You are browsing archives for

Tag: Christmas

Christmas 2013

December 30, 2013Written by Joy

We woke up to a beautiful day, to celebrate Jesus’ birthday and our love for one another.

Christmas Morning

While we missed our extended family that lives on the east coast, we still enjoyed a wonderful day with just our children. I am very thankful and blessed that the grandparents sent the kids gifts, even though we couldn’t be there with them. Even though they weren’t with us in person, they were definitely with us in spirit.

Our tree this year, did not last long at all. It was a fire hazard by the time Christmas day arrived. The needles had already started turning brown. In years part, we always left our tree up until mid-January, however, it came down the day after Christmas. We still loved looking at the ornaments and talking about where they came from and who gave them to us. The memories our tree could tell you.

Christmas Tree 2013

I always enjoy watching our children open their gifts and this year was no different. We always ask a few months in advance for the kids to make us a list of a few things they would like. We have been blessed to be able to get the kids a couple of things that they wanted. As you can see on their faces, they were surprised and very thankful.

Samuel opening Legos

Michael opening books

Sisters looking at favorite gifts

Another thing I love about Christmas, is seeing what my children want to give and make for their siblings. We have been blessed with children who love to give and do for others. This year, my oldest daughter surprised her siblings with homemade light sabers. Her creative mind is constantly moving and she always creates amazing things. This year was no different. I think the younger children enjoyed these gifts, as much as the store bought ones.

A loving sister making her siblings a gift, lightsabers out of paper tubes.

I also got a surprise this year. My wonderful and amazing hubby surprised me with a Kindle. He knows I love to read and I have been having trouble reading ebooks from my phone. The print is just too small and it gave me headaches to read from my phone. He knew that and bought the Kindle, so that I could enlarge the print. It was definitely a wonderful surprise and one that I won’t forget any time soon.

a surprise for me from my hubby

I am truly blessed with an amazing family. I love their hearts and minds. They know we celebrate Christmas because of the beautiful gift that God gave us, His son, Jesus.

So while Christmas has come and gone, we will still continue to celebrate Jesus and do our best to follow in his footsteps all year long.

How was your Christmas? Do you have any special memories or special gifts from this year? I would love for you to share them with me.

2013, family 2013, celebrate, children, Christmas, family, Jesus

Christmas Tree 2013 ~ family traditions

December 7, 2013Written by Joy

2 Comments

We have several family traditions that we like to keep during the Christmas season. One of those traditions that we love to do, is going to pick out our Christmas tree. Every year, usually the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we head out to choose a tree. The past couple of years, our oldest son hasn’t been able to join us, but this year, he made sure that he was off work. We enjoy this time with one another, to bond together as a family and to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus.

Samuel and Claire

I love watching the kids run from tree to tree, checking out the size, if there are any holes in the tree, is the trunk straight. They look at everything! Even the older two kids get into making sure the tree is just the right one.

Michael and Claire

This day was no exception. It had to be just the right one. They looked at almost every single tree in the lot. It was so much fun and a lot of joy, watching the kids. All the laughing, smiling and joking with one another, brings so much happiness to this momma’s heart.

Sarah and Samuel

They did finally all agree on one tree and then we were on our way home with it, tied to the top of the van and joking all the way home, wondering if we would have a tree still attached to the van.

Once we got home, dad put the tree in the stand and then we got the tree set up in the corner of the room. Dad then gets the lights and puts them on the tree. We usually let the tree settle with the lights and then the next day, the kids put the ornaments on the tree.

Kids decorating tree.

I love watching the kids decorate the tree. They look at each ornament and always ask, “who made this ornament?” Or “who gave us this ornament?” I love reminiscing with the kids about Christmas’ of the past.

Some of the ornaments that are our favorites, I am sharing below. The angel topper is 20 years old. We got that angel when our oldest son was 11 months old. It has been with us through our moves to NC and CO. I look forward to seeing my husband put it on the tree, every year.

Angel Topper

Being from Florida, we are huge Florida Gator fans. When we moved to NC, we had a friend who didn’t want us to forget about Florida and he sent us these ornaments. The kids are so careful when they put these on the tree. They make sure they are up at the top, so they don’t get knocked off.

Gator Ornaments

Other than our angel topper, I think my favorite ornament is one that I painted with the kids. It truly summarizes what the who Christmas season is all about. Jesus. All because God sent His precious Son to us, in a Holy Night.

O Holy Night.

My husband and I do our best to teach our children about Jesus and why we celebrate his birth. While we have some amazing traditions, teaching them about Jesus is our most important one.

What Christmas traditions do you have with your family? I would love to hear about them!

2013 Christmas, family, Jesus, traditions, tree

My Christmas Wish: A Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids ~ review

November 25, 2013Written by Joy

Disclaimer: I received this ebook in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own thoughts. Affiliate links are included in this post. If you purchase anything, I will get a small percentage. This does not affect your price at all.

As a parent, it is important for me to teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas. While we talk about Jesus being the true meaning of Christmas and we read the bible to show the kids, sometimes, it is nice to have something for the kids to write and look at on their level. This is where Heather Bowen and her “My Christmas Wish: A Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids“, come in.

So what is My Christmas Wish: A Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids? This devotional is a fifteen day journal that will help restate what you have been teaching them. How does this Christmas journal help reiterate what you have been teaching your children? Over the 15 days of this journal, you and your children will read scripture, pray, games, puzzles, journaling, crafts, baking and even service projects.

I mentioned that one of the ways your children will be learning about the true meaning of Christmas, is through journaling. Heather uses an acronym WISH (write, investigate, share and hear). For example, on the first day, the kids will write ways they can obey, they will look up scripture to investigate more, they will share with someone what they have learned and then will hear more from scripture when a parent reads to them.

My Christmas Wish: A Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids is a 69 page devotional that is written for ages 4-12. However, it can be adapted for any age. I found myself enjoying reading the journal. While I haven’t started using this with my kids just yet, I am truly excited to have found a fun way to help the kids understand even more, the true meaning of Christmas. I am looking forward to digging more into scripture, sharing with my children and learning with them ways to not only for us to focus more on Jesus during this Christmas season, but learning ways of sharing with others, the true meaning of Christmas.

Heather, at UpsideDown Homeschooling is having a sale right now for My Christmas Wish: A Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids. You can purchase this great devotional for you and your children for $2.99. Be sure to look at her Gratitude journals while you are at her blog. I know you won’t be disappointed in the product!

2013, family, God, review Christmas, Heather Bowen, Jesus, Journal, My Christmas Wish: A Devotional Prayer Journal for Kids, review

Christmas 2012

December 27, 2012Written by Joy

Christmas, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The day we recognize when God gave us his Son. It is also a time where we spend with family and give to those who we love. I have always loved Christmas. I love being with my family and spending time with them.

snowy Christmas morning

However, it can be hard at times when most of your family is many miles away from you. In years past, since we have moved away from family, there has only been one Christmas that we have missed with our extended family. It was the Christmas 2010 when we were snowed in. This year, we weren’t snowed in. We were 1700 miles from our extended family. While it has been tough, we definitely made the most of it.

Christmas Tree

oldest daughter opening up a gift

Our day started off with us waking up to snow. My husband, oldest son and I were up at 6:30 am. It wasn’t long after we walked into the living room that our two daughters joined us. We were just waiting for our youngest son to wake up. Well, my oldest son got tired of waiting on him (it had only been like 5 minutes! LOL) and woke him up.

oldest son opening up a gift

all three opening up a gift together

We opened gifts and enjoyed seeing what grandparents has sent to us. I cooked breakfast, while the kids started opening up games to play together. After we ate breakfast, the kids continued playing the games. After a couple of hours, my hubby started cooking our Christmas lunch. We had rib roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. It was a delicious meal, but most importantly, we were all gathered together around the table together.

youngest got her first container of Lego’s

a gift from Pa

We have enjoyed having dad off for the week. He doesn’t have to go back to work until January 2nd. We have had movie nights, have had fun playing games and putting Lego sets together. This time is flying by with one another and I am soaking up every minute we have together as a family.

the crown was a gift from oldest sister to younger sister.

a gift from Grandma and Papa

Enjoy this time with your family. Blessings to you through the rest of this Christmas season and into the New Year.

2012, family 2012, Christmas, Colorado, family, grandparents, kids

making Christmas traditions and memories ~ ornaments

December 9, 2012Written by Joy

I love making memories and traditions with my kids. It is my hope that my children remember these times and pass them on to their families when they are older. One of the traditions that we have is making ornaments and collecting ornaments together. I also love those special ones that have been given to us by people that we love. Every ornament on our tree has a story and our children love reminiscing about the ornament of where it came from and who gave it to us. It makes my heart happy to see my children take such good care of these precious memories.

The angel below, Buddy and I got when our oldest son was 11 months old. It was his very first Christmas. That was 19 years ago.

our angel.

The beaded candy cane ornament was made by my oldest son when he was in elementary school. The Angel is made from my youngest daughter’s footprint and hand prints. The foam star was made by my oldest daughter. The stocking ornament with the little girl on it was given to our youngest daughter by our neighbor in NC. The Santa Clause, I painted when we lived in Florida, 10 years ago. It was our first year of homeschooling and the kids and I painted ornaments.

Angel made from a foot print and hand prints.

This angel was given to our oldest son when he was just 4 years old. His Sunday School preschool teacher, Mrs. Susie Douglas gave it to him. She loves him so much and the feeling was mutual. Michael loved her dearly. She loved the children in her class. Sadly, she passed away several years ago and will always have a special place in our hearts.

an angel given to our oldest son when he was 4.

I saw this ornament and had to buy it and paint it. It is my favorite Christmas song. It reminds me of that special night, so long ago, when God sent his only Son to be born of a virgin.

an ornament I painted with the kids.

The three Gator ornaments are from a very dear friend. He sent these to us when we lived in NC. We are huge Gator fans, since that is where we originally are from. You can also see our sun catcher candles that we made from the very first lesson of the Advent study we are doing.

Gator ornaments given to us by a friend.

The ornaments below were made by all of our children. We have a snowflake by our youngest son, a Christmas tree by our youngest daughter, the bear is painted by my oldest daughter and the CD ornament was made by our oldest son when he was in school.

ornaments kids made.

So many memories on our tree. By looking at this tree, it shows just how blessed that we are. God has been so good to us and has allowed so many special people in our lives. I am so blessed by being able to stay at home with our children and able to make and do so much with them to make those special memories. Yes, I am so thankful and blessed.

Do you make ornaments with your children? What other special traditions do you have?

2012, family 2012, angel, blessings, children, Christmas, family, friends, memories, ornaments, traditions