Celebrating Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Our family did not grow up celebrating Advent so the addition of celebrating it has been new to our family tradition.   This will be our 3rd year as a family to observe Advent.  The word Advent means the coming or arrival of something important. 

I've fretted in the last couple of years over finding "the perfect" way to celebrate.  I've learned the important thing is to pause each day to read the Word and reflect.  The guides do not have to be followed to a T.  We miss days.  Some of the resources I've purchased did not work for our family {aka the ones that suggested we do a family craft together each day}.  Even done "imperfectly", it has still been an addition to the Christmas season that has helped take our focus off of the glitter and gifts and pointed us toward the coming of Christ.

This year we are using several different resources.  We will follow along with the Advent guide provided by our church.  We will also decorate a Jesse Tree using ornaments provided from Ann Voskamp's book, The Greatest Gift.  When you purchase her book, she gives you access to free ornaments to use in decorating your Jesse Tree.   The book also includes short, daily readings.  In the picture below, I moved Day 24's ornament to the front so you could see what it looks like.

I loved the idea of having the ornaments strung by ribbon in the kitchen.  Each day we will add a new ornament to our Jesse Tree and read the corresponding stories and scriptures.

 

Here is a picture of our Advent area.  I chose to place it in the living room since that is where we will gather for our readings each evening. 

 

We have placed four candles around an evergreen wreath.  The evergreen wreath symbolizes God being eternal.  He is without beginning or end.  Technically there are supposed to be 3 violet and 1 pink taper.  But I'm not too wound up over it being "perfect" and The Dollar Tree only sells red and white.  The center of the wreath is supposed to house a white candle-which will be lit on Christmas Day to represent the purity of Christ.  The middle of our wreath houses our Jesse Tree. 

 

To make our tree, I pulled bare branches from the yard and stuck them in a vase.  Each evening, we will light a candle, read the scriptures and stories, and add an ornament to the tree.  I am really anticipating watching this tree fill up with meaning and richness.

 

We will also be reading through Jotham's Journey as a family.  Each night we will plan around 30 minutes to read and celebrate Advent together.  On evenings where we will be out, our goal will be to complete the readings before we leave for our evening event.

Here is a list of supplies I used to create our Advent area, with the exception of the wreath which came from Hobby Lobby, I purchased my materials from The Dollar Tree.  You could also use fresh evergreen to create your wreath!

• 3 violet tapers
• 1 pink taper
• 1 white pillar candle
• vase
• branches from the yard
• The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp (she gives you a code to print her ornaments for free)
• Jotham's Journey

There is no right or wrong way to celebrate Advent.  The web is full of ideas on creative ways to countdown and build anticipation of the coming of Jesus.  My biggest piece of advice is to not get bogged down with perfection.  It has taken me three years to hang something cute from the kitchen window-ha-and my candles have never been "the right" color. 

There is something so beautiful about seeing the light get brighter and brighter each week as Christmas Day approaches.  I forgot to mention how to light the candles.  This week you light one, the 2nd week you light 2, the 3rd week you light 3 and the 4th week you light 4.  On Christmas Day all 5 candles are lit.  It keeps getting brighter and brighter as the day draws near.  Try it!

(I actually have a small Advent book we're not using this year...if you want it I'd be happy to give it to you.  It is probably more geared toward a family with children.)

Date Night Crashers

It is Friday night. We have been planning a date night all week.  This means putting the kids to bed at 7:00pm and enjoying crunchy peanut butter and Oreo shakes from our favorite local joint.

First kink in the plan.  The Grinch and Shrek the Halls.  We promised the kids we'd watch it Friday night.  Bad parental planning.  It is OK though, we're only an hour behind schedule.

At home dates are the best.  They don't require any fuss.  No dressing up.  Just being in the comfort of your own home.  Things were going well.  Kids were in bed, we were enjoying our shakes, when date night crasher #1 rounded the corner, plaid pillow in hand.  We let him stay.  Moments later, date night crasher #2 emerged, Cars pillow in hand.

It turned into a double date.  Us and the big boys.  It was a fun little night.  They felt like really big boys getting to eat a fun snack with Mom & Dad and getting to stay up a little later.  We told them when they got married and started having little date night crashers of their own that they needed to make sure they still did special things together with their wives.

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

We had a sweet, laid back day that we kicked off with the Macy's parade. Nana made the most incredible lunch (as always!) followed by the Cowboy's game and napping.  It really doesn't get much better than days like today.  Tonight when we heated up leftovers, this little turkey grabbed the leg that was as big as he is!

We used to be Black Friday shoppers until Dave Ramsey entered our lives (Boo!, haha).  Now we just chill out at home in our pj's.  I'll admit, it is nice sitting by my tree in my pj's eating Cuties while the football game is on.

This year we are tossing around the three gift idea.  Something you want, something you need, something to read.  I'm not sure I can pull it off.  I LOVE buying fun gifts for the boys at Christmas.  I love Christmas shopping in general.  It is so stinkin' fun going on the hunt for sweet gifts.  And don't even get me started on my love for stocking stuffers :).

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Weekly Focus

Last week we had a weekly focus and it helped me so much.  All week long we focused on making our beds each day as well as putting our clothes away when we were done.

I only had to wash one load of clothes last week.  Can you believe that?

Our weekly focus for this week is putting others first.  As you might imagine, that was birthed from a fight over Lego's on Sunday.  Someone had the audacity to start WWWIII because he took the desired arms for the Storm Trooper that happened to be in high demand that day.

It is living room week over at Flylady.  I'm not really focusing on only the living room this week.  I'm using that as a springboard for something fun.  As I shared earlier this week, I am using this week to think through each room in our house.

 

What is the purpose of this room? That is a question you should be able to answer for each room in your home.  Is this space functioning in the most strategic way?  Is there another creative way we could make the space work better for our family?

 

I have seen my friends do some genius things in their homes.  Several years ago, my friend and her family had three children, and were living in a home that was maybe around 1100 square feet.  She did something daring and out of the box with her space. 

 

They turned the master bedroom into the kids room.  Since they had 3 children sleeping in 2 sets of bunk beds in one room and another on the way, they just swapped the master bedroom and kids room.  It made everything about taking care of the little one's easier.  The bathroom was right there so getting ready for bath and bed was more convenient.  The bigger closet housed all the kids clothes, plus homeschooling materials.  Then the parents room and nursery were on the other end of the house.  It was one of the smartest, most creative things I've ever seen done.

 

It is just amazing how you can creatively think through a space.  I actually pray over how to use our rooms.  I'm embarrassed to say that for a nano-second I actually thought maybe we should buy a bigger house just because I found out I was having another baby.  Temporary moment of insanity I guess.  We have a 1900 square foot home with plenty of room. As I look around my home, there is no way I'd want to move.  We've spent four years cultivating it to our tastes.

 

Everything is painted, carpeted and tiled how we like it.  We've spent hours in the yard re-planting and sodding.  And now I am re-thinking spaces again.  My two biggest challenges right now are where to put school materials and a crib.  I just love a good decorating challenge.

 

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As I daydream about decorating, this hutch is the thing I can't quit thinking about.  Don't you know it used to be a glossy oak with glass doors.  Somebody probably found it for a steal, painted it this glorious light blue and lined the back with paper.  So a hutch like this to turn into a book shelf is on my radar.  So are ugly lamps.  Our poor lamps.  They are all wompy jawed.  I'm on the hunt for big ugly ones to spray paint and make wonderful.

 



The other high profile thing on my decorating wish list is a gaudy frame that I can turn into a chalkboard for the kitchen.  We sit at the table for school and I need something to write on that is, ya know, cute as can be.  I can't be havin' no Plain Jane dry erase board up in the kitchen.  We all know that.  But something like this mirror, hung the other way (horizontally), painted in, eh, I don't know, aqua, this would hit the nail on the head.

So there ya' have it.  This week we're trying to put others first and I'm off in la-la land daydreaming.

Nursery

OK. So having a baby is one thing. But having a baby with Pinterest in my life is an entirely different entity.  My mindset on adding this little bundle of joy to our lives has been pretty laid back.  We literally sold the last bit of baby things 2 weeks before I got pregnant.  I've joked with friends that we will get this little love a pack-n-play, diapers, onesies and we will be good to go.

We keep things super trimmed down around these parts.  It is the reason we can wait to find out what we're having.  But oh my heavens.  Something came over me Friday.  Oh, I know what it was.  I got to have lunch with a friend and then go to Hobby Lobby and help her pick out Christmas décor.  It is so much fun shopping with and for someone else.  That totally got me in the decorating mood.

So since Friday, I have been in decorating mode in my head.  I mean, after all, this little love is going to need a room.  Today I am sharing some of my favorite finds so far from the wonderful land we call Pinterest.

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I love the cozy feel of the nursery above.  The right lamp can make or break the ambiance of a room, and this room has got it going on.  The khaki walls and aqua accents would be perfect for a boy or girl.  You can score white sheer curtains for $5 a panel at Fred's.  Jute string hung on the wall for monogrammed letters-easy way to fill up wall space.

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I cannot explain how much I love this lamp.  I love it with a thousand loves.  I've never met a lamp I liked better than this one.  I would sell my right arm to have it in my nursery.  It is the sweetest thing I've ever seen.  And, I couldn't find it on the website.  I hate my life.  Just kiddin!  But Oh that lamp.  Is it just me or do you love it with a thousand loves as well?

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This last picture.  I believe my exact words were, "Please excuse me while I have a heart attack."  10 years ago when I was creating a nursery that would go for a boy or girl it was all yellow and green in our world.  Today I would totally make a blue room be girly too.  The cream and burlap accents are precious.  The bird topped chandelier is the perfect addition.

My biggest question to think through is which room to make the nursery.  We have two options.  The man cave (which is a for real bedroom with a closet) or the prayer room (which is an office with no closet but has lots of charm...bay window and French doors). 

The man cave has a sectional couch in it.  The boys love the idea of putting the sectional in their bedroom.  How cool would that be to have a couch in your bedroom.  The boys are going to make a coffee table with their dad that will have a removable top to house the Lego's.  The top of the table will be a Lego work space.

I'm also toying with the idea of getting a sewing machine for Christmas.  I have some hunter green yard sale chairs that need slip covers.  I've wanted to learn how to slip cover furniture for a long time now.

Decorating is so much fun.  Tonight the plan is to grab a spiral notebook from the schoolroom and start putting my ideas on paper.  Between thinking about decorating and planning for Christmas gifts, I've been busy.  The super fun kind of busy.  This post pretty much seals the deal.  7pm bedtimes for the boys and a pot of decaf coffee for the grown-ups.  I've got some planning to do!

Joys of Homeschooling

We began our homeschool journey with a DVD curriculum.  It was nice because the teachers were on the DVD.  All I had to do was make sure they had the appropriate worksheet.  When God began calling us to move away from that curriculum, I moved slowly, and with a lot of uncertainty.

Our days had a good flow and I knew for certain I could get my housework done while they did school.  With me being the primary teacher, I could not imagine how I'd ever manage to get it all done.  I am not a multi-tasker.  That being said, I've discovered that some things can be done at the same time, even for a person like myself.

Things such as listening to a child read while I prepare lunch or fold laundry.  Things like giving a spelling test while I clean the kitchen.  I am also learning that spelling and math are not the only things in our days that hold value.  Every day has a completely different flow.  Take yesterday, for example.  It was a slow day for me personally.  It was mid-afternoon before I was able to get my act together.  So how was the morning time spent?  The kids played and used their imaginations.  It is a joyful thing for me as a mom to hear them creating games and living in the land of make believe.  Last night we spent time serving at the church together as a family.  Again, I believe this holds as much stock as an English lesson.

Yesterday reminded me of all the joys of the lifestyle of homeschooling.  I absolutely love that I was able to clean up the kitchen while my red head took a test at the bar.  We were side by side, both doing what needed to be done.

Blessings like this greet me unexpectedly all the time.  It feels good to be doing what we've been called to do.  God definitely gives the grace we need when we follow Him to the unknown, uncertain places.  It is always safe to obey...and the greatest blessings always lie when we are right in the center of His will for our days.

 

(p.s. I actually wrote this post Thursday but forgot to post it.  We spent yesterday volunteering at church!  I also had to look up whether or not to capitalize the spelling of school subjects.  Turns out you do not capitalize school subject names $but\; you\; do\; capitalize\; languages\; such\; as\; French\; or\; English. \; Who\; knew?)$

The Other Focus

Besides working on our bedrooms this week we have some more areas of focus.

For one, KINDNESS is an attribute we have been talking about all week.  We've been talking a lot about how the tongue holds the power of life and death. 

And...I've been working on an experiment.  Getting dressed every morning.  I bet some of you are laughing right about now.  I loooove my pajamas.  This is my new pair I got for my birthday.  They are the softest, warmest, cutest things in the whole entire wide world.  But thanks to my stupid experiment, they are spending the daytime hours hanging in my closet.  Believe you me, after dinner but before Wheel of Fortune, I've been bee-lining it to the bathroom to take off my face and put 'em back on.

In the midst of all the renewed energy of the week, today I have been ZZzzzzzzz...so. sleepy.  Must lay down.  It is mid afternoon and I haven't accomplished a thing today.  Toys are scattered everywhere and exciting things like spelling tests await me.  My friend warned me having a baby in the older years is tiring and boy was she not kidding.

I just wanted to hop on and say hello while I drank my Dr. Pepper and ate my pretzels.  I'm off to administer spelling tests and a math lesson.