Snoozing on a Rainy Afternoon…
Could they get anymore comfortable???

Here are a few pictures from Christmas at our house and below a few words of wisdom from my Christmas Gift from God.
Baby girl and I got to pose for a rare picture together.  We were in our pajamas as we opened gifts on a rainy Christmas morning.

"Lord, thank you for the greatest gift…..yourself"
Julie
gift, Christmas, Jesus, seeking, less is more

Some of you who read my Tips on the Tip of the Day in November on the Company Porch were promised our annual burning of the Christmas Tree pictures.   Well here they are.  Because of a big weather system we ended up scheduling the even a few days early.  It’s raining  buckets here today.  So, here you go….complete with bottle rockets, firecrackers and lots of diesel fuel!  Have a blessed New Year!  Julie

Nope, not me but HERE

But I heard about a great way that Kelly at Pass the Torch is raising money for St. Jude Children’s  Research Hospital. Her corporate sponsor, Empowering Youth Inc. , will donate $1 for every comment she receives on this entry before Saturday night. Isn’t that fabulous?!

I’m always amazed at God.  I hope He never stops amazing me.  He’s so wonderful.  From the joy and peace I feel having a very full and blessed life to the pain I pray others through I see HIM reveal Himself.  This Christmas has been no different.

I love you….your daughter, Julie

Since Christmas Day was calling for 100% rain we decided to give the boys thier outdoor toys Christmas Eve day.  The tree house was unveiled.  The zip line was completed.  Skateboards were unwrapped.  Monster size Tonka truck were run up and down the driveway all day long.  Christmas Eve day ended with a campfire and my great friend still visiting me.  It was awesome.  We had other friends stop by for a cup of coffee around the fire.  It was great!  I guess one of the awesome things about not doing Santa is that we get to decide when the children get their gifts, not Santa.  Today would have been horrible for anything outdoors.

So here are the kids enjoying their first trip up and into the tree house.  Zip line pictures will have to be posted later.

The TREEHOUSE

Here they are making their way up the ladder/ramp when we got home from church.

First son found HIS skateboard right off!

A proud dad by his Alma Mater!

Just know that the fact my kid could actually look like this even when kidding around scares the dickens out of me.  It just isn’t right!!!

That’s a little more like it.  Not quite as "bubba"ish and more "cowboy"ish.

Merry Christmas!
Julie

Hi!  It’s Saturday night and my husband is putting the children to bed and I’m down at the campfire with my laptop.  Usually I’m putting the kids to bed and he’s down here so it’s nice to have a few minutes to chill out by the fire.  After building it earlier I left it to cook dinner.  We had a yummy dinner tonight with friends…steak, chicken, baked potatos, homemade mac and cheese…yum yum!!

I just threw three more logs on the fire and it’s beginning to get toasty warm down here.  It was a gorgeous day here with temperatures in the 70s.  I love cold nights and warm days.  Maybe the southeast isn’t the best place for me.  It’s normally not like this.  The weather is turning colder next week and we’ll have 50 degree days, but for now I’m loving this weather.  I had all the windows open today as I watched my husband work on the tree house.  He finished it today, complete with ladder which we’ll put up on Christmas Eve.  I still need to make a flag for it because I haven’t been able to find one that is appropriate for what I believe we stand for as a family.  I guess my pursuit of a flag is like Tony’s pursuit for a name for his farm.  I think I want a big lion like in the move Chronicles of Narnia and "Worthy is the Lamb" written on it.  Being that our last name is Worthy I thought that was a great idea.  We’ll see what materializes in the flag world this week.

Baby girl today as she ran back and forth between me and helping her dad!

My husband has done an amazing job on the tree house.  He didn’t grow up with a dad who taught him to build things so it’s been amazing for him and for me as he’s taken on this giant task.  I’ve loved watching him figure things out as he goes and learn all by himself….well, just him and God.  I think he’d tell you that God did a lot of the figuring out.  Tonight he completed the tree house with colored icesicle (how DO you spell that word?  i couldn’t find it anywhere!) lights.  It looks amazing. 

I hope to pull off a type of scavenger hunt Christmas morning to let the boys find the cool things we’ve gotten for the tree house.  We got them a zip line we hope to be able to mount from it so they can zing their way to freedom!  I can’t wait to get that installed.  They also have a cow bell, a fake deer bust, an big AUBURN sign, two pulleys with rope and a bucket and a coat rack.  We even found an old Route 66 sign. 

Here you can see the ramp and the rope we’re using for the ladder!  Doesn’t it look cool?

And here’s a look at the tree house complete with tin roof and you can see the lights in this picture.

I’m so proud of my husband and I know he’s proud of himself.  Christmas is just around the corner and soon we’ll be camping in the tree house after a night of campfires and roasted marshmellows. 

Truly, we are blessed.  As a family and as a nation.  As I sit by a warm camp fire there are Christians tonight that do not know if they will wake up in the morning.  Some live in tents, some underground, some are on the run.  Some will not sleep at all.  Some will wake up to loved ones who have been captured or are dead.

"Lord, I ask you to watch over our brothers and sisters tonight that are in the battle on the front lines, dying for their faith.  Give them a night of rest and of peace, dear Lord.  May I and other Christians stand in the gap for them tonight as they lay in peace.  Gather them into your fold and unto your breast tonight Lord and blanket them with your comfort and your love."  Keep them safe Jesus.
Amen

Wishing you sleep tonight too…
Love,
Julie

You know you are in trouble when one day or so of blogging comes to a screaching halt….YIKES.  I’ve missed catching up on everyone and seeing what’s going on.  My hubbie is out of town for the week and we are all missing him terribly.  My best friend is coming for Christmas and I’m still ready to eat some yummy Christmas food.  Our church is having a dinner next Monday night and we’re having shrimp and grits.  Yum!  Yum!  So I’m going to have a nice variety of food between now and Christmas. 

IN HIM,
Julie

Well, since I can't enter my own contest I'm just going to post a few pictures.  Check out the entries for the contest here.  Check out the contest here.

This noble fellow sat waiting his turn at the bird feeder yesterday.  Isn't he great?  I played around with Photoshop until I got this cool effect because he was a little out of focus.

And here's the little fellow that was eating while Mr Redbird was waiting…well, maybe this one looks more like a “she”.  Isn't she pretty?

This is my husband's favorite part of Christmas decorations…the Snow Village.  This was a cool effect and looks like water.

And here's our tree!  We've really struggled with a tree topper this year.  I teased my hubbie after he brought this one home because it looks like a lollie pop to me.  The one he brought home tonight was bright orange.  So he's delegated the task to me.  I hope I can find something that works.  Our beautiful star from years past has died.  And my 6 year old requests a star!!  So off I'll go tomorrow in quest of a pretty star.

Our dog Sparky is such a cool chick.  Here she is on the back porch.  By the way, has anyone else just about given up on school for the month of December?  Maybe the cold days we're due will cause us to hit the books again.  We've had near 70 degree weather for a week!  We're really having trouble getting back in the swing of things since Thanksgiving.  I'm ready for Christmas!!

And Don't Forget:

A couple of days before Thanksgiving I posted a contest for the best Turkey feasting picture but I think I needed to post it a little earlier based upon the comments I received. 

So with all that said let's have a “We're gettin' ready for Christmas“ photo contest.  It can be funny or classic or just plain beautiful, but it's got to be from this year's Christmas happenings.  Post the photo on your blog and then comment on my blog.  Send me an email with an attachment of your picture to julie.stew@yahoo.com.  I'll print off the pictures and let my kids and hubbie pick the winner.  The winner gets 25 FREE Digital Prints on me!

So get out those cameras and start snappin'.  You've only got until December 10th!!!