Thanksgiving

This is one of my most favorite times of year. We have been blessed beyond measure and we have SO much to be thankful for! I love that this time of year reminds us of that. It is a time to stop the busyness of life and be reminded of what we have been given. I love being with family, laughing, eating, shopping, playing games, taking pictures, eating some more, lauging some more, and most of all...sharing what we are thankful for.

My parents rented a lake house on Lake Keowee this year so we could all be together over Thanksgiving. We joined my parents, my sister and her family, my in-laws, and sister-in-law to celebrate this year. We had a wonderful meal, and then we went on the back porch to share how we have been blessed this year. We went around the circle five times and each time we tell one thing we are thankful for. The children say sweet, simple and sometimes silly things, but it is always fun to hear them. They are thankful for God, Jesus, parents, siblings, spiders, cake, wolves, pets, dancing...so sweet and simple. The adults are also thankful for similar things...God, Jesus, freedom to worship God in the US, the pigrims voyage to America to worship God, salvation, jobs, homes, spouses, children, beds to sleep in each night, and health. I just love reflecting on what all we have to be thankful for. We have been blessed and have SO much to be thankful for! Of course this year we had an extra blessing...our sweet baby T. I never would have imagined he would be with us this year. It just blesses me to no end to hold him in my arms and look at him. He truely is a gift from God - a breath of Heaven here on Earth.

Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend!

Nana bought baby T a snowman costume to wear for our family picture. Here he is trying it on.


Our little snowman!


Nana and Big Pop enjoyed picking leaves and berries outside with Wyatt and AG.



Nana made her first "made from scratch" fresh, hot milk Coconut cake!



Here we are eating dinner together



Gram and Baby T


The men on the porch talking and pondering how the owner of the house was able to put a shower in a tree.


I have more pictures, but they won't upload at the moment...so check back again!

Baby T's first bottle!

Baby T had his first bottle a few weeks ago while Thomas was out of town. Both of my children have been breastfed and I am so blessed that it has gone well for each of them. Now it didn't always start out well. We have had many ups and downs and points where I thought it wasn't worth it, but I am so glad I stuck with it because it is a blessing to me that I am able to feed my children in this way. It has gone so well with T that I haven't even thought about bottles. Thomas wanted me to go ahead and try the bottle to see how T would do with it. AG really wanted to give T his first bottle, so we decided to try it a few weeks ago and T loved it!

I love T's face here! It looks like he is saying, "Look mommy! There's food in here!"

And another sweet one! Yes, AG was bored with it after about 5 minutes. She really wanted to hold him to give him the bottle, but I was worried she may drop him!



Good news! Since this day, T has taken 3 more bottles!! Yay!

Operation Christmas child

I just love this time of year! I don't enjoy the colder weather, but I do love that it reminds me that Christmas is near! When Thomas and I were married ten years ago, we decided to start a family tradition that would hopefully continue on when we had children. And so far it has...every year we donate a shoebox filled with toys, coloring books, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons, etc. to Samaritan's Purse/Operation Christmas child - . We have enjoyed doing it and look forward to doing it each year. Before we had children, we would do two shoeboxes - Thomas would fill a box for a boy and I would fill a box for a girl. Now that we have Anna Grace, we typically let her select which we will do and she usually chooses a girl that is her age (5-7 years old).

It always blesses me to do this special project with Anna Grace. I don't think her mind can fully comprehend what she is doing. I don't think my mind fully comprehends it either. I had a glimpse of what their life is like when I spent a week in Belize last year on a mission trip. The conditions these people live in is so sad. I try to explain to AG that these children have nothing and we are so blessed to be able to give to them. I tell her that these children may live in a house like her playhouse in the backyard, with no shoes, no food, or water. She always wants to give more to them when she hears this. I also tell her that the shoebox we are sending may be the only Christmas present a child may receive.

So this year AG's school took on this mission project too. They asked each child to donate items for a shoebox, money, or send in a shoebox packed with goodies to send to Operation Christmas child. AG was excited about it and so was I! We went to Target and bought the goodies. I always love watching AG pick out the items for the special little girl who will receive our box. AG really wanted to make sure the little girl received a stuffed animal and pajamas.

Anna Grace with the items for the shoebox


Packing the shoe box


AG drew the little girl a picture and sent her a picture of herself and T.


She also wrote the little girl a message.
It says:
Dear___________ From: Anna Grace
My address is: she wrote her address
Have a Happy Christmas. You are special to God.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that HE gave his only begotten son that whoever shall believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. I am six years old. And I have a babby brother an he is cute. I will always love him.
Florence, SC 29501
Love, Anna Grace Anderson


Shoebox is all packed up! We even got the pj's folded so they fit!
I love the excitement in AG's eyes here.


Box is ready to go!


I am SO thankful that God has blessed us beyond measure and we are able to give to those in need. I am SO thankful that God is working in my heart and my child's heart each and every day. I pray that we will never become numb to those in need and we will always be able to give to others...in many ways.

Jesse Tree

Oh I'm so excited!!! I just love this time of year as we get closer to the birth of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ!! Such a special, meaningful time of year!! I also love family traditions at this time of year. Thomas and I have already begun a few family traditions with Anna Grace and I love it when she talks about them with excitement!! One of the family traditions she looks forward to every year at Christmas is the birthday cake we make for Jesus. We sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and AG, Wyatt (and now Walker) will grace the birthday cake with different pieces of the nativity scene as Big Pop reads the story from Luke (with the shepherds) and Matthew (with the magi/wise men). We love the magic of Santa, and the story of the real St.Nicholas, which we read to AG every year (and she loves it and remembers it). He brings AG three presents each year because the wise men brought Jesus three gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh). We have many more traditions that I love and could go on about, but I want to talk about a NEW tradition we are starting this year that I am truely excited about!!

It is called the Jesse Tree. I have heard a lot about this tree, but haven't done it before, so I am looking forward to it. It is a tree that helps us locate Jesus, the Messiah, within the lineage of the shepherd boy who became King of Israel--David, son of Jesse.

The whole idea of the Jesse Tree comes from the prophet Isaiah: "A shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (Isaiah 11:1). The Jesse Tree is hung with ornaments representing Old Testament people and events and lead up to Jesus. The symbols hung on the tree are based on the genealogy of Jesus from Matthew 1.

The ladies in my Sunday School class and I are having a "Jesse tree ornament swap" to begin this tradition in each one of our homes. We have each selected one of the 28ornaments to make. For example, I am making the "cluster of grapes" for day 10 and the "Fiery Furnace" for day 23. So I will make 28 "cluster of grapes" ornaments and 28 "fiery furnace" ornaments. On the day of our "ornament swap", I will bring my 28 "cluster of grapes" and "fiery furnace" ornaments to swap, and my friends will arrive with 28 copies of their ornaments. Then we will all swap ornaments, so we each leave with 28 different ornaments, one ornament for each day of the Jesse tree.
We will leave with the following ornaments:

Day 1 - In the Beginning (Earth) - Genesis 1:1-2:3; John 1:1-5, 14
Day 2 - The Fall (apple and serpent) - Genesis 3:3-6, 9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Day 3 – Mary - Genesis 3:14a, 15, 20; Luke 1:26, 28, 31, 38; Revelation 12:1-2, 17a
Day 4 - Noah and the Ark (rainbow) - Genesis 6:5-8; 7:15-18; 9:8, 15-16
Day 5 - Blessing to Abraham (camel) - Genesis 12:1-3; 17:5; Hebrews 11:8, 12
Day 6 - Sacrifice of the son (lamb) - Genesis 22:1-14
Day 7 - Joseph in Egypt (colorful coat) - Genesis 37:3-5, 8a, 18-19, 23, 28
Day 8 - Passover (doorway and blood) - Exodus 12: 1-14:31
Day 9 - The Ten Commandments - Exodus 19:1-20:20
Day 10 - The Promised Land (cluster of grapes) - Genesis 17:7-8; Numbers 13:1-2a, 17-18a, 20, 23,27
Day 11 - The Bronze Serpent - Numbers 21:6-9; John 3:13-15
Day 12 - Jonah (whale) - Jonah: 1:15-17, 2:1-3, 7-10, 3:2-3a, 5
Day 13 - Ruth and Boaz (sheaf of wheat) - Ruth 1:16; 2:2, 8, 10-12; 4:13-14
Day 14 - David and Goliath (slingshot or harp) - 1 Samuel 16:1-23 – 17:58
Day 15 - God's Forgotten Scroll is Found (scroll) - 2 Kings 22:2, 23:1-3
Day 16 - Stump of Jesse - Isaiah 11:1-5, 10; Acts 13:16, 22-23
Day 17 - The New Creation (lion and lamb) - Isaiah 11:6-10
Day 18 - Prince of Peace (dove and crown) - Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
Day 19 - Good Shepherd (staff) - Ezekiel 34:2b, 4-5, 10-12, 15a, 16a, 23-24
Day 20 - Suffering Servant (cross) - Isaiah 53:4-7, 9, 12b
Day 21- The New Covenant (heart and writing) - Jeremiah 31:31-33; Hebrews 9:13-15
Day 22 - Bethlehem - Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-7
Day 23 - Exile and Persecution (fiery furnace) - 2 Kings 17:23; Daniel 3:19, 21,
Day 24 - Return to Jerusalem (brick wall) - Nehemiah 1:1- 2:8; 6:15-16; Revelation 21:10-14
Day 25 - Christmas Star - Numbers 24:17-19a; Matthew 2:1-12
Day 26 - Light of the World (candle or light) - Psalm 27:1-3; John 1:9, 8:12
Day 27 - Angels Proclaim the Miraculous Birth (angel) – Luke 2:8-15
Day 28 - The Birth of Jesus (baby in manger) - Luke 2:1-20

Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby to get some ideas for my ornaments. I wasn't sure how I was going to make them. I was hoping to find ornaments already made because I am not crafty! I cruised the aisles of Hobby Lobby hoping something would jump out at me. Nothing did...I started to get a little anxious and frustrated....I was seeing so many other good ideas for the other ornaments...feathers, angels, babies, mangers, doves, crowns, hearts...but nothing for a cluster of grapes or a fiery furnace....hmmmmmmm.....

Then I stumbled across some sequins....hmmmmm....some purple sequins and some green leaf sequins....hmmm....how could I do this?? Then it hit me...get some clear ball ornaments and dump them in and we have a cluster of grapes! Now...fiery furnace....hmmmm.....Red feathers....yes, that could be a fire....and orange sparkled felt....YES!! I could cut up the felt to look like flames with the feathers...and put them in clear ball ornaments! Yay!! This will be easy and fun!! And AG can help me!!

So, I purchased my supplies and picked up AG from school. She loves crafts and was thrilled to help! I told her what we were doing and we got started.

Our supplies....purple sequins, green leaf sequins, red feathers, a piece of orange felt and lots of clear plastic balls! I wanted them to be plastic, so they will be unbreakable and last many years!


AG with the supplies.


AG is stuffing one of the ornaments with sequins.


Ta da!! One is complete!


Now to start cutting the orange felt for our fire.


A few fiery furnaces completed!


A few clusters of grapes completed!


Ta da!! 28 of each ornament ready for the Jesse tree oranament exchange!! Can't wait!!


In case you were wondering...the 5 minutes it took to take these pictures is all the help I got from AG. She lost interest in making the ornaments pretty fast, so I ended up making them myself, which was fine. I still need to purchase a small tree to be our Jesse tree. Then we will begin hanging our ornaments each day. Day 1 will be "Creation". The last day (day 28) will be "Jesus in the manger". There's a brief scripture reading each day that goes along with each symbol. I'm so excited to start this new tradition with my family! My prayer is that by the time we get to Christmas, AG (and later on, baby T) will look forward to this tradition, get excited about reading from the bible each day leading to Christmas, link the symbols with the scripture passages and have a much deeper understanding of the history of salvation and the meaning of Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

Time for another year of Halloween and trick or treating!
Anna Grace decided she wanted to be Fancy Nancy this year, so my mom and I put together AG's costume. My mom found AG an adorable black striped skirt on her trip to the mountains and we put the rest of the costume together...courtesy of Wal Mart!



Sweet Baby T went as a pumpkin. My sister gave me all of her baby boy clothes and we found T's adorable pumpkin costume in the clothes.



Even Thomas and I dressed up. I had on a multi colored wig and Thomas had on a Simon Cowell wig. We went to a friend's house to trick or treat and they didn't recognize Thomas at first! It was pretty funny!


Anna Grace, Sierra and Hazel before trick or treating


On the Hayride about to leave to trick or treat




Trick or treating


The guy on the right is Thomas!


Little T trick or treating


We had a lot of fun and look forward to next year!

Mice on Main

We had a wonderful trip to Greenville visiting our parents, a Clemson game...that we won, a trip to the Gaffney outlets, dinner, a movie, and a walk down main street. Gram gave Anna Grace the book "Mice on Main" by Linda Kelly (my AP English teacher). AG loved the book and wanted to walk down Main street and find all of the mice, so we did...and it was SO MUCH FUN!

From the book, each mouse has a name, a personality and some clues to help us find each one. There are nine mice to find and we started at one end of Main street by the Hyatt. AG has her hand on each mouse in the pictures. But here is a close up picture of what the mice look like. They are small...about the actual size of a mouse.


She was so thrilled to find each one!!
Here is how we found them...
Clue #1 - Marvin - He loves to read and is reading a book by the fountain.


This tells how the "Mice on Main" originated.


Clue #2 - Maggie (mom) - She sits across from Marvin on top of the concrete post, so she can see him reading and look down the street to see her babies.


Clue #3 - Marvin Jr - He loves poetry, so he sits at the top of the stairs where poets gather and coffee brews.


Clue #4 - Marcley - He loves people music and dancing, and sits near Bergamo Square where he can mingle with the crowds and move and groove to the latest sounds.


Clue #5 - Teeny Tiny Millie - She sits up high near a high-tech location. So the smallest mouse is now the tallest!


Clue #6 - Mitch - Sits near the bank alley where he can ride his skateboard.


Clue #7 - Melissa - She's in shape and loves healthy food, so she sits near the health food store.


Clue #8 - Aunt Mifflin - She loves money, so she sits near one of the oldest banks in town. She looks to the left to smell the flowers.


Clue #9 - Uncle Miles - Sits by the rain spout near the Italian restaurant.


After we found the mice, we celebrated with gelato at Luna Rosa Cafe on Washington street and then took a walk to Falls Park. Greenville has grown and turned into such a pretty city. So many people were out and walking around, walking their dogs, riding bikes, eating, looking for mice...such a fun day! We really enjoyed our time there!



Our family on the bridge.


AG and T on the bridge.


Sweet T