Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year's

I sit here with crowds cheering in the background (touchdown Horned Frogs! Go TCU), a 6 year old wearing a path through the house with her new scooter, the little ooching baby sounds from the a sleeping baby boy and the scrapes an bangs from the truck rebuilding going on in the garage. Everyone is busy doing typical Saturday things....but this is not a typical Saturday. This Saturday is New Year's Day. The first day of 2011.

2011....it sounds so foreign. So new.

2010 had it's ups and downs just like every year before and every year to come. The best thing of all was the introduction of Ford to the family in October and how can you top that? The joy of that event overshadowed any drama and no other good event even comes close to that. We ended on a good note feeling hopeful and look forward to the promises of 2011.

Here are a few of my hopes for the New Year:

1) Take better pictures
2) Learn some new dishes to cook for our family
3) Tackle a few home renovation projects....2011 may end up being the year of paint around here.
4) Get my crafty on and maybe even turn it into a business experiment
5) Keep up with this bloggy thing.

Stay tuned! I let you know how it all turns out.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Whew!


Christmas 2010 is drawing to a close. As I write this, I am sitting in front of my Christmas Tree Forest with a fire going, two babes sleeping peacefully and a very messy kitchen that I'm trying to avoid.



We weren't very "presenty" this year. Mike and I didn't exchange gifts, Ford is too little, and Claire has more fun with an old sheet tied to her swing set than any other toy she has, so we figured that she didn't need much. Santa did bring her a really cool cardboard house and a very fun game along with a few other things, but it just wasn't a lot of stuff and let me tell you...it was refreshing.



Funds were a little tight this year for us...for most people it seems like...and we just didn't want to spend just to have a volume of stuff and, rather, went for quality.

I spent more time in the kitchen trying out a few new quick and easy recipes this year. I've never done that before. The fun part was that Claire was able to really help out this year. Most of the items are going to be gifts for the extended version of Christmas tomorrow after church. Granola, caramel dipping sauce (YUM, by the way), cookies, chocolate covered peanuts, cheerios, bugles and pretzels and a new veggie dip and coffee cake were all on the roster of items making their debut in my kitchen. It sounds like a lot, but they were all insanely easy to make. I did go through a lot of dishes...I'll spare you that picture.

All this homemade-ness gave me time to really be at home instead of running all over town, burning gas and spending money we don't have. None of the grown ups in the family really wanted anything and anything we need we get for ourselves. We did draw names so everyone gets one really nice gift.

At first I was a little sad that we weren't going to be able to do more in the way of presents, but it forced me to get really creative and I have enjoyed the time adding recipes to my list of go to dishes and the time with Claire has been time that I will treasure.

Spending a Christmas with out "stuff" has made me appreciate the true gifts of the season: My family who loves me unconditionally, my God who gives me hope every day and time to spend with them all.

Merry Christmas!

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Missing a Friend




Life in the Glasgow house got much happier when two girls moved in next door midway through the summer. Paulina is in first grade and Diana is in second. They all play well together, but the threesome doesn't always work very well and Paulina is a tad jealous after having her sister all to herself so she comes and goes. Diana and Claire, on the other hand, are thick as thieves! (left to right: Claire, Diana, and Paulina)

The girls are from Mexico and have moved here with their mother to live with their grandmother. Their dad works off shore so is gone most of the time and with the instability there right now, their mom felt they would be much safer here. What a blessing it has been for us!

They headed to Monterrey to be with their dad for Christmas and won't return until Sunday. They left behind one forlorn little girl. Here is the note she wrote to Diana:I'm not sure which is cuter....the misspelled words, the picture of the friends, the car or the sentiment. I don't think I can choose!

Here is the transcription in all its misspelled sweetness: Diana, I misd you so moch! To: Dia From: Claire! P.S. I caire [care], I love, I like, I play, I sing!

I appreciate that she felt it important to identify the car.

May she always have such sweet friends!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Blog start up Round 2

Hello again. I started a blog a couple of years ago and, just as I feared, it wasn't long before it was cast aside as "things" cropped up and got in the way. This time around, well, who knows what will happen. I have always had mixed feelings about journaling. I usually wrote in a diary or journaled when I felt bad about something or wanted to complain and whine. It was a place to vent my anger or sadness without troubling my friends...which I usually did anyway (Thanks for putting up with me everyone!). Every time I looked back at them, I felt petulant or self-indulgent, so I dropped them, but as I look at those old posts (all 13 of them), I realize that I have some things to say and maybe, just maybe, someone else out there might want to read it.

I want to share the silly, creative, intelligent, challenging things my kiddos do. I want to share bits of inspiration that moves me. I want to challenge myself and others to be more...to do more.

So here it is...again. Feel free to share with your friends if you like. Comments are always welcome and if this only goes as far as my immediate family, well, that's ok too