Merry Christmas To All!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Top Ten Christmas Memories of 2009


1. Carols and Candles on Christmas Eve at FBC McKinney with my sweet family and dreaming of a day when Marty and I are surrounded by our children's children on a Christmas Eve far into the future.

2. Watching Sofie and Lily dance in the kitchen while Marty played music from his new I-Pod speakers. Sofie can really shake what God gave her! Hahahaha!

3. Listening to my mother reading to my children on Christmas Eve thanks to our new audio version of The Night Before Christmas. (A precious gift and new family heirloom that allows mom to be "with" us for Christmas).

4. Making Merry and reading the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve with our dear friends and surrogate family The Recks...a Texas Christmas Tradition for which I am thankful.

5. Hot apple cider and a roaring fire after the Christmas mess was all cleaned up Christmas night.

6. The smell of turkey, Christmas Cookies, and Snow in the air! It was the first Christmas snow in North Texas since 1926! "Though our sins were as Crimson, He makes us white as snow!"

7. Snuggling up with Marty and watching It's A Wonderful Life cuz it REALLY is!

8. Watching the kids play Wii boxing Christmas Eve day...Lily is sooo NOT tough!

9. Waking up to Christmas surprise on Christmas morning...Sofie pulled the ceramic Santa stocking holder off the mantle and missed her head by INCHES!

10. Waking up to our elves playing Candyland on Christmas Eve day and listening to my children giggle at their silly ways.

Our Christmas Elves

A few years ago, we asked Santa to send us a Christmas Elf who could stay with us and play at our house during the weeks before Christmas. Santa sent us Kennaway, one of his best elves, who cares for the baby reindeer at the North Pole. The next year, Kennaway decided to bring his sisters Besty and Penny along for the fun. By day, they are mild mannered Christmas elves. By night, silly mischief makers. The kids adore them and love waking to see what shenanigans the elves were up to while we were asleep. Here are a few pics of this year's fun.

The elves worked together to play We Wish You A Merry Christmas on Jack's French Horn! They are so musically talented!



We woke up Christmas Eve morning and the elves had been playing Candyland all night long!


One morning we found Kennaway was challenging Jack to a Bakugan duel. :D


In this picture, Lily was doing her reading homework before dinner with her favorite elf Betsy.


Penny likes helping Sofie with her artwork after school...



On Christmas morning we found the elves hanging out in the Christmas tree with stars around their necks. We had read about the star that illuminated the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve and the elves were listening. I guess they thought they would make pretty ornaments for the tree! They will stay here with us until New Year's Eve and then they return to the North Pole. After all, they have a lot of work to do to prepare for next Christmas. But it will be fun as long as they are here.

Merry Christmas From The Arbuckles 2009

Make a Smilebox greeting

Happy Birthday Jesus Party-2009

Make a Smilebox greeting

Hard to believe, but it is that time of year again...our annual Happy Birthday Jesus Party with our Life Group from FBC McKinney. This year's theme was sharing our gifts. We discussed the significance of the Wise Men and the gifts they brought in worship of the Messiah...gifts for a King. Then we made ornaments for our Christmas trees and had birthday cupcakes for Jesus complete with Life Savers since Jesus Saves. It was an evening of fun and memories I will treasure in my heart for years to come. Happy Birthday Jesus! And thank you for allowing me to share this Christmas once more with my dear friends the Recks and the Roses. Merry Christmas everyone! May the gift of Christ bring you joy and peace all through the year.

Sofie Turns 6!

Sofie is six years old! I can hardly believe it myself, but our baby is growing up so fast. She is quite a character...and she fills our house with joy as we take in her spunky ways. Sofie is quite an independent little gal, and she loves to conquor challenges all by herself. She loves playing basketball and is a big fan of wrestling with Jack and Daddy. Yet, she still makes time to play house with her sister and snuggle with her "babies". Sofie's favorite color is red and her favorite restaurant is McDonald's. In fact, given a choice of any restaurant for her birthday she chose Mickey D's.


My Honeybug!





Sofie with her best pals Molly and Kinley Reck!

We all call her Bug (short for Honeybug) and she loves her special name. She told me the other day, "Mom, do you know what I love about being your little girl? I love when you call me Bug." And I LOVE being her mommy. Six years ago, God gave us Sofie and he was sure showing off when he made her. I can't wait to see the way she grows and changes in this coming year. One thing is for certain...life is never dull with our Bug in the house!

Happy Birthday Sofie! We love you to the moon and back six year old girl! xoxoxo

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Baking With Grandma

My mom, aka "Gramma Tina" came to spend a long weekend with us last weekend. While she was here, the kids had a lot of catching up to do with grandma. The girls especially enjoyed baking my grandmother's chocolate cake from scratch with mom. It is a time honored tradition passed down from each generation of Connelly women and Mom thought it was time for the girls to begin learning the craft. :) It tickled my heart to watch them together and the cake was beyond delicious!


Carefully measuring the ingredients...this takes concentration.


What a big girl using the mixer all by herself!



I don't know which is sweeter...Sofie or the whipped cream. <3

Our Music Man

"I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel."
(Judges 5:3)




As you know, Jack began playing the french horn this past fall. It is a very difficult instrument, but Jack really seems to be falling in love with music. This week, he had his first official performance entitled Season Sampler. Jack was so excited to be playing in front of an audience and it was extra special since the concert was at the Boyd High School Auditorium. We are so proud of him and look forward to seeing our J-Man in many performances to come.

Christmas Journey

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for he shall save His people from their sins."
(Matthew 1:21)



Marty has been growing his beard for several weeks now in anticipation of his role as a disciple for Christmas Journey, a depiction of Christ's life from the manger to the empty tomb. I confess, I miss his sweet face, but we are all excited about his being involved in such an incredible opportunity to reach our community with the message of Christ's great love. He is one of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and is costume looks great as you can see. He sewed it himself. Impressive, huh?




The kids and I got hot chocolate and gingerbread from Starbucks and anticipated each scene with delight. It was truly spectacular. Lily was yelling at the actors when we came to the scene of Jesus' trial. "Mean Pharisees! You don't DESERVE Jesus!" How true that is for us all. And yet, our Savior willingly took our punishment and sin to the cross and conquored death so we could be reconciled to God. Even more incredible is that He would do so AGAIN if given the choice. What a beautiful Savior!

And what reminder of what this season is truly all about...the birth of our Savior. Jesus IS the gift! Merry Christmas to all from the Arbuckles. May God's love bring you peace and joy in the coming year.