New Year Hopes

This week's challenge at Serendipity Scrapbooks is to blog about my Hopes for the New Year...well after this year, I really don't have many, but the ones I have are dear to me...
1) Health for Joshua...
2) That we would grow closer as a family...that the brothers and sister would grow closer and realize that their strengths and weeknesses are a blessing
3) That we would all grow deeper in God's Word
4) That God would provide for our needs through my husband's business


That is really it...

C~

Christmas Blessings

We had a wonderful Christmas here in the Cannon home...thankful that God put on flesh and came to earth so that life could be totally different for those who believe in Him. We have had the first White Christmas that I remember in a LONG TIME...about 18 or so years...we live in an area that generally gets missed in the snow falls we get around here, so it was nice to get such a large amount of snow. I was so thankful that life really came to a stop...no running around for appointments and such...we were just HOME...
We got quite a bit done too...finished up the gifts we had been making, made my honey a week at a glance calendar, baked all kinds of goodies and got them to friends (thanks to my honey) and neighbors (thanks to our feet) and I felt blessed that we had such good friends and neighbors.
So this week, it's back to "work"...the children will be doing some schoolwork, I will be doing the work I need to do...and we all need to work on getting our house back to some kind of normal...we will be having family over on the 10th, so it will not be totally normal until after then, but we can get somethings done.
So I have to tell you...I got the coolest gift (well it's cool if you own a Kitchen-aid...It is a flat beater...like the white one that came with the mixer...that you use ALL of the time, but it has rubber type scrapers on the sides, so that it gets everything mixed in...I haven't used it yet, so I cannot verify that FOR sure, but I LOVE it...
Dana was in Canada this weekend with #2 at a hockey tournament...I haven't heard all of the details, but I did hear that he got an MVP award at one of the semi-final games...may have been the last game they played, I am not sure yet...but anyway...the game was tied 2-2 and went into overtime...remained tied...then went into sudden death...I guess he blocked all 5 shots...Dana was so proud of him..I will be excited to hear about it when everyone gets up...
I think I'm getting old, y'all...I go to bed early and get up REALLY early...that is not right...
WEll, that's it for now...Happy NEW Year everyone...can you believe that is 2009...almost one decade since Y2K

C~

A NW Washington Blizzard !?!?!?!

It has been SO cold the past week and a half or so and snow has been falling ALMOST everyday...this is the most snow for the longest time periond that we have ever had while we have lived here in Marysville...Will it be a WHite Christmas? Will we all get snowed in and unable to get where we need to go? I am not sure...but here are some pictures from my house!







BEAUTIFUL!

We also made all of the gifts for our extended family this year...I hope they like them, we all really had a great time making them...I'll tell you more about them AFTER Christmas!

Merry CHRISTmas Everyone!
C~

4 months...

That's how long it's been since blogging...I've heard that there have been those who have been checking...and Surprise....here is a new post....Well, it's been a whirlwind 4 months...when I last posted, David had just had his surgery...he probably had his cathetar pulled on that very day...So August and September had us VERY concerned with Joshua's health and we ended up taking him to Children's Hospital on September 13th...We had been trying to get him healthy in more natural methods, but as he was not putting on weight and slowly losing, we just got to the place where we could not have him one more pound down. We stayed in the hospital for 6 days and had MANY tests done...and were given the diagnosis of basically Juvenile Arthritis...so he has a mixture of meds that is helping him to feel better and EAT MORE...in the six weeks since we have been out of the hospital, he has gained 27 pounds and we are thrilled...pretty soon we are going to have to make good on a promise...when he reaches 100 pounds, we told him he could have a cell phone...I am on the quest for how to fill up teenagers and when I figure it out, I will probably write a book...
Speaking of books...ever the book lover...I am reading a couple of good ones right now...
Do Hard Things...a great book to motivate your teens (maybe even tweens) to rebel against low expectations...
I just finished a book about Princess Grace that was interesting...didn't really know anything about her, Rainier or Monacco before...or her death...
I'm also reading John Adams by David McCullough...I enjoyed 1776, so I am looking forward to this...the trouble is that I am reading it before bed, so I only get a page or two done night...even that will get me through it eventually...after that, I have another McCullough book on Harry Truman...I am looking forward to reading that because he was not considered a good President until many years after his term...interested in learning more about his life...
I have been collecting books for our history year...Fall of Rome through American/French Revolutions
So enough about books...the holidays are upon us and we are in the middle of planning our gift giving...we will be making A LOT of what we are giving and are gathering supplies and ideas. I think we will be making our first things early next week. Any great ideas you would all like to share? I'm not going to share much here...just in case anyone is peeking. We have hockey tournaments Thanksgiving Weekend and Christmas weekend beginning with the day after, so we will need to be organized, which is laughable if you know us well!!!
We are frantically sanding some 1 x 4 pieces of wood for a craft bazaar this weekend at church...I felt kind of bad not getting very much done, so I had an idea to make these nativity sets, which we are making for Christmas, but I am leaving these ones unpainted...so people can paint them how they like...anyway...the sanding is going SOOOOOO SLOOOOOOWWWWWW...what I wouldn't give for an electric sander right now...if I didn't always get these last minute ideas, I'd be doing good...Just call me last minute Larry...
Well, I need to go...gotta get busy getting children doing what they need to do...
Talk to you soon!
Carrie

Serendipity Blog Challenge

So Serendipity is having a blog party and the challenge this time is for posting a scraplift...which I am doing here....I found this board book in a Christmas Kit...I knew it was there, but didn't have a need for it, so I never looked real close at it...well it was a super cool Urban Lily secret Keeper book...when I looked at it, I couldn't believe the little treasure I had...so I am now on the quest to get more of these, but here is a baby album I made from this one...
So THanks Eliabeth for the idea...
Also, Kim's Challenge this week was to write about someone special to you....I am not sure why I think of Laura when I hear things like this, but she really taught me the importance of telling people you love them...Laura was a dear old lady in our church...mostly known as the cookie lady...she ALWAYS HAD COOKIES...anyway, she was very dear to me...when I was pregnant with Grace, before we knew we were having a girl, she told me...I am crocheting you a blanket...it's pink....I thought that was funny....but she seemed to know...then after Grace had been here a few months, she asked if Ruth Circle had made me a quilt...I said no, but that she had given me that blanket...well that wasn't good enough...so I got a beautiful quilt as well....
Then in July, we were working on Vacation Bible School...she was the snack lady and we were planning the shopping list...so we had talked and she was working away, serving the Lord...one hour later she had passed away...that's how I want to go...serving the Lord...anyway, this was a wake up call for me...I never told her how much I loved her and how special she was to me...there are other people that mean more to me than Laura, but she is the reason that they all know that I love them....

C~

Take me out to the ball game...

Well, I hear TWO DAYS LATER....that my daughter made her SINGING DEBUT at an EVERETT MERCHANTS baseball game....I am still irritated at this....no one even MENTIONED IT...
So the announcer asked the fans if anyone would like to come up to the press box and sing Take me out to the ball game in the mic...so my daughter goes up there, EVEN THOUGH SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THE WHOLE SONG and sings it....I cannot believe her...she is going to experience life SO MUCH because she is not afraid to try...so we have been practicing a little...there is a game on Thursday...I'll let you know if she sings again....

C~

Freedom

I am getting SO tired of everyone spouting their rights when questioned about things that aren't really appropriate for the general public....filth being produced under the freedom of speech right....vulgar, course talk spoken before the innocent ears of children....disgusting bumper stickers....and much more...I think you get the idea...
Sometimes FREEDOM means restraining self for the good of those around you...even though you have the RIGHT to speak however you like, is it really best for the 3 year old at the next table to hear? Just irks me to have my children exposed to such filth...all in the name of FREE SPEECH and such nonsense...

Off my soap box now...