I know I boasted about the amazing Santa setup we found last year, but I somehow managed not to secure an appointment this year and they didn't have a walk-in option. To say I was bummed is an understatement. The ability to take your own photos, have an appointment AND a beautifully decorated venue was some sort of Christmas trifecta! We heard there was another local option and were able to get an after-church appointment on Sunday afternoon, so we gave it a try. This "North Pole" did not disappoint. K and I were both anticipating crocodile tears from this kid, so we were pleasantly surprised when he walked right up to Santa, gave him a big hello and climbed up in his lap. He promptly displayed his muscles and informed the big guy that he is a "stronger boy now." It was pretty much all ...
Christmas
Glory to God
It's hard to believe that it's been five years since Ella learned to recite the Christmas story from Luke 2, but it is easily my favorite video of all time. What do you say we revisit it today? "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be registered. The census first took place when Quirinius was governing Syria. So everyone went to be registered; everyone to his own city... Now in this same country, there were shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And behold the angel of the LORD stood before them and the glory of the LORD shone all around them and they were greatly afraid. The angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I came to bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ...
Lights Up at The Summit | 2015
It's been a few weeks now, but just before Thanksgiving Ella got to dance in a holiday parade at our local open air mall. Every year they have a huge event outside with a parade, fireworks and Santa Claus where they "light up" all of the trees and buildings for the holidays. We were lucky enough to be the only dance studio in the Birmingham area to participate, so the girls felt like royalty. The entire place was packed and it was super hard to get photos while they were dancing. I was literally running down the sidewalk with my camera trying to catch up with them a few times along their route. Obviously, the studio isn't named after our daughter, but I figured we should mind our internet safety, no? We were lucky enough that Spark & Arrow does a ton of work with The Summit and ...
Holiday Home Tour
You guys, can you even believe that Christmas is right around the corner?! I am such a kid when it comes to the joy and wonder of the holiday season and we have been giddy with anticipation over here. I warned you that I started my holiday decorating pretty early this year and when my girls went to bed on Monday night they were grinning and giggling because they were going to wake up to DECEMBER. It is so so easy for me to get caught up in all that I have to do and everywhere I have to be that I forget the reason for our celebration. I could tell you that our focus is always on Christ, but in the midst of elf antics and wrapping paper and credit cards, it is easy to turn our hearts and minds away. It seems like such a silly thing (and I know the Thanksgiving police might disagree with ...
Holiday Garland DIY
Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping the embedded links won’t cost you any additional dollars, it might earn the blog a small commission. Your support of this space is always appreciated! I spent much of the day Friday getting my holiday decorations finalized. I used to be that girl who waited until December to decorate. Then after we had kids, we started picking up our tree right after Thanksgiving. I decorated mid-November last year and I have to admit -- it didn't make me any less thankful on that Thursday and it was a huge help overall. We got to enjoy our lights a little longer and I wasn't completely run ragged trying to unload ten plastic bins over a holiday weekend. I did something similar this year, adding a few things along the way for the last several ...
22 of our FAVORITE Christmas Gifts
Warning: Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping the embedded links won’t cost you any additional dollars, using the links below to shop may result in a small commission for me. Thanks for supporting the brands that make this blog possible. Can you even believe that Thanksgiving is this week? And that means our Christmas shopping should be in full swing! I've already been stalking online retailers and begging the girls to finish up their Christmas lists so that I can take full advantage of the deals and steals circulating this week.I thought I'd share some of my favorite gifts for all of the little ones in your life! 01 Illustory: Make Your Own Book 02 Blankie Tail Mermaid Blanket 03 Cooking Class Recipes 04 Laugh Out Loud Doodles for Girls (and Boys) 05 ...
Even MORE Christmas!
We are so fortunate to have an abundance of family who live close by. And remarkably, all of their Christmas celebrations coordinate quite nicely and we've never had any conflict. Josh & I were amazed when we first started dating at how well we were able to harmonize our favorite traditions without making any major sacrifices! For that reason, my girls get to celebrate almost every day for an entire week. We try hard not to spoil them, but that's almost impossible when you have so many people to love. First up was a box full of treats from our Aunt Lane in Kentucky. We usually save these gifts for after Christmas, but I decided to kick the week off on Sunday night with a pajama party in their room. Not only did she send them all of these wrapped gifts, but they got some pretty ...
A Christmas Recap
For whatever reason, Christmas didn't quite feel real this year. It came out of nowhere and I didn't feel nearly as prepared as I would have liked. I'll chalk it up to our lives being in a season of flux and I'm vowing that next year I'm going to pace myself and be sure to take in every moment. I read and heard from so many people that they just weren't in the Christmas spirit this year or were just ready to get it over with and no matter how "out of it" I felt, I don't think I'll ever have that attitude towards the holiday. I might have already taken my dying evergreen down, but every other decoration is still in place and probably will be for another week. Not because I'm lazy or are trying to avoid the process, but because I'm always so sad to pack it away for eleven more ...