Merry CHRISTmas!!

"And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
     {Matthew 1:21}

"For God so loved the world, he GAVE his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."    {John 3:16-17}

Happy Birthday Jesus!  I am saved by grace due to the gift of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.
Celebrating the blessing and opportunity to give and to love well this season!

Wishing you a joyful

{image source}

Christmas cards

I love getting snail mail so as you can imagine, receiving Christmas cards is a very exciting component of the Christmas season for me!  Opening each card and discovering a family photo card or a personal note just makes me feel so happy!

In year's past, I typically handmade each card that we sent out to our family and friends.  Since having our little love, I have found the convenience in sending a photo greeting card mass-printed from a company.  It does take away a piece of personalization but I treasure the value in documenting the growth of our family and spreading cheer through the photos.

I do insist on printing the name and address on each card to capture a bit of personalization.  I saw the pin below on Pinterest.  I loved how it created the image of a package:
Original source:heart-2-home.com

 I decided to adapt the idea for addressing our Christmas cards this year.  Here is a sample of my creation:

Addressing each envelope is a sentimental occasion for me. 
I wrote the following post on Facebook regarding the event: 
I love addressing Christmas cards! Besides being a relaxing, creative outlet for me it is a time of reflection. When I write a family name my mind tends to be overwhelmed with memories and I feel so blessed by the special individuals in my life!

My parents sent out the following poem in their Christmas cards this year that really speaks the truth of my heart as well.

My Christmas List of Blessings

Every name's a touchstone

that leads me to a place and time,

Where God had used another's heart

to reach out and touch mine.

It may have happened years ago

or even yesterday,

But every person on my list

has changed my life some way.

Through simple conversation,

a warm hug or a shared meal,

Every person on my list

has helped me grow or heal,

Or laugh or love or learn or smile...

the blessings never end,

As God allows our paths to cross

as family and as friends.

So, please know that this greeting

is more than a Christmas wish,

It's a "Thank you"  card to God

for putting you on my list

For each and every one whose name

I've come to hold so dear...

Those who've shown me Christmas joy

Throughout each day of the year.

 I am so thankful to have a list of individuals to send Christmas cards to who have shaped and influenced my life. I am honored to call them my family and friends and wish them love, joy and peace this Christmas and always!

oh my!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love that we received snow! From my understanding, the Midwest winter storm did not deliver like expected and that is just fine with me.  We received enough snow that I had to brush off my car but the sidewalks are just wet. The storm gets my blessings - beautiful but minimal accumulation that did not influence travel.

 I was able to capture my son's excitement on video when he witnessed the snow falling this morning; it made my heart so happy!  I'm not a huge cold weather fan (can you tell?!) but I would like just one snow fall accumulation that provides enough snow to take my boy sledding and experience his excitement...and then it doesn't need to snow again until next year! 

truth is

I haven't made a blog post in 19 days!  wow.
Just as the journey of life, my blogging has its seasons! Those that are faithful readers can attest to my absence at times and I am forever thankful that you continue to visit! I don't have excuses; just the truth.  Truth is my days are busy with a 21mo old - playing at home, trips to the library, play dates and snuggles come first.  Truth is sometimes nap time isn't long enough to accomplish my to-do list and blogging doesn't take priority. Truth is after bedtime I am often exhausted and don't feel my thoughts would transfer into a well written post.  Truth is this Christmas season I have invested a lot of time in creating items. Truth is I have lots of ideas and projects to share but it involves downloading photos, editing, and writing which takes up time that I sometimes choose to spend in different ways.  Truth is I am human and fail.  Truth is I still love blogging and sharing, so I will continue to post.  Truth is I miss blogging.  Truth is I hope you'll extend a little grace and continue to visit my blog and travel this journey with me.

magical

One of my all time favorite views during the Christmas season is that of our tree.  There is something so magical about the twinkling lights in a dark room.  Gosh, I love it! 

 
I also love the excitment our little love expressed this afternoon when we pulled out the tree and began to assemble the branches.  He quickly took on the role as daddy's little helper and distributed the branches.  Little love's favorite Christmas decoration is lights.  Lights on the trees, lights on houses, lights anywhere and everywhere; he is sure to say 'ights' whenever he locates one or more.  Oh the simple joys in life!

Husband did a fantastic job assembling and decorating the tree with lights.  Once again, this year we just placed red and silver non-shatter ornaments on the tree to help prevent heartache of a special ornament breaking during this season of life with busy children.  
It looks very pretty!  Another special feature this year is the addition of a train around the bottom of the tree.  It is definitely the highlight of the tree decorations following our new star topper we purchased at Bronner's.  I just love our little tree with the twinkling lights!

I am off to go enjoy the magic of the season!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Happy December!!

I am so excited for the Christmas season!  It is such a magical month and I love spreading the joy of Jesus!  

I am going to do my best to document our journey as we celebrate this month!

Today, December 1st, we took our annual trip to BRONNER'S CHRISTmas Wonderland  in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  It was our son's first time meeting Santa at Bronner's and it was quite the experience!  Does anyone know of a Santa photo contest?  We have a classic photo of our son and his death grip and screaming face in my husband's arms while he is trying to escape the presence of Santa!  

{Trying to excitedly persuade our son that meeting Santa could be a positive experience!}

After dinner, we ventured out to the Wayne County Light Fest.  Lights are our son's newfound favorite holiday feature.  It was fun to watch his excitement as he viewed the light displays.  We heard "ights, ights, ights" many times during our trip down Hines Drive!