Just a regular day...

I had a migraine headache for the last two days.  Today, I woke up feeling better, but with just a hint of headache lingering somewhere in the back of my neck.  I didn't sleep well, but got up at 5 a.m. to be sure that Hannah got up on time to leave for water polo practice.  She just started playing on her school team.  It's the first time for her to ever play this sport, but she loves it.  Morning and after school practice - just about every day.
After I was sure she was off to school, I fell asleep for a little while longer and then got up to get the other two girls off to school.  Naomi would have her school Christmas program today.  She has been practicing her songs and was quite excited, so I didn't have much struggle when I called her name to wake her up.
She decided to make her own lunch today - I have no idea why - and that was fine.  Marco got the girls off to school and it was my turn to get ready and have my little guy get ready too.
"Oh, God!", he says.  I tell him not to say that because he's using God's name in vain.  He then proceeds to tell me that he really needs a hair cut.  What four year old even cares about that? hahaha!  He's looking at himself in the mirror.  It is quite funny.  His hair is going in all directions.  I told him to make sure and tell his dad when he gets back home.

She's in the back row...with a super tall boy right in front of her. Gah.  Oh, well. Good thing she had her eye on us the whole time. =)

The three of us went to Naomi's school to watch her perform.  There were so many parents there - I couldn't believe it!!  I was glad to be able to get a few good shots of her.  She sang very well and kept her eyes on us the whole time.  So cute!  My girl, she's growing up so fast.

Marco saw Naomi walking in line to her class.  He snuck in for a quick hug from his best friend. Love them together!!

The children went back to their classes immediately after their performances, so we left too.  My husband decided that Marco really did need a haircut.  So off we went.  I waited in the car and read a book called "Remembering Christmas" on my Kindle.  It's a loaner and I only have 14 days to read it, so I had to get busy. =)
It wasn't long before my little guy came out with his new hair cut.  His hair was all "spikey".  He looked so grown.  I took a couple pictures of him since I had the camera with me already.  Of course, he obliged.
haha!

 He had two "Lily Pops" in his hand.  The lady always gives him an extra for his sister, but I don't think she's going to see any of that today! LOL

Then it was back home and my husband decides he's going to make some burgers for us.  They were so good.  Now he's gone to go meet with someone from church.  He'll be doing church work for the rest of the day and then he'll be picking the girls up from school.  I've been working on getting some Etsy orders done.  I am sooo thankful that those are coming in the way they are!  I don't think we have any plans tonight - although with church - that could change at any time.  We have our mid-week service on Thursdays now, so hopefully it will be a quiet night at home with the family.
Just a regular day for us - just not as busy. =)
I'm saying a prayer and thinking of so many of you right now.  You are on my heart, I want you to know that!

Philippians 4:6-7~"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Sold Out!! Affirmation Joy Boxes | Still Available Mailbox Love Notes...

 I am excited to announce that I've actually sold out on the Joy Boxes!  I will have to order more and then I'll be ready to make more personalized boxes for you!

 This was the most recent one that I made and I'm currently working on two more.

Another option is the mailbox Love Notes.  These can also be personalized for any age or occasion. 

 They will be filled with inspiring quotes, verses and scriptures.  Can also be made to theme.

 Makes great teacher gifts too!

Check out my Etsy shop on the side bar.  There's still time to place orders before Christmas.  =)

Shimmery Snowflakes...with the Dollar Tree's Help!

So, I love to decorate for the holidays, but I try to be as frugal and creative as possible.  I recently had a ladies activity at my house and wanted to decorate the tables and the room a little more than it already was.  However, I am on a super tight budget.  I cruised through some of my Pinterest boards, but didn't see anything that I could do right away.  I decided to go to the local Dollar Tree to check things out.
I found some really nice looking styrofoam snowflakes - 6 in a pack.  I decided that I liked them and bought 3 packages.  That would give me 18 snowflakes.  When I got home, I opened up the package to realize that they were really plain.  There wasn't even anything to hang them with... hmmmm...
After giving it some thought - I decided to get out the Mod Podge and some iridescent glitter and got to work.  I started with this:

Notice how they are just "flat" without anything to them?

I applied the Mod Podge with a foam brush.

Sprinkled on some glitter and gave it a good shake.

Here they are - just a little bit of shimmer to make them stand out.  Then I tied them with some clear thread.

Here's the shimmery sides showing.

Here's the "flat" side showing.  I didn't glitter both sides 'cause I didn't want to run out of glitter.

Here they are all hung up with clear tacks.

Not bad for $3 right?

Here's the whole set up.  I used snowmen decorations that I already had around the house.  Everybody loved it and complimented the snowflakes.  Decorating doesn't have to break the bank.  My kids asked me to leave them up after I had cleaned everything else up and so I did.  We will enjoy our mini winter wonderland while we can.  =)

Now, all of this was set up for the Ladies' Activity, but I love keeping my home nice and cozy for my family too!  It doesn't take lots of money to be creative and keep things fun at home.

Proverbs 24:3-4~"Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:

And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches."

Linking up with Growing Home for Teach Me Tuesdays

Linking up with Time Warp Wife for Titus 2sdays!

God Is With Us and He Knows Us By Name

This was a little lesson that I shared with my ladies on Sunday night at our Annual Christmas Potluck and Ornament Exchange.  I thought I'd share it here in hopes that it might encourage some of you.  I know I was certainly encouraged as I studied it out and put it together.

Matthew 1:23~”Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

This was also prophesied in Isaiah 7:14~”Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population is at 6,980,516,418.  The U.S. alone has 312,755,146!!

That is a lot of people!! I don’t know about you, but there have been times this year that my faith got really small and I wondered if I mattered to God.  I know that’s pitiful, but I’m just being honest.  Think about it.  How many of you have more than one child?  Do you ever get them mixed up?  Well, you probably don’t literally mix them up, but you might go to call one of their names and end up saying all of the other children’s names before you get to the right one.  That always happened to me with my mom and now I am doing it to my own children! Marco, Tar, um…Hann…ACK!...Naomi!! Haha!

But just as every mother truly knows each of her children, our Heavenly Father knows each of His.  He cares about our hurts and He cares about our victories. 

Friends, He has known us since before we were conceived!  Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”  

Psalms 139: 14 – 18 says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.17How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!18If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

God knows us.  He is with us always.  His name even tells us “God with us”.

I am comforted in knowing that I am not going to get lost in the crowd, in the sea of people in this world.  God cares for you and He cares for me.  He has a plan for us.

One of my all-time favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11~ “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Have you faced heart ache this year?  Has illness touched you or someone dear to you?  Do you feel like you have been in a financial crunch all year?  How about your marriage or your children?  Are you lonely?  My friend, you are not alone! 

God is with us!! He is Emmanuel!  Isaiah 43:2 has been another verse that I cling to and it says, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

A friend of mine once reminded me of the story of the disciples at sea.  A terrible storm had come upon them and they thought that they would surely die.  Jesus was there on the ship and sleeping soundly.  They woke Him up and He rebuked the wind and told the sea to be still and the wind stopped and the sea was at peace.  He then turns to his disciples and asks them why they were so afraid.  He asked them if they had any faith.  The thing that my friend pointed out to me was that even though they were in a storm, He was there WITH them.  They did not have to face it alone.

I am just being transparent here.  There have been many times when I’ve fretted over something, only for the Lord to take care of it like He always does and then I am left feeling a little foolish…grateful, but foolish.  My faith can be so small.

The Holy Spirit is with you always. He makes intercession for you. 

Immanuel: God is with us.  He knows your name. 

Frank Gaeff wrote this song in 1901 when faced with some difficult trials.  He was reading 1 Peter 5:7 that says, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress
And the way grows weary and long?

Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief there is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

I pray that as the new year is upon us, you will remember that Emmanuel has come.  He is with us always. He cares about you and He knows you by name. 

I'm linking up with Courtney at WLW Ministries for Living Well Wednesdays.  You can join us too by clicking on the link below:

I'm also linking up for Word-filled Wednesdays:

Making and keeping Christmas traditions with your family...

Growing up, my dad made a big deal about Christmas.  I've tried to pass on those traditions to my children too.  One of the traditions we have, that you may have as well, is to decorate the Christmas tree together.  It's a big event!  Of course, you can't have an event like this without hot cocoa!  Marshmallows and cinnamon sprinkles are a must.  We also put on some Pandora radio and listened to great Christmas music.

We don't have a fireplace, therefore, we have no mantel.  That's not going to stop us though! I used this little table that we usually have in our entry way and hung our stockings from it.  I remember when I was a kid, we would get one of our dad's tube socks - the longer, the better - and lay those out for Santa.  Santa would fill up our stockings with oranges, nuts, candy canes and old fashion ribbon candy.  The only complaint we ever had was that "Santa" thought it was hilarious to just toss a handful of the old fashioned candy into the sock and we'd have to pry it away from the fuzzy material in the morning.  We started leaving him a plastic baggy in our stocking just for the candy. haha! Of course, he usually ignored it.
No fancy, matching stockings for our mantel. =)  Each of the kids have their own that they put out every year.
We also make a big deal putting out our little Nativity set.  One of these days I hope to have a really nice set, but this one will always be special to us.

Once the tree, lights and garland, ribbon, etc is on the tree - we let the kids have at it.  Well, this year I didn't even add garland or ribbon.  Just the ornaments.  My little guy was beside himself all day.  He couldn't wait to get the tree decorated!!

Naomi with her Baby's First Christmas ornament.

 My husband and I have been exchanging ornaments every year since we were married.  Often, the kids will get a new ornament for Christmas as well.  I also have ornaments that I've received from students and ornament exchanges.  These are all special to us and are the only kind of ornaments on our tree.  Again, no fancy, schmancy, matchy ornaments for us!

Taryn with her Perry the Platypus ornament from last year.

My guys gotta represent USC football! =)

 This beautiful ornament was made for me by the mother of one of my former students.  It is a styrofoam ball covered with sequins and tiny beads individually stuck with stick pins!  It's just beautiful!

This ornament is probably one of my favorites. My grandmother gave all of the grandkids one of these a few years back.  It's a picture of her with my grandfather and the baby in her arms is my daddy.  I cherish this photo!

 Another tradition is that the kids take turns each year putting the star on top.

 All done!  You can see two presents underneath the tree already.  You can read about those interesting packages right here.

These trees are what you see when you come in my front door.  My husband bought these for me because we didn't have room in our apartment for a full-sized tree early in our marriage.  Now they hold some really cool hand-made ornaments that I've received from art group swaps.

Here's just one more picture I'll share with you for now.  This is my snow man table.  My students knew that I liked snowmen and year after year, I got every kind of snowman you could imagine from them.  This is a special collection!

Christmas in our house is definitely a special time, but I want to assure you that it's not all about the decorations.  The most important thing to my husband and I is that our children know why we celebrate Christmas and how important it is knowing that God chose to come in the form of man, to save us from our sins!
Isaiah 9:6~"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
What are you doing to make this Christmas season special for your family?  I love making memories with my children and having traditions that they can look forward to year after year.

Linking up with Darlene at Time-Warp Wife for Titus Tuesdays

Also linking up with Jasmine for Domestically Driven at Far Above Rubies.

LOVE: Wrapped up in toilet paper tube...

I gently reminded my husband that I'd like to start working on the Christmas decorating by Monday.  Monday came and I just didn't have it in me.  Did he bring all the boxes in from the garage? He sure did.  Anyway, I did get right to it...by Tuesday. =)
I set up everything inside, except for the tree.  About 5 years ago, I decided that the "cut fresh" trees we were buying at the lots weren't doing it for me.  By the time Christmas rolled around, our tree was a definite fire hazard...and it was brown.  I can still hear the sound of the needles as they fell off the tree and hit the beautifully wrapped presents.
So we decided to go all out and buy a pre-lit 7 footer and Costco.  We love it.  It's green, holds its shape and doesn't leave a mess.  My sweet guy started putting it together as I worked on everything else.  My two little ones were beside themselves, especially my little guy.  Oh, man.  He's actually been excited all day because he saw the boxes out, but when he saw the tree all lit up - well, forget it.  He lost it. haha. I love that.  He disappeared for a while and we were all wondering what he was doing.  I heard him in my craft room and I called for him and he yelled back, "Don't come in here!  It's a surprise!"
He came out with this:

Yesterday, he came to me with a flattened toilet paper roll and asked me to write To mommy Love, Marco on it.  He saw the Christmas stuff and his first thought was to get me a present.  My birthday passed recently and he and Naomi ran all over the house gathering up things to give me as a gift.  Most of it was my own stuff from my craft studio.  "I know you like art stuff, Mom." said Marco

I could have chided him for getting into everything or I could've told him that it was silly, but of course I didn't. I almost started crying.  It was so sweet and he and Naomi were so happy to give me a gift.  They really gave me their best.  They didn't expect anything in return.  They knew that it was my "special day" and they wanted to be a part of it.
Well, I don't know what little trinkets are waiting for me inside that beautifully wrapped toilet paper roll, but I know that it was filled with love.  He is my rough and tumble, but he's also my most affectionate child.  Maybe it's just that special love between a mama and her boy.  Whatever it is, I'm thankful for it and I want to cherish it forever.
Did you know that our Heavenly Father also has good and perfect gifts for us? He does!
James 1:17~Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.


There are a few things I can learn from this...
1. The Lord does not give us good things with any ulterior motives.  Sometimes, we may give a gift to someone, but there may be some selfish motives tied to them.  The Bible tells us that God demonstrates His love toward us even though we are sinners.  (Romans 5:8)
2. God wants to give us the things we need, but if we delight ourselves in Him, He will also give us the desires of our heart! (Psalm 37:4)
3.  God gave us His best! He gave His Son Jesus  Christ. For God SO loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son, that whosover believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
4..  God wants to give YOU eternal life and it is a GIFT.  A gift is free to the recipient.  You don't get this GIFT because you are good, rich, follow a certain religion, dress a certain way, etc.  This special gift called eternal life was paid for by Jesus on the cross.  (Romans 6:23)
I don't know about you, but I like to receive gifts that are given in love.  I don't like gifts that are given out of guilt or in expectation of something in return.  That's why these innocent gifts given by my children made such an impact on me.  My God is the same way.  He gives me blessings daily.  They may be wrapped simply or not even wrapped at all, but they are given with a pure and everlasting Love.  Won't you receive those gifts? 
If you have any questions for me, you can leave it in the comments or email me.  I'd be glad to answer them as best as I can!


I'm linking up with Courtney at WLW Ministries for Living Well Wednesdays.  You can join us too by clicking on the link below:

I'm also linking up for Word-filled Wednesdays:

My life...

Hannah, Taryn, Naomi and Marco - my life

I love these people. They bring me joy. There is no gift or material thing in the world that I would ever want more than these precious souls. xoxo