Christmas blessings

We were so blessed this Christmas with beautiful weather and family to share the day with. Christmas Eve we took the children to the Bee movie. Then Christmas morning my Mom came over for our traditional Christmas breakfast and to watch the children open their gifts. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching them play outside on their new outside toys. Gabriel received an electric scooter and bike, Landen a bike and a skate board and Lilly a new scooter.
Christmas afternoon we made sugar cookies with homemade frosting YUMMY!!!
Then two days ago more goodies came by mail from Brian's parents and siblings. Now each day this has been the mail that the children have awaited the mystery of what Aunt Sarah and Uncle Richey were going to send to the boys Hmmmmmmm.
Landen received all of the magnetix things that he had picked out in the store. Good job guys reading his mind. He has already put them together and they are so cool.
Gabriel LOVES lego's and Uncle Richey used to be his Lego inspiration so Gabriel was really hoping for some more lego's. Boy was he surprised when he received 3 awesome lego kits WOW! He started immediately creating and did not stop until the wee hours.
Lilly went ecstatic with her charm making kit, purse designing kit and 8,000 beads. Daddy and Lilly made charms immediately and to be honest I don't know who had more fun?
What fun memories we made this Christmas.

Christmas joys

Lilly played the handbells for the first song and then sang a lovely Christmas carol.

I have been enjoying watching our children embrace all of their Christmas activities with such excitement. It's Jesus birthday don't you know? This has become Lilly's phrase lately for her little classmates.

This past weekend we were so busy with 3 different parties to go to, Lilly was in our church play, and then a surprise trip to McAdenville to see the lights. This week will be filled with even more fun filled events which I will be posting through out this week. But I am glad to see that our children haven't forgotten the real reason behind Christmas.

This morning I was up early to get our little ones off to school and then I had to get the van to the garage for a check up. After that I was on the run to go back to the school to celebrate Christmas around the world with Lilly and lunch with Gabriel and a quick hello to my big guy Landen in his classroom. Then I ran back to the house to wrap up a couple of gifts and over to visit with one of our neighbors who was in need of some cheering up. Now I am back at my home and ready for a nap because after the little ones get home it is home work, dinner and then off to watch Gabriel in his school play. Might I say we are busy at the Wagener house?

Although a nap sounds really great right now I am convicted by it. My sweet husband worked all weekend with no complaint. He worked yesterday morning/afternoon and when he got home the children were jumping on him and he played with them and then yesterday evening he cheerfully surprised the children by taking us to McAdenville. Now he could have come home after working all weekend and taken a nap but he didn't he continued to bless us cheerfully. So, I am now going to bless my husband and clean up the house and work on making him a nice dinner because he deserves to be blessed.

How can you bless your husband today?

Spring is in the air

The children had so much fun trying to catch crabs here while we were fishing at the pier. Landen caught a fish while the rest of us caught crabs.
Lilly boogie boarding

Yes, it certainly feels like spring is in the air down here in the south. It reached a record high yesterday of 81 which is crazy for December. With temperatures like this it makes me wish that we were at our condo on Ocean Isle. Listening to the ocean waves and watching the children search for sharks teeth and ride the waves. (These pictures were taken this summer I forgot to reset the date when I replaced the batteries.) I can almost smell the ocean on days like this.

This past weekend we spent much of Saturday afternoon picking out the cabinets and flooring for the new house. It is fun doing it this way where someone else does all of the work and you just sit there and point at what you would like done. Our last home my dear hubby had to renovate the WHOLE house and although he likes to be busy I do believe that even he is excited about someone else doing the work well, maybe? Brian's joke to the builders has been I will probably be the first one to get kicked off of the construction site. I admire having a husband who knows what all of the wires and pipes mean in a blue print and where the proper placement should be. I have learned a lot already and we haven't even broken ground yet. I have learned that if you are not on top of your builders you will have your A/C unit right outside your living room window to view every time you look out your window, and what the difference is in your sub flooring on the 2nd floor and why we are upgrading it (Sound and Stability) and why we are using architectural shingles. I certainly am clueless with out my husbands knowledge. I was asked a question already about the structure and I commented "I am just here to pick out the colors".

While having fun picking out the cabinets Lilly let us know that she wasn't feeling so well.

We ended our Saturday afternoon with our Princess getting sick. Lilly was sick all Saturday evening and Sunday morning. This is only her 2nd time geting a tummy bug and she handles it like a trooper. I have been washing everything in the house and sanitizing ever since to make sure that no else gets it. All of our neighbors and friends have had it so I guess it is our turn =(

We need to take some pictures of our property to post so you can see where we are building. Maybe next time.

Christmas time is here

For the past couple of years the children have decorated our tree which they enjoy immensely. Brian always puts the lights on first and finishes the touch with the star. I handle all of the other decorations through out the house. Landen loves to help us with the exterior lights. Gabriel and Lilly are very picky with the placement of their ornaments. Every year our children get to pick out a new ornament for our tree. This way when they are married and grown they will have their own ornaments to decorate their tree with.
I absolutely love Christmas it is my favorite holiday of the year. It brings back all of my favorite holiday memories as a child. I was born and raised in upstate N.Y. where we have lots of good snow to play in. I remember building igloos out of snow as a young girl and sitting in them with my dog. Building snowmen that were as big as I was that would last for days. Sledding with the wooden sled with metal runners (not the kind we have here in the south made out of plastic).
In my home as a child being raised on a large farm my family was too busy through out the year to really do big parties for our birthdays but boy did my parents make up for it at Christmas. My brothers and I would wake up very early and run downstairs to see a room full of gifts. There would be cool things like a canopy bed put together in the living room, snow mobiles inside the house all sorts of crazy things like that. Don't get me wrong we still celebrated Jesus' birth and knew the real reason to celebrate Christmas but the presents still rocked.
I was talking with my brother the other day on the phone and we were reminiscing over our Christmas' and how much fun they were. We were really blessed not just in receiving gifts but in having our family together. Growing up we had all of our family so close to where we lived. We had our Grandparents on both sides and all of our Aunts, Uncles and cousins. My Grandma Morse would always make a big meal at her home and we would all gather there. I really took this for granted as a child. Up until a few years ago Brian and I were trying to juggle sharing Christmas with my side of the family and his. We would do Christmas Eve with my side and then Christmas afternoon we would celebrate with Brian's side. Now with all of our family spread out from Nevada, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and N.Y. we wont be able to see anyone this year.
Brian and I have discussed making our own family traditions for our children but to be honest sometimes the best family traditions are the ones that our parents pass down to us. The traditions of having the family close and sharing not our gifts but our time together.
I was watching Little House on the Prairie yesterday and the episode was about a little old lady who asked the minister to hold a wake for her. She asked that all of her family members be notified that she had passed away and that her wake would be held on a Wednesday. Well, Wednesday came and all of her family arrived everyone of them from near and far in remembrance of her. One of her sons whom she had not spoken with in years came and he was heart broken. He said to another sibling "you don't realize what you have until it is gone". Other family members were talking about how much they loved her and all of her talents that she portrayed. Then the little old lady came out from the back room dressed in black. It took them all by surprise why she wasn't dead at all. She explained "why will you come all this way when I am dead but you wouldn't while you thought I was alive?"
This hit me at how true this is for so many of us with busy schedules. This Christmas may this be a reminder of how blessed we are to have family and that we should do what ever it takes to spend time with them and to continue to build those memories not just for us but for our children.
My fondest memories of Christmas as a child was having my family together. To hear the laughter and see the smiles of wishes and prayers answered. My brother Scotty and his drum set, my brother Philip and his wife unfolding a large box of crinkled $1 bills. All three of us children acting in our church plays like "Angel on a Ladder". All of our family enjoying a meal prepared by my Grandma and boy her cookies and pies were Awesome! These are the memories that last a life time our family tradition.
This year I am so blessed to have a wonderfully gracious husband and three little angels of my own to share our family traditions with. Jesus has really placed his hand upon us and drawn us closer to him this year. To all of our family and friends may the Lord bless each of you and may his glory shine through you. For our family in N.Y. enjoy all of the snow and we will be seeing you in the summer.
Please share with me your family traditions and your fondest memories as a child.

We have news!

Have you ever wondered "Why me Lord" when things just aren't going your way? We have had a lot of things going on over here at our house lately. Many of unspoken things that we have had to work out over the past two years. We have stuck by the book and done everything that we are supposed to. Yet every time we turn around there has been another loop to jump through.
The other day I finally looked at Brian and said "God is testing us to see if we are really going to count on him". I decided that I was going to speak only positive things and claim what I believed the Lord was going to do was for our good. We have done all that we can do and when you do all you can you have to just trust in God to see you through.
We receieved the call that we have been waiting on and Praise the Lord he answered our prayers once again.
Our news is that we are building a beautiful new house in South Carolina. We will begin building after the first of the year. The boys are extremely happy since they will once again have their own room. I am excited because after the past couple of years of living in tight quarters we will have over 2,000 sq ft to spread out in.
It has been a challenge for us since we have high standards of what we want in a home. We have spent many months looking at lots, neighborhoods, floor plans and we finally came to a place where Brian and I agreed upon a home. Brian has already started his list of what he expects from the builders, the boys have their list ready of what they want their room to look like and Lilly just wants there to be lots of pink. I am just thankful that the Lord has seen us through and that our children will have a home to call theirs again.
We will keep you posted on all of the awesome things going on. Please keep us in your prayers as we have never built a home before and I know that this is going to be a fun yet stressful time.