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making Christmas traditions and memories ~ ornaments

Written by Joy
making Christmas traditions and memories ~ ornaments

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, , , , , , , , ,

Denver Zoo has a free day! ~ field trip

Written by Joy
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Denver Zoo has a free day! ~ field trip

We recently found out that the Denver Zoo has free days for the public. One of those days was last week. I asked our neighbor who homeschools her 7 year old son if they wanted to go with us. They said yes, so off we went! We packed a lunch, snacks and bottled water for the day. We got to the zoo fairly early and there were already a lot of families who were taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

King of the Jungle

As you walk in through the front gate, the first animals that you come to is the African Lions.  They were absolutely gorgeous!  And huge!

Cape Buffalo

Being a zoo with a lot of animals, the one thing you do notice right off is the smell.  I kept giggling at Samuel who kept asking why the animals smelled so badly.  He walked around the zoo with his shirt over his nose, most of the day.  The smell was really horrible at the Cape Buffalo area.

Dall’s Sheep

I have seen mountain sheep before on Mt.Evans.  Was even able to get some really close pictures of them.  So I liked watching these that were at the zoo.  The one with the horns was the dominating one.  He would go up to the younger ones and push them below him.  He was definitely playing king of the mountain and succeeded!

Claire with the Capuchin

Claire had told me before we arrived at the zoo that she wanted to see the monkeys.  Her Papa calls her, his little monkey and so she wanted to have her picture taken with them, so we could send it to him.

Samuel seeing how tall he is next to am Emperor Penguin

Samuel thought this was pretty cool, being able to compare how tall he is to an Emperor Penguin.

Grizzly Bears

While we have seen black bears in North Carolina, this was our first time seeing grizzly bears.  I loved watching the grizzly bears.  Tundra (female bear), kept pacing back and forth while watching Tipani (sp?- male bear) eat his bone.  Tundra was waiting for him to walk away from his bone so she could take it, even though she had her own!

Kids checking out an Elephant skull

The Denver Zoo has just recently added a new section to the Zoo.  It is a much larger Elephant exhibit.  From what we were told, they have added several more elephants to the zoo.  It is amazing how large and graceful these animals are.

Elephant

Another highlight for the kids were seeing the giraffes.  We also got a lesson in giraffe anatomy.  When we walked up the largest giraffe was going to the bathroom.  They must have a bladder the size of a basketball or larger.  The make giraffe stood there urinating for several minutes.  Adults and kids all got a giggle out of seeing this!

Giraffe

The last exhibit we went through, was the Tropical Climate building.  This building had so many different types of frogs, lizards, fish and snakes in it.  It was very humid and damp.  This was also a big hit with the kids.  It is so amazing to see all the different types of animals that God has created.

Kids looking at a Komodo Dragon

We spent about 3 hours at the zoo that day.  I would have stayed longer, but the kids were all tired.  So we left after leaving the Tropical building.  The zoo was so big that we didn’t even get to see everything.  We are excited about going back again on the next free day.  This time, dad is going to take off a half a day so he can go with us.  The kids can’t wait to show him all the animals we saw.  I can’t wait to see the animals that we missed on our first trip.  We enjoyed the zoo so much, that we are planning on buying a yearly membership.

Do you have a zoo that is close by?  What are your favorite animals?

 

2012, field trips, homeschooling, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

so thankful and blessed… #1051-1060

Written by Joy
so thankful and blessed… #1051-1060

When I see this verse, other than thinking about God sending Jesus to die on the cross, I can’t help to think about another group of people who have put and continue to put their lives on the line for us.  That is the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.   Because  of those who have served and are serving,  We have freedoms that a lot of others do not have.

John 15:13

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial

So in honor of Veteran’s Day, I thought I would share a few freedoms that I am thankful for.

1051.  the freedom to worship how I believe.

1052. the freedom to attend a church.

Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial

1053. the freedom to stay at home with my children and homeschool them.

1054. the freedom to have a gun.

Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial

1055. freedom of speech.

1056. I am thankful for my Uncle who served in WWII.  He lost his life while he was in the Army.  He was only 22.

Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial

1057. I am thankful for my great grandpa who was the youngest to serve in the Civil War in the state of Florida.

1058. I am thankful for my father-in-law who served in the Air Force in Vietnam.

Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial

1059. I am thankful for my step-father-in-law who served in the Air Force in Vietnam.

1060. I am thankful for the many more who served, are serving now and their families who sacrifice so much for us.

Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, multitude Mondays, , , , , , ,

so thankful and blessed….

Written by Joy
so thankful and blessed….

 Colossians 3:17

 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 The month of October has passed and we have now entered into November, the month we all celebrate Thanksgiving.  However, I have been doing my best to celebrate Thanksgiving daily, year around.   We have so much to be thankful for.  Even with a week of sickness, several days with a migraine, I can be thankful.  Thankful that I have medicine to help with the migraine.  Thankful I can go to a chiropractor and have my neck/head adjusted.  I just look at times like this as God telling me to slow down and to refocus on what is important.  Good or bad, I will praise Him.

1041. another week with my family.

1042. being asked to help with social media on Creation Thursdays at Creation Conversations.

1043. children who help around the house.

1044. sickness/migraine to slow me down to refocus on what is most important.

1045. new friends in Colorado.

1046. an invite to the Colorado Symphony. (field trip post)

1047. letters from friends back on NC.

1048. encouraging messages from fellow homeschoolers.

1049. being able to help and encourage others.

1050. quiet Sundays at home with the family.

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, family, multitude Mondays, , , , , , ,

so thankful and blessed… #942-950

Written by Joy
so thankful and blessed… #942-950

As our official move date quickly approaches and we continue to purge and pack, I have been so thankful and blessed by the outpouring of love, support and help, as we prepare for the next step in our journey.  God has truly blessed us with so many wonderful friends.  From the offers of helping us pack, to the offers of play dates and sleepovers, to all the many prayers that they have lifted on our behalf.  I thank God daily for you all!  You have truly helped ease my mind and heart with all of your thoughtful offers.

Proverbs 20:6

6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love,
    but a faithful man who can find?

I have found many faithful friends and I just pray that I can return all of the love, help and support that has been given to our family.  Yes, I am thankful and blessed for you all.

942. friends who will pray with you and for you.

943. friends who offer to keep my kids for the day.

944. friends who have allowed my children to have a sleepover.

945. friends who have given us money/gift cards for our traveling.

946. friends who have given us cards, written with words of love and encouragement for our family.

947. the wonderful going away ice cream social that they church held for our family.

948. friends who come to say goodbye, but then stay and help me purge and pack.

949. friends who call to make sure you are doing okay.

950. friends who won’t say goodbye, but say, “Until we meet again!”

I would love for you to join me and the others linking up at A Holy Experience. We would love to see how God has blessed you and your family.

2012, multitude Mondays, , , , ,