Living Each Moment

We are fans of Anne Voskamp's blog www.aholyexperience.com. It is a rich source of inspiration and a calming place to visit during an otherwise hectic day.

She recently shared this quote, always important but especially so today, as we move into the last weekend before Christmas.

"But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this.
I did not live in the moment enought.
This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs.  There is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1.  And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.
I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed.
I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."
-Anna Quindlen

Thank you Anna, and Anne, for this reminder!

All-time Favorite Holiday Movies at Franklin Theatre

For our local friends, don't forget to check out Franklin Theatre for showtimes of your favorite holiday movies starting this December 21st, with A Christmas Story until New Years Eve, with The Polar Express. So if you need an outing or two while the kids are on break, or if you just need an excuse to get away from your out of town guests, go to The Franklin Theatre for some yummy popcorn, hot chocolate and a great holiday movie. Happy Holidays!

http://www.franklintheatre.com/

A cardboard box turned into a sleigh ride, a boat and more!

With a little help from the UPS man, and the cardboard box from Pottery Barn Kids, my girls were entertained for at least an hour, while I prepared dinner tonight. Amazing what a plain ole cardboard box can do to keep your kids busy and productive.

In our past posts, we have talked about the importance of keeping your child's toys simple and how the more simple they are, the more your child is encouraged to use their imagination, social, language as well as critical thinking skills. For example, tonight, my girls pretended their beat up Pottery Barn Kids box was a sleigh, and then after they had their fun on their sleigh ride, they imagined they were at the beach and their cardboard box, was their "boat." So while I was preparing dinner, and the girls were having fun on their sleigh ride or in their boat, they were laughing, talking, and having fun thinking of so many ways or things they could turn this ordinary box in their latest adventure.

Lesson I learned? Don't throw away every box you get in the mail. You never know what this box can teach your child as well as you!

The Grinch on Christmas

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"

-Dr. Seuss

Stocking Stuffer ideas that are inexpensive and educational

Moms and Dads, you don't have to fill your kids' stocking up with loads of candy or just random toys that you might find at the end of an aisle that just screams, "buy me!" Yes, we have all succumbed to the impulse-buy items at the register or at the fancy holiday displays. So this time we thought, why not just think simple and educational. You know, something our kids might actually use instead of finding them crammed in their car seats or at the bottom of the barrel toy bag. Well, here are some of our favorite stocking stuffers that will never go out of style and that will be easy on the wallet too.

1. Fun pencils, notepads or travel magnadoodles
2. Stickers or story sticker books (great for fine motor)
3. Silly putty (another great way to develop fine motor skills)
4. Cardboard books, wonderful for those tiny hands to hold and to learn to flip pages
5. Magnetic Letters and Numbers, so inexpensive and a good way to expose your child to letters and numbers
6. Paper dolls
7. Stories on CDs
8. Sensory balls
9. Bubbles
10. Sidewalk Chalk
11. Bath toys
12. Plastic wands for pretend play
13. Deck of cards, Uno, Old Maid or Matching games
14. Lacing cards or beads
15. Small art tools, like crayons or watercolor paints
16. Fun Band-Aids or boo-boo packs, with their favorite characters on them

Five-Minute Christmas Ornaments

Want to make a cute gift in 5 minutes?
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Line a pan with foil.
Take some hard candy peppermint candies, unwrap, and arrange them in a circle on the foil.
Pop the pan in the oven for a couple of minutes, just until they melt into each other to stick together (watch this process-it may go faster than you expect!).
Remove from the oven.
Cool completely.
Add a ribbon to hang (green is cute!).
Voila-a 5-minute Christmas gift for a teacher, grandparent, neighbor, or friend.
 

photo from sittingatourkitchentable.blogspot.com

You could even get fancy and make one large enough to use as a photo frame, or in the shape of a heart.

Enjoy!

Dickens of a Christmas, and an at-home alternative

Want to feel like you are walking through Charles Dickens' neighborhood?  Want to tell old Scrooge to lighten up?  Or feeling like Scrooge and needing to catch the Christmas spirit?

This weekend Franklin, TN hosts Dickens of a Christmas, complete with live music, vendors, and characters in period dress.  Details are here.

Wanting to go back in time to your own Christmases past? Nothing brings back memories like music.  If you haven't already, make a Christmas music playlist to listen to with your iPod or burn on a CD.  Mine features an eclectic mix of Andy Williams, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Harry Connick, Jr., and Frank Sinatra.  We may not get the white Christmas we're dreaming of, but we can make the music part of our tradition.