Verse of The Day: When I'm Weary & Worn Out

It's after 2 am.  My body is tired, but my mind is wide awake.  Full of emotions.  Mostly stress.  It was a good day.  A great day, really.  But there is just too much on my plate right now & I'm having trouble juggling it all.  Of course the only time I actually think about this is when my head hits the pillow.
So I browse Amazon.  Scan Facebook. Peek at Instagram.
Anything to avoid figuring out the real issue.
Then, I see this verse on one of my home screens.  Now I can find calm & rest my body for awhile.  Tomorrow, I'll attempt to figure out what's bothering me.

Christmas Cheer: Simple Gift

Here's a very simple gift for anyone on your list. 

We won big at our town Christmas Celebration (I'm talkin' grand prize kind of big.  It blessed our socks off, folks!).  It was such a great surprise that we chose to turn some of that money back into blessing others. 

I purchased some $5 gift cards from the local coffee shop.  I also asked for a cup for each card, because I think it makes cute packaging. 

We stopped at another local store to buy some candy for filling. 

 

 

The basics

 

Put the envelope in first.

 

Fill with candy and snap the lid on. 

 

Some of the cups have ornaments or other things in them.  After looking at these I wish I would've bought more candy for filling (or eaten less while we were filling them).  I also wish I would've bought candy canes to stick in the straw holes.  That's what I did a few years ago, and it really adds a nice touch. 

 

As a bonus, the kids got to help with this project.  What kid doesn't love playing with candy, right?  We did color sorting, patterning, adding, multiplication and division.  Oh, and a little taste testing.  For quality control, ya know? 

 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cheer: Neighbor Gift

 

Here is a simple neighbor gift I saw online a few years ago.  I wish I could remember where I first saw it, so I could give credit to the original poster. 

This simple gift has helped simplify our neighborhood Christmas giving, but is still a hands on project made with love. 

 

When we first built our home 8 years ago, we had just a handful of neighbors.  We also had just one child back then.  Making cookie platters and buying cutesy gifts was a breeze back then. 

Now, we have over 20 families in our neighborhood!  So not only does it get more difficult, it also gets more expensive.  I didn't want to quit gift giving all together, because it's something I enjoy doing.

 

I'm sure you don't need instructions, but I'll just outline what I did real quick.

 

Supplies:

Wrapping paper

Tape

Ribbon

Scissors

Cardstock

(a few years ago I hand cut & laminated all of the tags in the shape of gingerbread men. This year, I just chose cardstock & my big straight paper cutter).

 

What I Did:

I started with a blank word document & typed:

"WE HOPE YOU ARE GETTING WRAPPED UP IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON"

-I also added a family picture & the year, but that's totally optional-

I printed the tags on cardstock.

Hole punched them (or you can make a little slice with your scissor and send the ribbon through).

Tie it around the roll

add a piece of tape to secure it.

Curl the ribbon.

Put on a Santa hat and deliver these door to door singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  Or, make your kids do it.  It's character building.

Choosing Christmas Cheer

Christmas time usually leaves me frazzled, anxious, worn out & disappointed.  But this year I don't feel any of those things!  I am so in love with this whole Christmas season & celebrating the birth of Jesus.

 

 

  I'm most thankful that I had another year of making memories with my little family.  Praise Jesus for these good times!

 

Here is what's working for me this year:

• I chose not to make platters of cookies for all of the neighbors.  I did however do simple neighbor gifts (I'll post this soon!).
• The 2 cookie platters that I did make were filled with 2/3 store bought goodies and 1/3 homemade cookies... that were from a mix... yes, I really did that.  & they were lovely and appreciated all the same.  -Am I really the same person who wrote a few years ago about cutting out processed food and only making all natural?  Yeah, well, uh... that girl had a 3rd baby and needs a break right now.
• I chose not to worry about putting a price on gifts & trying to keep it even for everyone. Shopping is so much more fun when done from the heart and not the wallet.  Hopefully this doesn't backfire and leave anyone comparing (or complaining).
• We are not exchanging gifts between us siblings.  This is kind of sad, but it cuts out A BOAT LOAD of stress!  Those brothers of mine are already spoiled, and very difficult to shop for!
• We are lightly homeschooling through the holidays.  Rather than taking a week or two off and trying to get back into routine, we are just lightly schooling through it all.  In all honesty, I think we are getting MORE done, when I am more relaxed and not pushing the schedule.
• I'm throwing out random acts of kindness every.single.place I can.  I don't want to reveal too much, because that would suck the joy right outta the whole shebang.  I do want to encourage you to just bless someone, anyone, in anyway you can.  Whether you get to stick around and see their reaction or just imagine what their expression was, it feels SO good either way. 

Oh and here's a silly one:

• We put the great big over sized Christmas tree downstairs and let the big kids load it full of ornaments just as they wanted to.  The basement is off limits to the toddler, so she and the tree are both safer that way.
• We bought a smaller (6.5ft x 3ft) pre-lit tree for upstairs.  I only placed one ornament on it. Um, because I bought the ornament, came home, hung it on the tree, and it hasn't moved yet! 

All of these little cut backs have made it easier to put my time, money and energy  into the things I feel more passionate about right now.  What can you do, or are you already doing, to go LOW STRESS this week and next? 

The Work Place

My home is my work place.  I am here more than anyone else.  I am in charge of more physical duties here than anyone else.  I am not complaining. I take pride in this.  God has provided me a beautiful home, and a husband who allows me to be a housewife.

This year we took a leap of faith by also extending my duties to not just at home mommy, but full time homeschooling momma as well.
This is just about pure joy! 
Along with adding full time homeschooling to my job title, it also added a lot more STUFF to the house. 
I mean it..A LOT MORE!  Books, printer paper, cardstock, colored drawing paper, construction paper, reading books, text books, teachers manuals, workbooks, pens, pencils, art supplies (this is huge), science supplies, craft supplies.  It just goes on and on!
It didn't have to be this bad.  I just let it get this way while I was shopping for the perfect things to help the kids to learn.

I'm a pretty neat person, although all of this stuff is starting to control me!  Another resolution of mine, is to get on top of the clutter!  I'll post little pictures of before and after's, or long drawn out blog posts explaining the process to you.  Either way, I'll let you know how I get out from under this STUFF!

Maybe while my hubby is home for Christmas break I can take the time to reallllllly organize.  Or maybe not, because I'll be too busy cleaning up after him snuggling and enjoying his company while he's here.