Tulle Santa Wreath!! HO HO HO!

My 3rd graders had to make a Santa out of anything for school.

We chose this!! Super easy and we will enjoy these wreaths for YEARS!

SUPPLIES For ONE WREATH:

• 50 yards of white tulle on a spool, cut to 15-inch pieces (We wrapped our tulle around a cutting board and then cut to make it easy and fast. You could use cardboard also) 
• 12-inch white wreath form (Hobby Lobby Craft Section)
• 1 adult-sized Santa hat
• Pen
• 1 scrap piece of ribbon, about 3 inches long
• Needle and thread
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

1) Put hat on Wreath and mark where it fits on the bottom with a Sharpie

2) Tie the pieces of tulle on the wreath in between the marks. Push them close together every few minutes until full.

3) To make mustache tie a few pieces of the tulle together or cut a new longer piece to go all the way around about 3 inches down from the top of the beard then cut your 15 inch pieces in 1/2 and tie them on until mustache is full.

4) Sew a little piece of ribbon to the back of the hat for hanging.

5) Stuff hat with remaining tulle.

6) Hot glue hat on to the wreath and VOILA!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTmas!

May CHRIST fill your homes this CHRISTmas!

And may MANY children find their forever families this year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry CHRISTMAS! Past and PRESENT!

Our first CHRISTmas (married)-2002~

2 more blessings added in 2004!

3 blessings added in 2005!

& 2006 Card

Another blessing added in 2007!

2008 

2009

AND YET ANOTHER Blessing in 2010!

Looking back at these cards shows JUST HOW evident CHRIST'S LOVE is!

Brings tears to my eyes and WARMTH to my heart!

THE WARMTH of the GIFTS ONLY HE could give!

The Gift of adoption.

The adoption of US as HIS children..

The Gifts of our children-entrusted to us as their earthly parents.

SO MUCH to take in isn't it?

Wishing you a BLESSED & MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

AND, If you are looking for a way to display your CHRISTmas cards this year, here is what we did with ours!

Didn't cost a dime and I LOVE IT!

The letters are in a basket at the bottom of the tree, just realized it could pass for a stem!

Despite The Captains opposition, I keep the pictures up until NEXT CHRISTmas!

I LOVE looking at them ALL YEAR!

7 Littles NATIVITY!

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:8-14

Christmas, New Years, Blizzard, 13 weeks!

The Captain arrived home on the 27th. Our 2nd blizzard of the year was over. We were snowed in for 4 days. No one able to get in or out. Some kind neighbors came over and dug a path down the driveway so The Captain could get home that night. Here is me with my arm up on the snow in our driveway-it was flat crazy!The 28th we FINALLY had our family Christmas. It was a glorious day except for me getting stuck in the snow on my way to WALLY WORLD. I LOVE THIS PICTURE! All my children & The Captain-LOVELY! Missing is my SIL serving us unselfishly in Iraq.I BLAMED EVERYONE for the loss of my precious scotch tape about a week before Christmas & deemed myself insane for losing my mind and the tape!

BOY, DID I FEEL LIKE A TOTAL GOOBER when it was unwrapped in My My's gift-LOLBy the time I was ready to take a pic of my sweet 7-Bit But had had it! The Captain crouched down behind the couch and held him up for this priceless picture of my 7.Why ride my new Harley trike when I can nap in the box? We had a "HOT DATE" on New Years Eve! We left around 1:30pm to head to my OB appointment. I have been having some complications with my blood pressure & swelling so The Captain really needed to go with me. We then went out to eat at HUHOT ALONE! We visited the oldest at work and headed to the candy store where The Captain bought me my favorite sour candy and an ICEE & headed home to the kids. WE HAD SUCH A ROMANTIC TIME!

We busted out the Easy Bake Oven when we got home and T cooked up some treats, we had some snack food, played Battleship and were all in bed by 10pm. Our idea of a blissful NYE...
I am 13 weeks pregnant today. This pregnancy has been much rougher on me than I expected but we are SO THANKFUL for our sweet miracle baby. I am on twice daily blood pressure medicine & am now considered "HIGH RISK" until I give birth. I will be monitored closely with monthy sonograms, lots of extra testing and must check my bp often. I have a 1 in 4 chance of developing preeclampsia. Which is very scary. But I know OUR GOD will protect us.

The baby is doing fine-measuring great. We heard the heart beating at 156bpm on Thursday-such a comfort-music to our ears! In just 23 days we will know if we are having a boy or a girl! WE CAN'T WAIT!

May God Bless you all in 2010 as much as he has our family in 2009!

FAV People AND GIFTS!

HERE ARE "MY FAVORITE PEOPLE" AND MY FAVORITE GIFTS In my Favorite Christmas Pictures! With their favorite gifts and me with my favorite gifts. MAKE SENSE? Basically all things below are GIFTS TO ME!

7 CHILDREN=7 GIFTS STRAIGHT FROM GOD

TWO GRANDMAS=TWO SPECIAL GIFTS Filled with LOVE & Wisdom!

The Gift of JOHN DEERE anything=Awesomeness!The Gift of CHRISTMAS CANDY=Those 5 extra pounds needed before Jan 1

The GIFT of the "I NEED COFFEE" PAJAMAGRAM=The Captain HEARS ME!The Gift of the GOOD OL' RUBIK'S CUBE=Hours of entertainment!
The gift of the "Kiss The Cook" and Santa APRON=The Captain STILL hears me although white with 7 kids isn't the smartest color choice :)The Gift of The knock-off Chanel purse from our NYC trip=ECSTATICITY (is that a word?) from The OLDEST!The gift of the $5 bouncy ball=lots of loud bouncing but guaranteed naps!
The Gift Of Our LORD AND SAVIOR=PRICELESS!

Thank you Jesus for all our gifts this CHRISTMAS!

Santa ON A DIME!

I am VERY PROUD of my shopping habits. Some would say I'm cheap I would say frugal-yet super FUN! ( I learned this from my mother-she ALWAYS encouraged me to save a dime and shop clearance racks-thanks mom!) Shopping for a family of 9 for Christmas can be expensive and stressful. I did all my shopping starting in November RIGHT after the Halloween costumes go on clearance. I bought 3 costumes for $9 (70%off) and they were a HUGE HIT! We got Snow White, A Transformer (no, I don't know what this is but knew Wyatt would like it) and A Fireman-Brendans future career so he says!

All 4 kids that didn't have sleeping bags got sleeping bags $8 each at Target the day after Thanksgiving equipped with a cute bag, a flashlight and a water bottle. The girls were OWL themed and the boys BUG themed. ANOTHER HUGE HIT!I also got 2 snow shovels for $5 on BLACK FRIDAY for the little boys and the little girls each got a cabbage patch $10 each at Wally World another BF deal. All other gifts were from the dollar section at target! SOOOO-Including The Oldests Makeup bag full of Clinique makeup and The Captains usual socks/underwear & Myah's ruby red sparkly dancing shoes $8 AND a bunch of candy-Less than $100 for 8 stockings-not bad huh?
I always make a detailed list of EVERYTHING I BUY and keep things fair. I am thankful that Victoria has now been promoted to "ELF" so she can help me with my shopping and keep a secret! This year I bought ALL practical gifts-no junk with a bunch of pieces that will merely be destroyed and/or lost in a matter of minutes with this TRIBE! GO SANTA GO I SAY!