The 25 Days of Christmas Day 3

Last Night I attended a Christmas gathering for women only, so that left Little Britches and her daddy at home.  When they are home together they have a great time.  This is what they did last night. 

Made cookies!  And let a 17 month old decorate them!

And eat them!

And love them!

And be so proud of her accomplishments!

And leave her one happy kiddo!

Advent Conspiracy Promo Video

The 25 Days of Christmas Day 2

This season is filled with many activities.  Lots of them are fun and meaningful.  I am constantly looking for ways to make each activity even more meaningful, not just for my family, but for others as well.  I got the chance to help plan our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Leadership Team's Christmas Party.  In the past the team of about twelve women has done an ornament exchange.  That activity is not a bad activity at all, but I wanted to know if there was a better way to spend less than $5 a piece.  My mind immediately went to Living Water International.  I cannot get out of my heart and mind that I fill up my Nalgene as many times as I want during the day with nice, clean, sparkling water.  Yet, there are people, and not just a few, who don't have access to clean water.  I also cannot get out of my head that to fix the world's water problem would take less money than American's alone spend on Christmas.  Ouch!  So instead of spending five more dollars on an ornament we are not even sure another mom will like, we are going to each bring at least $2.  If each person in our group brings just $2, we will be able to provide clean water for 20 adults for 20 years!  Wow!  In 20 years I doubt I will even remember where the ornaments on my tree came from unless it is a sentimental ornament given by someone special or for a special reason. 

I am posting a video with more information

The 25 Days of Christmas

I have been one busy mama!  I want to take the time to celebrate Christmas with you!  So we will be celebrating together all month.  Christmas is an exciting time of year and there are so many ways to celebrate.  This year we are trying to pick and choose the ways we celebrate carefully.  We want our celebration to be meaningful and create some fun family traditions in the process.  We started out our Christmas celebration a little early this year.  On Saturday we went to the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade.  Before going my husband took Little Britches to the store to pick out some toys to take.  She (he) picked out 3 baby dolls just like the ones we have at home.  They are Little Britches' favorite toy!  We knew we had trouble when Little Britches could not hand the dolls over to the cashier for her to ring them up.  We tried to tell Little Britches that these babies were for little girls who don't have babies to love at home.  The logic was lost on a 17 month old, but we told her any way.

Once we found a spot on the parade route (15 blocks from our car), we enjoyed big balloon characters, marching bands, singers, dancers, and even Santa himself made an appearance.  Then the parade stopped and they lowered the barrier tape so that all the kids to walk out onto the parade route and give their toys to the toy collectors.  It was the moment of truth.  Little Britches did not do too bad.  There was not an all out fit about handing the babies over, but it was certainly not done cheerfully.  But then again, I don't know that I hand things over cheerfully when I am not sure that I am going to get something better.  The parade was a lesson to all of us in letting go.  Letting go of the things we need to let go of so that others may have it if they need it or so that we can receive what is even better than we were hanging on to.  (Like the large play kitchen waiting to be brought out of the garage and into the house on Christmas morning.)  All in all we enjoyed the parade and will most likely make it an annual event as long as we can find closer parking next time.

These dancer put on quite a show!  And for some reason all week I have wanted to go to Hula Hut for dinner. :)

Giving the babies to the toy collector 

 Playing with her own babies and giving something quite a look

Grover, in big balloon form!

Exclaimation Point Moments

In case you didn't know, September 24 was National Punctuation Day.  Sorry if you missed it.  Some might find it hard to believe that punctuation is used for more than expressing emotions in text, but I know that no reader of mine would think that the sole purpose of a colon is to provide the eyes to a side-facing smiley face. :) 

I love exclamation points. I love them when they are used in an exclamatory sentence and when they are needed after an interjectory word. I think I am just an exclamation point kind of a girl. I feel strongly about things. I express my passions with emotion. National Punctuation Day and my love of exclamation points got me to thinking about life. There are some days I think of as exclamation days. The day MGM was born, the day I married My Prince, the day we bought our first house, and many other "big event days" stand out to me as exclamation point days. When I reflect on my exclamation point days I think about the different ways God was at work in my life on those days. They are truly sweet memories that are touch stones for my faith journey. But those days only account for a small portion of my life. What about the rest of the days? What about laundry day, yard work day, changing 7 diapers days? Are those days God is at work too? Yes, of course they are. But am I noticing him? Am I recognizing his hand in my life one the plain old period days? If I am honest, I have to say, not as much as I would like to. I must be missing so much of what God has for me!

Lord, by your grace, help me hear you, see you at work, and know you more everyday of my life.





The Austin Tour

My husband and I spent some time on Saturday seeing the town we live in by bike.  I bought us a groupon that entitled us to a half price, two hour bike tour of Austin.  The company we toured with was Barton Springs Bike Rental.  We were the only two on the tour that afternoon so we really got to have an intimate tour of the town. 

The bikes we rode were electric assist bikes, meaning they had a battery that gave the bike some get up and go when you pulled back on the right hand grip.  It was cool not to have to huff and puff up a big hill, but yet still get to peddle our way over Town Lake. 

Here are a few things we saw:
local neighborhoods
south congress shopping and dining including food trailers like Hey Cupcake
the capital
the Driskill Hotel as well as other parts of 6th street
O Henry's house
Austin's 2nd Street posh shopping district
The Paramount Theater
Texas Walk of Fame
Town Lake
Buford Bell Tower
Moonlight Tower
UT campus
A parking garage where we got out of the rain for a few minutes!

We had a lot of fun and would do it again.  Have you ever toured your own city?  What new things did you learn? 

I did not know that O Henry, author of The Gift of the Magi, had lived in Austin and that O Henry is a pen name because his real name was tarnished by his illegal activities. 

Sunday Scripture

What would my world be like if I really lived this out?  Radically different!  I am ready for radical.  I am ready for change. (I think)