Refresh my Soul

As parents, I think that we all question ourselves.  Did we make the right decision?  Do they know how much we love them?  Am I messing up my kids? How can I get everything done?  How can I be everything to everyone....and on and on and on

I recently came across a book written by Lysa TerKeurst called "Am I messing up my kids? and other questions every Mom asks"  I flipped the book over and these 5 bullet points hit me like a ton of bricks:

• forgive yourself for honest mistakes
• look to the Lord for what you need each day
• refuse to be either Slacker Mom or Super Mom
• trust God with your greatest fears
• grow as a person and as a Mom

I knew this was the book for me....

I started reading a chapter every night before bed and love the humor and real life stories that this Mother of 5 tells in the book.  But the busy week last week and holiday got in my way and I hadn't been paying attention to my nightly devotionals and it caught up with me...FAST, LIKE A TON OF BRICKS HITTING ME IN THE FACE....and I was done and needed to refresh my soul.

So tonight, I slowed down, let the laundry pile up, the dishes sit in the sink, turned off my blackberry and took some time for me and God.  Had a little talk, asked him for some help and opened my book.  Low and behold my devotion tonight was titled "Does God Care About Me"? The devotion was all about how woman try to do it all and how do we balance our crazy busy life.  Coincidence?  I think not...

So tonight, I ask you busy crazy Mom's to not forget why we celebrate Christmas this year, it's not about the perfect tree, the latest video game or the best decorated cookies in the preschool class.  It's about HIM and HE reminded me tonight that he is with me always and cares about me always, even when I'm so busy and forget to give HIM the time he deserves.

I leave you with my favorite paragraph from tonights reading:

"Where this peace starts to slip is when I try to figure God out.  I try to reason my way into the peace rather than praying and making the choice to stop all my toil and wondering and leave them in God's hands.  Accept each step God puts before me as my temporary assignment, fulfill that part of it, and leave the rest with Him.

Christmas Cards

I read an article over the weekend that asked the question "With Social Media, is sending Christmas Cards out in snail mail really needed"?  My answer - YES!!!!  I LOVE LOVE getting sweet cards in the mail, thank you cards, birthday invites or Christmas cards.  In fact, my sons's Sunday School teacher sends him hand written notes on special occasions or if he has missed a Sunday and he looks forward to getting those and reading them.  Just something about holding it in your hand, I guess!

In fact, I have been playing around with my Christmas Card design since we got back from our summer vacation at the beach.  I use Shutterfly, which is my favorite for cards.  I order all of my kids birthday invites from Shutterfly.  You can check 'em out here. You can make really creative cards and they have great specials that they run where you can a % off of cards a lot of different times during the year.  If you are not on their email list, get on it so you don't miss any cool sales.

I also use it for digital scrapbooking and they have awesome deals on that as well.  In fact I made an adorable scrapbook for a friends son for his 1 year birthday and with my coupon code is was about $20.  Cool gift and meaningful for a low cost!

Soooo, when I was saw a cool promotion going on for bloggers that use Shutterfly I had to jump in!  If you are a blogger and want to get 50 FREE cards from Shutterfly than go read all about it right here!

So, now back to the cool Christmas Cards Shutterfly has this year....Here are some of my favs!

I'm a sucker for anything monogrammed and I love black and white photos and this one has 6 slots so enough to put pics of all the Hams!  Cute Cute Cute!

This one is really sweet and classic and I love the Merry Christmas script at the top and the fact that it opens up so you can write a personal message inside.

My eye was drawn right to this one because of the cute colors, I love the red, pink and greens together!  In fact that is my wrapping paper color theme this year. 

So what's a girl to do???? With this cool promotion from Shutterfly  I might just order a couple different ones.  You know, like magazines sometimes do when they use different covers for the same month and you accidentally buy two of the same magazines because you love love the cover and you didn't think you had that months edition.  No, I've never ever ever done that.....hope Santa didn't hear my little white lie!

Now happy Christmas Card Making....

Here Turkey Turkey....

So, I'm a BIG sucker for those cute little applique shirts that are all the rage now for little ones.  BUT, they are quite pricey at our local boutiques and even on ETSY.  I saw a really cute turkey that was made from a child's hands and feet but at $25 a shirt I knew I wasn't gonna be getting those for the Ethan and Anna Claire.

So I did a little research and found this awesome DIY blog - http://treasuresfortots.blogspot.com/2009/11/tiny-hands-turkey-applique-tutorial.html and viola I made two very cute Turkey Shirts for .....$4.  Yep, that is for BOTH!  I had the shirts and the other supplies I needed.  The only thing I needed was material and I picked it up on the clearance aisle of Ben Franklin. 

Oh, I'm in LOVE.....You just wait, those poor kids are gonna be wearing a ll kinds of cute little applique shirts...I'm thinking of doing one for their birthday, for Christmas, for Valentines Day....hmmm...maybe I might just open up my own ETSY shop at $25 a pop I could make a killin :)

Celebrating Holland

It rained and rained and rained today .... but that didn't stop us from Celebrating Holland!  We had a great time with 3 of our new friends.  Babies played and Mommies who share a very special bond hung out.  It was great and I can't wait to get to know these Mamas even more!  I wanted to get more pictures but I was just so busy yapping my jaws...shocking, I know, right?

But I did get a cute one of Skylar and Ethan....

Can't wait to see our new friends next week at The Children's Museum of Richmond!

CJ's Meal Fairies

Alright, I'm asking for your help!  Many of you who read my blog have the honor of having a Special Needs Child.  Many of you have sat up all night and all day with no sleep and no food watching your child laying in a hospital bed.  My friends over at CJ Thumbs Up Foundation want to win the Pepsi Refresh Challenge and provide food vouchers for parents of sick children who just like you are sitting right now watching a sick child laying in a hospital bed. 

I have fallen in love with this Sweet Angel Charlotte, even though I never met her, she is dancing in Heaven now and her parents want to help other parents of sick children. 

Hey folks, please vote for my friend CJ's Thumbs Up Foundation/CJ's Meal Fairies awesome idea to change America!


Please click over on the right side of my blog EVERYDAY this month and vote for them!

You can also add a badge to your blog to help them....



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