Our Christmas Angel(s)

Jude and I, sans Joan and Charlotte (more on that later), arrived back to our home in Starkville this evening. Despite the slight chill in the house from being without heat for the past week and a half, our hearts are warm.

The stack of mail that our landlords collected for us contained a thick red envelope with no return address. Inside? Three Visa gift cards totaling $225.

We're a bit stunned, but mostly humbled, that someone (or more than one) thought about us this Christmas season and shared their blessings.

Immediately, we start to wonder who might've done this for us and look for clues, but to no avail. And as we verbally list everyone who it might be, we realize a great thing. There are several people in our lives that are generous and charitable, supportive and loving and it could be any of them - we recognize that our gift is not only the money, but the sheer number of people in our lives that bring us great joy, when so many others go everyday, literally or figuratively, with no one.

Was it you? Is our Christmas Angel reading right now?

If so, thank you.
Thank you for sacrificing, for giving - and for doing it so humbly. You are an example for all, especially us. And it is in that same spirit that we share your gift with someone close by who recently lost their home in a fire, days before their husband was deployed again. So you bless not just us, but those who need it more.

May God be generous to you, as you were to us,
and may His ever-loving presence be with you always.

P.S. You have cute handwriting.

This is your Christmas Card...

We won't be mailing cards out this year, but that doesn't mean we don't have adorable Christmas photos for your viewing pleasure. Here's a sneak peak of what you'll find when you go to the entire Facebook album:

(Thanks for helping us get this shot, Amy!)

 

Thanks for the adorable Christmas outfits, Tootsie and Big Poppa!

Can you see Joan's rosy, tear-filled face?

Charlotte just looks skeptical.

We wanted to shake up our store-bought gingerbread house kit, so we made it into a manger scene. I wonder if the Church would consider adding yellow sprinkles to the host, because Baby Jesus was pretty yummy. (That's a Catholic joke. I hope it doesn't offend anyone. Especially Catholics...)

We took that other photo first because I was sure it was going to cave in in a few seconds. I was wrong, the stable supported a few more gumdrops.

This was supposed to be a picture of our first "snow" of the year, but, we live in MS...

I hope you can hear Charlotte singing. It's so hard to catch her. Turn up your speakers.

This is Joan's first pre-school performance.

Since everyone in the world doesn't have Facebook

These are mostly for the grandparents...

Verbatim (The second one of the day...)

"I love you, Momma."
"I love you, too, and I'll always be in your heart - (pointing) right there."
"In my breast?"

Verbatim

"Joan, your friend is Catholic, too."
"Oh, is me Catholic?"
"Yeah, that's where we go to church."
"Ohhh... I know what you're talkin' about - we're holy."

"Oatmeal is soft... like... fluffy pillows."

"Thank you, Momma."
"Oh you're welcome - such sweet manners, it makes my heart smile."
"That's a miracle!"

"I smell popcorn in the air..."

"Momma, when are we moving?"
"Oh, we're not moving. Our house is just right and we'll probably be in it a long time."
"Well, maybe we can just paint it or something. Maybe pink and purple."

"Ok, Joan, do you need to go Pee pee?"
"Nope. And Charlotte already pooped, so we're ready to go."

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

It's nice being able to go back to last year on the blog and see how we celebrated this day back then. Today was not as elaborate, but still it was special.

The girls colored their Mary images and now she's hanging above their heads, with fluffy clouds this time around.

And now the babies are asleep and Joan's watching her Bernadette movie. Have a great Feast Day!

St. Nick's Day!

(Yes, it's only 10:40 am and I'm already posting. But I've got to go to "work" in a few minutes so this'll be fast.)

This morning, we found our resident "Elfie" hanging from Joan's stocking. He must've helped old St. Nicholas put chocolates and toothbrushes in the girls' stockings (kind of hypocritical if you ask me).

Design your own toothbrush, best. gift. ever.

Apparently, Elfie tip-toed into the bathroom and stole Charlotte's 

gently used toothbrush and put it back in her stocking. 

Aren't these pj's that Nanny Chloe and Art got the girls adorable!

We quickly got dressed and honored St. Nick by bringing our gifts for the poor to church - our second year in a row, so technically it's a tradition now.

St. Nicholas, Pray for us.

Making things makes life better: Repurposing Momma's clothes

We got some much needed babysitting services this weekend, and here's what I did...

This was one of my dresses that I only wore twice. Now it'll get more use. And I've done a dress like this before, but here's the tutorial if you need it again.

This was an old maternity sweater repurposed into a sweater dress. I used this link as a loose guide.

Also done while kid-free that day: 

Driving somewhere, getting out of the car, shutting my door, and walking away. (If you have 1+ kids, you know what a blessing this is.)

Eating an entire meal without cutting up baby bites, saying, "take a bite," or almost cussing because someone knocked over the drink again, and carrying on an uninterrupted conversation with my husband.

And lastly, a well-deserved purchase for myself.