Journal Your Christmas - Days 13, 16, 17 & 30

Continuing to knock out pages in my Journal Your Christmas book, and having a blast.

Day 13:
I have had the layout for this page done for a couple weeks, but just did the journaling last night after taking time to think about it. The page prompt was about presents and any family traditions that go along with them. I used it as a page that I could write down gifts that I want to give the 5 most important people in my life ... and they aren't tangible things that I could wrap.





Day 16:
This isn't really the prompt for day 16, but I got a page or two scrambled here or there. This is to document those who we visited or who would come to visit us over Christmas so I wrote out all of Travis' family and friends that we saw in Ohio.



Day 17:
Another page I did a while back, but I can't remember if I posted it or not. Reminiscing on a favorite gift.



Day 30:
Today's prompt, done today! A look back over 2006.

Journal Your Christmas, con't.

I'm still here. Playing catch up after several days out of town and no internet. *gasp!* I'm amazed I survived. I actually did try to log on at my in-laws to see if someone had her baby, but had computer issues. Turns out I haven't missed any baby news either way. :)

Anyway, back to the Journal. This has been one of the most fun projects I have ever done. I'm already planning on doing this again next year. I think this will make wonderful memories down the road ... even if I don't do one every year, every so often we can look at what Christmas was like THAT year and what was important, our favorite thing, etc.

Day 20:
This was a page to reflect on the Christmas mail that had come and unexpected treasures that arrived in the mail. I am saving my Christmas cards to put in our family's Christmas album, so I listed everyone here that we received a card from this year (so far!) with a little room for any that may arrive late. :)



Day 21:
A candid photo of how it really is here when no one is looking and we are just going about our day to day.



Day 22:
Just a to-do list of what still needs to be done ... this was my list of to-do's from 12/22, although I just journaled it tonight. I guarantee I still had all these things to do that day though!



Day 28:
December indulgences ... what do you splurge, look forward to, indulge in at this one special time of year.

Meme Tags ... Playing Catch-up!

Tagged by Maria!

1. If I were inviting someone over for a special dinner, I would most likely serve.... chicken apple sausage with pasta, either a green or fruit salad, and bread

2. If I were in a rush, and needed to make something quick and easy, I would serve.... homemade pizza. I have my dough recipe memorized, and it's something I generally always have ingredients for on hand.

3. Something I ate in a restaurant that was absolutely wonderful was.... what's a restaurant? :) Umm, I love the french onion soup in a bread bowl that you get at Atlanta Bread Company.

4. Something I have had at a gathering and asked for the recipe afterwards.... my friend's coconut cake recipe. Yum.

5. My favorite meal served when I was a guest at a gathering.... I recently had some delicious cashew chicken salad at a Christmas party.

6. My kids always beg me to make..... chicken nuggets!

7. The best meal for a cold, wintery night.... any kind of soup!

8. Something that goes great from freezer to table... breakfast burritos, but only if they stop off in the microwave first!

9. My favorite crock pot meal is.... lately, Easy Beef Tips. Comfort.Food.

10. Something I have only heard being prepared in my family is.... I have made a fruit salsa with cinnamon chips several times for women's Bible study and parties and haven't ever had anything else like it before. Totally yummy!

And Pattie tagged me for the "5 things that people don't know about you" meme!

1. Most people don't know that I was a music major in college ... for a short while. I went to college on a piano scholarship, and eventually changed it to a vocal minor. I adored music and taking music classes, but had NO desire to do a senior recial, and the extra year in college that was required for the music plus education major I was working towards.

2. I have a secret devotion to the Backstreet Boys. *sigh* Or I did when they were in their hey-day. I wore out my copy of Millenium from listening to it so much. Hums "show me the meaning of being lonely..."

3. I am one of the world's worst dancers. Really and truly. Yet, I am responsible for choreographing our youth's annual entertainment at the Valentine's Day dinner they put on. A sad, cruel trick of life that that is my job, and I take it very seriously. :) I rent Backstreet Boys videos and watch the Wiggles for inspiration on "clean" dance moves that our teens can do so that their parents don't gasp in horror. :)

4. I don't watch Reality TV. Totally gets on my nerves. My one exception, because of course there is an exception, is American Idol. I'm a sucker for that one.

5. I think we have a name for the baby picked out ... at least the first name is pretty certain. :)

Why You Should Join Women at Home

Because you will meet up with wonderful women that help encourage and support you in your addictions.

W@H" />

Thanks, Teri & Pat! I LOVE them!!! There were much squeals of excitement when I opened them!

Merry Christmas!

Just a last post before I turn to packing for our trip to visit our Ohio family for Christmas. (Seriously, I have GOT to start packing)! Thank you all so much for your kind words about baby girl #3. I must admit, I am in a bit of shock, although it's good shock. :) This pregnancy has been SOOOOO different from N1 and N2 ... no morning sickness, the baby is riding really low, no usual pregnancy congestion ... that I figured the only thing that was making that much of a difference was that it was a boy. Well, I guess not! :) At some point, I will scan in an ultrasound picture or two, but that just isn't going to happen before we head out of town. We do have to have a 2nd ultrasound on January 9th ... baby girl was very uncooperative during the ultrasound, which didn't really surprise me as she has been the least active of my babies thus far. She mostly stayed curled up in a little ball down low and didn't not want to budge. While they got most of her measurements, they weren't able to get a great look at her little heart, and while they don't anticipate any problems, they just want to make sure that everything is fine and they have all the information that they need for their records.

There were several questions that came up in the comments about our new girlie. One was whether or not we are going to go with an "n" name this time around. At this point, it's not likely ... several of you suggest Naomi, and while I love that name, Travis isn't fired up about it, and the name also carries a lot of family baggage with it and would be hard for my family. Travis has suggested Nora, which doesn't thrill me, although I don't have anything personal against that name. It just doesn't click. We do have a potential non-N name that we both like and we are rolling it around to see if it sticks ... and if we use it, Travis already has his nickname for her to go with it. :) We'll definitely share if/when we decide. After all, we have 8 hours there and back over the next few days to talk about it - maybe we'll come up with something. :)

I'll leave you with a glimpse of our Christmas card picture for this year and blessings and wishes for a wonderful Christmas for you and your families!

Fall Into Reading Challenge - A Review

I've so enjoyed taking part in the Fall into Reading Challenge that Katrina headed up this year. While I didn't get near what I wanted accomplished ... pregnancy and super-duper exhaustion slowed me down in my reading considerably. I did get some new fiction read (not re-reads), and a couple non-fictions done. The summary is as follows:

Fiction

1. Summer of the Midnight Sun, Alaskan Quest series, book 1, Traci Peterson
2. Under the Northern Lights, Alaskan Quest series, book 2, Traci Peterson
3. Whispers of Winter, Alaskan Quest series, book 3, Traci Peterson (not originally on the list, but books 1 & 2 were, and this just finished out the trilogy). While I don't typically read a lot of Traci Peterson, these books were very interesting with facts about life in Alaska before it became a state.
4. The Yada-Yada Prayer Group Gets Real, Yada Yada Prayer Group series, book 3, Neta Jackson
5. The Yada-Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough, Yada Yada Prayer Group series, book 4, Neta Jackson
6. Village School, Miss Read
7. The Shop on Blossom Street, Debbie MacComber
8. Summer at Fairacre, Miss Read (technically a re-read, but I didn't realize that till I was about a 1/3 of the way through the book and things started sounding familiar)

Those that didn't make the cut:
1. Emma, Jane Austen
2. @Home for the Holidays, Meredith Efken (It was never in the budget for me to read this book or the Dee Henderson below and the library didn't have them ... however, I have a VERY strong suspicion they are in my stocking from a family member so they will be read, oh yes.)
3. Before I Wake, Dee Henderson

Non-Fiction
1. Ambassador Families: Equipping Your Kids to Engage Popular Culture, Mitali Perkins (my current read) - excellent!! I can't recommend this one enough.
2. Me, Obey Him?, Elizabeth Rice Handford - also excellent. Her examples and manner of writing is somewhat dated, but the truths within are not.

Those that didn't make the cut:
1. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
2. Small Beginnings, Barbara Curtis
3. Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration (I did look at this one some, but as my attempt at advent readings with our three year old ended dismally this year, I will probably pick this up a-fresh next fall).

Biography/Autobiography
1. The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom (a re-read from loooooooong ago)

Those that didn't make the cut:
1. Shadow of the Almighty, Elisabeth Elliot (still want to read this...)

Bible Study
We are doing an inductive study of the book of Exodus this year with the women at church so that's where I'll be focused primarily. However, I do want to review Fresh Brewed Life on my own and maybe do some journalling along with that. :)
**I barely kept up with this this Fall so this will stay on the plate as we continue our Exodus study in the spring.

Reading with the Girls
We had good days and bad days for reading together. Definitely still going to pursue this and work on this with both girls.

I can already say, count me in for the spring reading challenge!

Ultrasound Update!

It's a GIRL!!!

Journal Your Christmas - Days 12, 14 & 15

I'm slowing getting caught up on my pages for the album ... days 12, 14 and 15 are below. I have the layout for 13 done, I just need to write my journaling in to complete that one.

Day 12: A page of journaling on our Christmas memories. The challenge was to use an element that we don't normally use while scrapbooking, so I chose to type my journaling.

Journalling:

Christmas wasn't what it could have been growing up. After my parents decided that they needed to move to Dallas so that Dad could go to seminary, the family Christmas disentigrated. There were hard feelings from the grandparents ... why would they choose to do this? Move away, go back to school, serve God? None of it made sense to them and one way that I distinctly remembered it being expressed was that our family Christmas shrank dramatically by the time Dad was in his first church. Granted there were substantial travel distances that would have had to be crossed, but, all the same, I don't think my grandparents would have made the trip. They didn't want to see us in our new home, with our new church, even though we were right were God wanted us to be. Christmas became just the four of us for the most part (although some years were spent with freinds). I think we missed out on some of that special time with grandparents, hearing stories of their Christmases growing up, and making traditions with them. While I desire us to some day have our Christmas in our own home ... with family and grandparents traveling to us ... I'm so thankful that my girls are making memories of Christmas with all their grandparents and will have those in the years to come.

Day 14: Journal about Christmas music or a favorite song. The song I picked is actually NOT my favorite Christmas song, but one that has been fixated in my head over the last few weeks as I've planned for this Christmas and worked on this album of Christmas memories.

Journaling:
Ten years ago I would NOT have said that this was my favorite song, but I've changed. My girls and my husband are so important to me, but without Jesus and what He did for us ... makes it all worth it.

Song lyrics (hidden under the front flap):
Heirlooms by Amy Grant

Up in the attic, down on my knees.
Lifetimes of boxes, timeless to me.
Letters and photographs, yellowed with years,
Some bringing laughter, some bringing tears.

Wisemen and shepherds, down on their knees,
Bringing their treasures to lay at his feet.
Who was this wonder, Baby yet king?
Living and dying; He gave life to me.

Time never changes,
The memory, the moment His love first pierced through me,
Telling all that I came from, and all that I live for,
And all that I'm going to be.
My precious savior is more than an heirloom to me.

Day 15: As those doing the class know, this was actually the page prompt for day 16, but I got them switched accidentally. Oh well. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Learning to accessorize. A valuable skill for any young woman. We have a loooong way to go.

A B C's of Me

This meme courtesy of Embracing My Cup. :)

A - Available/Single: Not available, thank you very much!
B - Best Friend: Travis
C - Cake or Pie: Depends. If it's Jenny Kim's coconut cake, then cake. If it's my Grandma's coconut cream pie, then pie.
D - Drink of Choice: Diet Coke, duh. :)
E - Essential item you use everyday: Diaper wipes.
F - Favorite color: chocolate brown!
G - Gummy bears or Worms: Bears, but they have to be sour.
H - Hometown: Right here in Tennessee where we are now.
I - Indulgence: New pens. Or a new purse. Because I don't NEED either one of those things.
J - January or February: January, because there is normally NOTHING going on that month. :)
K - Kids: Two amazing girls, N1 (3) and N2 (10 months), and baby #3 on the way.
L - Life is incomplete without:
M - Marriage Date: August 3, 2002
N - Number of siblings: 1 younger sister, but I look younger. :)
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples, but I LOVE mandarin oranges.
P - Phobias/Fear: I can get very claustrophobic, and I do not care for spinning rides at amusement parks.
Q - Favorite Quote: I can never think of quotes ... Right now I have Psalm 121 taped to the front of my 2007 planner.
R - Reason to Smile: My girls and my bearded husband. :)
S - Season: Winter!
T - Tag: Anyone? Anyone?
U - Unknown fact about myself: I rarely ever take my watch off. Only to shower, but even then I could leave it on because I always have one that is super-duper waterproof.
V - Vegetable you don't like: lima beans
W - Worst habit: Not being myself.
X - X-ray: Both ankles at some point or another, my left hand (broken finger) ... is that it?
Y - Your favorite food: It changes. Soup and bread is always a huge hit, though.
Z - Zodiac: Eeww. Those give me the heeby-geebies.

Days 9-11 - Journal Your Christmas

This page was all about traditions you have, and the challenge was to hide your journaling. I wrote about 5 different traditions - one from my side of the family, one that we started with our children, and one that I hope to start (and two others).



This was supposed to be the easy day! We were just to use a piece of our wrapping paper and decorate our page. It was fun. :)



The page about the tree. :)

Had to get caught up from not doing any pages this weekend.

Flurries

Not of snow, but of busy-ness! This week I am working on deep cleaning the house. Today was all about the kitchen and catching up the laundry. Three loads done ... all that is left is a load of diapers! I've also been working on cleaning off my desk and that is still a work in progress. Planning on finishing it tonight after the girls go to bed.

I probably won't be posting much while I clean ... maybe not even until after we get back from our trip to visit the in-laws for Christmas ... although I'll still be putting up my pages for my Christmas Journal that I'm working on. I didn't work on it at all this weekend, so I'm hoping to do a few pages on that tonight as well. :) Oh, and of course, I'll probably post something NEXT TUESDAY after we have the big ultrasound and hopefully know who baby three is going to be!

Day 8 - Journal Your Christmas

Just for Fun

Found this at Michelle's

1. All I want for Christmas is: to be with Travis and the girls; on a truly mercenary note, I would love a mother's ring or a new cell phone.
2. If I could go anywhere in the world I would go to: Israel. Or Disneyworld. How's that for a contrast!
3. People often underestimate the power of: really listening to someone when they are talking to you.
4. Christmas makes me feel: young.
5. In a perfect world there would be: free Diet Coke.
6. If I could meet one blogger it would be: Oh my, I don't know. Maybe Cheri ... or one of the scrapbookers whose work I admire. I really can't pick!
7. The stupidest yet funniest movie ever made was: Napoleon Dynamite
8. My first New Years Resolution will be: to read through the Bible in 2007.
9. _______ really skeeves me out: mice
10. I did this Meme because: It had fun questions!

Day 7 - Journal Your Christmas

I love the paper I used on this page ... I've been hording the pink pattern paper for forever and had fun breaking it out tonight. It's overlaid with pink vellum and journaling is done with an American Crafts Slick Writer. Tags are handmade from white cardstock, and the stickers are funky alphabet stickers that I found at Dollar Tree.

Journaling reads:
My love/hate relationship with shopping! I LOVE coming up with lists of gift ideas to buy or make my loved ones. I LOVE digging thru idea books for the obscure gift or craft that will be perfect. I LOVE going to the store and seeing what there is to see, how colors are paired up, and just people watching in general!

But I HATE what it costs to buy Christmas gifts, especially when I compare my list with what I have to spend. I HATE the commercialism that surrounds Christmas ... that stores won't even say "Merry Christmas" but "Happy Holidays" instead. I HATE the crowds - especially if I'm trying to shop with my girls and the double stroller.

But, overall, I LOVE the spirit of giving so prevalent at Christmas. A tangilbe reminder of the greatest gift ever given - our Savior!

A Little Freaked

So, I just happened to glance at my sitemeter yesterday and realized that I am seriously close to breaking the 10,000 mark. Eleven more to go actually. When did that happen??? I usually forget to check the numbers so, yeah, wow. Seriously, what do you do to celebrate 10,000 hits? Hmmm. Suggestions?

Day 6 - Journal Your Christmas

The prompt for today was to do a layout page comparing two Christmases ... best/worst, something like that. I went with Then and Now and had fun reminiscing with my journaling.

Then: I don't have many stand-out memories of Christmas as a child. Some years, money was tight; I remember getting pencils with my name on them one year and that was about it. But I just have good memories. Early years were spent with one set of grandparents or the other, then it was just us 4 and it stayed that way until Kathy and I got married. Photo, 4-82

Now: Now, our holidays can be a little crazy. We switch off between our TN family and our Ohio family every other year. Two years ago was the 1st and only time we've had Christmas that was just us. (We were supposed to be in OH, but the weather was bad). Although I always love the time with family, it was so fun to wake up in our own beds and do presents at home and not have to go anywhere.

Fun Links

A couple fun links that I've found in the last couple days.

Check out these way cool barettes that you can make!! Just regular metal barettes (or what we called growing up "gymnastic barettes" because all the gymnasts in the Olympics were covered in the to keep their hair back). :)

How to make your own gingerbread house from scratch ... this actually looks doable! I can see this as a craft project with N1 in the future. Link courtesy of Janel @ Pearls, a recent new bloggy discovery.

All sorts of way cool winter/Christmas desktops for your computer from Better Homes and Garden ... I signed up for their Christmas emails which I've been enjoying, thanks to a tip from Lindsay at Enjoy the Journal and Advent for Evangelicals. (If you have NOT checked out her advent site you are so missing out). I've downloaded several for my computer ... and will try to not change my desktop on a daily basis although I could!

Another craft project I can't wait to try ... decorating boxes. Of course, you should just check out Kahmei Smith's blog anyway ... her's has pictures on it that just make me happy.

Day 5 - Journal Your Christmas

Today's topic was to journal how you countdown to Christmas. We do do an Advent calendar ... or in reality, this is our first year, and last night was our first reading. (Disastrous!) So, I decided to write down a little each day of what we did, even if it wasn't Christmas related at all and just journal our month.

All my other layouts have been only one page, but there was no way I could do this and have any room for journaling if I didn't expand a bit. :)

Day 4 - Journal Your Christmas

Journaling reads: What makes a perfect Christmas? I know an outsider looking in at our home would say, we are lacking - we don't have all the latest gadgets, our tree/ornaments/decorations are pretty sad. Sure, if I had money to burn there are things I would change, but really - all I need, I already have. As long as I get to spend Christmas with these three - it is perfect.

The One Where I Do the Traditional Christmas Meme

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Both please, but not at the same time. Currently, it's is 20-some-odd degrees outside and I am making hot chocolate (sugar-free Swiss Miss, yum). I will probably buy a little amount of egg nog as it gets closer to Christmas; as I'm the only one in our household that drinks it, I don't get a lot of it. :)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
We wrap ... although we aren't really into the Santa thing around here. N1 is just getting old enough that she's noticing this bearded man and can identify who he is.

3. Colored lights or white?
I like white for the inside/tree, and if I could get lights up on my house, they would be colored all the way.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No.

5. When do you decorate for Christmas?
I like to do it the weekend before Thanksgiving which I know is horribly early. However, every year we either go out of town with my side of the family or go North to visit DH's family, and it overwhelms to have to come back home, with children that will need several days of re-entry into their normal routines and to need to find time to put the tree up. It's such a relief to come home, and all the decorating is already done!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert?
It's a tie between two. Long ago, when we would have a traditional Christmas meal (turkey, etc.) my Mom or Grandma would make egg noodles and we would have those over dressing or potatoes. I actually just bought some today to make for us because I was craving them. (I blame the baby completely). :) The other is our family's taco dip. Several years ago, my side of the family switched to having a Mexican food dinner on Christmas Day. My favorite part of the meal is our taco dip appetizer. It's fantastic!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Probably driving around looking at lights in our pajamas. We didn't do it often, but I'm hoping to do it this year with our girls (especially N1) because she's big enough now to really get into it!

8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don't remember ... I don't even remember if my folks did Santa.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
In our family, everyone gets a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve to wear for Christmas morning so we open those.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Totally random. It will never make the home decorating magazines that's for sure. I have the wooden ornaments that my Mom made when we were little, and then some miscillaneous ones that I picked up over the years - a few Disney ones, a few Star Wars ornaments (my Dad bought those for me the year I turned 30), and others. I love the tradition of buying an ornament every year to remember something significant, but some years it just hasn't fit the budget.

11. Snow. Love it or hate it?
Love it! Love it! Love it!

12. Can you ice skate?
Um, no. I tried a few times when we lived in Canada, but you kinda have to, but let's just say, my Mom's dream of raising the next Dorothy Hamil or Michelle Qwan were sadly broken.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I'm terrible about remembering this sort of stuff, but the first year that Travis and I were married he bought me a new study Bible that I use all the time. It's a keyword study Bible with notes on the Greek and Hebrew meanings behind the words. Love. It.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you?
Trying to slow down and take time to enjoy the holidays, instead of filling the calendar so full that I can't. I enjoy holiday parties and the extra music rehearsals that happen for church events, and such, but I am finding out (a bit more every year) that I would much rather be home with my girls, popping popcorn, watching Rudolph, and making construction paper garlands for the tree as the norm and making the parties and the go-go-go more the exception.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Gingerbread/molasses cookies. Yum. Must make a batch ASAP.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
When we are home (in TN) for Christmas, going to our church's Christmas Eve service and then our yearly tradition of sharing Christmas Eve with friends at their house, visiting, and taking pictures. And, other than the mall traffic, I really love shopping for presents and trying to find the perfect ones.

17. What tops your tree?
A stuffed snowman. It doesn't cause head injuries when the tree is knocked over, as it has been twice this year already!

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Both. I couldn't pick between them. It was a sad day for me when we started drawing names on my side of the family. I mean, I'm glad because it's definitely helped us financially this time of the year, but I miss not being able to buy for everyone. And, really, who doesn't LOVE to open a gift!?

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Lately, I've had Amy Grant's old song, Heirlooms in my head all the time, from her very first Christmas album. As far as a hymn, I just love O Come All Ye Faithful. I have wonderful memories of that song from college and as an adult and just love the melody. There are so many others that I love, but that would not make the "favorite" mark: Bing's White Christmas, his version of Jingle Bells with the Andrews sisters (rocketh), all of Amy Grant's Christmas albums, etc.

20. Candy canes. Yuck or yum?
Yum.

One Thousand Gifts #4

61. Making lists.
62. Making Christmas goodies.
63. Preparing packages to mail.
64. Fun secrets this time of year.
65. Scratchy beards.
66. Napping babies.
67. Hot tea and girl conversations.
68. Soup and bread.
69. Just enough.
70. Addressing Christmas cards.
71. Staying in pjs a little longer in the morning.
72. An email from a precious friend.
73. Little flutters of new life.
74. Picking out names.
75. Writing down memories.
76. Ribbon.
77. Little pigtails.
78. Christmas dresses.
79. A day with nothing pressing to do in it.
80. Frost on the windshield of the car, and not needing to get out and defrost it.
81. Vacuuming.
82. Flannel sheets.
83. Holiday baking.
84. Reading stories to my munchkin.
85. A new calendar to break in.

Day 3 - Journal Your Christmas

Text reads: Our 2006 Christmas card. Very simple this year - just a fun graphic I found with my favorite Xmas accent - snowmen! Our address was on the envelope, but I erased it. :)

I'm going to tuck a copy of our 2006 Christmas card list inside the card for posterity ... who we sent a card to this year!

Day 2 - Journal Your Christmas

I had fun with this page!

Journaling reads:
There is never enough snow in my opinion this time of year! I got spoiled by those 5 years we lived in Calgary, Alberta. I'm a cold weather girl for sure and there is something very, very wrong with 70 degree+ weather in December. It's just not natural!

Over the red snowflake it reads:
Let it Snow
This photo of Noelle was taken in Ohio when she was one. Her first time to play in the snow!

Supplies used: Zig writer, Uniball Gel pen; red gingham paper and white paper for the snowflakes ... the white snowflake is covered with Making Memories chalk; brad on tag from Making Memories, too.

Day 1 - Journal Your Christmas

this year...
~ Christmas will be less about how full my calendar is and more about how full my HEART is
~ more about making memories of our own than reading and hearing about others
~ less about all the stuff that comes with Christmas and more about keeping it simple and being satisfied with what we have been blessed with
~ I want to cherish the time with my daughter and, even at their youg age, talk with them about the REAL reason for the season - celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Supplies used: Pilot Permaball pens, Me and My Big Idea Christmas border stickers, key tag (Office Depot), and navy eyelet from Making Memories. The album is a 5x7 Canson spiral bound blank journal that I have had for YEARS and decided to use instead of purchasing one ... I haven't decorated the cover yet, which is navy blue.