Much Better!

I didn't think it was possible! I went through this cabinet today and organized all of my craft supplies. It looks like I tossed a bunch of stuff, but I didn't! I moved a few puzzles over to the kids' bookshelf, and I took the four unopened packages of Crayola art kits and hid them away for Christmas gifts. My kids received these last year, but I don't think they'll even notice! As I was organizing my supplies, a wave of inspiration came over me. I thought of a few crafty projects to do with my kids for Christmas.

So, there you have it...organization, inspiration and a little bit of Christmas shopping done in one afternoon!

Making My Home a Haven

I've decided to join Monica from The Homespun Heart in tidying up areas of my home to make it a haven for my family. Her challenge this week: Making Your Home a Haven. For me, a haven suggests peace and quiet, but I have four very young children, ages 3, 3, 4 and 5. One way I'm able to have peace in my home is by keeping their little hands busy.

Take a peek into my craft cabinet! This is ever so humbling for me. It's quite obvious that I just stuff things back into this cabinet when I'm through with them. My goal today is start organizing the mess this afternoon.

*edit* If you've arrived here from The Homespun Heart, please click here to see the final results!

Preparing Him Room

:: photo from Marthastewart.com ::

Are you one of those who won't listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving? I used to be, until this year. Recently I've felt a need to prepare my heart and the hearts of my children for the Christmas season ahead. I usually dive head-first into each Christmas season with the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving shopping trip. Don't get me wrong: I'm still looking forward to that day with great anticipation, but every year I say to myself, "Oh! I wish I would have done......with the kids! Oh well. Maybe next year." My plan is to be a little more purposeful this year. The word advent means "coming. " It denotes preparing and waiting expectantly for a guest, so I must start planning now, before Thanksgiving. That is why Christmas music is playing in the background as I type!

As a former elementary school teacher and a mommy of almost 6 years now, I have a growing collection of Christmas books, songs, movies, ideas, crafts and recipes--all of which tell of Jesus' birth. I've organized these resources in order to plan activities for my children during the month of December. I'd like to share some of these ideas here on my blog if any of you are interested. Here are a few resources I'll be incorporating (you may click on each of these links if you're interested):

An Advent Wreath with daily Scripture readings

What God Wants for Christmas

The Real 12 Days of Christmas

The Adventure of Christmas

A homemade Christmas Eve family gift exchange using A Wowie BOZowee Christmas

All of my books, movies, recipes and crafts correlate with the resources listed above. I'm excited to do this with my kids, and I hope you'll consider doing it along with me. I plan on writing the names of each activity on slips of paper and then stashing them into this new Advent Garland.

I'll post more on this later. I suppose I should make my calendar look a little more official before I post it, and not like something my kids got a hold of!

My prayer is that I'll be able to truly adore Christ this Christmas season and that I'll be able to slow down long enough to watch my children discover the glory of Christmas along with me. Do we moms ever get to do as Mary did in Luke 2:19?

"Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart."

Maybe this year...