advent reading

As promised: our Advent calendar!

it did not turn out quite as I had planned. 

sometimes Life causes time-crunches {smiles} 

BUT it was completed before we needed to use it!

the verses follow the Advent posts. 

And we will read the Christmas Story all-together before we open presents 

{we have not decided exactly when yet, since Christmas morning is Sunday-incidentally, the BEST day to have Christmas!}

We turn the card around backwards when we are done reading it so Mommy does not get confused. {so sad}. 

and it is hung on another bookshelf close to our Days of Thanksgiving which we are continuing.

ADVENT: the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event

what we started

60 days of THANKSGIVING

{2011}

Right in the middle of October, when Halloween was looming and Thanksgiving was around the corner {and Christmas after that!}, I wanted to do something with my family that would take their minds off the candy and scary costumes  and put it on being thankful!

But I also did not want this Thankfulness to stop with "Turkey day!" I wanted something to keep THANKFULNESS in our hearts through the hustle and bustle that has begun!

So, I asked the Lord to guide my thoughts- for something we could do that could be VISIBLE to my children at all times and require no trip to the store!

I enjoy computer graphics [my children prefer crayons! as you can see] so I used a computer to make this grid, but you could just as easily draw it with ruler and marker. I already had these little crayon papers. so I made the box size accordingly. I put a few Bible verses about thankfulness and thanksgiving on it.

Every evening during our family devotions we talk about what we are thankful for. If we have been to church [thus making our night a little late], we pick one thing as a family. Otherwise, each of us say one thing we are thankful for. Occasionally we have repeats. but we try to combat them. Some days our hearts are turned by what happened that day. other times we just think of things like friends and church and toys.

It is taped to a shelf on our bookshelf in our living room. We all see it multiple times daily. and now that we are half way through... it adds a lot of color! {smiles}

We began October 25 and will end on December 25. My prayer is that my children, husband and I can ALL learn more about being thankful. having the Spirit of Thankfulness permeate our lives. all the way through to Christmas night! [and beyond!]

works for me .2 [continued]

you can see my initial post here

semi-done for 2 1/2 months

And now I have FINALLY finished it!

 

long[ish] screws with caps on them

for the hair bands and elastics

{I have no idea where to acquire them as they were just in our stash of odds/ends}

double ribbon for hair pins

one strand ribbon for smaller clips

tied to very small screws

small clips {smiles}

fewer empty spaces now!

it hangs from a hook at the top of their bedroom door 

as I do not want to put a hole in the door 

and there is not really any wall space available for it.

YEAH!!!

Just in time for making some Christmas bows.

EDITED to add [January 2012]: 

The head bands were having trouble staying on with the board since it is hanging on a frequently used door, so they now have a home in a basket, but all other clips and bows stay in their place when not in use!! YEAH

Please also  

check out these two ladies shops 

if you need some bows!  

[Tell them Tascha sent you. 
I am not compensated, I just want to know if they get business from this post!]

Rachel's Ribbon Candy

Chic Made Cheap

linked up at:
RaisingHomemakers
Proverbs31Thursday/RaisingMightyArrows
homemakerschallenge 

works for me .2

taming the hair bows

[inspired by]

a cork board with no home

  [medium sized screws] 

[and extra ribbon]

lightly spray painted white

  [craft glue]

a pack of magnets
[from the craft store or walmart]

works for me .1

How do you store your lids?

This is my 'everything' cupboard. It includes all plastic storage containers, baking dishes, plastic picnic plates, salad spinner, casserole dishes, hand mixer, and standing on the side are my cupcake pans and cookie sheets [hiding]. 

containers are stacked by shape
circle, square, rectangle

And then came the day when my lid drawer became a sippy cup/snack bowl drawer [when we had child # 3 on the way]. I tried to put all my lids in one container to sit in the cupboard-did not work. I may have tried some other ideas but really have no recollection of what they were-just that they didn't work either. 

the shelf is only half the cupboard
(normal, I think)

Enter: 

$Tree 'garment bags'

I had bought a couple packs since they were 2/$1,