4 Minutes until New Year!!!

2 More Days Until 2016!!

Hello all!

Can you believe it? Only 2 more days until New Year's Day! 2016!!! A brand new year! Woohoo!!

January 1 is a very special day for lots of reasons, but I have two reasons in mind right now :)

1. It's the very first day of the new year.

2. It's the end of Olivia's card giveaway! :) You can go here to check it out: Rafflecopter Giveaway. So, basically, you click on the link that I just put up, and then click on the link that Olivia gives for the giveaway. To enter into the giveaway, you will have to sign in, and comment on her blog, telling her which cards you would like if you won. You should really go over and check it out! :)


What do you usually do for New Year's Eve/Day?
Do you make resolutions? If so, what is one of them? (that is, if you're okay to share them with us ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!!

                                   

12 Days of Christmas // Day 12 // Merry Christmas!!

Merry, merry Christmas everyone!! 

For this very special day, the day that Christ was born!, I got one of the many very special people in my life to write a post for me.  Kong Kong P.! (my grandfather ;)) So now I'll let you read his post. . . :D 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
My lovely granddaughter asked me to write something on her blog about Christmas. This gave me the inspiration to write the following:


Do you ever wonder about this: “What’s so special about Christmas?”

What’s so special about this one day every year that you would see in your neighbourhood colourful lights appearing almost overnight a week or two before Christmas, beautifully adorning the trees or eaves troughs?

What’s so special about Christmas that you can expect to see gifts and more gifts to be placed under a Christmas tree in many homes where it’s celebrated?  

What’s so special about Christmas that you would see in every city of the world dazzling lights, huge Christmas displays, suddenly appearing in shopping malls with seasonal music and songs as if to remind people to get ready for the BIG day?

What’s so special about Christmas that you can expect all families to feel all sentimental about getting together with relatives and friends in order to celebrate the day over a Christmas turkey or a special family dinner?  My sympathy to all the poor turkeys slaughtered during this season! 

Is it a tradition that people observe annually because others are doing it?  It’s clearly costly to buy Christmas gifts every year; why are they doing it even if some people could barely afford to? It’s clearly a challenge for the host to serve a Christmas dinner that everyone could enjoy at home; why are people doing it even though it’s very cumbersome and taxing for the cook? 

If a tradition, why has it lasted so long? If not a tradition, what is the main reason that people all over the world are celebrating Christmas on December 25? Unless there’s a real reason, it would seem that most people are celebrating for no good reason at all. 

But is there truly a reason to celebrate? Perhaps a momentous event that has changed the world for good? One that continues to bring life and hope for mankind. For those who believe, it’s simply taking what’s recorded in the Bible these words an angel of the Lord proclaimed to some shepherds in Bethlehem: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Do you believe this or do you have a better reason for the world to accept what you believe?

Ask yourself this question: “Why am I celebrating Christmas?” If you know the reason, then this Christmas will certainly be a lot more meaningful and hopeful for you and your family! 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 Jesus is Holy and Right

He is our Sword, Shield, and Light

He died for us,

And He didn’t fuss. 

                                ~ Ironman 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Luke 2: 16-20
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

CHRIST is Born!! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

JESUS is the Reason

We celebrate this Season!

12 Days of Christmas // Day 11 // Christmas With You

Today, I'll be doing a review on Christmas With You, an album by The Wiebes. So, this is how it is going to work. First, there'll be a mini introduction to the Wiebes, then I'll put down each song that they did and then tell you what my opinion is of each song. Make sense? My family and I have listened to this album more than 5 times through already, and we're still not tired of listening to it! I'm listening to it right now as I'm typing! It's actually what gave me the idea to do this post. You see, our plans kind of got altered by something that came up in the family, so yeah, we had some changes that we had to adjust to. We got back from the airport yesterday evening and so I wasn't able to do what I had originally planned for today. Then while Tiger Lily and I were wrapping presents for our cousins, we were listening to this album again, so that's where I got the idea to do a review on this. :D Hope you enjoy! 

Before I get into any introductions, here are some really cute pictures of the two :) 

Shane Wiebe was a contestant in Canadian Idol, and he made it to the Top 5. He is amazingly talented and his voice is just so awesome! :) He is married to Angela Wiebe, another beautiful singer,  and they are parents of two children. The two have been singing together since the day they met. And boy, do they make a great pair! :D 

We first heard of them when they came as guest performers to a concert that we attended. They were so amazing, we ended up buying all 5 of their albums! And got Mr. Wiebe to sign one of the CD's :) Wished Mrs. Wiebe would have been able to do it too, but she was busy elsewhere! 

In their album, Christmas With You, there are the following songs:

Angels We Have Heard on High

This song is one of my absolute favourites in this album. Angela's voice is so clear and so high, it's what you would describe as crystal clear! She has a really beautiful voice, you could listen to it all day and not got tired of it! (I've done that once actually. Listened to Christmas With You for most of a day, and yep! Didn't get tired of it at all! :P ) The song is sort of like a mash-up with another Christmas song, the Merry Christmas Canon. (not sure if that's what that song is called... ;) 

Glorious Impossible

One of the family's favourites! It has a really catchy tune and the chorus is soooo cool! And the harmonies are really beautiful in here! Well, actually, all the harmonies in the other songs are just a beautiful, but hey, going to try to not repeat myself here because I tend to repeat harmony and melody a lot. :P 

Christmas With You

A very jazzy sort of song. And something that Tiger Lily and I love to try singing in the same range as Shane :P  Very low, but we can actually do it! Lots of fun to sing along with, and the boys and Tiger Lily just realized yesterday that one of the verses says "the kids are coming down with the flu" which they find hilariously funny. So yeah, lots of laughter whenever we're playing this song! :D 

O Holy Night

The. Most. Beautiful. Song. In. the World. 

And Shane made it even better! I know I've said this before, but he has an AMAZING voice!! You have to hear it! He sang O Holy Night at the concert and it gave me delightful shivers just listening to it. Especially when he sang those high notes! 

Actually, I found a video of it from Youtube.... so maybe you can hear it! :D 

Messiah (Anna's Song)

Okay first off, the words in here are amazing. It's like a story from Anna's point of view, first while waiting for Christ to appear, and then what she thought when she finally got to see Him. It really shows how we should be looking out for Christmas. We shouldn't be looking forward to presents and Santa Claus, I mean, we have to remember what Christmas is really about! We should be looking forward for Christ, and what He did for us on that day. :) 

Angela proves here that she can not only sing really high, she can also sing super low too! The low notes that she's able to hit in here really personalize this song, but yeah. She's amazing. Have I said that already? :) 

The First Noel

This was done as a piano instrumental, so no vocals :( I want to say that it's rather simple, but then all the chords and extra harmonies just won't let it qualify as simple anymore. It's a very pretty song! 

Mary Did You Know

Somewhat jazzy here too. It's almost got a mysterious quality to it, which makes it really amazing. My favourite part of this song would be when he sings "Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven's perfect Lamb? The sleeping child you're holding is the Great I AM!!" 

Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming

Umm....how to put this. . . This is the only song that none of us have managed to get used to. So it's not a big favourite. It's sung as an a-capella, but there are only two people in it, just different tracks to sound like there are more people. It's a little confusing trying to hear it, and personally, I think their voices get muffled because of the way they're singing. You know how when you listen to an opera or something like that, most of the time, the singers' voices are somewhat muffled? Kind of like you don't get to hear what they actually sound like, kind of thick and fake? I know this might not be making any sense at all to you! Sorry! If it did make sense, let me know! ;) 

Huron Carol

The rhythm and beats in here make it very much like a Native American chant, super cool! 

What Child Is This?

Not sung in the "normal" way, depending on how you usually listen to it! We usually hear this song sung to the tune of Greensleeves, how do you hear it as? At first, I didn't like this version at all, but it grew on me and now I really love it! :D 

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

So awesome! I wish I could hear this version on the radio!!! One of the major things that stick out for me is the way they change the words so that instead of saying "if the fates allow", they sing "if the Lord allows" instead. They sang this song at the concert as well, and afterwards,  Mom and I asked each other at the same time "Did they sing this instead of that?" :D 

Away in a Manger

Features Angela Wiebe's a.m.a.z.i.n.g voice again. With a lovely harmony by the talented Shane Wiebe. Honestly, I don't think I can emphasize more on how talented and amazing they are! :D 

And that's the end of the album! I hope you enjoyed this post, and hey! let me know if you listen to any of their songs!! :D 

Luke 2: 13 - 15

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

“Glory to God in the highest,

    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

1 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!! 

Wait...what?!? It's Christmas Eve TODAY!!!

12 Days of Christmas / / Day 10 // Christmas-y Tag

Okay, so today I'm going to be doing this very fun Christmas-y tag! :D Partly because I had no idea what to do for today and partly because I found this tag done by Jesseca over at Whimsical Writings and thought it sounded like a ton of fun! :) 

The rules for this tag are as follows:

--Post the picture on your blog 
--Answer the questions
--Tag up to 12 bloggers
--Make up 10 questions for the other bloggers

(Just as a head's up, I'm going to be skipping the last two questions. Instead of tagging people, I'm just going to say "If any of you would like to do this, consider yourself tagged!" :D ) 

And here are the questions! 

What is your favourite Christmas treat?
Mmm....I think my favourite would have to be either cinnamon buns, peppermint brittle, hot chocolate (but not too sweet ;)), or gingerbread! 

Are there any special traditions that your family has to celebrate Christmas?
Well, we usually set up and decorate the tree each year. This year was tons of fun and it went super fast! "More hands make light work" was definitely the case this year! :) 

Do you enjoy getting presents for your friends and family? Do you buy your gifts or go the homemade route?
Yes!! There were are times when I'm starting to panic because I don't know what to get for everyone, but I've learned to observe people throughout the year so that I end up having a better idea of what to get them :) Actually, this was my first year trying it...and so far, I think it's worked! :) Anyway, there wasn't any panicking or anything :P As for how I get the presents, it's usually a mix between buying and homemade. If it's something I can make, I'll make it. (for example, jewelry, hair accessories, and doll dresses (although I'll admit I'm not a very good sewer :P) But if it's something like Lego, I obviously can't make that, so I buy it :P And with lots of brothers who like Lego, well, yeah. . . ;) 

Is it cold where you live? Have you ever had a white Christmas?
Let's see. How should I answer this? YES, it is usually extremely cold here! NO, it's not cold here right now. YES, for as long as I have lived in Canada, we have had a white Christmas. NO, we will not have a white Christmas this year. This will be the first time in Canada that we've not had a white Christmas. (The only other time was when we were in Singapore, where snow does not exist. But there was still snow in Canada. ) And no snow means that our backyard is full of mud. Lots of it. And it's been very rainy here too :( 

What’s on your Christmas list this year?
Well, we don't usually make Christmas lists. The reason of, I am not sure :) But if I did make one, there would probably be books, a Willis Clan album, photography stuff and maybe even something to do with singing :D 

What’s your favourite Christmas song songs?
All of them. Well, anyway, most of them. The lovey dove ones like Last Christmas, and Under the Mistletoe are not particular favourites. But Winter Wonderland, The First Noel, Silent Night, Angels we Have Heard on High, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, those type of songs I enjoy! 

What is your favourite Christmas memory?
Waking up and seeing fresh snow on the ground, smelling coffee, hearing little people stomping running down the hall, and knowing that my family is safe, healthy, and with me! :D 

What are you reading in December?
Haha, nothing Christmas-y! Actually, the last books I've read were Young Pioneers, The Book Thief (don't like this book, by the way. Apologies to any fans of this book, but well, all those swear words completely ruined it for me.)  Little Town on the Prairie, and The Hobbit (because I'm doing a book discussion with Tree of Life, and we just finished in time for to have to write an essay over the Christmas holiday. Nice surprise, dontcha think? :P)

Are you an organized little elf or are you still shopping/preparing on Christmas Eve?
Umm...both! This year, I was a bit more organized so that I've got pretty much everything I need by the time Christmas rolls around. Which is soooo soon!!! :D But I'm also preparing for Christmas Eve/ Christmas too! There are always last minute things that need to be made, for example, matching hair accessories for my cousin and sister. Also, Snow White wanted to do a mini concert for Mom and Dad as a Christmas present for them, and is planning on playing Silent Night on the piano, then singing The First Noel and reading parts of Luke 2. Just made that plan yesterday, and I'm helping her to rehearse. Also, she asked if I would play the accompaniment/duet for Silent Night as well as play the piano for The First Noel. So yeah, lots of preparing there! :D 

How early to you start to get into the Christmas spirit?
Usually the beginning of November. Or when the snow comes. Which it hasn't, yet! 

What’s the menu for Christmas Day?!
Well, for brunch, I think we're planning cinnamon buns, pancakes, sausages, eggs and possibly bacon.  I think anyway. No final plans yet! :) Then we'll be going out for dinner with our grandparents and cousins, and aunt and uncle. 

What makes it FEEL like Christmas for you? (weather, specific tradition, food, smell, person, etc?)
Lots of things! Like snow, music, and especially family! 

If you were to start a new Christmas tradition, what would it be?
Maybe carolling? It would be lots of fun to go carolling, but we haven't done it very often ever since we moved into the country. It may or may not have to do with the fact that it takes 3-5 minutes just to walk down your neighbour's driveway. . .

What Christmas movies do you like to watch this time of year or what’s your favourite? 
I honestly have no idea! This year, we're planning on watching a bunch of Christmas movies, but we don't know which ones yet! Still looking. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated ;) 


Okie dokie! That's the end of the tag. And don't forget, if you think you'd like to do this, consider yourself tagged! You can answer the questions that I did, since I'm a little too busy to come up with some! :) Sorry 'bout that! But if you do do the tag, let me know! I'd love to see your answers! :)
Here are the questions, so that it'll be easier for you to copy 'em down :) 

What is your favourite Christmas treat?
Are there any special traditions that your family has to celebrate Christmas?
Do you enjoy getting presents for your friends and family? Do you buy your gifts of go the homemade route?
Is it cold where you live? Have you ever had a white Christmas?
What’s on your Christmas list this year?
What’s your favourite Christmas song songs?
What is your favourite Christmas memory?
What are you reading in December?
Are you an organized little elf or are you still shopping/preparing on Christmas Eve?
How early to you start to get into the Christmas spirit?
What’s the menu for Christmas Day?!
What makes it FEEL like Christmas for you? (weather, specific tradition, food, smell, person, etc?)
If you were to start a new Christmas tradition, what would it be?

What Christmas movies do you like to watch this time of year or what’s your favourite? 

Oh yes, and here's the next part of Luke 2. . . 

Luke 2: 9-12
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 

2 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!! 

12 Days of Christmas // Day 9 // Tabitha's Travels

Following in the footsteps of the immensely popular "Jotham's Journey" and "Bartholomew's Passage," this captivating story will take families through Advent to Christmas as they share in Tabitha's adventures. Curious, competent, and courageous Tabitha is the daughter of a shepherd who is taking his family on caravan to his birthplace. Along the way, she meets and becomes friends with Jotham and Bartholomew, watches as Romans take her father prisoner, spends time with Zechariah and Elizabeth, helps Mary and Joseph just before Christ's birth, and ends her travels at the stable in Bethlehem. With day-by-day readings, reflections for family devotions, and advice for making Christmas a meaningful season of worship, "Tabitha's Travels" continues the beloved tradition of celebrating Advent with your family. (Summary taken from Amazon)

This book is amazing. Our family read this last Christmas, and finished the book exactly on the 25th. We had originally started this mini series with Jotham's Journey. There is also Bartholomew's Passage. Both of those books are great, but my favourite has got to be Tabitha's Travels. As you may have read from the summary above, it's about the life of a young shepherd girl and her participation in some of the events leading up to Christ's birth (such as, Tabitha meets Mary and Joseph in the barn and helps Joseph find a midwife ;). It's a family-friendly book, and great for all ages! 

(Oh, and just to let you know, all three books tie in together, so Jotham gets to meet Tabitha and Bartholomew, and Tabitha meets Jotham and Bartholomew, and well, you get the point ;) I like those kind of "tie-in" books, do you? :D ) 


And now to continue on with Luke 2:

Luke 2: 6-9

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

 4  3 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

12 Days of Christmas // Day 8 // Pizza Making!

Okie dokie, so I haven't been posting too much on Faith's 12 Days of Christmas because last week I had lots of school to finish up as well as take some exams that for some reason can be really scary yet at the same time super fun! :P But, school is finally over, so I'm hoping to be able to post every single day until Christmas now! :) 

So, the main part of this post will be....pizza making! Does making pizza count as a Christmas-y thing? It's not exactly something you connect with Christmas, but it's something that we did as a family! :D Well most of the family ;) Mom, the three younger ones and I  were having tons of fun making homemade pizza....who doesn't have fun splashing tomato sauce and heaping tons of cheese and pepperoni-that-was-actually-salami-because-we-didn't-have-actual-pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, etc! :) 

Here's the recipe for the dough (taken from Allrecipes.com), as well as some photos from our pizza experience today! :D 

Master Pizza Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed

2 1/4 teaspoon yeast

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup very warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Cornmeal

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, and salt. Stir very warm water and olive oil into flour mixture. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.

Lightly oil 1 (14-inch) or 2 (12-inch) round pizza pan(s). ** Sprinkle with cornmeal. Shape dough into smooth ball. Divide and roll dough to fit desired pan(s).

• **Master Pizza Dough fits the following pans: 1 (15 x 10-inch) baking pan, 1 (13 x 9-inch) baking pan, 1 (14-inch) or 2 (9-inch) deep-dish pan(s). For individual pizzas, shape dough into 6 or 8 (7-inch) rounds and place on 2 greased baking sheets. 

Once the dough has risen up enough....it's time for the absolutely funnest part, topping it! :D You can add anything you want really! Hey, it's pizza, you can do anything you want with it, right? ;) We usually add tomato paste, then sprinkle on lots of cheese. Then add on anything we can find in the fridge :) Today it was peppers, mushrooms, onions, and salami. In no particular order of course! :D 

Of course, one of the best parts of making your own pizzas is....you get to make 'em any size you want! Snow White, Dare Devil, and even Toblerone made their own little pizzas! ;)

Toblerone: Hey, how do you do that? 

Just love that smile/grin on Dare Devil's face ;) 

Toblerone got his own piece of dough and he rolled it and rolled it and rolled it
and....you got it! he rolled it! :D The only problem was that he rolled it sooo much that
the dough tuned a little. . . well...grey! :P 

Dare Devil's little pizza

Snow White decided to make it into a pizza pocket, but it ended out
looking much more like a cute little dumpling! :D She was very proud of it,
let me say! :) 

Toblerone got tired of just rolling it in his hands, and wanted to use the rolling pin.
Mom helped him at first...

but he got it quite quickly and wanted to do it by himself

Once you got all the pizzas topped and ready for the oven, bake at 400 F for 20 to 30 minutes or until done. Baking time depends on size and thickness of crust and selected toppings.

And you're done! Enjoy! :)

Do you like making pizza? 

What's your favourite part of a pizza? 

Also, I'm going to be sharing Luke 2: 1-21 over the next five days with you :) That part of Luke is one of my favourite parts of the Bible. The beauty and peace in this passage is . . . just absolutely wonderful to try and imagine! Here's the first part for today! 

Luke 2: 1-5

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

Days #287 - #295

Saturday, December 12: Happy Birthday! 

We've got three birthdays in our family (and I don't mean just the nine of us. Including
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in this statement ;) Just to make sure I don't confuse you ;))
that are all in December. So we celebrated all three birthdays on one day :) I'll be doing a
post with the three special people sometime soon :)

Sunday, December 13: Milk and Cookies

Monday, December 14: Maple

Was doing my photography "homework" for a music video that some girls at
church, Tiger Lily and I were planning. It was supposed to be in the dark,
and as I've never filmed in the dark before, I had to practice so that there'd be a
better chance of getting good footage ;) Maple was my willing subject and sat ever so nicely
while I snapped photos of her and video-taped her. And I think this photo of her came out pretty great. Isn't
she a beautiful dog? :D 

Tuesday, December 15: Frosty the Snowman

A cute little present that my piano teacher gave me :) He's holding a darling little
red bag with candy inside it, thus the plastic tuft sticking up behind him ;) 

Wednesday, December 16: Cookies + Icing + Sprinkles = YUMMY!

Thursday, December 17: Friends!! 

May I just say, these girls did an awesome job in the music video. It was a first time for most of them, but they caught on quick as a wink and we managed to film and record Angels We Have Heard on High in three and a half hours!! Don't know if you've ever tried doing something like this, but let me tell you, it is not an easy thing to film or record.  But, they did it! And the best part was, despite the time crunch, we had SO. MUCH. FUN!!! Lots of laughter and giggling going on, . . lots of it! :D
Thank you girls, for such a great time together! You all were simply amazing and it was just wonderful being with you all!! Let's do it again, shall we? ;)  

Friday, December 18: Star Wars Machine

One of Spiderman's awesome creations ;) 

Sunday, December 20: Little Pizza Helper