Merry Christmas!

I wish you all the merriest of Christmases!

Our Christmas will probably begin with Baby B waking up early to eat, followed by eager boys pawing at us to go open presents at 7 am.  With our Three Wise Men gifts that we do, this shouldn't take long which means that while the hubby plays with the kids, I will be making red velvet pancakes, bacon, eggs, and orange juice for breakfast. 

My husband works for a company that never stops running so he will be off to work by noon, which means "A Christmas Story" and Chinese food for the kiddos and I tonight.  Oddly enough, I am looking forward to this time.

I pray that you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy your time with your families.  God Bless!

25 Days of Christmas: Christmas Eve

Well, we made it.

The holiday rush has come down to tonight.  I hope your shopping is complete and you are able to spend the day with your loved ones and just relax.  We have a little visiting to do today, but I am hoping it is all in fun.  With Older Boy away visiting family on his dad's side and my husband working for the first half of the day, it is just the two younger kiddos and I for awhile.

Today's RAK is to put lotto tickets on a few lucky cars.  Every year since I can remember, Christmas morning I would discover lotto tickets in my stocking.  On the rare occasion I won a buck or two, my step-dad would pay me and boy, was I thrilled!  This is a tradition we have carried on in my home so it is fitting that we "share the wealth" (or not, as luck may have it.)

Once the hubby comes home and cleans up, we are off to my parent's house for Christmas Eve dinner and opening presents.  At some point, Older Boy will be coming home and we get to do our yearly tradition.

Every year on Christmas Eve, the kids get new p.j.'s.  What is so funny about this, is that every year they shake the box, wondering what is inside.  Really, kiddos!?  You have not caught on by now?  Ha!  Even Baby B is getting some cute, pink Santa jammies.

Together we will put out cookies and milk (even though the secret has been blown), and put the kids to bed.  Everything was wrapped last weekend, so there shouldn't be much work involved after the kids fall asleep (around 3am, I am sure.)




What are your Christmas Eve traditions?  Please share!

25 Days of Christmas {Catching up}

No, we didn't forget to do our RAK's.

Honestly, money has been so tight we were unable to complete several of the tasks we planned to do.  Isn't that frustrating?  Deep in my heart I wish to help and serve and love on people, but when resources are limited, what is a girl to do?

As it was, we saved our RAK's and spent last weekend doing a bunch of them, plus serving with the Salvation Army.  We still have a few more to catch up with, and hopefully we can get them done before Christmas.

RAK: Taking muffins to his teacher (on a chalkboard plate I made)

RAK: Leave popcorn on a Redbox (this was gone within 10 minutes!)

Being bell ringers for the Salvation Army

RAK: Leave a treat for the mail-lady.  She exlaimed, "Thank You!" when she stopped by.

RAK: Leave candy canes on cars.  They left tons!

RAK: Take your Sunday School teacher a treat.

The boys have been enjoying this advent calendar and I have too.  Guess I need to start thinking of some fresh ideas for next year!

Christmas Advent {23 days left}

It started out cloudy and dark this morning - dark enough to justify lighting up the Christmas tree.  Don't you just love the lights in your home?  It makes my living room feel so cozy.

When I woke this morning, my sons were already up and snooping under the tree and eager to read today's task.  Honestly, this caught me off guard since originally I knew they were expecting to get something in the advent calendar.  Last year our countdown was done with new chapter books for them to read so I could see their reasoning.  It does warm my heart though to know that they are just as excited by sharing kindness as I am.

Today's task:

I had to run to Trader Joe's today and there is a laundromat right near it - perfect!  Older Boy joined me and held on to the baggie of quarters as we drove over.  When I pulled up, he wanted to go in a place the coins on one of the washing machines, so I let him do this alone as I watched from the car.

It wasn't until after the drop-off that I noticed that he had wadded the baggie of coins and note in a ball. Do you see it? ::shaking my head here::

Doing this RAK makes me want to leave little treasures all over the place.  Have you even been the recipient of a RAK?  What was it and how did it change your day?

Christmas Advent Calendar {25 days left}

I was inspired by a Pinterest find on the Most Lovely Things blog and created my own Advent Calendar.  This project was pretty inexpensive!  I went to Home Depot and purchased the 4x2ft board for under $6.  The chalkboard paint, twine rope, and envelopes I already had on hand.  

First, I painted the board with 4 coat of chalkboard paint.  After it dried, I measured out the twine and hot glued it on the board.  Mine are 9" apart.

The cute little envelopes I found at Michael's.  These were leftover from a previous craft.  Lucky me, I also had these cute letterpress-style stamps on hand to number the envelopes.  

Now here is the best part - each envelope contains a Random Act of Kindness task for my kids to complete.  Today was "Rake a neighbor's yard."  Our sweet neighbors across the street have a huge tree with tons of leaves so the boys went out and cleaned it all up.  About 10 minutes after they finished, I received a text from her that let me know that she and her husband have been battling the flu this weekend and they were so thankful that the boys took care of their yard.  What a perfect God moment that a need was so perfectly filled today!  I am looking forward to the next 24 days.

PS.  I found some great RAK cards here.