Continental Kids Christmas!

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is here. I never remember feeling like these two holidays we SO close together until recent years. As soon as we got back from Louisiana it was time for our Continental Kids Christmas party (co-op)! What a fun time we had! Here's everyone all dressed up for the party (a BIG shout out to my friend Sunny who dressed us for the night since I didn't have nice holiday clothes for some of my crew). Don't we look smashing?!

Madison

Carson

Ally

Colson

Wilson

Ty

Piper

All of my kids have the bestest buddies ever in this group.

Lucy and Josie loving on their daddy.

The silliest boys ever - Carson and Mitchell.

The whole crew. I love these kids like crazy!

My friend Rachel was party planner extraordinaire! She had crafts from different continents set up and fun treats on the table. After our AMAZING comfort foods pot luck dinner we sand carols and then she had a playlist of Christmas music from around the world for the kids to dance to. And let me tell you, for a group of homeschool kids these guys really love to boogie!! (I will say that most of them do dance like they are homeschooled but bless their hearts - so do I)

I really love how the big kids love to include the little ones - none of these four sets of kids are siblings - just sweet friends...

Eliza and Katie Beth..

Ally and Lydia...

J.C. and Daniel...

Clara and Pip...

Madison and Abigail (Abigail is actually quite the ballerina)...

Blurry but sweet - Ginger and Emma...

Every time I look at this picture I love these sweet girls more! It's nutso how much I love them... Hannah, Annabelle, Ally, Clara and Lily.

Maddy and Mitchell - brother and sister - being funny...

The parents got in on the action too. Daddy and his "sweets."

Clara and her daddy (besides being great at cutting a rug with his daughters, John graciously served all the kids at the food table. SO thoughtful!)

Two of my great loves...

My baby love...

The coolest part of the night was this... During our party planning we decided to fore go hiring live musicians and instead encourage our kids to raise money for Water is Life. This is an AMAZING missions organization that brings clean water to people who do not have it. They make these water straws that people can wear around their neck and use in any water. Like, they can stick it in gross dirty pond water and get clean water in their mouths. It is amazing. The kids were given the task to save their change and do jobs to try and raise money to buy water straws. We collected just over $700 that night!! The kids are so excited about what they did. the organization is going to allow the kids to decorate all the straws they are able to pay for before sending them to Africa. You can check out what these water straws are at http://www.waterislife.com/ It really is amazing. How can we tell people that Jesus is the living water when they have no water at all? All of our families have decided to keep raising money for this wonderful missions origination.When Madison and Carson overheard me say that we were not going to hire a musician so that we could give to Water is Life they thought that maybe they could work on a song to sing for the group. They are so precious. They closed out the night by leading in Jesus Messiah. By the end everyone had joined in singing with them and some of the children even stood to their feet and raised their hands in worship. It was absolutely beautiful. The true meaning of Christmas.

Here's a video - pay no attention to the cute toddler that starts getting into things behind the singers or her handsome daddy that comes to get her. :)

(trying to get videos to post - they are not working - check back later)

Thanksgiving in Lousiana

We had so much fun visiting my parents in Monroe and celebrating Thanksgiving together with them and Joby. We drove to Dallas where we met Joby and had half the kids get in his car so we weren't double buckled for the entire 8 hours. My mom makes the most DE-LISH thanksgiving meal - I can't imagine eating anything else. We had a delightful laid back Thanksgiving day.

Pip LOVES her boots...

She LOVES her daddy like crazy cakes!

And she thinks I'm pretty awesome too...

All the kids sure do love Uncle Joby! Uncle Jack was in Spain for Thanksgiving but he will be with us for Christmas.

I will have to have Jason fix the lighting in this one in photoshop. Don't may parents look great? my mom is GORGEOUS!

Nana took us to a Christmas tree farm. It was super duper fun. In the fall it is a fully functioning pumpkin patch so it had lots of fun fall stuff.
We spent the afternoon there and even watched the sun set...

Pip and Nana on the hay ride. They did a ride just for our family - they were so so nice there...

They had huge tree swings...

Playing in the hay tunnels...

They had this train thing that the kids rode - they filled up the whole thing!

OK - this is my current obsession. I WANT ONE OF THESE IN MY BACKYARD. Jason thinks I'm a little nuts but I'm researching online. It is this adorable water play thing with water pumps and pipes that send little rubber duckies swimming to the other pool. I really want to recreate it b/c I think it would be hours and hours of fun. It certainly had all 7 of mine very excited and involved in playing the day we were there.

Back on the hay ride...

Papa also took all the kids out on his boat to look for alligators - which they saw!! I can't believe we didn't send a camera to get pictures.

On Saturday we went to the ULM game. My kids are the BIGGEST ULM fans ever. Despite the fact that the coaching staff was fired the day after the game, my kids have promised to be true blue War Hawk fans for life. :) (Pray for my dad to find a new job... oh and Jason!)

Madison can wear my shoes now - for the game I let her wear a pair of my boots. She is growing up so fast that it makes me sick!

Tailgating...

yet another picture of Pip

The drive home was just awful!The traffic was redonkulous but we made the best of it. 9 Woodards in a van for 11 hours. We made up new games and sang songs in a round and tried to keep everyone from getting on each other's nerves. it worked for the most part. It was great trip. I have so much to be thankful for.

Truly Thankful

I love Thanksgiving. Love the food, love the family, love that there are no gifts to buy. Every year it always seems so easy to think of all the things I am thankful for. I am so, so thankful for the GIFTS in my life.
This year I am thinking a lot of what I am thankful for. We are unemployed - again. The unknown ahead of us- again. Knowing that God will provide and hoping it will be soon - again. And yet I am thankful. I am so thankful this year for the GIVER. He, in his sovereign love and pursuit of His own glory holds us in His hands. We feel His grip more closely when we are afraid and unsure. Our trials chase us to Him and the lack of financial stability forces us to rest in His provision. And so for that, I am thankful.
I urge all of you to be thankful today. Be thankful for the good and wonderful and for the bad and painful. It is all part of His plan. It is all because He loves us. it is all to make us like Jesus - the ULTIMATE gift.
Happy Thanksgiving!

"In all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thess 5:18

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Last week Jason and the girls participated in our church's "Daddy Daughter Date." The dads take their daughters out for dinner and then meet at the church for dessert. This year they had a magic show that the girls could not stop talking about.

These girls sure do love their daddy. They both had made a painting for him and Madison wrote the most precious letter (I wish I had it with me so I could share an excerpt - but I don't. I'm pretty sure one of the things it said was that he is astonishingly generous).

Like father like daughter...

I love their precious relationships. When I see Jason's great love for his daughters (and his sons) I am reminded of the heavenly Father's great love for me. How amazing to think His love for us far exceeds any earthly parental love. It hardly seems possible.