Simple Women's Day Book Last one of 2009

For Today..........until next year's Christmas

Outside my window..........cloudy and cold

I am thinking...........how wonderful it will be to see my sister Christine in March

I am thankful for......the health of my children

I am wearing....comfy pants and a super cute new pink shirt.

I am going..........no where and I love it.

I am reading.......going to steal my hubbys Christmas gift and read Chuck Smith's Memoirs

I am hoping..............to loose 12 pounds by the time my sister gets here

On my mind........how to reach out more to our neighbors

From the Learning Rooms.....not much, prep for post break. Enjoying the time off

Remembering that.....I must decrease and He must increase

From the kitchen.....pork tenderloin, apple sauce, roasted rosemary red potatoes and corn YUM

Around the house......the aftermath of Christmas and company and I LOVE it.

Listening to.....Hannah cooing and laughing and the boys playing the Wii

A few plans for the week......what shall we do this new years eve?

One of my favorite things......challenging myself on the treadmill

From my photo album

Oh how she loved Hannah!

www.thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

Christmas With Friends

I can't ever say enough how blessed we are to have the Goodrich's on this side of the country with us. I love our Maine connection but I am loving even more the new connection we are making. Our children LOVE hanging out together and they have become instant friends. I truly enjoy each of their four children. They come up for a visit this weekend and we had such a blast. We didn't have any special plans just hanging out and enjoying each others company. We ate, laughed and the kids played the Wii...a lot. I am so thankful for our friendship feels more like family each time we visit. Here's a picture of the kids in front of the tree.

Christmas Morning Videos

The boys opening their gift from Grammie.

the wii

Christmas Morning 2009

Christmas morning has come and gone for the Pellerin family in Washington. The kids of course had an amazing morning, full of gifts and giggles. And I must admit although calling home wasn't as good as being there I am overwhelmed with how blessed I am with my little family,my husband, two sons, and my new little daughter. We have kept some traditions the same but also have new ones.

I must confess this year my focus hasn't been mainly on the Savior Jesus Christ but more about me, and my feelings of loneliness. I realized this morning how important it is to keep Him the focus not only at Christmas but all year, everyday for the rest of our lives. He alone will be the comfort I need, He alone will give me Joy unspeakable, and He alone is the Greatest Gift. I am looking forward to refocusing on Him and allowing Him to write this chapter of our lives however He sees. I have grown weary of being homesick. I have grown weary of trying not to be homesick. So I give it to Him and acknowledge how weak I am without Him.

We hope you had a very blessed Christmas but more importantly that you stop and remember the reason for this season. Without the birth, life and death of Jesus, there would be no reason to celebrate ever. May we all find rest in Him and find our eternal life in His sacrifice on the cross.

Enjoy the pictures below and the videos to follow.

Merry Christmas Love, Bethany


Hannah bear in her sparkley red sweater for the Christmas eve dinner at church. We had such a great time, with good food, good friends, and good fellowship. We are blessed to be joined with such a body of believers who love Jesus and love others.

Hannah Bear and Mommy in pink snowman pj's. Mine are from my mom. I opened them early and I love them. I had bought Hannah's a few weeks back, they are pink too with a cute snowman.

My mom always had one gift unwrapped under the tree in the morning for each of us kids growing up. I loved it when I was a kid so I always do it for my kiddos. Here are their glowing (though you can't see it in this picture) light sabers. They loved them. (check out Elijah he cracks me up)

Another tradition that lives on is our "Christmas morning bread" it's so good. I mean so good that between the 4 of us we ate the whole thing this morning. I give it as a gift as well to those fortunate people on my bread list. This year the list was a little shorter, but the story of the bread giving lives on here in Washington.

No gifts are allowed to be opened until the Christmas story is read by Daddy. This morning I was struck by the grace that Joseph, Mary's husband showed her when he learned she was expecting a baby that was not his.He didn't want to make her a public display of disgrace. I thought how easily it would have been for him to expose her, to feel justified in doing so, maybe even being judgemental and prideful. I realized if it were me I probably would not have shown grace. I realized that is an area I need to work on in my own life with those around me.

The boys AWESOME remote controls cars from Grammie. Seriously I think I am having the most fun with them. They light up and go crazy, flipping everywhere.

The boys and their BIG gift...the Wii.

The boys playing the Wii.

And here is MY BIG gift this year...Hannah Bear. So cute with the bow on her head. I keep thinking how different she'll be next year at this time. They grow so fast.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

And they are all nestled in for the night...my work is done. Until tomorrow....

Old Traditions made New

So everyone knows that I am homesick and especially during the Christmas season. I have so many wonderful Christmas memories with friends and family back in Maine it is hard to imagine Christmas without them. But here we are in Washington and we have so many reasons to be thankful and we truly are blessed. It important to remember what Christmas is about...the birth of our Savior Jesus.
One thing I remember when I was a child was a ceramic Christmas tree my parents had. It had holes in it that little lights would go in and then we would plug it in and it was just beautiful. I loved that particular decoration more than any other for some reason.I have always wanted one for myself, but could never find one and when on the rare occasion I did, I couldn't justify spending the money on it.
So today I got a package on my doorstep from my friend Jen (we used to live in Calais together) and what did I find inside? You guessed it a ceramic tree, lights and all. She had mentioned she had made one awhile back and I told her how much I had wanted one. So being the thoughtful and crafty friend that she is, she made me one and shipped it to me in time for Christmas.
Those of you who know me, know I am bit of sap. I cry pretty easily especially over sentimental things. Well I indeed cried. I was struck with two things. One how blessed I am that even though I have moved literally to the other side of the country I have lifelong family and friends who love me and that are loved so very much by me. And two how blessed I am to have my own little family, my husband, and three amazing children Isaiah,Elijah and Hannah to share my memories of Christmas past and to make new ones with. I had so much fun putting the lights on this little tree with the kids.


Thank you Jen so much! Miss you!

Day Book December 21 Grace upon Grace

For today...Grace upon Grace

Outside my window....dark it's always dark

I am thinking...that Christmas came very fast.

I am thankful for...my beautiful children. Isaiah my constant friend, Elijah the one who makes me laugh and Hannah our little princess.

I am wearing...pj's I wish I had a pair for every day of the week.

I am going...finishing the last bits of shopping and Christmas eve dinner at church.

I am reading...starting the book of Mathew

I am hoping...I allowing the true meaning of Christmas to overflow me with JOY

On my mind...How to comfort Isaiah's sad heart. He misses his friends back home.

From the learning rooms...finishing up a few loose ends, Christmas traditions around the world, but we are on vacation. They have worked so hard and deserve it.

Pondering these words...you will deal with Jesus on this side of eternity or on the other side, BUT "every knee will bow"

From the kitchen....made Christmas bread Saturday and it smelled so good. Today we are going to make more cookies and decorate and bring some plates over to some neighbors.

Listening to...Gia Lucid's " I give you Jesus" beautiful

Around the house..I am not going to talk about it, rather I am going to focus on one thing at a time, and be thankful that I have a house to clean.

One of my favorite things...my boys singing at church yesterday and Isaiah singing a duet. Where does he get his outgoing personality?

From my photo journal:

The boys singing at church. Isaiah is in back with the "09" shirt and Elijah is in the front with the red shirt.

And of course I had to post one of Hannah Bear....in her little pink dress. I literally took 45 pictures in this dress.
www.thesimplewomansdaybook.com