4 hours ago
As we were walking around though, I was thinking about how much easier it is to go to the mall these days. Just a few years ago, I had a huge strolled to pack up, baby bags to stuff underneath, a little one snuggled against my chest in a carrier, multiple little hands to hold. Walking around with my elementary kids today was so easy by comparison, but there was a part of me that felt sad. I find as we get farther away from the baby phase, I miss parts of it at unexpected moments.
I also try to remember though, that soon enough I'm going to miss this stage we are in the same way, so I need to enjoy it while I can. I have a blog friend, Maria, with kids in their teens and twenties, and reading her posts reminds me how quickly this elementary school stage is going to be behind me. There are not even that many Christmases left before the first of my kids grows up! That's hard to think about. Life is so fleeting, isn't it?
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.Psalm 90:12
I was thinking of this verse today, as I was thinking about how quickly each stage of family life passes by. The context of this verse tells reminds us that though a thousand years is like yesterday to the Lord, our eighty years on this earth are fleeting and full of trouble - trouble that we have brought on ourselves because of our sin. There is wisdom in realizing that death is closer than we all think, and that we deserve God's wrath because of our sin. But for believers in Christ, there is joy and gladness in the mercy that God has showered on us by giving us His Son! Jesus took God's wrath upon Himself so that we do not have to suffer the punishment we deserve.
Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.Psalm 90:13
I love the last few verses of that Psalm. In this church age, verse 13 reminds me that Jesus is coming again, and the next verses remind me of His grace to His children in the meantime. Grace to show us how He is working despite the curse of sin we live with here, grace to allow us to be a part of His work in the world. Grace to shower the beauty of the knowledge of Who He is upon us, and to let us have the chance to pass His glory on to our children. That's really what Christmas is all about, isn't it? Pointing our kids to Him, using our time wisely in teaching them about why He came as a baby on the first Christmas, showing them His glory, which we are reminded of so much this time of year.
This December I have been in a more Christmas-y spirit than I have in years, as I've been pondering the reason for Christmas a little more often! And I've especially been enjoying this season of Christmas with my kids. The last couple weeks have been filled with Christmas movie nights, driving around to look at Christmas lights, multiple Christmas parties, present wrapping. We are still doing a little bit of school this week (a very little bit), but some of that school is going to involve baking and Christmas books. Every night we do Advent, opening the little jars filled by my in-laws, reading a devotional sent by my aunt. This stage with elementary-aged kids is a special one, when all the kids are home, and we can fully enjoy Christmas traditions together as a family...as we seek to turn our eyes to the glory and beauty of the One who satisfies us with His mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad in Him!
So here we are, soaking all of that up this Christmas - the joy of the season, and the sorrow of these fading years, all mixed together into a happy expectation of the Christmases we spend here, while waiting for our Savior to return.
I always think it's fun to see how other people decorate their homes for Christmas. Everyone's home is at it's most beautiful at Christmastime, isn't it? Everything is warm and cozy and bright. It's a chance to get some ideas and soak in all the sparkle of the season.
After seeing the tour on this blog, I thought I'd do a quick Christmas tour of our home too! We don't decorate every room for Christmas, but many of our rooms have one or two Christmasy touches. Not pictured - the kids' little Christmas trees, and the bathrooms. Their rooms were too messy, and I didn't feel like cleaning them before taking these photos, and who really wants to see pictures of the bathroom anyway? On to the photos!
Living Room
We have alot of greens and blues in our living room, so our living room tree has alot of green, blue, and brown ornaments, along with white! We got new tree lights this year that switch from colorful to white, but I like them on the colorful setting best.
Kitchen And School Room
I don't decorate very much in the kitchen or school room, just a table centerpiece, a wreath on the door, and our Thanksgiving-turned-Christmas birch tree. And incidental gingerbread houses.
Front Room/Playroom
The front room (and the master bedroom) have mostly blue-colored furniture/walls, so this is where I bring in the touches of red!
Master Bedroom
I found a few Christmas throw pillows that I loved right after we moved here a few years ago, so now I bring them out each Christmas to add a little bit of Christmas to our room. We also have white lights stringed around the top of the walls in our room, but it's hard to get them in photos. I'm contemplating adding a little tree in our room too, but I'm trying to decide if that's too many decorations for me to manage!
And that's it for the Christmas tour! If you came over to my house for a Christmas party, it would look like this, with a few kid shoes and toys and books thrown around for good measure. If you share any Christmas decorations on your blog, let me know! I want to see!
A Quote
"Feast, Christian, feast! You have a right to feast. Go to the house of feasting tomorrow! Celebrate your Savior's birth. Do not be ashamed to be glad - you have a right to be happy. Solomon says 'Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God now accepts your works. Let your garments be always white and let your head lack no ointment.' - ' Religion never was designed, To make our pleasure less.' Remember that your Master ate bread and honey. Go your way, rejoice tomorrow, but, in your feasting, think of the Man in Bethlehem - let Him have a place in your hearts, give Him the glory, think of the virgin who conceived Him - but think, most of all, of the Man born, the Child given! I finish by again saying - A Happy Christmas To You All!"
-Charles Spurgeon
Ever since reading this last year in this book, this quote comes to mind when I am anticipating Christmas festivities, especially the part about having every right to be happy. We have every right and reason to celebrate, don't we? We can approach the throne of God with full confidence, knowing He has credited to us the righteousness of Jesus - and it all started with Jesus's birth, God made flesh for us. There is happiness to be found there, in pondering the great truths of His works on our behalf - more happiness than in all the trappings of Christmas!
A Book
Oh, don't ask me about books right now - I'm stuck in the biggest reading rut I've had for years. I've started probably ten books in the last couple months, and nothing is sticking! The only books that are getting read consistently are the ones I read with my devotions, so I'll just mention Worship by John MacArthur. Our church has introduced a "staff recommends" library this year, and there are some good picks in there, so I've been trying to choose one of the recommended books to read after I read my Bible in the mornings. I love the way MacArthur presents worship as something that we do in every aspect of our life - it's not about singing only. One more quote!
"Rather we have been redeemed so that God may receive worship - so that our lives may glorify Him...The sole purpose of our being in heaven is that we might worship God rightly and forever. We, along with the redeemed of all ages, are saved to that glorious and unending end."
-John MacArthur, Worship
We also started our advent with the kids, and we've been reading through Jotham's Journey, which my aunt surprised us with in the mail! It could be a little scary for young or sensitive kids, but my kids have been really riveted to find out if Jotham will be reunited with his family. Each chapter, meant to be read each day of Advent, also ends with an advent devotional that ties in with the story. It's been a really fun addition to our advent time!
A Bit Of Nature
As I came to this prompt and looked through my phone for some nature pictures, I realized how little we have been out in nature this last month! It would be a good time to be outside, because it's been unseasonably warm out. But in a way, I think that's putting a damper on nature exploration for me right now. I want some snow! If I wanted 60 degree weather in December, I'd move to Florida with the rest of the country. We actually need some snow to prevent wildfires next year too, so I hope we get some moisture soon. One advantage to the warm weather is that our yearly Christmas light adventure was much less complicated, and that's the last time we were in nature, so some light-covered nature pictures will have to do.
A Recommendation
I really have to recommend Pam Barnhill's morning time plans. At first I thought they wouldn't be worth the money, but I tried one out, and oh my goodness, they are so rich. Her full morning time plans are especially meaty, and they tie concepts together in different ways by coming at a theme with math, art, music, books, etc. I request the books from the library, and the rest of the activities are usually links to free activities or videos online that go with whatever we are learning about. All the work is done, I just open up the document and follow the plans, and it's added so much enjoyment to our homeschool this fall! I actually joined her membership, because I loved the one set of plans we tried so much, and I'm so looking forward to working through many of the plans in years to come. If you want to try out a mini version of her plans, the Christmas Around The World morning time explorations are free right now. I would say they are good for elementary and up (it might be trickier to use with preschool and kindergarten).
A Moment Of Happiness
My happy moment goes back again to when we went to a local "trail of lights" this last weekend for my dad's 60th birthday. As I mentioned, this year has been weirdly warm outside, so we didn't even need to bundle up in snow clothes like we usually do. We walked through all the lights, and the cousins ran and played, and Georgie kept making her cute four-year-old quips, and I was just so thankful to be able to do something like that with family. Then we all went for pie at a restaurant after the lights, and gave my dad presents, and laughed when the restaurant hostess brought out a pan for the "birthday spanking" (we didn't actually subject my dad to that, but it was funny). It was a lighthearted and cheering evening, a perfect night of just being together.
I have been getting the Home And Haven seasonal bundles this year, just to add a little fun to our homeschool, and one of the winter bundles included a "Thanksgiving" category. One of the worksheets had gratitude conversation starters, and I thought I would borrow a few of the questions and share my answers here, just for some pre-Thanksgiving fun!
What experience in the last year are you most grateful for?
I think the experience I'm most grateful for this year is our trip to the Ark Encounter. It is such an odd distance away, where it would be easier to fly, but flying would make the trip so much more expensive. But it is also far enough away that it feels on the verge of too far to drive. I don't think we would have made it there at all unless our good friends had been game to go with us, and thankfully they were. Traveling together is probably one of the truest tests of a friendship, isn't it? Traveling with these particular friends was a delightful experience and not difficult at all, and I am experienced enough in my life to realize how rare it is to find a friendship like that! I'm really grateful for a meaningful trip and friendship at it's best.
What is your favorite part about your home?
I think my favorite part about our home is our woodstove. I loved our wood stove so much at our last house, that I just had to have one here too. It's adds so much coziness to these colder days, and it makes me not mind the brown ugliness of November. At first I did NOT love the woodstove though, because every time we tried to light a fire in it, smoke would pour into our house. We finally got a specialist out to look at it, and he told us that the builder had installed the top part of the chimney incorrectly. Apparently the pipe of a chimney or stove has to be taller than the tallest point in your house, or the smoke will not go up and out. Something to do with air pressure and suction. Another reminder that building a house correctly is even more scientific than I sometimes realize.
What book are you grateful for?
Aside from the Bible, which is certainly a given, I'm grateful for Christmas At The Vinyl Cafe. My penpal, Felicia, sent me a copy for Christmas last year, and it was so delightful that I fully intend to read it again this year. It's a collection of humorous short stories surrounding the holidays, and it's one of those books that makes me laugh and cry. Sometimes you need something that makes you forget political divisions, that makes you appreciate the common human experience of modern holidays - good, bad, and ugly and glorious. It's a good book.
Who did something nice for you today?
This has been a particularly nice mail week - my sister-in-law sent us a really thoughtful package with cotton plants, which is cool for the kids to see because we do not have cotton plants here! It's interesting for them to see a crop specimen from another part of the country.
I also received an unexpected mystery package in the mail with a copy of Jotham's Journey, which is an advent book I was trying to get from the library to read with the kids this year. I found out it was from my Aunt! She read my mind, and I'm so excited to own a copy and to start it with the kids!
What is a smell you are grateful for?
I'm getting over a cold this week, and I weirdly lost my sense of smell, which almost never happens to me. I miss good smells! Right now I wish I could smell all the wreaths I've been seeing at the stores. Is there anything more Christmasy than the smell of a pine tree? I'm grateful they smell like that.
What memory always makes you smile?
I was thinking yesterday about a childhood tradition we had - every year we kids would go on a shopping day with my dad to find gifts for my mom. We'd start early and be gone all day. We'd always eat at Arby's for lunch, and we would always stop at Best Buy for a new Christmas CD to listen to while we were driving. After we had found all her gifts, we'd end the day with meeting my mom for a movie at the theater. We'd wrap all her presents together too, and my dad would label the gift tags with characters from Christmas movies. I so looked forward to that shopping day every year - it was special to go shopping with just dad.
I also decided to throw in a little Thanksgiving this or that, just for fun - I got the prompts from this article. I looked through a few this or that graphics on image search too, but I found alot of the questions ridiculous. Thanksgiving parade or dog show? I didn't even know dog shows on Thanksgiving were a thing. Turkey or tofurkey? Really? Who in their right mind would choose the latter if they weren't vegetarian/vegan? Honestly.
Anyway, here we go!
Host or attend? I usually love the idea of hosting Thanksgiving, but this year especially I am overwhelmed by the idea of it. It's been a really weird November, and I'm just mentally drained. So attending wins this year.
Turkey or ham? I think I'm going to have to go with turkey. Hams are more of an Easter thing for me.
Travel or stay home? I don't believe I've ever actually traveled for Thanksgiving, not more than a couple hours anyway. I have to pick stay home, because it's really been my only experience of the holiday!
Stuffing or potatoes? Potatoes! Confession: I've never actually liked stuffing. I don't know why I don't.
Large gathering or just a couple of loved ones? Large gatherings are always fun!
Dress up or comfy clothes? I actually like dressing up for Thanksgiving. I don't get that many chances to wear nice clothes, so I take my opportunities where I can get them. However, about an hour after dinner and halfway into my second piece of pie, stretchy pants are nice.
Pumpkin or apple pie? Pumpkin pie all the way, because it's so iconic for Thanksgiving. Apple pies are appropriate any time of year, but you only get pumpkin around the holidays.
In case I don't post again this week - Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope you can see the goodness of God to you more clearly than ever this year, and spend some time thanking the Giver of all good gifts.
This year I’ve really been leaning into the Thanksgiving holiday with the kids - mainly with our Thanksgiving tree, gratitude journals, and lots of picture books! We have read so many Thanksgiving picture books so far this year, probably three times as many as I’m including in this post. The ones here are my favorites for the Thanksgiving season. I know it’s a little late to get these from the library now, so maybe just bookmark these for next year!
Just For Thanksgiving Fun
The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing - This is a play off of the classic Christmas poem, and I thought it was so cute, especially with the sweet illutrations.
How To Celebrate Thanksgiving by P. K. Hallinan - This is a picture book, in rhyme, that celebrates all the fun of Thanksgiving Day (including eating so much you feel like you might burst). Cute illustrations, fun poem.
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin - This is the first time I've read this one, and the quirky story of Grandma's special cranberry bread recipe and how it's nearly stoled made me laugh.
Thanksgiving In The Woods by Phyllis Allsdurf - This book is based off of a family who celebrates Thaksgiving each year by having dinner in the woods - this is one of those times where the illustrations really make the whole book. This book is so pretty.
A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting - A fun story about Mr. Moose tracking down Turkey for Thanksgiving. My kids where laughing at this one!
Franklin's Thanksgiving by Paulette Bourgeois - My kids love watching Franklin, and this book had the typical mild dilemma that the show often features - Franklin invites too many people to Thanksgiving. It was cute!
Over The River And Through The Wood by Matt Tavares - I'm sure you recognize the first lines to this poem - somehow I never realized it was about Thanksgiving!
Historic Thanksgiving Tie-Ins
Berenstain Bears Thanksgiving Blessings by Mike Berenstain - This obviously isn't serious history, but on the way over to Grandma's House For Thanksgiving Dinner, Papa Bear tells about the Pilgrim bears that came seeking religious freedom.
Squanto And The Miracle Of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxes - This is a Thanksgiving classic for us, telling the story of Squanto's life and how God used him to help the pilgrims survive.
This Is The Feast by Diane Z. Shore - Another one where the illustrations really shine, telling a little history about the first Thanksgiving.
Meaningful Thanksgiving Books
Sharing The Bread: An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Story by Pat Zeitlow Miller - This book features a poem with a fun beat to it, all about working together to make Thanksgiving dinner.
A Thanksgiving Turkey by Julian Scheer - This book was slow going at first, but the ending just got me. One of those times when I feel silly tearing up a little as I read to the kids. I think I resonated from this one especially coming from a hunting family.
Thank You For Thanksgiving by Dandi Daley Mackall - It's the classic problem - everyone is going around saying what they are thankful for, and someone else says what you were going to say! I really liked how this one pointed back to being thankful for our Savior too.
Thanksgiving Graces by Mark Kimball Moulton - As Grandma invites more and more people to dinner, the narrator wonders if there will be enough - Grandma talks briefly about the parable of the fishes and reminds her grandson that they can stretch the food to include others. A sweet story about hospitality at Thanksgiving.
Thankful by Eileen Spinelli - A sweet "gratitude list" type of book, but I especially liked this one.
Give Thanks To The Lord by Karma Wilson - Another beautiful Thanksgiving book, this one taking inspiration from Psalm 92.
One Chapter Book
Rush Revere And The Brave Pilgrims by Rush Limbaugh - This is our favorite Thanksgiving historical fiction book - all about the journey of the pilgrims from Holland to the New World, including good history about the first Thanksgiving. It's so imaginative and fun with the time-traveling horse, Liberty! We like it on audio, but the actual book has some wonderful art pieces and fun illustrations too.
That's all I have for now, though I may add a few more titles if we read any other noteworthy ones this week!
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Update: I did add four other books to this list of our favorite books for the Thanksgiving holiday - you can read those here!
For the first time this year, I set up a "Thanksgiving tree" to do with the kids. I was inspired by some friends of our from church who do a Thanksgiving tree every year with their kids by writing things they are grateful for on leaf cut-outs each day.
I am working through a Gratitude morning time study with the kids, and so we've made it a habit to write in these printable gratitude journals, and then we pick a few of the things we are grateful for to write on the leaf cutouts and hang on our tree. I got the tree and leaf cutouts from Hobby Lobby. The tree also will double as Christmas decor over the next month as well!
The kids have so looked forward to hanging their gratitude leaves on the tree each day, and it's been a fun way to refocus on thanking God for all His goodness to us as we approach Thanksgiving! We will definitely be doing a Thanksgiving tree again next year.
I hope you all are having a lovely start to Thanksgiving week!
I started a Scripture memory journal this morning, this one, and I'm excited about memorizing a few new Scripture passages. I have attempted for a few years now to memorize Hebrews, and I am up to Chapter 7, but it's been difficult to stay motivated. I fully intend to finish Hebrews, but I thought I would try out the passages in this memory journal to give me a jump start on making Scripture memory a habit again.
Though I am usually staunchly against Christmas music before Thanksgiving, I have found myself eyeing some advent playlists on Spotify this morning. I am the only person in my family with this no-Christmas-music-before-Thanksgiving rule, and Derek sweetly tries to honor it, but I am slowly getting in the Christmas spirit. We have a birthday party with friends today, and I may just surprise the kids with a little Christmas music on the way down.
Derek is actually hunting today, and I have spent the morning praying that he'll get something and we'll be able to fill our freezer. If ever there was a year where I'd love to have inexpensive and healthy meat stocked away, this is it. The gas pumps and grocery store checkouts have become increasingly painful places, but I am also thankful that while the rising prices make my budget tighter, requiring me to be a little wiser with my spending, the Lord has provided and blessed us during this season. I think I mentioned that Derek got a new position with a new organization earlier this year, and it has been a better work environment overall, and a blessing in ways that I wouldn't have anticipated early in the year. One way is the additional monetary wiggle room that has eased the inflation pressure.
Last night I took Wyatt to a game night for the boys at our church, and while he participated, I sat in the church lobby and tried to start a Christmas newsletter. I usually don't send out family newsletters at Christmas, but since I haven't been updating on social media this year, I figured a newsletter was warranted. I have to tell you, I had a terrible time of it. Maybe I am just in a dry spell when it comes to writing? Are Christmas newsletters always this difficult to write? I couldn't decide how to start the letter out, and I didn't get around to writing about our year at all yet. I did end up typing short paragraphs about each of the kids, but then I realized just that filled up a whole page, and all the newsletter-writing advice tells you to keep Christmas newsletters to one page only. Surely I get a pass since I have so many children? Any newsletter-writing experts, please give me some advice.
I don't really know what my point is with this post, I guess I just wanted to drop in and say Hi! on a rare quiet Saturday morning! For the first time ever I successfully finished my 31 day blogging project in October, but I suppose I needed a couple weeks to recover. This is me getting back to it on the blog.
Is it okay if I leave you with a quote? I picked up Morning And Evening by Charles Spurgeon again this week, and this quote was one that stood out to me. This subject of sanctification, and how God puts things in our lives in order to draw us closer to Him, has been on my mind lately.
"Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get very little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit to perfection. Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there...Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove more effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God."-Charles Spurgeon
Happy Saturday!
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