A New Year

I am not big on resolutions.  It's not that I don't believe in them, or have things that I want changed in my life.  It's just that I have never really bought into the New Year's Resolution bit.  This year, as we have done with the oldest girls, Madeline gave up her pacifier for New Year's.  It has become a small tradition with the kids, and also an easy way to say goodbye to the pacifier before they are able to name it!

As I have been thinking about changes for my own life with the new year...exercising more, more consistent prayer, deeper investment in relationships with friends...I have come back to one common theme.  Change and newness are not natural to me.  It is not my natural desire to change, well, anything.  I tend to like things how they are, if for no other reason, it is comfortable.

As I have chewed on this for a week or so, I have been reminded through God's word that it is the Lord who changes and creates - not me!  He is the one who makes all things new (Rev 21:5) and who causes us to be born again to a living hope (1 Pet 1:3).  It's not natural for me to change because it's not supposed to be.  This new year is a reminder to me of my inability and his ability, of my lack and his sufficiency.  I have put off the old self and put on the new self (Eph 4:22-24) - not because I have changed anything, but because he has changed and is changing me!

Blessed be the God and Father of out Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:1-3

Happy New Year!

Christmas Sweetness

Christmas Fun

We have had a sweet month of December here...busy enjoying Advent and preparing for Christmas.  A few of our fun activities this month...

Candy Cane Pizza

Reindeer Treat Bags (for preschool class)

Reindeer "Lollipops" (for ballet class)

Lollipops all dressed up!

Ornament Wreath (ornaments on wire hanger...so easy!)

Foam Gingerbread Houses!

Handprint Christmas Wreath

Christmas gifts for our small group's "adopted" family

All wrapped up!

My old friend and new neighbor (yay!), Theresa, found this fun nativity on Pinterest, and we decided to try it.  The kids (and their moms) had such a fun time making them.  The angel on top was our addition, and we love how they turned out! 

Gingerbread and Candy Nativity

Kade, Clara, and Ainsley proud of their nativities!

The Jesse Tree has been our newest tradition, and we have really been blessed by our Advent time every night.  During the day, the girls color their ornaments for that day's lesson, and at night, we read the Scripture for the day and hang the ornaments on our "tree".  It has been really sweet reading through the family tree of Christ as we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birthday!  

Our Jesse Tree

Fall in Review!

So, in honor of the last day of fall (and because I have been so bad at blogging), I thought I would do a quick recap on all of our fall fun.

Over Labor Day, we had the chance to get together with our sweet friends, Chris and Rebecca.  They are in Mississippi and we are fortunate to be able to meet up with them once or twice a year.  We met at Callaway Gardens (our fave in-the-middle meeting place) for the Hot Air Balloon Festival.  Their sweet girls, McKenzie and Sydney, along with Clara and Ainsley, had a blast, and it was so great to catch up with our families.  

Fun at the beach!

Sweet friends!

With Rebecca

Later in September, we took our "summer" vacation to Sea Pines.  This was a new vacation spot for us and it turned out great!  The house was a great fit for our family and the beach there was amazing.  

Family on the beach

Sweet sisters

Deer on the way to the beach!

October rolled around with Halloween fun.  Clara had been asking to be a unicorn since last October, so she was thrilled with her costume!  Ainsley made for a sweet owl, and precious Madeline was a fish, just like her sisters had been for their first Halloween.  The big girls went to a few houses in our neighborhood and really enjoyed dressing up.  We also enjoyed time carving our pumpkin!   

Unicorn, Owl, & Fish  :)

Proud Clara

Silly Ainsley

November brought birthday time - Clara's 5th and Madeline's 1st!  We had a sweet party here for the two of them...brunch and outside runaround time - perfect!.  It was an apple harvest/"modern" farm theme and was a lot of fun to put together.  We were so grateful to have so many friends and loved ones here to celebrate the girls with us!  We ended November with family time in Blythewood and Bamberg for Thanksgiving.    

Fun Milk Bottles (repurposed frappuccino bottles)

The Birthday Brunch

Clara with her sweet friend, Madison 

Enjoying that first taste of cake!

December came quickly, and we have really enjoyed the Advent season and preparing for Christmas.  More on that later and here's hoping for better blogging days ahead!  :)

Crafty!

So, I am still way behind on my blogging, what with work schedules, preschool, travel, etc.  But I am hopeful that in the next few weeks I can get through my pictures and catch up a little on life from the past few months.  In the meantime, the big girls and I have been having some fun decorating for fall and have had some crafty moments over the past few days.  A few of our favorites...

Pumpkin Treat Bags

These were so easy to make!  I filled orange craft bags with some goodies and then twisted the top of the bag into a "stem".  We then covered the "stem" with floral tape and now we have pumpkins!  These were made for Clara's fall party at preschool and also for her ballet classmates.

Owl Treat Bags

These little owl bags are my faves!  I found the idea for these on Pinterest, but then had to improvise as I didn't have all of the fancy die cut machinery needed for the shape of the heads.  We used the bottom half of a brown bag for the head, and then I cut the sides into an owl head once I had stapled it on to a clear treat bag.  Ainsley and I then taped the eyes and beak on to the head.  Ainsley had the best time making these and was thrilled that the final product actually looked like an owl (actually I was too!).  She will be taking these to her "Mother's Morning Out" classmates to share.

Happy fall and happy crafting!

Octo"burrrr"

Windy and beautiful fall day here today.  So much to catch up on as far as this blog, but I'll kick it off with Clara's quote of the day.   While playing on the screened porch this afternoon, we were talking about how windy it was.

Me:  Wow, it is windy today!
Clara:  Yes, Mommy, that is why they call it Octo"burrr"!

Then she pretends to shiver and bursts into laughter.  Gotta love 4 year old humor!  :)

Gran and Da

I worked this past weekend, so we headed down to Gran and Da's for a visit.  The girls had a great time....swimming, climbing trees, and visiting....so fun!

It was a beautiful weekend so the girls spent a ton of time outside.  We were in the pool a lot as it is probably the last time we will swim there this summer.

Learning to climb a tree was also a big hit!  It was so sweet to see them up there, as I think I have seen every one of my nieces and nephews up in that tree as some point.

Silly faces

When not in the tree, the girls and Gran spent a lot of time outside exploring in her yard. 

"Flying" around Gran

Hugs

Sweet Madeline

One of the highlights of the weekend was a visit from a few of my aunts (Aunt Christine was missing).  It had been 2 years since I had seen them, so it was a treat to spend a little time catching up.  The girls had a great time showing off for them, and Clara loved that they were her "great" aunts!  

Clara (for some reason, not smiling), Aunt Marion, Aunt Maxine,
Aunt Mary with Ainsley, Gran and Madeline