Casner Family Blog

With Christmas around the corner, the last two weeks have been busy and full of excitement. There have been a few outstanding things occur though. First of all, there is this great book, Franklin’s Christmas. I’ll try to find it and post a link to it in the next day or two, anyway, I read it to the kids early last week. It is about Franklin needing a toy to give to help kids who may not otherwise receive any Christmas presents. The morning after I read it, when Hannah woke up, she went and grabbed a sack and started filling it with toys, not yucky toys, but nice toys that other kids would like to have. She even pulled out one of her barbies and cleaned her up, applied some make-up and did her hair. She wasn’t the only one though, Luke grabbed some of his all time favorite Larry Boy toys and added them to the bag, Alli put a few things in as well. They started with a grocery bag and ended up filling a 30 gallon trash bag. When we were on our way to take the bag to Concern, our local help location for our county. I asked the kids if they were sure they wanted to give these toys away. They had a couple of responses and I wanted to make sure they were sure. The discussion ended when they strongly said, “these might be the only presents some kids get for Christmas.”

One more, Luke had found an Anakin toy at our Big Dollar Store in town. They thought it cost (they meaning the kids) $14.95. Hannah said she would buy it for Luke for Christmas but wasn’t sure how she would get enough money to buy it. Luke said he would put the money he had saved in on it to help. Hannah kept asking us for jobs she could do to earn some money for Anakin. Since they saw the toy (and Hannah had asked them to save it back for her) Hannah lost two teeth. $2.00. Today, with just a little help from Matheau and I, the girls and I went and picked up Anakin for Luke for Christmas.

You gotta love these kids…

is my two front teeth and a cute little shepherd. [grin] Hannah lost her second top tooth the other night. And this morning Luke was in the Little Hawks preschool Christmas program. All I can say is Terry (aka Mrs. Perkins) never ceases to amaze me. Not only what she can get 4 and 5 year olds to do. But how creative and loving she is as well. Quite a woman she is. Very blessed to have her in our lives.

There is so much I want to post. But Christmas is less then a week away and I have many presents to finish up. So tempted to post a photo of one I have completed and love. But, I’ll wait until after Christmas. Here are a couple of photos to start the week off with.

I should be working on Christmas gifts… but I thought I would let you all know I know have a red laundry room. Plus some new flooring in a few rooms, and minus carpet in the family room. Matheau and I are still working out of the dining room. But, at least I am washing clothes again.

Last night we had an awesome time visiting friends in Winfield as well as seeing Toby Mac, Barlow Girl, Matthew West and Grits in concert. So much fun catching up with friends.

Here is a photo I took of the kids last week.

It has been awhile. Sorry no photos, but life has been a bit crazier then normal. Some GREAT news though. Our new sump pump is in, with about a ton of rock and a cool black thing that goes around it. No water should be getting into our downstairs anymore. Speaking of the downstairs…Everything that is usually down there, is now in our dining room, living room, or the weight room. Everything looks a bit chaotic, but our sump pump is in and our downstairs should be looking pretty sweet in about a week and a half. [grin]