By Nancy Kay Grace
My heart was no longer warmed by the pathetic tree. It brought stress each time I had to clean up the mess and pine needles.
Isn’t that the way Christmas celebrations are? We hope for joy but have more stress than anticipated. My plan for a tree led to a mess. Unmet expectations lead to disappointment.
Disappointment can steal the joy of the gift of Christmas. We get disillusioned with the crazy pace of the season, with the lack of time and resources, and how people treat us.
During our homeschooling afternoons my children love to craft. These cute penguins take the fun of watercolor painting to create a Northern Lights feel with fun shapes that your kids can customize. You can mix and match or use it to teach your little ones shapes. When I created this craft my two oldest were only four and five year olds, and they loved to practice their cutting skills. If glue was involved, even better! So grab your favorite book and get ready to get crafty.
When you are worn out from all the holiday shopping and such it’s nice to just sit down and relax. Rebekah Elizabeth has put together a great list of must-see holiday movies. She has also built a great holiday playlist on Spotify. Go check out her recommendations. READ MORE…
by Rhonda Franz
This holiday season I will eat a small portion of potatoes, a select few pieces of bread, and no green bean casserole whatsoever. I will turn down the second piece of pie and limit my consumption of sugar cookies. And I will say “no, thank you” every time someone offers me hot chocolate made from a mix of fake sweetener and 14 other ingredients.
And comments directed at me about “moderation” and “depravation,” and how “You’re so good” aren’t needed. And aren’t accurate.
I’m willing to bet I’m not alone.
READ MORE….
Maybe it’s just me and my anxiety, but the homestretch of anything is a bit intimidating.
Did I do everything I was supposed to do? Did I grow enough? Change enough? Learn enough? Did I leave a big enough mark to let it lie and move forward? Basically, is this project ready to turn in?
This year is just a handful of weeks from being due to the teacher and at this point {as always} I’m wondering what happened to the rest of it. While it’s not over yet, I already find myself going back to check my work. Although the shocking realization of unpreparedness is part of all my Decembers, I am glad the year ends with such hope. Advent is a beautiful time {you know, after the Christmas decorating’s done} and I love that we spend time remembering we’re waiting for more than a simple calendar flip. It’s a huge reminder/reality check for my stress levels.
While today is the beginning of the end, I’d rather not fret over making most of what’s left. So I shall turn this post into a wish list. ‘Tis the season, after all. Following are a few things I have written to the month of December to help make this a both holly and jolly season:
As a child, I remember my eagerness of waiting for Christmas. My parents put up the live tree late in the month. Glass ornaments and thin strands of crinkly tinsel hung on the branches; the pine scent filled the air. Mom covered the front door with shiny gold wrapping paper and attached a bow, making it look like a huge present. Nothing fancy, but Christmas was coming. The few presents under the tree tempted me to shake and rattle them when no one was looking.
I waited for Christmas, marking off each day on the calendar. It seemed like forever.
Why is waiting hard? READ MORE…
I have been discovering or I should say rediscovering my love of crafting. It has been fun to diving back in and the best part is Glitter Bug has been finding out she loves to craft as well. We recently made Christmas fabric covered canvas. This DIY Christmas Fabric Canvas is such a simple craft and doesn’t take forever.
I’ve had these DIY Vintage Snow Globes on my mind for years since I found a box of vintage Christmas baubles at an antique/flea market. I kept putting off this particular DIY craft because I thought it might be too involved. Boy, was I wrong.
Making snow globes is SO easy and takes very little supplies.
By Amanda Fivash, Miss December 2017
Baking is something that we love to do together in our house. Maybe it is because we enjoy eating sweets (guilty!) but I think even more, is that the children are old enough now to start really helping and they love telling Daddy they made them.
We have our favorite cookie recipes that we have over the last few years altered to be a dairy-free and today we decided to try out another favorite. The girls love cinnamon toast and have recently been enjoying anything with cinnamon so we gave our Snickerdoodle recipe a makeover to make it into a dairy free cookie recipe.
Overwhelm and stress are often uninvited guests in my home. But there are people coming soon to my house, and on more than one occasion this year. I’d like to make sure these two don’t get an invitation.
I did this at Thanksgiving to help with hosting duties. I also incorporated some of these principles.
This year, I’m hosting Christmas. Not alone, mind you. The Pilot will be here, mostly. And our guests, family and otherwise, always lend a hand. But as someone who struggles with anxiety and lives in a far-less-than-perfect home, I’ve learned to take deliberate steps. Above all, I gotta pray and find peace and contentment before the Lord about all that gives me worry and stress. After that, and because of that, I do the other things. READ MORE…
