Christmas Day

I wish I could somehow post all the photos, words, and videos that would somehow describe the joy, peace and love that our family enjoyed this Christmas day! But you and I both don't have the time to go through that... so here's just a couple of my favorite photos taken today.

Merry Christmas to all... and to all a good night! (These beautiful children are OUT like lights in bed right now... what a day!)

Merry Christmas!

Welcome all you who are visiting as a result of receiving our Christmas card! We're happy to share with you what we've been up to this year.

Scroll through our most recent posts on the blog, and even look back further into 2007 by clicking on the "Blog Archive" links listed at the right of your screen. Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments by clicking on the word "comments" at the bottom of each post.

And don't wait until next Christmas to visit again-- check in on our blog throughout the year to keep up with our family. Or, explore the "Likable Links" to see blogs of our friends and family (let us know if you have one and aren't listed). You'll always find something new!

May God bless you during this holiday season. Jesus is the reason!

Love from the Lenssens

Tis the Season for Children's Choirs!

We had two beautiful girls sing in Christmas Choirs tonight-- Allison was a part of the preschool pajama choir and Sadie had a solo in the production "Angel Alert". They did such a great job we wanted to share it with you. (Again, you can turn off my background music by clicking the pause button on my playlist at the bottom of the blog.)

"Party Cat"

Sadie got to play her favorite piano tune yesterday at her first piano recital. She's being accompanied by her teacher Miss Christina.
(Turn off my background music by clicking the pause button on my playlist at the bottom of the blog.)

Black Friday

What a blessed Thanksgiving we had yesterday! Spending time with my family was so wonderful. I'm so very thankful for each of them and the roles they play in my life and my kids' lives.

And here we are on Black Friday-- I ventured out not too far from home to the local ShopKo... and ended up coming right back home. I think that on this day I prefer the warmth and comfort of my home with a fire roaring, coffee on, and computer for christmas music and internet shopping.

Time for making Christmas cards too! Look forward to one in your mailbox soon.

"I do not like them, Sam-I-am!"

Time marching on...

To my surprise at bedtime last night, I found my 7 year old not just looking at the pictures in a book, but reading it word for word. A classic. Green Eggs and Ham. I remember reading the book as a child. And now my child is reading it. I feel old-- but so happy for my sweet girl who is learning and growing every day.

Let it snow... rainbow style!

We finally had our first snow today! And I was actually prepared with a fun snow activity with a way to "color" the snow. I picked up some squirt bottles from the local dollar store, and put food coloring and water in each one for the kids to squirt at the snow. They had tons of fun, and we ended up with a creative, tie-dyed snowman! Try it-- it's fun for kids of all ages!

Here Comes... um, well, There Went The Bride!

It's already over! The exciting family wedding has come and gone, and now we have the happy newlyweds living in town here. Here's some photos from the October event that we shared with Dan, Shelle, and all the other Lenssens.

Dwayne was a groomsman (and oh, a HANDSOME one at that, I may add...), I sang my favorite hymn "The Love of God" during the ceremony, Sadie was a gift-taker, Allison was a flowergirl (nope... she didn't make it down the aisle... just as was anticipated...), and Grant was the token child who didn't want to cooperate during photo time (we will "treasure" memories of his cinnamon toast crunch flying everywhere...). All of us had important, traditional roles to play.

The most important part-- Dan and Shelle got hitched! It was a blessed day and we look forward to sharing in their new lives together here in Pullman.

Chainsaw Jesus

So today I was confused by my 2 year old's pronunciation of a word... is it "Jesus" or "Chainsaw"? We talk about Jesus and read bible stories, and my son thinks Daddy's chainsaw is just the coolest.

I know he's used both words in his new, ever-expanding vocabulary, I just sometimes get the two confused. I'm not crazy-- but I am the mom who's supposed to be able to interpret toddler-language.

So, in the car today with Grant and Allison, I decided that maybe the two could go together. "Maybe Jesus needed a chainsaw... then he could have cut down that cross they put him on..." (I know... it's a strech...)

And my sweet 4-year old's response: "No, Mom! If He cut down His cross, we would still have all our sin!!!"

What an insightful little one, huh? It made me thankful that Jesus didn't have a chainsaw.

"Moosie and Chachos"

I have a two year old. And I know that every day I hear him say things that I tell myself I've gotta remember. But do I write them down? Seldom. I'm changing that right now-- via my blog! Journaling... that's what it's for, WRITE?

At our "traditional" Sunday night dinner tonight, I served up the typical and simple snacks of a yogurt smoothie and our family version of nachos-- chips with cheese, sour cream and salsa. Simple. Easy. Pleasing. Perfect for a Sunday evening.

But the best part of our Sunday night dinner is the way my son says it:

Moosie and Chachos.

Also enjoy the photo of him as a contortionist... silly boy!

Pumpkins, Leaves and Costumes, Oh my!

October comes with some really fun traditions. As a scrapbooker, it's a little hard to make each year differentiate from the last. But when I think about how much my kids LOVE tradition (like posing for a jack-o-lantern photo making the same face that their pumpkin has), I realize it's just perfect do the same things over and over again. So, here's to tradition... only the beginning of a long exhausting but FUN season of it... and may you all find new and old traditions through your holiday season too. (And it's okay if it's the same thing you did last year.:)

What I LOVE About October

Glorious Day!

The day has arrived! Any crazy scrapbookers out there will understand my excitement when a package from a scrapbooking celebrity showed up on my porch! CK's Scrapbooker of the Year Elizabeth Kartchner generously offered some free goodies via a contest on her blog and I happened to be the lucky winner. I've patiently waited, and was overjoyed to see the box at my doorstep. And, since I know some of you are wondering what came, I have a photo of the loot that I can't wait to play with. Thanks, Elizabeth... you'll never know how much joy this brought to me!

Glorious Day... part two! I was able to hang out with some of my fellow praise band members from my church last night at a David Crowder Band concert. That band can rock! And wow, are they crazy lookin'! ANYWAY... I had to include a video taken at one of his concerts (not the one I was at, but he did the same gig) to show my brother how David Crowder used a modified "Guitar Hero" game controller to play one of his songs. Pure entertainment from some guys who have great, genuine hearts for God. Enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

The Beauty of Rain

"It's raining, it's pouring... the old man is snoring..."

The number of days it's rained here since May can be counted on one hand. As much as we've enjoyed the sun and warmth, we welcome the refreshing rain that's falling today. Our land is so thirsty! And to enjoy the beauty that comes in small droplets of water...

"Let tHem praiSe the LORD for HIs great loVe and for all his wONderFul deEds to theM. For HE saTifiEs the THirsty and filLs the hUngRy with gOod thiNgS." -- Psalms 107: 8-9

And the reference to "the old man is snoring"-- it actually applies! Dwayne went steelhead fishing last night and the photo of his catch was taken at 2 a.m. this morning. So, fish for dinner, then we're off to snooze!

Signs that Summer is Ending...

The local aquatic center's last day was labor day, so we convinced Grandpa, Grandma and Dad to join us for a play day. (If any of you know my dad and husband, you'll be as amazed as I was to see them playing in water!!!) It was great weather on our last summer water play day.

The following weekend I got to enjoy my annual scrapbooking weekend--so relaxing (no cooking!) and productive (I did 40+ scrapbook pages!!!) It's one of my favorite weekends of the year-- and is crazy fun w/ all those scrappy women!

And we ushered in the football season by attending the last official Vandal vs. Coug Battle of the Palouse. I'm sad that we won't get to have this freindly rivalry each year anymore, but we did enjoy the game and the comments about our "blended" Vandal/Coug family! (We won't mention the final score...)

First Day of Preschool!

And equal air time to Allison who started preschool at Footprints a week after public school started. She was so excited to go do craft projects with friends and I was so glad to see the new preschool open its doors. Joyous day!

FIRST Day of FIRST Grade!

Wow! Sadie's in first grade already! We got to meet her teacher Mrs. Thompson (who is on maternity leave for the first 8 weeks of school) and her substitute, Mrs. Boone. And she found common ground right away with her sub teacher--Mrs. Boone's first name is SADIE!

I had a harder time w/ Sadie away all day than I expected. I guess it's the next of many steps toward independence for my kiddos. Snif, snif.

Doesn't she look SO grown up?!?

At the Fair

We had a great time visiting friends and family in Lynden... and I wanted to share a couple photos from our week long visit/vacation. You'll see kids at the NW Washington Fair, at the Million Smiles Park with their cousins, and eating watermelon at Boulevard Park in Bellingham. What fun!

Mac 'n Cheese!

Mac Powell, lead singer of rockin' christian band THIRD DAY flashed a big cheesy smile for me at the NW Washington fair concert on Thurs., Aug. 16. Couldn't help but share it... pretty CHEESY! Great concert--I've been so blessed by their ministry.

"The Taz" strikes again...

"Waaahhh!!!" (Not a child crying... this time it was MOM.)

Bad day yesterday... involving my sweet son Grant, a red Sharpie marker and my furniture...

Yep. Mom was gone for 5 minutes (blowdrying my hair and rushing through the chore because of the hot weather... ugh) and Grant chose that time to work on his art skills.

Should I just be thankful he chose my accent color of red?

He didn't just throw together a little something. It was a PICASSO. And big. Starting from the kitchen "junk drawer" where he discovered the marker (hint: all of you check your drawers NOW and move those markers!) He began decorating the kitchen cabinets countertop and refrigerator... then all around the kitchen island to the living room wall... over to the coffee tables... mom's favorite chair... the antique chest... window sill and curtains... couch... dining chair... sofa table... antique bible...

And then mom discovered him.

And it was ugly.

Thanks be to God that my tendancies for anger didn't erupt, but tears did flow. Long and hard. After hugging my kids because they cried with me and assuring them it was just STUFF, I called my dear husband who had the presence of mind and sense of humor to say "take pictures for the scrapbook".

So, enjoy. I guess. And learn from my mistakes. And love your kids. Even when you're inches away from locking them into a small room for life.

(P.S. Thanks to the great products Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and Oxy-Clean, my home is restored to a faint shade of Sharpie Red.)

Congrats, Uncle Dan and AUNT Shelle!

It's official! There's a ROCK! (And a beautiful one at that!) Uncle Dan proposed to Shelle last night on Kamiak Butte-- so we're getting used to the idea of having an "Aunt Shelle" now.

We're so happy for Dan and Shelle-- after all, we met Shelle at our church here in Pullman and introduced her to Dan over a year ago. Now she'll be family!

They'll be apart now for awhile before the wedding (although the 400 miles separating them have been travelled frequently!) so it inspired me to make a scrapbook page for them. We did some engagement photos in the wheat this morning and then they said their goodbyes. This layout is for you, Shelle!

Our Vacation to the Oregon Coast

This was the big event for our summer-- visiting the Oregon Coast! We packed our stuff and headed over to Lincoln City for an extra long weekend.

We were blessed with great weather (I never knew a person could get nice enough weather to wear swimsuits on the beach at the Oregon coast!) while at home in Pullman the mercury rose to over 100 for our time away.

Three nights were spent at the Sea Gypsy in Lincoln City, and a half day at Tillamook for the cheese factory and Cape Meares lighthouse... then East to Multnomah Falls and the Bonneville Fish Hatchery, and an overnight stay at the Dalles before heading home yesterday.

Here were our favorite events: Sadie loved being buried in the sand, Allison loved finding shells, Grant could have shoveled sand all day, Angela liked shopping at the outlets, and Dwayne really enjoyed just having free time with all of us.

Uncle Dave reminded me that past beaches have produced messages in the sand... we had nothing to share this time around! Guess we'll have to go back again and get a message saying "We're Done!"

I have 188 photos that I really like, but have reluctantly narrowed them down to share a few with you.

Enjoy!