Christmas Cards

Do you like Christmas cards? I sure do! I love to get each colorful envelope and to read and reread the letters and or notes written inside. I love the ones that include photos as well. The smiling faces of people that I love just warm my heart as the cold wind outside blows.


I hang each one so that it may be viewed the entire season and my face always brightens as the number grows. I love Christmas cards! I love to get and give cards. So, here is the deal. I have this idea (thanks Amanda ) if you love Christmas cards as much as I do I would love to exchange addresses with you. Just email me (find my email address linked to my profile page) or leave me a comment with your address. I will send you a Christmas card when I mail mine out. It is that simple! The more cards the merrier I think, and if you feel that way too this is one way to add another card to your mailbox this season.

Just leave me a comment and I will send you a card.
Have a blessed Christmas season.

Thankful....Eternally Thankful

This year I have so much to be thankful for. Don't all of us? The list of our blessings would be forever long. We could include everything from our food and clothing, to family and friends. Don't forget our health and the air that we breathe. Our homes and cars, our church family and our jobs would also be on the list. But one thing that I am ETERNALLY grateful for this year is the fact that I have seen my oldest two children accept Christ and follow in obedience with His word through baptism. These are moments that I will never forget. I was so blessed to share them with family and friends, some of which were present physically and others that were celebrating with us only through Spirit. Whether you were there with us to celebrate or are just celebrating now through pictures, thank you. Thank you for loving my girls. Thank you to everyone that has prayed for them, taught them, and loved them. You have all touched them in some way and for that I am eternally grateful.

Thank you Father, for all the blessings in life that you have bestowed upon me. Thank you for the blessing of raising these children for You and for Your kingdom work. I am truly humbled by the opportunity to watch You touch their hearts and bring them to conviction of their sins and then to see them submit to Your calling and accept Your gift of salvation. The joy of seeing them follow in obedience to You is truly overwhelming. As both of the girls were fearful of the water and didn't "want" to get baptized. But Lord, as Joe and I prayed for them to make the right decision, I watched them put their trust in their dad and in You and make the right choice. It was more important to them to obey You than it was to give into their fear of the water. I am amazed at their level of faith already. They are growing and desiring to serve You, and for that I am eternally grateful. Bless them as they follow You. Keep them close to you and tender toward others. I ask that You help them to learn through the troubles and struggles of life and not to grow bitter or angry. Please watch over them when I can't and help them to make choices that will be pleasing to You. Guide their steps and keep them ever near to You. I love Father, and thank you for the blessings of my children. Amen.

Thanksgiving Post 3 - Cookies

Here are some pictures of the baked goods that the girls and I have worked on this week. Maggie did the pumpkin bread and the sugar cookie dough. I decorated the cookies while they spent time with Daddy. Then the cinnamon bread was per request of Sammy and the granola bars are just to make breakfast time easier this weekend.

I hope you all are blessed with a great Thanksgiving. We are headed out here in a bit to visit family and eat a lot, probably too much, of food. We will get to visit with family from out of town (yes, Aunt Erin is here for the first holiday in 3 years!!).

Thanksgiving Series - Post 2

Well I am a little late in the day getting this post up, but better late than never, huh? Anyway, Here are some pictures of our new sunroom that is finalized and ready to be decorated for Christmas this weekend. I haven't had a lot of time to decorate for fall this year with remodeling and such but there are hidden reminders of this season scattered around the house if you look for them. So, for those of you that have been waiting to see the room, here it is in all its newness!

The new few from my kitchen sink.

A great friend made this custom window ledge for me. I love how it turned out.

The little details in this room give it such a nice feel.

This is the only room (except bedrooms) that has carpet. My kids, and husband for that matter, are really enjoying it.

The new view out the back windows. You would never know by this picture that we live in the middle of town.

Do you decorate for fall or Thanksgiving? I haven't taken a picture (something I just realized) of the children's artwork wall this year. They have been busy bees in all their craft making endeavors and have even more planned for tomorrow. I normally decorate a lot but this year most of the crafts that we did we gave away to people that needed them. And I think that is an important lesson for my children to learn. Anyway, if you decorate for fall I would love to see some of your pictures. If you post to your blog, link up here so we can all take a look.

(I forgot to add the link yesterday for the menus post. So, if you wrote a post on that topic also feel free to link up twice today. )

Thanksgiving Series - Menu

Day 1 - Making the menu

What does your Thanksgiving menu look like? Is your family all out traditional with turkey, gravy mashed potatoes, all the fixings? Or do you have your own "traditional" meal? I would love to see a post on what your menus look like. Here is my menu, or the things that I have to/plan to make this week. We are blessed to be near both sides of the family so I only have to bring items, not cook a full meal.

For home/guests -

pumpkin bread
granola bars (I alter these with more healthy options. I will share those alterations some time. But they are great just the way they are written if you want to try them.)
sugar cookies (another shot at icing!)
pumpkin dessert
banana bread

For my Mother In Law's
green beans
cookies (iced sugar and chocolate chip)

For my Mom's
An appetizer (I need help and ideas for this!)
Pumpkin dessert
cookies (oatmeal and sugar)
dinner rolls (some will be cinnamon rolls, some will be left plain for dinner rolls)

So, there is my week in the kitchen. Do you care to share what is on your menu, give me a recipe for a really fun appetizer that your family loves, or just talk about your families Thanksgiving traditions? Then link up below. I would love to hear from you. Tomorrow my Thanksgiving post will be in pictures. A "fall" tour of my home. And I am finally ready to post pictures of our newly finished sunroom/family room. Hope you can come back to visit tomorrow.

Tell me what you think....

Here are some projects that I have started for our Christmas card.......



http://www.seehere.com/asikes/projects/?cmUploadSubSID=4


Which one is your favorite? Card 1, 2 or 3? I would love to hear some input on these. Have an idea to make them better? Please share it. Thanks for your help! Have a great day and blessed weekend!

My Newest Cookies

I have a new "hobby" of sorts. It is decorating. Not like interior decorating, like cookie and cake decorating. I know that lots of places offer classes and such on how to do these sorts of things but that costs money and takes time. I have decided that using the advice of friends (in person and blogging) and family I will teach myself. My children are loving my new hobby immensely. My diet however is not :)

I wanted to share some pictures with you of the cookies that I made last night. In the photos the icing looks teal or something but it is due to the flash. It is actually a very deep green. I am practicing for Thanksgiving when I hope to take cookies to my mother in law's house for dinner, or dessert really, I guess.

Now, to learn the other art of food display and photography. I don't like the way most of these pictures turned out but I was pretty happy with the cookies. It was the first time I have done writing on them. I love to bake and I love to decorate (I used to scrapbook before I had 4 children now who has the time?). I am hoping that this will become a new outlet for my creative "juices" to flow into. And who knows, maybe one day it will lead somewhere?

Body After Baby

This is the last week for this challenge hosted by Mama Note. Head over there and see how all the other mom's are doing with the challenge. We will be turning in our points and then the top five winners will be entered into the final judging complete with before and after pictures! So, wish me luck! Below you will find my totals for the challenge. I hope to loose my last pound before Sunday and thus meet my goal of 15 pounds lost.



Join Site - 5 points

Week 1 - 62 points

Week 2 - 28 points

Week 3 - 20 points

Week 4 - 350 points

Week 5 - no challenge

Week 6 - 6 points

Week 7 - 62 points



Total - 595 points



Total lost to date - 14 pounds

Total inches lost - 6 inches

Pants size Change - Went down 2 sizes

Not Me Monday - Mouse Style!

This has been an interesting week around the Sikes household. It all started on Thursday night. It was a normal evening, I was in the living room enjoying some "down" time while my husband put the three older children to sleep. The baby was tucked in bed sound asleep and all was well. Enter mouse. I did NOT see him run down the wall in my living room. Now I could enter here into story after story of my childhood growing up on the farm in an old farmhouse and the many "adventures" that I have had with mice in the house. But let it suffice to say that I HATE mice and I don't use that word lightly. So, I did NOT called scream to my husband to come here NOW! I had seen where the mouse had gone so my brave husband was able to sweep the mouse out the front door with little effort. I thought all was well.

NOT!

A couple of hours later as we were getting ready for bed my husband picked up some dirty clothing off the floor and a second mouse did NOT run out of them. That would never happen here. I mean, two mice in one night, come on! Who would have thought. Well, now think about it. I HATE mice and now I have one in my bedroom. So thus ensued the "chase". The "chase" was between my husband and the mouse with me on top of the bed watching for him all the time. It was hours, and hours, and hours later somewhere around 1:30am after closets had been emptied, socks stuffed in every hole under furniture, and books covering openings behind the furniture that the mouse was caught! It was NOT me who in the end had to stand the box up to prevent the said mouse from escaping the box yet another time. It also was NOT me who cried from the rush of emotion when the mouse was finally out of my bedroom. It is also NOT me that still finds herself opening doors carefully and picking up laundry and shaking it before carrying it anywhere. It is NOT me that has lived on "edge" the past four days just waiting to encounter yet another furry little creature.

Oh, wait. That IS me! But with time and therapy I am sure I can move past this ;).

What has NOT happened in your week this week? To hear more stories head over to MckMama's blog for more Not Me Monday fun.

Sabbath Update

Well, last Monday if you remember I was asking the question about how you all prepared for the Sabbath and then how you also maintained order and cleanliness during the day without being busy with house work all day. Well, I took your ideas and used some that would work for our family and then used some of them as eye openers to really how much of the mess needed to be created. So, yesterday I approached our Sabbath in a little bit of a different way. I had the children's (the older girls did their own) clothes laid out before bed. This helped in two ways. There was no last minute hunt for tights or shoes or ties. But it also helped in that I had told the girls that what they laid out they MUST wear. No changing was allowed. So, there were no clean clothes on the floor and later added to the hamper. This helped the morning run much smoother.

In the afternoon, I had all of the children put everything that we would need for evening service by the front door for easy access. Then we had a simple crock pot lunch and I had cleaned out the dishwasher so all dishes went straight into there and it was started. So, by 2pm we were all resting and the house was still clean. I looked around with much pleasure and anticipation about the evening. But with everything that we needed by the front door getting ready for evening service was a breeze. Everyone found everything they needed and we were out the door with nary a hitch.

Then we went to service, worshiped again and got home around 8pm. No one had eaten dinner yet. The children had had a snack prior to worship but were hungry again surprise, surprise! So, I cooked up a quick bite to eat and we all enjoyed dinner and a movie**. I didn't get the dishes washed last night but with a small pile of dishes by the sink and the rest of the house still in order I feel like my efforts were a success.

Thank you all for your ideas and feedback. They helped me to see some things that I hadn't seen before. It made my day much easier and has even effected the start of my week. May God bless you all this week as you serve Him and your families.

** We watched Charlotte's Web last night with our children. We got it for $5 at Wal-Mart. I had watched the movie plenty of times growing up but my children had never seen it. I had forgotten what a great movie it was and how many lessons that we can learn from that movie. It was a great movie for our family night and if you have never seen it or watched it with your children I would highly recommend it.

Homeschool Video

Here is the funniest, and yet so true video I have seen in awhile. Most homeschooling families like mine are so misunderstood that we appear "weird" to others. Even though we might seem different we are just people like the rest of society. Our choice works for our family. We know that our lifestyle isn't for everyone but it works for us. And we are confident that your choices work for you and your family. We are all different and that is what makes the world go 'round.

I hope you enjoy this video and that it makes you smile!

PS - You will want to pause the music in the left sidebar before you start the movie.

Boday After Baby - Week 6 Recap

Well this week I did all right. Not great but I did loose 1 pound. I got six out of the seven points. Kate was sick this week but Samantha (@ MamaNotes) said that getting up with baby didn't count as not sleeping. So, my light was out for more than eight hours those nights but I slept on the couch with her, nursed her, rocked her, and anything else to comfort her this week. Then a couple of days I was able to nap with her too. That was a huge bonus. I need to step up the exercise this week. That has been hurting me. The first few weeks I walked and worked out every day. I have slacked off on that a little and this week's challenge of a 30 minute work-out a day will help me do just that. I am only 3 pound from my goal and with two weeks left I think it is totally doable.

Hang in there to all you other mom's that joined this challenge. We are almost done. Don't you just feel better because of the work that you have done. No matter how little the lose you have taken steps to be a healthier person and momma to your children. That is a big accomplishment! God bless you all this week!

Blog Hop - Christmas ?????

I haven't done one of these in awhile but I thought I would join in again. Ask a question of your readers is the theme this week and I have one that I have been thinking a lot about this month.

What are you and your family doing for the holidays this year? Are they different this year from years past? and why?

My family is looking at changing how we do Christmas and I have several ideas about the what and why we are changing. I will share those in more detail when I have actually figured out what those will actually be and how we will be celebrating Christmas this year. In my family the main focus is always on Christ's birth and the sacrifice that even that day brought for Him. He had to leave Heaven and enter a dark, cold, sinful world. He loved us in His birth as much as He loved us in His death.

So, again, what does Christmas look like to your family? Presents? How many? Service to others? Please share with me what you do to make the holiday special. And is that having to change this year due to finances or something else?

I need HELP!!

I have a question for you other moms. I am in need of some major help. In the past few months I have made some major efforts in my preparation for our Sabbath day. I try to have the laundry and dishes done and most of the meal prep under control. I do this to allow me to focus on the Sabbath day and not to feel "pulled" to be busy with the work that is calling me.
So, we start out Sunday mornings and the house is picked up and we enjoy our Sabbath day, church in the morning, lunch, rest/relaxation, study time, and then church finishes out our Sabbath. By the time that all six of us get ready to leave the house twice and eat three meals, the house is a mess. By Sunday night there are books and bags and shoes and dishes everywhere. I just can't seem to make this work.
I desire to be able to "rest" on the Sabbath. I spend hours on Saturday night preparing the house and my heart for the upcoming worship service. But by Monday morning I wake up to a MESS. I hate starting my week like this. It takes me all day to get the house back into shape and it starts our school week out on a bad note. I am frustrated and struggle to be patient with school because I have so much that I need get done.
Do any of you other moms have any ideas? Anything that has worked for you? This is a huge burden that I have and many times leads to me struggling all week because I never catch up until Saturday (when we have no school). Please share with me the ways that you prepare for worship and allow yourself to "rest" on the Sabbath while still maintaining order and cleanliness around the house.

Re-Evaluation

I had the opportunity last week to take some fall pictures of the kids and I was so pleased with how they turned out. This beautiful spot was just around the corner from speech so we headed out early to take advantage of the only nice day we had last week. We had so much fun. I was reminded how much I enjoy doing fun things with my children that get us "out of the box" and yet don't cost a thing. I am trying to make it a priority to do things like this more often. The demands of life can be many and the things that pull at us mommas are never ending, the laundry, the kitchen, the paper work, the cleaning, and the list goes on and on. But these things will never be over with and yet our children will one day be over their childhood years and we will be left with only the memories that we make now.

The dishes will still need to be done while our children are at their first job or away to college. But now, for some of us, our child are still here. They still need us and want our attention. They need our guiding hand to help them fall in love with Jesus and to learn to live like Him. And we make a choice everyday about what will take priority. I know that I am guilty, time and time again, of putting more importance on my clean house or the finished laundry that I will put off spending time or doing something fun with kids for another day. Well even if one chore is done today there will be more tomorrow and before we know it years will have gone by. And we won't have taken enough time for "fun" things. And all we will have left is laundry, and dishes, and cleaning, on and on. But not another chance to spend time with our children while they are young.

So, I encourage you tonight to re-evaluate what is taking your time. And the next time that you or your children want to do something fun or even just curl up to read a book or watch a movie don't let work that will be there tomorrow rob you of the joy of the memory that will last forever.

New Blog Button

Grab my new button for my blog (from the right hand sidebar of this blog). The old button won't work anymore. So, feel free to grab this one and share it on your blog, website, or facebook page.

Every Mother's dream....

My Organized Chaos is hosting an awesome giveaway just in time for the holidays. There are tons of ways to enter. Just visit her blog to enter and win a new stroller for either your family or to give as a gift for Christmas.

Body After Baby - Week 5

Well this week I have only lost one pound. I did pretty well over the weekend though I did allow myself a couple snacks while visiting with friends. But overall I have lost 11 pound and I am only 4 pound from my goal. I think it is totally a reachable goal in the next three weeks. I have dropped at least one pants size and I can now wear the next size down though they can get a little tight at times. But hey, I can now zip pants and skirts in a size that I haven't worn in seven years. I am really proud of myself for sticking with it this far. We are on the downhill side of this thing now so I am committed to seeing it through. I have done pretty well earning points most weeks. Here is a recap of the points that I have earned so far -


Points for the Challenge so far....
Join Site - 5 points
Week 1 - 62 points
Week 2 - 28 points
Week 3 - 20 points
Week 4 - 350 points
Week 5 - No Challenge
Total Points - 465 points

This week's challenge is to get 8 hours of sleep a night. This will be a CHALLENGE for me, ha! I am not a sleeper. I don't need much to function anymore. But I will be trying to get to bed earlier each night this week. Who knows maybe I will find that I feel even better if I get more sleep.

Check out the other momma's progress over at Mama Notes.