Christmas Presents for Kids

If your kids are anything like mine- they have lots of loving family- which means that lots of loving family loves to love on them at Christmas time. I'm not complaining. I love to give gifts too. But sometimes, it can be overwhelming. I love to give gifts to my kids. Its one way I like to show my love too. But I have wondered many times how to approach this at Christmas time- when I don't want a house overflowing with gifts and I want to maintain the focus on Jesus- the birth of our Savior (you know, the whole reason for the season thing!). I want my kids to first think of Christmas as a time to be joyful and thankful that God gave us the best gift ever in Jesus- and secondly to show our love like God did by giving gifts to others. After much debate my husband and I have (hopefully) come up with a 'tradition' that will allow us to maintain that focus, allow me to express my love by giving gifts, and to avoid over gifting.

I don't remember where I heard the idea in the first place, but there is gobs of stories online about this same topic- Giving the Gifts Jesus Got. Jesus got three special gifts to celebrate his birth (Christmas). Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The idea is to give each child three gifts based on what Jesus was given.

The Gold Gift- Gold is something valuable and treasured. This is a great way to give a gift of something the child wants, treasures, and desires more than anything else. The item they keep circling in the catalogs or eyeing in the store.

Frankincense- this is an incense that was burned and the smoke would billow up into the heavens. It often represents our prayers going up to God. So this gift should be something that would bring the child closer to God. Maybe a bible, book, dvd, or christian summer camp. Our kids will be getting the fisher price nativity set this year- a way for them to interact and get to know God's story better.

Myrrh- this is a precious oil that was rubbed on the body (often after death, but ewe, leave that part out!). So the Myrrh gift is an item that goes on the body. Ideas include clothing, shoes, coats, lotions.

What I love about this set-up is that there isn't a dollar amount affixed so I can go big or little depending on the year and our ability to give or it leaves room for the really really special 'gold' years of the 'wow' item. It is also meaningful and gives us a chance to reflect the whole experience and holiday right back on Christ. I still get to give, they get to receive, but it is not an overwhelming amount.

And after our sharing of gifts, we're hoping to throw Jesus a birthday party :) Cake and all.

So, if you are struggling with the idea of getting your kids presents this Christmas without overwhelming them- consider giving them the same as Jesus received!

No time for blogging...

We're too busy enjoying our new home with a great yard during summertime!

A Princess Party

Wow its been a long time! Life has been so crazy lately- and doesn't show signs of slowing down. Here is a quick recap of our happenings:

Izzy had her 3rd birthday last week with a princess party at the park. The weather was perfect, the company was better! We had 20 family members from both sides join us to celebrate. Even Grandpa and Grandma Morgan were able to join us!

Izzy received some wonderful gifts- lots of princess and dora items.

This is what happens when you put the daddy and the sister in charge of photography...

A princess for sure!

Izzy with her castle cake- it turned out pretty well (word to the wise: don't use extra moist cake mix...it gets really heavy outside and doesn't decorate the easiest!)

Among the birthday celebration we have spent time up at the cottage with the Morgan family, done some shopping and food prep for different get togethers, had a family reunion, and tried (and failed) to keep up with houswork. But, Paul has had two closings in the past week- so we are truly blessed.

In the next week we have:

• church
• out of town family to meet, greet, and have fun with
• meet a new babysitter
• move mom and dad spica
• go to birch run and a tiger's game
• close on mom and dad's house
• have a bridal shower
• possibly host another out of town cousin
• finish moving mom and dad spica

Whew! I'm exhausted thinking about it! I just hope summer weather comes back (was it ever here?) so we get a few more beach days in before its fall.

Craziness

Life sure is crazy around here!!! To highlight the major points, I am resorting to a bullet list!

• We went from $0 account balance to having 3 closings in 3 weeks, with one more scheduled for August- praise the Lord for his provision! Down to the day and dollar!
• Paul's parents sold their cottage and house in the same week- one at full price! Their new house is almost done!
• Baby is growing and I'm feeling huge- I should really post a picture- but I might just 'put it off' for a while.
• Grandpa Morgan (Paul's Mom's dad) has been in and out of the hospital lately. He had a 2 stents put in a few weeks ago (99% blockage and 70% blockage in two places of the same artery!). He mixed up his meds and was taking sleeping pills in the morning plus a dramamine type pill that he takes for another problem at the same time. Now, we have found out he had a major stroke up at the cottage this morning. He is being rushed to GR. Please pray for him. This is so hard on Paul's mom plus she's got two houses to pack up and a move coming up in the next couple of weeks.
• Izzy has a new irrational fear of any live creature- screaming ensued at the zoo and when she saw a costumed person of curious george.
• Panera's Asian Sesame Chicken Salad may be my new favorite food!! Oh so sweet and yummy. I want one now!
• I'm going to my first Tiger's game in August- but I'm more excited about shopping at Birch Run first! (not a huge baseball fan)
• I'm so anxious for my best friend Emily to have her baby in mid/late August- its a surprise gender too!!!
• I'm so excited for my ultrasound a month from today!! (And, yes we hope to find out what it is!)
• Beach days have been too few and far between
• Visits to Pentwater have been too few and far between
• I miss being able to garage sale...just not in the budget right now
• I'm planning Izzy's birthday party- someone turns three next week!!!!

Thats all. Hopefully I'll have something more riveting next time. Thanks to all of you who had such great thoughts and ideas! I'm ebaying/craigslisting for a video monitor at a good price now and will pay more as we get closer to the time. The other stuff will have to wait until a moms2moms sale or something.

Zoo Adventures

We've had a few eventful trips to the zoo so far this year!

The first one never actually happened. We were headed out for an atypical afternoon get together not realizing that the zoo was still under 'off season' hours and rates. We arrived to late and were not allowed in the zoo! So sad. Luckily, there was a park right next door that we could go to!

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The next trip was a fun Sunday family day for the three of us (yes, we were skipping church because we were in desperate need of some family time due to insane work hours lately- criticize if you must- but it was needed!). Paul hadn't been to the zoo since elementary school- I was eager for him to share in Izzy's joy of seeing the animals. Also, with our recent outing of not being able to go the zoo- we thought it would be a good thing. So we packed a picnic lunch and headed out for a day of fun! We had a great hour at the zoo- Izzy was literally running from animal to animal- so excited about seeing her furry friends. Well, as we came upon the brand spankin' new monkey island exhibit- we started smelling gas (paul joked that the animals were um...farting!) Well, moments later over the loudspeaker we hear the announcement to evacuate the zoo! As we approached the entrance we heard the loud hissing sound- it was quite a gas break! The smell was awful too. It was quite the event- but people were pretty calm. Poor kids were hysterical. How do you explain to kids they have to leave the zoo right after getting there? There were also a lot of extended families there for a memorial weekend activity just standing around wondering what to do next! Luckily Izzy handled the situation great (better than my pregnant emotional self I might add!). We took her to a park and had our lunch there and then stopped by an ice cream window for a little afternoon treat! It ended up being a great day.

Finally, Izzy and I made it through the whole zoo with her cousins and aunts and Grandma a few days later and had a blast. She was however, disappointed that there were no zebras, elephants, or polar bears. We're hoping to get to a big zoo sometime this summer either in BC, Chicago, or Toledo so she can see some of those great creatures in person!