12.30.2010

five on friday

1. Max has recently mastered the art of chewing gum. Now if we can master the art of not smacking! That may be harder than learning to keep gum in your mouth for an extended period of time!

2. We came home from my parents' house on Wednesday. While we were there, I stayed up late a few nights, and in the silence, I could hear the scanner in the background. I just have to say that I'm glad I don't have one! I could get very addicted! Maybe I should be a dispatch operator one day! In all seriousness, the men and women who serve as policemen are to be commended for all they do! And their business is way too intriguing to me!

3. Despite the time I wasted eavesdropping on the local law enforcement, I did do some productive things while I was at my mom and dad's! Since I don't currently have a house, I have very few projects going (other than a few sewing projects here and there.) So in the mean time, I have descended upon my parents' house! They have in the last few years begun to redo portions of their house. But the bathroom cabinets have been begging me to paint them! So that's exactly what I did. With just a little paint, stain, and a sander, I turned this:


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in to this:

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Here's a closer shot:

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It fulfilled a small desire in my heart! Wonder if the apartment complex would mind if I "enhanced" their cabinets? Probably so! :)

4. We made a few stops on the way home from Georgia. Most of our stops centered around eating. We stopped in Atlanta to eat at JCT Kitchen. I had the Shrimp and Grits and they were fabulous! Later we stopped in Birmingham to shop, and we ended up eating again! We had dinner at Flip Burger Boutique. It was such a cool place. Obviously they serve burgers, but the milk shakes and onion rings were outstanding. The kids shared a "Krispy Kreme" milk shake before dinner.


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The cool thing about the milk shakes, besides the fact that they are "Krispy Kreme" flavored, is that they pour liquid nitrogen on the top of them before they serve them. They come to your table smoking!

The hamburgers did not disappoint either!
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And the onion rings were to die for!
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After that meal, I swore I'd never eat again.

5. But last night I went to Texas de Brazil. I seriously have to quit eating. But it's awfully hard when you see "Krispy Kreme" milk shakes on the menu!

If I forget to mention it, Happy 2011 to your crew from ours!


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12.27.2010

coming to a close

It's all coming to a close. We participated in our final Christmas gathering yesterday. I already see the decorations coming down, the diets starting, and Wal-Mart will have its shelves packed with Easter candy before we know it!

This has truly been one of my best Christmases ever. Maybe it's the age of my children, maybe it's the maturity in me, or maybe it's a combination of a changed heart in us all. I gained more memories this Christmas than I have in the 29 I have participated in prior to this point! I can honestly say "Life is Good!"

From building gingerbread houses to acting out the Christmas story with the boys, we have had a busy few weeks. And to top it all off, we had White Christmases every where we went this year. You can't ask for much more than that!

As I felt this Christmas season slipping away, I wanted to take all of our memories and bottle them so I would never forget them. The next best option was to take them all and put them in to a video. So here's a look at our Christmas from 2010! I think I'm going to start planning next Christmas today! Enjoy...

(To watch, click play on the video. If you have trouble, allow the video a few minutes to download or click on the link below the video to be redirected to the Vimeo page.)

Christmas 2010 from Sarah Marlin on Vimeo.

12.26.2010

the gift

There comes a point each Christmas where you reach the person who has everything. And even if they don't have everything, nothing you choose for them seems to be adequate enough to express your appreciation for them for the days and months leading up to Christmas. For me, that person or persons always seems to be our parents.

I just can't seem to make myself give them a knick-knack or the latest trendy product. I guess this is why for the last few years, I have found myself making family heirloom quilts and making frames with lasting photographs of precious memories. As I was surfing the internet last week, I found a writer who put in to words my philosophy on gift giving. She said they attempt to make the other person cry!

That said it all for me! Not that I have in any way EVER made my parents or in-laws cry, but my point is I want my gift to them to be meaningful... something that stirs up old memories and reminds of why we invest so much time and love in to our families! And I hope the gifts always say a quiet "thank you" to them for all they do for us throughout the year.

This year I had an idea brewing from several years ago. A co-worker once told me of a collection of artwork that she kept from her children's childhood. She told me of how she she changed them out during the year based on their theme. My first thoughts were a calendar, but those are useless after one year. My second thought was to have Jack draw 12 different pictures to represent each month, but I assure you that he would have burnt out after the second picture. So after considering a few other ideas, I got out my favorite basket and got started!

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I decided to use the boys' hands to create artwork for each month. We used some part of their hand for every picture... either their entire hand, finger tip, or palm. Just so you know... you are risking your life when you paint the hand of a two-year-old, but he loved it none the less! We had such a great time painting hands together, and I though the finished product turned out super cute! I have connections with a preacher and he helped me line up verses to put at the bottom of each picture!


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And when we were finished we put 'January' in a frame and wrapped it up!


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To finish it off, I bought a small wooden box at Hobby Lobby and placed the extra monthly cards in it for safe keeping!


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I am grateful each year that I am able to "purchase" gifts, but I must say that nothing makes my heart smile quite like "making" a gift for those we love! Merry Christmas to our parents!

12.23.2010

five on friday


1. I saved a life last night. Fireworks attemtped to turn deadly at a family gathering, and I was able to extinguish my father-in-law's behind! ( That's a sentence I never anticipated writing... ever!) Okay... it may have not been that serious of a situation, but an unexpected firework did shoot in his direction and caught his pants on fire. I was able to put the fire out with my boot! I felt a little heroic- maybe I should wear a cape or a mask. You can call me "Super Sarah" if you like! Here's the proof:

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And for the record... I never expected to take a picture of my father-in-law's behind...ever! You must learn to expect the unexpected when you become a super hero! :)

2. We did Christmas early at our house. We've never done this before, but I have to say I really liked it! We always leave immediately after opening gifts on Christmas Day, and it always seems so rushed. So, we opened all of our gifts bright and early on Wednesday morning. Both boys got iPods. Judge me not. When a two-year-old asks you for your iPhone and can turn it on and find the game he wishes to play, we figure he's at least ready for a refurbished iPod of his own! Here's a picture of them enjoying a little "Despicable Me" on their iPods!

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3. We finally watched Twilight this week. We are a little behind. I'm not sure I'm the biggest fan yet, but we are intrigued enough to watch the second and third movies in the series. I'll let you know if I'm on the Twilight bandwagon after I've seen all three!

4. I stitched right through my finger this week! I was sewing a few last minute Christmas items for someone, and evidently I put my finger a little too close the needle. The culprit was a towel that was going to be given to one of my students. My dear sweet Abby- when you wrap yourself up in that cute little towel after your bath each night, you can always think of me!

5. I really love to buy gifts. But more than that, I LOVE to make gifts. Anything that requires this basket makes my heart beat a little faster:
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Of all the gifts I'm giving this year, the present that involved this basket is my favorite! I'll have more on this later, after I've given this gift out! So, what's your favorite gift that you gave away this year?

12.21.2010

christmas houses

I wish I were more rooted in tradition with our kids, but the truth is I sincerely love change. This is likely the reason that we never do the same thing twice in our home!

At school, I am much different, and I have my all-time favorite activities that I tend to pull out year after year. One of those activities is building gingerbread houses. It just makes me smile to see all those iced houses adorned with brightly colored candies.

This year I decided to bring that tradition home to my boys. Jack could hardly wait for the big event. I was careful to gather all the ingredients before I called in the troops.

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Of course when I did call them to the table, they did what most children do when they sit in front of a table filled with candy and icing.....


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They ate.

After their taste test, both were ready to dive in and decorate. We started with the icing on the roofs. Some people worked very hard.

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Some people worked hard briefly and then became sidetracked. The guilty shalll remain nameless.

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Finally it was time for the best part... the candy. One person in particular worked very diligently to complete their house.

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And others continued to gorge themselves by taking in large handfuls of candy and devouring anything they could find.

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In fact, on his house, you'll find many half-eaten pieces of candy. For example, check out this Santa who is mysteriously missing his legs.

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To be fair, he wasn't the only one that was interested in a little snack. The dog waited patiently for ANYTHING that hit the floor or the chair in this case.

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When all was said and done, we had two houses. One house was adorned with perfect patterns, neatly aligned ornamentals, and a well-thought out design.

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And then we have another. It may or may not resemble the looks of CandyLand throwing up!

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But when Max finished his masterpiece, he stepped back and said, "My mimas (Christmas) house is pufec (perfect)!" And it was!

They were both perfect! I certainly hope this tradition sticks around for many years to come!

12.20.2010

parents

Everybody has them. Some parents are naturally great at their job. Others could use a manual for step-by-step directions. Either way, God created them and has big plans for each parent and high hopes for them as they attempt to train up their children. His hopes were nothing short for the two that He chose to raise His child.

Our following two Christmas boxes revealed Mary and Joseph. Since I couldn't locate that step-by-step parenting manual mentioned above, we told the boys how the angel had told Mary she would have a baby and then we explained how she shared her news with her cousin, Elizabeth. But the whole "virgin birth" part just didn't get a lot of discussion. I know they say children are more aware of sexual matters earlier and earlier, but I am CONFIDENT that my boys would have displayed a definite "deer-in-the-headlights" look if we had attempted to explain that section of the story.

Joseph was a different story. His story has deep roots in the lives of my boys. After all, didn't he "adopt" the Son of God as his own? It was a great opportunity to remind our boys how special they are and how we took them in to our home to love them and raise them as our own! It also reminded me of just how blessed Joseph was to have been given that opportunity to raise a child (not to mention the baby was the Messiah!) It makes me smile to think that Jesus and my boys share such a common bond!

After the story was over, we had to soften the mood so we acted out the scene where Mary and Joseph and traveled to Bethlehem on a donkey only to find a full "hotel" and an empty "barn." (We had to change the words slightly for our twenty-first century children.) Lucky for me, I won the role of the "innkeeper." Max was "Mary" and Jack was "Joseph." Jason naturally found his role as the donkey, and I have to say he did a fabulous job!

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Pardon the dog. Although Mary and Joseph most likely did not take their dog with them, Otis thought he needed to be part of this story!

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I am also certain that Mary's ride did not resemble that of a bull ride, but that's exactly what ours turned in to!

This Christmas we are thankful for Mary and Joseph and the overwhelming responsibility that they accepted and handled with such grace and love! And I'm so grateful that God allowed Jason and I to raise two beautiful boys, and that we are able to share the Christmas story with them! I pray they remember if for years to come!


12.19.2010

ummm... jesus?

Preacher's kids are notorious for being rebels. And as hard as I try to change them, mine have a little in them as well! Kids will be kids, and our kids often miss important spiritual things. Just the other day we were debating on buying a kit that taught the Christmas story to children. In an effort to decide whether or not to purchase it, I simply asked Jack, "Jack, why do we celebrate Christmas?" I waited for him to preach a three point sermon and sing Just As I Am but instead I heard silence. Assuming he didn't hear me, I asked again and this time I heard a small unsure voice say, "Ummmmm.... Jesus?"

I apologize if you were the one I violently pulled in front of on my way to LifeWay. We needed that kit, and we needed it quickly. My babies may be 110% boy, but they WILL know the Christmas story!

Unfortunately, the kit that we bought was not my favorite so we have had to revamp it slightly. The theory behind is that you open one small box each night and tell a part of the Christmas story. The problem with it is that the story is written in poetic form, and my boys are on another planet after the first line. So we just tell the story in our own words, and to help it sink in, we do a little something extra at the end!

The first night, we opened the box and found an angel.
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In an effort to make the lesson stick, we made a little something to remind us of the angel and the part he played in the beautiful story.
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Now we not only have some great memories, we have two fabulous angels on our tree to remind us of the beginning of the Christmas story!

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I hope that if you ask my boys about Christmas now that both can tell you that we celebrate Jesus' birthday at Christmas. And I'm pretty sure that both can tell you that an angel came and told Mary that she would have a baby, and she should name that baby Jesus! I can't wait to share the rest of the story with them as we patiently await Christmas Day!

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Interested in this kit? Here's the link: