11 years old!

Noah turns 11 years old today!

He’s getting to be such a wonderful young man!  Happy Birthday Noah!!

cmannabelle

14 years old!

Michael turned 14 years old today!

It’s amazing how much he’s growing!  Happy Birthday Michael!

cmannabelle

Happy Birthday Boys!!

Daniel and Andrew turn 6 years old today!

It’s hard for me to see how much they are growing.  They are in preschool and are learning so much!

Happy Birthday Boys!!

cmannabelle

Like the Wisemen of Old…Come follow the Star

As the Christmas season is approaching, I have been listening to my Christmas music. One of the songs that I listened to today was “Follow the Star” by Point of Grace and Clay Cross.

As you listen to the music, ponder the words (listed below the video)…

Point of Grace/Clay Crosse–Follow The Star

O, winter night of wonder – night of promise long foretold
When angel voices filled the heavens high above
Announced the joy of the ages and His glory to behold
For into this world is born the wondrous Child of Love
O, star of hope that leads us to His manger
Shine your light upon the newborn King
For all who seek to find new life
Make a gift of your heart
And follow the star
To hear the song that heaven sings
Like the wise men of old
Come follow the star
They laid their gifts before Him on that night so long ago
Stood in His presence every pilgrim great and small
To worship at His manger is to kneel before His throne
Laying our burdens down the greatest gift of all
O, star divine that brings us to our Savior
Give the light of love to show us our way
In place of gold lay down your life
In place of frankincense and myrrh
Abandon all

I pray that through this Christmas season that the story of Jesus’ birth will become real to you and that you would recognize what it meant for God to step down out of heaven to save you and me!
God gave us such a wonderful gift of his Son. And it was just that…a gift. There was nothing we did to deserve such a gift. And the best thing is that we get to celebrate His birth at this time of year.

May you all have a Blessed Christmas Season!!

cmannabelle

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  Be safe if you are traveling!!

Oh and for those of you shopping tomorrow, stay warm…and apparently dry (at least around here).  We will be out and about on Black Friday shopping!!

have-a-great-thanksgiving-pumpkin-piempkin

cmannabelle

My Christmas Decorations

I was taking photos of my Christmas decorations and thought I would share some of my photos here, along with my favorite ornaments on my tree!  But first, let me show you my decorations!

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Our Fireplace

There are a lot of stockings here…The red ones are for my boys (4), me, and my mom since she visits for Christmas.  The Soccer one is my husband’s stocking.  We just got the Wreath this past weekend.  When we first put it up, we had some different things on the Mantle, but the wreath came crashing to the ground taking out everything (except 1 thing) out on it’s way down.  What survived, you asked?  Let me show you!

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Our “Nativity”  It’s really just a statue of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus

This is the only thing that stayed put on the mantle…everything else came crashing down.  Kevin and I thought it was neat that the statue of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus stayed put!!

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This is our Mini Tree

The Tree is a Fiber Optics type (you can’t really see in the light), and my one and only “Coke” village house.  It also has lights in it, but it’s too bright to see them.

Yes, that’s hand sanitizer you see there…this table is sitting right next to the front door!! LOL

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This is my Christmas Tree

We have one of those pre-lit trees…this is one thing that I’ll never go back to a tree that you have to put your own lights on.  It takes too long! LOL

Angel

Our Angel

Sorry this is such a bad photo, I’m almost embarrassed to show it.  I took it from my cell phone! She’s a Fiber Optic Angel, she’s broke too.  My twins decided that playing with all the ornaments and the Angel (before I had a chance to put the decorations on the tree) would be a good thing.  So we’ll be looking for a new one…after Christmas.

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My “Mom to Be” Ornament

Kevin bought me this ornament when I was pregnant with Michael back in 1996.  Isn’t it cute!!  I think this might be my favorite ornament!!

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Baby’s First Christmas

This is Michael’s Ornament that he got as a baby!  It’s a cute boat with animals in it.

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Baby’s First Christmas

This is Noah’s first Ornament for Christmas.  On the left you see a photo of Noah (in a Taz outfit…one of our favorite), on the left it’s a Nativity scene.

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Baby’s First Christmas (x2)

This is the ornament that Daniel & Andrew each got (we got 2 of them) on their first Christmas.  On the back side of the ornament, we put their name.

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Colorado

Kevin and I bought this ornament to remind us of or time in Colorado.  It was bought our first year out there.  We used to get 1 ornament every year to remind us of what our year had been like.

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Our First Home

My sister bought us this ornament in 2002 after Kevin and I bought our 1st home together.  It was in Minnesota, so I thought it was appropriate that it looked like there was snow all over the windows (that’s how it came, I didn’t add any snow to it).

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Cross

My sister bought me this ornament just last year…isn’t it pretty??

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Icicle (x5)

This is a set of ornaments.  My Aunt made these for my mom, my other Aunt, and each of the Grandchildren (mom’s side).  The icicle was originally part of a chandelier that used to hang in my grandma and grandpa’s house.  We (as kids) used to play with the pieces of the chandelier!  My Aunt converted the pieces to icicles and gave them to us for Christmas one year!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my decorations!!

cmannabelle

Happy Birthday

Kevin’s birthday is today!  He’s ** years old today!  If you want to know…ask him! ;)

Happy Birthday honey!  I love you!

cmannabelle

He’s 10 today!

It’s hard to believe that Noah turns 10 today!

Happy Birthday Noah!

cmannabelle

16 years

After 16 years, I love him more now than I did the day I said “I DO”

Happy Anniversary Kevin!!  I love you!

cmannabelle

Wow…a Teenager!

My oldest turns 13 today!  WOW!

The one thing he has been begging for since his 12th birthday was a Facebook account…I guess it’s time to set one up for him!

Happy Birthday Michael!

cmannabelle