10th day of Christ

The Gift of Prayer: Matt. 26:36–45; Luke 22:39–46; Alma 7:11–13
Christ was a good example and prayed to Heavenly Father... especially in the Garden of Gethsemane which was an extra special prayer and where he felt the weight of the sins of the world. The Gift of prayer is a blessing in our life. How wonderful that we can talk with our Father in Heaven and He can answer our prayers. The kids shared that they like to prayer when they feel scared so that they can be comforted.

12 days of Christ

We're kinda making this up as we go along, but this year I decided to do the 12 days of Christ to countdown to Christmas. I caught the vision of this idea from Sarah Reber's 12 days of Christ shared on Sugar Doodle. It was one of those things that instantly inspired my heart and got my wee little brain thinking of so many ideas.

I altered the original a little and we'll see how it goes this year. I know this will be a meaningful new tradition in our family, especially as we have the kids help prepare the devotional or share a scripture story. I want to keep it simple and easy and not froofy (my spell check is telling me this is NOT a word.)

Basically I picked 12 Gifts from Jesus that we have been given. Each night we'll take 5 minutes to share a scripture or scripture story and picture to go along with each gift. I decided I wanted to end on Christmas Eve so that we could end the night of our spiritual program and do our Gift to Jesus for the upcoming year. (Did you know the real 12 days of Christmas begins on Christmas day and goes until January 5. Interesting fact.)

The beautiful thing about this tradition is that every year it can be different. You could pick 12 different Gifts... or just share a different story, quote, song, or scripture to go with each one. I have a million different ideas for this so we'll see what comes to pass. For now, we are using pictures from the Gospel Picture Art Kit and the story on the back. We'll hang each up on the wall so by the end we'll have 12 photos of Christ to remind us of the REAL reason for Christmas. So excited.

I wanted to note the stories we are focusing on each day.

12th day of Christ...

The Gift of The Word of God. (The Sermon on the Mount). Matthew 5-7.

Jesus gave us the gift of His teachings ... through the Scriptures. He taught us our to live righteously.. As we learn of His words and choose to live righteously, we can have JOY.

11th day of Christ...

The Gift of Faith. (Christ walking on the Water) Matthew 14: 13-33; Mark 6:45-51

If we have faith in Christ, we need not fear all that is around us in this world. Christ will lift us up and strengthen our faith as we follow Him.


more tomorrow on day 10...  wa-hoo!!

a break ... for JOY

Here I am at 5:44 taking a break. Jimmy's home late. Dinner isn't ready (but we're having leftovers so that's okay - right?). I started feeling very burned out... like to the very tippy end of my rope. I started feeling like yelling at everyone. So - a movie for the tots who just finished homework and chores. A cup of apple cider for me. Dishwasher emptied. Dishes soaking in the sink. And the thought to search the scriptures for JOY for a few minutes of REFRESHment. Here's my favorite for today:

10 minutes are up. Off to do dinner... hopefully with a better SPIRIT about me. Hopefully I'll find my JOY.  sigh...

phew... got it done

Yes, sometimes I'm a dork. When I get a FREE shutterfly book, I can't stand to NOT get it... even though it means staying up until 11 uploading all the finished pages. I quite like the finished book... each page makes me happy... seeing those little tots and our normal life and the bright colors. What happy mail it will be when it arrives.

So - was it a JOYful Autumn? Well... honestly, overall I've had a crazy time with it all, but I have a blessed life and I love seeing the good adventures we had... though oh-so-normal they all are. Hopefully when the kids look back on it, they'll have some fond memories.

I snuck in this little calendar since I loved last year's so much. This year they added a feature to put photos on the special event dates... such as birthdays (the kids will love that!). I decided to add some family history photos. I zipped it together quickly so it's not perfect, but it'll be good.

Do you BELIEVE?

We've had a little bit of a bah-humbug in Hannah this holiday season in regard to Santa Claus. Last year she wanted to BELIEVE... she enjoyed BELIEVING. She had fun with it all. This year... she was determined to boldly state her opinion that Santa "is not real!!!" We've had a few conversations with her about keeping the fun alive for Abraham (who boldly states that he BELIEVES in Santa Claus).

I've asked Hannah why she didn't BELIEVE in Santa Claus anymore. Finally tonight when she was doing the dishes and I was making pizza dough, we had a nice chat about it. She listens very carefully, even when we think she isn't. She had heard me say that I start saving for Christmas to spread out the purchases all year long. And she didn't think it would work to have Santa fly a sleigh around the world in one night. Sigh... her little brain is a workin'.

And she asked me if I believed - "for real mom"? She wanted it straight.

So I explained what isn't real... a cute little bearded man living at the North Pole making toys in his workshop and flying around the world with reindeer and a sleigh. But what a cool job this mom has of being a "Santa's Elf" (wink-wink). (She liked that part! It brought the magic/spirit-of-giving sparkle to her eyes)

What is real... Miss Hannah... is BELIEVING in the Spirit of Christmas... of giving... of joy... of all the good things that Santa Claus symbolizes... reminding us of Jesus. Yes, if we focus on the presents we miss that specialness of Christmas... but if we focus on the goodness, kindness, giving spirit, and joy, we REALIZE what is real and good.

I asked her if she'd rather us not have any "Santa" at all... no stockings, no Santa presents. She got a grim look on her face and shook her head no! I think she knows it's still a fun part of Christmas. As my friend Katie said, "When kids ask if Santa is real, they are asking for permission to Believe. It is a fun magical time of year and they just want to partake in that fun. Don't we all!"

Come Monday... I'm giving her this 5x7 page. I'm hoping it might help keep a sparkle of excitement in her eye and to BELIEVE in the Spirit of Christmas... and all that is real and true.

looking back - Hannah's Baptism

Sweet little Hannah (who is not so little these days now that she's 8)... was baptized on November 6, 2010. She was a darling! She was really nervous, but very excited.

She came to me later that afternoon during quiet time and asked me to help her find some primary songs to play in her room. She turned it up and sang along with “Scripture Power” and “If the Savior Stood Beside Me.”

After a while, she came to me and said, “Mom, when you were a little girl, did you wish that you could be baptized every day.” She started to cry. I think her heart was tender because she loved the special feeling she had on her baptism day and wanted it to last. She is a sweet girlie.

I thought she might enjoy having a poster of her baptism day in her room so together we came up with this. She picked all the photos and I arranged them.

A few things I'm so glad about...
1. Hannah wanted to wear my baptism dress that my mother made me. It was so sweet. I made some little purple flowers to put on the ribbon and in her hair.

2. We passed around cards for all in attendance to write a little note to Hannah. As soon as all the festivities ended, she took all of them up to her room to read through them.  She LOVED them. We put all those 5x7 notes in a spiral-bound book with these other cards including room for testimony, journal entry, mom's memories, letter from dad, family photos, photos of those in attendance. I think the little book will be a special keepsake for her. Hopefully it will remind her of the special feelings she had on her Baptism Day.

what does your JOY look like today?

by Stephanie at homegrownhospitality

angels in blogland presented me with these 2 thoughts this morning... i like 'em.

Christmas *LIGHT*

1. christmas lights, 2. White Christmas, 3. .dreaming..., 4. Felt Gingerbread Biscuits // Star group, 5. Merry Christmas flickr!, 6. I *heart* Christmas, 7. Christmas Tree, 8. LDS Temple Salt Lake City, Utah, 9. Peace

Lastly... a lovely little quote from a prophet of God:

"The real Christmas comes to him who has taken Christ into his life as a moving, dynamic, vitalizing force. The real spirit of Christmas lies in the life and mission of the Master....

"If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God. Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees — alone or with loved ones — give thanks for the good things that have come to you, and ask that His Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve Him and keep His commandments" (Howard W. Hunter, "The Real Christmas," Ensign, Dec 2005, 22–25).

Still... still... still.  Sweet teachings of all that is good about Christmas - turning hearts to God.  Love that reminder!!

"A Merry Little Christmas" Book GIVEaway

I have a little GIVEaway going on over at Simply Fresh Designs. Nothing fancy like all the silhouette giveaways... but a sweet cheery book for someone to receive as happy mail.

Christmas Service Countdown

I love this idea I found on Sugar Doodle shared by Michelle Taylor. "Michelle writes, "I just created this sharing time using the poem from the December 1990 Friend Magazine by Laurel Rohlfing."

You can get the pdf or .jpg download on sugar doodle.

This also reminds me of the 29 Gifts Book. Even kids can give "Service" gifts in little ways.

A Cheerful Heart

I saw this cute little quote at Kneaders and wanted to recreate it to remind myself to let others (especially in my family) see the cheer that is in my heart. Every day I remind myself (multiple times!!!) to be kind and of good cheer. But especially at this season, my heart is full of gratitude and love for my family and the blessings the Lord gives me. Every day is not easy or sprightly. But every day I see at least a little good that surrounds me.

During the month of November I wrote a nightly gratitude list... my Gratitude Journey. I knew it would uplift my life... and it did. It was a hope filled journey for me... that I want to continue.

Happy December!