Kim 365

Bailey and her big cousin Jillian. These girls sure love each other!
This evening we had a family gathering for my extended family on my mom's side. It was the usual loud affair with kids running around full of merriment, and the adults hanging around chit-chatting. A good time!

We went to the Enchanted Forest today, and my favourite part is always the evergreen trees that are jam packed with lights. I don't think this photo is all that great a capture of it, but it's the best I could do on a drive-by. The kids had a great time checking out the "fake fireworks" and I loved hearing Bailey telling the running bunny to come back :)

There are only a few days left in our countdown to Christmas, and today's surprise was to build a gingerbread house. Markus was SO excited - by far the most excitement I've seen from him throughout this process. Being a very by-the-book kind of guy, it was determined that we had to make our creation look like the one on the box. They did end up using a little creative license (after I finally convinced them it was allowed), and I think the end result looks fantastic!

Today the kids were given a budget to buy gifts for less fortunate people around the world. We sponsor two kids through Compassion, so the kids went shopping in the Gifts of Compassion catalogue. They decided on greenhouse farming education and supplies, books, and vaccinations for babies.

We want our kids to grow up knowing that there are many people in this world who do not have so much of what we take for granted on a daily basis. Christmas is about remembering that God left heaven to come to earth. He gave of himself sacrificially, and those who love him are called to live and love as he did.

Every year, the kids get a new pair of pajamas. This morning it was their surprise in their advent stockings to open the gifts that were waiting under the tree. They shed the jammies they had slept in, dove into these, and proceeded to wear them all day. I kept getting comments from Wyatt throughout the day, about how fun new jammies are :)

I'm so happy with this photo: I love how crisp the focus is on his precious face. He's got such great eyes! I also love how comfy he is on Grandpa's lap, and Grandpa's shirt is the perfect backdrop.

We had a great time hanging out at Mom and Dad's house this afternoon. Lazy Sunday afternoons - love 'em!

The kids know that drinks with "alcwahol" are for adults, not kids. It is so funny to hear them talk about it!

Clay picked this up for us to share some before heading to bed. It's new to us - has anyone tried it?
In a house dominated by small people, it's nice to have a grown-up drink now and then.

Our advent stocking activity today was to go looking at Christmas lights. We had a great time, and the final stop before we went home was to Brown Crescent. When I was a little girl, I remembered nearly every house on the block being decked out with Charlie Brown decorations, and I was curious to see if they were still around. Sure enough! There weren't as many as I remembered, but they were still there. My favourite part was Markus' surprise when I told him I had seen these same decorations many years ago when I was a kid. I'm not able to do much to truly catch his attention, but this was noteworthy to him.

Hi, my name is Kim, and I'm an emotional baker.
I fell in love with baking in high school. Until today, I never knew why. As I was pouring my soul into these Cinnamon Roll Muffins, I connected the dots. High school sucked. It was full of lows, and baking was one of my therapies - along with driving too fast, and crying on my dog Tia's shoulder.
Well today was a rough day, and the baking cupboard beckoned as it always does. Thank you Jesus, for flour, sugar, cinnamon, and cream cheese icing. Oh yeah, and lattes.

A quick cram-it-in-before-bed photo of the closest thing that looked somewhat interesting and hadn't already been subject to the cram-it-in-before-bed photo in the past.

The kids love playing with this magnet nativity. It gets a little more beat up every year, but the overall story still plays out.