We watched this video for Family Home Evening last night. I teared up in a BIG way. Hope you enjoy it, too.
The Christmas Lights at North Forest Beach
We packed up the kiddos and headed down to North Forest Beach Saturday night to check out the Christmas lights we’d heard tale of. A group of neighbors gets together each year to decorate their entire street with twinkle lights and pump the night sky with bubbles and Christmas tunes. Nothing professional, but it’s magical all the same.
P.S. If you haven’t already, go download the latest Hey, It’s Christmas! album. It’s on repeat at our house.
Modern Christmas Advent
I seem to change my mind with Christmas decor every year. This year it’s black and white. I found this free DIY advent download at HEY LOOK. It’s total eye candy for the graphic designer in me. They’re pretty to look at, but I’m going to place these in the FAIL category for Young Family advent calendars. Even with Brad’s help it took FOR.EV.ER to put the boxes together and they won’t be usable next year. (Thanks, Memphis.) I literally turned my back for two seconds and he managed to eat 4 pieces and was working on his fifth. They live on the fridge for now, but I found him pushing a kitchen chair over to the counter earlier so I think I’ll be hiding them elsewhere tonight. Boy loves him some candy.
Thanksgiving
Timely and on topic. That’s me!
For FHE the week of Thanksgiving we taught the lesson on recognizing our blessings and showing our gratitude for them. Lately I’ve been trying to get the boys into crafting so… we made gratitude turkeys!
Don’t be jealous of our mad crafting skills.
Ezra cut out the feathers himself (with kid-safe scissors – don’t freak out) and wrote the majority of his blessings himself with the exception of Grandma and video games (next weeks lesson is on priorities… jk). He ran out of room with Kenzie, so the i and e are on top. I thought it was sweet that he listed David as one of his blessings – even before Christina. He has always loved David so much and considers him family. We do, too. I’m also amazed/shocked/happy that Memphis made the list. Day to day whining, pushing, and toy stealing might lead one to believe otherwise.
As far as Thanksgiving Day itself I have two words for you: crockpot turkey. Life changing. It was Brad’s idea and I’ll never go back. Ideas like that are why I married that man. Brilliant.
Meet Our New Sponsors
I’m so excited to introduce you to our new sponsors! Each one has a great sale happening right now, so be sure to check them out! (And stay tuned for some giveaways!)
Do you know someone who is expecting a baby? Get them a Happy Baby Wrap! It’s been my experience that no baby can stay awake longer than 5 minutes in a baby wrap. Plus, there are like a million and one benefits from wearing your baby. I’m a huge fan of babywearing and I still occasionally carry Memphis in my Happy Wraps. He loves it!
Happy Wrap is having a whopping 40% off sale right now so you can snag a bamboo wrap for just $33 each. Crazy. I promise you will never EVER see a wrap that cheap, especially a bamboo one, so go buy like 5 now!
Ankita is an uber talented graphic artist that runs two shops on Etsy: TexturedINK and Urban Tickle. Both shops are filled with modern prints that would look great in any room. The Bicycle and Balloons print above can actually be used as a wedding guestbook with each guest signing a balloon. How cute/creative is that? Love it!
I’ve been admiring the You Are My Sunshine print from afar for about a year now, but I think this Golden Slumbers print might be even cuter. Now is the time to pull the trigger because it’s Cyber Monday and everything is both shops is on sale 15% off!
The gnomes. Oh, the gnomes! I about died when I saw them. They are so CUTE! Swedish Inspirations has lots of great Scandinavian decor for the holidays and year round and all at an affordable price. I’ve discovered that the problem with having sponsors is that you want to buy one of everything. 🙂 Ezra has asked me get him “Max” (the horse from Tangled) so I’ll be picking up a couple of those. Lots of items are on sale right now. Go forth and shop!
P.S. If you are interested in sponsoring The Modern Home contact us today. Rates are very small business friendly.