A Heart Toward Home

"...But as for me and my house, we will serve (worship) the LORD."
Joshua 24:15

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christmas 2012

Christmas morning is always so sweet and full of lots of memories. After about 3 pictures I realized that my camera was out of batteries. :( There are no pictures of all the kids opening their presents, but I got to enjoy watching them and not being worried about having all the right pictures. :)

The BIG present this year was a kitchen for all the kids to enjoy (more so the 3 younger ones). Each of the children got gifts from each other and Daddy and Mommy. We try not to go overboard with gifts but to center our Christmas around Jesus!!
Here are the 3 younger kids playing with the kitchen set they got.
They were having the best time!
Didn't know if we would be able to get them to open their other gifts or eat breakfast! :)

Then we cooked ALL day long! My parents were here and we wanted to have some really good meals. Below is a picture of our "full" table. I loved it!! I love getting together and everyone around the table. I can already imagine when our kids are grown, married, and have children.....a full house....I LOVE IT! What a blessing and joy!

I am very thankful for those gathered around this table!
My parents got me a wheat grinder for Christmas and Bryan and the kids got me a stand mixer so I needed to try them out. After breakfast Christmas morning I made a loaf of bread, some rolls for supper, and some cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning. I had so much fun and they all turned out so good. Here is a picture of the loaf of bread (which I froze and we ate for lunch today).
My family is already asking for more cinnamon rolls! :) My dad enjoyed watching me grind the flour, make the dough, let the dough rise, and then he got to enjoy what I had made.

After supper we had pie and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus! Then before bed we read the Christmas story as a family and talked about what we could give Jesus this year. We had a great Christmas and I pray that you did too!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

All I want for New Year's is....

...my front tooth!!

Elijah has had a loose tooth for a month or so. We kept wiggling it. He just had no idea what to expect when it did come out. I think he thought it would hurt. :)

On Wednesday night he was playing with Isaac and Sarah. Isaac accidently bumped Elijah's mouth and out popped the tooth. :) Elijah started screaming....it scared him. Once he got to me and Bryan and we calmed him down he was really excited!!
Here he is after a bath on Wednesday night....showing his "hole". :)
The tooth
I am not sure if Isaac needs to charge him for removing that tooth or not....
One more grin! He is sooo cute!!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve was spent with my parents. Since we have moved to Tennessee my parents have traveled up to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. It has become a "tradition".

We have so much fun watching the children open their gifts from Paw and Maw and we also enjoy watching them open their gifts from us. Isaac and Sarah are old enough that they pick out and buy their own gifts to Paw and Maw. So sweet!!

For some reason I didn't get pictures of my parents opening their gifts. :( The pictures I took of the kids I wanted to share.
This girl is sooo funny! Remember the PJ story I told about her here. The first present she opened from Paw and Maw was a pair of PJ's!! Guess what she did.....
She had to put them on right then!!
Here she is almost got them on! Paw and Maw got Timothy and Elijah a pair too and Joanna tried her best to get Timothy to put his on when he opened his.  She even went to him trying to pull his shirt off. It was soooo cute!! :)
Here is Mr. Timothy opening his presents!
Elijah excited to see what his present was!!
Isaac got a BB gun and a gun cleaning kit for his other gun.
Timothy is so thankful for all his things!!
Elijah and Timothy (together) got a basketball goal to hang over the door (little tikes). Now they can play basketball like Big brother. :)
So sweet to see how excited the other kids are to see what others got!! They are pretty good about watching each other open presents.
Sarah got a Nancy Drew book and a Betty Crocker cook book for boys and girls! She can't wait to make her first meal!
Here are the children gathered round to see what Daddy got. :) Bryan got a nice pair of shoes, belt, and a nice shirt. Of coarse I don't have pictures of me opening my presents either.....I got a wheat grinder (so excited about this!!!!!) and a skillet.

Isaac bought my dad a big camoflauge travel cup and he got Maw a vegetable peeler. Sarah got Maw a scrubber for dishes and we got Paw some blue jeans and a nice dress shirt. We got them a calendar with pictures of our family through the past year and a photo book of pictures from this past year.

Thank you Paw and Maw for spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us and for the gifts you gave!! We love you both very much!!! So thankful for the memories we made!!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Chirstmas with the Camp's 2012

On Sunday, December 23rd, we took a trip to Alabama to have Christmas with Bryan's family and to see my grandmother. We had Christmas at Bryan's oldest brothers home and I took pictures of the children opening their presents and thought I would share those pics with you.
Levi has the sweetest personality! He is a smiley! :) He enjoyed opening his presents and seeing what was inside!
Miss Joanna got a baby doll from her Gigi and Pop! She loves baby dolls!
Timothy was so excited about getting to open presents and all of them were his favorites!
Jameson loves anything with wheels! He got a toy 4-wheeler and tractor he could push around the house.
Elijah was ripping into his presents!
Sarah loved everything she got. One gift was a book....which I am sure she will have read before too long!
Isaac got exactly what he wanted!! He got a Chip Hilton series book and a Texas A&M ball cap. :)
Riley was so excited about his gifts and it shows in the smile on his face!
Peyton is growing up supper fast but still enjoys opening her presents!!

Our kids had so much fun with their cousins!! The adults opened presents too, but I didn't get all those pictures. :)

After spending time with Bryan's family we headed to my parents house and had supper with them and my grandmother. I don't get to see her as often as I would like so it was so nice to get to spend some time with her. She will be 80 next month!!

No matter how many presents we open each year, I pray that my kids will never forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas....Jesus!!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Gingerbread Houses

 One of the days of "Countdown to Christmas" we made gingerbread houses! We all had such a great time and made some great memories!
 Elijah was very creative and loved squeezing the icing out. Here is a picture of him really concentrating! :)
 Elijah posing with his "house".
 Elijah's final project! He loves talking about building this or that, or how we could remodel the house...so this was a perfect project for my little builder!
 Here is Timothy working on his house. Mommy had to help some but he had so much fun!
 Timothy's final project...he told us it was a playground. His was the only "house" with a slide on it. :)
 Isaac working hard to build his gingerbread house just right!! I think he used the most "glue" (icing) out of all the children.
 Isaac's final house! He did a great job and I am so thankful that he enjoys doing stuff like this still!! :)
 Miss Joanna didn't make a house she just ate all the pieces!! Finger licking good!! :)
 Daddy had to jump in and join the fun!!
 His house was the biggest and most detailed!! So much fun! The kids would help him and tell him where to put something else. :)
 Sarah loves anything crafty!! She was so excited about this and enjoyed every minute of it!
Sarah's final house. She even has stepping stones leading up to the front door!

All the houses were so creative and I am so thankful for all the fun we had and memories we made. Hoping to make this a family tradition!!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Basketball 2012

The three oldest have been playing basketball at the school (Community). It has been very good for them. They all have enjoyed meeting new friends, having fun, and being on a team.

The first three pictures are of Sarah. She has done really well and loves playing basketball. Her team has not lost a game!!


 She is the one with the headband on. :)

The next three pictures are of Isaac and his team. He has a young team, he is the oldest and the only one who has played before. They have won two games! He loves playing and has done really good!!


I thought this was a good "action" shot of him!! :)

The next three pictures are of Isaac too, but on a different team. He was asked to join some of the other boys and make a team to play another school. He played two games with his regualr team and then later that night he played with this other team. That was three games total for this boy and he enjoyed every minute of it!!



The last three pictures are of Elijah playing basketball. This was his first time playing and he just had a good time. So fun to watch the Kindegarten age group....no score keeping just plain fun and learning!!



Elijah would run down the court with the biggest smile on his face!!