Baking the Blues Away

What do you do when you reach the point of "overwhelmed"?  You bake of course!!

I was just about at that point today.  I can't say for sure just why... accept the enemy doesn't like a happy home, happy packers, or people who can get along!  I know the house will be packed in time for the BIG DAY (and all the little days in between).  We were blessed with everything working out Saturday for phase 1 of our move (shelves into mini-storage for quick access needful things and move around of major furniture and appliances where we will be staying).

Yet my house is eternally messy and people keep coming by for estimates and I am looking sooooooooooooo forward to being completely packed, moved, and settled! 

But...

Christmas is 12 days away (my kids are good trackers!) and NO cookies are baked.  We love to bake... especially at Christmas.  One tradition we enjoy is delivering tasty goodies to neighbors and friends on Christmas Eve.  I was going to be up at my mother-in-laws baking with my niece and my kids today... but God had bigger plans ;-)  So we will be up there tomorrow.  Today I have the privilege of tying up loose ends around the house (of to-dos) and preparing my cookie dough for tomorrow so the kids are ready to cook-n-roll!!!

This brought to mind baking of Christmases past, and I had to take a break from the busy day to share a few memory snapshots....

In my mind, you are never too young to bake...

Cutting out Christmas cookies 2001... Ashley was such a ham!!

By the way, those are NOT beer bottles sitting by Ashley... they are soda pop!!  We don't drink beer!

Me and Brooke Christmas 2005ish

NOT Christmas baking, but still cute!  Brooke getting messy!  2006ish

 We did graham cracker gingerbread houses in 2008.  I am allergic to ginger and can't even stand the smell :-(  This alternative was great fun though.  My only regret... I can't find the picture I had of Brenden making his.

Ashley's was complete with sidewalk

Brooke LOVES to bake and has no particular order of operations!

Brenden and I made a church :-)

What is Christmas baking good for (other than giving to friends and family)?

Giving to Santa of course!

Ashley leaving treats for Santa (and reindeer) in 1999

Have Merry Christmas baking memories :-)

Sleeping on Memory Lane

Today's installment of walking down memory lane (or in our case, Wulff Lane house where we have lived for 11 years!) is inspired by my lack of sleep lately!!!

You can imagine with Ashley being ONE when we moved in, two babies born to this house, and 4015+ days and nights of sleep and naps... just how many photo-opps there have been!

Few, if any, pictures exist of any interesting nocturnal sleeping ventures for Zach.  He is, however, good at trying to act asleep or incognito for varying purposes!

Fall '06, in 8th Grade

 The other kids have far more interesting sleeping habits!  While I did not upload the picture of Ashley sleeping on the landing in our stairway (waiting for us to come upstairs and tuck her in I guess!) or of her asleep in the midst of the toys in the playroom (apparently tuckered out from play!) I do have other interesting snapshots of her:

Apparently Zach's bony legs make a good pillow!  '00 (?)

Pictures of Brenden in snooze are frequent.  He could sleep anywhere, anytime.  When he gets tiered he waits for no one to nab some zzzzzzzzzzz's!

On the couch in '02 (I think!)

Oh, did I mention, when you are a boy with longer than should be hair in our house, under the age of 5, it is not good to sleep hard where everyone can do wild and crazy things to your hair!  This snapshot was one of a a few where we spiked his hair all over, down the middle, alfalfa style, and a few other fun do's!!

Brooke has had her moments of strange sleeping locations over the years here.  I did not get the picture uploaded of her, in Anthony's desk chair, asleep with headphones on at his computer! But I did get these goodies up:

Across dining room chairs at age 3 (or 4)

Ready for sleep back in '03 atop a Coke crate!  I still remember that soft cuddly baby! 

With daddy :)

 OK, so she isn't really sleeping in that last one... but it is one of my favorites!!!  I don't know what is cuter, that belly or how she is sprawled out on Anthony!

As if the single pictures of the kids aren't cute enough, the youngest two are our 'peas in a pod'.  Brooke is very tender towards all family members but especially so towards me, Zach, and Brenden.  Her and Brenden could have been twins the way they pal around.  You would never know they are 2 1/2 years apart with the way they act towards one another!  This is not only true in play, but also in sleep:

 Oh how I wish I had more time to upload more photos!  The years of snoozing in this house have provided some adorable pictures!  Alas, this sampling will serve its purpose :-)

May you find rest and peace in the Lord today as you remember the restful (and not so restful) times in  your life!