It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

-
 The Shaw Family absolutely looooooves Christmas! I think each of us would say it's our favorite holiday! The boys have been asking me to decorate since November 1st. I wasn't quite ready since I've been feeling sort of puny, but yesterday, I gave in and we started decorating! 

Tonight we finished the last tree and put all the boxes back in the attic. It feels so good once its all done! I had fun decorating this year, pulling out some Christmas decor that was my mom's when she was younger and some that belonged to my Grandmother. I even have one nativity set that was hand painted in 1930 in Italy, it belonged to my Great Grandmother.  I love having these special things that have been in the family for so long! I also enjoyed looking at the different ornaments and crafts that my boys have made in years past. I try to make something different each year. I love putting those special decorations out! I was thinking as we hung our stockings and put up ornaments, how exciting it is that next year, we'll have another little person here celebrating with us! We'll have to make some fun crafts to mark his or her first Christmas!!

We were soooo excited to put up the sixth stocking, even though
it doesn't have a name on it yet!
The boys had a great time decorating the tree!
Thank goodness we have shatter-proof ornaments!
We always put the Polar Express Lionel Train around the Christmas tree.
Tyson was absolutely amazed by it! It's a hit for all our boys!
Then we put our gifts around the tree so that Tyson can't
play with the train! It's still there and easily turned on, but he can't get to it!
Hahaha

Today I am thankful for the excitement and joy on my children's faces as we decorated for Christmas this weekend. To be honest, I can't believe its the end of November! This year has flown by! And with the morning sickness and fatigue, it just doesn't seem like its time for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Seeing their little faces and seeing them so happy has made me feel excited about Christmas too! I may not have the energy to do everything I usually do but I can't wait to experience this season with my fellas!! I am also grateful for answered prayers. God continues to bless me with much, much better days than I've had in the first trimester of my previous pregnancies. I've been able to do much more this go 'round. He hears and He answers and I am so grateful!

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

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

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