Christmas 2011

We started off our morning a little rough because Little dude's ear infection spiked a fever in him during the night so mama and he did not sleep much at all. But it was going to be such an exciting day so I got over it as quickly as I could  moped around for awhile, had some coffee and decided to choose joy for the day.

We went to our church for the Christmas service. We thought it was really special that it was on a Sunday this year! After we said hello to everyone we headed home and I let the littles open their stockings while everyone else got Christmas dinner ready. We also waited for some more family to arrive.

Once the roast was settled in the deep-covered oven dish, roasting something delicious, we decided to open gifts and then eat after. The first gift that was opened was the baby Jesus from our Nativity scene! It's a tradition we started this year and I hope that it gives them the visual of how Jesus is the gift we anticipate first and foremost. His birth into the world meant our Savior had arrived on the scene and He is the reason we even have anything to celebrate, because of His death on the cross we have the opportunity to spend eternity in the presence and glory of God!

Next we dove right in to opening gifts. Little Dude slept for most of it but he was able to tackle his pile once he woke up. He didn't seem to mind!

The rest of the day was spent playing, eating and just hanging out. We are so very blessed and I'm thankful to have available all that we do. I pray that we don't take that for granted this next year and remember those that need us to give of our abundance and even to sacrifice for others, the way our Savior did, making the ultimate sacrifice simply out of His love for all of us.

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

Merry Christmas with Nana!

I made the kids outfits and LOVE how they matched. :)

Saying 'Cheese!'

Listening to her recorded storybook of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' and saying 'Cheese!'

She LOVES her Itty Bitty Baby she got and all of the accessories! 

Grammy was very excited about her gift and Little Lady was loving helping everyone open their gifts!

The necklace the kids got Nana for Christmas! She had to open her own oyster to get the fresh water pearl that was inside. :)

Trying on her 'Princess Gigi' outfit. She has worn the whole thing since she got it!

Looking through the 'Jesus Storybook Bible' we got for the kids.

After his nap. He was so excited about this one and of course it was the most twisty tied of all the ones he got...

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world!

Our Savior is born!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Catching up

Sometimes I have to wonder why I even have a blog....

Just thought I would that out there. The lack of posts this month is a product of our stage of life! But there are so many things I want to record about this stage of life that it simply bums me out to not get it down and documented.

Oh well, not much I can do to change it now. We are in to our third full week of the new job, leaving the kids and I homebound for most of the day all week long. There are some great things about it and we are still working on our finding our groove. Maybe our groove will be to keep changing it up, like I have been ever so many days.

I am quite frankly a get out and do things kind of person. While that is a good thing for my most often melancholy disposition, it can be a way for me to 'run away' from the things I need to get done. {Enter over flowing laundry hampers, floors hidden by toys and toilets not fit for guests...} Not that I've just snapped into the roll of super-house-cleaner since our housebound lifestyle has begun. But it's easier to motivate myself to do productive activities that show for my day.

Although from the outward appearance my life doesn't look more organized that it was before, but I definitely feel a peace about our schedule and house hold. Not to mention the money we have saved! I am guilty of boredom/ "feeling down" shopping. I go to stores with every intention of "just looking around" but knowing full well that I am completely incapable of doing just that.

This Christmas season has probably been the most enjoyable that I've had in a long. I haven't been stressed about gifts or plans or expectations. Just going with what we feeling like doing when we want to and if we don't do something it's really going to be alright.

I'm looking forward mostly to my mama coming into town later this week, a Christmas eve spent with some friends we love and then Christmas day celebrating the birth of Jesus and experiencing the joy of the through my littles.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Decorating 2011

'Black Friday' was anything but that for us this year. Actually we haven't even participated in the up before dawn festivities. There has never been anything that I want or 'needed' that badly. And I hope there never is!

Our Friday following Thanksgiving was, in my opinion, much more enjoyable! My mama was here and I wanted her to be a part of our setting up and decorating for Christmas. Holidays have been hard for her with both of her parents passing away in recent years and she is an only child. I'm so glad that she has our kids to give her things to look forward to! They are her future. :)

We set up our tree, village and Nativity scene and pondered what traditions we would like to start with our family. I always remembered doing an advent calendar when I was growing up. Maybe you know the kind, that has the doors for each day and you have to find the right one for that day. Behind each door was a piece of chocolate! Every kids dream. I wanted to do an advent calendar with my littles but I wanted it to have a little more to it.

We also, when I was growing up, would do a different activity with the my mom that had to do with the Christmas season. Nothing crazy, just simple and a way to savor the holiday each day! I like that idea and wanted to do that with my littles. So I did what any 2011-itching-to-craft mama would do and searched through Pinterest for ideas of a calendar I could make for our family to use this year and in years to come!

I settled on this one:

{Photo and idea credit here}

And after adding my own twists and ideas into the pattern here's how it turned out:

I used burlap instead of linen and I love the effect it turned out to have!

Once I had the holder I needed to figure out how to fill it. I came across this advent calendar and activity set for little ones and can't wait to use it with the littles!

Click here to buy it for yourself!

It comes with a little word/picture card for each day's activity and scripture reading. Each day has a scripture reading and an ornament to make that goes along with that part of the Christmas story. After going through the whole calendar we will have read and talked about the Christmas story of Jesus' birth! I also alternated a chocolate kiss or candy cane in each day. :) 

There are also a few traditional {and a few new ones} activities that I wanted to include so I made my own cards for those and put them on the days I think they will work best for us. For example, driving around to see Christmas light displays, Zoolights, making goodies for gifts, writing a letter to our Compassion International child, and having a birthday party for Jesus!

Tomorrow is our fist day of our advent calendar and I can't wait to dive in with my littles!!

We also started a new tradition this year with our Nativity scene. Growing up we always kept baby Jesus out of the manger until Christmas morning! I got an idea from here {love this blog btw!} that we are going to start doing each year:

We wrapped baby Jesus in wrapping paper {I debated poking wholes for his nose so he could still breathe} and we'll open Him as our first and most important gift on Christmas day! 

Little Lady helped me wrap Him up and reminds me He's there everyday. What joy! 

Friday evening hubby and I left the littles with their Nana for some quality time and we went out to have some of our own. After a lovely dinner together we headed over to a local Christmas shop that is very popular locally because they have anything and everything imaginable for Christmastime! We picked out our family ornament and one for each of the littles, another tradition we plan to carry out each year. Here is our family ornament this year:

It's SO perfect and displays our family just way we see it, minus the baby bump of course!

And I just had to share my thrift store find from yesterday, as it makes an adorable addition to our Christmas decor!

I have been wanting and looking for a child's wooden rocking chair forever it feels like. And I finally found one yesterday for $10!! And the littles both love it as much as I do! Little Lady's feet don't even touch the ground yet so I know we will get many years of use out of it. I hope to pass it on to their littles some day too!

What are some of your Christmas traditions, old and new?!

Christmas 'Round Two' & growing in faith

We have had a pretty full house these last couple weeks! 

And we've really had a blast visiting with everyone. :)

This week it's Nana {my mama} visiting us. 

We had our Christmas last night!

We've had a good time of relaxing, visiting, eating, watching home videos & playing games!

Today was a fun day of shopping, just me and my mama!

We left daddy at home with the napping babes.

 He was more than willing.

And I was excited to have a shopping buddy.

I've never been one for making resolutions.

I usually can't see that far in front of me and a year is long time,

I always think a lot could happen in a year.

But what I really want to do this year is have a spiritual focus, something I commit to being challenged by and grow in character for the Lord.

I know to the depths of my core that this year's focus is directed and ordained by Him.

Obedience.

I'll be honest, I've been fighting it.

Because I know I'm weak.

And I know that this challenge is going to hurt and be hard.

I will have to face truly denying my flesh in ways I never have before.

But I'm excited for the growth that will come of it.

And it's interesting to me because I'm the typical first born, rule follower.

Growing up I was the bossy one. {I have the home videos to prove it.}

I loved playing school and giving directions.

I thrived on doing things exactly, to a T, as I was told to do them.

I was an honor graduate at basic training.

I can {almost} perfectly replicate craft projects.

On the outside it wouldn't appear that I have a problem with obedience.

But when it comes to following Christ there's a big difference when it comes to doing what your told just because you're told, treating faith like a check list of completed tasks, but instead having a submissive spirit and truly being obedient to my King because I am grateful for what He has done for me. 

And my struggle is with trusting God with what He asks of me.

And just doing it.

Along with obedience God is asking more,

to obey: immediately,  willingly,  and completely. 

These things are not easy for me. 

Especially when I don't understand, or when I think I have a better or easier way.

"Now by this we know that we know Him,

if we keep His commandments. 

He who says, 'I know Him,' 

and does not keep His commandments, is a liar,

and the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps His word, 

truly the love of God is perfected in him.

By this we know that we are in Him.

He who says he abides in Him ought himself

also to walk just as He walked."

1 John 2:36

To me this verse is telling me that the proof that I know Jesus is in my obedience, which becomes a natural out come of my relationship with Him and not that I would just follow a list of 'rules.'

It easier for me to just focus on the list, but I want to focus on Jesus instead.

If you find it in your heart to pray for me, that God will do a great work in changing me to be more like my Jesus!

Hope you all had a blessed New Year's day!

Christmas Day

This year my dad and step-mom and two younger brothers joined us from California. Hubby's mom, aunt and grandpa also came over! We had a full house but it was so much fun.

We started the morning with Uncle Goggle, my brother, making us breakfast. These were sooo yummy!

Little Lady found and played with her new kitchen!

All the union-jackers! We found matching pairs when we wet up to the mountains one day.

After Little Lady took a nap and the rest of everyone arrived we starting opening gifts!

Then we feasted! Everything was delicious!!

Then it was time to play!

While Little Lady played and Little Dude napped, the adults all played a game called Apples to Apples.

It was a lot of fun and good for a laugh, as usual!

And then it was time for coffee and dessert...

...and more playing...

...and just relaxing and hanging out.

We even got to meet Uncle Goggle's girlfriend who is also visiting family in the area.

It was a good day.

I hope that you all had a great day celebrating our Savior's birth!