God With Us. Always and In Spite Of...

While we were happily celebrating our family Christmas yesterday, we intentionally shut down the computer and turned off the t.v. -- blocking out the rest of the world for the day, so we said.  And we were blissfully and entirely unaware of the horrific tragedies that took place just a few states over, with all of those children roughly the same ages of my very own.

It wasn't until ours were tucked safely away that we tuned into the madness that was swirling all around us.
And once again, we were reminded of the REAL reason for this season.
Of our need for a Savior.  And of our desperation for a Messiah to come and save us.

And while He has been a gentlemen and has quietly bowed out of whatever we have told Him that He is no longer invited to - our schools, our government, our conversations - our very lives...  Jesus, we beg You to return.  God of Heaven - come down.

We are broken.  We are in ruins.  And we so very desperately need You.
Without You, our world warps.
And without You, there will never be any peace.

When we gasp to say that God is good, and when we shake our fists and scream:  "How could You?"....
I'm pretty sure His heart is breaking too.

And when I think of all of those parents just waking up this morning - or more likely having never slept...
And all of those still made beds that were never warmed with little bodies last night...
When I think of all of the gifts that will be returned unopened and all of the Christmases that will never ever be the same...

I am once again reminded of the "why" behind that Christmas so very long ago.
Of our need for that baby to be born.

While my Mama heart breaks for all of those families...
How much more is God's Daddy-heart bleeding?
How much more does He want to woo us back to Himself....to whisper "This is not the way it was supposed to be?"

Because out of darkness - God brought the world into being.
And into darkness - God sent His Son - the Redeemer of Mankind.
And into our darkness - He WILL once again break through.
He will win.

When there is death sadness.
When hearts bleed raw.
And when it looks like all hope is lost...
God knows, and feels, and sees all that we are experiencing...and all that we are barely breathing through.

He hold us in the untamed moments, too.  He knows that we are dust.
And He is Emmanuel - God with us.
He wears our grief as His own.  And He will come to fill the darkness.
Because this is where God is...

Making Merry.

The Booker Family Christmas Tradition of celebrating at least a week before everyone else in the world, began long ago and far away when we lived in Pennsylvania and we had just one wee hoolie to call our own.

We were college students - again, -  we had the eagerly anticipated Christmas break where we could go home for a couple of weeks to be with our families; and we planned to spend one with his parents and one with mine.

School breaks were always too short and always too rushed, and now we were new parents to boot --- so we decided that year that we would have our own little Christmas just the three of us, we'd start our own little family traditions of our own - and then when the real Holiday rolled around, we'd fully embrace the chaos and the crazy that came with running over the river and through the woods to see everyone, and we'd embrace all of the tradition and fun that came with being with each side of our families...without sacrificing the traditions and memories that we wanted to begin to instill into our own little family unit.

Plus, we have found throughout the years that it really helps to spread out the crazy a bit, as well.  It just kind of works for us, and we all love having three separate little celebrations instead of one big day of CRAZY.

So...thus...henceforth and hither-to-with began the above mentioned Booker Family Several Days Before Christmas - Christmas Festivus!  Joy to the world in all of its glory.

And I. Love. It.
 It's simple.  It's sweet.  And it's just us.
Every year we keep some of the traditions the same, and every year we add something different - depending upon ages and moods...and energy levels....and wherever we are at in that season of life.

 This year, after naps and an early supper, we had a five-house gingerbread village decorating party.

 I made the frosting too thin, I broke most of the house pieces when I tried to cut them apart, candy was flying everywhere, and the houses kept perpetually falling over.

Epic fail.

But, the kids were good sports..and it all just became some sort of "interpretive art with heavy sampling of the goods" kind of a party.

See?
Behold the awesome.
Moving right along...

We followed this saga of fantastic-ness with our annual scavenger hunt to find their one Christmas Eve gift.

I write simple little clues and hide them all over the house...intentionally sending them from the top floor to the basement and back up to the top floor to a bedroom to the basement back up top and down again.  You get the picture.  It's a marathon of sorts.  Kev and I sit back and sip our coffee and enjoy the fifteen minutes of relative peace that this fun little tradition brings us.  It's a great plan.

The boys enjoy the "scavenging" as much, if not more, than the actual gifts.  It's a fun, silly tradition.

And THEN!

After a little Christmas movie and some fun little snacks, we tuck the hoolies into their beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, and we have our own little Christmas Eve Festivus of our own.....traditionally involving some sort of horrendous for you food and a fun show.  Tony's Pizza was our dating and early years of marriage memory.  Super cheap and super bad for you...along with our favorite blueberry soda...topped off with heath bar ice cream.

The babe leapeth within my womb.
Sorry, Love.  I shall try harder, I promise....

 And once I am sure the boys are down for the night, I set the table for the morning with some fun little surprises and traditional treats...like hot chocolate, individual milks and applesauces, and their own little maple syrups for our morning pancakes.

It's the little things...

We fill their stockings...
We lay out their gifts...along with all of their little animals all around - per their request...
And we sneak upstairs with visions of sugar plums dancing in our own heads.

Christmas with little ones under foot is truly the most magical time of the year.
Simple little gifts still bring them great pleasure.
They are just as excited to give out the homemade gifts of their own.
Silly little traditions fill up their love tanks.
And simple, heartfelt prayers at bedtime show that they KNOW the reason for this season.

Sweet innocence.
Childhood excitement.
Brother love.
Simple presents.
Honest prayers.
Making memories.

Slowing and savoring.

Christmas Eve.

 'Tis the season for making merry ~ 'tis our Christmas week!
And THESE have been a few of my favorite things:

 A little bit of the outdoors brought inside.
And an oh so very strong cup of brew ~ a Christmas blend at that!

And do you know what I REALLY love?
I love what the bag says.
This is the description of Starbucks Christmas blend:
"Spicy and sweet with hints of comfort and joy."
Why, thank you, dear Starbucks...I am INDEED filled with comfort and joy.
Large hints of it.

I also love mid-morning tea parties with my boys.

Made extra special by homemade cookies from Grammy...

...And little boys who just. can't. wait.

I love live Nativities put on by neighborhood kids.

And I find especially delightful and hilarious the fact that a kid is "the star."

Classic.

 I love little cake pop sheep made by an uber-creative friend...

And I love homemade caramels made by my cousin-brother.

I pretty much love food.

Joy to the world in all of it's glory.

Hallelujah and Amen.

 I love when Grammy comes for a few days and fills my Littles' love tanks right up to the brim.
And I love that I got to once again play the role of somebody's kid.
And when I'm pregnant...I play it pretty well.

 I love little boy decorations that literally are covering my home right now.
And I love that I'm loosening up my OCD control freak mode, and I'm just riding with the chaos.

I love celebrating birthdays of some of my favorite neighbors...and their new friends...

It's all about relationships, right?  It would mean nothing without loved ones.

*   *    *    *    *  

While we've added one more little to the mix on Thursdays that makes the days that much more full...

And while today has been a day of barely controlled chaos and one epic mess after another...

While it's been a day of making homemade bubbles, and inhaling homemade bubbles....

....and puking up homemade bubbles... (no joke)...

While it's been a day of continuous interruptions and a whole lot of crazy...

While it's been a day of a few things broken, and a few floors filthy...

Four kids crazy, and one Mama Nuts-o...

Our awesome homemade Advent Calendar of paper rings tells us that tonight is our own little family's very own Christmas Eve.  So, all of this crazy-ness, and letting loose, and making merry is merely three little boys in the very thick of childhood excitement and barely contained joy.

Tonight - for us, anyway - it begins!

There will be stories, and treats, a scavengar hunt, and a wee Christmas movie perhaps.

It is, indeed, "The joy of the small that makes life large." ~  Ann Voskamp

Have a very merry of your very own....

Christmas Foody Prep.

This is the week of Christmas for my little family, so we are in full blown prep mode.  Here's a little peak into some of the foodies that will be taking place this week.  Feel free to use these ideas for your own little fam.  They are not my own...

THIS is what will be for breakfast...courtesy of my new bff pinterest:

Source: kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com via KevinandAmy on Pinterest

We ALWAYS have pancakes, eggs, and bacon per the boys request, and per our tradition.  But, THIS time it'll be just a bit more fun...

THIS is what I want to have for either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning right along with those adorable pancakes:

Source: dondalees.com via KevinandAmy on Pinterest

Make a heart shape out of whipped cream, freeze it on a cookie sheet, and place it in little mugs of hot chocolate in the morning.  I HEART this.

And this is a super delish little treat that everyone loves, that's super easy, and that feels really special:

Source: thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com via KevinandAmy on Pinterest

Here's the instructions:

Take 2 kiwis, 2 golden delicious apples, 8 ounces raspberries, 1 carton of strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoons brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons of any kind of jam - I use my strawberry....and mix all together.  Take (at least) 10, 10 inch flour tortillas, spread them with a thin layer of melted butter, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar all over them.  Bake at 200 or 250 until they start to crisp up a bit.  Use a pizza cutter and slice into pita chips.

And then, dig in, Baby.  
Delicious indulgence.
Joy to the world and all that jazz...

God of Heaven come down...

This is the month of joy. 
And of hope.
And of new beginnings.

And yet... this has also been the season of deep trial and heavy grief for many friends whom we know and love.  And it's been heartbreaking to see.

One young Mama sits by her little girl's bedside week in and week out while she receives chemo for leukemia.  Another just lost her baby only a few weeks further into her pregnancy than I am.  Still another grieves for one she's never yet been able to hold; there's a family who will have their first Christmas without their son who died at war; another who will have their first without their father and Grampy; and still others who fight for life and hope in a marriage that's imploding...

Heavy, eroding, gnawing grief that rips at the heart, and sucks out the soul is what these families are experiencing this Christmas...

So, how does one wake up to joy and grace and beauty - how does one celebrate this season of LIFE - when they can barely live life raw and gasp through another day?

 I could never judge them - me with my easy life and my complaining days of messes and chaos, my family intact, and a healthy baby growing - one in which I was initially overwhelmed with, at that.  Could you blame them?  Could you judge - if you heard in their eyes them questioning God's goodness?  His just-ness?  The "why's" behind all of His reasoning - behind what He has "chosen" or what He has "allowed" depending on where your theology lies...  I could never.

Especially now.
Especially during this season.

But then, I am reminded of that Mama back so many years ago - who from the very beginning knew heavy grief and sorrow that was hers alone to carry.  Jesus was not born at a religious retreat or at a summer camp.  She knew what His birth was all about.  And He was born into our mess...with His own arrival being the cause of hundreds of deaths of baby boys as Herod sought to kill the new king.  There were many Mamas acquainted with grief during that season way back then.  Many, many Mamas who might have wondered if God was asleep at the wheel that day...

But, He wasn't.
And He is not today.
And we can be fearlessly blunt and wonder if He is good, and if He still reigns.
I'm pretty sure He's okay with our questions.  He's not surprised by them, anyway...

And my heart reminds me that regardless of our silent screams and our whispered questions, behind that sadness that tries to wear a smile, and behind those shattered dreams...He is still close to us, even in times of tragedy.

Especially in times of tragedy...

And maybe the pockmarks of our lives, those losses that change us forever, and those times of trial where we can barely tame our grief...might one day become those places where we can someday see through the canvas of our momentary breath here on earth to the Forever that awaits us for all of Eternity.  Maybe these events that will forever affect us here on Earth, will be what makes Heaven seem that much closer and something more easy to be grasped.

Maybe.

But until then - and while that answer is still too pat and simplistic...
We must hope and we'll crave and we'll wait.
And we'll grieve and we'll share in each other's joy, and we'll pick up each other's burdens.
We will gasp and we'll fall and we'll fail...and we'll walk alongside. 
We will carry each other's sorrows.
When we can no longer breathe, we'll allow others to breathe for us.
And when we are strong - we'll share that strength with the broken.

Because that's what Christmas is.

God of Heaven come down - to our mess, to our grief, and to our sorrow. 
To our hurt and to our pain.
To walk alongside us, and to get right into the thick of the messy.
Jesus, the God-Man.... oh so very acquainted with our own sorrows.

And that's what we need to be for others...
Maybe especially during this Holiday season.

For the Littles in our Lives...

Every day I am trying to do at least something little with the boys that builds up to our little family Christmas that we always celebrate together - just us - before we head out to spend some days with both sides of our extended families and things get really crazy.  This little celebration is my most favorite.  It's simple.  It's sweet.  It's not over the top.  And it's just the five of us hanging out as a family and doing things that we love.

And speaking of that day...that's just a little under two weeks away for us.  So, it's time we got cracking, and crafting, and cooking.  So, that's just what we did today, and right now my kitchen is in a hot mess of pain.  This morning, we made a double batch of candy cane playdough to give out to all of the littles in our lives.

I got this idea off of Pinterest, and it comes from this website.  Here's the direct link to this specific playdough tutorial.  I tell you what - this lady is crazy creative.  And her stuff is usually pretty simple and easy to make, as well.  So, this was our project for today.  I'll write down everything that we did, but if you hop over to her site, she gives you a colorful, pictorial, step by step instruction that is way prettier to look at than mine.

Anyhow, in typical Amy fashion, I got the idea into my head this morning, proceeded to ransack my cupboards to see if I had all needed ingredients, realized I didn't, and figured we'd just make do with what we have.  And as my new motto in life states:  "It is what it is."  If no-one has the original to compare to, they will be none the wiser.

However.  If you were to have a hankering to make this same said recipe, I would highly recommend the glitter and the peppermint essential oils.  It just takes everything to the next level of fun and "special."  Mine is just sort of fun.  And sort of special.  But, at least it's created.  In all of its glory.  Amen and joy to the world.

I would also say right up front, that a single batch divided is more than enough if you were just wishing to share with a handful of people.  We got ourselves two whole stew pots of playdough - which was super fun for the boys, but...really...not overly necessary.

If your kids are old enough to help, ask them to stir constantly but GENTLY.  Just sayin'.

So, now that you've learned from my mistakes, here we go:
Ingredients for a single batch:
*  5 cups water
*  5 cups flour
*  1 1/2 cups salt
*  3 Tablespoons cream of tartar
*  10 Tablespoons vegetable oil
*  Red food coloring
*  glitter
*  peppermint essential oil

Instructions:
Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring.  (If you're not going to do a double batch, mix half of these ingredients into two bowls, and only put red food coloring into one of the pots).  Cook on medium-low heat, stirring regularly until mixture is hot.  Add oil.  Stir in flour a cup at a time, stirring in between each addition.  Mix until playdough pulls away from pan and isn't overly sticky.  Mine was still pretty sticky, but it gets increasingly less as it cools.  Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead.

I would also recommend a whisk else it shall get lumpy as said example to the left shows oh so clearly.

Add some extra sha-zam to your playdough.....or not....by kneading some glitter and some peppermint essential oil right into your dough for the yummy candy smell.

Then, do the candy cane twist!  Roll out each color into a long snake and cut into even pieces.
Take one piece of each, roll into a snake, and twist one red and one white together like a candy cane.

Place each twist into a jar, add some fun fabric or tissue paper, your lids, and labels if desired.

And Voila!

Sweet, simple gifts for the Little People in our lives...

Like this one.
Mr. Delicious.

OHHH Christmas Tree!

This past Friday was our "Thirteenth Annual Family Fun Day of the Finding of the Christmas Tree Festivus!"
And just like it's name eludes to, it was a grand old time.
I don't ever call it that, by the way.  I was just kidding.  It's waaaay early in the morning, and I'm loopy.
But it WAS gloriously fun...

Our kids are the at perfect age where even the simplest of things are still so special and exciting.  I am well aware that this age will last but a moment, and in just a few years that sweet simplicity will be long gone, so I'm really trying to embrace all that comes with it.

Things like:

Christmas tree fruit platters and french toast with some Christmasy napkins thrown in for good measure.
They thought that was the neatest thing ever, and Mama earned some coolness factor points.
Methinks when they're teenagers, I won't get so any points for such a thing, so I shall milk it for now.

Anyway, per our tradition, we bundled ourselves to the hilt, since we always seem to pick the absolute most frigid day of the winter to pick our tree, and - also per our tradition we headed to our most favorite little spot in the world - Piper Mountain.

I LOVE this place.  We have been coming here since the very first year of our marriage when we were skinny and childless, so I feel like we've kind of grown up here.  I'm super nostalgic about tradition and memories, so I love that I can literally look back through our albums and be able to watch our family grow with each successive year.

THIS year, Jesse received the high honor of choosing the tree that we all agreed upon.  Our family rule is that we all have to be happy with the tree choice...so whoever happens upon the one that we are all able to agree on feels like the grand winner.  And this year we chose quickly.  It. was. freezing.

Our choice went something kind of like:  "Hey!  That one looks good!  Yeah, I like it.  Me too.  Can we go get a donut?  Chop it down quick!"

And I'm pretty much there along for the ride.

Especially if it's freezing outside.
I wore my special Siberian jacket for the occasion....
Me and being chilly don't really jive.

And then, per our tradition - one or more...or ALL of the hoolies, including the largest one manage to get into a "wrestling-wing-the-tree-at-each-other-match."  I think it all starts when they see Daddy laying on his belly as he chops down the tree.  What can I say?  When the opportunity arises...

Seriously, right?
Don't you see it coming?

I do believe that Sir Jester thinks he can really take on his Daddy...

And Kevy ALWAYS rises to the occasion...

And declares himself King of the World.
I also believe the entire farm could here us that chilly morn...
Ah well...Just sharing the joy...sprinkling it ALL around.
Either that, or the vast amounts of immaturity were getting sprinkled.

I prefer to think of it as "The Joy."  It sounds so much more Christmas-y, don't you think?

And THEN...since we're keeping it real, and I'm pretty much all about the food anyway, my favorite part is going into their sweet little gift shop and getting warmed up with their homemade donuts and hot apple cider. Also, per our tradition, at least one of the littles manages to spill half of his drink all over the floor....

 Joy to the world.

Hellooooo, all things breakable....

We topped our day off with Christmas pasta, family naps, and then pizza and decorating!

Tis the Season....

Sha-Zam!
I predict at least five broken ornaments this year.  So far, we have one courtesy of Rancey Pants.

Make merry.
Drink some eggnog!
Tie your tree, so your wee hoolies and your wild kitties don't knock it over.
It's December...drink the marrow...savor the simplicity.
And throw everything else out the window.....