Confession: I'm that mom that posts food pictures to Facebook.

You've all seen it.  I've started.  I'm mixing Pinterest with Facebook and posting and sharing those healthy juices, whole foods, organic blurbs, and recipes.  I've even crossed that food line and am posting photos of my kids eating my creations.  I'm that mom.  Admit it...you've thought it...why is she posting pancakes...all that means is that she followed some recipe she found online, took the time to make them while her kids sat in front of a screen of some kind, and then she snapped a picture....did anyone actually even eat them!?

And that friends is WHY I post the photos.  Because it's a therapeutic road to overcoming a great obstacle of mine...THE KITCHEN.  You see, I dislike cooking, baking, and cleaning up the kitchen.  I'm notorious for looking at a recipe for 2 seconds and immediately disregarding it because I don't know what broil, roast, sautee, or aminos mean.  And I'm not patient.  When I see all those steps and ingredients I think...no way.  A bowl of cold cereal is much easier than homemade panckaes...no way.

Until recently.  Emily's food allergies and our whole family's commitment to eating real, whole foods for better health has forced me to overcome this chip on my shoulder about the kitchen.  We all know that whole foods and real foods are better than processed.  Plus, the older I get the worse I feel when I eat unhealthy processed foods.  I knew that we needed to change.  And I decided to go all pioneer and crunchy and be that whole foods mom that posts pictures of food on facebook. 

So please know, when I post a photo of pancakes it's because I'm celebrating something that YOU'VE probably already mastered (serious kudos to all those kitchen lovers)!!  I truly had never made homemade pancakes, granola, or juices until now.  And I'm making a discovery....they taste good and it is semi-fun (let's not go overboard, though).  I post the photos because my house did not burn down and the food looks edible.  Trust me, that to me is Facebook worthy!!

(And to those moms who post food related topics and have mastered the kitchen...please keep on posting...you are my hero!)

 



My Merry and Messy Christmas (Part 2 - the Works Part)

Yes, I'm a Pinterest mom.  Here's what we did the month of December.  Yes, I focused too much on the MERRY and not enough on the CHRIST child (my last post confesses).  But since I took all the pictures, I thought I would still post and share :)

 

CRAFTS:

 

 Our felt Christmas tree we could keep decorating again, and again, and again, and again.

 Max's letter to Santa....love!!  (Although, don't ask him if there's a child around...he will blatantly say, "Santa is not real"  He wrote this to humor me :)

 Max!

 Carlee!

 Thomas!

 Making wreaths at the table.

 Max's paper from school - running away from the Decepticon...LOVE!

 The Three Wisemen....my favorite art activity of the season :)

 GLITTER! (It's still stuck on the table)

 Candy canes!

 Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, we're the gingerbread kids!

 Life size gingerbread kids!

 We made puppets and reenacted the Gingerbread Man story.

 Love love love this pose and smile!!!

 Working hard on her gingerbread girl.

 Making ornaments!



Max's hundreds chart...he spent a lot of time writing his numbers in December :)

 

Nativity Scene with paint and stamps

 

SNACKS

 

 

 

 Grape Christmas Tree!

 Pizza Christmas shapes!

 Apple Christmas Trees

 

 

 Gingerbread Quesadillas!

 

Strawberry/Banana Candy canes

Yum!

 

SNOW much fun and other cute Christmas shots!

 

And that's a WRAP!  Merry and Messy Christmas everyone!!!!

A Merry and Messy Christmas

 First, an absolute shout to my brother (Pre-Pastor) Daniel and Pastor Brian for reminding me that Christmas is messy and merry. (Yes, Gertrude did learn a thing or two).  Of course Christmas has its merry times and I am truly so glad that it did for me this year.  But I missed the boat (again) this year.  I focused so much on making Christmas as MERRY as possible that I forgot how Jesus arrived on this Earth.  I focused so much on making Christmas MERRY for everyone by completing my Pinterest December list, making treats and snacks, and having the right outfits.  Sadly...this year I thought I actually was doing it right because my activities were more Christ centered than secular.  While this is good, my focus was still more on the MERRY than the Christ child.

Beautiful baby Jesus, the perfect son of GOD, who came to redeem ME from my ugly sin was born in a stinky, dirty, animal filled stable.  After Jesus was born, he was wrapped in the only clean cloths that Mary and Joseph had and was laid in a bed of straw that animals had been eating from.  There were no Clorox wipes, bleach, or Norwex cloths to be found.  Then Jesus was visited by shepherds who had been out in the fields and brought there sheep with them.  Followed by the wisemen who road stinky camels that spit for miles and miles.  Not exactly the hospital guests I would have invited in to see nonetheless hold my newborn!

For Jesus was born into a MESSY world.  Jesus was born into a world full of hate, evil, and sin.  Jesus was born into a world where a king killed baby boys by the hundreds and Rachel wept and could not be consoled.  Jesus was born into a world where his mother and father had to run in the middle of a cold night to an unfamiliar and foreign country so Jesus would not be killed.  Jesus was exiled by age 2.  Jesus was born into a world of unbelievers where people cared more for themselves than for others or God.

And that's the world that Jesus was born into this year at Christmas.  I still live in a world where babies are killed, people suffer from lack of food, clothing, and love, and people are more selfish than selfless.   This is when I realize, Christmas isn't just about painting, making ornaments, and cookie decorating....it's about looking around at the mess we still live in and still finding joy, peace, love, and a Savior.

I still completely support singing the Christmas hymns that bring such joy to my heart, and practicing the traditions that bring such a twinkle to my children's eyes.  I should celebrate that Jesus is born and saves us.    But next year, I'm going to try and remember that the stable is not far from the cross.  The clean cloth that Jesus was wrapped in was all too quickly used to clean the blood and sweat off Jesus on the cross.   That's not merry and messy.  All because of the first two letters of both of those words....ME.  Because I sin, because I don't get it, Jesus came into this world as a baby to save ME.  To GOD be the glory, right?  His love endures forever!