Girl Time!

This past weekend, my mom, sisters and I went to my parents house in Kansas City to have a "Girls Weekend"!

We had such a wonderful time!  

My mom made us a lovely candle-light dinner on Friday night...

My niece Isabelle and my mom praying before dinner...

The sisters!  Marjie, Me and Sarah 

(I am the youngest, but the tallest!)

We were missing my oldest sister, Ranee

The 2010 babies born 5 days apart...

(Owen and Adeline)

Lunch on Saturday...

Red Lobster was Sarah and I's 1st choice!

We took Isabelle to the American Girl store

(this was really the whole purpose of the trip)

She is such a sweet little thing and was so excited!

Picking out how she wanted her dolls hair done...

Isabelle and the hair-stylist deciding what to do with Josephina's hair...

Aunt Marjie and Isabelle picking out the colors for the ribbon...

Almost done!

Mother and Daughter...

The three generations...or should I say 4? Josephina fits right in!

Isabelle with her aunts...

Finishing off the day of shopping at Panera Bread...

We had a fabulous time!  Such great fellowship and encouraging conversation!  I am so thankful the Lord gave me such godly and fun best friends right in the midst of my own family!

He is good!!!

The Moving Manger

I've already shared how, in our family, we emphasize "Christ-Is-More" at Christmas and I've shared about our "Spiritual Christmas Gifts" that we give our kids each year...

So now I wanted to mention our Moving Manger Scene!

I realize this isn't a new idea for some people, but it's one way we enjoy Christmas and keep our focus on Christ!

When we are putting up our Christmas decorations, we start out with an empty manger.

Then as Christmas day approaches we move Mary and Joseph closer and eventually we start moving the wise men too.

Finally on Christmas Eve, Mary and Joseph end up in the stable awaiting their sweet little Baby Jesus.

Christmas morning the kids get to search for the baby Jesus figurine and add him to the manger scene!

The kids love seeing Christmas, literally, getting closer through the moving manger.  And it causes us all to dwell on the reality of the traveling that everyone did and all the sacrifices that were made!

This post linked to Works For Me Wednesday!

Grace's Healing Salve...but not this Grace

One of my really good friends has this amazing healing salve I just have to tell you about!

A while ago, my friend Grace sent me a sample of her homemade "Healing Salve" and while I was really excited, I had to wait patiently for the perfect opportunity to use it.  

I thought, surely in a house with three crazy active boys, there would soon be a bloody knee or rug-burned nose I could use this salve on...

But that day never came.  The boys have been injury and scrape free.  I'm not complaining about that, but at the same time, I was really anxious to try out my new salve!

Anyways, this past week, my sweet Liberty broke out in a really bad rash.  It was actually so bad that she had rawness behind her ears. At first I thought it was just dry skin until I noticed it raising and spreading.  I was so sad for her, but was rejuvenated when I remembered my "Healing Salve"!!!

I applied it behind her ears and on her face and neck one night before bed and the next morning it was gone.  COMPLETELY GONE.  Not even a sign of it!  I was amazed!

As the rash has spread, I've been applying it as soon as I see it appear in a new place and the rash is now GONE.  So over a 2 day period, there is now no sign of this "7 day rash".

And trust me, it was a nasty bad rash!

Go check out Grace's new business website here and be sure to buy a tin of the "All Better Butter" that I used on Liberty this week!  The price ranges from $1.75-$3.75...can you believe that?!  What a deal!  You will be glad to have it on hand next time someone in your house has a burn, bump or bite!

She's also hosting a giveaway on her blog right now that you should enter!  Her business is so much more than just salves...it's lip care, handmade jewelry and MORE!

So head on over to graceisblessedbygod.blogspot.com and be...BLESSED!

Spiritual Christmas Gifts

A few years ago my hubby and I started a new Christmas tradition in our house.  We give each of our kids a "spiritual gift" on Christmas morning.

Most of their gifts (from family and friends) are under the tree, but their spiritual gifts we keep under our manger scene that sits on our Family Worship Table. 

When we started this tradition, we wanted to give our kids something more meaningful than the typical "gift from Santa", so we used to tell them it was their "gift from Jesus"...but since that well-intended idea got confusing fast ("Jesus mailed this to me?"  "Was He here?" etc) we decided to just call it their "spiritual gift"! :)

How it works, is that we just buy a gift for each child which emphasizes a way that the Lord has gifted them or a desire he's given them.  We pray about what the Lord wants to say to them, and then give them a scripture to go with their gift. 

This scripture then becomes "theirs" for the new upcoming year!

For example, last year

~Trusten (our outdoors-man) got a bow and arrow with a verse to "be strong and courageous". 

~Brahm (our musical child) got a set of drum sticks with a verse that read, "Burst out in jubilant song! Make music to the Lord!"

~And Samuel (our brave and might defender of all things) got a Nerf sword to be "a mighty warrior for Jesus"!

Giving our kids "spiritual gifts" at Christmas is just another way we try to let them know that at Christmas, Christ is more!

(This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Wednesdays Walk Down Memory Lane!)

Celebrating "Christ-Is-More"!

Our Tree-Topper!

The phrase we coined a while back is finally catching on with our boys...

"Christ-Is-More"!

You see, when I hear the word "Christmas", two things stick out to me...

• Christ: the reason for the season, for life and for all things good!
• Mas: the Spanish word for "more"

So around here, we call it...

"Christ-Is-More"!

And we do everything we can during this season to emphasize that...

"Christ-Is-More"!

That He is more important, more worthy, more beautiful, more desirable...

For example, we choose not to put anything in our house having to do with Santa Claus or the North Pole.  Some people call that legalistic, but we call it...

"Christ-Is-More"!

So instead of sheltering our kids from "Santa and his elves", we have pretty good conversations about...

  "Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy?...

All things are permissible, 

but not everything is beneficial."

(1 Corinthians 10:22-23) 

 

So whether it's buying presents, singing festive songs, decorating the house, or planning on how we'll spend our "holiday" free-time, what is more beneficial than practicing that...

"Christ-Is-More"!

(More to come on how our family celebrates "Christ-Is-More"!)