On the first snow day before Christmas.....

On the first snow day before Christmas, my kiddos made with me:

A house that was a little mess-y!

On that same snow day before Christmas my kiddos sang to me:

about playing their drums for a little ba-by!

I've got much more where this came from......stay tuned! I know you're on the edge of your seats in suspense;)

Inside entertainment..

It's cold again here in the Land of Oz. It is that time of year when we start getting cabin fever!! We have been keeping ourselves occupied after preschool by:

.....doing lots of puzzles Brady loves to build things, put things together and figure out how things work. So naturally, he really, really loves puzzles. He reminds me more of his daddy every day. I don't know how many times Daddy Oz has brought home puzzles and offered them up as"fun" date night suggestions. Umm........no thank you says Mama Oz! But, I will admit that the first summer that we dated we spent hours putting together a huge puzzle in the evenings. My dad even glued it together for us. And, my uncle framed it!

Anyway, puzzles seem to keep this kid busy, busy.....and that's what mama Oz wants on these cold afternoons!

We also spend a lot of time playing restaurant. We all have to take turns being the "server person," the "cooker" and the "eater."

Here is our menu from earlier this week:

As you can see, we had quite the selection. But, we were all out of cake because Karson ate the last pieces! Minnie and Mickey even stopped in for a dinner date!

Hoping you keep warm and entertained on these blustery winter days!

Christmas Tree Party!

It's hard to resist a good party. Sarah, at Thrifty Decor Chic, is hosting a Christmas tree party! I love attending Christmas tours of homes, but I haven't seen any advertised for my area this year. But, a blog tour of home is even better! You don't have to face the freezing temperatures, worry about tracking in mud on your shoes, or even get out of your pj's. So, grab a cup of coffee or cocoa and check out some of the amazing trees over at Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Tree Party Tour!!

Here are just a couple of my trees:

I know I am a crazy person to try to decorate a tree for each room, but I just can't help myself. I made this tree to match my Johnson Brothers' Christmas dishes in my dining room. I stuffed it with flowers, tea cups and vintage (look-a-like) cards that I got last year on clearance at my favorite antique store. This is my little pink, silver and green tree that is in the kitchen. It is a hodge-podge of Dollar Tree finds. I am obsessed with red.....love it.....love it.....love it!! But, I wanted something that would blend in the kitchen with my other obsession---dishes! The cool thing about my everyday dishes, the Johnson Brother's British Castles, is that they can be used with red, cranberry or even pink!

In the kitchen, I paired them with my Johnson Brothers' Rose Chintz collection and other rose colored antique store finds.

I love pairing new and old things together. Some of my collection is from my great-grandmother (the pink glassware), some I haggled for at antique stores and some I found for $1 or so at T. J. Max!

I heart the Johnson Brothers very much........can you tell??

I could go on about dishes all day.......but I'll stop and let you check out the the party tour!

Advocate

Due to "inclement weather," preschool was closed today. After exhausting all available, kid-friendly options at our local mall, we decided to tackle our homework on this cold, "snow day." I say, "snow day" because there was/is NO snow......no really...there was/is no snow...at all!! It is, however, around 20 degrees though!

Anyway, the twins had to create a "family Christmas tree" for preschool. We decided our theme would be "the names of Jesus" in honor of his birthday. Obviously, we just used a few of the MANY names for him mentioned in scripture. Brady was very concerned that we did not include "Jehovah" because he loves the song "Days of Elijah" and the chorus repeats "There's no God like Jehovah....over and over." The name we spent the most time discussing was "Advocate." 1 John 2:1,1 says, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

The dictionary defines an advocate as: One that argues for a cause; a supporter or defender: an advocate of civil rights.
2. One that pleads in another's behalf; an intercessor
3. A lawyer.

We talked about when people accept Jesus as their Savior, he becomes their advocate. Because we could never be nice enough......or good enough....... or follow the rules enough....Jesus stands in our place and defends us. When we believe in him and place our trust in him, his work on the cross allows him to simply say, "This person is one of mine" and his grace completely covers the "bad stuff" we have done. He defends us, redeems us and intercedes for us!!

"Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2

" having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:14

"For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God." Hebrews 7:19

My sweet Brady said, "Mommy, we should make one of these for everyone and put it in their mailboxes so they will know who Jesus is and that it is his birthday!"

That we should Brady......that......we should.....

Praying that this season (and always) you will understand what it means to have Christ as your "advocate."

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24

That time of year.....

It's that time of year again!! The time of year when Mama Oz realizes just how dusty everything is when she begins to decorate for Christmas!! (She is pretty sure that there are many spots that have not seen a dust cloth since this time last year!) It's also the time of year when she begins to reflect on her many, many blessings!!

Some from yesterday and today include:

• The fact that her hubby called from work to request that we not decorate the tree without him.
• Dance parties between Daddy Oz and Sis in the den to 90's music
• Brady's request that the 90's music be changed to "Jesus songs" instead
• snowy days sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows, which were left over from a gingerbread house
• G-daddy standing out in the sleet and cold getting estimates to fix our leaky roof
• watching Mr. Braids be incredibly good at nickjr.com games
• date night eating Japanese take-out and watching a sweet movie with my hubster
• the ability to run on a treadmill in a nice, warm house while listing to podcasts from one of my favorite pastors.
• Getting to go to church tonight and worship with my sweet family while my kiddoes dance sing at the top of their lungs! Hoping you'll realize the little things God has blessed you with this season!

“I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!" Malachi 3:10

The Perfect Christmas Card

Every year, I get really worked up over trying to create the PERFECT Christmas card! For me, one of the highlights of the Christmas season is finding cards from friends and family in my mailbox! I love to read sweet holiday wishes from family, see pictures of friends’ new babies and get glimpses of how children have grown and changed in the past year!

I think Christmas cards are not only a really great way to share fun memories with your friends and family, but they are also a simple way to share your faith in Christ. This year, I started early and have already created a super-sweet Christmas card from shutterfly.com! They have sooooooo many great cards and ideas to choose from!! Though I can’t share my own card with you yet (because I want you to wait to find the real thing in your mailbox), check out some of the super cute options available:

Monograms are HUGE in the South……..check out this one.

I also love ones like this that allow you to show off more than one picture!

This style is cute too!

But, my very, personal favorites allow you plenty of room to include several lines of your own, personalized holiday wishes....cause you know I am NOT a woman of few words!!

So, head on over to shutterfly.com and pick out your family’s Christmas card today!
They are also offering 50 FREE CHRISTMAS CARDS to bloggers who blog about this giveaway! Check it out HERE! And, that, my friends, is a super-duper deal!! Have fun designing your Christmas cards! Shutterfly.com makes it easy!!!

A Jesus Crafty, Craft

On their day off from school, my two little preschoolers decided they wanted to "make a craft." So, I promised to take them to the local craft store to get some supplies. However, the cold, blustery, snowy day made me want to forgo the trip. So, we just used some stuff from around the house and came up with this cute little guy:

a little sock baby Jesus

For this little craft, you will need:

• a pink sock for the body
• a brown sock for the manger
• some little rubber bands
• a marker
• some yellow felt, foam, string or material for the hay
• a little piece of fabric for a blanket (a.k.a. swaddling clothes)
• cotton balls for stuffing (we used left over, fake Halloween spiderweb stuff :)
• fabric glue

You simply stuff the pink sock with stuffing, place rubber bands around it for the head and body, draw on a face, and cover in a blanket. Then you roll down the brown sock and glue on the yellow strips of fabric or string and place the baby inside.
We placed ours in our nativity scene. Karson and Brady wanted our sock Jesus(s) to be with their family and other visitors. I hope these wise men brought enough gifts for triplets!!
I hope you are getting excited about celebrating Jesus's birthday!! I know we are!!

I think it is AMAZING that from the very beginning.......God had a plan to send us a Savior!!

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15

I'm so thankful that the baby, whose birthday we are celebrating, grew up and CRUSHED sin once and for all!!