Christmas Fun

I am finding it hard to believe that Christmas is in one week.  In between the mad dash of shopping and activities it flew by way to quick!  My boys have fully embraced vacation mode and I am pretty sure they are living in their flannel pajamas!  They have rediscovered the Perler Bead collection and they are making all sorts of cute things.  In fact, as I write this, we are listening to adventures in Odyssey and the boys are creating wonderful things.  It's incredibly peaceful!  Even though my list of things to do is long, I am enjoying these quiet days with my boys at home. 

So, since we are in full blown Christmas mode I thought I might share some of our favorite Christmas traditions and some things that we are really loving right now. In no way, do I want to stress you out y adding more to your plate, but maybe inspire you to slow down and enjoy or even save for next year. 

:: We've been listening to a 3 part Christmas Adventures in Odyssey for free here. We just love Adventures in Odyssey and love that we can listen and work on our projects. 

:: We went on our Christmas Scavenger Hunt last night and had so much fun!  We used this printable that I made a few years back!  All you need is the printable, something to write on, and a flashlight.  Then, just walk around your neighborhood or drive around a crazily decorated neighborhood and keep a look out for the things on our list!  Add hot cocoa and the night is pretty much perfect!  Click here for the link. 

 :: Advent is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season.  Each evening, after the kids are all snuggly and clean, we take a few minutes and read the Bible.  This year we are doing this set from Kids Read Truth, which we just love!  It looks like they are all sold out, but they have other card sets to do throughout the year and the kids love them!  You can find them here.

:: Blessing our Delivery Drivers is another favorite thing that doesn't take a lot of effort and the reaction from our mail carriers, UPS, and Amazon (of course!) drivers is priceless.  I even have a printable here for your printing needs.  Throw some snacks, waters, and maybe some candy and place it outside and watch your delivery drivers so happy they were loved on after a long day of heavy boxes and driving around town. 

I have a lot other fun things that are Christmas related on the blog.  Here are a few links.
:: Gift Tags
:: Cookie Exchange
::  Door Swag
:: Treat Tags
:: Christmas S'mores Tags

There are also so many baked things I couldn't pick just a few!  Don't forget to check out the tabs at the top of the blog for your baking needs!

Have a Merry Christmas! 





 

reflections on advent

The lateness of Thanksgiving has thrown me for a loop.  My kids had a week off for Thanksgiving, went back to school to finish the last two weeks of the semester, and starting tomorrow at 2:30pm, will be on vacation for 3 weeks.  In no way am I complaining.  The older these kids grow the more I want them home to drink hot cocoa, watch movies, and hang out.  However, the two weeks in between is a constant scurry of Hustle. 

I hate the word Hustle.  The last few years have been filled with marketing attempts to get us (and by us, I mean, us gals) to Hustle.  We need to somehow be Wonder Woman and do it all and then some.  It's a lot of pressure.  The last 10 days have been spent hustling.  I have shopped (both in stores and on Amazon), I have been regularly eating lunch after the kids get home from school, I haven't even finished decorating the house or sent out my Christmas cards.  The more I hustle, the more I feel like I am drowning.  Failing. 

I am pretty sure that's not the way this time leading up to Christmas is supposed to be. 

We need to stop moving so quickly through life trying to do it all that we miss out on the simple. 


Each evening, my husband, kids and I gather in our living room.  There is no TV, just Alexa playing some Christmas tunes softly in the background.  The Christmas lights twinkle on the tree and everyone settles in for our time to reflect on Advent.  The kids take turns reading scripture and we talk about it and we get excited for what. . . for who. . . is coming.  There may or may not be the occasional burp or fart (I live with boys. . . it happens), but there are conversations that move us closer to the day in which we celebrate the birth of our Savior. 

Douglas McKelvey wrote in Every Moment Holy, "As we decorate our tree, and as we feast and laugh and sing together, we are rehearsing our coming joy!  We are making ready to receive the one who has already, with open arms, received us! We would prepare you room here in our hearts and here in our home, Lord Christ."

I probably could be doing so many other things during this time, but there is something that happens to my heart as we gather.  I am filled with peace and joy.  I feel rest at the end of a long day sitting and listening to my boys race to find the passage first and then reading it.  The act of slowing down and reflecting on Jesus and why he came brings rest to my weary heart.  My attitude changes.  I end the day reminded that I don't need to do it all.  Those ideas that inspired me can sit on my Pinterest board until next year.  As my body and mind rest, I am filled with joy and anticipation. 

This year's She Reads Truth Advent book has beautiful quilled paper creations woven throughout it.  When describing why they chose paper quilling, they shared how it is a reflective craft that a allows for contemplation and rest.  I have stocked up on crafts for my kids and even have a few quite, slow down projects for myself, I love how we can use that time to be creative and find rest as we ponder they "why" of Advent. 

We need to exchange the Hustle, the urge to do it all, with the simple.  Jesus's birth wasn't even a glamorous event in a 5 star motel, but a simple barn because someone opened their home and gave them shelter.  He was not what most people were looking for, but he gave us the most precious gift of his life so that we could be free. Let's slow down and embrace the Advent season.  Let's fill our hearts with peace and hope.

This Christmas, I am slowing down and finding rest.  I am letting go of the hustle and trading it in for peace and joy that can only come from Christ.  Will you join me?

Travel Backpacks for tweens (and great stocking stuffer ideas!)

 I refused to decorate my house before Thanksgiving.  I just couldn't do it.  Now we're 5 days into December and I am scrambling to get the house decorated and do Christmas shopping and basically all the things before my kids get out NEXT Friday for 3 weeks.  I honestly can't wait til they are off because (hopefully) I will be done with everything so we can just savor the time together and do Christmas crafts (thanks Hobby Lobby and JoAnns!), drink hot cocoa, and watch all the Christmas movies. That's probably wishful thinking, but I am sure going to try.  It's not every day where we get so many days BEFORE Christmas and I am so excited!   I also managed to not blog the last few weeks because I took a little staycation to celebrate my 40th birthday (I'll talk about that next week) and then the kids were off for a week, and then we all got nasty head colds.  Minus the head cold part, it's been great!

When most blogs are posting about their current Christmas crafts, food and decor, here I am reminiscing about our big summer adventure.  Maybe it's my way of procrastinating.  Or maybe it's because I might (just maybe) be able to tie this little post to Christmas.  I think I can, so I am going to do it. 

 This past July, we went on what may have been our biggest adventure to date.  It was great adventure and hopefully I will get that blogged soon.  This year, we took on Washington D.C., Philly, and Baltimore.  But, before we could take on those cities, we had to spend a lot of time in airports and on a couple of airplanes.  It's a lot of time for anyone to sit, especially 8 and 10 year old boys!  Every year, I always buy some new activities for their backpacks that they get to see once they get to the airport.  It's kind of like Christmas morning! (see. . . . Christmas!).  Almost everything is brand new so they aren't already bored of them when we get on the plane.  A lot of these activities fit very nicely into most stockings, so I thought it would be great to save this post for now. 

Also, buying for pre-teens is hard.  (Any suggestions for a soccer loving 11 year old are gladly welcomed!), so I thought I would share these because they were all big hits! 

Let's start with Weston.  He's 8 1/2 and loves Minecraft.  You might notice a theme (this is one of those times I could insert a laughing or winking emoji right now. . . so just pretend).

I made each of the boys notebook holders with places for colored pencils (when we aren't traveling, they stay in the car and are perfect for short trips or appointments!).  Both boys also have a travel journal to keep track of our adventures (I'll be honest, we we did so much on this trip that sitting and sleeping was all we wanted to do when we got back to our hotel each day).

3D geometric magnet blocks, Minecraft Uno, Minecraft activity book, Melissa and Doug Detective book, Oragami kit, and a fun coloring book that connects to your phone by Crayola.

Not shown are Plus Plus blocks which are so much fun!  He built the Lunar Lander on this trip and then it turned into robots and other fun creations! 

He also had ear buds and his kindle which I downloaded a few books for him to read from our local library's kindle collection.  He also had Spiderman into the Spiderverse downloaded, too. 

Now for Ethan.  Honestly, he was a little bit harder.  (Weston has tangible things that he likes and some of the things Ethan loved at 8 so I just bought them again and crossed my fingers he'd like them. . . he did!) 

 Ethan had his notebook, a travel journal (a moleskin journal with washi tape and fun pens), coloring books, Plus Plus blocks, markers, games, Scratch Art, and probably the biggest hit was Kandoodle. He was determined to finish all the challenges. . . he hasn't yet, but I am sure after next year's trip he might! 

He also had his Kindle Fire with books downloaded and a movie (But, our planes had great movies to pick, so I am pretty sure he watched Captain America and Captain Marvel as much as he could! 

I tried avoiding buying tangible books because they are heavy, but we ended up with one each, because my boys would rather read a book with pages than digitally and this Treasure Hunters book came out the week before we left and it tied right in with our trip and we couldn't download it.  Weston was obsessed with going to the White House and after visiting the Archives on our second day he begged for this What Was the White House book at the gift shop.  It went every where we did in D.C. (good thing I had my back pack).  It even had a map, so he would try to help is navigate the streets.  He even read while we Ubered from one side of the town to the other and when we were taking breaks.  So, if you need to know anything about the White House. . . he's your man!

Here's a link to last year's back packs for more ideas!

Also, the great thing about all these things is that we have an old backpack that stays packed with various activities so that we can just grab it for soccer practices and quick beach trips!  None of this stuff gets forgotten about when we get home!

I hope this helps you in some way, whether planning a family trip or even trying to stuff a stocking full of fun. 

And really, if you have any more tween boy ideas, please, please comment below!