Merry Christmas!

Hey there. =)

It's been a really fun Holiday season. Having two kids now does have its challenges, but it also has its many blessings. I've been doing a whole lot more thinking than I ever have about Christmas & what comes with the territory and having kids. I think mainly it's because having two kids brings a lot more into the season than it ever was with just the two of us. Like for example, would we introduce Santa,  Christmas on a Sunday & all those crazy conversations that come from that, what about Advent, what will we do Christmas Eve as a family, how will we work out Christmas' with both sides of the family, yada yada yada. All in all, I am so blessed to teach Ashlyn, and one day Carter, the true meaning of Christmas. The real reason we even have a holiday. It's been neat seeing Ashlyn learn how to sing a few carols, know where to find Baby Jesus in our home, & see the light in her eyes as she opens a gift (she has only opened one so far and it was really cute). Funny how she is also at the age where we have to teach her to share, really getting deeper into the Christmas Season, teaching her to share seems quite appropriate don't you think. 

Our memories so far... Decorated our house outdoors for the first time. Can't wait till the kids are old enough to appreciate it. Made Christmas cookies with my mom, sister in law & her friend and even took them to Hobby Lobby. Their first time, I think they liked it.  Took the kiddos shopping more than I normally would have & survived. Had Josh's sister take our Christmas photos. Thanks Amanda! Went shopping as a family & even managed to get gifts for the hubs. Had a family dinner date at Red Robin. WE HAVE A RED ROBIN. YES! Had our tree fall for the first time, and no kids were involved. (and no one was hurt) Enjoyed watching Home Alone together (early Christmas gift from the hubbs), we laugh sooo hard at that one, love laughing with my man. Looking forward to the second one which we'll watch this week sometime. (I think I like that one better) Drank a yummy Peppermint Milkshake from Chic-fil-a (yes it had to be put here, my hubbie brought one home last night, it's noteworthy!)

(Doesn't that look delish?)

So ya, I'm really blessed to have an amazing little family (or large really). We made so many memories. I love that!  Looking forward to celebrating with the extended family the birth of our SAVIOUR this weekend & making more memories. Hope it doesn't just end there. I mean really, we should be reminding ourselves daily of the life Jesus lived and sacrifice he did for us. 

Thank you! 

I'll leave you with our Christmas Card. 

Sorry for the bad quality, it's a photo of a photo, the photos are actually crystal clear quality.

(photos by: AB PHOTOGRAPHY)

Merry Christmas!!

DIY Christmas Packaging Bow

Hello.

 Want to see something I made today?

Isn't she a beauty? She makes my Mac computer even more pretty. 

Want to make one? 

I found the idea on Pinterest. (Of course) And it reminded me that I've always wanted to make this kind of a bow. So I made it. It probably took me 20 minutes to make. Not bad. 

 I can't believe it was made out of a Pottery Barn Catalog. I think I'm gonna try to decorate all the gifts I give this year with one & wrap with newspaper or other paper we have laying around. 

I made a large one.  but it can also be done with just 3 layers instead of 4. 

Check Here for the exact how to. Make one this Christmas. You may just surprise yourself. 

That's all for now,

a joy full home CHRISTMAS.

Today I wanted to share a few photos of our home this Christmas season. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours,

I'm good. I know I'm bad, at grammar.

Hi there,

I've been thinking a lot about how I write my blog post. My husband reminded me I have many grammar issues in them. I'm not offended in any way. I KNOW I'm not very good at grammar. It's a wonder I love journalling and have been since I was little. I always felt if someone read my journal entries (my paper journal, that is) they may not understand what I wrote. Ha, sometimes I can't even understand my own writing. In school I was much more interested in Science & Math. Ya, I'm one of those gals. I loved figuring things out. I was also more of an art/music girl. I didn't take my first "real" art class till I was in highschool. I had no idea that I was a little artsy until then. I knew I didn't mind art class, and had fun, but I had no idea I was "artsy". I guess I inherited my dad's art skills. Thanks Dad! I like to paint, but I am not one to just create something from nothing. If I have a picture to look at and copy I'm all set. Otherwise, ha, good luck! So there's my two cents on that.

Can you find all the grammar problems in that paragraph^? I bet there's a ton. (wink*)

So now that we have that behind us, I'd like to share a diy idea from Thrifty Decor Chick. Now that we are in the Christmas season we all are thinking of ways to decorate our table. Either for everyday living or a party we are putting on. I know for me I can never figure out what to do with our table. I think having kids it changes the way I decorate. One day I'll get back my freedom to decorate how I want to. But until then I'll just talk about what I'd like to do. So for all you who have a large table, and need a non expensive way to decorate, this is for you.

She literally spray painted a bunch of cut up paper rolls, for napkin rings. You could do gold, silver, copper, whatever colors you have already or what looks better in your house. At $5 a color, that's NOT bad.

 LOVE this idea! 

See?? 

And...

And then she spray painted some candle stick holders. (she primed them all first)

Ok, that is just magical! And we can all get some pretty ornaments after Christmas or hit the local Walmart/DollarStore/Hobby Lobby for cheap. I love projects that anyone can do. Seriously!? Now go to the Thrify Decor Chick blog and check out her post on how she made them. She does a way better job explaining how to make them. 

Happy DIYing this Christmas!

 

Thriving Family Freebee

Hello again,

 I really need to stay on the topic of Advent for this post. Just after I wrote the last one I went through a pile of mail and we had gotten our newest issue of Thriving Family Magazine (Focus on the Family). 
On the cover it mentioned having an Advent Insert. 
Hmmm...interesting.

 As I looked more into this new issue I also realized that they now have an iphone/ipad, or any smartphone really, app for Thriving Family. NEAT! You can download the latest magazine issue & the Advent insert as well. (Or click here to find the advent insert from the website) 
So that’s a fun free thing you can look at today & read until Christmas. Each day has a craft or thing to do as a family as well. Gatta love it! I hope to keep sharing free things as I find them. It’s always nice to not have to “pay” for everything. 

And yesterday we decided it was time to get our Christmas Tree; little did we know how expensive it is to get a real tree. Really 50-60 bucks?? I'm pretty sure we cut one down for that price a few years back, and we lived in a pretty pricey area. So we decided to check out Lowes where we picked out a beautiful Fraser Fir for almost half that. Phew! 

 Carter even got a ride with the tree...ha!

 There she is! And let me tell you she smells sooo good!

 Ashlyn setting up the Nativity.

 See. =)

Trying my hand at some photos of Carter. 

Anywho...

Let's remember the reason for the season. It's neat to be able to share it with Ashlyn now that she is a bit older. She's only rearranged the Nativity scene like five times already. Gatta love it. =)

Do you get a real tree, fake, cut your own? How much did you pay this year? Just curious.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Advent

Hello again!!

Thanks for the comment Janice =) I think we have a lot in common. We make pizza because I don't like to make anything hard. I literally just throw it together and don't make my own crust or sauce. Maybe someday I'll get the ambition. Maybe not. :p 

As we countdown the days till Christmas, we enter into the Advent season. But what is Advent? To some it means that little piece of Chocolate from their cardboard Advent Calendar, or that candle lit each week until Christmas is here, maybe you unwrap a small gift until the day, or build the nativity scene a little each day, whatever you do, maybe you do it because it's tradition and not because you know what ADVENT truely means? Or maybe you do. Having two little ones in our house now I've wanted to find some sort of fun Advent tradition we can share as a family, since kids of course can NOT wait till Christmas.  

First, I just thought I'd bring some light to what Advent means:

advent |ˈadˌvent|
noun [in sing. ]the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event : the advent of television.• ( Advent) the first season of the church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.• ( Advent) Christian Theology the coming or second coming of Christ

I love that definition and how no where in the definition it talks about Santa, but about Christ. It's neat Advent also means the second coming of Christ. Anyways, I'm not here to bash all those Santa loving people, because Santa will be bringing our kids some gifts as they get older and understand the fun in that. But, I am here to bring light onto what Advent means. 
On Pinterest, yes again I'm referring to good ol Pinterest, I've searched advent and found some really cool ways people celebrate Advent. 
Here are a few:

via

each day read a small card & do as a family. (sorry no link)

via

via

via 

Crazy about the wait yourself?? Check this out... Christmas Countdown Clock. Ha!

How do you celebrate Advent in your home?

Waiting patiently for Christmas,

That's Pinteresting!

I have recently been addicted to what's on Pinterest. And because I now blog I decided it best to showcase a few of the things that have stood out to me. I'm very happy I found Pinterest before the holiday seasons begun. These are only a few sites I found.

One of the best recipes I've ever tried. Vegan Lentil Chili. Definitely a must for Cilantro fans!!

via

How about this...you can clean your shower head this way?? I know random, but honestly we all know our shower head gets pretty gross...right?

via

Some fun Stocking stuffer ideas right at the click of your mouse. 

via

Oh, and if you need an invite to Pinterest let me know. But you can check the site out for free. 

Fun stuff!!

Happy Pinning!!

My first post- Christmas Wreath DIY

Why hello there :-)


I thought it was appropriate to start my blog with a fun post. For the last few months I’ve been eyeing a tree in our woods that I thought would be perfect for a Christmas wreath. I had bought the metal hanger, a red bow, & the metal circular thingy to attach the branches to a few weeks ago. (YES, I did forget to buy metal wire to attach the branches to the metal circle) So today I ventured out to the fasted place (WALGREENS) & picked up some metal ornament hooks that worked well. Not the best, but I’ll say not bad for only 99 cents. So all in all the cost of the wreath was about $8. Not bad. And although it takes time, between naps & diaper changes & a girl who wanted to “help”, maybe 1 hour total, it was worth every ounce of my energy.

Isn’t she a beauty?  I feel really good about hanging it up. Although I also feel like putting up a sign that says, “I cut the branches & put it together ALL BY MYSELF, isn’t it pretty?” No, I would never put that up. Or maybe I would? Don’t we all feel that way at times? So here is my first DIY post. I hope it inspires you to go out & make something yourself to decorate for Christmas.

Oh how I love Christmas.

But lets remember why we do all this. Celebrating the birth of our Savior.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

—Isaiah 9:6-7

Merry Christmas!

ps. anyone know how to get the box off my signature. I'm still so new at all this.