Dec 28, 2014
Family Christmas Party
Dec 27, 2014
Christmas
I love the magic of this holiday season and being filled with the Christmas spirit. After Thanksgiving, Christmas sneaks up so quickly. I can't believe it has come and gone already.
We got a fresh covering a snow outside, and spent the morning together inside will full hearts. It was perfect.
Dec 26, 2014
Christmas Eve
After attending the candle light service at church, my family met at my Mom's house. We had a great family potluck and opened our traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.
Back at home, we opened the last day of our event calendar to reveal cookie decorating for 'Santa' before heading off to bed.
Back at home, we opened the last day of our event calendar to reveal cookie decorating for 'Santa' before heading off to bed.
Dec 10, 2014
6th Grade - Holiday Band Concert

The expression on Jackson's face was so cute when he saw his big sister walk into the auditorium, she even brought one of her friends.
Homemade Christmas Advent Calendar

On December 1st, I surprised my family with a homemade advent calendar! I started with plain brown paper lunch sacks I picked up from the dollar store and some pretty red scrapbook paper I had on hand. I used a free printable I found online (here: advent printable) for the numbers and used double sided tape to put them all together.
Once all the bags were decorated, I added a treat\activity to each one.
Some examples of the treats:
Peppermint Bark
Mini Candy Canes
Chocolate Snowmen
York peppermint Patties
Mini Candybars
Gum
Chocolate Coins
Activities:
Hot Chocolate Bar
No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
Movie Night w/ a Bag of Popcorn
Rice Crispy Treats
Decorate Cookies for Santa (on Christmas Eve)
I folded down the tops of the bags, punched two holes in each one, and tied them closed with ribbon. They turned out darling, my kids are loving them and I had fun making them. I'd like to make another calendar next year, I think it should become a tradition in our home each year.
Nov 28, 2014
Thanksgiving
I love Thanksgiving. The turkey, cranberries, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy are delicious... and it might be the only meal in which I am just as excited (if not more) for the leftovers. Food aside, I love how it brings people together.
Thanksgiving was different for me this year. Rather than sharing the dinner table with my Mom's side of the family like we traditionally do, we enjoyed dinner with Mark, my stepdad's, family. Admittedly, I was a little nervous because a few of the people joining us for dinner where family members that I had never met.
My kids were spending Thanksgiving dinner with their Dad this year but I still wanted to find a way to celebrate with them. We started by leaving 'thankful notes' on each other's bedroom doors the night before. Each time I walked upstairs there were more and more notes. Some were very sweet and other's were silly, I loved them all!

I was delightfully surprised with dinner, it was wonderful. The company was great as well as the conversation. It was beautiful to hold hands around the table and say grace. It was fun to hear new stories from Mike about him and his brother, Mark when they were kids. Dinner was delicious and my Aunt and Uncle even joined us for dessert.
I know it's just one day of the year but as I get older and older I am trying keep the spirit of Thanksgiving with me year round. I'm not sure gets credit for this quote but it's one of my favorite:
"It is not happy people who are thankful;
It is thankful people who are happy"
Happy Thanksgiving!
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