Merry Christmas, Happy New Year from the Prells :)

Some of these are from my mom's 70th birthday party brunch on the 23rd, and some are from Christmas day...

Brian, Great Grandma, Brian's mom, Katie, Me, and Jonathan

Betsy (my beautiful niece, at my mom's b-day party)

Brian and Jeff (my brother in law)

Betsy and Jonathan

Katie (nice face LOL)

Christmas morning!

More Christmas Day-- my mom and dad

My Dad, Katie and Nick's mom

The 4 of us:

My sister Susan, my Aunt Carolee, and my cousin Kristin

Aunt Becky and her boy

Happy 70th Birthday Mom!!!!!!

Mom and her 3 girls!!!!

A Jonathan Funny

A conversation Jonathan and I just had....

Me, upon coming home after the cleaning girl had just been here: "Sweetie, could you please try to keep your area neat and remember to put your things away?"

J: "Sure Momma, I'm just going to do some craps"


Uhhm... he meant crafts, but we both got a giggle out of it, LOL!

Popcorn/Movie Contest

I just entered to win popcorn and movies for a year over at www.5minutesformom.com .. great contests over there, I can't wait to get back into the blogging thing! I love it! The popcorn they're giving away is www.orville.com ... and it's a line of natural popcorn with nothing artificial going on in it. Sounds good!

Christmas Meme! (stolen from my girl Karianne)

OK it's time I get myself back to myself and do my memes again.. I love those things!! And I love Christmas! So what better, my dears, then a Christmas meme????? YAY!!!!!!!!!


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly wrapping paper, but a few gift bags.



2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. I have never had the experience of having a live tree, because my dad was allergic... now I'm used to my pre-lit tree... so... it's never been a big deal to me. (But after reading Kariannes thing about them catching on fire, now I'm afraid of them too and I won't ever have one either!)



3. When do you put up the tree? We usually put it up Thanksgiving weekend or thereabouts.


4. When do you take the tree down? Usually by the end of the holidays... new years day or somewhere around there. Sometimes we wait a week more. I hate putting it away. :(

5. Do you like eggnog? I don't mind to taste it, but usually only one glass of it per season. That is enough for me till next year. :)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My purple Donny and Marie guitar!!!!! It was a-ma-zing and I could play that thang!!!


7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes I do.. my nativity scene is the ceramic one that my mom made the year I was born... big figures and a huge life-like stable that is just so amazing.. I will have to post a photo. I remember as a child my mom letting me unwrap each piece and place them in the stable, and I loved it so much. When I got married 11 years ago, my mom let me know that I could have her Nativity and I cried. I have always loved it so much, it is a huge part of my memories as a child and now I let Jonathan (not Katie yet!) put it up with me.


8. Hardest person to buy for? At this point, it's my son, Jonathan, believe it or not.. he's kind of in between babyish and bigger boy things, so we're a little stuck.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Katie, Brian, or yes, sadly, myself. I know what I want!! ;)

10. Mail or E-Mail Christmas Cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A hideous.. i mean hideous.. purse.. can't say whom it was from, just in case she ever reads here (she doesn't at the moment, so no worries ;) )


12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas.. Gotta love Bing!!!


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start in October usually.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Absolutely!! And wedding gifts (think they're all gone, now..), and shower gifts, baby gifts.... you get the idea.


15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Oh my. Sponge candy? Clam dip with chips?

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? white lights


17. Favorite Christmas song? Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home girl here.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeers? of course! Can't you? ;)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? ehhh... right now it's a globey type thing.. Brian and I can't decide ... I want an angel, he wants a star, so at the moment we have neither. It's pretty, but.. ehh... no comment.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning for us.


22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? me trying to stay even keeled, not get ahead of myself, yet still get the 837465067 things done on my list.


23. Favorite ornament theme or Color? No themed trees for this girl.. it's all a collection of ornaments I've gotten over the years as gifts (from teaching, directing the Christmas play at church, from friends), some my mom gave me when I got married, and ones the kids have made. A little bit of everything! :)


24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Roast Beef and yorkshire pudding.. a traditional Welsh meal

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A bluetooth!!! :) Well, I want a laptop, but I know that's not happening. lol

A little bit of Christmas at our house...

Some silly shots.. and the photo shoot that didn't work out quite as (ahem) well as we'd hoped.. but sure made for some fun photos!

Merry Christmas to all!

Some Random Photos ~

Here is my new 'do, and I think I'm looking especially like my big sister Susan in this picture....

Two little cute Prells hanging out on the couch having a snack (note the shoes Katie insists on wearing even with her pajamas, hehe)

A Birthday Boy!

Meet Piglet of The Hundred Acre Woods, and King Peter of Narnia...

Am I cahh--uuute?

A Rock-Climbing Adventure!

With the cooler weather comes the cutest hats!!!!

And here is another birthday boy....

Ugh! Sadness! Frustration!

Last night I spent hours and hours (ok, maybe in all truth an hour or 2) posting birthday and halloween pictures on my blog, complete with captions. I was so happy and proud of myself!

When all was said and done I realized I had posted them on the wrong blog. Arghhhhhhhhh!!! So I deleted them all. :( I didn't know if there was a way to transfer them all, so I will start work on posting today .. I'm sorry it's been so long to get b-day pics up here.. I know, it's inexcusable. :(

I'm on the case, I promise!!

~ Cath

Oh I Need To Mention This...

If you click on this picture of me and my friend Jen, you will notice there is something green in my teeth... Just to clarify.. (this was brought to my attention in my Orlando post, thank you my friend, lol).. that is GUM, nothing else... nothing icky.. lol! Bleck.. I had to clarify that.. Note to self: Please remove the gum before snapping photos! Eeeketh! :-0

I Found It!!!

OK, some of you know that I've been on the quest for The Perfect Mascara for quite some time. I am pleased to say that I *think* that I have found it. I think. I'm not quite positive, but I have given it a few days, and I am quite happy with it, so I'm going to go ahead and take the plunge and say it outloud, err, type it outloud, oh, you get my meaning!

OK, this has been going on along time. In fact some of you were with me on a certain midnight run to WalGreens to find a mascara that one said sister promised us that we would looooove, but NO. That one was sadly, not meant for these lashes.

The one that I have discovered to be a very good product for me is... drumroll please??????

Maybelline NY Intense Volume XXL .. it's kinda fun, it comes with two wands, one on each side, a white wand and a black wand, Step 1 and Step 2. Sounds like a whole lot of work for putting on mascara eh? Well, trust me, when you've been on the lookout for something to fatten up your lashes as long as I have, you'll go the extra mile. ;) One is for volume and one is for length. I bought mine in "Very Black" and I will post a picture of my eyes as soon as I get them done up today for the day. You tell me if my eyes don't look fabulous!! ;) lol

Hugs and there is my find of the day.. Let me know what mascara you use!
~Cath

Fun at the Pumpkin Farm!

We took the kids to the pumpkin farm yesterday! They had fun playing on the playground and wandering around playing on the hay bales.. it was a fun time for all of us to be outside enjoying a beautiful autumn day, actually. Here are a few pictures from our day together:

~Music~

I love music.. it speaks to me in so many ways.. To those of you that know me this comes as no big surprise. If you have your sound on when you visit this blog, you always hear my playlist. I recently changed up the order of the songs on my list, so right now you will hear Matt Redmond singing Blessed Be Your Name first singing.. followed by two songs that I have on my list specifically for my friend Dennise.. she loves these songs, but I have to be honest and say that since I have heard them (I had heard the Mercy Me song but hadn't really known the other).. I have fallen in love with them as well. I had to give that little disclaimer, though. Those songs are specifically hers, I just had to move them up the list so other people are hearing them as well.. they are too beautiful to not be heard!

Oh, and FYI.. this is the weekend we're traveling to meet each other at a huge outlet mall .. and to stay overnight.. I can't wait. (this weekend is sans kids as well!) I'm so excited! :)

Next post I'll have pictures of our get together!

Brian and Jonathan went camping last weekend too and Brian got some beautiful pictures of the beach. I'll get those up as well soon.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful beginning of October.. God bless!

Hugs all around,
Cath

PS: To those of you who read here but never leave me a comment (you know you who are ;)... leave me a little lovin'!! hehee)

Home From Orlando!!!!!!!!!

What a blast we had... Matt Redmond led the worship.. it was incredible.. I can't put into words what the worship experience was like. It was awe-inspiring, moving, amazing! Also Sara Groves was there, she was great too, and the group Salvador (ehh), and the kids group Go Fish.. who are amazing. I bought 2 CD's for Jonathan and he's been rocking out (well, truthfully, so have we) to them ever since.



How do I describe this event? Well, for one thing, any last doubt that I'm doing what God wants for me is completely gone. I am serving in a capacity with amazing women.. godly, loving, encouraging ladies with whom I'm building friendships that will last a lifetime I am sure. The convention itself was full of speaker after speaker that just spoke volumes to us, as moms, as women, that met us individually right where we are. They spoke of ways we can minister to other moms, yes.. that was the whole point of why we went, learning how to improve our own MOPS groups.. but also they spoke of ways for us personally to be refreshed within our own spirits, as moms, wives, friends.. as women.



There were testimonies of other MOPS women who have been involved in groups, and have had different struggles.. one struggled with a drug/alcohol addiction, one was gripped by severe depression, one dealt with the pressures of trying to parent her children alone... all of them had one thing in common.. they were hurting and felt alone, and their MOPS groups were the hands and feet of JESUS to them. Many of the speakers focused on contentment... of unpacking your suitcase right where you are in life.. whether you're struggling with infertility (one of the girls in my group that went is), or facing a scary job change and the possibility of relocating (another girl in our group), or just facing a tough time with whatever situation you're in everyday.. at work, at home, with your child, your husband, any of it... just unpacking your bag right here, stop carrying it around, just unpack, be content and live now with God's provisions and love surrounding you. Contentment was a word we heard a lot of this weekend.



It definitely wasn't all seminars and sessions... we had a blast doing other things too.. like shopping, eating at some fun places, laying by the pool in the hot Florida sun (hello sunburn!), and laughing and talking about... well, I won't say here, but you can imagine 5 girls together.... our conversations were crazy at times, hahaha! We also went to Downtown Disney one night and walked around.. and guess what??? Shopped some more.. (shocker I know!)



Here are a few pictures of us from our fun weekend... (it was 4 whole days away from our families... we all missed them so much! It was great to get home and get loved on by them!)

L-R Jen, Brandy, Tami, Janice, and Me :)

Back Row: Me, Tami,

Front: Jen, Brandy, Janice

Me and Jen! Love her!

These alligators were actually in our hotel.. yeahh, we thought so too.. crazy Florida people! ;)

www.mops.org

Our Little Man

September 11th

We Will Never Forget..

September 11th, 2001...

Back To Routine / Some fun things to look forward to

Well, with Jonathan going back to school this past week, we are getting back into the swing of life and routine. Brian also started back to his classes, and I started a new job (babysitting 3 afternoons a week for a friend of mine -- I'm able to take Katie with me so it works out great)...

Jonathan is also starting a new kids club at church one weeknight and for me, MOPS is starting back up! (yay! my favorite!) So things are getting busier and I'm getting back to my *happy place* once again.. This summer was long and hard and.. well, let's face it.. it wasn't just the summer. It's been a long and hard season overall, starting with last winter, but by God's grace, I do believe it's becoming a new season and things are starting to look up!

Next week I'm going to Florida for the MOPS convention and while I'm nervous, I'm more excited then anything else to go. It will be fun to go and be refreshed in my spirit as a mom, and also as a woman. We're planning to take a little time off while we're there to go to Disney, which I'm looking forward to (I haven't been since I was 8!)

The other exciting thing is that I'm going to meet a friend in October for a girls weekend... it's a new girlfriend that God has blessed me with and I'm so thankful for her! We are meeting halfway between our homes in the great state of PA and will be shopping, drinking coffee (of course!) and staying overnight. I'm blessed to have a husband who is willing to let me go not only to Orlando for 4 days, but also do this with my girlfriend, sans kids, and is willing to pick up the slack. (Not to mention my beloved parents and sister who are helping out as well both weekends)...

I love the fall.... it's my favorite time of year, and things are starting to look up for me, thanks be to God, for His provisions, and for His new mercies everyday, and for unexpected blessings and friendships, new and old.

Hugs all around. I hope this entry finds you all well and content. xoxo

JDP, First Grader!!

Our boy is now an official first grader. He had his first full day of school today. He came home and said, "Well, Mom. It's not Kindergarten, that's for sure!" Ahh, our grown up boy.

It's amazing to watch this boy grow. He's matured so much this past year.. in so many ways, right before my eyes in some instances. He takes care of his baby sister so well. Gosh, he even tries to take care of me at times (although I try to reassure him that's not his job)...I can already tell by his heart that he is a boy who will grow into a man who will take good care of others.

He is a good good boy, and our true gift from God, our Jonathan David.