Saturday, December 24, 2011

i choose peace.

no christmas cards this year.
avoided the frustration of attempting to make my kids all smile happily
at the same time for the camera.
eliminating stress where i can.
choosing to focus on christ.

oh come let us adore him.

no santa this year.
kyle and i told santa we've got it covered and want to focus on jesus' birthday.
multiple times a day, people ask my kids if they are excited about santa.
we kindly reply that we are having a birthday party for jesus instead.
most look confused. that's okay. well, not really.
i'll always remember embry's response to the first question.
a lady asked him what santa was bringing him for christmas
and he proudly said, "santa's not coming to our house because his presents
(my ears heard presence) will be a distraction to us." 
eliminating the competition.

for he alone is worthy.

our gifts are different this year.
i could not do one more year of running around to find things...
just to buy them... just to check them off my list... just because that's what you do.
it completely distracts me from where i want to be. there is so much more to this.
even though others may not get it, it's where we are. where we are supposed to be.

we give you all the glory.
christ the lord.

praying that this will be the most meaningful christmas yet.
that we can take the time from the busyness swirling around us 
and truly adore the gift that has been given to us.

merry christmas!

'tis the season...

for some advent activities!


What a fun December it has been!

  1 - Explore Christmas lights at Rhema.
  2 - Shop for Blackwell family and Broken Arrow Neighbors.
  3 - Christmas parade and Bethlehem Walk.
  4 - Make popsicle snowflakes and watch Frosty the Snowman.
  5 - Ellie's Christmas dance. Family game night and s'mores.
  6 - Shop for OK Foster Wishes.
  7 - Take cookies to Life Church staff.
  8 - Hot cocoa and Christmas books.
  9 - Make cinnamon ornaments.
10 - Christmas Train.
11 - Christmas cookies.
12 - Watch It's a Wonderful Life.
13 - Button wreaths and felt wreaths.
14 - Dinner under the tree.
15 - Date night with Minnie. (which means date night for Kyle & I. :))
16 - Lights with Papaw & Minnie.
17 - Christmas with Nana's family.
18 - Girls go to Nutcracker. Boys go to the movies.
19 - Read J is for Jesus and do a candy cane craft for GG's apartment building.
20 - Family game night and hot cocoa.
21 - Make candy cane popcorn for friends and neighbors.
22 - Deliver popcorn to friends and crafts to GG's apartment building. Watch Home Alone.
23 - Gingerbread nativities. Life Church Christmas service.
24 - Make Christmas presents for Jesus and bake him a birthday cake. Sleep under the tree tonight.
25 - Birthday party for Jesus!


Friday, December 2, 2011

my lunch date

 We had a lunch date today. Her choice... so of course we went to Panera.
I took this picture because it reminded me of one I took about this time last year...
She's such a little lady. She longs for high heels. She keeps busy "coordinating" her outfits. She wants to fix her own hair.
She enjoys mothering her brothers. She gets frustrated with me when I won't let her wear make up.
She's 5! Where does this come from? She's growing up too fast and I don't need her to speed it up any faster!

According to her homework today, I think that her need to mother her brothers has expanded into some wishful thinking.
Maybe she needs a new doll for Christmas. :)

 
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