Merry Christmas!!!

Cute Christmas Clothes...

I just love cute clothes for kids, especially Christmas clothes!
I am going to put them on my kiddos until they say no thank you!
Enjoy these pics of some of our cute clothes for Christmas 2011!!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like...

...CHRISTMAS!!!!!

This weekend was Christmas on the River (COTR), an annual weekend long celebration in our town! Most of the fun is organized with children in mind, making fun family memories!


We have a tradition! A good portion of our church family gathers on our pastor's front lawn to watch the Children's Day Parade (and EAT and play)! I saw this Santa snack mix on Pinterest and just had to make/take it! Turned out super cute AND super tasty!!!



The kids always enjoy hanging out with friends from church and laughing, snacking and enjoying the parade (and thrown candy) in groups! Our kids are really great ages for Christmas fun this year! Reagan has sure missed her best buddy and was happy to find him at the parade!



After the day parade, we walk down to the town square where we find craft and food vendors aplenty! Remembering last year, the kids stuffed their pockets with money from their piggy banks. Alex went solely in search of a marshmallow shooter and Reagan was on a mission to devour a funnel cake! Fun, fun memories!!!


Did I mention this is also a great time to show off some cute Christmas wear! :)
We dressed in hopes of pics with Santa, but he was MIA this year. Oh well. Much fun was had, so we went home happy!!!

1st phone blog

Thanksgiving with Children

We are making every effort to focus on what matters most in each holiday this year!

Thanksgiving is about being truly thankful, giving thanks with a grateful heart. If you havent read the story of Squanto and the first Thanksgiving in detail, it is worth a google search (I recommend www.joyfulheart.com/thanksgiving/squanto.htm). This is an emotional story, worth knowing and sharing with your children/grandchildren!

To help us remember to be truly thankful this year, we used this idea from a blog I follow called Tatortots and Jello! The kids have really enjoyed this!

The blank printable is available free online. Each child can make it unique.
I laminated the trees after they colored them, but wish I had laminated the leaves, too!

One side of the leaf is numbered, one side has something the child is thankful for!
You just turn one over and let it "fall" off the tree each day until Thanksgiving Day!
So simple, yet so meaningful...really helped make thankfulness concrete for my two kiddos!

We have also been memorizing scripture about thankfulness and learning a song, hopefully to be presented in plastic microphones after our Thanksgiving meal with extended family!
All it takes is a simple effort to really bring the meaning of this holiday home!!!

Halloween 2011: Belated, but Cute!

I don't have very many photos from Halloween 2011, mostly because I was just enjoying it!

Alex was the cutest policeman ever...took this role VERY SERIOUSLY!
Reagan was Jessie from Toy Story...not very familiar with the movie, but thrilled with the costume, and super cute, if you ask me! I think she just wanted the hat! HA!


I even dressed up this year, to host a fall festival at our church the week before Halloween.



Another reason for only a few pics is because Eric and I took a getaway to Denver, CO and our return flight was late on Halloween night, so there was no trick or treating this year. Don't worry...we still have plenty of candy and prizes from the THREE fall festivals the children attended the week before Halloween, and both kids wore those costumes almost every day of October, pretending at home! What fun ages we enjoyed this year!!!


Happy Halloween!
Hey, I got this post up before Thanksgiving Day, so it counts! :)

Discipline 101

Recently, I prayed much for guidance on some discipline issues.
To some of you, the problems may seem minor. However, as children of God, we are called to a high standard, striving for Christ-likeness.
Some of the things we were seeing in our two children were absolute opposites of the Fruit of the Spirit.
God led me to some clear examples of His kind of discipline!

First, we addressed the problem behaviors that were consistently seen over several weeks...
Each child was given a trash bag and a choice...
Either put inside the bag every toy and item that was off limits to others and throw the item(s) away, OR...

Write down these things that we are commanded to "put off" in scripture and symbolically throw those away in the trash bags instead!

Both children chose to throw away the behaviors and attitudes, of course, but the approach was powerful for these two little ones! We read scripture to back it up and the response was exactly what I believe Christ wants...a true brokenness, followed by change!



I couldn't just leave it at that, though. I wanted the positive changes to be rewarded and, we pray, genuine and long lasting! So, we also added a long term system of rewarding Christ-like attitudes and behaviors!

We set up this area in our former dining room, now homeschool/play room!
We had lots of dialogue about the plan and the rewards, using input from the kids to decide on positive reinforcement that they would each want to earn!!!

Now, the small jars have an A and an R on them and have over 10 marbles each from the past few weeks. This has helped Eric and I be intentional about noticing good behavior, rather than just always correcting disobedience. We all have an eternal focus in this! We have already seen a tremendous change for the better in about a month's time. Still needing some reminders, of course, but bringing it all back to God's Word brings such a calm peace to us all!


I must brag on God here...He gave these ideas through His Word and through prayer. On my own, I am nothing! With God, I can be a great mom who raises Christ-like kiddos!!!
If any of you are struggling with discipline issues, I would love to pray with you and for you and have a chance to encourage you!
We are called to do hard things as parents, but the eternal reward is great!

Pumpkin Patch Fun, Part 2

No time for much commentary today and blogger won't add my last 5 pics,
but wanted to post part 2 of the pumpkin patch trip!
Again, this was such a fun day with beautiful weather!
Duck races were unique and a big hit with my two!
Plus, just lots of great photo opps!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!!

Pumpkin Patch Fun, Part 1

The kids and I ventured to a nearby pumpkin patch Saturday. After two weeks of sickness in our home, we were ready for some FUN!

And FUN was had by all! It was warm and beautiful outside, the crowd was slim, and we participated in everything they had to offer, some more than once!

This was our 2nd time to go through the corn maze...so fun to take turns leading us through!

We needed a couple of pit stops for lunch, snacks and drinks. We were hard at play, after all!

Pinterest has inspired me to get more creative with my camera.
Here, we all gave a thumbs up after completing the corn maze!!

We participated in the sack races many times, but I never came out a winner!
Not for lack of trying! I love having two small photographers when Eric isn't with us!

The kiddos at the exit. These are all from the end of our day, once we were hot and sweaty!
Blogspot won't let me add more pictures to this post for some reason, so stay tuned for another post with pics from our fresh beginning, when we actually chose pumpkins! :)

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

Here's hoping we win tonight!

Final Orange Beach Post

The kids spent more time outside this beach trip than ever before...wonderful ages!!!
Part of this was because the weather was beautiful, cool enough to tolerate for long periods of time. Another part was age and creativity of both kiddos. We spent hours in the sand and in the ocean...morning, afternoon, and evening! SO MUCH FUN!!!

Sure hope we can go again one day! This was an unforgettable vacation week!!!