Thankful Thursday

 This post will be way longer than I planned,

 if you'd prefer multiple posts

instead of loooooong posts, 

please let me know

Thankful for my sweet Simeon!

He's gotten 4 teeth since his surgery 3 weeks ago, 

and is working on more, I was not able to  lay him down til 5:30am

Thankful for my rocker recliner, we were able to nap on and off throughout the night!

Thankful we had an appointment with his plastic surgeon

and he gave me a kind of plan for how things will go in the next few years.

Our prayer now is first for his kidney surgery, Dec 18th

but also, 

that his premaxilla, (that front piece) moves down and into place in his mouth,

so he can have his palate done February, or early Spring

After that

no more surgeries til he's about 7 when his permanent teeth start coming in

He might need a revision of the palate...hoping, praying not though

(did you know the palate in our mouths, moves? --It's involuntary!)

 Thankful Advent is almost here!

That time of preparation

not only seasonal preparation,

but spiritual preparation

that time that needs silence, watchfulness and keeping vigil

for our souls, to prepare our hearts for the gift of every Christmas

the gift of the Christ Child, Jesus.

I usually do a paper Jesse Tree (see here)

but

saw Jessica's tutorial on how to make a felt Jesse tree set

(See here)

I've gotten all the supplies, but am going to make mine a little different, 

more on the lines of the Paper Dali ones we've used up til now.

(only felt)

Hoping to make these while I"m pumping

 I decided to do a different Advent countdown so I made this one  up

I thought of 24 different things to do each day
giving food to the food shelf,
 giving those stockings filled with homemade goodies to neighbors,
make Christmas crafts today,
set up the tent and fill with Christmas lights, etc..
I can list what we put in another post if you'd like.
2 cost money:
Open new Christmas book (which I still need to buy)
Open ornaments  (I also need to buy)
everything else is easy and fun!

 got some pretty card paper

 folded, numbered, stapled

 and hung in the window...

 Next year, I'm  planning on getting some clothes pins

 and hanging them forward facing

OK, I'm back to update...it bugged me too much....
forward facing looks better!

Except I ran out of clothes pins...Oh, we'll just move them as we open them!

 Thankful for Tom's mom.  She's the greatest!

She has made each child a Christmas stocking

and last year, I requested some for us, Mom and Dad!

Aren't they beautiful?

 On Dad's, the Wise men are coming towards the stable in mine

(she also hand quilted the bottom part)

 Thankful for these messes all over...this one actually makes me 

feel really anxious, there's a lot of work needed to be done here

 But, it's also full of ideas and busy times and learning!

Thankful for the fact that the messes won't always be there, 

but thankful (trying to be anyway) that they are there now.

 Thankful the Christmas songs have started!

 Thankful for creativity

even if it does not make sense to my type A personality

 I mean, who would think of making a doll house out of books

instead of using a real doll house?

and even putting that book doll house on top of a real doll house?

We don't really even need toys do we?

 Shelves make great rooms!

Thankful that pictures actually make it not look as messy as it really is.

And they help me to not get that anxious feeling this type A person gets

just seeing it. 

 Thankful this little girl is so full of love and kisses

She could brighten anyone's day!

I couldn't get Simeon to sleep last night, and she was being rocked with him, 

so I brought her into bed with her sister, 

she told her sister, "I miss Mama"  

Awwwwwwwwwww......

 Thankful for babies, especially this kissable little red head!

 Thankful for brothers

 Thankful for sisters.....

 and babies too tired to eat....

 Thankful as much as I hate the mess, I'm thankful for them

Thankful

 I found this great tree, I'd love to make for the feast of St Nicholas

 Thankful I found this great tutorial, even a straight line sewer, like myself

could actually sew!!

Look at that yummy material!

Going to have to try to make some pajama pants!!

(and teach my girls how to do it too!)

Thankful 

I found and watched a pretty good movie, via Netflix

Way to go Rob Lowe!

Great Christmas movie

Kind of had a different ending than I thought, but overall pretty good.

Thankful 

I found this great blog, her idea for Advent

using daily Bible reading notecards, very cool, 

(as my 12 year old said this morning when I showed him)

Thankful 

for your prayers.

I'm asking for prayers for sweet Dominic Pio

He and his family are leaving Dec 1, to head to Boston

(they live in WI)

for his surgery on Dec 4th.

He's beautiful and a blessing to all

Please pray for him and his family

Thank you

(if you are still here after this long post)