Christmas Card Season

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas cards. I love giving and receiving cards, but I really dislike the stress in the preparation of taking the card photo. It's really hard to take a "good" picture with two small kids (4 and 1 yr old), so this year I decided to NOT stress about it.

That's right. NO STRESS. No fuss on outfits, no big plans, no hiring photographers, no plans. No. Stress. We decided to go to our local park, and have my dad take our picture. {no fuss} I used our "mom cam" {canon rebel t5i}, and I had my dad use the "portrait" setting {it helps keep people in focus and background blurry}. For outfits, Mila and I wore our Easter outfits from this year, Bryan wore a sweater he had, and Caleb wore his Thanksgiving shirt. {no fuss}

At our picture location the kids were terrible. Mila wanted to play with the ducks {and then she fell and scraped her knee}, and Caleb wanted to act like his normal wild self and NOT take a picture. And I decided....I DON'T CARE. I don't. I'm tired of trying to be perfect. I'm tired of comparing my life to the perfect family {you know them, the ones with the perfectly behaved children with the clean house and fabulous stuff}. I'm done. I'm choosing GRACE, NOT PERFECTION.

There was not enough candy to get my kids to take a "good" picture. And I didn't care. My dad kindly asked, "do you want me to keeping trying?"....and I responded, "nope. Our friends getting our Christmas cards know my kids are wild. I don't care anymore.". 

I can't wait to get our Christmas cards and mail them to our friends and family because I think they are PERFECT! They perfectly reflect my new motto of "grace not perfection". They perfectly represent our wild and imperfect family. And I LOVE it!

I found the best cards to go with my "this is our life with kids" idea on Tiny Prints. "seldom calm always bright"...Yep, there hasn't been a "Silent Night" in the Big K house in the past 4 years...and I'm ok with that. 

I want to encourage you if you are stressed, or exhausted by the thought that you're late on ordering Christmas cards...STOP. Seriously. Use a photo you already have or ask a neighbor or friend to snap a quick photo. Let the kids be kids. Stop caring. I don't judge you. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what others think. The people receiving your cards already love you! Boom! Now go order your cards...or New Year's cards. ;-)

Elf On The Shelf Celebrates Jesus

Raising children is hard. There are so many choices to be made, i.e breastmilk vs. formula; fastfood vs. homecooked; Jesus vs. Santa; public school vs. private school. You get my point.

As a Christ follower, I try to make each decision based on what God thinks, his Word says, and wisdom. Some decisions are easy, but others are not. Jesus vs. Santa isn't a black and white choice. Unless you're reading a different Bible than me. {insert humor here} 

This year we decided to introduce "Santa" using Jen's idea that "there's a secret to Santa, and when you think you've figured it out, come and let me know". You can read more about Jen's idea here. With "Santa", we decided to start the Elf on the Shelf tradition, but with a twist.  As Christians, we celebrate Jesus' birthday first, but also want to participate in American traditions during the Christmas season. "we are in the world, but not apart of the world"-John 17 

I decided our Elf would teach the kids about God and Jesus, by using our church's preschool biblical truths, and playing hide and seek games. This allows our children to participate in the Elf on the Shelf game, and making Jesus bigger than Santa. To get started, I created a calendar of the 5 biblical truths with notes of what the Elf would do each day, an introduction letter from Santa's elves, and laminated 5 biblical truths cards for the Elf to bring each day (God made everything; God is charge of everything; God is good; Jesus came to save sinners; God wants to talk with us). {hey, to make money, I work as a Director of Operations...it's only natural for me to make this Elf game EASY}

We've had fun so far celebrating Jesus with our Elf, Buddy! And I'll share our calendar and info for you if you'd like to download. Enjoy! {download here}

Big K Christmas Decor

It's hard to make big changes every year with your interior Christmas decor, unless you want to break the bank. I like decking the halls with the same holiday decor each year, because so many of my decorations have sentimental value. Every ornament has a story, and as I hang each one I am immediately taken to the day I received it. 

But, I like a little change with my Christmas decor, and my mirror-turned-chalkboard helps me balance the sentimental memories and a fresh decor theme. 

This was our house last year, a theme of "Joy to the World". And, here's a peek into our home this year with a theme of "O, Come All Ye Faithful":

 I let Caleb pick out his own tree and ornaments...of course he picks Mickey and Friends!

I changed our card wreath from last year to something a little more girly...in honor of Mila. 

This year I wanted to display our Christmas cards on our Jesse Tree. I love our annual Jesse Tree Advent Activity, and what better way to combine my favorite activity with looking at my family and friends each day?!?! 

I took some ribbon and tied it to a clothing pin...and you get a Christmas card ornament.

And after Christmas is over, I hole punch a corner of the card and save the cards on a single ring. My friend Jo gave me the idea! She encouraged me to save the cards, and each day pray over one of the families. What a great way to remember to pray specifically for family and friends!

...and Caleb got his first Nativity set {it never looks like this...normally everyone is scattered across the floor}...

We attempted to take a Christmas card photo this weekend...I've had my eye on this card, but I need to actually order it! You might get it next year!

 WINNER {with the help of some candy}

That's our Big K Christmas decor this year. Not a whole lot of change...but that's how I like it!

Christmas {2012}

I've neglected this little blog due to my crazy busy work schedule {we hired a new employee}, the holidays, and a surprise that I'll have to share with you soon. Let's catch up, shall we?!

Christmas 2012 was a blast! We celebrated Christ, we spent time with family, and it even snowed on Christmas day! People, I live in Texas so this is a BIG deal!!!

Ok, enough of the exclamation marks and I'll recap Christmas with a few photos.

{our 2012 Christmas card}



We rotate holidays with our families, so this Christmas we spent it with Bryan's side of the family. On Christmas eve we celebrated with his immediately family, and then ended the night at his Mamaw's house with the extended family.

Caleb is no longer the baby in the family...his cousin, EK, was in love with CK. EK couldn't resist and gave "the godfather", CK, lots of kisses!

Later that night, we changed into some sweet Target {tar-jey} jammies that I glammed up with a DIY monogram...I may have a son, but that doesn't mean I can't make his clothes prettier!

We make Christ the center of Christmas, but our family also receives "Santa's presents". Santa only brings stocking stuffers, and we are copying Jen's Christ/Santa traditions. 

Before we opened any gifts, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and thanked God for His amazing rescue plan by sending His sweet Son to us as His gift!

This was our first Christmas as a family by ourselves! EEk! So, keeping with my family's tradition I made frijoles borrachos {drunken beans, yum!!} and TAMALES....

 It's NOT Christmas without TAMALES...I think Jesus would LOVE this meal!

The biggest surprise in DFW was the snow God sent to us! Since we were by ourselves on the 25th, it was the perfect excuse to stay in PJs all day!

...this is reason #23 of why I will never move back to H-town. #23--Dallas/Fort Worth gets snow almost every winter! It has never snowed in DFW on Christmas {at least not the past 7 1/2 years that I've lived here}, so this snow day was a BIG deal! Texas BIG!

And just for fun...I caught Caleb redecorating my Christmas tree...apparently balls belong in the tree...ornaments are round too...duh mom!

Merry {late} Christmas, my friends!!!