December

This month has flown by! Actually 2012 has gone by fast. We made the decision to say no to many things and were blessed with a meaningful low key month. My favorite activity this month was the daily activities.

 

 

It caused us all to slow and down and be intentional about doing something together. 

 Before I knew it the big day was here!
 

A bow and arrow was a big hit!

Megan also received a Nintendo.  She is so happy to be just like her cousins.  She has a dog game and enjoys caring for her puppies.  The verdict is still out if this was a good gift or not. :)  I see time limits and a reward system for use coming very soon! 

The day after Christmas we were under a blizzard warning.  It was nice to have a day to just be home together.   We ended up with 12 inches. 

Since then we have had more snow and it has made for a wonderful play land. 

There have been many slow days this past week.  Playing new games, reading, movies and sleepovers. 

 

As always our families were more then generous.  I received some really nice things. 

 

As I type this I am watching the snow fall.  This time of year makes me want to spend time warm and cozy at home.  As the new year approaches I am ready to clean, organize, create and fluff my nest! 

 

May your day filled with joy and contentment!

Snow Day!

The Friday before Christmas ended up being a snow day for Megan.  Not really because of the snow, but due to the wind.  It was a half day and a Happy Birthday Jesus! party and a gift exchange had been planned.  Megan was really disappointed.  I decided that I would make our time at home special. 

 

 We started the day out with snowman pancakes and I served them on snowman plates that Grammi had given us.  

 

 

 

We weren't able to go outside due to the wind so I went out and brought the snow in.  This is always a hit!

 



 

 

Some time was spent reading snow themed books and watching Frosty.

 

 

The family I babysit for brought gifts Friday morning.  One the things Megan received was a package of foam snowflakes.  Perfect!  We painted on glue and glittered them.

 

 

The afternoon ended with a little bit of gluing and painting.

 

 

It was a fun day.  Today we are enjoying a true snow day as we are under a blizzard warning.  We plan to stay cozy and warm at home.  We have leftovers to enjoy and Christmas toys to play with. 

 

May your day filled with joy and contentment!

Merry Christmas!

May you sing the praises of Jesus not only at Christmas, but every day.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Christmas Countdown Activities: Week One

We finished our first week of countdown activities and it was a huge success!

Saturday, December 1st a countdown chain was made. 

It is hard to see in the picture, but part of Luke 2 was printed and glued to the star.

Sunday,  December 2nd a trip was made to Hallmark to purchase our annual ornament.

Monday, December 3rd a pom pom wreath was made.

Tuesday, December 4th we made thank you cards.

Wednesday, December 5th a simple nativity craft.

Thursday, December 6th a letter was written to Santa and it was to be mailed the next day.

Friday, December 7th a visit with Santa.

This has been so much fun!  Megan is excited so see the daily activity and it has caused me to be intentional about stopping to do something out of the ordinary each evening. 

May your day be filled with joy and contentment! 

Pinned It, Made It: JOY Blocks

I have Christmas on my mind. Like many of you I need to spend as little as possible. While browsing Pinterest I can across these.

 

Adorable!  I need teacher gifts and something personal for Megan's great aunt.  I thought these would be something Megan and I could do together.  We used pickets left from where we cut the curve on our fence.   Once I sanded them well Megan was ready to paint.

 



For the polka dots we used the eraser on a new pencil.

I printed letters using Word and then cut them out to create a stensil.  It didn't work as well as I would have liked.  I will have to come up with a plan B for lettering if we do this again.  Megan used a Sharpie to write "to the world." 

Considering Megan is six I think these turned out great.  I am happy.  I have a personal gift to give and we made it using what we had on hand.  Win, win!

Please stop by and visit Tammy for inspiring ideas!

May your day be filled with joy and contentment! 

Around Here

Things have been crazy around here. Between me still not feeling 100% and the boys I watch having a bout of the stomach flu... whew... let's just say I am happy to be starting a new week!

Thanksgiving was nice. This year we ended up having two dinner that weekend.  The first one was at my mother-in-law's. 
 

Then for the first time we had a holiday meal with Chuck's step-mom's family.  I was in charge of activities for the kids. 

This crew doesn't get together often and it was nice to see the cousins together. 

Of course there has been a little decorating. 

I am slow this year and still don't have everything together.  I hope to have that taken care of this week. 

As always I have been busy with the boys.  They were gone a couple of afternoons last week due to illness and I almost didn't know what to do without them.  Almost!

Megan took her first trip to the circus this weekend. 

She had so much fun!  She is still bring up different things and laughing about it. 

In a nutshell that is what has been going on around here.  May your day be filled with joy and contentment!