The Week(ish) in Pictures, Holiday Edition

The last few weeks, in picture form:

Twinsies!

  Someone snapped this picture while my daughter and I were working on Thanksgiving dinner and it made me so happy.  Love this girl, and love that we wore the same outfit and same pony! (I don't know how she felt about twinning with dear old mom, but I loved it!)

My youngest daughter's Elf on the Shelf winter scene creation

 She loves the Elf on the Shelf, like her older brother before her, and she had such fun creating this scene for Hedgy (the Elf), and Blair and Claire (the reindeer).  I love her imagination!  And you'll be pleased to know that our dear naughty doggie only ingested some of the cotton balls from the scene. 

Cheesy Christmas Movie Graphic!

We don't have the Hallmark channel, but my youngest and I have watched a couple of Prime/Hulu/Netflix equivalents and I can report that this plot generator is spot on.  And while I generally prefer Law and Order SVU while wrapping Christmas presents, I have to say that, while very predictable and cheesy, the few movies we watched were pretty sweet.  And bonus - the ones we saw were completely appropriate for my ten-year-old's eyes and ears!  Since that's hard to come by anymore, I say three cheers for fluffy Christmas movies!

Monochromatic Christmas decor!

I needed to update my Christmas decor (I was informed of this by my teenage daughter), so off I went to Hobby Lobby, the best store on the planet.  Hours later, I emerged with several Christmas gifts and a few new decorations, all for a song!  This little corner cabinet makes me happy with its gray and white decor, and nod to a favorite Christmas hymn. 

The Best Gift

All five of our kids made this project in preschool (some of them made it more than one year, hence the nine you see - I don't have four other children I haven't ever mentioned). And every year, we hang them up somewhere and they bring me Great Joy.  I love that from a young age, they were being taught at school and at home that Jesus is the best gift they'll ever receive.  I am now in my sixth year of teaching preschool, and I continue to do this project with my preschoolers.  As I work on it with each child, I love reminding them that no matter what gifts they'll get on Christmas, nothing is more important than the gift Jesus gives them - the gift of Himself.