Christmas Celebrations

Christmas this year was wonderful, but crazy-beautiful, as our life has been as of late.  We began celebrating Christmas on the Thursday before Christmas (Dad's house)...then we celebrated at Mom's house on Friday...with our kids on Saturday morning (since it was going to be so hard doing it early enough to make it to church without a fuss on Sunday morning)...with the Rikard's on Saturday evening...church Sunday morning...with the Flannagin's on Sunday evening...and then headed off to Mobile first thing Monday morning for a week with our Mobile family and friends.  LOTS of Christmas, I know!  We did lots of mini-reminder lessons to the kids about the true meaning of Christmas, how to show thankfulness in ALL things, etc., especially this year with all of the traditional Christmas celebrations around us.  We did not want to forget or let the children forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas...the birth of our Savior!

Here are a few snapshots (unedited, even -- can't believe I'm doing this!) into our Christmas.  I still have LOTS of photographs taken that I haven't even touched (remember that crazy-beautiful life I've been telling you about??)...but maybe this will work for now :-)  Note that Austin is wearing his IRON MAN outfit often -- Aunt Heather and Uncle Kyle gave this to him on Friday night, and he wore it Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday (after church).  It must have been a big hit!  He wanted everyone to see his big muscles...

A Christmas Tradition | Annual Ornaments

One of my favorite family traditions at Christmas, is our annual ornaments. Each year we find an ornament for each member of our family that represents the age/stage/interests they have had over the year. My mom began this when my sister and I were younger. Then, when the kids are ready to move out on their own, they get to take their ornaments from each year to put on their tree. 


I think one of our favorite things to do when decorating the tree each year is to look at those special ornaments and remember the memories that we've associated with them.  Even the kids remember many of the ornaments and why they received it for a certain year, and I'm sure they will even more so as they get older.

Here are our ornament additions for this year...

The kids picked out this beautiful glass camera ornament for me, all by themselves!  I think they did a fabulous job ;-)

Austin had a hard time deciding what he wanted most for his ornament...he began by asking for an ornament with Batman and Joker.  When we had NO luck finding that, he found his second best...a MONSTER TRUCK!  (And by the look of the monster trucks he's collected over this year, I'd say it was a perfect fit!)

Katie and Austin knew exactly what they wanted to find for Mark this year...a ROLL TIDE Elephant!  

And, who would have ever guessed that Katie would have needed a horse ornament?!  ;-)

What are some of YOUR favorite family Christmas traditions?

Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Easy Kid-Friendly Craft

I recently searched the internet for easy (and not-so-messy) Christmas crafts for me to do with the kids during this Christmas season.  These marbled Christmas ornaments have been, by far, the most favorite craft for us all!  

I love simple, inexpensive, unique, and clean...the kids love PAINT...and this craft covered ALL of those!

So, what do you need?  1)  Box of clear plastic ornaments (Hobby Lobby has these 50% off!), 2) Your choice of Acrylic paint colors (we used berry red, pine green, and sand), 3) Baby wipes.  

DIRECTIONS:  All you do is squirt several drops of the paint colors desired into the clear ornament.  Then use a baby wipe (to keep fingers paint free) to cover the opening of the ornament.  And SHAKE!  You'll probably have to add more paint to fill the entire ornament, but it's best to add it a little at a time, so it will dry quickly :-)  Then, TADA!  You have a beautiful marbled Christmas ornament, perfect as a special handmade gift for your friends or family. 

My kids already know who they are giving these ornaments to, but I wouldn't mind getting more ornaments to make some for our own tree!  Hope you enjoy this fun, cheap, and easy craft.  We sure did!!

Christmas Artwork | Hartselle Art Studio

I just love Christmas-time! It always seems like crafts are more frequent during the Christmas season, and this year was no different.

The kids are still enjoying their weekly art classes at Hartselle Art Studio & Gallery with Ms. Michele, and they brought home many art projects over the Christmas season.  Here are two of our favorite projects done with Ms. Michele...

First, here are the kids handmade ornaments -- using balloons, newspaper, glue, paint, glitter, and I have no idea what else :-)  But these ornaments look beautiful on our Christmas tree!

This one is Katie's... (gotta have that PINK!)

This one is Austin's... (Honestly, I expected to see a black and gray ornament from him, but he went with white, purple, and silver)

Ms. Michele also challenged them both to draw their own picture that could be printed and used as a Christmas card, if desired.  They both did a fantastic job, but we had already printed our cards for the year, so we displayed these in our living room, instead.

Katie's stocking with a kitten:

Austin's stocking:

Great job, kids!!  I love your artwork!

Movie Monday | Children's Christmas Choir

I know I have totally been MIA lately on the blog...life has been busy!  But, to make up for it, I thought I'd share a video of the kids singing in the children's Christmas choir at our church.  This was Katie and Austin's first time to sing in front of anyone (other than family), and I think they did fantastic, along with all of the other kids!

BTW...I have absolutely no idea where Austin learned how or got the idea to BOW after each and every song!  But it sure was a great laugh :-)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

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

Let us each remember the true reason for the season...

Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a sinless man to die for our sins!!

The Lucado Inspirational Reader | A Book Review

Being a long time fan of Max Lucado's writing, I was thrilled when I was given the chance to review his book The Lucado Inspirational Reader through Thomas Nelson Publishing (Booksneeze.com). 

This beautiful hardback book is a compilation of thoughts, illustrations, stories, and quotes by Lucado.  I love that the book has no set reading schedule...no daily thoughts...no chapters to stop you.  It's a book that you can pick up at any time of the day or night, and read exactly what you need to for the moment.  And, though these may be simple thoughts, or short in length, they are thought-provoking for the Christian walk, in all aspects of life.

I think this book is a fantastic idea for a gift (and will be using this as a gift idea for someone special in our family!).  This is a great book to keep on the end table, ready to be picked up and read from again and again...grasping more spiritual challenges and encouragement each time.  I received this book for free from Booksneeze.com (Thomas Nelson Publishing) for this review. The above opinions are my own. I was not required to write a favorable review.

His Mighty Warrior - A Book Review

It's Christmas time!  Can you believe it?!  One of my favorite things about this time of year is trying to be creative with my gift-giving to my family and friends.  This year, thanks to Multnomah Publishing (Blogging for Books), I found a wonderful gift for my sweet little boy.  His Mighty Warrior:  A Treasure Map from Your King by Sheri Rose Shepherd was just the kind of surprise I was looking for this year.

This little treasure is totally geared toward the heart of a boy, a short devotional/bedtime story type book that shares letters to a mighty warrior from "The King", along with scriptures, Bible stories, and applications for every boy to apply to life as they grow up to be the strong, brave, and true men of God they were born to be.

I love that this book is totally on a child's level, but yet holds a depth of truth and application that can be used for years to come.  I can't wait for my little boy to open this at Christmas, so we can begin to read about this warrior and how God uses him, just as He will use my son.

I think this is a wonderful gift for any preschool age to early reading age boy, and would recommend it without hesitation.  I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The above opinions are my own. I was not required to write a favorable review.