I'm Here! I'm Here!

Yep, I'm still here.

The ol' bliggity-blog tends to get ignored in the midst of the hustle and bustle of, well, life. But, fear not, for I am still around and alive and doing quite well! Here's a sneaky-peek into my oh-so-exciting life the past few days (iPhone style):

I got sick. So, when I say we're doing well, I mean we're doing well besides that pesky little sinus infection that invaded my face a few days ago. This is me in Urgent Care (chuckle, chuckle) where it only took three hours to have a (very nice) doctor write me a prescription for something that I realized later makes me throw up. Fantastic! It turns out NyQuil works fine, too. I'm much better now.

Our Advent activities have been a total blast. The kids love it and it keeps me on my toes, too. Here are a few of the things we've done thus far:

A Christmas craft and our Advent Wreath ...

... some (very easy-to-bake) Christmas cookies ...

... and this activity, which is my favorite thus far. I loaded the kids in the car and told them we were going to go on a Bell Ringer Hunt, to look for three Salvation Army bell ringers. They each took some change from their piggy banks for the red kettles, and my sweet sister-in-law rode along with us as we perused town to find the volunteers. Note: They usually show up at 10:00. We left at 9:00. Oops...it just gave us an excuse to get some coffee! As if there's ever need for an excuse ... anyway. Every time we spotted a red kettle, we'd hoop and holler and park the car and unload the kids (quite a process with three kids in three car seats) and together we'd shake the bell ringer's hand and explain what we were doing. The Salvation Army volunteers were AWESOME. Each of them hunkered down to my kids' eye level and asked if they knew where the money went. Cub would shyly explain that it would help kids who didn't have good food to eat or fun toys to play with. It was so much fun and I can't wait to create a tradition for the years to come. It was sweet.

I've seen these "I Love You Because ..." boards floating around Pinterest and I finally made one for my hubby. It's easy--buy a frame, put some pretty scrapbook paper in it, and use a dry-erase marker to write on the glass. My husband is pretty shy when it comes to public praise. He cringes if I brag about him to others, or tell people when he's given me a nice gift or done something nice for me. He's just ... well, quiet. Unlike yours truly. And I love that about him! But, I realize that it keeps me from affirming him as much as I should, since he sometimes makes me think that he doesn't need affirmation. But oh, he does. And this is a simple (and private) way for me to affirm him (privately) where only he can see it. I'm going to try to add to it every day. A good exercise, for both of us.

This is little Naomi, dressed like a "wiseman!" for AWANA's Nativity Night. Please note the There's-No-Place-Like-Home red sparkly shoes, my green tunic with a pink sash, and the quickly whipped up homemade paper crown. She loved it. Definitely had to capture this one.

Our most recent Advent activity--seeing Christmas lights at a local college. So fun.

See? I am still alive. And busy. 'Tis the season, y'all!

Have a lovely day!