Homemade Christmas

I am organizing the creative activities in my MOPS group this year. I was asked to blog about Gifts for our girlfriends, rather then bring everything made to show all the ladies. I couldn't be happer! It's going to be fun doing a treasure hunt online for some pictures of the ideas I already have in my head!

I've really been thinking a lot about Christmas, and what it means to me and what I want my kids to get out of it. What I feel God has really been laying on my heart is that it really IS all about HIS Son coming to earth. It is His birthday, afterall. So I'm trying to get my kids away from the "give me this, give me that" mindset, and more into the serve others mindset that I believe God wants us all to have.

This year, we've talked to the kids about the gifts that Jesus was given on His birthday by the three wisemen. We are really going to try and stick to the "three gifts" idea. We also are going to be catching each other being Christlike to each other and write it down, read it on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and give our servant gifts to the King. (A great idea I heard about from someone who made that MOPS meeting, where they talked about Advent, that I missed.)

But we all have some special friends that we would love to give gifts to, I'm sure. I certainly love giving and getting gifts. I've tried to be more thoughtful, as I was preparing this list. Here goes!

So here are some ideas for some homemade gifts that you can make for your girlfriends:

Homemade Christmas Gifts for Girlfriends

1) A Coupon Book ~ Coupons could include babysitting-- for a night for her and her hubby to go out on a date! Time together is SO important to build healthy marriages, and keep the romance alive! Wouldn't you love to help your friend out? Consider the fact of how much going out costs anymore, and know that offering your babysitting services would be a HUGE blessing!

Another coupon could be for a girls night out, just the two of you! Dinner and a movie. Or mani pedis! :)

2) CHOCOLATE!!! I saw this awesome idea from non other than Martha Stewart. (shocker, I know) This year I'm lovin' the idea of making chocolate pretzel bark! So easy and you can dress it up or keep it completely simple. And it's SO yummy with a cup of coffee! Package it in a clear celophane bag and tie it off with some homespun ribbon, or sparkly curlies!

3) If your friend loves to cook, make her some flavored olive oil! I saw this neat idea in my All You Magazine...to really dress it up, make your own pretty corks, by drilling a hole in the top of a cork and putting a beautifully designed ceramic knob. So cute!

4) If your friend LOVES bags, (like I do), make her a personalized bag. You could go all out and actually sew a bag, but I LOVE the idea of getting a canvas bag. I've found them as cheap as $.25 in a thrift store, and that was BRAND NEW! Take the canvas bag and but a cute iron on, you can find super cute ones on etsy.com, or go to Michael's and shop their selection. Iron it onto a piece of coordinating fabric and then iron it onto the bag. You can even do a little detailing and sew around the edges.

I love that last picture "filled with joy." Aren't we? What a neat way to share God's love, during this crazy time, filled with hustle and bustle. Also a great reminder to ourselves..( I did mention I LOVE BAGS?!?!) Make yourself a cute reminder of the King's love, Joy and Peace at Christmas time and always!

5) Another idea that I like, that is personalized for your friend, is a dry erase board. Find an inexpensive frame at Walmart, or Goodwill, or Dollar Tree, and some pretty scrapbook paper. Hobby Lobby or Michaels are good places to get paper by the sheet. Or you could make something up in Microsoft Word. Look under clip art. Does your friend have a rooster themed kitchen? Make her a rooster themed dry erase board! Although, that will be more cartoony then soft, and pretty. OR take notebook paper and make a lined board! Insert scrapbook paper the size of the picture and WALA! you have a personalized homemade dry erase board. Use paper that coordinates with a room you think she would use it in her house. Or paper that is specific to her likes. Don't forget the dry erase marker, you can get an entire pack of 3 or 4 at the Dollar Tree for... $1.00!!

Make it as simple or as complex as you want. Just make sure you're not taking on more then you can handle during this busy time. Remember to take time to celebrate the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas and show your children what giving is all about!

Love you ladies! Can't wait till our next craft!!
Courtney

FREEDOM....

Lately I've been struggling with finding enough TIME... Sure as a mom, our lives are filled with verious tasks of motherhood, carpool, afterschool sports, field trips. This just sort of snuck up on me. I was doing good. I thought I was doing good. And then BAM! It hit me! satan has a way to attack me, for sure. he knows what will get us down...

This morning, as I was getting ready to leave for a MOPS Steering Team Meeting, a book on my shelf really stuck out to me. Sort of like it was glowing and saying "pick me!" I picked it up on the way to the bathroom. It was titled "Amazing Freedom." A book by the lovely ladies from the Women of Faith Conference. {Which I am supposed to be going to this weekend.} I started reading the devotional chapter titled "Freedom from Busyness." I didn't get to finish it, and ended up rushing out the door, late, to MOPS.

When I got home, I preceeded to get in a depressed funk about all that I had to do before I would be ready to go to the conference. It ended with me sobbing in the kitchen to my husband about how I was sorry our house was such a mess and how I don't know how to keep {some areas- like the dining room table} clean. I texted my mother and told her I wasn't going to go to the conference, there was too much to do and I couldn't leave my husband with this mess. She called me and tried to encourage me and cheer me up. I listened for a few minutes, then told her I was having a nervous breakdown and I had to go. I hung up.

My husband had to leave, and as he did, I felt the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, leading me to sit down right then and read my Bible. I now remembered the last thing I told my husband as I was getting into the car this morning. "I missed my time with Jesus this morning. I really needed it. I can already tell."

So as I sat at my kitchen table, piled HIGH with treasures, trinkets, and trash, I remembered a sweet friend telling me earlier in the week about a great time in the Word from Galatians 5. I felt that's where the Lord wanted me to read.

The Word lept off the page and into my overwhelmed heart, and aching head. The chapter's title was "Freedom of the Gospel." What are you saying Lord? I read down further.

"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again.... But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to recieve by faith the righteousness God has primised to us.... What is important is faith expressing itself in love. You were running the race so well. Who has help you back from following the truth? It certainly isn't God, for He is the One who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!... For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters...So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives... The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. ...Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. ~Galatians 5:1,5-7,13,16,22-23,25

Earlier, the song "Nothing's Gonna Hold Me Back" by Jesus Culture was in the back of my mind. The lyrics that the Holy Spirit had playing on rerun in my head go right along with this.

My chains fell off. My heart was free. I'm alive to live for you. Amazing love how can this be? You gave everything for me. Nothing's gonna hold me back. No, nothings gonna hold me back.

The important thing is faith being expressed in LOVE. As a mom, I have the opportunity to share God's love in a real and very tangible way, in the way that I show His love to my children, and raise them. I also believe this is what He's called us to do in the world as well. He wants us to live our faith by loving others. I can do this!

He gives is His Holy Spirit to guide our lives. When He is guiding our lives, you will live a life that is producing the gifts of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Mind you, I know that I need the Holy Spirit to show up daily to help me and guide me. But His Word says that He will. His Word also says that I have been called to live in freedom He has called to me. To me. Little ol' me.

When I feel overwhelmed with my stuff and very much like a failure, His unfailing love overwhelmes me. It washes away the dirt and crud that satan would have me drown in. His amazing love. His awesome sacrifice. He gave everything for me. He set me free!

He is the One who has called you to freedom. ~Galatians 5: 7b
Don't forget it! Be encouraged today!

Long time no write.

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I last posted! I've been SUPER busy! Super busy doesn't even really cover it!

School has started. The Girls are doing GREAT! Loving their teachers and friends and so far, it's going pretty smoothly. The first two weeks of school I subbed in the Pre-School class, as the Teacher's Aid. WOW! That was both a lot of fun and EXHAUSTING! I'm so thankful for my hubby who really picked up the slack with housework and dinner. I was SO tired coming home from school that I crashed on the couch SEVERAL nights! lol! I have a lot of respect for women who hold both a full time job out in the workforce, and can also hold down the full time one within the home. Hats off you you Momma's!

Third week of school found me working for my mom at an apartment, painting and cleaning. At the end of this week, I wondered what "normal" looked like? And couldn't wait to stay home and have a "normal week." That brought ne to some more thoughts about what normalcy is all about, which I will have to write an entire post on. :)

Fourth week of school you could find me in our Senior Pastor's office, taking part in THE GREAT Exteme Makeover, Office Edition. My husband felt called to redo Pastor's office, but then of course was called in 30 other directions as he did both his job and the senior pastor's while he was away on vacation. It was a lot, A LOT of hard work, but it paid off when my hubby recored the Pastor and his wife's FIRST reaction to the room renovation! We painted, put new carpet, a new desk, and two new chairs, to give a breif description. It was AWESOME! Lots of good hard work and fun! I'm very glad that's over.

Now on to "normal." What is that again, anyway? This week I was home, getting ready for a church Fall Festival/Yard Sale. I didn't actually end up making it to the event because of car troubles. But I did clean out my hallway, which has been accumulating "yard sale" stuff for the past 3 months! SO HAPPY to have accomplished that!

This weekend I got a bushel of apples to make applesauce. This year I'm going to try canning it, instead of freezing. Looking forward continuing work on the neverending basement project...although I will say, that when I went down to get more yard sale stuff that I thought I had stored in there, I was very pleased to realize that most of that stuff clogging the immediate area at the bottom of the stairs, is actually trash! HALEJUAH!!!! SAWWEEETT!

So I look forward to spending the next week a slightly slower pace. Please Lord? And possibly catching up on some post ideas that I've been mulling over in my spare time :)

The Tioga Co. Fair

We took the kids to the fair. Twice. One day with friends and another day with Grandma. Little Man rode the DRAGONS! And my big girls rode the Gravatron AND the Tilt-A-Whirl!! (At least that's what they were called back in my day. Now, they do not have names. I wonder why??!) They have grown so much, this summer, and I cannot escape that fact, even at the FAIR!
We had so much fun visiting the barns with goats, pigs, cows and the latest addition to the fair: CHICKENS! Had lots of fun taking pictures of the kids, and looking at things artistically, an attempting to take some neat pictures.

Birthday Party Fun

We went to a birthday party. The little girl is 15 days apart from Middle Miss. Our due dates were August 1st and August 2nd. Middle Miss came 2 weeks early, and my friend's daughter was born on her due date of August 2nd. The girls had so much fun playing together. They did homemade bubbles. Have to get the recipe for that! They were better then the bubbles from the store! We compared.

So many great pictures! Too many to post! Thank you for inviting us to celebrate!

Blueberry Picking!

My we've been busy. Busy with what, I ask myself. At times I can't remember. So I will start with a recap of what I can.

We took the kids blueberry picking. TWICE! The first time we only had a half an hour before the patch closed. We picked about 4 pounds that day. Good little pickers! Little Man sat happily in his stroller while we picked quickly. The view from the blueberry patch is AMAZING! I haven't been in 2 years, and a little has changed. The last time I was there you could not see the windmills. But time means change and change means progress, right?

of

The next time we went we had a little more time. We picked 8 pounds. Little Man even picked! Daddy gave him a small branch with berries on it and he picked and ate them. Opps. The girls were very good and waited until we checked out, before they ate. We saw a doe with twin fawns on the way home. What a special treat to see God's creation!

AND I got all of the blueberries put up! I'm so proud of my little accomplishment! AND I made 2 batches of Blueberry Buckle, tweaked a little to make it healthier! :) Best Recipe EVER! Check out the recipe here: http://www.pickyourown.org/blueberrycc.htm
And the family LOVED fresh blueberry pancakes too! What else will I be making with my yummy blueberries?? I cannot wait to find out!

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile. We've been busy. What have you accomplished you ask? I'm not exactly sure. The other day I realized that we only have 4 more weeks left of summer, before SCHOOL starts! I love school, and my girls do too, however, there's just a lot more to be done on our "to do" list!

I was looking for a picture of it, but I must have taken it on my cell phone. Anyway, the girls and I made up a poster board of all of the activities that we wanted to do this summer. We've gotten a lot of little ones, but the ones like "Camping" and "go to Knoebels" just haven't happened yet. I'm still hoping we can make it happen!

I've been just trying to enjoy my kids. Being away from them really made me think about enjoying each moment with them, and teaching them what life is really about. Giving thanks to God in EVERY season... I will tell you more about my trip in another post. :) I will say it was...FABULOUS!!! :)

Well, I really need to get back to laundry and cleaning, as I'm not getting much of that done while I'm on here! :)