Family Cleaning Raffle

I know we live in a world where "Pardon the Mess, We're Making Memories Here" is the current mantra, but our family doesn't live by those same principles. We do live in our house, we do homeschool in our house, we do make memories in our house; but we clean up after ourselves too. Our house is way too small with a whole bunch of people living in it, letting it stay filthy and unorganized just isn't an option. Further more, I just believe, we as a family, are way more productive and healthier when our house is clean and organized. 

I have shared much of our cleaning and organizing routines in previous posts, but today I'd like to share a fun way we do a 'crash deep cleaning' around the holidays. My preferred way to keep our house cleaned and organized is to schedule 'deep cleaning' tasks weekly, throughout the year. This way we're constantly cleaning or organizing something in small spurts as opposed to a non-stop week or month of intense cleaning. 

But hey, sometimes we all get behind and there's 'not-your-every-day cleaning' that needs to be done. A couple times a year I typically find myself in these straights ~ which is why I created a Family Cleaning Raffle. A family cleaning raffle is a fun way to get everyone involved in a swift deep cleaning and organization of your home. 

Cleaning and organizing has always been a family affair for us, so thankfully a cleaning raffle isn't something my kiddos snub their noses at; but I can understand if some children may not be on board as much. To help spur my children on to finished their cleaning raffle jobs I often include a family reward for everyone once all the jobs have been completed. For this year's holiday cleaning raffle reward we had a family movie night with hot cocoa.

To do our cleaning raffle, I make a list of all the cleaning and organizing jobs that need to be done and I write them on strips of paper. I use two different colors of paper; one color for the older children and another for the younger kiddos. Everyone can work no matter the age, the jobs just need to be age appropriate. Usually the younger ones find the cleaning raffle more 'fun' than the big kids anyways, lol.

I put all the slips of paper with the tasks on them folded up inside a jar and we pass the jar around. Everyone takes a slip and then gets to work. This year we had enough jobs that the jar was passed around twice and each person had two specific jobs to complete. As the children complete their tasks, I go around and check to make sure they were done correctly. 

I also have my own 'big' jobs that I do while the kids are working on theirs. This year I scrubbed the outside of all our kitchen cabinets and oiled them as well as scrubbed our interior doors. This year I was blessed with my husband being at home and he helped in multiple different areas, cleaning and organizing. It's always nice to have an extra adult available.

Thankfully, we've raised our children up from a very young age to help with cleaning and they don't give me grief when it comes time for deep cleaning or any cleaning for that matter. We have a lot of family sayings, but one most frequently used is: "It takes a family to run a family and family's name is NOT Mom and Dad". This reigns true for all areas of our life including cleaning and organizing. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Baby Moon in Dahlonega, Georgia

We're always on the look out for fun new places to explore, especially those which are free and are within close proximity to where we live. Last year my husband discovered a quaint new destination: Dahlonega, Georgia, where a Hallmark Christmas movie had been filmed.  (Christmas in Homestead) Apparently the town was brimming over with small town Christmas charm as well as fun seasonal activities. We tried to coordinate a visit there last year, but it ended up raining on the day we were supposed to travel, forcing us to cancel our trip.

Fast forward to this year, and it was still on our docket to try and visit. We had planned to bring the entire family, but the day of our planned excursion, we decided it would be our second EVER weekend getaway for just mom and dad. Since I was due with baby number ten a week later, I guess you could call it an unofficial baby moon. 

We left mid-morning on Saturday, with no set-in-stone plans, just an open day to enjoy each others company and explore a new-to-us little town. We stopped at one of our favorite restaurants on the way; Jim & Nicks, a fabulous bar-b-que joint that we love.

 The town was basically situated around a central building (the courthouse), with cute little boutique stores surrounding it. I absolutely loved these baskets, but unfortunately most of the items for sale in the cute little stores were way above our budget. No, worries as it is always fun to look.

There were several street musicians included this man playing a trumpet.

The old buildings were so pretty.

There were several old churches surrounding the square. The pictures really don't do them justice.

This was a huge real tree decorated in front of the visitors center. Mr. & Mrs. Clause were set up right beside the tree taking pictures.

At night the town was beautifully lit up with Christmas lights. Thankfully, it was a fairly warm day and we were able to enjoy the holiday festivities to the fullest. We explored many of the shops, watched a cute little parade, and rode in a horse-drawn carriage.

After the fun in Dahlonega, we headed out to find dinner, some coffee, and a hotel. We ended up eating Mexican which was delicious. Then we had coffee at Dunkin' Donuts where we also found this cute little Elf on the Shelf Christmas ornament.

We were super thrilled to find a hotel available at the first one we tried. Once we got settled it was 'feet up' and Christmas movies until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

While I am still getting used to leaving all my babies behind, I am enjoying the reconnection of just me and my husband on our little excursions sans children. It's not easy to balance large family living and couple-time, but we're working on it. I'm thankful for the time we had in Dahlonega, as it was a super cute little town overflowing with all the bells and whistles of small-town Christmas charm; something both me and my husband really appreciate.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

5 Easy Steps to Thrive Not Just Survive with a Newborn

As a mother of soon-to-be ten children, I am acutely aware of the struggles that can arise with trying to get back into a heathy rhythm of normalcy, especially when there are so many new dynamics to incorporate. Fortunately, This isn't my first 'rodeo' and I have learned some key principles which help to get my days back on track fairly quickly.

 Having a newborn baby can easily be an overwhelming experience for any mama, especially a first time mother. But, it doesn't have to be; by implementing the five following SIMPLE steps you can easily go from surviving to thriving ~ allowing you to thoroughly enjoy this season of life!

1. Make Rest a Priority: It's a Marathon not a Sprint~ Many times new moms are told to sleep when baby sleeps, which is ideal the first week or two, but not really practical as the weeks progress. I find simply making a point for an early bedtime and a later morning wake time to be sufficient. In other words no late nights of trying to play catch-up. Do what you can during the day but when bedtime comes, shut it down and let it go until the next day. Your rest is the most important aspect right now especially as your body heals from giving birth and adjusts to meeting the needs of another human being.
2. Fuel Your Body ~ Hopefully you were already purposing to maintain a healthy diet throughout your pregnancy, but now, even more; your body needs fuel from nutrient dense foods to properly heal and sustain you through the often exhausting process of caring for a newborn. The best foods for this season of life is lean protein, healthy fats, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Don't forget plenty of water. I find drinking at least 8oz of water every time baby eats helps me to get the necessary hydration I need each day.
3. Move Your Body ~ Every childbirth has its own effects on each mother and only you know how much you can do each day after delivery and in the weeks following. I caution every mama to listen to their bodies and not to begin any exercise regiment until you are physically ready. But, do NOT let motherhood be an excuse NOT to exercise. Going for short walks is good for you and the baby, slowly add in more exercise as you feel ready or are cleared to do so by your physician. While exercise can quickly be put to the back burner for new moms, I plead with you to commit to some moderate form of exercise as soon as possible. Your body will thank you with copious amounts of strength and energy to sustain you through the many demands of motherhood during the newborn stage and beyond!
4. Delegate & Communicate ~ More times than not, having a baby involves more than just mom. Make sure you are communicating your needs to your partner, extended family, and friends. Many times people want to help new mothers, but they simply don't know what to do. Now is not the time to be overly independent or shy with sharing what you need. I find recognizing the blessing of family unity and involvement helps to make for an easier transition back to normalcy. And with the assistance of family and friends you will be creating a most favorable platform for you to succeed as a new mama.
5. Establish a Heathy & Practical Routine for You and Baby ~ A healthy routine is essential for thriving as a new mom. Please don't confuse a schedule with a routine. A schedule says something is done at a set time while a routine simply denotes an order of events. Many people would never dream of scheduling their babies, and that's perfectly fine; but a routine helps to establish order within your day allowing you to accomplish more. Make a list of the tasks you need to tackle each day and then designate a practical time during your day for them to be completed. For instance, each day I would like to take a shower. I plan my daily showers to be taken after my daughter's first feeding of the day which would be between 7am and 8am.

Having a new baby is a wonderful gift from God. Remember to give yourself grace and to take each day as they come, slowly adjusting to your new life as a mom of a newborn. Life will eventually resume back to a NEW normal. These newborn baby days will quickly pass. You'll soon forget how crazy and sleep deprived life was, because you'll be so enamored with all the wonderful milestones your precious bundle of joy is rapidly achieving. But, remember if you're struggling through the newborn baby days, you can quickly change that by implementing the 5 Easy Steps to Thrive Not Just Survive With a Newborn! So to all the new mamas reading this congratulations on your little blessing, and remember you've got this!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

What's a Doula & Why Every Pregnant Mama Needs One

I have a few more posts I originally wrote from my last blog that I'm transferring over here to Country Mama to Many. Most of the posts I alter or rather retrofit to be current and relevant to my life now; but I find that this post shares my heart exactly and I'm going to leave it as it is. I wrote it two years ago shortly after giving birth to our 9th baby. Today I am four days shy of being 40 weeks pregnant with our tenth baby. my thoughts are still the same regarding a doula and I believe they are a true asset to helping mamas get through labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery. 

Three weeks ago we welcomed our ninth baby into this world and our family. Lydia Rose was born on December 30th after a ridiculously easy labor and natural delivery weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce. While labor and delivery was a piece of cake my immediate postpartum recovery was quite the challenge. Praise the Lord it was nothing life threatening, but difficult nonetheless. After everything settled down, I became acutely aware that much of my postpartum issues could have easily been minimized and maybe even avoided if I had only included a doula in my childbirth plan.

What exactly is a doula? Well, a doula is a trained and qualified labor, delivery, and postpartum advocate for the MOTHER. I'm not yelling at you, but simply stressing that a doula's primary focus is to assist the mother in whatever needs she may have while in labor, birthing, or during the postpartum phase. The actually services provided by a doula can range from helping the pregnant mama the last few weeks of pregnancy, to helping with pain management techniques during labor, as well as assisting with breastfeeding. Every doula has their own set of services they provide. I highly recommend you interview multiple doulas to find one that will best fit your needs during the final days of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.

Prior to my pregnancy with our eighth child, I had only vaguely heard of doulas, as they were not exactly prevalent in our rural Alabama town. But, with the arrival of an avid natural childbirth OBGYN to our community, the interest and need for doulas quickly increased. As natural childbirth classes and resources became more readily available so did the demand for trained doulas. When I became pregnant with our eighth baby, I was educated on the advantages of having a doula be apart of my childbirth plan. After witnessing the blessing many of my friends had experienced while birthing with a doula; we decided to hire one too. It truly was wonderful to have someone directly working to meet my needs so that I could simply focus on delivering and cuddling my precious new baby.

For many different reasons, we opted not to have a doula for our ninth pregnancy. Looking back, I now realize I hadn't truly grasped the significance of having a doula present for my labor and delivery (until after my baby was born); even if I was well educated about their specific, yet unique services and had used one before. But, one reason I didn't pursue a doula was because I prefer to be left alone during labor. Most folks would equate a doulas greatest job to helping mothers with pain management techniques during labor. I just assumed, since I didn't need a doula during my labor, that it was unnecessary for one to be present throughout the remainder of my childbirth experience as well: unfortunately, I was gravely wrong!!

After I deliver my babies, I kind of go into a 'mini shock'. I literally just can't function. I can't talk, much less communicate my needs. My attention AND everyone else's traditionally turns to the baby at this point. Yet, the mother, who just birthed a human being is kind of tossed to the side as she's roughly doctored up and a sheet is thrown over her. A beautiful and wonderful event can quickly turn into an unnecessary catastrophe. I can honestly say, out of all nine of my deliveries, the best and least traumatic was the one where I had a doula at my side; forseeing my needs before I even knew I had them. Husbands are great, don't get me wrong, but for the most part, even they are clueless as to what a mama needs during the throws of childbirth.

The great thing is there's no excuse these days why most pregnant mamas can't experience the blessing of a doula as most insurance companies, even medicaid, gives allowances for doula services. Labor, childbirth, and postpartum is hard enough without having to suffer through unmet needs. With a doula's services, I can assure you, every mama will receive the care she deserves. I'd encourage all pregnant mamas to research and educate themselves on the benefits of having a doula present during childbirth. Regardless of your childbirth method, a doula truly can help to make labor, delivery, and postpartum a peaceful event for every mama. And this my friends, is exactly why every pregnant mama should include a doula in their birth plan.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Christmas Pictures 2019

Christmas Pictures 2019.

If I could only have one thing for Christmas every year it would be pictures of my babies. Last year was a total bust due to the fact that I let another photographer take our Christmas pictures ~ NEVER again. I never saw those pictures and I can never get that moment back!

I started learning the art of photography 11 years ago because photographers in our area are overpriced and undependable. While I may not be a professional, and I still have much to learn, I'll take my pictures over no pictures any day of the week!

Lydia Rose, a few weeks shy of 2 years old. 

I try to narrow it down to just one picture per child, but Lordy be that can be hard when they all turn out so stinking cute!

Titus Alexander, 3 years old.

Since we've taken our Christmas pictures this year, Titus continues to ask quite often if it's 'picture day' again, lol.

Samuel Carter, 5 years old.

Matthew Tyler, 7 years old.

Joshua Cole, 10 years old.

Lucas Tanner, 12 years old.

It's hard finding appropriate poses for boys, especially as they get older. Thankfully my boys seldom give me fits and do whatever I ask in terms of posing and taking pictures. I think their mantra is "hurry up and get it over with, please."

Tabitha Paige, a few weeks shy of 14 years old.

Elijah Jackson, 16 years old.

Isaac Tristan, 19 years old.

So thankful for my 16 year old who was willing to take a few Christmas pictures of dear ol' mom and dad. He's getting pretty good and just may put me out of my yearly job pretty soon.

I didn't think this year's Christmas pictures were going to happen either. We had scheduled a trip to a local Christmas tree farm, but we had last minute scheduling conflicts. To be honest, I don't care where the pictures take place as long as they happen, I'm good to go. Sadly, I'm realizing the older we all get, the less likely they will happen to the extent, I'd prefer. But, I 'll take what I can get and be grateful, treasuring all the pictures I can take of my precious gifts from heaven.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

P.S. I can't wait for next year when we get to add little Abby Lou to the mix!

5 Secrets For A Debt Free Christmas

Living a debt-free lifestyle applies to all aspects of life, even how we navigate buying presents for Christmas. Planning and budgeting for Christmas can be difficult for a small family, add in a few more kiddos (or a bunch more) and it can become a down right, mighty hard challenge! We are currently a modest, one-income family, and making every dollar stretch is key for our survival, especially at Christmastime. 

I love giving gifts and seeing the smiles on my children's faces as well as other family and friends faces when they open them. To help make sure we have the gifts to give and the ability to purchase them within our financial means, I have created a sort of guideline to help keep me on track. I realize Christmas is just a few short weeks away, but maybe some of these tips will help you in your Christmas gift giving process this year. 

For me, planning a debt-free Christmas begins the day after Christmas and continues throughout the entire year. We all know Christmas is coming at the end of every year, no sense in denying it, use that knowledge to your advantage, and plan accordingly. If you really want to give your family a special Christmas including those treasured gifts without going into debt you must alter your way of thinking. I have found that perspective is often the key to saving money and living debt free. The following five secrets have kept our LARGE family out of debt during the Christmas gift-giving season for many years now.

5 Secrets For A Debt Free Christmas

1. Implement a 3 gift limit for those in your immediate family, and 1 gift for extended family and friends. Less is more. Christmas really isn't about material items anyways; but the gift of Jesus, family, and friends. Creating a gift guide including how many gifts you are purchasing for each person will help to minimize spending and keep Christmas centered around what matters most.
2. Keep a running list of who you're shopping for and what you've bought/made throughout the year.
3. Think outside the box for gift giving. Make homemade gifts such as sewn items, baked goods, soaps, candles, woodcrafts, etc. Pinterest is a great resource as is Google if you're looking for homemade gift giving ideas.
4. Diligently shop clearance sales, consignments, and thrift stores. Purchasing gifts throughout the year is much easier for staying on budget than all at once, at the end of the year. I especially love after holiday sales. Many items sold after the holidays are neutral and can easily be given as gifts for Christmas. I especially like to shop after Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, and Halloween for stocking stuffers.
5. Make a point to put back a set amount of money each month for those last-minute gifts that can't be purchased in advance. I always create a Black Friday and Cyber Monday savings plan, because much of those deals are simply worth saving for! My personal goal is to save $60 a month for Christmas spending that I can't get accomplished throughout the year.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year. Adding the stress of debt doesn't have to be part of your family holiday traditions. By creating a gift-giving plan early in the year AND sticking to the plan, you will have a greater opportunity to simply focus on enjoying loved ones and making treasured memories during the Christmas season. Giving gifts doesn't have to be a burden to your budget, especially when you implement the above FIVE Secrets For A Debt Free Christmas. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Thrifty Christmas Bucket List

Well, Thanksgiving is behind us and we are well on our way to the Christmas season. I absolutely love the Christmas season. I love the hustle and bustle, shopping, advent lessons, baking, and simply being with family. To help make our Christmas season as memorable as possible we have a bucket list of traditions we try to do each year. All of which are extremely budget-friendly and easy to implement with a large crew in tow.

I strive to live each day as if it were my last, making memories and cherishing the time I get to spend with my family. While I'm certainly not the perfect mother; making the Christmas season extra special for my children is one of my favorite things to do. We've steadily added to our Christmas Bucket list every year, but nothing is set in stone. None of our bucket list adventures has to be done, they're simply a guide to help us celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

We've accumulated 25 extra special Christmas traditions we enjoy doing each year. My children look forward to our family holiday traditions, and will typically ask long before December arrives if we are going to do 'X-Y-Z' for Christmas this year? With our large family I've purposed to make our Christmas activities budget friendly and easy to do with littles ones. The holiday season is for all ages in our home.

Thrifty Christmas Bucket List

1. Christmas storybooks
2. Study of Christmas around the world (assorted resources from Teachers Pay Teachers)
3. Attend a Christmas parade
4. Christmas minute-to-win-it games
5. Make homemade ornaments
6. Christmas Directed drawings (assorted ones found on Pinterest)
7. Homemade candy
8. Elf on the Shelf
9. Decorate gingerbread houses
10. Do a family advent study
11. Countdown to Christmas
12. Decorate ice cream cone Christmas trees
13. Toys for Tots or other Christmas ministry
14. Visit Bass Pro Shop
15. Watch the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and eat 'Grinch food'
16. Polar express movie night with hot cocoa and cookies
17. Minivan Polar Express
18. Make Christmas cut-out sugar cookies and decorate
19. Make homemade bread for neighbor gifts
20. Visit a local Santa
21. Drive thru or walk thru Christmas light display
22. Set a date to decorate the house for Christmas
23. Purchase or make a special ornament for each child and give on a special day for children to hang on tree
24. Make homemade gifts for daddy or other family/friends
25. Read the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve while children are drinking hot cocoa

Making memories with children doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Each day is a gift and should never be wasted. The Christmas season is a wonderful time to begin establishing treasured traditions with your children. I encourage you to enjoy the magic of Christmas with your children this year through some of these fun activities on our family's Thrifty Christmas Bucket List.

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Celebrating the Advent with Children

Christmas is a wonderful time for family traditions. I love the many activities our family does each year to prepare for Christmas. Whether it’s decorating our Christmas tree(s) or participating in seasonal ministry opportunities, I cherish the intimate time we spend together as a family making memories. We wholeheartedly acknowledge that without Christ there would be no reason to celebrate. One way we strive to keep Christ first during the Christmas season is by celebrating the Advent with our children.

Teaching children about our Savior is so important, especially at Christmas time. There are many resources available to make teaching children about the Savior super easy. We have used many different books over the years. After years of teaching the Advent to my children, my greatest recommendation would be to go simple. It’s hard for young children to sit still for very long. Our Advent lessons are seldom longer than 15 minutes.

Our family Advent lessons include:

1. Singing a couple Christmas hymns
2. Lighting the coordinating Advent candle(s)
3. Reading an excerpt from an Advent Study guide which includes scripture
4. Discussion
5. Prayer

We are a fairly musically challenged family so we have obtained a Christmas hymn C.D. that we sing from. I found a Christmas hymn book so we can sing along with the C.D. and actually know the words, lol. I bought a pretty metal Advent wreath with candle holders on clearance several years ago, but before that we just used a homemade Advent wreath. The children take turns lighting the candles (with supervision) and blowing them out after each day's lesson. Since life is crazy these days, we're doing our Advent lessons during our homeschool table time. For many years we did them after dinner.

Many of the Advent books we've read over the years include fun related activities and crafts. Some of them we've actually incorporated into our normal Christmas traditions, and we look forward to doing them every year. 

Some resources that you may find helpful for celebrating the Advent with children:

• Christmas Carols (C.D.)
• Once-A-Day 25 Days of Advent Devotional (you can read the scriptures from whatever bible you prefer)
• The Family Book of Advent by Carol Garborg
• A Family Advent: Keeping the Savior in the Season
• The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions by Lisa Welchel

Our family has personally used each resource listed above. As I have stated before, there are many resources available to help your family celebrate the Advent. Celebrating the advent with children (especially small children) does not have to be complicated or take a long time. It’s a privilege for parents to be able to share the story of our Savior’s birth with their children, and certainly not something we should take for granted. It’s not too late this Christmas season to begin a daily Advent study with your children. Purpose to set aside some time each day to prepare your family’s hearts for the true meaning of Christmas.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Thanksgiving 2019

Well as is my norm these days, life kind of got in the way of my planned blogging schedule and I'm a tad bit behind (again). No worries, I still have a ton of posts coming your way, and I'll get caught up as quick as I can. Of course we are officially on baby countdown, and I may have a short break again; Lord willing I'll be able to pick things back up relatively quickly. So, today I'm going to be sharing all about our family's Thanksgiving fun. 

I pray everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving filled with love and treasured memories. Our Thanksgiving was a tad bit out of our norm, but it ended up being one of my most favorite Thanksgiving celebrations. 

Normally we host anywhere from 15 to 50 people for Thanksgiving and since many who attend are not dependable to bring food contributions, we typically cook a TON of food; just to make sure there is enough. Since I was 38 weeks pregnant this year, we decided that it would basically just be our immediate family. My parents did end up coming in from out of state to join in on our Thanksgiving celebration. The children were super thrilled that they could attend, especially since they haven't been down for a visit in a couple of years.

With our Thanksgiving crew being minimal this year, we cut way back on the food we prepared for our feast. Usually I make a full spread of appetizers, turkey, ham, a dozen (or more) sides, homemade rolls, and several desserts. We scaled back drastically this year to say the least!

I typically begin my cooking and baking on the Monday before Thanksgiving and this year was no different in that regards. The only difference was that on Monday and Tuesday, it was only one item prepared each day as opposed to four or five.

 Monday, I made a giant batch of Doodads snack mix. Tuesday we made some cookies, which I did not plan for them to last until Thanksgiving, but they did ~ yeah! Then on Wednesday we upped our game and prepared a decent amount of food.

Wednesday I pre-made two egg casseroles and an apple breakfast cake. Because no one wants to have to cook breakfast on Thanksgiving Day, especially if you're cooking for a lunch time Thanksgiving meal. We also made a relish tray, bacon ranch cheeseball, and the Turkey. I know, I know, crazy that we cook our turkey the day before Thanksgiving, but trust me it works and it's never dry with my recipe!

My parents, trying to be thoughtful, ordered a Thanksgiving meal from Cracker Barrel. When they dropped it off the night before Thanksgiving, we came to realize every thing pretty much had to be cooked. I won't lie, I had a very pregnant mama melt down, as this was supposed to be an 'easy" Thanksgiving. Thankfully, we regrouped, and with plenty of 'hands on deck', we all handled the added food that had to be cooked. And a very valuable lesson learned: Cracker Barrel's Thanksgiving meals are NOT 'heat and serve'!

I am so blessed to have had so many willing hands helping to prep food, cook, and clean up after all the food we cooked for our delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Not my normal appetizer buffet, but it was just enough really and everyone enjoyed snacking while we visited and cooked on Thanksgiving Day.

One of the must-have items on my kiddos Thanksgiving meal request list was my famous holiday punch. They even agreed to make it for me!

A lovely spread of our favorite Thanksgiving foods. 

My favorite picture of the day. The smiles on these faces made all the hard work and tears shed worth it! (Yes, I cried a couple of times in shear frustration that I couldn't be as 'present' as I wanted to be in all the preparations ~ can we say pregnancy hormones, ugh!)

One last picture of our Thanksgiving celebration. All the kiddos with my parents.

My favorite part of the day was after dinner when everyone anonymously recorded what they were most thankful for; then we placed the slips of paper in a beautiful jar my mom bought me (pictured above), and then they were read aloud. I had also kept a written journal of things that had happened to or for our family throughout the year and I shared those as well, which led to some delightful conversations about God's provisions. 

While it wasn't our normal Thanksgiving extravaganza, it was a wonderfully blessed time celebrating family and our many blessings.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

25 Days of Elf On the Shelf For Busy Moms

This wasn't exactly the post I had planned for today, but it was already cued up and ready to go and my other post needed some tweaking. After a day at the doctor and hospital making sure baby girl was still doing good, I just didn't feel up to putting the finishing touches on my originally planned post. And to be honest this is actually a post I wrote for my last blog; but I felt like it was a good one to share on Country Mama to Many as well. 

Christmas is almost here! Ok, its about a month away, but for us, the Christmas season begins on December 1st. On the first day of December we begin our Advent lessons, reading our Christmas storybooks, and our little Elf on the shelf: Edwina arrives with her sidekick Ralph the reindeer and Bacon the St. Bernard. This year my husband surprised the kiddos with a new addition to our Elf on the Shelf tradition with an arctic fox that the children have named Foxy. (Yes, my husband is a sucker for all our corny traditions too, lol) 

We've never told our children that Santa or our little elf friends are real. We simply share that they are a fun 'game' to play during the Christmas season. Our Elf on the Shelf tradition is basically a fun treasure hunt for our children to wake up to each morning. I've actually come up with 25 daily hiding spots that we use every.single.year. The older children typically remember and know where to look, but they enjoy helping the little ones search for Edwina, Ralph, and Bacon each day leading up to Christmas.

Just like most of you, I'm a super busy mom who doesn't have time to hide our elf friends with elaborate, complicated Elf on the Shelf antics. So I've come up with 25 simple, yet fun adventures for my kiddos to go on each morning in search of our little Christmas visitors.

25 Days of Elf on the Shelf For Busy Moms

1. Arrival with 'Hello Letter', donuts, Elf on the Shelf books, and movie
2. Hanging on a ceiling fan
3. Sitting in a shoe train of a pair of shoes from each child
4. Sitting on a bucket of dumped out dirty clothes
5. Hanging on some curtains
6. Toilet paper the Christmas Tree
7. Toothpaste message on bathroom countertop
8. In a kitchen cupboard
9. In the fridge
10. Sitting on a pile of ornaments taken off of tree
11. Throw out tissues from a box of tissues
12. Dump out doggie treats
13. In the silverware drawer
14. Making flour angels on counter with dumped out flour
15. Set up and playing with nativity
16. Sitting in a pile of wadded up paper in 'school room' or other room
17. Dumped out movies
18. Coloring in  coloring books
19. Playing a board game
20. Toilet paper tower in bathroom
21. Candy cane hunt (hide a box of candy canes and leave a note for kiddos to find the candy canes throughout the house)
22. In the Christmas Stockings
23. Reading a Christmas Story book sitting on the sofa
24. Making a card tent village with Christmas cards
25. 'Farewell letter'

Creating memorable traditions with children doesn't have to be complicated. Busy mom's CAN make the Christmas season extra special with simple little activities that children will cherish and remember for a lifetime. The Elf on the Shelf tradition can be as extravagant or as simple as you make it. Don't miss out on the fun of these little elf visitors, because you think it takes too much time and effort to implement. It typically takes me less than 5 minutes to hide our Christmas visitors; and the time it takes is well worth the excitement of watching my children hunt for them every morning leading to Christmas Day!

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer