From Our Family to Yours ...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

This year Hailey was old enough to participate in the children's Christmas Eve choir that performs at the Christmas Eve Service at church. She was so excited to be a part of this and had a blast! She was a joy to watch (and gave us a good laugh)!

Here's a pic of the choir (Hailey is in the front row second from the left) ...


And a couple of videos to capture our girl ...




We also continued another fun tradition in the Herr family ... the kiddos got to open one present when we got back from the service. We get them new winter/holiday pj's, wrap them up (after I wash them of course!), let them open them up and then they wear them to bed and on Christmas morning while opening up their presents. They were so excited to see their new pajamas! I'm sure as they get older they will expect to open up pj's every Christmas Eve, but at this point they are still as surprised and happy as can be which is fun too!

Here's our kiddos in their soft and comfty pj's ...

Happy 2nd Birthday Sydney Grace!

Our littlest girlie turned 2 today ...

Christmas Music

I'm the kind of person that looks forward to listening to Christmas music very much ... in fact, I've been known to begin playing it before Thanksgiving (Shhh ... don't tell Brian ... he is one of those 'wait until after Thanksgiving' kind of guys). There's just so many good albums and songs to listen to in such a short time frame (unless you're one of those that play Christmas music year round!). Anyway ... I thought I'd share some of my current favorite albums as well as some other random Christmas music I enjoy ...

Andrew Peterson's: Behold the Lamb of God album is currently my favorite. Although the songs are not traditional 'Christmas songs,' this album is filled with gospel-centered truths that tell the story of Redemption.




Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man was released by Sovereign Grace Ministries last year and continues to be a favorite. More than a Christmas CD, Savior is filled with songs that focus on the Incarnation.



Your King Has Come is an album with various artists on it from the group Indelible Grace ... a group that puts new music to old hymns. Their CD's are all outstanding and enjoyed often in our home.




So there you have it ... a few of my favorite current Christmas albums. Something I appreciate and enjoy about all of these albums is the gospel saturated lyrics that help me to marvel at His majesty and wonder at His grace amidst this busy time of the year.

I also enjoy pulling out some classics to listen to such as good old Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Handel's Messiah and Guaraldi's: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

And for some nice instrumental background music Chris Rice, Jim Brickman and Kenny G are some great picks.

Some new releases from this year that I've been listening to are Jars of Clay: Christmas Songs, Josh Groban: Noel ... and although not new this year The Nativity: Soundtrack.

The Kiddos Got Elfed!

Click here to see the show!

Phoebe Mae Mellinger

My Grandma Mellinger (my Dad's Mom) went home to be with the Lord early Wednesday morning.

The more I experience the riches of Christ in the gospel, the more there develops within me a yearning to be with Christ in heaven where I will experience His grace in unhindered fullness. The reason for this yearning is simple: however great may be the present blessings of salvation, they are but the "first fruits of the Spirit," the first installments of an unimaginably great harvest of glory which I will reap forever in heaven.
M. Vincent - A Gospel Primer

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

This past weekend we headed out to chop down our Christmas tree ... we thought we'd try something new and cut down our tree this year! The kiddos had a blast even though it was freezing cold and it will be a fun tradition to carry on in the future. Some friends of ours recommended a great place that takes you out on a horse drawn wagon, then you pick out your tree, cut it down and get a ride back to pick up your tree after they get it ready for you. They also had free hot chocolate and cider which was a nice treat to warm us up. Another highlight for Hailey and Justin (Sydney was too cold and tired to care about much of anything ... but she did love the horses!) was getting to ride on some huge tractors they had. Later in the day we put on some Christmas music and got the tree up, then I put the lights on and Hailey and Justin were our big helpers with getting it decorated! Sydney woke up from her nap in time to see the finished project (which is probably for the best)!

Walking and looking for the perfect tree ... Found it! Daddy cutting it down ...
Down it goes!
Brian and the kiddos ...
Justin riding a tractor ...
Sydney freezing cold ...
Justin saying 'cheese' while riding another tractor ...
Hailey's turn to ride ...

And just for fun ... the other day I left the dining room for a minute while the kiddos were eating lunch ... a few minutes later Hailey and Justin are calling for me saying, 'umm, Mommy ... Sydney made a really really really big mess with her applesauce' ... indeed she did! Let's just say she got a tubbie before her nap that day!

It's That Time of the Year ...

... when we attempt to get a family picture for our annual Christmas card! This year, we decided to have Brian's sister, Krista take some pics for us over Thanksgiving weekend. Although it was rather warm on Thursday ... by Friday (the day we headed to Lancaster) it was a little chilly. But we braved the cold and headed outside to attempt a family picture. There is a beautiful stone road by their house as well as a nice old barn that make for some nice scenery. We first attempted the stone road ... it was a bit windy though and didn't go too well. So after that we went down to the barn which was better since the wind was blocked. I remember the days of trying to get one kiddo to smile, and then two kiddos ... now that we're outnumbered with three kiddos (who all have an opinion of their own!) we just smile and hope for the best!

Here are some of the family pic attempts (NOT the one we will be using on our card this year ... I can't ruin the surprise for you all, so you'll have to wait until you receive your card!) ... of course I'll post the family pic eventually after the cards are mailed out!

Almost ... if only Sydney were looking! This may have been the best stone road pic ... but Justin has a funny face, there's a shadow on Hailey's face and we all look like we're freezing ... maybe because we were!

Silly kiddos ...
Laughing at buddy boy making faces ...
Justin was communicating he had enough ...
REALLY had enough ...
Anyone want to look AT the camera? ...
Maybe after seeing those you will be at least a little pleasantly surprised with our family picture ... or maybe not!

And here are some others that won't be included on the card ... so you can see them now!
The girls ...
The boys ...
Me and my love ...
Me and my love again ...

From our Turkeys to you ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Around here we're enjoying this warm Thanksgiving Day continueing some of our traditions as a family. We enjoyed a nice warm breakfast together (Baked oatmeal with blueberries!), then Brian spent the morning putting up lights outside while the kiddos played in the leaves/mulch ... and yes they made a mess, but they had lots of fun! In the meantime I stayed inside and did some decorating ... it's always fun getting all of my snowmen out. And I also put up our window candles ... so now the house is all lit up. Then for lunch, we enjoyed a ham and broccoli ring as is the normal tradition for Thanksgiving Day lunch.

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with our families later this weekend and look forward to spending time with family, giving thanks for all that we have been blessed with and enjoying some turkey dinners!

Pretzel Kisses

Today the kiddos helped me make these fun snacks to take to our meeting tonight since I'm bringing snack ...

Pretzel Kisses
~1 bag of small pretzels (waffle/checkerboard work well)
~2 bags of milk choc. hershey kisses (hugs or dark choc. work too)
*We made some with rolos today!
~M&M's
~Little helpers to unwrap the kisses
(I have a couple to lend out for a day!)

~Place sheet of wax/parchment paper on 2 cookie sheets.
~Lay pretzels in single layer
~Top with kisses and bake at 175* for about 5-6 min.
(hugs melt quicker) until they are very soft but not melted.
~Remove from oven and place M&M's on top, then press down.
~Place cookie sheet in freezer (or fridge)
for 10-15 min. to harden chocolate.

A simple and yummy snack that even the kiddos can help with!

My great little helpers working hard ...

The pretzels all ready to be topped with a kiss!
Heading into the oven to soften ...
Voila! The finished Pretzel Kisses!

My Portion

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I will hope in him."
Lamentations 3:22-24

It does not say, "The Lord is partly my portion,"
nor "The Lord is in my portion";
but He Himself makes up the sum total
of my soul's inheritance.
Within the circumference of that circle
lies all that we possess or desire.
The Lord is my portion.
Not His grace merely, nor His love,
nor His covenant, but Jehovah Himself ...
the Lord is our all-sufficient portion.
Let us rejoice in the lord always;
Let us show the world that we are a happy
and a blessed people and cause them to exclaim,
"Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
CHS Morning & Evening 11/16 a.m.

What We've Been Up To ...

Time sure does fly these days! It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is upon us next week ... we'll be spending time in Lancaster with Brian's family, and hosting the Mellinger's here at our place later in the weekend. Should be a blast!

Since it's been awhile that I've given an update, here is a brief summary of what we've all been up to recently ...

Brian and I ... We're enjoying getting to know the people in our caregroup better and have really enjoyed the opportunity to host these meetings at our place. In addition to the caregroup, we also host a young married's discipleship group once a month and it has been a joy for us to spend this time with the young married couples in our church. I am a part of the choir for the annual Christmas concert that our church does in December and now have weekly practices which is a fun night out for me! Other than that ... it's just the usual work for Brian (which he enjoys!), and wifing, mothering, homemaking, teaching, etc. for me!

Hailey ... Our not so little Tootser recently turned 5! Hard to believe that we have a 5 year old ... but it has been a joy to watch Hailey grow up. She loves to do school which is a blessing, and will do as much as I allow her to every day ... the primary things she does are reading, writing, math and bible. She is turning into quite the little reader and loves to write. We also have a monthly field trip that we take, so we're excited for more of those to come! Hailey just started taking gymnastics as well, which is a highlight for her. There is a neat program through a nearby church that has a gym filled with everything you need for gymnastics (mats, beam, bars, vault, etc.) ... they do a short devotional before they begin class and then enjoy 45 min. of different activities on different things. Hailey is also very excited to be a part of the children's choir at church ... this is her first year since you have to be 5 to participate. They will perform at our Christmas Eve service so we're looking forward to that!

Justin ... Buddy boy is growing up too ... he isn't quite the mischievous little boy that he once was. He loves to do everything that his big sister does and considers Hailey his best bud. They love to play together and really enjoy each other which is a blessing. Justin begs to do school (because Hailey does school!), so I let him sit and practice writing his letters and doing other pre-school type activities ... I'm hoping this enthusiasm for school will still be around in 2 years when he's actually starting kindergarten! He is still a ball of energy and still our cuddliest kiddo. He loves to wear his fake "crocs" (I'm too cheap to buy the real ones) and asks to pick out his socks every morning ever since I got him new ones (I decided to finally put away the 12-24 month socks ... our kiddos have tiny feet!). Justin has been enjoying going early to church with Daddy and Hailey every other month (when Brian is serving) ... we figure you can never start too early training up those little sound boys!

Sydney ... Our littlest Girlie is still rather little! However, she loves to talk ... and like Justin, she is a follower of her older siblings, and her primary goal is to imitate Hailey and Justin. If they are doing something, then she is likely doing the same thing. It's really sweet to see how they include her while they play dress up, play kitchen, look at books or ride bikes. Like most little siblings, they have their moments ... but overall Hailey and Justin both do a great job at including their younger sister in their fun! Now that Sydney has the big girl bed mastered, phase 2 in becoming a big girl is to be potty trained ... but I'm in no hurry for that one! She has started telling me when she is stinky which is nice, and she talks about the potty ... she just isn't too fond of sitting on it yet! But who can blame the kiddo, when we put her on the potty she practically falls in she's so little! We may have to pull out the little potty for her so she doesn't fall in. One of Sydney's favorite things to do is to sit and look at books. Oh, and Sydney is our first kiddo to like milk out of a cup ... she will drink as much as we allow. We're hoping maybe drinking all the milk she does will help her to put on some weight so that I can actually find pants that stay up on her!

Something fun the kiddos and I all enjoy together is going to the library. We go to a public library a couple times a month, but then we also go to a library in a local church where the kiddos enjoy picking out some videoes and books ... and at that same library we go to storytime twice a month where Hailey and Justin listen to books being read, learn a memory verse, do a couple of crafts and sing songs together. And I try to keep Sydney quiet and sitting still ... a task that is much easier said than done!

So there you have it ... a little view into our lives. And so I don't disappoint anyone, here are a few recent pics ....

A Picture Update

Some recent happenings around here...

Sydney sporting double sunglasses while chatting on the phone ...

A playdate with Libby and Maddy Coombs!
Hailey and Maddy...

All 5 kiddos ... that's as good as it gets!

Justin and Libby ...

Last week Hailey and I went with a group of Moms and kids from church on a Harvest field trip ... we got to go through a corn maze and go on a hayride to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin ... this is Hailey and her pumpkin!

Last night our church showed the Eagles/Cowboys game on the big screen as an outreach opportunity. The kiddos were so excited to wear their Eagles outfits (thanks Gramps and Mimi!) and got lots of compliments! We didn't stay too long, but we still had fun, even though the Eagles took a bit of a beating. And the kiddos still had a blast wearing their cute outfits and doing the EAGLES chant.