Christmas Recap Part 2

We woke up and spent the first part of Christmas morning opening presents at our house. We have a little tradition where we get each of the kiddos three presents. We had a great time opening them up and getting everything put together.

We started with stockings. All of the kiddos got new Spin Brushes.

I honestly think this was one of Sophie's favorite gifts. She had been asking for one for months and reciting the commercials to her dad!

Nick and I fill each other's stockings. This year the criteria was to spend around $30 and we had to buy at least three things. One of the gifts Nick bought me a new notebook to take notes in at church... he knows that office supplies are the way to my heart.

The kiddos got Star Wars Angry Bird stuffed animals in their stockings too.

All of the kiddos got new dress-up outfits as one of their gifts. Dress-up is one of the number one played games in our house. These have all been very popular.

Max's "big" gift was a Ninja Turtle van. He loves Ninja Turtles right now. It is pretty cute.

Jack's "big" gift was this car rug. It has been by far the winner for most loved gift. He is obsessed with it. Everytime we turn around Jack is grabbing one of us by the hand and pulling us up to his room with the announcement that it is "rug time".

Afterwards we headed to my parent's house. More pics of that to come!

New Years Eve

Happy New Years Eve! I am sitting here drinking a cup of hot coffee and watching big puffy snowflakes fall to the ground. I can't help but reflect on the goodness of God this past year. He has been so faithful to me and to our little family. Not that everything has been perfect, but that he has been with us through all of it. Some major highlights of this year include...

Expecting our 4th child. I have always wanted to have a big family. But, over the past few years God has changed my heart from wanting a big family to wanting to raise up children who will grow up to love the Lord fiercely. The fact that God would choose two very imperfect people like Nick and I to raise such amazing children is beyond me. But, I am so thankful and am very excited to meet this newest little R in 2013.

Leading us to Peine Ridge Church. If we only would have known last January when we walked through the doors of PRC how God would use this church to change our hearts and lives I wouldn't have been able to believe it. Watching the change in our family through what we have learned this year has been an increadible blessing and the friendships we have made have blessed me so much this year. There are big changes on the horizon for PRC in 2013 and I feel blessed to be a part of what God is doing in our community.

Nick and I celebrated 7 years of marriage this year. I am so in love with my husband. God has been so faithful to us every year of our marriage but to stand back and see how far God has brought us is an amazing gift. I am so thankful how God has grown Nick and I not only as individuals but as a couple.

I could go on and on. But, right now I am just sitting here and soaking up the knowledge that God is good. I don't know what 2013 will hold. I can't begin to imagine what trials we might face and what joys we might encounter. But, I know without a doubt that God will be there with us through all of it, working all things out for his glory!

I pray that all of us will experience the closeness and faithfulness of God this new year! Happy 2013!

Christmas Recap Part 1

Wow, can you believe Christmas is over and tomorrow is New Year's Eve? I am in disbelief. I have been a bad blogger during this holiday. The hubs has been off work since the Friday before Christmas and we have been soaking up all the family time. I think it might be the longest span of time off he has ever had! 

I also have not been the best picture taker during this Christmas. The Saturday before Christmas we celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family at our house and then that Sunday we celebrated with Nick's sister and her family. At both events I don't think I snapped a single photo. I guess I was having too much fun to be bothered!

But, I did get some photos of Christmas Eve and Christmas day thankfully. So, I thought I would post a few pics in a couple of installments!

Here are the kiddos before church on Sunday morning before Christmas. I was glad they had so many opportunities to wear their cute Christmas outfits! I also think this might be one of the first times in almost 2 1/2 years that I have ever gotten a picture of all three kiddos smiling at the same time!

On Christmas Eve we went with my parents, sister and brother-in-law, and Grandma to a Japanese hibachi restaurant for dinner (SO much fun! and delicious!) Then we went back to my parents for Christmas p.j.s and a Wii bowling tournament... which I might have placed last in... I am such a sucker for kiddos in matching Christmas p.j.s. I hope to do this as long as they will let me...

We stayed late at my parents and made it home in time to put everyone to bed and get the tree ready for Christmas morning.

More pics to come!

A few last minute gift ideas

I thought I would pop in today on this lovely Thursday morning (said only with a touch of sarcasm because it is kind of a dreary cold day in these parts) and share with you a few last minute DIY gifts I made. I think homemade gifts are so much fun but it is never really something I have gotten into. This year I decided I wanted to make something for Nick's coworkers on his team and then I also needed a few little gifts for filler. So, I browsed around online and was inspired to create these two gifts this year.

Reindeer root beer:

How cute are these! I am so excited to give these to my cousins (I am guessing they don't read my blog in all of their teenager coolness). I would say these were certainly made with lots of love as I am pretty sure my fingerprints are gone after constantly burning them with hot glue!). (Oh, and see my pretty new tile backsplash in the background?)

For Nick's co-workers (and a few other people) I decided to make cute little jars and fill with homemade nuts.... I had good intentions. I started with plain mason jars and cheapo plastic animals from Wal-Mart:

Then I added a little gold spray paint, some string and these cute printables from here (I used Picasa to print them off in wallet size and printed them off on cardstock).

Here is a little bit better pic (although the color looks a little more copper in this one)

So, do you have some last minute gifts to make? Do you still have shopping to do? Enjoy your Christmas preparations, it will be over before we know it!

The Nutcracker Ballet

On Friday morning I got to take my two big kiddos to see The Nutcracker Ballet with our homeschool group (Jack got to spend the morning with his Papa which he was very excited about!). I realized that this was my kiddos first opportunity to go to a live theater production and I made a point to share with them proper theater etiquette and remind them that going to the theater is a very special privilege. I was also very pleased we had an opportunity for them to get a little more wear out of the adorable Christmas outfits that my mom got them for Christmas! I didn't take my camera with me but we got some cute shots in front of the tree before we left.

Little bro did not want to be left out of the sibling photo shoot.

Nothing makes me quite happier than seeing our three kiddos together. I can't wait until we add their little brother to the group photos!

The kids and I had a wonderful time and I was beyond proud of them! In the past the performance used to be cut short for the kiddos but this year was a full two hour ballet. They sat still through the entire thing and told me that they loved it! Max said he loved the rat king and Sophie loved all of the ballerinas. I am so thankful to have gotten to have such a neat Christmas experience with my kiddos!

Christmas Home Tour 2012

I wanted to join in today with Kelly's Korner Blog 2012 Christmas Tour of Homes and The Nesting Place 2012 Tour of Homes! I really love decorating for Christmas. Every year I say I am going to keep it simple and then I find myself adding a few more things everyday... Yesterday I even undecorated my whole tree and decided to start again... Which also included a text to my mom (who is the master tree decorator) to come and HELP! Thankfully, my mother is fabulous and came right to my rescue (really I should be doing a tour of her house, it is way more impressive)! So, without further ado... here are some highlights of our home decorated for Christmas this year...

The entryway

The tree (sorry, pic is a little fuzzy!... I haven't mastered the art of the Christmas tree pic yet)

The mantle

And a few other touches here and there

The Christmas card display above was a little Martha Stewart inspired DIY. A piece of ribbon, a big embroidery hoop, some clothespins, a little wood glue and voila!

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrating Christmas

I love Christmas time. It is really right up my alley. Decorating, parties, cute matching outfits, trying new recipes and making old favorites, lots of family time, twinkly lights everywhere... all things I love big time. It is such a special time of year and I love sharing it with my family and friends.

But, Christmas is also kind of hard. Especially the past few years, I haven't been able to enjoy it fully. Because for me Christmas has always been about blessing the blessed. Giving stacks of presents to my children who have everything already (we have gone down to 3 gifts each... but still), making big elaborate meals for people who aren't that hungry. Spending hours decorating a home that looked nice in the first place....

And I know that there is nothing wrong with doing any of those things in and of themselves...

But, I tell my kids that our lives are all about loving others. When they act selfishly I try to remind them that we are here on this earth to serve other people above all else. But, I know that the message I send them with my own life is so different.

I guess it is just, I don't know how to do it differently. This is how I have always done Christmas. The past few years I have added dropping a check in the mail for our 2 Compassion kiddos for Christmas and maybe buying a chicken for someone in Africa. I throw a little money at a few good causes to try to ease my conscious and maybe try to convince myself that I am a really good person. But, I turn right back around and get back to baking cookies for people that already have counters full of them and wrapping gifts that will be thrown into piles of dozens of others.

And I write this with no real answers. Just that, I get why my kids don't understand why Christmas isn't about presents and cookies and well... them having fun. It is the only message that they have ever seen lived out. And I want to continue to bless my children at Christmas and enjoy the holiday together. But, I can't keep doing it the exact way I have been. I have to figure out a way to make it more about Jesus and less about excess.

I loved this post by Ann Voskamp I read a couple of days ago. I would love to hear your ideas on how you give to Jesus at Christmas. What does it look like for your family?

our {elf} is back!

The kiddos were so excited this morning when they realized that Pickle, our Elf on the Shelf, had returned! We don't do much with Santa in our house but we do love our elf! (Yeah, doesn't make sense... it has just kind of worked out that way!) This year I was inspired after I saw this pin on Pinterest and I decided to have Pickle help us focus on Jesus this year. Instead of watching to make sure the kids are naughty and nice, Pickle is here to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas and will be leaving a note complimenting the kiddos on Christlike behavior.

Last year we found the idea of doing an activity as a family every evening as we count down to Christmas day. We enjoyed it and decided this year to let Pickle be in on the fun. In his nightly note he will give us a little "challenge" for the day. Tonight it is to read the nativity story in the Bible. Some other challenges will be making cookies for a neighbor, making a card for the mail carrier/trash pick-up man etc., driving around to see Christmas lights, etc.

Here are a few pics from Pickle's reappearance this morning. He was sitting on one of the chairs in my stairway.

Welcome back, Pickle!

 

Thanksgiving Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was fabulous. My mom made an amazing meal which looked beautiful and tasted even better. I might still be dreaming about the sweet potatoes... (pause to wipe drool). I am kicking myself for not getting a photo of the beautiful table too! It was almost too pretty to eat off of... yeah... almost! 

Before dinner we attempted to get a family pic for the Christmas card. We did end up with one that is passable (barely) but I thought you all might enjoy a few of the outtakes. 

Yep. We probably should have looked into professional pics. But, it seemed silly to spend the money with our family a few months away from adding a new member. So, those of you that get our Christmas card can enjoy the photo and know that it really was the best one we got that day! 

After our photoshoot kind of bombed and after we stuffed ourselves with incredible food, Jack and Sophie helped Grandma make cookies! They had a blast. And Max enjoyed watching.

I for one am thankful for a wonderful Thanksgving with our wonderful family. We are feeling extremely blessed this year.

Today was spent cozied up at home putting up some Christmas decorations, listening to Christmas music, and enjoying time with my very favorite people. Eager to post pics of my decorated house soon! 

Halloween 2012

We had so much fun this year on Halloween. My good friend Crystal and her kiddos Mason and Elizabeth came over for dinner and trick-or-treating with us (Crystal's husband Paul had to be out of town... boo...). We had such a fun night! We had 2 Spidermans, Batman, a strawberry, and a dinosaur ballerina. Here are some pics of our sweet kiddos before trick-or-treating!

And the after shot! They got a lot of candy! By the end (most of) the kiddos were ready to head home, drink some hot chocolate, and sort through their loot!

Christmas Eve

To celebrate Christmas Eve this year we mixed things up just a bit. My parents went to church with us at 3pm for our church's Christmas Eve service. After church we all went to a hibachi resteraunt for dinner and my sister and brother-in-law met up with us. Then we all met up back at our house for the kiddos to open their Christmas Eve present and to make cookies for Santa!