...JOY...

My sweet friend Heidi gave me these three snowflakes covered in Christmas sheet music. She didn't figure she would use them and thought I would enjoy them, she was right!

I edged them in silver glass glitter and added glittery black chipboard letters to spell JOY. They hang from red baker's twine by mini silver library clips.

I've discovered that JOY is my favorite of the advent season. JOY hasn't always been a part of my daily life, although I am blessed beyond measure, JOY (unfortunately) is not my natural starting point. I wish it was. Over the years I have learned to be Joyous and to live into the JOY Christ has for me.

 

My banner makes me happy for the craftiness of it but it serves as a wonderful reminder to take time to be JOYOUS. To stop in this busy season to remember why we celebrate and to be thankful for all that we already have.

My vintage scale and Christmas candles

I haven't shared a vintage find in quite some time (that rhymed! ;). This Summer I found this old scale at a yard sale for $3. I was SO excited I had to have it! There is something about red that seriously lifts my spirit! 

I found the red salt shaker at a friend's yard sale. 

It was sitting on a table all alone. Again the red caught my eye.

My mom gave me this sweet little Santa candle and I found the tree candles at a holiday bazaar last year.

The bottle brush wreath is also from the holiday bazaar.

For fun I'm sharing at:

It's A Very Cherry World for Rednesday 

&

The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingy Thursday

Simple Baby Jesus Ornaments

Last Christmas the girls and I made peanut baby Jesus ornaments. They truly are simple and easy to make. The girls loved to make them. Jilian even made an extra one for her Papa (Jeremy's dad) as a Christmas gift. He loved it so much he got tears in his eyes...ahh...

Supplies:

Egg carton

Scissors

Permanent marker

Felt

Thread

Needle

Peanuts

Hot glue

Cut the egg carton to create a "bassinet"

Add eyes with the permanent marker

Hot glue the peanut baby Jesus inside the bassinet. Cut a piece of felt small enough to fit over the peanut as a blanket, hot glue in place. Add the thread to each side of the bassinet to create a loop to hang the ornament.

Jilian's on her tree this year

Grace decided to make a Mary with her baby Jesus

Sharing at:

Raising Homemakers

&

Our Christmas Wreath

I feel blessed tonight, I got to spend a peaceful relaxing day at home. I played Sorry with the girls, watched a movie with Grace and got a chance to make this year's Christmas wreath. It was fun and simple to make.

 Hope you like it. :-) 

 

Thanksgiving

Here is an awesome resource to help teach your kiddos about the first Thanksgiving. Click HERE

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friendship Part Two: But how?

Tips for Establishing Meaningful Relationships:

• All new things can be uncomfortable in the beginning. Familiarly comes with time.  The more you go, the more times you try, the more comfortable you will get.  When I first attended a Bible study at my church I didn’t know anyone. The ladies were close and I felt like an outsider. I forced myself to push through these feelings and keep going to the study.  Now some of those women are my dearest friends! I would have missed this opportunity if I had stopped quit due to my uncomfortable feelings.

• The more you give of yourself the more you will receive.  In order to have authentic and meaningful friendships you have to be willing to be a little vulnerable. (This doesn’t mean you must share your darkest secrets during a first conversation!)  Over time be willing to open up and share your fears, dreams, hopes, joys and struggles. The more vulnerable you are, the more your friends will be willing to share themselves with you.

• Believe that you deserve time with friends.  If you are a mom, develop a support system that will free you up to have time for friendships.  Some of us have husbands that have a hard time supporting us in taking time for ourselves. It is helpful to evaluate, how supportive are you when he wants time with his friends or to do his hobbies? Try to work out equal time for you each to have a break.

• Set out specific time and energy to have friends in your life.  It is important to trust how vital these connections are. If you believe in the value of friendships, you will be more apt to make room in your life for friends.Form or join interest groups such as garden clubs or book clubs. Joining a faith community is a great way to form friendships.  It is important to remember in this day of social media, email, texting, Skype, etc. that although they are helpful in staying connected, they can not take the place of real life face to face encounters.

I challenge you to take a step today towards making a friend or connecting with a friend.

What is one thing you can do right now to take a step towards friendship?

Friendships Part One: Friends? I don’t have the time!

Let’s face it our lives are FULL! The demands on our time are GREAT! Often it is our natural tendency to put ourselves last.

Our need for “me-time”, nutrition, exercise, and devotional time seems to always be at the bottom of the list. Sometimes we feel guilty taking time for ourselves. It is just easier to not take the time.

Yet taking time for ourselves and our friends is important.

Why are friendships important?

We are designed to be in relationship. First, with Christ, and second, with others. Women in particular are relational beings and thrive when connected to others in meaningful relationships.

Establishing and maintaining healthy friendships provides the opportunity for us to recharge and connect with others. Having a friend that relates to our stage in life, and that we can share and laugh with, is essential to our mental well-being.

Since life can be stressful, it is vital to maintain friendships (especially after having children). Not doing so can lead to burn out, frustration, isolation or depression.

Evidence suggests these health benefits of friendship:  It increases your sense of belonging and purpose, boosts happiness, reduces stress, improves self worth, decreases risk of serious mental illness, helps you weather traumas and it encourages change of unhealthy habits.

Who should my friends be?

Not all our friends have to be just like us. Friends might be single, married, with kids or without: it does not matter. A friend is someone that you share a special bond with. The critical element is connection.  Connection that is genuine, caring and supportive.

Developing friendships can be scary! You may have experienced hurt at the hand of a friend. The key is to not let that experience hold you back from other real friendships. The benefits outweigh the risks. Forgiveness and learning from the past hurts helps you grow as a person.

At one time or another every woman has feared rejection, felt alone or assumed that the other woman has it all together.

Many times I have heard women say “I don’t have any friends” or “no one invites me anywhere”. I too have thought this and have felt “left out”. After honest conversations with other women I have come to realize that we all feel insecure at times.

Once I recognized that all women just want to be loved and accepted as much as I do, I felt freedom.  Freedom to be myself, to step out of my comfort zone a little and try to make friends.

I encourage you to take an inventory of your friendships.

When was the last time you spent quality time with a friend?

It's my birthday weekend!

My birthday is Sunday but I'm celebrating now by playing in blog land and then packing to spend the weekend at the beach with the family! I can't wait! I'll end my birthday with my favorite meal, sushi. I've learned that getting older is a whole lot easier (and more fun) if you plan something you love, gives you something to look forward to.  :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

A few stops in blog land   

Halloween night...

Popeye the Sailor Man!

Alice 

 

Popeye and Olive Oyl, the happy couple

Candy time!

Alice and sweet baby Ruby the flower

Grace the Archeriss (is that a word?!)

My friends Kristine the pirate and Linda as Bella Swan

The Sommerville Family

Happy Halloween!

I hope you have a wonderful, fun filled 

spooktacular Halloween!

Kitchen sink vegetable soup

I love...love vegetables and this Summer I discovered how much better I feel when the majority of my diet is fruits, vegetables and protein. Hard for a vegetable loving yet CARB addicted girl. One trick I discovered and it is great this time of year since the days are chilly, is making vegetable soup. If you make a large batch it will last you all week. Then you'll have a quick, healthy lunch you can warm up.

Jilian my little kitchen helper!

I call it kitchen sink vegetable soup because each time I make it I use what ever vegetables I have on hand. The two things that are always the same, one can of crushed or stewed tomatoes and one cup (or can) of chicken broth. As for the vegetables use what you have, leftovers work great! 

This time I used zucchini, broccoli, celery, cabbage and some corn. About a cup each. The corn was leftover corn on the cob that I cut off the cob. Add a little pepper, garlic and parsley to taste. Cook just until the vegetables are warm and soft. Maybe 20 minutes. Enjoy!