Christmas Traditions....

-
It's that time of year again! Christmas Time!!! I absolutely love this time of year! My little (well not quite so little anymore) family has started several Christmas traditions over the past few years. We've got our new house all decorated and we're thrilled to begin this season together as a family of 5! Since today was the first day of December our little elf friend, Ernie, arrived to begin a fun season of hide and seek! The boys were SOOO excited to see him! We also made some homemade ornaments tonight which is something Dylan and I always enjoy doing together. I'm looking forward to making Moravian cookies in a couple of weeks, which is a tradition my grandmother began over 30 years ago. We'll be visiting Santa with the Almodovar family next week. This will be our 5th year with this tradition! There are certain movies and songs that we always enjoy and we'll be adding the Advent wreath and candles to our family devotions soon, too! We love going to Christmas parties, spending time with family, and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus! We began a new tradition today as well. It's a "Random Acts of Kindness" Advent calendar. Today we had to give a compliment to a friend. The boys can't wait to see what we have to do tomorrow! They are delighted to start this new tradition!

He's back!
Ernie decorated our Chandelier tonight =)
Working on some homemade ornaments...
Cute little trees...he did a good job, huh?
I think they're adorable! I hope the Sunday School teachers like them =)

Today I am thankful for fun family traditions. This time of year is so exciting, especially with little ones! I love making this season extra special for them. It makes it extra special for me as well! I am grateful for the wonderful memories we have made in the past and all the new ones we'll be making this year! Celebrating the birth of our Savior is such a special occasion! I'm so grateful I get to celebrate with these precious little ones!


Comments

Post a Comment

Please take the time to leave an encouraging message

Popular posts from this blog

Please don't give me a wedgie!

-
Image
 Would you believe me if I told you that life with 3 boys is wild??  You probably would, huh? I'm telling you, just an average Wednesday night in the Shaw household is full of all sorts of craziness! I did hear a first tonight though!  Bryan was wrestling with the boys and suddenly Dylan starts yelling "Please don't give me a wedgie!" Now by those words, you would assume that he didn't want a wedgie but the way he was shaking his booty in front of Bryan and laughing, proved that he really did want a wedgie! HA! Then, of course, Evan and Tyson started saying, "Please don't give me a wedgie!" (One in English, one in toddler language) So we had three little boys running around shaking their tail ends and begging for wedgies.  There. Is. Never. A. Dull. Moment. As you can see from this picture above, they got their wedgies! They thought it was hysterical! And I just had to show you the picture below, just to give you an id
Read more

Beauty from Ashes

-
Image
I have heard the term "beauty from ashes" a thousand times in the past week. It wasn't the first time I 've heard the term but I've always just brushed it off. Since I've heard it so much lately, I decided to pay it some attention.  So here we go... The Bible says in Isaiah that God will give us beauty instead of ashes. In Biblical times it was the custom for people in great times of mourning and difficulty to lay down in ashes. Just imagine this...you’ve got a big problem in your life so you just lay down in a pile of dirty ashes. There is absolutely nothing beautiful about this scenario. So where does the beauty come from? Can ashes really be turned into something beautiful?   Scripture says that God is able to take the situation that burdens you or causes you pain and turn it into beauty. He can pick you up out of the ash pile of life and make something beautiful out of you. The Hebrew word for ashes is epher and the Hebrew word for beauty is pheer. Just m
Read more

Psalm 84: 11-12

-
Image
For the  Lord   God is a sun   and shield;      the  Lord  bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold      from those whose walk is blameless.  Lord  Almighty, blessed  is  the one who trusts in you Psalm 84: 11-12 I've been pondering Psalm 84:11-12 for a couple of weeks now. It has become one of my favorite verses. After really digging into this verse on my own and in Bible study this morning, I feel like God speaks volumes through these 38 simple words.  God is a sun and a shield. Like the sun, God provides for us, nourishes us, and is always present. The sun provides hope with each new day, just as God gives hope in even the worst situation. Like a shield, God protects us and gives us security. We can hide behind Him and feel safe. But, a shield does no good just laying near by. It only protects when picked up and used appropriately. The same is true with God. If we don't acknowledge Him, if we don't get to know Him, if we don'
Read more