Ok so I know our snowfall can’t even compare to Jill’s in Michigan…but, I’ll take what I can get.

Turkey Sugar Cookies. Not quite what I had envisioned…

…but entertaining nonetheless!

Don’t know how to what to pack? Here’s what we packed in one of ours for a boy 10 -14 years old:

But here’s an even better instructional:

Please take the time to fill a box yourself and drop it off at nearby location (if you live in Winchester, VA, our church Grace Community Church is the regional drop off location) or give online.

Can you imagine the smile your box will bring to a child who would otherwise receive nothing for Christmas? Think about it. Pray about it.

”For God loves cheerful giver.”  ~2 Corinthians 9:7

Fruit has never been a problem for my girls to eat…but what a fun way to get them to eat their veggies!

Uncorrupted Hosting

(go ahead…click on it!)

It all started on Friday when Eleanor had her 4 month check up. Even though we had to drive about an hour and a half to our doctor’s, Eleanor had to get 3 shots, & Lilli & I got flu shots (Corinne was over my good friend, Rachel’s, house playing with her future husband, Ethan), I was thankful for all of it! There are millions of people who have no medical insurance & millions more who die due to the inability to receive life saving vaccinations (Click here to see how you can help change the life of a child in poverty). It turns out that *little* Eleanor weighs 15 lbs, 7 oz - 85th percentile - and is 26 inches tall - 95th percentile (I wasn’t shocked by this, since all my girls have been in the higher percentiles, although proportionate). To treat ourselves for being so brave, Lilli & I ended up having a McD’s hot fudge sundae (off the dollar menu - woo hoo!) on the way home. That evening, we had dinner over our other good friends, Mandi & Sean’s, house, which is about a half hour west of us…we saw so many deer! I really enjoyed catching up with our friends & especially loved when Mandi showed me what she included in her Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes….she’s so creative! Meanwhile, the girls (yes, they have three girls, also) had fun dressing up and running all over the place!

Saturday was a lazy day spent putzing around However, that evening Ethan spent the night at our house while his mom & dad celebrated their 27th & 30th birthdays together - Happy Birthday Rachel & Nathan!

Sunday always comes too soon, but I was excited to get to church to catch up with more familiar faces. Pastor Mike was really rockin’ out and it was fun watching Eleanor take it all in! I was so encouraged to hear that Sandi, who is in charge of outreach ministry, started the Meals on Wheels and served 75 hot meals to people in our community last week! Wow! That evening I served up the usual “Sunday Spaghetti” and we all put our feet up & relaxed - the girls watched a Little Einsteins movie & Michael & I worked on that “exciting news,” which should be allowed to be revealed within the next few days.

To top it off, I was the winner of TWO giveaways:

* The Chocolistas‘ “Name that Dessert” - my name “Raspberry Snuggles” won me Chocolate and Roses Cupcake Gift Tags from Elegant Snobbery & Special Dark Chocolate Petit-Four Candy Piece Scrabble Pendant from ImJewelee (Thank you to everyone who voted!)
* Christian Women Online CD giveaway - Fransesca Battistelli, “My Paper Heart”

Next weekend should be fun too since we’re changing our assisted living visit from Wednesday to Saturday. This way, Michael can join us AND I have an extra pair of hands to help me with my oh-so-lovely-but-oh-so-all-over-the-place-two-year-old, Corinne.

Here are some pictures of Eleanor at 4 months:

“Tummy Time” has turned into trying-to-roll-over-time.

Happy “Ewon” (thank you, Corinne!)

Biker Baby…it’s just in the genes…

“I love my Poppa!”

Clarke Family Cirque du Soleil!

“So my heart will sing to you. I can’t keep silent.
Lord, my God, I will give you thanks forever.”
~Psalm 30:12

No, I’m not going to take credit for this - it was actually Sandy from 4 Reluctant Entertainers (my new favorite blog by the way), who made the comparison. I read her post yesterday about prickly friends, laughed about some memories of my childhood, thought of a recent conversation with a friend who I could TOTALLY pin as a “Miss Porcupine,” and then realized I had some prickly qualities as well. I’ll let you read her post, but my favorite part is when Sandy says, “Prickly people are an opportunity to really use your discernment and observation skills, and to exercise your patience and acceptance. People aren’t always the way we want them to be, but we can still work to deal with them positively.”

I just love that!

Oh- she also had a great gift idea (grandparents…do NOT click on the link or you will get a glipse of what the girls will be making you for Christmas…).

These were from last night during our “Clarke Girls Dance Party” …this time, even Poppa joined in!

A couple things worth mentioning: I was excited to snap Lilli’s port de bras…and yes, Corinne’s dress is inside out & backwards - not too bad for dressing herself!

Currently, I’m in the middle of reading THREE books - Down Came the Rain, Glorious Appearing, & What Every Mom Needs - as well as a few knitting projects for Christmas - finishing up a blanket for Eleanor & a couple stuffed bears for Lilli & Corinne. Eleanor has also grown so fast that I am also in the process of knitting her some new longies.

So which project to post? My first bear has come along the fastest and is almost complete, so I’ll choose that one:

As you can see, I still have a few details to finish on its feet & other hand.  To give it a little more personality, I’m going to knit a scarf. I’m quite happy with the way it looks; I will admit that I was a little doubtful, at first. Before I added the nose, eyes, & ears, it looked like I had knitted a person with a really bad tan. Thankfully, it now resembles a bear

What have you been working on?

Boy did this hit home! I think I can check each one of those examples off:

**** Teaching us what is true ****
I cannot begin to explain how much I’ve learned from the Bible in the past 2 1/2 years while coming closer to Christ. From patience to forgiveness to modesty, you’d think that since I went to Catholic school, I would know all this stuff (I’m now what they call a “recovering Catholic” and that’s a WHOLE nother blog post that frankly I’d rather not write…lol).

**** Useful for correcting our mistakes ****
Boy have I made some hefty ones! I am reminded of Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” (NASB)

**** Useful for making our lives whole again ****
This is especially helpful after realizing the mistakes I made. Hebrews 10:17 says, “I [the Lord] will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” (NLT) This verse gives me that “whole” feeling.

**** Training us to do what is right ****
This one I seem to check over and over again. My flesh usually wants to behave a certain way - you know, the bitter-in-your-face-way. But in the end, the Holy Spirit works on my heart and wins (thank God!).
For example, I was in WalMart shopping by myself last week and heard a child crying on the other end of the aisle. She looked to be about Corinne’s size and she was with her dad, who was probably in his way early 20’s. He was not trying to calm her down, but instead was saying, “stop the crying games you f*ing little b**ch!” Next thing I knew, he was speed walking away at what seemed to be 25 miles an hour. You can imagine the enormous rock that seemed to form in my stomach from hearing such hateful words - especially since it was directed at a helpless toddler. My flesh wanted to march right over to him and smack him (okay, punch him) silly, snatch the darling little angel up, and carry her off home. Realistically, I’d probably be charged with assault & kidnapping. Furthermore, how would that show him God’s love? How would that help the little girl? It wouldn’t. I wanted to do *something* and was reminded of Proverbs 31:8 - “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.” (NLT) So, after snapping out of it (I think I even had to blink myself out of the shock), I followed him…and caught up with him in the frozen veggie aisle, where he FINALLY stopped…and where his daughter was still crying. “Excuse me?” No response. “Excuse me?” Again, no response. This time a little louder, “Excuse me?” He turned around confused and I immediately started talking. “I just wanted to say that I know what it’s like with children. I have three at home and know they can be frustrating. Sometimes I wonder how I have any hair left.” I tried to force a casual chuckle… “I wanted to know if there was anything I could do…would you mind if I gave her a lollipop? That seems to calm my kids down when they’re having a rough time.” I pulled a couple pops from my *emergency stash* in my purse. The dad just stared at me blankly…”Uh, sure.” Meanwhile, the little blondie stopped crying and slowly accepted the purple lollipop without taking her eyes away from mine. “You are just the cutest little girl and I hope this makes you a little happier.” I ended up giving him an extra one just in case she needed it later (and what I really wanted to say was, “Here’s one for you, you big jerk…perhaps it will sweeten your attitude a little…” But I didn’t.) I smiled, told him to have a good day, and returned to my shopping - about 10 aisles back. When I got in the car, I broke down. Literally…sitting in the parking lot, crying. I prayed that God would keep that little girl safe…emotionally and physically. I prayed that He would guard her heart, protect her spirit. And I prayed that God would give her dad peace.
In short, it’s hard to do the right thing. Because sometimes (if not most of the time), we are forced to get out of our comfort zone in order to do so. Princess Diana once said: “You can’t comfort the afflicted without afflicting the comfortable.”