Make Me Smile Monday

Things I never expected to say to my children:

"No running in the house with a sword." (When he was 2, J quickly came up with a solution to this problem.)

"Please stop pulling all the clothing off of your hangers and throwing them on the floor!" (During naptime I might add!)

"Please put that giant branch down when you're running."

"It's not safe to wear mommy's high heels on the stairs...I can hardly walk in them...at all!"

"Please don't carry your brother on the stairs, it's not safe."

"No swords at the dinner table."

"Please don't put your dirty socks on the table."

"You really shouldn't hide food under your bed, it will attract ants or mice or go moldy and ruin the carpet!"

"Please swallow the food in your mouth before you make another bite."

"Please stop taking the mattress off your bed so you can jump on it."

"Don't forget you're wearing a skirt."
(Guys can't usually relate to this but every woman knows there's a certain skirt/dress wearing etiquette. I never realized this was something I'd have to teach my daughters. I'm happy to say I think we've pretty much got this mastered.)

"Please keep your fingers out of your nose."

"No throwing snowballs at your sisters during breakfast please."
(Ever since we saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, J loves to throw pretend snowballs at the rest of the family saying, "snowball snowball, snowball!") Here's a clip from the movie if you're still not sure what I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO11WHkTfg8

Make Me Smile Monday - Guest Post

Today's guest post is written by Julie-Anne from "The Fruitful Mom". Julie-Anne is a mother of 6. I would say that her greatest passions are her children, her husband, loving God and encouraging other mothers to thrive in motherhood, not just survive. All of these passions come together on her blog. She's a talented writer, trained as a Doula and homeschools her children. You might say she's kind of a supermom! Athough she would tell you (and rightly so) she's leaning on and trusting in God to be her strength. Thank-you Julie-Anne for todays post!

Life Needs Gravy

When Brenna invited me to guest post on today’s Make Me Smile Monday, it really felt like a blessing! Sometimes blessings come in small, simple gestures we do for each other. I’m a “growing” writer and this invitation was like a big hug saying, go on...I believe in you!

It’s these special things we do for each other in friendship and as family that makes life more, shall we say, delicious?  Kind of like gravy on the turkey and mashed potatoes we eat at Christmas. Life needs gravy.

I’ve been reading about love lately – God-love! I came across this declaration:

“Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God's love in me), I gain nothing.” 1 Cor 13:3 (AMP)

I have adapted it:

Even if I spend my days in the kitchen making the most delicious meals for my family or baking goodies for a local bake sale to raise money for a good cause, and if I surrender my body and energy to meticulous housecleaning in order that I may glory in my homemaking, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing.

Because, love is the gravy of life. It’s the cranberry sauce and all the trimmings on the Christmas table. It’s all the extra little acts of love that sweeten our children’s lives and flavour our husband’s day. Simple acts of love are what make your loved ones smile on Mondays and every other day of the week.

What does this gravy-love look like?

For me, it looks like taking the time to listen to my 7 year old’s stories about epic lego battles. It looks like making ornaments with my teenage daughter out of Styrofoam balls, old book pages, mod podge and glitter even though the laundry is piling up. It looks like a shoulder rub for my husband after a long, tiring day at work. It looks like making chicken sandwiches for my hungry teenager (even though he can make them himself) because every mom knows that the way to a teenage boy’s heart is through his stomach! It means asking God for ideas on how to reach my spirited four year-old’s heart! It means taking the time to do all the little things that make my family smile, sing and cheer!

When Christmas and motherhood collide into one busy season this year, and you feel like you’re chasing a million to-do lists, make love your greatest quest. I just know He will inspire you to pour some God-love on your loved ones too!

Make Me Smile Monday

Spoiler alert!!! Mom and Nancy: If you're reading - please don't read this post until after Christmas!!! I don't want to ruin certain surprises we may have in store for you. :)


I wasn't crazy about Christmas when I was younger. Well, I might have been when I was very young, but (for reasons I won't get into) it lost it's sparkle somewhere along the way and unfortunately my disdain for the holiday only grew into my teen years. (As a side note, I could have chosen a better attitude regardless of my "reasons", but I didn't.) So as cheesy as it may sound to some of you, I'm so grateful that God used Jason coming into my life to help change that. Its been 12 years since I've chosen to look for and embrace the joy of the season, and there's no going back! ;)   

So now that we're married, creating family traditions for us to share with our children carries a lot of meaning and brings a lot of joy to my heart. One of the things I love about family traditions is that they hold the promise of forever. While it's true that we don't know how long we have in this life, we can commit ourselves to a lifetime of using the time we have to celebrating together as a family. And family traditions are a fun reminder to our children of the commitment we've made. Another thing I love about family traditions is that they have the potential be be happy memory makers.

So this year when I discovered a new tradition to introduce to our family...I was so excited!!! I saw this on (where else?) Pinterest and completely fell in love with the idea:

While (in recent years) I have loved counting down to the big day, I never really loved the little boxes you buy at the grocery store, especially since the ones they make now count down to New Years Day. (In our house the kids don't care so much about New Years but they get very excited about Christmas, so counting down to New Years isn't quite as much fun.)

So, after looking around online I found some bags on Etsy. They arrived (much to my delight!) on friday and J and I set it up this morning (no peeking was allowed) after I filled them on the weekend.

I also discovered another idea that I absolutely loved for filling our advent! And that is not only filling our advent with treats but activities! After looking around at a few different websites, I compiled my personal favourites and typed them out in Word. In case you're curious, here's what we're doing this year:

Have a family game night. 

Go ice-skating.

Put nativity set on display.

Bake some Christmas cookies.

Decorate a gingerbread house.

Choose something from Samaritans Purse or World Vision to buy together as a family.

Go visit Santa downtown.

Drive around and look at neighbourhood Christmas lights.

Fill the dining room with candles and turn on some Christmas music for dinner.

Go Christmas carolling.

Pop some popcorn, make some hot chocolate and watch a favourite Christmas movie!

Read a favourite Christmas story. (twice)

Put up a Christmas wreath on the front door.

Play a game of road hockey.

Make some fancy hot chocolate and snuggle up by the fireplace sharing favourite Christmas memories.

Go to the grocery store and buy food to be given to the food drive.

Fill the dining room with candles and turn on some Christmas music for dinner.

Make paper snowflakes.

Call grandma and sing Jingle Bells. Call grandpa and do the same!

Make paper snowflakes.

Mystery activity.

Make Apple Cider, grab a plate of cookies and have a Christmas family movie night.

Make some homemade pizza and have a Christmas family movie night.

It’s Christmas morning…it’s time to open your stockings!!!

I made a calendar in Word and planned activities based on how much time was available each day. That's why some activites are so quick, like put up a Christmas wreath on the front door. Most days have five treats I picked up at the Bulk Barn with Rebecca (it was her idea to go there, which was brilliant I might add, since I could count out the exact number for each day I needed). I left out treats on the days that involve something sweet in the activity. 

I also found the story of the birth of Christ (divided into 25 day segments) and put them into Word as well. Once I had the activities and verses in Word, I printed out one page of the verses as a test to make sure they would fit in my little 3x5 bags (Jason's idea, which is no big surprise...he's a planner). After I had the right fit, I cut them out and glued them onto red and green cardstock (red for the verses, green for the activities), cut those out and then laminated them (the laminator was a birthday present from my mom) and then cut them out one more time. Here's what it looked like:

And here's what it looks like now that it's all hung up:

I can't wait for the first of December!!! :)

What are your family traditions? Are you (like us) beginning any new ones this year?