there but after I used some of it, it never came back. 

I don't mean to brag but ... We have some awesome hot peppers! We grew jalapeños and cayenne chilies and they've done really well. I made some jalapeño poppers and copious batches of salsa.

And these are my sad, pathetic tomatoes that make me laugh every time I'm out there watering them. I started with three plants. One just up and died overnight in a shrivelled up mess. The other two never did rebound. 

I thought I'd better take a picture of my mums before they go down the toilet. It's a good thing too because shortly after this the pot fell over and the whole thing has become top heavy with the flowers spread apart. What the heck?!

Let's focus on my peppers, shall we?

And my ferns. I rock the ferns! I'm so proud of them that I'm sad to see them go. I could try and take them inside before the first freezing but I don't know how to keep plants alive inside. 

Right now it's so hot outside that I really don't want to go out there. I'm starting to get the fall itch and it's killing me not to bring up all 7 boxes of fall related decorations and whatnots. I put in my Pumpkin Chai order from David's Tea and my pretty teal box arrived at my doorstop full of 400grams of fall flavour delight. So be sure to stop by and have a cup (or two) of tea with me, will you?

I have also managed to resist making soup even though it's KILLING me. My sweet and thoughtful husband gave me back in June for my birthday a beautiful Le Creuset French oven that has soup and stews just waiting to be made it it. Must. Keep. Grilling. 

Ever since I've started keeping Morning Pages and a Bullet Journal, I've become slightly obsessed with composition notebooks. I went notebook happy when we were down in the States because everything is cheaper there!!! So now I have a stack of these little beauties all ready to contribute to my overall sanity and well being. Or something like that. 

And we are back in farmer's market season and Z and I try to go every Saturday morning after we get some schooling done. Bad thing is, we just don't go through as much food as when Will is around so we have to eat the produce I buy fairly fast!! Also, no one seems as excited as me by a bunch of kale, a beautiful bag of brussel sprouts, or those adorable patty pan summer squash. I live with crazy people! 

Alright. As lovely as my cool air-conditioned house is feeling right now I will force myself to go sit outside and read my book and drink a cold beer. After all, it's still summer!