Happy Birthday, Kora!

I have been a mother for 12 years. My brain can hardly wrap around that fact. But here in the house we have a girl, nearly as tall as I am, who proclaims the truth of this amazing fact. Kora begins her last year before becoming a teenager today! Happy 12th birthday!

Kora loves horses, loves to read (especially about horse and dragons), is an incredible help to me, and amazes us with her growing maturity and understanding of her faith. She and I can now share shoes. And she was a really cute baby too. Wanna see?

Kora at 6 months old.

Kora at 1 year.

Kora at a year and a half.

Kora at 2.

Kora at 4.

Kora at 8.

Happy birthday, Kora!

Stickin' Close to Home

Unusually, no one in our family has left the house much in the last few days. Kelly has been off from work, which is a good thing since he and Brynna have had a Christmas cold that they have been doing their best to spread to the rest of us. Kora, Aubrey, and I have all been fighting off symptoms, but so far we haven't given in. Lauryn and Hailey seem to be okay so far. Ashlynn is not sleeping very well at night, which isn't helping Kelly or I either one.

So between the fevers, coughs, runny noses, and new toys, no one has wanted to go much of anywhere. We've watched a lot of movies, played some games, and put away most of the Christmas stuff. While I love Christmas trees, Advent calendars, etc., once Christmas is over, I can't wait to get the extra stuff out of my house. A house with six children in it has enough clutter.

So, no stores, no after Christmas sales, nothing. But starting Monday, assuming this cold bug doesn't get the better of me, I am starting in on some house cleaning and organizing. Usually I do that over the summer, but I was too busy recovering from childbirth. Oh, and redecorating. I also need to do some school planning for the next semester.

Hopefully I won't be taking care of anymore sick kids instead!

Amazon makes it too easy

This is what I got for Christmas! My husband is so spoiled by Amazon: a couple of clicks and my gift is ordered, wrapped, and delivered two days later.

My girls gave me a gift certificate to order accessories for my new iPod, that I am still learning how to operate. I wanted it mainly to listen to audio books. There are so many accessories and such that go with it that I am a little overwhelmed. I know I want some sort of docking system with a speaker system, so I don't have to listen with the ear buds or headphones. I am also debating whether I need the arm band if I have the speaker system. And isn't there some sort of device to make it play in your car's speaker system?

If you know anything about these things, I could sure use your help...

Picture from Amazon.com, my husband's best friend. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Whole Hearted Mother Conference

Don't forget about the Whole Hearted Mothers Conference coming up! Don't know what that is? Well, let me tell you about it...

Every year, I am privileged to attend a conference that encourages me in my calling as a mom while providing a fun getaway with some of my friends. It is called the Whole Hearted Mother Conference, and registration time is upon us! If you are interested in finding a conference where you can hear Sally Clarkson speak, check out the dates and locations below! Every year I come away blessed. I'd love to see everyone at the Texas conference!

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NORTH CAROLINA

January 23-24, Charlotte, NC (Church at Charlotte)
Conference Early Registration Deadline: Friday, DECEMBER 26 (Save $10)

Hotel: The Marriott Charlotte SouthPark

Room Rate: $109/night (guaranteed through December 26)

Reservations: 704-364-8220

CALIFORNIA

February 6-7, Irvine, CA (Crowne Plaza Irvine Hotel)
SPECIAL Early Registration Deadline: Friday, NOVEMBER 14 (Save $20!)

Early Deadline: January 9 (Save $10)

Hotel: The Crowne Plaza Irvine
Room Rate: $85/night (guaranteed through January 23)

Reservations: 949-863-1999

TEXAS

February 20-21, Irving-DFW, TX (Dallas Marriott Las Colinas)
SPECIAL Early Registration Deadline: Friday, NOVEMBER 28 (Save $20!)
Early Deadline: January 23 (Save $10)

Hotel: Dallas Marriott Las Colinas
Room Rate: $83/night (guaranteed through February 6)
Reservations: 972-831-0000

Click here for info on the Texas conference.

Click here to register for the Texas conference.

Don't you know what causes that?

We just got back in town from another trip to our home town. The past several years, my family has celebrated Christmas together the weekend before Christmas. Sometimes it was hard for the sons-in-law to get off enough time to travel to Odessa on Christmas and it was getting harder to coordinate everyone's schedule. So a few years ago we started setting aside that weekend as our time to get together.

Even though it was an extremely short trip, it was a good one. We always enjoy way too many pies. And my sister Sarah make the best fudge EVER. Seriously, no contest. It is the best. She even makes some with a dark chocolate topping just for me.

I just had to share a funny from the weekend. Almost 7 years ago, when I called my youngest sister to tell her I was expecting another baby (our youngest at that time was only 8 months old), she immediately turned around to tell her husband. From the background, he said, "Good grief! Tell them to stop sharing toothbrushes!"

Ever since it has been a family joke.

Fast forward to this weekend. We are exchanging gifts and Sarah hands Kelly and I our gift from them. A movie, and...

a new toothbrush.

We all died laughing. Except for the kids, of course, who could not understand why all the grown-ups were laughing about a toothbrush.

(By the way, this in NOT an announcement of any kind. My sister just thought it would be funny, and I wanted to share our laugh for the weekend.)

New Christmas Tradition

In spite of travel, sickness, stress, and other factors, we are holding to our Christmas traditions this year.

This year we are reading Bartholomew's Passage. Who else is reading one of these three Advent stories? (The other two are Jotham's Journey and Tabitha's Travels.)

We added a new cd to our Christmas music this week. Last week, a friend sent us link to this and I just had to buy the cd.