Christmas Eve Will Find Me...

(Post copied from http://www.livingonadime.com )
You know the old song “Christmas Eve will find me… where the love light gleams- I’ll be home for Christmas…”? Well, Christmas Eve will find me lounging on the couch by the fire, watching snow flakes falling gently outside my window while sipping my old fashioned cocoa (made with real milk heated on the stove) and munching gingerbread men I baked myself.

As I sit here, my glance turns to the lovely tree piled high with gifts and my joyful heart swells at how blessed I am. What a perfect Christmas setting surrounds me.

Now before you get the idea I’m some sort of paragon of a woman enjoying the perfect Christmas Eve, note that all is not as it seems on the surface. Let me explain. I’m on the couch only because that is where I collapsed in exhaustion. There isn’t a bone in my body that isn’t aching. When I close my eyes, instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in my head, I am having nightmare flash backs of the past couple of weeks.

Taking a sip of my cocoa, I cringe trying not to notice the burnt taste it acquired when it boiled over, making a sticky, gooey mess on the stove. Alas, it is only one in a long line of the usual Christmas events that I unsuccessfully try to pretend didn’t happen.

Then there’s the newly fallen snow — it always looks so pretty on those snow scene Christmas cards, but after spending 30 minutes digging the car out so I could hurry into town to buy gifts and arrive back home to a freezing house, I feel like using all my snow scene Christmas cards to light the fireplace.

Last, but especially not least there’s the tree! Whoever started the wives tale that decorating a tree is a heart warming and joyous occasion could not possibly have ever decorated one. The madness begins when you decide to cut down your own tree.

After hiking a mile through knee deep snow you find the perfect tree only to realize that you left the axe in the car. By the time you hike back to the car and then to the tree again the kids are tired and begging to go home. You have now sung every Christmas carol ever written and you are all eating snowballs trying to quench your thirst because your thermos of cocoa got dumped on the back seat of the car when the kids were fighting over it.

Freezing and frustrated, you hike back only to discover that your 4 wheel drive is snowed under and the tow truck bill alone could have bought a tree for every room of your home!

Once home, you find that the beautiful majestic piece of greenery which looked so perfect standing in the meadow of snow doesn’t look quite the same after you have had to chop it 4 times in order to get it to fit into your house. You wedge it into the tree stand- forget trying to make it straight! You’re just excited that it stays in the stand without falling over. It’s amazing what you can do with baling wire and duct tape.

You string your own popcorn (another story in itself), singing more carols and hang gingerbread men only to find later that the tree is laying prostrate on the floor, stripped naked, having fallen to the mercy of the dog who grins at you, revealing his mouth full of severed gingerbread men limbs and a string from the popcorn garland.

Now you know why my heart swells with pride looking at my tree– because in our home it takes more work to put up a Christmas tree than it did to build the Empire State Building!

To say that I can relate to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is an understatement and in some way or another, I think most of us can. In spite of that, each and every year, we once again try to find the perfect gift, the perfect tree and make the perfect dinner thinking this year we just might get it perfect.

It’s called hope – hoping that this year we will succeed, faith – faith that we will obtain it if we just keep trying and love – loving every minute of doing it. Like little children who forge on working hard in the bitter cold building a snowman, not noticing or caring that their toes and fingers are growing numb, we too love creating the perfect Christmas (or snowman) for our family to admire.

In the same way that we see only our child’s hard work and effort in his imperfect snowman, so our families will see and remember only mom’s hard work and sacrifice.

Just relax. So what if the cocoa tastes a little burnt and the tree is a little crooked. This too shall pass — and then you get to look forward to doing it all over again next year!!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas at God's House

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38

when 20 beautiful children stormed through Heaven's Gate.

Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.

They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

They remembered nothing that happened earlier that day.

"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

"This is Heaven" declared a small boy.

"We're spending Christmas at God's house."

When what to there wondering eyes did appear,

but Jesus, their Savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.

Then He opened His arms and called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, that only Heaven can bring,

those children all flew into the arms of their King,

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face,

and as if He could read all the questions she had

He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of your mom and dad."

Then He looked down on earth, the world was far below

He saw all the hurt, the sorrow, and woe.

Then He closed His eyes and He outstretched his hands,

"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!!"

"May this Country be delivered from the hands of fools."

"I'm taking back my Nation! I'm taking back my schools!!"

Then He and the children stood up without a sound.

"Come now my children, let me show you around."

Excitement filled the space, some skipped, some ran,

all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,

"In the mist of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT!!!"

*Nick found this posted on facebook tonight. How beautiful!

Reason for the Season

The sleigh was all packed, the reindeer were fed,

But Santa still knelt by the side of the bed.

"Dear Father," he prayed "Be with me tonight,

There's much work to do and my schedule is tight.

I must jump in my sleigh and streak through the sky,

Knowing full well that a reindeer can't fly.

I will visit each household before the first light,

I'll cover the world and all in one night.

With sleighbells a-ringing, I'll land on each roof,

Amid the soft clatter of each little hoof.

To get in the house is the difficult part,

So I'll slide down the chimney of each child's heart.

My sack will hold toys to grant all their wishes.

The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.

I will fill all the stockings and not leave a track.

I'll eat every cookie that is left for my snack.

I can do all these things Lord, only through You.

I just need your blessing, then it's easy to do.

All this is to honor the birth of the One,

That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son.

So to all of my friends, least Your glory I rob,

Please, Lord, remind them who gave me this job."

~Warren D. Jennings

Peace that Passes Understanding

"He says: the heart is desperately wicked, who can understand it?"  Jeremiah 17: 9. 

God can be the only one to make sense of the recent tragedy in Connecticut. Only He can understand the hearts of men and our choices.

Our hearts go out to those precious children and inncocent teachers and staff who were murdered.

We must allow Christ back into our hearts and our soul as a nation. Schools cannot protect us, police cannot protect us. But He can save us if only we open our hearts.

Christmas Excitement!

First of all we are praying for those beautiful children and teachers in Connecticut... what a horrible tragedy. I held my babies close today and just prayed for comfort for those families.

Today we made a lot of fun Christmas crafts. Vivian and I worked on painting some pretty pictures of a Christmas wreath, we made jingle bell jewelry, and most importantly, we made homemade playdough ornaments.

Our ornaments came out really great. We did 4 colors, pink, blue, green, and yellow. Our shapes were a candy cane, a Christmas tree, a star, and a gingerbread man.

The ornaments were super easy to make. I found the recipe online. Basically it's homemade playdough that you roll out in to shapes and bake. I baked them at 250 for about 2 hours.



Vivian likes to roll out the dough. Yellow was for gingerbread men.



These are the trees. They look good enough to eat, but are mostly salt, flour, and cream of tartar. So... probably wouldn't taste too good. :)



I used a straw to cut out the holes for the string so we can decorate the tree with them.

Here, Vivian is stringing some jingle bells on some silver cord. She is already wearing her beautiful jingle bell bracelet and ring.

Henry supervised all of the projects. :-)

Preparing the way

This weekend Nick and I were talking about how important it is to make sure our children know Jesus and how Christmas is not just for presents and Santa. We were working with Vivian to make sure she understands it is Jesus' birthday, and not simply a time for Frosty and Rudolph.

I love all the old children's cartoons and so does Nick, but I realized something this last week as I watched some of the new ones. These shows on TV have "Holiday Specials," and they usually pertain to something or someone 'saving Christmas.' Or it's about some little animated animal delivering presents or doing something 'magical.' I also saw a couple of instances where one show was teaching about the origins of Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. They got the information about Hannukah and Kwanzaa correct, in that they are religious holidays, but for Christmas, all that was taught was that it was the time when Santa comes to deliver gifts, and it's about giving to others and decorating the tree.

This made me mad. Why is it offensive to tell children on secular shows about the goodness and true miracle of Christmas? It is something that is more often than not ignored or simply left out. Why is it ok to teach about the menorah, but not the simplicity and filth of our Great God humbling himself to be born into a cattle stall?

As a new mother once again, and now with two children, I can see the wonder and awe of Christ's birth in a whole new light. Mary was not expecting to give birth yet... she had nothing with her to even clothe her new child. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes... rags, and they laid him in a TROUGH!

I am always obsessing about what Henry will wear, and does he have spit-up on his shoulder? Is his diaper dry? Did I make sure to wash his clothes in Dreft? Are his nails trimmed?

Last night we had dinner out, and I took Henry to the restroom to change him. I had everything I needed except baby wipes. I had left them in the car. I had a brief freak-out moment... and then it came to me: Mary did not have these things. What did she wipe her baby's bottom with? The Lord of Lords, the King of Creation, the Almight God, the Prince of Peace didn't have any of these luxuries.

I am humbled to the point of pure shame, where I have realized all that I have, and all that I enjoy, and that my Lord, Jesus Christ, walked this earth in the most humble of bodies, in a time when comfort was not an everyday occurance.

I know I'm rambling, but to get to the point... this Christmas means more to me than ever, and I hope I can express this joy and love to my children so that they truly understand in their hearts the magnitude of this Awesome gift.

More beautiful than any earthly gift could ever be: this precious gift from our Father.

Post-Thanksgiving Update!

Sorry, everyone. It has been a while since I posted. But I have finally gotten a chance to download some pictures and get them on here.

We had a great Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Deboy's. Nick is super busy right now with work. This is 'peak' for FedEx. Obviously everyone is sending packages and ordering all kinds of stuff. So my husband is sort-of Santa Claus for a whole month.... yaaaayyyy. (Which means we see him for about 15 minutes each evening and Sundays.)

Last weekend we all attended a Fashion Show at BSU that was produced by a class David is in. This has been their semester project to design, market, and advertise the entire event. We had a great time! David was in charge of picking out who was going to model. So of course, he excelled at that. Only BEAUTIFUL leggy women were on the catwalk. ;)

Dad was a little out of his element at the fashion show. Mom and I thought he should get up and strut his stuff since the show was titled "Made in the Midwest," and Dad is like, the epitome of Midwest essence. His steel-toed boots and wrangler jeans were quite the statement pieces. (haha)

Henry is quite the little colicky baby boy. We are doing ok, but it seems he has developed quite a set of lungs. I have been trying some soy formula with him, but really haven't seen much of a difference.

I've been back on WW officially (paying member) for the last week, and I weighed in this morning and found I have lost 7 pounds. So, I think I'm going to continue nursing Hanky Panky until the rest of this weight sheds. :)

Have a wonderful weekend! We are decorating our Christmas tree tomorrow!!!!

Dad and Henry at Thanksgiving.

Kaitlyn was able to pour water efficiently. So she gets to stay. :)

Vivian was pooped after we got home.

Our view of the stage at the Fashion Show. Pretty neat!

Backstage after the show. David introduced us to his friend Sarah. She was one of the models.

Mommy!

The boys...

Excited to go eat.

It's PEAK!

Haven't posted in a while- sorry. First, the kids have been sick, then Thanksgiving, then sick Vivian again. It was just great. :)

Thanksgiving was awesome this year. It's always good when someone else cooks, but when they cook excellent Thanksgiving dishes, it's even better. We brought some lemon squares and a cheese ball which seemed to go over well. Might have to make the cheese ball again for Christmas. I also found a yummy-looking recipe for a chocolate yule log that is low points plus that I think we will bring to Christmas dinner as well.

It was a lot of fun to see everyone for Thanksgiving, and even though Vivers wasn't feeling her best, she had fun staying at Mamaw Millie's house. Henry did pretty well considering he was out of his element and comfort zone.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving Mom and Kaitlynn and I went wedding dress shopping. SO MUCH FUN! We watched her try on a ton of dresses, and there was one that was a definite favorite in style and class. It was a great day. We had some yummy lunch at O'Charley's, which was excellent. I haven't eaten there in at least a year. (We don't have one in Muncie.) Their cheddar-baked-potato soup is my favorite, and they have the best rolls. I could inhale about ten of them and still want more.

She will be a beautiful bride! :)

Anyway, dress shopping was great, and we hope Kaitlynn is able to pick her favorite and order it soon!

Vivian seems to be over her 2nd sickness finally. There for a couple of days she was just completely lethargic and feverish. I think she just had a touch of flu. She didn't want to eat, just drank, and took tylenol. We took her to the doctor again, but everything was clear, so there wasn't anything to treat. But now she seems back to her old self- loud, running around, eating, happy, etc. I was so relieved when she came out of her room wanting to wear her princess dress and eat some cookies. It's weird when she doesn't feel good.

Ah-CHoo!

Well, everyone seeeeeems to be pulling through this outbreak of colds at our house.

We took both kids to the doctor yesterday. Both have ear infections and colds. Both were prescribed antibiotics. Henry got the pink amoxicillin, and Vivian got augmenten. She was upset that her medicine wasn't pink like baby brother's.

Poor little kiddos have been sleepy and cranky. Today Henry went back for a double check, and our doctor said he is doing much better.

He's helping me in the kitchen while Vivi takes a nap.

Ewwwww.... Mommy has to check my temp the icky way. :(

Sickly Kids... all 3 of them!

Well, Vivian has had a cold for about 3 days, and Henry started showing signs of it last night. I was up with him quite a bit. Nick called yesterday on his way home to let me know that he wasn't feeling well either.

Soooooo... all day Mommy has been tending to her 3 babies. Henry seems pretty much fine, just a little conjested, so he has gotten some nasal drops. Vivian has been taking a homepathic remedy since she isn't old enough to take regular cold medicine yet. She is playing and acting just about normal, except for the runny nose.

Nick has been extra whiny, and has the headache and runny nose too. He took some alka seltzer and has been drinking some ginger ale all day. I made some homemade chicken noodle soup for us for dinner to help with the sickness...

It was a lot of fun actually to make. I like to cook when I'm not exhausted from work. So if it seems like I'm posting about food a lot, I'm sure it will stop when I go back to work. :) (And we go back to hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.)

This was my first attempt at making my own broth- I usually just buy it and go from there, but today I did it all from scratch. I also made my own noodles... so they are kind-of misshapen, but they tasted very yummy.

Nick paid the ultimate compliment to me. He said when I set the bowl of soup in front of him, he felt like he was 5 years old and at his Great Grandma's house, since she used to make her own chicken and noodle soup with her own noodles, too. That made me feel great! Maybe he'll get lucky and I'll make it again someday. :)

I know! It even looks good!



Mmm-mmm good. Nick had 3 bowls of it, and Vivian liked the noodles.




Henry has on his Notre Dame 'tie.' I'm sure he's wishing he could have some soup, too.



Vivian--- the girl with the chocolate smile. (She had some M&Ms after dinner.)

How Can I Keep From Singing?

Can't believe that the election is over and did not go as planned by myself and most of the people I know and love. We were extremely disappointed, however, life must go on. I did some thinking and praying, and asked God for wisdom and peace.

Even our Republican napkins couldn't pull out a victory.



Sorry, Mitt. :(


Let's not forget, we are not in charge- He has a plan for good in each and every circumstance, and if we have faith and hope and continue to do His work, this can be a positive thing. The following verses have helped me to give up this anxiety to the Lord. Every day is a gift from God, and He is the Lord of all creation. What is greater than Him? Nothing.

Ecclesiastes 7, 1-14 and Psalm 46, v. 10

We are not giving up in our house, because God will never give up on us. So, let's keep praying and working to keep our country. It is a gift from God as well, and I intend not to allow it to go down the tubes as long as I can keep working. :)


In other news, we have had a fun week! Vivian and I baked some delicious bread, and Daddy ate a whole loaf of it on Wednesday evening. (I thought we needed some comfort food, so what better than freshly baked bread?) It came out beautifully, and we picked up more yeast at the store yesterday in case we decide to make more.

Day-after depression calls for something with yeast. :)

Uncle David came over the visit on Tuesday, and even though he was majorly disappointed too with the election results, he still had a good time playing with Vivian. He helped her get her bath and into her jammies,too. He is a good uncle, and Bisky loves it when he plays his music for her.

Henry is growing like a serious weed. He was 12.4 lbs about 2 weeks ago, and goes for his 2 week appt. on Nov. 16. I'm excited to see how much more he has grown. He is a chunk! We think he looks like a little butterball turkey.

Mom came over yesterday to hang out and visit. We had a good time shopping together. Found some sweet little outfits for Henry since he is growing out of everything.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween finally arrived for little Miss Vivian. She has been excited to go trick or treating for about a month. She was Princess Rapunzel, but she took her crown off because it was hurting her head. :(

Nick took her around the block to our neighbors' to trick or treat for a little bit last night. It was colder out last night, so she was layered with two pairs of pants and 2 shirts under her princess dress. I made her wear a coat, too. She was upset because she couldn't see her bee-yoo-ti-ful dress completely, but oh well. Nothing worse than a sick kid, and we are trying to keep everyone as healthy as possible.

Before all the excitement began, Vivi and I made some pumpkin cupcakes with pumpkin spice frosting. They are only 3 Points Plus per cupcake with frosting, and 2 pp without! They are delicious. I found the recipe on a website and it uses a cake mix and canned pumpkin. They are very moist and dense. Hard to describe, but actually better than a regular dry cupcake.

 Here's the webpage where I found the recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/09/pumpkin-cupcakes-with-pumpkin-spiced.html

The webpage itself is wonderful. Lots of yummy stuff, and all the points are calculated. (I'm back on WW again!)  http://www.skinnytaste.com

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. Now we just have to convince Vivian not to eat every piece of candy she got last night! :)

Happy Halloween! :)

2012 Presidential Election: Electoral Map

With the election only 6 days away, I thought I would post my projection for the Electoral College map. If you go to the link, you can do your own map, too. I have my students use this webpage when we are learning about the electoral college. You can look at every election's results all the way back to George Washington. It is very interesting, and one of our favorite websites to play around with.


2012 Presidential Election: Electoral Map: This map displays Jessica's projections and does not reflect the opinions of 270toWin.

Update!

The last couple of days have been mostly uneventful (which I like) but has also led to what will mostly be a boring post.

It has been cold and gross outside, and so Vivian and Mommy have a touch of cabin fever. We got out to go grocery shopping Monday evening, and it was fun for us to be out of the house. Vivian misses her friends Gracie and Raegan and her preschool. It is pretty sad to see her lower lip puff out when she talks about them. However, I know that when January rolls around and we are back in the swing of things, she will whine about having to go when she doesn't want to get up in the morning. :)

Henry is growing like a weed. He graduated from the sink to the baby tub for his baths. He was filling up the sink so much, it caused the water to spill over. Soooooo I decided it was time for a bigger venue for his buns.

Henry also got to try out the 'big' swing yesterday afternoon. Vivian likes it because it makes noise. I had to get after her to let her know the buttons were off limits. Especially at 4pm, because that's when it's time for Neil Cavuto on Fox. (Neil is my favorite.)

Tonight, if it's not too cold, Daddy is taking Vivian trick or treating around our neighborhood. She is going to be a princess. Last year, she was Thomas the Train, which was hilarious. We are also going to carve a pumpkin to light for the evening. She is very excited.



Vivian the princess wanted to keep pressing buttons.




Look at this little chunk! He is very bouyant!- I like to call him "Hank the Tank."



He loves bathtime. Almost as much as naptime and eating time. :)

Big sister 'helped' with bathtime for little brother.

Saturday with Daddy

Weekends are the best! Saturday in the fall means one thing: Notre Dame football is on tv in our house.

Nick mowed the yard today and I worked on laundry and other mommy stuff. Vivian played outside late this afternoon for a bit and I got some good shots of her and Nick outside. Baby Henry has been a little bit fussy again today, but still a sweetheart nonetheless.

Vivian wore her new Irish sweatshirt from Grandpa and Grandma Kochmar. Even Henry wore a ND onesie for a little while (he spit up.) --- Oops!




Vivian loves having her daddy home. She fell and bumped her nose
this morning and all she wanted was her daddy.



Nick got to go to a sectional final game last night in Greenwood. The Greenwood Woodsmen are coached by Nick's good friend Mike Campbell. Mike is Andy Campbell's brother- Andy was Nick's best man in our wedding, and he is one of our closest friends. Sadly, the woodsmen lost, but the guys had a great time. I think Nick enjoyed getting to do something fun with his buddies.

Uncle David came over to hang out with me, Vivian and Henry last night since Nick was gone. I was so thankful to have him here with us. He played with Vivian and we all watched a kids movie together. She was sad when "Uncle Hammy" left. He held Henry for a little bit as well and gave me a little break.

I have been enjoying so much being here with my babies. Even though I've resumed my role as a 24-hour milkmaid, it has been such a blessing to be at home with my family. And having Nick home today and tomorrow makes it that much better. Happy Weekend!!!

Go, Irish! Nick and Henry watched kickoff together.

Playtime!

Temps are set to drop overnight- ewwww.

We have been enjoying the Indian Summer here and it has been beautiful. Vivian got to play outside and swing for a couple hours and was so happy. Papaw Maxie played outside with her yesterday and they had a good time playing on the slide and her swingset.

Grandma Michele was here too the last 2 days, and cleaned our house for us... we are so grateful! She helped me get caught up on laundry too. Yay! Anyway, she watched baby Henry for a hour or so while Vivian and I got out of the house for a little shopping.

We went to Target and found a cute baby exercise mat and 'play gym.' Vivian was a little more excited about it than Henry, but he did bat a couple of the toys around for a few minutes before scrunching up his face and crying for mommy.

Snooze.......... so not excited about this whole 'exercise' thing.

Vivster and baby brother enjoying the pretty toys.

Awww.... she loves him. (for now- mwa ha ha.)

Today Vivian and I made some spooky cookies from a cake mix. They are delicious and we sent some with Mamaw and Papaw Maxie when they left this afternoon. Nick has eaten quite a few. The cake mix cookie idea worked out really well. We had a boxed cake mix and followed the directions for cookies on the side. It was so easy, I wonder why I bake cookies the 'hard' way. Anyway, they turned out great and we frosted them with orange frosting for Halloween.

I think we like sweets and baked goods in our house. :) 

Rainy Day + Fussy Baby = Apple Pie

It rained waaaaaaay to much today in Muncie. Vivian was upset the rain was blowing the last of the leaves on our front tree away. She checks the tree each morning to see if there are any leaves left.

We enjoyed watching the debate last evening. It seemed that Romney was the president and Obama the challenger. I especially enjoyed when Mitt asked the president about why he did not visit Israel in his first term. Go, Mitt!
Isn't everyone excited to have a real president by this time 2 weeks from now? I am looking forward to voting and helping our country get back on track.




Vivian was cheering for the "real president."  :)

Anyway, since it was so gloomy out today, we didn't go for a walk like we had planned. So instead, Vivian and I made some yummy lasagna and an apple pie.

The lasagna turned out really great- even Nick, the Italian cuisine snob ate two helpings and said it was excellent. I later told him there was turkey in it... hahahahahaha! I did half ground beef and half ground turkey, lowfat cottage cheese and ricotta, and a jar of spaghetti sauce. It's topped with plain lowfat mozzarella. Lasagna is not something I prepare very often, so I guess it worked out well.
 

mmmmmmmmmm... cheesy!

Later, while the lasagna was baking, I started working on an apple pie. When you make something salty, you HAVE to have something sweet to go after, and I had a bag of granny smith apples just staring at me all lonely-like from the fridge.  The only thing I was concerned about was making a pie crust.

Mom is really good at pie crust. I am not. Nor am I experienced or talented at making those little crimped edges either. *sigh* But, I think like every other pie attempted in this house, it will taste good, even if it does look a little shady. :)

Mama Bear in Berenstein Bears always said you can't judge an apple by its looks.
Little did she know that also applies to my pies.

Henry has been a little bit fussy today. However, he has also been super cute- he has been making those sweet unimitatable baby coo noises. I just melt when he does it. He was getting a diaper change this afternoon and he scrunched up his face, and I thought for sure he was about to let loose bawling, but instead he just relaxed and did this big 'ahhhh' sound. Possibly the sweetest sounds I've ever heard are the sweet noises my children have made as infants. Little coos and sighs. Sounds like heaven to me!

"He will take your daughters to be perfumers

and cooks and bakers."  1 Samuel 8:13