First First for December

Well, there are not many things new a young child can do in December once they have enjoyed their first Christmas. And because Mattie May has been in day care since she was a baby, she has had parties at school to celebrate. Her first first this year is her first school party. It was a really great party. Katie or I could neither get off work to help with the party, but Frank was off work and he gladly stepped in to help. I guess you could say this was his first school Christmas party too. What a great guy/grandfather/hubby/dad!

They had sandwiches, veggie trays, and chips for lunch, cookies and cupcakes for dessert.

And Frank was right there helping.

Cute gloves!

That's a lot of food for 24 four year olds!

Yummy lunch with friends.

But before lunch and the gift exchange, the students gave a little performance. They started before I got there, but Frank caught some of it on video for me. You know Mattie May can be a little shy sometimes, but see if you can pick her out in this video.






HAHAHA! She is such a ham! I guess that's better than her being shy and not wanting to be up there. Love that kid!
(Technical Problems: I can not get the video to load. But I will tell you, she is certainly the "center" of attention in it. I will try again later to get it to load)

That afternoon when we got the mail, there was a special envelope for her. It was from an address we weren't familiar with.
It was her first letter from Santa Clause, all the way from the north pole. It wasn't just a letter, it had all sorts of goodies in it. She was so excited. We were able to put most of the things away to save for her later. But maybe she'll get another letter next year.




I'm catching up with our first first. Tomorrow I will be going through January. WOW! It seems like I've had a few things to say about that month.


God Bless!

Ephesians 6:14-15

We are so close to Christmas, I just can't believe it! There are only four circles left on Santa's beard (Mattie May's count-down-calendar she made at school) and only three chocolates left in her advent box I bought for her at Christmas in November. I don't have a single gift wrapped, and I am sure I will find a few I still need to buy. We have just been busy. With what? I really don't know. We are just doing something all the time.

"The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has been in theaters for weeks and we have yet to see it. That is because Mattie May and I are reading the book and we aren't finished with it. As much as she wants to see it, she agrees with me that we

should finish reading before we do.

We have made cookies and cupcakes this month and if you have been keeping up, a gingerbread house was completed too!

It has been almost a month since I posted that I had all my Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail, and they were, sort of. There were a couple being mailed overseas and it took me a little longer to get to the post office than I had intended and then I had to give them time to arrive. We then received some cards from several people that were not on my list and we had to order more cards. That was a first for us.

Thankfully, we chose to have the cards printed instead of me making them. I don't know where I would have found the time to make more.

This is the fifth addition of our card to feature Mattie May. She has really changed this year, from a toddler to a little girl. Long gone are the dog ears that I love so much. Looking back at the last four cards, we just couldn't see how we could keep doing them the way we were and trying to make the next one better than the last. So we agreed to make some changes but keep the cards the same (clear as mud, right?)

In 2006, we were given an amazing gift from God, and what better way to give a gift than to wrap it up in a box with a bow...

2006

We had the angel announcing the birth of the King of Kings...

2007

The next year, we let her chose who she wanted to be and she chose one of her favorite stories, Esther, a wonderful story of faith...

2008

She also chose her character last year. She loves to play "mommy" so of course she chose Mary, so very tired from the journey to Bethlehem but lovingly caring for her new born son, the Son of God...

2009

We just felt that we couldn't make a better card and with her starting school, we couldn't find the time to do the picture. She is so very tired when she gets home in the evenings; school all day and then karate until about seven. Then add a tournament and belt tests on top of that and we were really pressed for time. And once the pictures were done, I would have to find the time to make the cards.

I was going through some pictures I had taken at her latest belt test and I found one of those lucky shots. You know the ones I mean, a great picture among some that are not so great. I showed it to Frank and he had the same idea I did. And to top it off, I had just read a scripture that fit perfectly.

Mixon Family Christmas Card 2010

Ephesians 6: 14 - 15

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled

around your waist, with the breastplate of

righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted

with the readiness that comes from the

gospel of peace.

I added this larger picture so you could see it a little better.

See...I told you the card was going to be different, but I promised it would be the same. A scripture from His Word and a picture to help tell the story.

In all the hustle and bustle that comes along with this time, please remember to sit with your children and remind them that it is not about all the gifts but about The Gift that was given to us by God.

From our family to yours, we pray for you a very Merry Christmas.

It's Dropped below 100!

I just noticed my countdown to Disney has dropped to below 100! WOW! I still don't know if I have everything together! But what is even more unbelievable is that Christmas is now less than 100 days away too!

Everybody get ready for the rush!!

WOW!

I can't believe that we are already past the half way mark of January! This month is going by so fast. It has been a good month. I finally finished getting all my pictures put together in my Scrapblog. It has some problems, but I am going to post it anyway. If I can get them fixed, I will re-post it. If it won't fix, well it will just stay the way it is.

I hope you are having a great month and week.

God bless.




Remember to click on the scrapblog to make it bigger!

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!

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!

Mattie May's Merry Musings - Christmas Tree

Yesterday, my dear sweet husband finished all the outside Christmas decor and moved inside setting up the Christmas tree. He got all the timers set up and everything looks great other than the fact that it is now my turn to get all the ornaments on the tree and finish with the decorating.

About the time he was finishing setting up the timer on the tree, Mattie May walked in.

"Oh Grumpy! It is so pretty! But where all the presents?"

"Santa will bring them when your asleep on Christmas eve."

"Oh yeah. I forgot." and she walks out of the room.

Such a silly willy! But ya' gotta love her!

Annual Christmas Tour

Every year we try to drive around looking at everyone's Christmas decorations. We have some great places to go and this year has been really good because Mattie May is "getting" Christmas. She has been so much fun. I never know where I am going to find the ornaments on my tree, but at least she has learned to put one back when she wants to take one off!

Sunday night we took our tour and had a wonderful time even though a cold front blew in! I hope everyone is enjoying this entire season.

Merry Christmas!

Be sure to click on the Scrapblog icon on the bottom of the picture.

With 22 days before Christmas, REMEMBER:

Jesus is Better than Santa...

Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever-present help.

Santa fills yours stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks and then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, what's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

JESUS has a heart full of love.
JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but...
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree,
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.
We need to put Christ back in Christmas.

Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2008
And my He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year 2009.

One of my non-bloggy friends sent this to me and I wanted to share.