Celebrations « Occupation: Mommy

A Very Furry Christmas

I know Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but in our house we have been listening to the Christmas tunes for a couple of weeks already. (Only when Daddy is at work, though. He gets tired of it if we start too early.) On Saturday, we were given the opportunity to check out the [...]

Continue reading A Very Furry Christmas

Tea Party Birthday Party

For her fifth birthday, Sydney wanted a tea party birthday party. Believe it or not, even as our third daughter, I had never hosted a tea party birthday party! So I immediately checked my favorite creative source, Pinterest. It was easy to find hundreds of fabulous, beautiful ideas. Gorgeous, time-intensive, expensive ideas. But it’s possible [...]

Continue reading Tea Party Birthday Party

Christmas cookies

8 Tips for a stress-free gingerbread house

My girls love to make a gingerbread house each Christmas. Over the years, I have found a few ways to make the process a lot easier. Buy a kit! I like to buy a kit during the after-Christmas clearance at a craft store. You can often find them 75% off, or even more. I think [...]

Continue reading 8 Tips for a stress-free gingerbread house

Three Flower Girls

My brother-in-law got married this past Saturday, and my girls’ dreams came true when they got to be the flower girls in the wedding. The ceremony was at 2:00, which I was nervous about since Joel’s naptime is usually 12-3. But since he was up so late the night before at the rehearsal dinner, he [...]

Continue reading Three Flower Girls

Christmas books

I can’t believe it’s already halfway through December! We are plugging away at our advent activities, our Nativity advent calendar, our advent wreath from church, and our Jesse tree devotional. It’s a little much, to be honest with you. But the good thing is that there is something for each of the girls to do [...]

Continue reading Christmas books

24 fun activities for Advent

Alternate title: A Mommy who values tradition When I was a kid, my family was big into traditions. Especially at Christmas time, we always knew what to expect when it came to special times. We always watched “Miracle on 34th Street” either Thanksgiving night or the following day, we always got to eat my mom’s [...]

Continue reading 24 fun activities for Advent

Helping make Thanksgiving dinner

Jesse Tree: An Advent Reflection

It is extremely important to us that our children understand the importance of Christmas and its true meaning to our faith. I have been hearing about “Jesse Trees” for a couple of years now, and this year I decided to go for it and have one of our own. A Jesse Tree helps children (and [...]

Continue reading Jesse Tree: An Advent Reflection

Operation Christmas Child

There’s a great way to help children understand the importance of sharing what we have with those less fortunate, especially at Christmas time. For years, our family has packed shoeboxes with gifts for Operation Christmas Child to distribute to needy children throughout the world. It’s a fun, simple, and tangible way for children to share [...]

Continue reading Operation Christmas Child