Today's Verse




Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year! Bring on 2010!

I am waiting to get off work so I can head up to the Duda with Mom. Frank left this morning and I am just itching to go! I posted more about our trip on my fishing blog. You can click here if you want to read more about our adventures!

I wish you many blessing in 2010! Everyone be safe and have fun tonight!

God Bless you!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Well here it is, December 23. I still have lots of shopping to do and even more wrapping seeing as how what I have already purchased is still in bags and not wrapped. I have a luncheon to go to today with friends I worked with for years and they still invite me to the Christmas lunch. They are so sweet!

I know you have probably already read my post about my ornaments and the one about my favorite angel. Yesterday, I posted about Christmas cards past and I am pretty sure most of my family and friends have received our 2009 addition Christmas card. So today I am going to share with all of you the same.

I was really proud of Mattie May. She selected who she wanted to dress up as again this year and her heart is so full of the season. Last night we were talking about Santa Claus coming and how much fun it is going to be to see if he brought her the three things she asked him for (what do you think?). But then I asked her if that was the most important thing about Christmas and her answer almost made me cry. Now I am going to paraphrase, but remember she is only 3 (if only for another 12 days!

MM - "No Lolo, the important thing is Jesus. This is when he was born."

Me - " where does he live now?"

MM, pointing to her heart - "Here Lolo. He is with me all the time."

She knows and understands, she really does! So without further ado, please enjoy!





Merry Christmas to you all! God Bless your new year!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

2009 Addition of the Mixon Christmas Card

WOW!!! December 22! Where has the year gone! We have had a great year, with some bumps in the road but still great all the same. God has blessed us again, way beyond what we could ever deserve.

God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!

I don't think I have bought a single present for anyone other than Mattie May, so I still have lots of shopping to do. This has just been one of those years when I couldn't get it all together. I have reminded myself several times that if it doesn't get done, that it is OK. Getting it done is not what the holiday is all about. We did finally get the Christmas tree decorated. You can check out this post to see some of the ornaments that adorn our tree and if you want the story of my favorite ornament, check out this post.

We also have been busy getting our Christmas cards out. Oh the fun we had doing this one. We have friends that start asking about our cards as early as September! I never dreamed when I sent out that first card in 2006 that they would be such a hit with family and friends, but we are so happy they are. One of our very sweet friends (the wife of one of Frank's co-workers) has made a frame that she puts out each year with all of the pictures in it! If you want to see the previous years cards, start with this post, then look here to see last years card. I have been running late this year getting them out and actually ran out of pictures. I have ordered some more, so those of you that are new to my list, please be patient. You will get one but it may be a day or two after Christmas day!

I'm sorry, but no sneak preview this year! I will tell you, Mattie May has really taken interest in decision making process and this year she chose to go back to the "Reason for the Season"! She is just such a light in our lives: she can make the gloomiest day bright!

Hopefully I will get it all together and have a new post tomorrow! Until next time - God Bless you all!

Friday, December 18, 2009

My Scraggly Little Angel

Earlier this week, I posted this about my favorite ornaments. I also said that if anyone wanted the entire story of this scraggly little angel...

and why she was my favorite, that I would tell you. WOW! Who knew so many would be interested (thanks Julie!)! So for all of you (Julie), here is the story.


Katie was in the third or second grade (I forgot to add the date to the ornament) and her elementary school was having an ornament contest. There were no divisions or categories, just make an ornament, register it with the secretary, the teachers would judge and award a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize. That simple. A homemade ornament and try to win a prize out of say, 250 students! No big deal, right?

Katie had never really been interested in crafts, but she wanted to make something to enter. I asked someone for suggestions and they gave me this bread dough recipe that would be easy for her to do. I ran it past her and she thought that would be great. How else could she get away with making a mess in the kitchen and get to use paints at the same time? So she went to work.

Now a lot of you may not know, Katie has a really difficult time finishing things, especially if it had anything to do with school. Luckily, this project went pretty fast. I put all the ingredients in the bowl but she had to do the rest until it was time for the oven, and then of course it is safety first. While she kept squishing the mixture between her fingers, I found everything in the kitchen I thought she could use to make her ornament; rolling pin, cookie cutters, garlic press, anything. Once the dough was all mixed she really went to work, rolling cutting shaping; she did it all by herself. Once she said she was done, I put it in the oven to bake.

It didn't take long for it to get hard and ready to come out of the oven, and once it was out she could hardly wait for it to cool before she started painting. Again, I found anything around she could use to paint; brushes, toothpicks, combs, I wanted her imagination to take off. It didn't take her long to get finished, remember she has a very short attention span. Once the ornament was finished, I sprayed it with a glitter sealer and she hung it on our tree until the day she was supposed to turn it in.

My grandmother usually took her to school, but that morning I had made arrangements to be a little late to work so I could help her with her entry, and I am so glad that I did. I went in the school with her to help her get her little angel registered. When we walked in the front door, she stopped dead in her tracks. There were so many ornaments on that tree in the front foyer. She looked up at me with big crocodile tears and said "Momma, they are all so pretty. Take mine home because it is so ugly." My heart sank. Yes, there were a lot of ornaments on that tree. Not only was the tree almost full, but ALL of the ornaments looked like they had either been made by the parent or that the parent had paid a professional to make them. What could I do?

I leaned down to my baby and said "Honey, you have worked so hard on this and you did it all by yourself. I want everyone to see what a beautiful angel you have made me to put on our tree at home. Let's get it on this tree until I can come back to pick it up." She agreed and we got it registered and hung on the school tree.

The teachers did their judging and the prizes would be given out the Friday of the Christmas parties. It was a long wait that week for the results. But it ended up to be well worth the wait. Katie not only one 1st place, they gave her a special best of show prize. I couldn't believe it! That little scraggly bread dough angel won!

That afternoon at the party, the principle pulled me aside and thanked me for not making that ornament myself! "Parents want so badly for their children to do well, that they end up taking over. We could tell that Katie worked very hard on that angel ALL BY HERSELF! Yes she did.

So in the end, we learned a very valuable lesson about following the rules, honesty, and doing your best no matter what. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Ornaments

I have seen several of my bloggy buddies showing pictures of their homes all decorated for Christmas and some of their favorite items. Well since I don't decorate my entire house, I decided to show you some of our ornaments.

We have ornaments that commemorate our child's birth,

And now the birth of our grandchild.

There are ornaments that tell us of homes we have visited,

and when we purchased our new home,

and where our home and heart are.

You will find ornaments that let you know someone likes to hunt,

and loves to fish,

and that most of the time we fish together.

We have reminders of crafts made when Katie was a child and starting to learn crafts,

and that Mattie May is following in that tradition.

Katie has a pretty extensive collection of memories of her favorite movie,

and reminders that Mattie May is beginning to form her own opinions on movies.

There are Santas of all sizes

and shapes.

And of course it wouldn't be Christmas without angels on the tree

and one on top to make it complete.If you look deep into the branches, you'll find one that reminds us of the blood He shed on a different type of tree.

But of all the ornaments, no matter how big or small, shiny of dull, this angel is my favorite. It reminds me of a time I had to push my daughter to do something out of her comfort zone and how we all learned a valuable lesson in honesty and character.

So that is our tree.

If enough of you ask, I will tell you the story of the scraggly little angel you see above. I promise, it is a lesson everyone can learn from!

Merry Christmas!