I hope you all had a very, very Merry Christmas! Filled with tons of family, friends, and love! I pray you were able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this season, and not get too caught up in the hustle and bustle, allowing yourself a few moments to relax and enjoy. As a mom the holidays are filled with so much craziness. Whether it's a baby's first Christmas, trying to prepare the perfect meal for your family and friends, making sure decorations are top notch, buying and wrapping all those gifts, or the craziness that comes with holiday travels, there are a ton of things that can just get in the way isn't there. I know that after celebrations like these I feel like I've missed out on most of the fun and I'm just beyond exhausted! Luckily for me this Christmas I had a little help remembering the true reason of the season (wrapped up in strange packages).

With my recent bought with ongoing migraines the Christmas celebrations were moved from my home to my mom's this year. I'm not going to lie, it was disappointing not to do it at my home, not to cook the meal, to have to pack everything up in the car and travel for the festivities. It meant my in-laws stayed home (since we had already celebrated with them anyway) and that meant we never gave them their gift since we were saving it for when they came. And because I sang in church for both our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service it was a weird schedule for me. I had to leave my kids after opening presents to head off to sing since we already attended the Christmas Eve service together. It was really hard to kiss them goodbye and not just stay home and cuddle up in front of the fire while they played with their toys. Not to mention my little present snafu where I completely mixed up what I bought our son for his "big" gift and it was missing the major component. He ended up with a useless camera attachment to a system he doesn't even have rather than an actual camera like I intended. I actually shed a few tears over the last one, even though he didn't even notice and was too busy playing boats with his daddy. I felt useless and like a Christmas failure.

Insert a big piece of "practice what you preach" pie here. As I was singing for the service this morning I realized something, my family was happy and together, we are blessed and loved, and, even if we didn't have any of those things, Jesus came to Earth all those years ago. He was born in a stable, surrounded by dirty animals and filth. Wrapped in strips of cloth and placed in a feeding trough. He humbly came and brought salvation, and that is more than enough blessing than I ever deserved. All the other blessings that we were given this year were beyond many will ever even imagine. These things that were driving me crazy, and even driving me to tears, meant nothing. And they honestly didn't even effect how wonderful our holidays were. Despite the "failures" we had a wonderful, blessed day. And now, as the day ends, I will curl up in bed and dream of all the wonderful memories we made this year. My newest son's first Christmas, the excitement of my other babies who are now old enough to really enjoy getting and giving gifts, and having my family together. Yes, I'd say we had a very, very merry Christmas indeed!

Merry Christmas! From my family to yours!

Tis the Night Before Christmas (and I'm a little crazy)

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, seriously, one was moving and it was mama mouse!

The stockings were finally hung by chimney with care

In hopes Santa got his act together and soon would be there!

The children were finally wrestled, threatened and snug in their bed,

While visions of ipods and Xboxes danced in their heads.

Dad was laid up in his recliner taking a long winter’s nap,

And I just sat down facing 20 more presents to wrap.

When out on the porch I heard such a clatter,

My honey didn’t move so I pulled myself up to see what was the matter.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But the fed ex man announcing my last minute gifts were finally here!

As I gathered my presents together and placed them under the tree,

The reality of my craziness of “to do lists” and “must do’s” hit me.

I faintly heard the playing of Joy to the World the Lord is come,

And quickly remembered the real meaning of Christmas and not what still had to done.

With all my mad dashing around and tying up loose ends,

I was missing celebrating the birth of our Savior with my precious family and friends. 

Our Savior was born on that first joyous Christmas day,

In a humble stable with only a cradle of hay.


It’s not about the decorations or my worrying about needless things,
It’s a wondrous time to celebrate the birth of the King of Kings

So I take my husband ‘s hand and over our children we prayed.

And gave Him thanks for our blessings of freedom, forgiveness and love we enjoy each day.

So as I lay down my head on that beautiful Christmas Eve Night

I rejoice and thank God for the greatest gift of Everlasting Life!

by Traci Lilley
(thank you, sweet friend, for sharing this with us...it is absolutely perfect!)

Heaux, Heaux, Heaux!!!

A little piece of my culture for you (well, my hubby's culture anyway, since I was born in Texas and my family is from Michigan and Oklahoma!) I know it's hard to understand...now you know how I feel at family reunions...but it's too cute for me not to share! And for those not from the bayou, yes, this is really how they talk!

Be on the lookout tomorrow for my favorite 'Twas the night before Christmas. Written by my sweet friend, Traci Lilley!

A Soldier's Silent Night

This Christmas my bubba will spend the day with his beautiful daughter for the first time! Safe, warm, surrounded by family. We will have him home, but we will not forget those that will not be with their families for the holidays. We will remember those who have sacrificed it all. They are in our hearts and in our prayers.

OORAH!

All I want for Christmas...

Is a kind word from a stranger. I don't think it's too much to ask. In fact, it's the comments of strangers that led to my first post. The attitude that I'm crazy for taking on parenting, for loving it, for feeling blessed to have three children under three. The comments were hurtful enough, but the sheer amount was what really hurts my heart. I never realized how widespread in our society the "parenting is so hard" mindset truly was. Am I saying parenting is a piece of cake? No. But like I stated in that first post, when did we get to the point that we figured only a few "supermoms" can actually enjoy parenting and do it well? When did we forget that God has called us and equipped us to handle every situation we face as mothers? Why are we so quick to complain about parenthood rather than to celebrate it?

When I go out with my children, it is for the most part an enjoyable experience. I mean, we have our days...missed nap times, bad attitudes, not feeling well...but 99% of the time we are laughing, smiling, truly enjoying each other. So to have our nice time together interrupted by strangers who feel the need to comment on "how full" my hands are, how I "need a hobby" (apparently if you have 3 children all you do is, well, you know...), "how crazy" people think I am. Based on the comments I receive it's apparent that people believe my decision to have my children (to have so many, and to have them close together) is selfish, I should be miserable, and I am just setting myself up for failure. And it's not just me. It's a common thing for my friends to be at the receiving end of these comments as well. A woman told me friend, in front of her children, "how sorry" she was that they were all hers (well, she whispered it so I guess she felt  that made it ok.) And do not get me started on comments made about my friends who have adopted or biracial children. All of us have anywhere from 2-4 children. Hardly a large number, in fact a pretty normal number in my opinion. Let's change this. Let's change this parenthood attitude. We obviously cannot change other people's opinions on how our family should look, but we can pass on to others how much we love our families. We can encourage each other, and hopefully one day these discouraging words will be the ones that are few and far between rather than the good ones. When we see a mother in the store with her children, to share an encouraging word with her, rather than to make these comments that imply she should be embarrassed or miserable in her current situation. Obviously, I know these judgemental comments and sideways glances aren't going to go away, but it would be nice if I would get a "You must have so much fun with your children" or "Your family is so blessed" while I'm out with my family more often than getting the negative comments. I don't ever want my children to believe that I feel the same way about them as these strangers. I want them to know that they are not a burden. That I don't just view them as hard work. I want them to know they are loved, cherished, and pretty darn great. It would be nice if they were made to think I'm not the only one who feels this way! How wonderful if my children could grow up in a society that valued them as much as I do.

Despite all of the negativity, I've had those special moments, when people have said something encouraging to me. When my children are screaming in line for candy and I tell them no. To have a fellow mother say, "You're doing a good job." Rather than giving me a pitiful look or telling me to "just give it to them." The time a lady who had 5 children purposefully came across the restaurant to tell me to "Enjoy them because they are such great blessings." Today, to have one of those horrible moments after my 3 and 2 year old held the door open for a lady with a walker. Her daughter (who was a fully grown woman) instead of making a comment about how sweet my children were, looked at my baby in the carrier then at my older two and says, "You finally got your boy. Congratulations on that one." The fact that my older son (who has long hair) was wearing all blue escaped her I guess. But even if Kason were my first boy, why would I be more grateful for him? And why was this the comment she felt was the most important thing to tell me at the time? After that, to be so discouraged yet again, only to have a sweet women tell me a little later on, how "precious my family was, how wonderful my kids are, and how blessed I am." That comment turned my yet again defeated attitude into one of hope and joy. Because I do hope that people see the love and happiness I feel for my family. I pray that we will look for opportunities to encourage other mothers, and I pray that we will never be a source of hurt or anger to them. I pray that, one day, a kind word from a stranger will be commonplace rather than the exception. And that is what I want for Christmas.

December 5-9 Link Up

This week my posts will be linked up with Hidden Treasures for her "Treasured Traditions" Christmas Blog Party! Fellow bloggers come join us and even if you don't have a blog you can still come read the awesome posts from other ladies about Recipes, Activities, Decorations, Traditions, and Gifts! Merry Blogging!

The Gift of Excess

While recently trying to think of activities for my families Advent, I had a strange revelation. I mean, I guess it's not strange to think about using the excess we've been blessed with to bless others, but it was the item that kind of took me off guard. It was a bag full of Halloween candy. I don't know if your family goes trick or treating or not, but this was our first year taking our kids. By the end of the night my daughter's bag was bigger than she was, my son had decided he didn't even want to get any more, and I was just trying to get us back home without adding any more to their huge stockpile! It was pretty hard since in our neighborhood we don't go door to door, but everyone has a table set up at the end of their driveway and we were constantly bombarded by friendly, well-meaning neighbors and their gifts of sweets. So we ended up with enough candy to hand out to the entire neighborhood next year and still have some left-over! This is excess that I know a lot of kids would love, so I decided to use it. My kids and I are going to fill little stockings with our excess candy bars and sweet tarts and bring it to the local children's shelter for the other kids to enjoy. I mean, what kid doesn't love candy? It's such an inexpensive way for my kids to learn how to give to others, and I'm all about cutting back on our waste.

We all have those things lying around our house that we really don't want to get rid so they just sit there. Or we just have too much of a good thing.  My husband and I build furniture, and in our recent arts and crafts fair had a bunch of stuff left over. It would be great to sell everything that we made, I mean with only one salary (and a teacher's salary at that) extra money is more of a necessity than actual "extra". But God has really been speaking to my heart about tithes and offerings. We give our tithe, but even that is sacrificial giving for us. There's just really not anything left over in the budget for offerings. But God has spoken to me that we are blessed with so many other things to offer up to Him. That the excess in our lives He has given us, even though not monetary gifts, can be used to bless others. The furniture from our arts and crafts show I've been wanting to sell, or the things I have around the house that I was planning on putting in a garage sale, or even the extra time I have during the day since I stay home with my children, all of these things are gifts of excess that God wants me to use for His Kingdom. So this year instead of storing our little left-over items from the fair they are being given out as gifts to friends. Our church has been working in our community with a large group of refugees from all over the world, so the furniture that we built or that we no longer need is going to be donated to the refugee families.

I know of 3 families in the past few months (one just right down the road) who have lost their homes to fire. This got me thinking about just how much I actually have and wondering what it is I can do to help them recover from such a profound loss. Instead of seeing my things of excess as "mine" or even as "dollar signs" for my family, I will start looking at them as ways to bless others. What are some things of excess that you have been blessed with, even if it's not monetary? What are some ways you can use these things to bless others and to impact the kingdom?

Gift of Music

Today I got to cross something off of my bucket list...singing with a group that I have loved since middle school! OK, so it wasn't on my bucket list because A) I don't have a bucket list and B) I never really would have thought that I was going to sing with a Grammy nominated, 2 time Dove Award winning group. Amy Richardson was just too precious with her cute baby bump and her great sense of humor when she signed my cd (making sure she gave me "proof" that I actually sang with them). I think it was really my dream that came true today rather than hers! They are awesome, they are down to Earth, and they are changing the world with their music. Today I got to be a part of that, and that was one of the greatest gifts I have ever received!

Family of Traditions...The Start of our Advent

Traditions are one of the most important gifts we can give to our children. One thing that became important to me when I had kids was making family traditions with them. I don't know why it was important to me, I didn't really grow up in a family with many traditions of our own. In fact, the only tradition we had was going to the movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas day. I just desperately wanted my children to have full memories of our time together as a family. I want them to tell their children and grand children about us, I want to somehow knit our family into the fabric of our future lineage. I want my children to love the things we did as a family so much that they want to do the same with their own families someday. I selfishly want to be that family member that is talked about for generations. So in an effort to inspire our kids, to teach them that there is so much more to Christmas than just getting gifts, we started our newest tradition, the Advent. Here it is!

Like I said in my recent post, I have been looking into the Advent for a couple of years now. Trying to figure out how I wanted to do it. My hubby and I decided last year we wanted to build a house for the kids when we couldn't really find one we liked. Plus building for us is an act of love. To put the time and energy into making something just for them. I make a homemade birthday cake for them every year, and it's the only tradition I'm adamant about, so I guess making them a homemade Advent house is pretty typical for me. Also typical for me is going a little bit over board! Here's the proof...

Trying to decide what to do for our Advent activities was the hardest part! My problem is seeing all of the wonderful ideas other people do with their families and I want to do it ALL. So I decided that I would do it all...at least a little bit of everything. My heart's desire is for my children to be well-rounded in all areas of their lives and that includes the holidays. I want them to have fun, but to know that the meaning of Christmas is not about what presents they receive but is instead about the ultimate gift. I want them to know that we cannot afford to get them everything they want, but that the amount of money we spend is not a reflection of how blessed you are or how much you are loved. And, finally, I want them to understand that compared to many others just how blessed we really are. That compared to society's standards we may be lacking, but compared to the world's standards our lives are overflowing with great abundance. But I don't want them to learn these things from a lecture, I want them to learn these things through example, through action, through seeing it first-hand. So that's why I decided to combine the 3 ways to reinvent the Advent (the fun of arts and crafts, the art of learning to serve, and learning the true meaning of Christmas) into one. Each day when they open the door they will see a little gift. A tiny ornament for their own little tree. On the door is also a note with something for us to do that day. It will either be a Bible verse to talk about the true meaning of Christmas, a craft for us to do that day, or a way for us to serve others. Just a little something that they can learn from and, most importantly, that we can do together!



The excitement about our Advent is already building! My 3 year old told me that he is going to sit here until his daddy comes home and we can do our house. I am so excited about getting my children excited about anything, but especially about spending some quality time with family. I know that all too soon they will rather spend their time with influences other that us, and when the time comes I want these little things to be ingrained into their hearts and minds. What are some traditons you enjoyed growing up? Even something as simple as my family's movie night. What are some traditions that you are beginning with your own family and hope your children love enough to carry on?

Gift of Time

Three years ago, my precious niece was diagnosed with ALL (lukemia) right after Christmas. Although we almost lost her several times along the way, she managed to pull through and is now in remission, done with treatment, and trying to start her life as normally as possible for as long as she has. Even though she has a good outcome for now, many we met along the way were not as lucky. If there's one thing we learned, it's that you just make the best with what you have. It's something we should be doing anyway, but when you have a "limit" put on the time you have left it seems a lot easier to truly focus on the important things. No matter how little or how much time we have left, it's never too soon and it's never too late to live a fullfilling life. There's never too little time left to make a difference, to change a life, to live with purpose. And there's no such thing as too much time. Time is the greatest gift we have been given, what are we teaching our children to do with it?

Click here to donate to St. Jude

Reinventing the Advent

The only thing I knew of the Advent (from the Latin word meaning "coming") growing up was that you get a little gift each day counting down to the really big gift you get on Christmas. Well, that's all really fun, but I think the last thing we need is another way to focus on what it is we are getting for Christmas. Now, don't get me wrong, my hubby and I just built our kids a wonderful advent house and we will be doing it with the kids every day. They will get a small ornament each day to decorate their tree to help them count down to Christmas. There is nothing wrong with giving gifts on Christmas. In fact giving is a very important thing to teach our children. And getting gifts is fun too. It makes us feel special, it makes us feel loved, it makes us feel appreciated. But what are we doing beyond that? Are we taking advantage of the holidays to make family memories, teach our kids about serving others, and remembering the true meaning of the holidays? Here are some great ideas I've found to incorporate into your holiday season to help focus on something other than just how many gifts we will get. For each of these you can use the traditional advent house or calendar or just make a paper chain with the information written on each link (one of my personal favorites). You can search Pinterest for some really fun and different ideas on how to make your own advent.

The Arts and Crafts Advent. This is a really fun way to make memories together (and is great for finding things to do while your kids are out of school). Pinterest, again, is a perfect resource for activities to do with your kids! Find my follow me on pinterest button on my left sidebar to check out my boards for ideas. Pick a craft to do each day leading up to Christmas. Your kids will love it, and you will enjoy the purposeful time spent together.

The Service Advent. Your kids are never too young to learn to put others before themselves. Whenever I think of families serving together, I picture them lined up in hair nets serving at a food kitchen. A great idea, but there are so many other options. And I'm sure there's some you can find that will be much more appealing to your children. It's not about forcing them to serve, it's about getting them to want to serve others and teaching them how to do it. Have them pick out a few of their own toys, books, or clothing to donate (Hint: make sure it's not just a throw-away they don't want anymore. Ask how they would feel if someone gave it to them.) and have them pick out a few new toys to bring to a children's shelter. Get them involved in canned food drives. Have them save up some change from their allowance or pay them to do little things around the house and have them drop it into the Salvation Army buckets in front of stores or into the offering plate at church. Help your kids make handmade cards and letters to deliver to a local nursing home or the elderly members of your church. Fill a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child. Once you start thinking of ideas, you'll realize just how much there really is you can do. Get your kids' friends involved too so your family can serve side-by-side with another family you have grown close to.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season Advent. We say that Jesus is the reason for the season, but are we really teaching it? Since Christmas is focused on Christ's birth it is an excellent time to teach your kids about things you maybe wouldn't know how to bring up during the year. Make a scripture chain with verses for your children to memorize. Do links with the story of Jesus's birth beginning when the angel told Mary she was pregnant. Put the Roman road on links. Or do a chain that studies the different names of God. There are tons of great ways to do this! This is a post I found a few years ago that has a great advent chain for learning the true meaning of the season through scripture. Or you can make advent ornaments as you study the names of God together like this mom did. And this is a great nativity story chain for your younger children (begins on Dec 11 rather than the first). There's not a lot of detail and it's very simplified so it's perfect for those first few years of teaching.

If you search you can find many, many, many other ideas! Way too many for me to post. Tomorrow is Dec 1! So get your Advent ready and begin a wonderful new tradition of playing, serving, and learning with your family. I, honestly, think the best advent is a combination of all 3 of these. I can't wait to begin this journey with my own family!

These are a few of my favorite things...MUSIC

O Holy Night

Mary, Did You Know?

I Wonder As I Wander

It's Here, It's Here, It's Finally Here!

The countdown is on! Thanksgiving is over, so that means it is finally time to turn on the Christmas music, break out the decorations, and finish up all my holiday crafts! Although Christmas music at my house is kept to a minimum because I am such a bah-humbug about too many carols, don't ask me why because I have no idea. There is one thing that definitely gets me in the spirit...crafts!!! I mean, have you seem my "Amish at Heart" page? Come on, y'all, this is what I do! So, my project list is growing to enormous lengths, I have 5 days to finish the advent house I am building for the kids, and I am going to brave into making our Christmas ornaments this year (oh yes, I'm going to go there). And there will be no paper chains and posicle sticks (ok, there might actually be some paper chains). Confession time, I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I mean, hand painting for someone as OCD as I am has been a trial in and of itself, and it requires every ounce of strength to make myself love the not-so-perfect outcome of projects I pour hours into. Plus, I have expensive taste on the budget of a stay-at-home mom wife of a teacher, and I refuse to settle for less than what I want (why do you think we started building our own furniture anyway?) So here is my attempt to make Pottery Barn beautifulness and spend as close to nothing as possible. Pictures will be coming soon, but in the mean time check out this great free e-book  Handmade Holiday Decor at The Handmade Home! There's something in there for everyone, and I'm sure it will help to get you in the crafting mood!

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