Merry Christmas

This year we stayed here, with Tim's family, for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went to Tim's Grandparent's house and opened presents.

Christmas Morning
Riley, what do you want Santa to bring you?

Riley got just what he asked for!!

Ethan's 1st Christmas


We went back to Tim's Grandparent's house on Christmas Day and Riley got a bike!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I've always known that we celebrate Christmas because we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. But Monday was the first time I had ever been to a Birthday party for Jesus. Riley got to decorate a cookie, make an ornament, and Santa even came!

Santa read the children a story about the birth of Jesus.

Christmas Spirit

Have you "caught" the Christmas Spirit this season?

This year I had my first glimpse of the Christmas Spirit when we put our Christmas tree up. Some of my "glimpses" have been putting the ornaments on our tree, opening Christmas cards, driving in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and seeing all the lights, being in the nativity scene at church, seeing Riley get excited about our Christmas tree and listening to him say "Christmas tree."

I googled "Christmas Spirit" and there was actually site that told you how to get the Christmas Spirit on eHow.com. Here are a few that I liked:

Shop early. Nothing takes away the Christmas spirit like fighting for parking and struggling through crowds. (Maybe next year I can start EARLY!)

Wish people that you meet in stores and other casual environments a happy holiday. Say it with a smile. (Personally, I think Merry Christmas is better!)

Do something nice for someone. Offer to baby-sit so a friend can do her Christmas shopping or take cookies to your neighbors.

Play Christmas music. (Casting Crowns- Peace on Earth is my favorite)

Watch Christmas movies. (My favorite is Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase)

Decorate your house for the holidays.

Don't spend more money than you have. Anxiety over after-Christmas bills can ruin your holiday.

Here are some of my ideas:

Go to a Christmas program at church.

Go to Speedway in Lights. (We still need to do this)

Attend a Christmas Eve service.

Attend Christmas parties.

Start family traditions with your family.

So what is the Christmas Spirit? I think its about having a peace in your life that only comes during the Christmas season. Its about taking time to remember why we celebrate Christmas. Its the time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I believe the real Christmas spirit is the joy in knowing that the story is true!

“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that

whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

What gets you in the Christmas Spirit?

Live Nativity

Tonight we had the Living Tree performance at our church, Central Baptist. Tim was Joseph, I was Mary, and Ethan was baby Jesus. We were in the welcome corridor for about an hour before each performance of the Living Tree. Ethan cried a little, but then I'm sure Jesus has his moments that he also cried.

Nice makeup Tim!

Our church does this performance every 2 years. So we also had the priveledge of doing this with Riley when he was an infant.

Who knows??? We may keep the tradition going and have anther "Baby Jesus" for the 2010 performance! Or maybe not... only time will tell!

Santa

Tonight we took Riley and Ethan to get their picture taken with Santa. Apparently, we didn't get the memo that "Pet Night" is every Monday night. There were about 10 dogs ahead of us. We almost left but we knew this was the only night we could take the kids. I will have to say the line went very fast and Santa changed his gloves when he held children. I was expecting Riley to cry and that's exactly what he did but I still think its a cute picture. Next year maybe we'll get a smile out of Riley and Ethan will be the one crying.

Ethan's First Christmas- 2 months old

Riley's First Christmas- 2 months old

Last year's Santa picture- Riley really was afraid of Santa

Riley also had his picture taken with Santa last year when we went to Gatlinburg. Look at his lip!!

Gatlinburg 2008

Every December my family rents a cabin in Gatlinburg. We always go the first weekend in December because that's when they have the parade. I've been going since I was about 8 years old. Some years it has been extremely cold for the parade- so cold that your toes are numb.

Tim and I decided to stay at the cabin instead of going to the parade. We knew that it would be too cold for Ethan and we like getting Riley in bed early. We also enjoy watching the Ghost Whisper on Friday nights and didn't want to miss it.

Everyone else braved the cold and enjoyed the parade.

Every year we work on a puzzle. The first one was finished in 2 days. The other puzzle was a bit more challenging and we didn't get it worked.

I celebrated my 29th Birthday. I don't want to think about turning the big 3-0 next year.

It was a great weekend! I enjoyed spending time with my mom and sister and Riley loved playing with his cousins, Chase and Austin!

I Love Christmas Time

Tonight we finally got our tree up. Tim picked out a beautiful tree. I love how it looks and smells in our new house. One of my favorite things to do is get all the ornaments out of the box. Most of my ornaments are very sentimental to me and each one brings back a special memory. I love adding new ornaments to our tree each year. I like to get ornaments that remind me of my family. Last year I got Riley an ornament with a fire truck. This year I am looking for a monkey ornament since he loves "Nunkeys!" On Sunday, we went to Into the Fire in Johnson City to have Ethan's ornament made with his footprint.

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments.

Freebies

As I drink my Dunkin' Donuts coffee, I thought I would post some free samples. I love getting free samples in the mail! I have probably gotten over 70 free samples in the mail in the past 6 months. They come in handy when you travel and they usually come with coupons- which I also love!! I set up a another email address with yahoo so that I don't get junk email. Click the light gray words to get the link to open up.

Sign up to become an Arby's Extra Member and you'll receive a coupon in your inbox within 24 hours for a free medium mint chocolate swirl shake.

Get a free sample of Glad Forceflex trash bag.

Get a free sample of GoodNites by Huggies. You can select boys or girls, two different sizes.

Pampers Potty Training Kit - includes Easy Ups sample, coupons, chart & stickers

My Role As a Mom

Today I've been thinking about the kind of mom I am. I truly want to be the best mom I can be to my two boys. Don't we all desire that? Honestly, I think I can do some improving. Can't we all? Tonight I started rereading one of my favorite books. Its called The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd. Here is an exert from her book.

"The word mother not only describes what we do, but who we are. From the moment children were first introduced into our lives, we became new people- women with greater purpose, responsibility, and significance.

Colossians 3:17- "And whatever you do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Verse 23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

Our work is for the Lord. It is ultimately God we are pleasing as we devote ourselves to our families. As we understand the impact that our words and actions have on the lives of our kids, we realize the monumental nature of our task. But God never gives us a job he doesn't first equip us to do. As mothers, we have been specifically created to influence the lives of the generations to follow.

God has given each of us the responsibility to TRAIN, NURTURE, DEVELOP, PREPARE, and TEACH the precious children he has put in our care. Through us- and with his constant guiding presence- he is raising up the next generation. We can still keep going and going- fully assured that one day, in the kingdom that is eternal, we will hear our heavenly Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

(Source- Karol Ladd, Power of a Positive Mom (West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing Co. 2001)

So there are a few things that I am going to start doing to become a better mom to Riley and Ethan:

Start my day off right: As hard as it may be- I want to have my quiet time in the morning. I think its important to start my day off reading God's word and praying for a good day. This is something that I have gotten out of the habit of doing and I have missed it in my life.

Begin a daily Bible time with Riley: I'm not exactly sure what this will look like yet. Riley is only 2 years old but I think its important to start teaching him about Jesus.

Pray all day: I pray daily but not enough. I am going to start praying more often for the small and big things in my life.