Homemade Christmas

I am absolutely thrilled to begin this series!!!

Most people complain about the commercialism and expense of Christmas. Parents outdo themselves in gift-giving, yet children soon tire of their brand new toys. Some people mean well by giving overly expensive gifts only to find out that it was ill received and secretly returned to the store. There must be a better way to show the Christmas spirit! --A less expensive and more meaningful way to express your love to others.

That’s why I’m starting this blog series: (Which I’m completely stoked about:)) to share ideas and resources that can help you save money and (hopefully) relish the experience much more. Welcome to “The Homemade Christmas!” Sit back and relax to enjoy the world of creation and ideas!

There will be posts with decorating ideas including homemade wreaths, Christmas tree ornaments, paper chains, lights, how to make your own wrapping paper etc. The list goes on and on.

  I will share some of my favorite recipes and creative tips to make your home attractive to visitors. (Did you know that if you boil cinnamon sticks your house will smell absolutely lovely?)

The highlight of this series will be gift making--- or should I say gift ‘transforming’. We are going to take some old items from an antique store and transform them into something beautiful. This is the perfect way to make a gift personal not to mention that it is significantly cheaper than buying brand new materials. These posts will include ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures, how I went about it, and the net price of everything I used. Hopefully that will get your creative juices flowing so you can transform your own gifts.

And lastly I will throw in some delightful Christmas poems and the history behind Christmas hymns we sing all the time. Such as “Silent Night”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, and “Lo How a Rose”.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcome. PULLLLLEEEEASE comment if you would like to contribute something. Sound like fun? Then let’s get started!

OKLAHOMA!

Last week the Dey family took an impromptu excursion through the Ozarks of Missouri and Oklahoma up into the vast prairie of Kansas. Every day we saw something new, marveled at the beauty of nature, and took LOTS of pictures.

 

The first day was spent in Mansfield, Missouri at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and Home. That woman has always been an inspiration to the writers in our family! It was gratifying to finally see the picturesque home where she spent most of her life.

 

That night we camped out at the Dodson's where we had a blast eating ice cream and looking at family photos. We always love hanging out with you guys--including the 'gang' at 5am (haha:)  

 

Day 2: Cherokee Heritage Center! This was one of my favorite stops. I was simply awe-struck by the tribe's customs and stories. They must have been a people full of poetry and music and ingenuity considering their beautiful culture. Following our visit at the museum we camped out on a peninsula at Tenkiller Ferry Lake. It turned out to be a perfect bird-watching site as there were Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Seagulls, Blue Jays, and several other species. The sunset was beautiful too. Cabe got this picture of me right when all the colorful splendor was just beginning.

 

 

     The nice thing about vacation is that you are completely on your own schedule. You don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, you can sleep in as long as you want, and meals happen when ever you're hungry. I don't believe we packed up camp until close to lunch time:) Highlights of day 3 included Fort Gibson and the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. 

 

 

  There we are! Enjoying the rustic appeal of Fort Gibson. Unfortunately, most of the fort was closed for renovation, but we got to enjoy most of the old buildings. At the museum we learned about the Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Chickasaw tribes. Each tribe was (is) wonderful in their own unique ways.

 

In the golden hours of evening we drove through the Oklahoma hills to our campsite on the Osage reservation. At one point Mom gasped excitedly and told Dad to stop the car! She had spotted this little fella whom we duly named Terry the Tarantula. He was almost as big as my hand which rather intimidated me. 

 

 

     It was an exciting night we spent in the OK hills. Raccoons boldly raided our garbage in front of us, the three amigos got lost on a hike and went twice as far as they had intended, the shower house was full of frogs, and we stayed up late singing rounds and ballads around the campfire.

 

Our final day was spent on the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. The scenery was breath-taking! And then of course, there were the buffalo...... Those great big beasts were wonderful and kinda scary too. I stood as close to the car as possible just in case one of them decided to stampede:)

 

 

 

Our final stop was the "Little House on the Prairie"--the site where the Ingalls family used to live. It was the perfect conclusion to an epic trip. Family vacations are so much fun!

 

 

 

Thanks to Cabe, Mavis, and Dan Dey for the great photos!

1 Timothy 2:1-3

       
¹ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior…” -1 Timothy 2:1-3
 
These past few weeks have been days of uncertainty for our country; there has been a lot of friction between political parties which has overflowed into the personal lives of every individual. That's why I wanted to share this passage with you. No matter what your political stance is, God desires prayers and petitions on behalf of those in authority and for all people.

Petition that the leaders of our country will stand on principle and fight for what they believe. Pray that God will give them wisdom to make right decisions. Ask God to intercede on behalf of the welfare of America, and be thankful that we are indeed a nation under God.

Doing so will fill our lives with peace, godliness, and holiness. It will please God our Savior.

From the inspiredwomanblogs.blogspot.com

    

The Lord is my STRENGTH



It’s a family tradition that we attend the Missouri State Fair every year, so last Sunday afternoon Dad loaded up the Chevy truck and took us to Sedalia. Upon arriving, we realized there wasn’t much going on except for the pig races every half hour and that didn’t hold as much appeal as it used to when we were little kids.

               We wandered around a bit until we came to the livestock barns. We saw cows and bulls of all sorts, sheep getting clipped, goats, pigs fighting each other, roosters screaming their waddles off, and even the champion goose! But my favorites were the giant mules. They were big lovable beasts and enjoyed it when I scratched them behind the ears.

 

 

In the swine barn there was a show for 4 year old kids to enter their pigs.

I got a kick out the cutest little boys wearing plaid shirts and wrangler jeans;)

 

The highlight of our day was a jousting event performed by Knights of Valor. It was pretty impressive to see guys in armor just ridin’ around on their PercheronsJ  Not to mention that the jousting was about as real as it could get. Lances were splintered to shreds, horses were frothing at the mouth, and the knight’s hands got all bloody. It was perfectly wonderfulJ

 

 

By the time we ate corndogs and visited the horticulture building it was DARK out and we hadn’t even been to the carnival! It was purely spectacular to see all of the lights flashing, and go people-watching during one of the most exciting people-watching opportunities everJ Dad let us ride on the Ferris Wheel—another family tradition.

 

 

From up top we had a bird’s eye view of the people beneath us. It was great fun even when Dad embarrassed us greatly by screaming ‘mommy’…….

 

It was an exhilarating experience to live the night life for a short while.

 

Yup. Can’t wait till next year!

Thank you Dad for taking usJ