What to do? What to write?

I have all these wonderful blog ideas, and I thought I should have my friends and family vote on which one they want to see first...
1. How to have shiny hair. No joke, it's a cool idea!


2. Eating out on a shoe-string budget (maybe I should even go into detail about the source of that phrase "shoe-string")


3. College or no college...does it really matter?


4. Life as a sorority girl (me living in a sisterhood for a day)


5. Family fun for free (or almost free)


6. YOUR IDEA???









Please let me know what you think!! I'd love to research, write, and post a few of these over the holiday break! SUPER FUN!

Black Friday's Christmas Gift to Me

Why is it so hard to NOT spend money this time of year? It doesn't matter how much money we have (or don't have), we feel like we need to spend it.
This year, my family is making 90% of our Christmas gifts. Everything from jewelry pouches to blankets to ragdolls will be lovingly wrapped in home-made wrapping paper and given to our loved ones. And yet, I look at our depleting bank account and wonder why we feel it's necessary to spend so much more money during this season. We have bought extra groceries, more Christmas decorations, and some gifts. Which may not seem like a "lot", but that's kinda the point. Our society would not think of these few things as a "LOT". But from January to October, do I ever spend that much on groceries, decorations or gifts? Nope. Not even close.
And then on the flip side, if I don't go out and buy this extra food/baked good ingredients, I feel like I'm ripping my kids off! No Christmas cookies? No Thanksgiving feast? No way. And decorations...well we have to have new ones for each year! It's a tradition! And gifts... isn't it every parent's hope that their kids will open that gift on Christmas morning and squeal with delight?! How can we rob ourselves of that opportunity?! Unfortunately, a hand-made pillow or blanket doesn't seem to have the same effect as a video game, or Disney babydoll. Just sayin'.



I guess all-in-all I feel like there should be a balance. That we should celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ in a way that honors him. We should be smart about our finances. If your budget allows for extras and store-bought Christmas gifts for all...then by all means, go for it! And make sure you keep me on your "nice" list! But if you are like me, and you are living paycheck-to-paycheck, don't stress. You are not alone! Get creative and make sure you have time and energy to put into your seasonal extras! That time and money will equal less spending and more pride in your creations. Believe me!
I really feel blessed that I was not able to do the normal Black Friday shopping today. Every year, I finish my shopping on this day. But this year I bought only a couple things from Wal-mart and most of my Christmas shopping was done in my craft corner. In addition to saving money, it's been so wonderful spending extra time with my children making all of your goodies.

PS If you want to know, I can make blogs in the future telling how I made the following goodies:
Jewelry pouches, rag dolls, fleece no-sew blankets, no-sew pillows, Christmas Cards, calendars, cookies, brownies, pies, cakes, and chocolate torte.

Pray for Obama, but don't use Psalms 109:8

I know I'm not the only one upset by this whole Psalms 109/Obama thing! If you need a rundown, here is my version of what I know....
Some Christians thought it would be a good/witty/funny idea to use the Bible verse Psalms 109:8 following a call to pray for our president, Barack Obama. As I understand it, this has been used on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and the like. If you don't "get" it, here is the verse as it is written in the Bible nearest to my chair.

"Let his days be few;
Let another take his office." NASB




There are 2 "short" points I would like to make about this play on the Word of God.

1. As a rule of thumb, it's always good to read the verse before and after a verse in order to understand a bit about the context of that verse. (of course, I would recommend reading as much as possible in order to really understand the passage) Following this rule of thumb, we read Psalms 109:7-9:

"When he is judged, let him come forth guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.
Let his days be few;
Let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow."

As I read verse 9, I immediately became enraged. There are people out there, who are proclaiming the Gospel in this manner?! Even as a joke, this is SICK. I wish NO person the pain and agony of being fatherless, or a widow! And neither should you! Whether you like our president or not, please remember that he is indeed the leader of our country and deserves respect, prayers, and support. Furthermore, it is terrifying to think of the massive chaos that would follow the death of our president (no matter who he was). On to number two...

2. I would not be able to word this next point better than this person, so I will link to his blog. In a nutshell, he explains the context of Psalms 109. As you read the chapter, it will quickly become apparent that those using this verse are actually quoting a part of the Bible that would contradict their point.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/22/807165/-The-Real-Irony-of-Psalms-109

What's your stance on this Psalms 109/Obama thing?

Shutterfly

OH MY LAND! I cannot wait to send out our family Christmas cards this year! On Saturday, I physically dragged my family to our own little photo shoot in downtown Springfield. We began by taking pictures of the kids by the cool, old buildings. Then we moved into the downtown library before taking a bunch of outdoor photos in the square (these were my favs of the day, for sure). The kids were oh-so-photogenic and Josh was more than patient with me. We took a ton of pictures and with the help of Photo Shop, I was able to come up with at least 20 pictures that I can use for Christmas cards and gifts.
I'm thinking about making calendars for our family gifts. I surfed the Internet and found out that making a calendar on Walmart.com or Shutterfly.com can be a bit pricey! Especially when you are making it for at least 20 different people! On to plan B...I am going to try to design a calendar on my own and have it printed off at my fav printing company: Trader's Printing (in downtown Springfield). I think it will be more reasonable and maybe even look better? No matter what, it will definitely take more time and effort but then again, it will also be a hand-made gift from the heart. (and all my people said, "aww")
As far as the Christmas cards go, I've already designed them at www.shutterfly.com. They turned out AHmazing and I can't wait for you all to see them! Make sure you send me your address (maybe via email or FB inbox) so I can mail you one!
Merry Kodak Moments to you all!
xoxo Kris

The kids having a "Gabey-Baby" day

Sometimes I have "Gabey-Baby" days. They are days when my mind dwells on my 3rd child who was brought home to heaven before we got to meet him. He was born on December 18, 2008 (at 21 weeks gestational age). Today, Jamie figured out that Gabriel's birthday was less than a month away. He and Allana became excited and decided we should have a birthday party to celebrate. We will, and you all are invited. :-)
Since Gabriel was the topic of that conversation, he became the subject of many talks for the remainder of the evening. The last of these talks I will post below.

Scene: Jamie and Allana are having a "sleep-over" and talk until they fall asleep.

This was the beginning of their chat:

A: I wish Gabriel was here.
J: He is!
A: Where?
J: Gabriel is in heaven w/ God
A: In heaven?
J: Yes. And since Gabriel is with God and God is everywhere, then Gabriel is everywhere.
A: Even here with us?
J: Yes. Gabriel is here with us.
A: I miss him.
J: I wish he were alive, but we have to be brave.

From there, they talked of Unicorns and far away lands. They dreamed before sleeping. They imagined a world with only happiness and a place where everything they ever could think of came to be.
I'm so grateful for the giggles and smiles that brought the day to a close. God gave my kids laughter instead of tears and filled their imagination with thoughts of life replacing death. God granted my children peace tonight. And in that peace, I found comfort.

I thought I should share :-)
Love, peace and comfort to all of you!

Inspirational Picture Blog-Lime Green

Do you not love the color lime green?

I just love how green looks so fresh and crisp in these rooms!

















Oh, and if you know me, you know I'm a bag lady! I would rock this quilted, polka-dot bow bag! So cute!

first blog.

Ok, so I'm going to try this out. I let Salena take the lead and since she decided to create a blog on here, I thought I should try to do one too :-) We will see how it works out.