I've Been Elfed

We were elfed! Click on the link below.
Thanks Jen! The girls have been asking to watch it over and over again!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1589131034

Trees, Toddlers and Ornaments!!

Within a week of having the tree up I have already grown so tired of chasing after the girlies and telling them to put the ornaments back on the tree. In fact, many of our glass ornaments were broken within the first couple of days of putting the tree up that I decided that our big tree in the living room would consist of nothing more than the kid friendly, non breakable, plastic ornaments!

Here are a few pictures of the fabulous job the girls did hanging up ornaments. I love how there is at least 10 candy canes on one branch and 10 icicles bundled up on another. The other half of our tree was completely bare so Papi and I had to help fill in the gaps when the kiddos went to bed. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much good because the very next morning all of the candy canes and icicles were rearranged again.

And just to give you an even better idea of what life has been like with two little ones this holiday season, here’s what I found on our tree the other day after the girlies had been tucked into bed:

Ha-ha! Ya gotta love it!

Here's what mommy's been working on. I decided to try my hand at making popcorn garland this year! My mother, sister and I decided to make a girls night of it! Of course, the little ones helped too even though they were more interested in eating it! We had a great time! The tree looks very festive, not to mention my whole house smells like popcorn...yummy!

Whew…this tired Mommy is off to bed!

Breakfast with Santa

Since Mommy was away this past weekend at a women's conference Papi took the girls to have Breakfast with Santa! The girls had a blast and kept Papi very busy; especially the little one who demanded being on Santa's lap throughout the whole breakfast! Papi had a real challenge keeping her away from Santa so that the other little boys and girls could visit with him too! Here are some pics of the girls with Santa!

Isa talking with Santa telling him it's Jesus Birthday! According to Tim, she wouldn't quit until Santa acknowledged that it was indeed Jesus' birthday.

The Grandkids

Jesse Tree-Creation Ornaments

Here are few more ornaments the girls made for our Jesse Tree from our story on Creation. Aren't they so cute!

Here is a video clip of Papi sharing the story of creation with them and some pics of the girls hanging up their ornaments on the Jesse Tree.

Ellie saying, "I did it!"

Before going to bed Isa asked me what story and ornament we would be doing tomorrow! Can you tell I'm enjoying this new little tradition we've started! Thanks again for the idea rocks in my dryer!

Celebrating Advent

I can't believe it's December already!! With the busyness of the season, I have been thinking through ways that I can help keep the real meaning of the season before my children. Not that I have anything against Santa or Frosty but sometimes these things can overshadow celebrating the birth and saviour of our Lord Jesus. The light, who takes away the sins of the world! 


In doing so, I came across two great ideas in celebration of advent! The first being the  Jesse Tree (I found this idea at rocks in my dryer)!

I had never heard of a Jesse Tree before, but as I read more about it I loved the idea of helping the kids see how everything in the bible points to the coming of our Saviour. 


I love the way  The Story Book Bible captures that truth: "You see the best thing about this Story is--It's true. There are lots of stories in the bible, but all the stories are telling one BIG Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."


Isn't that the truth! And such a simple one at that! ; )


The idea of the Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1 which says,
"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

Jesse was the father of David, Israel's greatest king. Because of that, he is often thought of as the first person in the geneology of Jesus. To give you a little backdrop, God had promised a discouraged nation that a new King would rise up out of the family of Jesse to save them and rule the whole earth. If you've forgotten the story. Go back and read it. It's a great one! But more importantly, it points to the coming of Jesus; the fulfillment of that promise. It is decorated with reminders  or ornaments of how God prepared the world for the coming of our King Jesus who would reign forever and ever.


If you want to celebrate advent, the Jesse Tree is a simple and creative way the whole family can celebrate Jesus! My girls love it! Perhaps yours will too! 


Here's how it works:

To create our own Jesse Tree, we puchased a 4ft tree to display in our dining area. Beginning December 1st up until Christmas Eve, we will be reading a scripture/devotional each night that takes us through the Old Testament. 


As each story is told it describes the events OR members in Jesus' family beginning with the "root of Jesse" and ending with the birth of Christ. 


Following the scripture reading, we hang up an ornament that symbolizes that specific story. Sometimes, the girls will even act it out. Any chance to be dramatic and they're all over that!

For example, the first scripture/devotional read on December 1st is taken from the passage above, Isaiah 11:1. So, to symbolize the "stump of Jesse" we made an ornament of a tree. Below are the ornaments the girls made.

On December 2nd the story of creation is told. This is where your creativity comes in!  What reminds you of creation? Is it animals, the moon, the sun, a picture of a globe. You can use anything that helps you remember the scripture you read.

For the Jesse Tree Devotional click here.


For additional information on the history of the Jesse Tree click here or here.




Another great idea that I came across is.......

 The ADVENTure of Christmas. Here is another great way to celebrate advent and another great book by Lisa Whelchel! The ADVENTure of Christmas focuses on helping children find Jesus in our Holiday Traditions. 


It describes the significance behind each tradition such as hanging lights outside, the candy cane, christmas tree, ornaments, gift wrapping, etc…and describes how these customs relate to Jesus’ birth. 


For example, when hanging our Christmas tree I was able to share with the girls how the Tree reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. He died on a tree to forgive us of our sins so that we could live forever with Him. The branches remind us of how he stretched out his arms for us like the branches that need to be stretched out to hold our pretty christmas ornaments. The lights remind us that Jesus is the Light Of The World who takes away the the sins of the world.   


I had overlooked these simple explanations of our holiday traditions simply because I had grown accustomed to them. Have you?  In the ADVENTure of Christmas you'll even find simple ideas for little crafts to incorporate with each story. Take the time to reflect this season. May you see Christ in your Holiday Traditions and be captured by his love and beauty!


Blessings,
Mel

A Disney Vacation!

We just got back from our vacation to Disney World in Florida! Talk about being blessed!! Not only did we have free tickets to Disney World but my sister lives right across the street from the park, so we had free lodging too! Not to mention, she's a manager at the Maggianos down there in Orlando, so we enjoyed free italian food two nights in a row! God is so good!

The best thing about or trip was the Character breakfast we did before hitting the park one morning! Not only did we have an amazing breakfast, but the girls got to meet some of the Disney characters like Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch! The girls LOVED it! Tim and I still can’t get over the looks on their faces. That is something that will be etched in our memories forever!

The worst thing about our trip was the LONG drive! Toting little ones around along with being 6months pregnant meant that we stopped approximately every 2 to 2.5 hours. Not to mention, I 10 was closed down on the way back home so it took us about 20hrs to get there and back! Amazingly though, the girls did very well!

My favorite Picture from our trip!

Decorating Pumpkins

Not only did the girls have a blast picking out their pumpkins at Dewberry Farm but they enjoyed painting them with their Grandma Carolyn (actually pronounced "ba-maw")!

Here are some pics of the girls with their "Ba-Maw" Carolyn!

Isa and Ba-Maw!

The Artist at work!

I can do it too!

The Masterpiece!

CASH

So my husband and I are not in agreement for the name of our new little boy. He really has his heart set on "Cash." All I can think about when I hear that for a name is how much we need some cash. :) You let us know what you think by voting below. Feel free to leave comments too...

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Happy Birthday Papi

Last Wednesday the girls and I planned a nice little birthday lunch at home for Papi. We baked a cake, made lunch and decorated the kitchen. It was such a simple little celebration but the girls had a blast! It's fun to see how such simple activites like baking, coloring and blowing up balloons light up their faces! I love that they are so easily amused and pleased! When I'm tempted to think that a fun day means running around and taking them here or there, these moments are a great reminder that simplicity can be lots of fun!

Here are some fun pics of Tim and the girls! (Papi's still getting birthday wishes a week later!)

Steal a Base. Steal a Taco!!

The World Series and a Free Taco? That's right!

Taco Bell is offering a free taco for a stolen base in the world series.

Since a base was stolen last night, free tacos will be given to customers between 2-5pm tomorrow (October 30th) only.

Click here for official rules.

Now ya know! So, head on over to your local Taco Bell and enjoy a taco on the house (free food always taste a little better)!

Supermarket Savings!

HOLD UP!!

I just discovered this cool money saving system! Did any of you know about this?

I was surfing bloggyville this evening and stumbled across moneysavingmom.

If you're interested in saving some cash on your grocery bills check out CVS 101 and Walgreens 101.

Dewberry Farm

Last weekend we went to Dewberry Farm! We had a great day with friends, Iris and Pablo who were such a big help with the girls; especially chasing "lil bit" around.

Like bozos we didn't think we'd need our stroller. I think we thought it would be too much of a hassle since our little one hates being confined. She likes to be next to big sis exlporing her surroundings. We'll never do that again...this little gal kept us busy! Thank goodness we had some extra hands!

We got to take some great pictures in the pumpkin patch and had fun picking out a pumpkin to take home and decorate! I hear they have a pumpkin lighting in the early evening, so hopefully we'll get to take the girls back soon!