Baby It's Cold Outside Baby Shower

Yesterday, we hosted a shower for the upcoming arrival of my newest niece!! The theme for the shower was Baby It's Cold Outside. We had the best time visiting with all of our guests!

We used pink and gold. The flowers were from Purdy's.

We served punch and cake, as well as a few appetizers and a hot chocolate bar.

The cake was by Sabra Elmer.

We can't wait for the Little Snowflake to be here!!

Thankful November--Days 7-9

Day 7-9-We were really busy this weekend and were unable to do any crafts Friday and Saturday. So, we made up for it on Sunday evening! We read all three days scriptures and made turkeys and Indians. It wasn't what I had planned, but it worked!

Psalm 107:29-32 "He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew clam, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders."

Colossians 2:6-7 "So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Psalm 34:1 "I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips."
Psalm 9:1 "I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds."

Thankful November--Days 4-6

Day 4--I'm So Thankful for You Cookie Treat Bags

We made these cookies and put them in treat bags with cute printable tags to give to people for whom my kids are thankful.  All was well until Hannah wanted to help take the cookies out of the oven and burned her arm! 

Psalm 69:30 "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."

Isaiah 12:4 "Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done and proclaim that his name is exalted."

Day 5--Pinwheel Turkeys

This was a disaster. They looked so cute on Pinterest, but we could not make them work out!! We still read our Scripture, though.

Psalms 95:1-6 "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. the sea is His for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."

Day 6--Paper Bag Turkeys

Supplies: Paper bag, stuffing(we used tissue paper), google eyes, orange construction paper beak, pipe cleaner, construction paper feathers, red balloon

Stuff the top of the bag and then tie the pipe cleaner around the middle of the bag to make the neck.Glue the eyes and beak to the top of the bag to make the face. Then, glue a red balloon next to the beak.

I Chronicles 16:8 "Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what he has done."

I Chronicles 16:34-35 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, "Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us form the nations, that we may give thanks to you holy name, and glory in your praise."

Flawless

So, I bought a new shirt the other day. It is a graphic tank that says Not Photo shopped. I bought it simply because I teach Photoshop and thought it would be cute. Several times I have reached for it just to pull my hand back and choose something else. I hesitate to wear the shirt for fear that people will think I'm saying that I am flawless. That I don't need to be Photo shopped.  This world is so cruel. The fashion industry and media tell women that we need to be perfect. They say we need to be healthy, by eating right and exercising,  which to them means as skinny as you can possibly get without being dead. Our hair should be perfect, but look like we did nothing to fix it, like we just rolled out of bed and had gorgeous shiny hair. Our skin should be sun kissed, yet don't get out in the sun, it causes cancer. The world wants us to achieve the impossible. The world tells us to be perfect on our own.

But, I am far from perfect. I have flaws on my skin. My hair does not fall in the perfect way every day. I am not skin and bones. I am flawed. Not only in my appearance, but also in my faith.What I am is sin soaked and marred by the world.  I struggle daily with temptations to follow the world. But, thankfully God has given me forgiveness. He sent His Son to cover my sins and to give me a chance at perfection. He's given me a new life, a way to have eternal life. Because my sins have been washed away, He doesn't see my imperfections, He sees my light. He doesn't see my flaws. He sees Christ.

I will never achieve worldly perfection. But because of Christ's love for me, I am made perfect through Him. So, as my shirt says, I am not Photo shopped. I am God breathed. Cross covered. Holy Spirit filled.

Thankful November-Days 1-3

Our first three days of Thankful November are off to a great start! I love to take a little time each day from our hectic schedules and read Scripture with my children. I want them to know how important God is in our lives and that we should always make time for Him.

Day 1: Thankful pumpkin--I bought a small pumpkin and a black sharpie marker. Each day of November I am going to have the kids write something for which they are thankful. Last year we did a leaf garland which was very cute! Each day they wrote something they were thankful for on a leaf and attached it to a ribbon that was hung across the window.

Psalm 136:26 "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever."

Psalm 7:17 "I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High."

Day 2: Care packages to the Battered Women's Shelter. In our Sunday night class, the girls made earrings that we are going to donate to the BWS. 

Hebrews 12:28-29 "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

Day 3: Football Turkeys--I had originally planned to have the kids make pilgrims and indians out of paper plates, but when this craft came across Pinterest, I HAD to add it!

Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, adn he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him."

Hannah's is perfect and cute like the picture on Pinterest and Ty's, of course, had to be Saints!

Christmas Fun!

After Thanksgiving, my house is taken over by Christmas! We LOVE Christmas! We have several things that we do daily and other traditions that we do also.  It is not a burden to me to get all of these things done because I enjoy them. To me, the important part of being a mom is enjoying your kids and raising them to be Christ-like. I make sure that Christmas is centered around Christ in our home. We read daily Scripture, do service projects, and incorporate our faith into the Elf on the Shelf. However, we also enjoy Santa Claus and his presents!

My list of musts for the Christmas season include:
1. Christmas Advent Lessons--Scripture and crafts/service projects
2. Bernard, our Elf on the Shelf
3. Take a small gift from the countdown bags
4. Read a Christmas book
5. Look at Christmas lights Polar Express Style
6. Drive through the Living Nativity
7. Random Acts of Kindness

Our Christmas Advent Lessons include a daily scripture about the birth of Jesus and either a craft or service project. When I began this project several years ago, Hannah was really little and Ty was a baby. It started out as a scripture and color sheet. That has grown into a little more.  Each year I decide what Scriptures we will read each day and find a craft to do. This year I am having my kids do more service projects and less crafts! Before we begin, I make a list of ALL of the supplies I need for the crafts and projects and buy all of the supplies at one time. This way we have what we need to complete each day's activity.

Bernard has become quite the little project in my house!! He is up to all sorts of things! Each year I make a list of things for him to do, buy all the necessary supplies, and set myself a reminder before bedtime. If you want to do a good Elf on the Shelf, you MUST BE ORGANIZED!! Organization is key! The first year we had Bernard, I would forget or have trouble thinking of a great idea. So, he ended up going from the Christmas tree, to the stocking, to the kitchen and back! It's so much more fun to be creative and see how the kids react! I don't use Bernard as an incentive for my kids to behave. I expect my kids to behave for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. Bernard is simply a fun little surprise for them each morning. He encourages them to remember Jesus is the most important reason for Christmas. He leaves them crafts to do. He encourages them to do service for others. And, occasionally he is mischievous. Now, don't be misled, we have had Bernard mishaps! Once he fell off the mirror and landed face first on the floor. I told the kids to run hide their eyes and Bernard would be able to move! (Yes, I lie to my kids to preserve the magic of Christmas!)  Another time, Hannah found him in a bag in my closet. She screamed and said "It's Bernard!" I quickly lied again and told her that it was not Bernard, but an elf I had bought at the store in case Santa didn't send us one! You have to be very quick to pull of the whole Elf thing!

I don't necessarily set the elf activities by day, but I do have a list to choose from. Each year, the day after Thanksgiving, I have a North Pole Breakfast prepared for the kids. I do the breakfast in honor of Bernard coming back to our house. I don't pretend that Bernard is able to throw a breakfast party! Last year I had him leave the supplies to make a Christmas Countdown Chain the next day and I am going to make that a tradition! Other than that, I just choose what works for that night!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Happy first day of fall!! I LOVE fall and all of the fun it holds. Football, pumpkin patches, hiking, and bonfires are just a few of my favorite fall things. I always hate to see summer go, but I am thankful that it is followed by the most beautiful season of all. Each year I have my classes make a fall bucket list. Below is a picture of mine! 

Decorating my house is one of my most favorite things to do, though! I love for my house to reflect the current holiday or season. Pumpkins, mums, witches, and ghosts! Fall and Halloween decorations are so much fun! Orange and black, brown and lime green. Fall colors are my favorite!

Before any decorating can take place, we have to take a trip to the pumpkin patch!!

The kids helped me get the pumpkins out of the car. When they asked where to put them I said "Oh just line them up under that window." They surely took that instruction to heart! I wish they minded that perfectly always!!

I made this Trick or Treat burlap door hanger last year! 

I just add fall decorations to the existing decor in my house. On the mantle I added pumpkins, strands of orange berries, and a little ghost!

 My table is decorated for fall in general, not specifically Halloween. That way I can continue to use this tablescape through Thanksgiving. All of my jars are filled with rice from Brett's farm!

We have several fall activities that we enjoy as a family. Pumpkin carving is one of my favorites! My brothers and I bring our families to my parents house and we carve pumpkins together. This is a tradition my parents started when I was a baby! We love to get together, eat Dad's chili, and carve pumpkins with Sheetrock knives (they are by far the best pumpkin carving knife around!) We also enjoy attending Trunk-R-Treat at our church. Other fall favorites include a hiking trip to Petit Jean, visiting the Ozark Folk Center in Mt. View, going to the pumpkin patch, and listening to a Hogs game on the party barge at the lake!

This may seem a little hokey, but we also enjoy singing several little Halloween songs we've learned through the years! We usually sing them in the car! Five little pumpkins is our favorite song. That's why I bought this tea towel!

Fall decorating is not complete without Razorback football!!

Outside decorating is really my favorite of all! I love pumpkins and mums! They make a porch look so comfy and cozy! My kids will get sick of taking pictures next to these props!