it's HERE!

advent is here!
december 1 start quite a few traditions in our house. and that means LOTS of planning and preparation beforehand...which always comes up on me quickly. i worked like a MADwoman last week getting ready to go. and got everything in place JUST in the nick of time!

 yes, this is my favorite decoration this year. i saw the phrase on pinterest (it's from "o holy night") and when i read the phrase the first time, my heart just said, "yes." ALSO. i bought a wreath from the fundraiser at school. and it's WAY too small for our spot above the fireplace. but i'm NOT buying another one and so i needed something to make it work. i think this does the job, don't you?

 our "days of kindness". behind every number is a kind act that we will do that day.

so far they were:
1. help someone at the tree farm. and we had a nice long talk at breakfast about why we do the "days of kindness". about how we can go through our day and only care about ourselves, or we can go through it with our eyes opened to those around us...to those that might need help, or even just a smile! bailey was able to pick up and give someone their baby's hat that they had dropped! we all smiled at each other when it happened, and just kept walking. it was pretty precious. nothing huge. and totally free. but ALL my kids learned something in that moment.
2. make a meal for friends that just had a baby.

some are simpler than others. some cost money, most don't.
i pray it begins a HABIT for us to love OTHERS.

 i "had" to make a tree skirt for our "new" tree. (we inherited it from pat's parents.)
these are so easy to make. lots of white fabric cut in strips. a glue gun. and i had an OLD OLD tablecloth that went on a side table (that was a circle) that was the PERFECT size!! the whole project was FREE!

 also, nit-picking. always nit-picking...
{we are OFFICIALLY free of them!! but i will keep checking!}

 i LOVE my mornings with these 2. last week was not the best week for us, i was VERY focused on tasks/lists and made them just play. they don't look too upset about it, do they??

 and our gifts. these are things that we ALREADY have - christmas books, cd's, movies...that i wrap up and they open 1 each day. i plan out the movies - and we WATCH it the day we open it. i wrap up a can of sprinkles for the day we are going to decorate cookies. i wrap up a small box of christmas lights for the day we are going to drive around and look at lights. they love it. it's so fun!!

 we ALL got new brushes. thank you, lice!

 just one more time...

the hope is that after all that preparation and planning, now i can just ENJOY the next month as we anticipate Christmas...