Lullabye's for Jesus

Every night I sing to my kids.  Since the twins, Peanut and Melody all have different bedtimes, that means I sing three different times.  Peanut and the twins get rocked and sung to for several minutes before laying down to go to sleep (then they get more singing and rocking if they have trouble going to sleep for any reason).  Melody gets stories, a prayer, songs and a few minutes of snuggles before saying good night. 

Bedtime is one of the hardest most labor intensive times of the day at our house since everyone is still in the phase of needing so much love and care to help them drift off to sleep.  Even as I write this Melody is laying quietly in her bed with the door cracked (so she has some light) while she waits to fall asleep.  She will probably wind up with a few more hugs/kisses and snuggles before the night is over if she can't fall asleep on her own.

Tonight as I sang to each of my kids, I couldn't help but be thankful that every day, three or four or more times a day, I have a reason to sing and praise God for His goodness.  The songs of my childhood- camp songs, hymns and the like- flow out of me and I remember the connection I felt to God when I sang them growing up.   I am glad that my children will hear hymns and traditional songs and associate it with sweet memories of being tucked in bed by their parents, and I'm glad that I have a reason to sing. 

Crazy over Christmas

You can go ahead and hate me... I am one of those people this year.

Halloween is tomorrow and I am already ready for Christmas! (Emotionally ready, not prepared ready, ha!)

Having kids makes the holidays so much fun.  Melody is old enough to begin some real traditions with her and I am excited to incorporate the twins into a few of the traditions we already have.

Also I am actually looking forward to cooking for Thanksgiving.  The beauty of having Thanksgiving at your own house is that you get to be in charge of the menu.  This will come in handy since we have some food sensitivities to work around (Melody- no peanuts, no white flour, Me- no dairy, Criag- no bananas).

BUT crazy as it may seem, I (currently) feel UP to the challenge!  From somewhere deep inside of me the energy and enthusiasm is welling up to make a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and work around all of our food challenges.

If I can wrangle my time well, maybe I can get a few things posted this year about our menu and our holiday traditions- but no promises.  (Just being honest. :) )

Okay... off to be sure Melody's Halloween costume is ready for tomorrow!


In His Grace,
Rachel