Christmas Traditions

Several years ago I attended a Hearts at Home Conference. I had heard great things about it and decided I was going to go! It was a good day. I was refreshed and inspired and ready to go back home to be my husbands wife and my children's mom. I have decided that one of my goals for the next year is to attend again.

Jill Savage is the amazing woman who started this ministry in search of some "co-workers" to walk alongside of in the profession of Motherhood. It has grown and blossomed into Hearts at Home and moms from all over the world can attend one of these amazing conferences, read her books, follow her blog and even "attend" a conference on line.

For the next 25 days on her blog, Jill is having a 25 Days of Giveaways. (I love giveaways.) Jill will begin a Christmas discussion where her blog readers can enter several different ways. One of them being commenting on her blog and another by blogging about what she's talking about. She will have a new item to giveaway each day that stands alone. Each time you enter you are entered into the Grand Prize drawing which is a FREE Hearts at Home Conference Registration. What an AMAZING opportunity!!! In addition, if you follow, you'll be sure to get inspired by what other moms/families are doing in their lives to be a blessing to their families. So, check it out if you are interested and leave me a comment if you decide to follow her blog.

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Day 1: Family Christmas Traditions

I love to do things to create memories during the holidays. At Christmas there are several different things that have become Tradition.

For the past several years we have had our own Advent Wreath. Each night during Advent before bed we light the candle(s) for that week and talk about what they mean and then share either a Christmas Devotion, Christmas story or read some scripture. Over the years we've done a lot of different things but ultimately it's about taking just a few minutes to focus and celebrate and remember the real reason we celebrate the holiday. On Christmas morning before we do anything else, we light all of the candles and the much anticipated Christ Candle in the center and let the candles burn down.



Every year for 10 + years my best friend and I have gotten together for a day of baking!!! It's always so much fun and I look forward to it every year. We make a big ole' mess, bake a lot of goodies and at the end of day/night we share what we've each made and end up with lots of cookies that we then share and bless others with.

Like most communities we have families who are in need and there are Angel Trees located all over town including our Church. I use to take one angel per child that I had. The past 2 years we decided that we wanted to adopt an entire family. Anyone who knows me knows how much I HATE to shop. But when I'm out buying shoes for a mom and dad who need them and coats and hats for kids who need them, I actually enjoy shopping. We involve our kids and tell them what we are buying and why. They help shop, wrap and then deliver the gifts so they can be given anonymously to the families. We live in a small community but choose to not know who we are helping. On Christmas morning I am filled with that warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that there is a family near by who we've blessed and helped to have some things that they needed and to have some gifts for their children. Money is a little different this year than it has been the past couple of years. We aren't going to be able to do as much as we have done in the past, but we have money set aside specifically to bless another family or two this Christmas as well.

We have also made it a tradition to stay home as our small family on Christmas day. We have established this boundary and our families have respected it. After the candles have been lit we take pictures of the kids with their stockings that their Great-Grandma made for each of them. Then we open gifts. After the gifts have been open they dive in with daddy while I go and make Monkey Bread for breakfast. Then we enjoy the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying each other. I don't make a fancy meal. We don't even get out of our jammies for the entire day. It's just a day to be and enjoy one another.

It is taking me a while to get into the spirit of the holiday this year. The tree isn't even up yet and probably won't be for another week or so. The commercialism of the holiday gets to me more and more every year and the fact that their are people who celebrate the holiday without giving one thought to the fact that it is meant to celebrate the greatest gift we've ever been given makes me sad. I know why we celebrate and I work hard to keep Christ the center of home at Christmas and all year round. Taking some time to remember what we as a family do to celebrate Christmas has helped put me in the mood a little more and it excites me that my baking day is coming up in a week and a half! Maybe I should add the Christmas CD's back into the rotation to help me as I bless the home today. <3

Published!

Our community puts out a little local newspaper every week. BuhBuh's class wrote about what they were thankful for and it was published in this week's paper.


"I am thankful for God because he helps me. I am thankful for my mom and my dad because they love me. I am thankful for my dog because I love him"

Give Thanks

There are lots of holidays that I have issues with. I'm always so glad when Halloween is over so that I don't have to keep having the conversation with my children on why we don't dress up as evil, scary things. The commercialism of Christmas makes me nutty. If you watched any of the You Tube videos I posted, they pretty much sum up my feelings. My soap box is SO tall on that subject I don't even want to go there. Hence the You Tube links.

I really like Thanksgiving though. Believe it or not, I don't have any soap boxes in my back pocket. Thanksgiving is a time where family and friends come together for a day and sit around a table for a day of sharing. They share a meal, they share conversation, they share their joys and sometimes their pain as they reflect on the past year. They come together in love for one another.

This is just what Jesus did in his ministry. He shared meals, shared conversation, and listened to the joys and pain of the people he was with. Relational ministry: being with others and simply loving them for who they are and where they are. Our family should be our first mission field and Thanksgiving is a great time to do relational ministry. In fact, you've probably been doing it all along without even realizing that's what you have been doing.

Thanksgiving is simply a time to be together; a time to look at the past year and give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says at we are to, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

We each have been given so many blessings. Some big, some small and some in which we may have to squint to see, but a blessing nonetheless. Give thanks for all that you have been given. Enjoy this season of sharing with your family and friends.

Tis the Season....

Here are a few links to check out. The first one is what I showed at the beginning of a sermon I gave last December. The other two are ones worth checking out too. Let them sink in then watch them again.

What Would Jesus Buy


Advent Conspiracy: Spend Less, Worship More



Advent Conspiracy: Worship More

Thanksgiving Turkey

BuhBuh: HEY MOM!!!!!!!!! Can we go huntin' for our Thanksgivng Turkey this year????

Me: UH.....you'll have to ask your dad about that one. (he was so excited about this idea. I didn't want to break his heart, ya know?)

BuhBuh: OK! Because 'da oder (the other) day when I was on my way home, I saw two turkeys walkin' and gobblin' across the street.

Enjoyable Outings with Little Dude

Little Dude has really been a sponge lately. He seems to have exploded with vocabulary since having his big brothers home this past summer. He is really able to communicate with us and we have been able to understand him better.

I've enjoyed all the fun that this adorable 2 1/2 year old has brought into our home this fall.



Once of my favorite things, believe it or not, is to take him to the grocery store! I know, weird huh? Trust me, we have had days in the not so distant past where going to the grocery store was a chore. He doesn't like to sit in the cart anymore. NO WAY! So, I just plan it out so that I don't need a lot and that we have plenty of time and I let him walk. We talk about all sorts of things and it's just a nice time when we are connected to each other. He helps push the cart , likes to put things in the cart and gets oh so excited when we find the marshmallows! Especially when he knows that we have run out at home. He knows when we are at the grocery store he gets a cookie. He knows when we are at Target that we get a Starbucks. When he's not helping me push the cart he's walking down the isles tagging the items on the shelf saying, "duck, duck, goose, duck, duck, goose" Every now and then he mixes things up by getting down on his hands and knees and either says "oooh-oooh ahhh-ahhh" as if he's a monkey and sometimes he says "ruff, ruff" like he's a dog. I wonder what the other shoppers think???

Another one of our favorite things to do is to go to "class". Twice a month we go to MOPS. He has LOVES going!! It has been good for him and good for me. Last week when we were getting ready to go, I let him know we were going to class. He was SOOO EXCITED! He began to tell me about the trains. I started asking other questions about class and asked him if they sang soungs in class and he sang to me, in the right tune and everything, "Jesus 'wuvs me" and even tried to sign it. SO CUTE!!! I hadn't heard that before. He sings it ALL the time now.

We have also enjoyed our weekly library class. He likes doing projects and isn't shy at all. He's in the younger group and I might consider putting him in the older group in the winter, if I don't hibernate.

What a blessing it is that I'm able to be home with him and experience all of these little things that make me smile.

Sabbath Sunday

Sunday was a good day. After a good worship service and message at Church we came home and had some lunch then decided to go on a family outing. We packed up and headed about an hour away for some caves. However, after getting there and hiking down to the entrance we saw that the main parts of the caves were closed for the winter as to not disturb the bats who were hibernating.

I'm perfectly ok with leaving bats alone. So we hiked around elsewhere in the park.


We let the boys climb...

and explore

and enjoy being boys.

It was hard for this mommy not keep the leash short in fear of them smashing their heads on a rock, but they were careful and had fun.

These are my favorite kind of days; days when we can just be together doing something fun as a family.

BuhBuh had the best quote of the day. He said, "Anyone can cross the water walking over rocks....but I'm going to walk through the water." And he did just that....stopping a few times along the way to empty the water from his boots

Happy 13th Birthday

Me: Do you know why you are so special to me??

The Boy: Because I made you a mom.



The Mommy: Do you know what my most favorite thing to do is??

The Boy: Being our mom.



I can hardly believe he is 13. I can hardly believe he is TALLER THAN ME!!!! I know, it's not a huge task to accomplish, but this guy was my smallest baby!!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!!

One of the best decisions I ever made was to quit my job to stay home with my kids. I do wish that I wouldn't have been so selfish when he was little so that I could have been a better mom when he was younger. But, we have made the best of the time that I have been home with him since. I think it has paid off. I remember the sweet summer before he started kindergarten that we had together before our family grew. Since kindergarten time has gone faster than I could have ever imagined it to have gone.

Now he is 13 in 7th grade.

He's wanting to be more independent; searching for his place within our family and among his friends; questioning the way the world works; relying on his strong faith in Jesus to keep him grounded; working hard to make good grades; trying new things; experiencing the ups and downs of crushes; growing in height; growing in appetite; growing in intellect; growing in faith.

He is an amazing young man.

His birthday was last Wednesday.

The Daddy may have just out done himself with THIS streamer art!


The Boy has always enjoyed the fact that his birthday falls on Veterans Day....he NEVER has had to go to school on his birthday. I tell him that's one gift I gave him to last year after year. :)

On birthday mornings we let them open their gifts from us. He did in fact get one of the items from his list.

He's been pretty happy with it. I have to admit, it's REALLY COOL!!!! Is it sad that my son's IPOD is cooler than my cell phone????

Our traditional birthday breakfast are cinnamon rolls. They all expect it!

The Friday after his birthday we had a family dinner with his grandmas and grandpas and some of his aunts and uncles and cousins. All in all I think he enjoyed celebrating his special day.

I'm not really sure how to parent a teenager. But then again, I wasn't really sure how to be a parent of any kind when he was first born. The only thing I DID know was how to love him.

Our family has certainly changed over the past 13 years.....

Even though we were young parents when we had him unsure of what the future was going to bring and with lots of growing up to do ourselves, I am so blessed that it began the way it did and when it did....

Because I LOVE where it has lead.....


Happy 13th Birthday, my sweet boy. Thank you for making me a mom and us a family. I love you!