A House to a Home

What a busy few weeks it has been. I have missed blogging. As a busy mom I don't have the opportunity for many creative outlets, so I have to make time for them. And as of late, I haven't been doing anything for myself. Our pastor said something that really stuck home, he said "When our priorities are out of line, then there is chaos." My first thought was "he must have seen my house!" But then I did realize that I had not been taking care of ME! And everyone one was beginning to suffer. So, I had a ME Day. Two Fridays ago, I left. Not like left to Las Vegas left, but left to play. I went to a movie (by myself), went shopping (by myself) and went to dinner (yup, by myself.) I only received two phone calls while I was gone, one from the garage repair man (scheduling our repair) the other from my husband ("honey where is the pizza cutter?"). It was great. The next Friday I went out again. Steve and the kids had a movie night. They turned up the movie real loud, made popcorn and turned out all the lights. I am not sure who had more fun, me or them. This has been good for the whole family. Mom gets a break, and kids get real time with dad. And there is balance once again in the Snyder house.

Now on to the house. It is coming along. The kid's rooms are done!!!!! Hurray! It seemed like it took forever, but it really didn't. It has been hard for Steve because he is either working or sleeping. So, finding the time to work on the house has been a challenge, but he has done a wonderful job. (see photos) We have many plans, but they will be weekend jobs. Nothing major all stuff we can do ourselves. It will be great when we are done and can look back and see what we have be able to do.

We didn't do anything in the kitchen, I just thought this picture was cute.


Ellyn's room is "Tinker Bell Blue". I loved the way this color turned out. She has little Tinker Bell sticker things and a Princess chalkboard. Ellyn and Andy switched beds when we moved. Andy never slept on his bunk bed, he always slept on the floor, and Ellyn loved to swing on the monkey bars on the bed. So, it was a great trade.



Why didn't someone tell me what a nightmare painting red is? So, if you don't know, it is horrible! I will never do it again. It looks great, but takes 3 or 4 coats to look great. We also did chalkboard paint and framed it in, good job honey.

What we did last week

Can you guess what we have been up to this last week?







If you guessed living in chaos, also known as packing, cleaning, moving, painting and unpacking, you are the winner!

Christmas Eve Tradition

Growing up we always opened our gifts on Christmas Eve. My parents tell me it was so they could sleep in on Christmas Day, as a parent, I understand. So, to keep my tradition in our family our kids get to open the gifts from my parents on Christmas Eve. It is so fun, first the box comes in the mail, and then the count down until they can open them.




I think Ellyn liked the bubble wrap the best. She put it on the floor and kept walking on it. It is always the little things. When they were little it was the boxes they liked the best.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!

I woke up at 3am this morning to a raging headache, wasn't too sure why. But now I know. We are having a great snow storm. I love the snow. Especially before Christmas. It is just so pretty. Not like in February when it has started to melt and the parking lots are flooded with dirty snow puddles. There is so much talk around the town about how people hate driving in the snow. Now, I learned to drive in the winter, in the snow. So, it is no big deal to me. Also, many thanks goes to my dad who gave me great tips. "Slow down, leave plenty of room, tap your breaks to test the road, tap your breaks so the people behind you can see your lights," and the most important "Watch out for the crazies out there, I trust myself, it is the other people who I don't trust."

Today, we will hang out at home. The kids will play while mom crashes on the couch with a heating pad on her head. And then most likely we will venture out this afternoon to finish up some Christmas shopping.

Saturday Grace

In October 2007 we began a ministry called "Saturday Grace."

On the third Saturday of every month we open the doors to our church (Grace Bible Church) and give out free food and clothing to any one in need. It has been an amazing journey over this past year. On our first Saturday we had one person show up, this weekend we served 59 families and almost 300 people.

We advertise on the Christian radio station KEYY, hang up some signs and pass out bulletin inserts to our church. Mostly people find out about us through word of mouth and the work of God. We receive our food from the Utah Food Bank and clothing from donations. It has been great to see our church and community step up to help.

This ministry has become a labor of love, sometimes it just seems like labor. A friend of mine whose family came to help out said she wanted to thank me for all that I have done with Saturday Grace. I said it wasn't me, it was God. She then replied, that He does use the willing and obedient. I have to admit that I haven't always been willing. But for those of you who have ever been in a ministry you will understand when I say, there was no way I could not not do this. It has been very hard, but very worth it. I think the best part is seeing our own church body step up and take ownership of this. I can not do this alone and now that our church has stepped up we are seeing it take off. Just 3 months ago we had about 15 families now look where God has brought us.

Last year we were featured in an article in the Daily Herald, the writer asked me and several others who were involved with Saturday Grace if we were concerned about running out of supplies (food and clothing) and without knowing we all said the same thing: "As long as God wants us here, he will provide the stuff." Last week I sent out an email to our church telling them of some of our needs, coats, gloves, hats, blankets and the like, and I am please to say they once again stepped up.

I don't know how long I will be doing Saturday Grace or where God will take us, but I do know it will be a fun ride.

Our happy helpers. Justin Jeffs decided that this was something that his family needed to help with. And boy am I glad he listened to the small quiet voice, because his family was much needed and truly a blessing to me and Saturday Grace.

We officially opened at 10, although we had people at the church at 9:30. I told them we were not ready yet but they could wait inside. At 10:02 we had 30 families signed it to receive food and clothing.

This is my dear friend Ashley. And finally a picture of me at Saturday Grace. I am always the one behind the camera.

This was our line of people waiting to receive food. With as busy as we were, we only had 9 families that didn't get food this week. We have an idea for raising food for our food bank that we will promote after the first of the year. It is going to be a very easy and simple way for our families to get involved with helping other families.

The Boot

Another tradition we have is one that started at the Snyder's house. I don't know when or how it started, but it now one of our traditions.

"The Boot" holds the coveted peanut clusters. Whenever we were at the Snyder's for Christmas there were always treats in the boot. And last year Steve's mom gave him his very own boot. Now it sits in his spot where he puts on and takes off his shoes, on the stairs. And it magically gets filled with peanut clusters.

Mom's reading time

I did it! I finished a book. I love to read, but as a busy mom, it doesn't happen much. Well, the reading does, but the finishing doesn't. A few weeks ago my mom mentioned a book by an author that we both loved, Francine Rivers, and she wasn't sure she was going to read it. Just from the title "The Last Sin Eater" she wasn't too sure about it. I felt the same way, but I love her other books, and knew we couldn't go wrong. I was at our library, which for a small town is great, and found her book. So, I grabbed it, read it, finished it and LOVED IT!!

As a mom I don't feel that I accomplish much. The dishes are never really done, the laundry is never really caught up, and let's not talk about the kids rooms. So to close a book. And to know that I accomplished something, is huge.

I love finishing a book.
Closing it.
Turning it over.
Remembering characters.
Feeling the book.
Loving it.