Another Advent

Christmas Scripture Advent
On the first day of Christmas we bring this gift to you,
So the true spirit of Christmas can join your family too. Now throughout this holiday season, as the days get hectic and long, Gather together at the end of each day, Share a scripture, story and song. With your hearts and voices joined together, the spirit will ring loud and clear, And we hope that this time spent together Will fill your holidays with cheer!
Dec. 1 Isaiah 7:14 Angels We Have Heard On High
Dec. 2 Isaiah 9:6 Away In A Manger
Dec. 3 Micah 5:2 O Little Town of Bethlehem
Dec. 4 Jeremiah 23:5 O Come All Ye Faithful
Dec. 5 Isaiah 40:1-4 Joy to the World
Dec. 6 Jeremiah 33:14-15 The First Noel
Dec. 7 Isaiah 40:11 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Dec. 8 Psalms 24 Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Dec. 9 Jeremiah 23:6 While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Dec. 10 Jacob 7:11-12 Far, Far Away On Judea's Plain
Dec. 11 1 Nephi 10:4 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Dec. 12 1 Nephi 13:18 What Child Is This
Dec. 13 1 Nephi 11:20-24 O Holy Night
Dec. 14 1 Nephi 11:27 Who Is The Child
Dec. 15 Helaman 14:3 Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus
Dec. 16 Helaman 14:5-6 I Heard the Bells
Dec. 17 Luke 1:30-31 I Believe in Christ
Dec. 18 3 Nephi 1:13 When Christ Was Born In Bethlehem
Dec. 19 3 Nephi 1:19 Star Bright
Dec. 20 Luke 2:4-7 O Hush Thee My Baby
Dec. 21 Luke 2:8-11 How Great Thou Art
Dec. 22 Luke 2:12-14 We Three Kings of Orient Are
Dec. 23 Matthew 2:1-2 With Wondering Awe
Dec. 24 Mosiah 3:5-8 Silent Night Luke 1:26-38, 46-47 Luke 2:1-20 Matthew 2:1-14

Christmas Advent

Maybe this one will work... I can't get the other one to link right, but for anyone who wanted an idea, and was disappointed about my last failure in linking... here you go!
http://lds.about.com/library/bl/puzzles/christmas_advent_calendar.pdf

Funny Story

A 3~year~old tells all from his mother's restroom stall By Shannon Popkin
My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store or at a drive~thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just turned 3 ~ year~ old and you never have to ask him to turn up the volume; it's always fully cranked. There have been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not~so~audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to last stall:
'Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toilet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on da toilet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?'
At this point, I started mentally counting how many women had been in the restroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full. 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity.
Cade continued, 'Mommy, you ARE going stinkies, aren't you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh, Mommy! I'm trying to see in dere. Oh, I see dem! Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You ARE gonna get some candy!'
I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming n ew born when you need one? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, 'Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some.
'No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!' He started to gag at this point. 'Uh oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!
As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: Okay, there are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone.
'Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done doing stinkies! Get up! Get up!' He grunted as he tried to pull me.
Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door. 'Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at, Mommy? You wooking at da wady's feet?'
More laughter.
I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation. 'Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.' He started pounding on the door. 'Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!'
I saw that my 'wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found, standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, 'Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?' But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, 'I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as 'Mommy' to this little fellow.'
Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she no longer uses public rest-rooms with her 3~year~old in tow.

Our House Search Giggles

Looking for a house is quite an experience. I think everyone should do it every once in awhile just for the laughs. We had a realtor take us around to all the houses that weren't for sale by owner. She was a really sweet girl, but it was her first time taking someone around (we got to be the guinea pigs.) It was quite difficult keeping a straight face with her running commentary on the houses. I think we'll have a couple of inside jokes forever from her comments. The first one is the "lino". That must be what the "cool insiders" call linoleum. We probably heard that word 20 times. "And here you've got your new lino in the kitchen." "It looks like this bathroom has lino." Bless her heart, she was trying so hard. One house had cheap hooks along the wall next to the front door. She walks by and says, "Here you've got your BUILT-INS for coats." I had to look away. I didn't want her to see that I was trying so hard not to laugh. She was also impressed with all the "wood floors" that we saw. They were laminate. Everything was "Here you've got your {fill in the blank}." Brandon and I did feel that we might have been able to recognize which rooms were the bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchen without her help, but it's a good thing she was there....just in case.

We also got to see fun things like an entire basement, including a family room, that Brandon had to stand sideways. The ceilings were so short that Brandon told me I actually looked tall! He's never seen me with my head about to brush a ceiling. Another house had so much junk that you seriously couldn't see it. The owner would say "I use this room for storage", and we're thinking, "lady, the whole HOUSE is a storage room!" She had a storage room for formals, props, a "painting room" a "music room".... you could not even walk into these rooms because they were so full of garbage. She said a few times, "I hope my junk isn't scaring you..." Um, yeah, it's scaring me.

We did find a gem... a cabin up a canyon. It was a darling cabin, with balconies and views to die for. We would've bought it for sure, except the price was a wee bit steep. We'll dream about it though... it's been on the market for 2 years, so maybe it will still be there when we're rich!

Home!

This is it! The soon to be home of the Smith Family! These pictures are from the mls photos, so none of it is my stuff. (Although I would like her to leave most of it!)

This is the parlor. It will be the dining room, with my antique hutch. The arched doorway on the right goes into the kitchen.

This is actually kind of a silly picture, because it only shows the owners cute decorations, and not the house. But, it gives you a feel, I guess.

This is the family room. The door you see ahead is the door to the "master suite". I LOVE the wood floors!

This is the family room, with a view of the bay window.

The hot tub alcove. Yes, it comes with a hot tub. We don't quite know what to think about that, but maybe we'll end up loving it. The red door on the left goes into the "master suite". (If you're wondering why I'm putting that in quotation marks, you'll just have to come visit us and see for yourself!)

The "master suite"... that red door is yet ANOTHER door to the outside. It's an old house...remember...quirks?

This is the kitchen. It is actually cuter in real life than it looks here, and you can't see the darling red pantry cupboard next to the fridge.

This will be Aubrey's bedroom. Her bedroom is right off the kitchen, which will work out nicely, since she will be the maid.

Somewhere in the backyard. I can't even explain this back yard to you, but it is so neat!

A front view. It's hard to tell what it looks like with the trees in front of it, but it's darling!

I went down on Friday and Saturday, and we looked at all sorts of houses. A few good, and a lot bad. Really bad. When I saw this house, I was done. I was ready to sign the papers, because I am one of those weird people who loves a house that has been around for over a century. I love a house with history, a house that has seen the world change. I love a house that feels like it loves you as much as you love it. We looked at a few more houses after that, just to be sure, and I tried to keep an open mind, but they really were not any comparison anyway.

There are the few quirks that come along with an old house... one of the bathrooms is off the kitchen, both bathrooms are tiny. I'm not kidding. Tiny. Only one bedroom has a closet. (I'm deciding that is a bonus... I get to go get some darling old fashioned armoires!) There are some other things, but those are probably the biggies. And I need time and room to tell you about the things that I LOVE!

It has a front porch! The kind that you can live on, and put furniture on, and love! The windows are tall with cute simple old trim around them. No more aluminum uglies for me! This house has so much charm, and all of my "antiques" will be right at home here. I'm excited to work WITH a house, instead of against it! The yard is great... even right now when it is definitely past it's summertime glory. There are fruit trees in abundance... cherry, apple, pear, walnut, black walnut, apricot, three kinds of plum, and concord grapes...I think that's all...I might have missed something. It's on 1/2 an acre, and is pretty secluded, which will be nice.

It's in the "city", which is the biggest drawback for Brandon. I would rather it be in the country, for sure, but I grew up a city girl, so I can see the advantages too. We are within walking distance of the temple, church, parks, and close enough to Brandon's work (minutes away) that he can pop home for dinner if he's having a busy day, and still go back to work.

I can't wait for all those I love to come visit us and see our little cottage... but don't be expecting the "guest suite" that we have had. You'll have to sleep on an air mattress in the family room, and use one of our miniature bathrooms! But, you'll feel right at home, we promise!

Holy Crap

This website was just too funny not to share... I hope nobody thinks I'm being sacreligious here, but I got a good chuckle out of it today.

http://www.goingjesus.com/cavalcade1.shtml