Christmas countdown

My almost 8 year old daughter tells me every day how many days left until Christmas. Well, here we are and we have 3 days left. I have several more things I would really like to get done, but I'm not going to stress out about them. I try not to do that- it's not good for my health :) Well, here goes. My last few things left: - make 12 dozen cookies ( 6 dozen chocolate chip and 6 dozen rolled sugar cookies) I will freeze some of these to pull out when we need a yummy snack. This keeps us from eating too much at one time. -work on pillowcases for each of my children. I make each of my children a special pillowcase for Christmas each year. I'm very late getting this done. I'm using what I have on hand since finances are tight this year. I'm excited to see how they turn out. I hope I have time to finish. - make more Chex mix. I made a big batch yesterday, but I need to make some more for little gifts. - microwave raw peanuts. My father-in-law used to always give us raw peanuts every Christmas. They are so good cooked in the microwave and then adding butter and salt. Yum, yum! -make domino ornaments with kids. I found the cutest idea on the net one day last week. I'll try to find the site and put up the link. Such a cute idea!

Rejoice

This is the day that the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it. May we be reminded of the real reason for the season-the birth of the Savior- Jesus Christ.

Busy, busy times

Where has the time gone? We moved 4 months ago and it seems like I'll never get caught up. Life is busy these days. December is a busy time for everyone, but ours is even busier when you put several birthdays in the mix. Since we've moved I've tried to change a few habits for the better. I think they say it takes 3 weeks to form a new habit. My first habit I'm trying to accomplish is getting up before my children wake me up. This is a hard one for me, mainly because I usually stay up too late. So I'm doing better and enjoying the extra time with the Lord and the quiet of our home. Another habit I'm working on is time management. We don't have internet yet so this helps a lot. I find that surfing the 'net eats up so much time. Therefore, I'm getting a lot more done since I have to go over to my parents' house to use it. Those are a few things I'm working on right now. We're still trying to settle in. We have so much to be thankful for. What a blessing to be a child of the King!

Christmas banner

My previous post about this banner was deleted. I messed up and hit the wrong key :( I wanted to repost since I don't think it can be saved.

I have seen banners on different blogs and thought they were cute. I saw this tutorial on

asnipofgoodness.blogspot.com I thought it looked simple and easy to do. I got the stuff and thought it would be harder than it was, but it wasn't. I started making my own letters out of cardstock and then realized they weren't turning out like I wanted so I found some at a craft store that were so cute. I cut out my circles and pieced them together to sew. I'm not that great of a seamstress so the sewing could be much better, but I still like how it turned out. It's hard to sew in a circle :( It was easy to hang up. My sweet husband put some screws in the brick for me and there it is. I'm not sure if I like the stockings hanging above the banner, but it will be that way at least this year anyway.

"What God Wants for Christmas"

Last year after Christmas, I found a boxed Nativity set called, "What God Wants for Christmas". Of course it was marked down about 75 % off and I really like a great deal :) so I bought it for about $4.00. It's kind of like the "Ressurection Eggs" if you're familiar with that set for Easter. There are 7 boxes to open with a part of the nativity inside. Then you place the character in the stable. We've chosen to do one box per day and the children are excited each day to find out which part comes next. It's an interactive way to tell your children the story of Jesus's birth. We've enjoyed it so far.