Merry Christmas!!!

This is a pretty photo-heavy post, but hey, it's Christmas, it's to be expected right?

The kiddos said that this was their favorite Christmas!

 They feel that way every year...not because of the gifts{we never go crazy with gifting}, but because they feel the great love and joy from us and each other.

We made Kobe go on a scavenger hunt to receive his last gift...everyone thought it was pretty funny!

The children always get to experience the gifting part of Christmas twice, after we do it at home we go to Vince and Mema's house and do it all over again!!

 We wish you a Merry Christmas!

...and a Happy New Year!!

T'was The Night Before Christmas...

T'was the night before Christmas with the Zeres, all through the house not a creature is stirring except the 13 year old who can't sleep. 

He keeps asking, "what can I do to get to sleep?"

I remember those Christmas nights as a kid tossing and turning with excitement...

I remember thinking about all the presents awaiting my arrival...

As I've grown I realize that the best gift of all was one I had never opened. 

The gift of Jesus's love for me was always there, unopened. 

That gift has been torn open and gets better every single day!

It's not about religion, this gift, no...it's about a relationship. 

God bless you all and have a 

Very

Merry

Christmas...

Love,

The Zeres

Tis' the Season

Tis' the season for LOVE and JOY!

Even though the temperature outside (70 degrees right now) doesn't feel like Christmas, Love knows no season. 

We have really been soaking up the Holiday love around here.

Instead of snow-kissed noses, we have sun-kissed cheeks. Instead of  white-covered hills, we have green-tinted fields. I've come to learn that the Christmas cliche is not at all important to me. The Christmas miracle  that happened 2000 years ago is the most important thing, and without Him, Christmas doesn't exist. 

Where there are no snowflakes, we create them...

My lovely girl had a Christmas concert this past week and I couldn't be more proud of her. Her youth choral has been working so hard every week and they really blew our stockings off! 

They were AMAZING!! Not just because I'm MOM, but because the pieces of music they chose were incredibly challenging. They all put in 100% and it wouldn't have been possible without their directors. The directors put so much faith in these little people and they really knew what they were doing. I'm am wildly impressed!!

My little lovely really enjoyed raising her voice, and that big voice will resonate in many hearts for time to come. 

 I'm so so so proud of you little dear...we love you so!

 You have a heart of gold and you will touch so many people through your journey in life...

Thank you for always being you, and for all that you do!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day!

PS.  Trees are not the only things we've been trimming around here. 

It took me a really really long time, but Oscar finally got a fur-cut!

He looks like a totally different dog...ha!

Haphazard progression...

Yay! The blog is back!!

Yeah, last blog post was in March (I think).

As we near the end of 2013, I realize, I'm not sure how I made this far.

It's like when you're in deep thought while driving, then you wonder how you managed the last three miles without looking at the road.

I am somehow making progress into the new year. This year has been a real challenge for me. I have pushed myself to my limits. We decided to do some looooong-term planning and I somehow thought that being a full-time student, having a part-time job, and homeschooling the kiddos was all going to work out.

Every conversation I get into about my schedule, I get asked the same question, "How do you do all that?"

It has been really hard. Really really hard.

On the flip-side...

The semester is over in two and half weeks, my job lays me off for the winter months, and teaching my children is truly joyful anyways. 

I have somehow made it through the thick of it...

One of my biggest problems about being so busy and overwhelmed is that I became more sensitive than normal. I'm a VERY sensitive person to begin with, (I have cried rivers that threaten the Nile's record).

In normal situations, I would find ways to blame myself for things that didn't involve me, or I would read stories about major strugglers, suffering and repression...gahhh! I sure knew how to absolutely torture myself. 

Well, here we are, nearing the end of this crazy year. I am happy to say that I accomplished a lot of what I intended. Not everything went the way that I planned, but it is what it is and I'm not dwelling on it anymore. 

I have Thanksgiving off and we're planning to really enjoy the holiday season, together!

We are planning to fill the house with all the fruits of the spirit...

and the greatest of all these is...

Happy New Year!

Well, OK...we made it past 2012. Phewwww, just by the skin of our teeth.

There are some big projects that I have on my to do list this year.
I've already scratched off a bunch of big projects, so onward I go!

All the Christmas decorations are down {oh I can count that as another project completed}

Now this is what is on our wall:

"Create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"

~Psalm 51:10

This is perfect for us right now!

Thank you Lord for your words!

My children think the flowers on burlap look like Christmas presents...Doh! That's not what I was going for, but hey, whatever! I like them... 

What are some of the big projects on your list?

God Bless!

Merry CHRISTmas...

Wow! We're just 5 days away from Christmas!
I absolutely LOVE this time of the year...especially THIS year.
I love the music {I can't lie}; I love peppermint hot chocolates and gingerbread lattes {from Aromas of course}; I love cinnamon sticks with cloves and oranges { home-made potpourri recipe from my Mama}; but most importantly I love the excitement and joy that radiates from my family, especially the children. It's Jesus's Birthday!!

Another exciting thing about this time of year is that it's going to be a brand new year soon!
A time to start fresh with routines, habits, goals and ideas.

It's amazing how many times I've been tempted to just be stressed-out or down right sad. I don't do TV, MSN, FOX, or any of these corruption-fueled media sources, but even through co-workers and checking my email I've heard about the horrific tragedy in Newtown, CT. I refuse to find out more...I've been praying and praying for the families and all who were involved. God Bless them all!!

We are taking two weeks off from school, and the kids have been playing together everyday...all of them! The other day they were playing "hunter" they took turns being the hunter while the rest were animals. {J} was a caribou named Lil'stampede. {K} made a point to let me know that they were not killing the animals, but shooting them with stunning darts...ha!

Every year I try come up with a few New Year's resolutions...this year I'll:

~Make a new cleaning schedule for everyone
~Get more involved at church
~Wake up earlier to exercise
~Make all lesson plans at least one week in advance
~Eat healthier
~Pray more
~Get rid of stuff

Sound familiar?

Also, a good friend and I are are planning to organize photography sessions {starting in the New Year}. Let me know if you are interested!

For now we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 

With Love,

 

THE ZERES

 

 

 

 

Doubtful...

Do you ever have those days {or weeks if your like me} when you are so doubtful?

All of the doubt that I muster is painful and unfortunate, as well as a joy-busting WASTE of time. Knowing the aforementioned, I do it anyway. 

I find myself doubting my parental achievements more than anything else. Some days I just feel like a terrible failure in the parental department and I get really hard on myself.

My friends, co-workers, and especially my husband always remind me how great of a Mom they think I am...I really really need to hear that. A lot. I am an affirmation addict. No, really I am. This is something I've learned about myself lately.

I get really sensitive when my kids do something wrong. I usually blame myself. Sometimes I just laugh it away, but other times I dwell and analyse and analyse and...you get the point. After I get so sick of analysing I accept and move on...phew! {Boy, what a waste of time and energy}

Right on my bathroom sink I keep a framed, subway art scripture that says:

{ "Trust in the Lord with all your heart & lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowlege Him & He will make your paths staight."
--Proverbs 3:5-6 }

It's funny how things work. I see this everyday, but today I really saw it.

This is God's way of telling me how to handle doubt...
Thank You Lord!

I have some pictures to share, but don't judge my parental abilities based on my lil' dare-angel...

Put it this way, we're just "rough around the edges"...

Wait for it...

Ok, hold your breath...

We're the Zeres, we come as we are and and we're "wide open"

"There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills."

--Buddha 

Yay! Christmas day!

What a lovely day it's been! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We're so blessed!

I can't stop using the exclamation point!

I'm just so happy!

We had to send Kobe back to bed this morning...he always wakes up too early on Christmas. How can you blame him, he can't wait to start celebrating this amazing day...

...and he can't wait to dig into his gifts.

I love that the first gift he opened was a Christmas card from World Vision informing him that four chickens were purchased in each of our childrens' names. The chickens will be given to another family for Christmas.

It was a good way to keep our holiday in perspective right from the start.

I also love how my little boy was as excited about magic tricks and radio controlled cars as he was about skinny jeans and tweeny things...

My children's' happiness brings me great joy...

Mia asked, "are there any stores open today?"

"There may be one or two, but not many." I answered.

Then Mia said, "well, I feel bad for the people working. They can't celebrate the true meaning of Christmas...spending the day with your family!"

She's really such a thoughtful girl...

Kobe attempted to wake Lula when he first got up this morning by saying, "come on Lula it's Christmas...let's go..."

Lula yelled back, "NO IT'S NOT KOBE...

LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She's not a fan of being awakened before she's ready.

A little later... I went into Lula's room before heading downstairs, "Lula, Merry Christmas, let's go downstairs and celebrate!"

This time she just turned her back to me and plugged her ears...

About a minute and a half later she turned to me with a big smile on her face, jumped out of bed and said, "come on Maxx {the dog} we got you a gift!"

Jude had a great first Christmas!

He was quite interested in being right in the middle of everything. He's five and half months old and is sitting on his own...it's so fun to see him explore his new toys.

I had fun "playing " with his gifts too!

He wasn't so excited about me squeezing him into this cute little suit that Mema and Vince bought him...

Merry Christmas!