J. Marie Blog

{I love baby toes}

New little feet in the family…NOT OURS~no, no, not us (insert sigh of relief!). Another sweet, handsome, cuddly nephew!

{Out as long as she was In}

What will you remember about your first Christmas?

Being dragged around to countless stores to shop?      

The first gift you opened?

Getting all dressed up for church?

Or rearranging the items in the pew?      

Finding the boxes and paper scraps of everyone elses gifts far more interesting than any of your packages?

Being spoiled Christmas morning?

Getting a ball pit from Santa?

And being a little confused by all of the new toys and boxes and excitement?

Confusing this look-alike for your Daddy?

Getting lumped in with these very crazy cute kids?! 

(No, I had it right the first time…crawl away fast!!!)  

Will you remember being baby Jesus in our little family Christmas play?

Doesn’t matter, I’m going to remember it all for you. And getting to see Christmas through the eyes of a sweet little first timer one last time. Merry Christmas precious girl!

{Last few Acts of Kindness}

*Day 22*  Fill goodie bags and hand them out to random kids. (The goodie bags ended up being for girls, sorry boys!)

They decided they needed to wear Santa hats for this mission.

*Day 23*  Go to the bank and drop a Starbucks gift card and note in the tube and send to the teller.

*Day 24* Bring goodies and a note of prayer to a family in the ICU waiting room at the hospital (A nurse helped us and said she had “the perfect” family. We then prayed for that family and all those ill in the hospital this Christmas Eve).

We’ve decided this will be an annual tradition to celebrate Advent. We got so much out of doing these acts of Kindness. And tomorrow we celebrate the greatest act of all…the birth of God’s son! Merry Christmas!

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

{Days 16-21}

Our last few days of Advent Acts of Kindness proved to be a challenge as we had colds, stomach bugs, and strep running through our house. But we soldiered on and whoever was currently the non-sick one did the task. Hey, along with kindness and good cheer why not share some germs, too?!

*Day 16* Tape $5 and a note to a gas pump.

*Day 17*  Put together a package for a unit of Marines through the program www.anysoldier.com

The unit we chose is currently in Afghanistan and requested hats in particular. 12 hats, 12 tubes of chapstick, 12 very cute hand written notes, and candy to pass out to little kids…boxed and shipped!

*Day 18*  At the store, return people’s carts for them.

I’ll admit we are still working on this one…

*Day 19*  Tape 10 stamps and a note to the dropbox inside the Post Office.

*Day 20* Buy a gift card at a restaurant and go place it on someone’s table. Say “Merry Christmas” and walk away!

This recipient may very well have been the one who needed it the most. Not entirely sure what his story is, I can only imagine. But the girls thought he was a bit “grumpy.”

*Day 21* Bring flowers to the volunteer working in the emergency room.

This one ended up being kind of funny. There is ALWAYS a sweet older lady volunteering at the hospital…and who was it this day? A teenage BOY of course! I thought about it, but I keep telling the girls that I believe God is guiding us to make these acts of kindness end up in just the right hands. So I went with the girls this time and asked the boy if he happens to live with his parents, to which he replied  he did. I said that perhaps his mom would enjoy some flowers. We gave the flowers, and a note saying “thanks” for being a volunteer and to have a Merry Christmas. You know, I’m not sure I’ve seen a teenage boy smile bigger! Not sure if it was out of embarrassment, or he thought it was just funny, but I looked back and saw him read the note and then look at me, still with the big smile!

{Elf on the Shelf}

This is our Elf, Joseph. Sometimes I think he’s cute, with his little Elfish face. But the way his eyes look off the to side, maybe a little creepy.

The girls talk to him like he is really listening. They believe wholeheartedly. Really cute. The baby even lights up when she sees him, gets this huge grin and wants to touch him so bad. Something she knows that we don’t? Kinda creepy.

So the Elf takes notes all day and then magically comes to life each night and flies to the North Pole to report to Santa, and then comes back in a new place in our house for the girls to find each morning.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, Joseph was getting a little bored (or maybe Mommy decided on a couple glasses of wine and a little fun?!) and so he has been showing his mischievous side!  Wonder what Santa will say!

Between the cat and the baby, I’m surprised our tree is still standing. At least we were smart enough to replace all our breakable ball ornaments with plastic ones! Ornaments are cat and baby magnets! Funny they both think they are sneaky…

Umm, yes I can see you  laying in the tree d%&* cat.

Somehow it’s just way cuter when the baby is a little naughty!

Oooo, look at that! Nice and shiny.

Wait, what’s that?

Hello Snow Man!

Oh what’s that up there?

Turns out it’s great for napping under, too. 

{Advent days 12-15}

I’m trying to teach my kids to be givers, not takers. Ask for help when you really need it, but then when you are able, repay it and then some. And try to be Kind (something I need to also remind myself!). Man this world needs more kindness…anyone who goes out shopping this time of year knows that! YIKES!

*Day 12*   Bring new hats, mittens, and scarves to the local Women and Children’s Homeless Shelter

Pretty sure this one went straight to their hearts. They had no idea places like this existed.

*Day 13*  Drop off a grocery store gift card at a church with instructions it be given to someone they know needs it.

This is them dashing back to the car not to get caught (not my best photography, but the best my iPhone could do at night!)

*Day 14* Wrap a book and give it to a random child.                

They loved this one…they each had a book and chose a toddler and an elementary aged girl. It was funny seeing how caught off guard the kids and their parents were, almost like they thought my kids were being creeps at first trying to hand them packages! The neat part about this was me being out in the car getting to watch the parents and kids smile when they unwrapped them as my kids were coming back out. Total spy mission!

*Day 15* Stick a coupon for a treat at McD’s on the windshield of a car at the DMV (because we all know after leaving that place you need a pick me up!!)

As we circled back around the parking lot we got to see the recipients of this one…one elderly lady and possibly her middle aged daughter would be my guess. Fun fun!

Only ten more days of these tasks!

{8 months old}

My sisters aren’t the only busy ones. Crawling is so “6 months!” I’m on a mission to explore…

at my doctor’s office (tables are for standing, right?)…

at mommy’s doctor’s office…            

at my sisters’ school…

at the book store…  

and of course at home!   

LOTS of messes to be made at home! The place was definitely designed with me in mind!

Who needs toys when you have cupboards full of fun things to play with?

And on the days I don’t get baths, I just freshen up in this handy water dish.             

Taste my toes to make sure they are clean.

Talk to the inhabitants in my house….daddy….

…the reindeer.

Gnaw on some wood to help those stubborn teeth pop through.

Keep watch in the neighborhood…

…front and back. 

Practice walking.

Practice Diva behavior…umm, hello, this photo is supposed to showcase ME!

Practice cheeseball smile.   

Pretty much just be cute and funny. 

And of course, snuggle in and get some rest.

So I can be fully energized for more exploring.

{December 11}

Special day at our house~our anniversary. The girls surprised us with breakfast in bed! One told me “I  said that Mom keeps taking us to do kind things for everyone else, let’s do something for them!”  HOW DO I INSERT A HUGE SMILE HERE???

Our breakfast consisted of cinnamon toast (a little jelly on the back because they originally wanted to do that but ran out, so turned it over and changed it to cinnamon and sugar!!), oranges, and orange juice. On special day plates and celebration glasses. I LOVE having daughters!!!

They took a cute picture, but I can’t bring myself to post it of me looking like I just woke up! Sorry!

*Day 11 Advent Acts of Kindness*

Cheer on the older team girls from our gym at their State meet. Volunteer at the “adopt a family” party at church.

This day was an especially good one. And especially tiring!  After a fun, but long, gymnastics meet, we went and gave our time to the Adopt a Family party at church. The girls and I were able to not only help serve a fantastic meal and deserts to families (the kids got to shop for gifts for their parents, too!), we got to join them and get to know them. We chose to sit with a family that consisted of a single mom with three kids~two girls the same grades as mine. They hit it off. And that mom sure just needed another mom to talk to and get a little support from. Fantastic evening, and eye opening for my kiddos. We left feeling good, and the girls said it was “awesome” and they really got into helping. As we drove up to our beautifully lit up home, we paused and talked about how fortunate we are and grateful we are for the way God has blessed our lives. It was such a lovely feel good moment….

OK, I’d like to say the moment lingered on, but they are 7 and 9. So after the brief pause, it was right back to typical business as usual. I believe the discussion ended in why they didn’t eat a second cookie at the party since they were so good, if it was the REAL Santa there, what Santa will bring them, oh and my favorite…how they don’t like when I make them put their clean clothes away. And to end my good parenting on a shining note…I said something to the effect of “I bet there were people at church tonight who would love that basket of beautiful clothes of yours so instead of putting them away let’s just bring the basket over there right now!”  *Sigh*

It’s all sinking in their little heads somewhere, right?!