Our Christmas

My mom made this little video and it’s a pretty nice summary of Christmas at the Paul house this year. Thought you all might enjoy it. Good job, Mom!

Paul’s Christmas Gifts

I assisted Paul in a couple of gifts for my parents and his parents. Alex was awesome enough to take these pictures and do the editing for me. Everyone loves them. I think they’re so cute! Enjoy!

A God-Sized Lesson from a Two-Year-Old

A couple of weeks ago, God taught me a big lesson from what could have seemed like a relatively insignificant situation with my two-year-old nephew. I’ve been meaning to write this, but just haven’t gotten around to it. So…here it is…

We sat down to dinner one night (my sister, brother-in-law, nephew and me) and told Paul that we were all going to go to the store when we were done. He was very excited about that. Because Paul sometimes has trouble with eating all of his food, part of the deal with going to the store was that he had to finish all of his dinner. After about an hour of waiting on him to finish, it was determined that Bradley and Kati would go to the store on their own, and I would stay home with Paul. He was devastated. He cried and cried. And my heart hurt too. After a few minutes, he calmed down and life went on with truck playing and bath taking. He even recounted what had happened and explained to me that he could not go to the store with Mommy and Daddy because he “didn’t finish all his pat-sta” (that’s “pasta” in Paul-speak).

In the scheme of life, this situation was not anything huge. So, the two-year-old didn’t get the desired outcome he was going for. I’m sure it happens with kids all the time. But that night, in that moment, I believe that God allowed me to feel a little bit of what He must feel when He is forced to discipline us as his children. I was so sad for Paul. You have to understand that he literally had half a bite of pasta left. That’s it. Half a bite was all that stood between him and a trip to the store.

How many times is that me as I attempt to relate to God in my finite way of understanding? How many times does He ask me to take a small step, or follow through on something that may seem like a little detail? And how many times do I chose to prefer my own way or think I can get away without complete obedience?

And, how much does God’s heart break when He decides the most loving thing for me is to discipline me? How sad is He when He sees the end result, and knows it’s a small, small step He’s asking me to take, but I just refuse to take it?

As I typed this, I’m not sure it made sense, and I know there’s not a pretty ending. But, it makes sense to me. And if I typed it just to reinforce the lesson for myself, then so be it. God will use His truth to continue molding and shaping my heart into the person He needs me to be.

It’s All About Comfortable

In the last twenty-four hours or so, I’ve been missing West Palm and my friends there more than I have in the two months I’ve been gone. A friend mentioned this song to me last night and I checked out the lyrics. I am headed over to iTunes to check out the song because the words are pretty accurately describing how I’m feeling right about now…

Painting Pictures of Egypt
by Sara Groves

I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
The place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
It wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

CHORUS:
I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I”ve learned
And those roads closed off to me
While my back was turned

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
Caught between the promise
And the things I know

BRIDGE:
If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

Alex’s Photography Skillzzzzzz

Alex Workman was kind enough to capture a couple of shots of Paul and me for my Christmas card. For those of you who don’t know (have you been living under a rock?!), Paul is my most adorable, sweetest, cutest little nephew. Well…he’s not that little anymore, but he’s been kind enough to loan his cuteness to my Christmas card for the past two years and this year will be no exception. 

How can you resist this kid? In case you can’t tell, his shirt says, “My Aunt Rocks” and…from what I hear, she does.

Thanks, Alex! Check out his photo blog!

 

My Favorite Kid in the World

I Told You: “It’s Just What I Do”

So…I did some more experimenting with the cake ball recipe yesterday and attempted cake pops. You might remember the Red Velvet Cake Balls that Kasey and I made last week. Well, this is the same recipe from Bakerella, with an added twist. I took pics of the process this time so you could get the idea. And, don’t judge me…mine are NOWHERE as cute as the ones you’ll see on Bakerella’s blog, but they taste amazing.

On this go round, I made two kinds: 1) Christmas Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Icing dipped in Chocolate; 2) Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting dipped in Peanut Butter candy melts.

Here we go…

 

Bake a cake in a 9x13 pan. Cool.

 

Crumble up the cake. If you don't want to use your hands, I found using a slotted spatula works wonders!

In large bowl, combine cake and one can of frosting. (I added the Funfetti sprinkles at this point too.) Mix thoroughly.

 

Roll mixture into balls. For cake pops, go to next step. For cake balls, chill now.

For cake pops: Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. Chill.

 

Dip in candy coating and stick in styrofoam block to dry.

 

Christmas Funfetti Cake Balls with Chocolate Coating

 

Chocolate Cake Pops with Peanut Butter Candy Coating

My New Favorite Shoes

They are my new favorites. At least for winter time. Fur-lined Roxy’s from the Quiksilver store. Just as comfortable as the beloved Sanuk’s, but these are super duper warm!

A Somewhat Rare Opportunity in Life

I like these pictures from Thanksgiving. We are blessed to have four generations of “Pauls.” At one point, I had a four generation picture when my Dad was the baby. However, after two computer hard drive crashes in 16 months, I don’t seem to have that picture on my computer anymore. I would love to be able to put up both. I’ll have to scan it sometime. Thanks to Rob for editing these pictures for us!

 

Four Generations of "Pauls"

Grandpa with two of his three grand-daughters and his great grandson.

A Great Giveaway!

My friend, Carolyn, is having a great giveaway over on her blog! All you have to do is read the blog and comment back with what she’s asking for and you’ll be entered to win. Go check her out!

Make Your List and Check It Twice

If you’re anything like me, the Christmas shopping is no where near done. I think I have a small something for my parents, nephew, brother-in-law and friends. But, that’s it! I need to get to gettin. While pondering what to do, I thought of several ideas you all might appreciate as well.

Fun, Handmade Stuff: who doesn’t appreciate something unique and handmade? Check out:

• Kati’s Blog: my sister has a couple of fun things that she’s made that you could give as gifts. And they’re very affordable as well! Check out her Coffee Cozies and Purses.
• Isabellaboo: my college roommate, Lisa, has all kinds of fun things on her site. Stuff for babies, stuff for kids and a few things for the grown ups too! Check out isabellaboo.com.

Awesome Photography: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends all love an updated picture of the family! Get some new pictures taken and have them framed as a great gift! Check out:

• KT Photography: Katie is one of my best friends from college and one of the best photographers I know. I love her stuff. She lives in South Florida, but doesn’t mind traveling to Central Florida and the Tallahassee area. Check out her photography site. And check out her personal blog too!

Give A Gift To Bless Someone Else: don’t know what to get for the person who has everything? How about purchasing something in their honor that will be a blessing to someone in need. Check out:

• Place of Hope: I’ve posted about this before (go here), but there’s still time to purchase something from Place of Hope’s Target registry in order to help foster children and the parents who care for them each day. Many things have already been purchased off of the registry, but there’s still plenty to go. For more information, see this post.
• Places of Hope International: Places of Hope International supports ministries around the world–from Bolivia and Peru to India and Romania. They have a gift catalog on their site that allows you to support things like economic development and healthcare other countries. Check out their gift catalog and give a gift with an eternal impact. 

If have any questions about my links or sites, let me know. Or if you have another idea, let us know in the comment section! Happy Giving!