What Child Is This!

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,

The cross be borne for me, for you.

Hail, hail the Word made flesh,

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

             ~What Child Is This

A Baby Born to Die

"A baby changes everything..."

Today we celebrate that Jesus, mighty Prince of heaven, came as a baby to save sinners.  The birth of Christ shows the amazing creativity of our Lord.  Certainly the Jews waiting for the Messiah weren't expecting their Savior to come as a lowly baby born in a stable.  Indeed, Jesus's first visitors weren't priests and kings, but lowly shepherds, the outcasts of society.  I recently heard a minister speak on how the shepherds were really the dregs of society, not people that anyone wanted to associate with, and maybe the angels even caught them mid-crude joke as they announced the birth of the Savior.  But God chose these shepherds for a reason, maybe to show us that Jesus wasn't born to save kings and rich men (although, He certainly can and does!), but that He came for the lowliest of sinners, the people we look down on.  Jesus certainly didn't spend His time on earth with princes and kings.

And then, who should visit Jesus but wise men from the East.  In a recent advent sermon, I learned that usually these men traveled in large groups with many people in their retinue.  This would have caused quite a commotion in the little town of Bethlehem.  And although they did speak to Herod, they were seeking a child from a poor family, not a prince of royal birth.  Even more amazing is that these men were astrologers, some bordering on the occult in their practices.  Certainly we know that there was much more to their party than 3 men on camels.  And God chose a baby to reveal Himself to them.  

We read that Mary pondered all these things in her heart.  What a privilege to give birth to her Savior, but also what pain she must have felt all through His life, knowing that in order for her to be saved, He must die.  As mothers, it is agony to see our children sick and in pain, but we also see their sin natures and their disobedience (much too often!).  Mary never saw evidence of any sin in the life of Jesus, yet she saw Him suffer and die.  

Jesus means "God saves."  According to Romans 5:8, "...God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  That is why Jesus had to leave His heavenly home.  So that one day we could live with Him there.  He has everything to offer us, and we have nothing to give.  He freely saves us by His blood.  All we have to offer Him are our empty hearts and He will gladly fill them.  

  ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

Christmas gift ideas

Am I jumping the gun by getting ready for next Christmas at the beginning of the year?  I don't think so, especially since starting now will save me money in December.  I stopped in at Goodwill tonight where all their remaining Christmas items are 50% off.

Aren't these mugs cute?  I bought mugs that I filled with homemade treats for gifts this past Christmas and I paid about $4 each for the mugs, which I thought was an ok price.  But these mugs?  Only 25 cents each!  And much cuter than the ones I bought.  I don't feel bad about buying used mugs since they're in perfect condition and I plan on filling them with candies or cocoa, like this recipe:

World's Best Hot Chocolate
Recipe from Short Stop

Mix:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (I use mini-chocolate chips)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Store mix in an airtight container.

For 4 servings:

2/3 cup cocoa mix
1/4 cup water
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large pan on low heat, stir cocoa mix and water until melted. Add milk and beat with whisk until smooth. Heat on low until hot. Add vanilla. Serve.

*For a single serving, add 2 heaping tablespoons of mix in the bottom of a mug. Pour 1/8 cup boiling water (don't measure - just add enough to cover the chocolate) and stir until the chocolate melts. Add milk to the top of your mug and add a splash of vanilla. Microwave until heated.


Now, I love me some Land O' Lakes mint hot chocolate, but this is a close second and pretty economical to make for a gift.  Enjoy!


Edit:  I made the recipe again because I thought it was a bit sweet and now I really do think its the best hot chocolate I've ever had!  I reduced the sugar to 1/2 a cup and substituted 4 oz of chopped mint Hershey's kisses for half of the chocolate chips.  The mint gives a subtle mint taste to the cocoa.  Oh, and do try this with whole milk at least once!  And it doesn't hurt to add a dollop of whipped cream to the top of your mug.  :-)

Christmas with Blue Grandpa and Grandma (and Nate and Shell)

Nate, Michelle, and my Dad made a delicious steak dinner for all of us since my mom had to work that day. The boys were treated to corn dogs. :-) 

Eating dinner on snowman dishes is so much fun.

Especially when you get to eat a hot dog on a stick!

Here's Uncle Nate's babysitting directions:  Turn on Ipad.

Unfortunately, it doesn't hold all the boys' attention for long.  Frog escaped and Aaron is making a break for it too.

Traditional winter tree shot.  This is the ONLY one that turned out because Aaron was having none of it.

Gifts from grandpa and grandma.  Their favorites were little nerf guns and remote control vehicles.

Frog closely inspecting his package.

Aaron wasn't too interested in unwrapping packages, but he's pretty thrilled with his new police car that talks and lights up.

Thanks for the fun time, Grandpa and Grandma!

Decorating Cookies

I used this recipe for the dough and this recipe for the frosting. Both ones I would use again.

 These two helped me cut out cookies.  Aaron was in his cage pack n play and Joel was at white Grandpa and Grandma's for an impromptu sleepover.

Some of the finished product and cups waiting for hot chocolate.

Kaiya flashing her pearly whites for the camera.

Andrew's missing a few of those pearly whites.  

Noah and Jayden had fun with frosting and sprinkles.  The cookies had a definite crunch to them.

When Joel got the frosting on the cookies, he did a pretty good job.  But I think more frosting and candy went into his mouth than on the cookies.

Engelsma Christmas

Friday was our first Christmas party of the season.  It was actually a joint Christmas party and Grandpa's 91st birthday party.

All of the great-grandkids exchange gifts.  This is quite the undertaking.  I'm not exactly sure how many kids it is, but I'm guessing 50+.  In the franticness of the moment, picture quality was lost but here's our boys opening their gifts.

 

Connie and Noah diving in.

Andrew had a blast running around with all his cousins.

Andrew got some fireman legos.  He's built and rebuilt them numerous times since he received them.

Joel's gift was definitely a big hit.  I think its been in constant use since Fri night.

Aaron's missing out on the fun.  He was too busy crawling around.

Crafting goals for next week

Source: ballardbunch.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

I started a wreath for the front door, but I don't think I'm going to finish it in time so this will be a fun alternative to do with the boys.  I'm thinking maybe in blue or gray so it doesn't blend in with my front door?  And maybe some sparkles for a little bling.

Source: thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

I love mantels.  Unfortunately, our house doesn't have one (although I've toyed with the idea of putting a fake one in the living room).  But, I'm thinking of doing the "JOY" idea by our kitchen table.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Now the question is, do I dare venture into Hobby Lobby with my 4 boys??