Do you ever read something and it hits you in just the right way? I was reading Life in His Presence this morning and came across this statement (of Jesus speaking to the reader):
The world’s way of pursuing riches is grasping and hoarding. You attain My riches by letting go and giving. The more you give yourself to Me and My ways, the more I fill you with inexpressible, heavenly Joy.
Isn’t it so true, though! I am much more joyful when I’m focused on giving versus attaining. Just had to share that quote today ❤️
One of our local libraries was having a STEM kids club night for K-5th grade, so we brought Sadie to one of the meeting rooms in the library and she got to hear a story about the gingerbread man, build a boat for gingerbread cookies, and decorate her own cookie.
Not sure what she was going for with three eyes on the gingerbread man’s stomach, but okay!
Imagine my surprise when we popped into the library and my book was on the shelf! That was unexpected and made me smile so hard 😬
Have you ever tried to take family pictures with sixteen people, half which are five-years-old and under? It’s quite the feat!
My parents wanted to do Christmas pictures with us siblings (my brother, sister, and I) and our families and it was fun in the most chaotic way.
The whole crew! On the left side, Remi is holding Olive. Raven is in the pink sweater. Caroline and Titus are sharing a chair in the middle of the photo. Lawson is standing next to Titus and Sadie has Mordecai on her lap.
Just for fun, Jimmy and I took a picture with my sister’s kids. We were like, what if we sent this picture on our Christmas card? How confused would people be?!
The weather has been crisp here in Pittsburgh. Jimmy keeps our thermostat set at 65 overnight and 69 in the day (I’d prefer it to be at least 73-75 degrees at all times 😜) so we do a lot of snuggling to stay warm.
Mordecai is mildly obsessed with Niva. He loves feeding her from his highchair and snuggling her… butt 😂
Sadie is kind of fearful of Malcolm. He has his claws, and he uses them often. She was resting on a mat in our basement the other day and he crawled onto her stomach. At first, she froze, but then she relaxed and let him nest on her.
I am going to end the post here! The kids are in the bath as I type this post on my laptop at the bathroom counter and things are getting wild. Bye till next time!
Living My Full Life 
The family pictures were so much fun!!!
And the pic of you holding up your published book in the library is AWESOME!
BTW I need my copy autographed. It was a really good book!!!
Dad
Agreed!
And thank you! It was a dream come true seeing my book on the shelves! Your wish is my command: mom brought it over and I signed it for you guys 🙂
Love you so much!
Ah!! Love seeing you holding your own book at the library! Such a dream come true!
So I have to know, did you all manage to get a group shot with everyone?? Hopefully so! Love seeing all the cousins together!
Truly, it’s a dream come true! Makes me want to do it all over again and again!
We totally did manage to get a group shot… somehow!! It was great!
We keep our room temp at 72, sometimes 73 (I guess we are officially getting old). I definitely prefer to cuddle dogs, as our cats aren’t very into cuddling. The family pics this year were so funny – and fun!!!!! Dad and I are so proud of our amazing family all getting together to take a pic each year at Christmastime!
I love when Deck snuggles with Niva and sucks his thumb, and she just lays there and enjoys it!