A crazy little thing called life...

I had originally planned on doing a 25 days of Christmas full of inspirational Christmas ideas. Well... that didn't really happen... a crazy little thing called life was going on. This is my first year teaching Kindergarten and let's just say that the last few weeks of school are crazy. So much to get done, before our extremely long 2 week break, and not enough time to do it in. But, that is just life and I love every minute of it. It may not always go according to plan, but God has it planned just how He wants it to.

This Christmas season has been so busy with a sick baby, a husband graduating from college, and school. I am going to try with all my might to use the next few days to truly enjoy Christmas with my wonderful family.

The 4th/5th day of Christmas...

Ok... I may have skipped a day, but I did say that I would try to write everyday. Being a teacher and a mom makes it a little difficult to blog every day. I will truly try to get a little something up every day.

My 4th and 5th day of Christmas will be a double, to cover for the day that I missed... we have a good gift suggestion, and a good Christmas read.

This week in Mrs. Wahl's class, we are traveling the world and learning about different holidays around the world. Today we went to Germany and talked about the tradition of the Christmas tree. One of the books that we read was The Carpenter's Gift, by David Rubel.

The Carpenter's Gift is an amazing book with absolutely beautiful illustrations. This book has a beautiful story about the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and the spirit of giving. This is a great book to read if you are a teacher, or even a parent. It also makes a good gift.

It will not disappoint you!!!

On the third day of Christmas...

Today's Christmas treat is a wreath that I made. I loved all of the fancy wreath's that I saw on the internet, but I wasn't crazy about the prices of them. Being a teacher (especially Kindergarten), I have to be a little crafty. So, I decided to make it myself. 

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought: the Grapevine wreath, ribbon of my choice, an assortment of ornaments, a few smaller decorations that I found in the Christmas aisle, some paint, and a wooden letter.

I put it together and voila! A beautiful Christmas wreath for my family! 

I also made a Christmas wreath for a friend of mine. She wanted a wreath for her family, and is always one of my best customers, when I get into crafty mode. This is the wreath that I sold to her.

I really enjoy making these wreaths. If you have any questions on HOW to make them, or are interested in buying one, just comment and let me know.

Merry Christmas!

On the 2nd day of Christmas....

Hello everyone. Today's will be short and sweet. It is a sweet reminder about gift giving. I went Christmas shopping today and I had a hard time finding what I was looking for. I started thinking and it came to me. Isn't gift giving supposed to be from the heart.? If you can't find what you are looking to get someone in the store, maybe dig just a little deeper. It is in there and you will find it. It may not cost a lot, but if it is from the heart, then it is the most perfect gift of all.

Merry Christmas!

The count down begins

Well today is December 1 and it is officially 25 days of Christmas. I am going to do my best to post a new Christmas project, craft, decoration, or just a little "Christpiration" (Christmas inspiration) everyday.

Day 1- Christmas Card
Christmas is my all time favorite holiday. It is more than a holiday. It is a time of year. It is practically its own season. The atmosphere around can be almost magical at times, except if you are at a Mall or Walmart. Other than that, it is pretty magical.

We made our first Christmas card picture last night and the thought of being able to send this card out to our friends and families reminds me of how truly blessed we are. It also reminds me that miracles really can happen. It was Christmas time last year, that I found out I was pregnant with Jenni Anne. Now, here we are, a year later with our lives completely changed . It is more than I could ever ask for.

Photo Card

Fun Merry Greeting Christmas

Create from the Heart: photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly .

View the entire collection of cards.

Photo Card

Fun Merry Greeting Christmas

Shop Shutterfly for unique,Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Let go and let God!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight

This verse seems to be the one verse that I catch myself turning to lately. There are so many things that we will never understand, but the Lord knows exactly what he is doing. The hard part for me is to "Let go and let God." As a human, I struggle with things that are out of my control. I want to have control on every little thing, but that is just a little impossible. If I had 100% control of my life, it would be a mess. God knows exactly what he is doing and the hard part for me is to not worry about it.  feel like it is a lot easier said than done.

One of the most common causes of stress and worrying these days is the job market. I have a great job. I am a kindergarten teacher to a bunch of sweet, spunky, rowdy, five and six year olds. I am so blessed to have the job that I have. There is a reason that I have this job. Yes, it would be so nice to stay at home with my baby girl, but the Lord knows what he is doing by allowing me to have this job. I am able to teach these students to be the people that they are meant to become and I am absolutely blessed. The job that I am worrying about is my husband's. He is graduating with a degree in Structural Engineering. He has worked so hard and is getting out of school into a job market that does not support a Civil Engineer with less than 3 years of job experience. I sit here and think... "Well that is just stupid... how are they going to get the 3 years of job experience if they can't get a job???" But to God it isn't stupid. It is part of his well thought out plan for our family. I just need to trust in him with all my heart and not worry about what I think makes sense. I need to remember that He is God and He knows what is best.

So, while I may be a little bit stressed about my husband finding a job, I am extremely grateful that the Lord blessed me with mine. I have an amazing group of students, who are sometimes a handful (aka normal little five year olds), and a fantastic school, with co-workers who are now good friends.

Yes. I am truly blessed, even though I have a hard time seeing it sometimes.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Thanksgiving is over and it is officially Christmas time. It makes me smile when I am driving down the road and I see all of the beautiful decorations up. It reminds me that there are still people out there that cherish this time of the year. 

Today my husband and I started decorating our house for Christmas. This is our first Christmas as a family, so the decorations that we have are either borrowed from family, bought at Sams, or are family heirlooms that I inherited this year. Our tree isn't the biggest tree, but I love it because it is ours. How precious will it be years down the road to sit back and look at our first Christmas as a family? I am enjoying every little bit of it. Putting up some of the decorations and drinking hot cider with my husband, while watching my little girl play on her mat, was such a special moment. I sat there and thought, "The Lord has truly blessed me this year." I am so blessed to have this little house and our sweet little family. I will post be posting pictures soon. 

Have a great night and God Bless.... Don't forget to count your blessings :)

What is the purpose of The Sweetest Blessings....

I feel like I spend most of my time sitting down and thinking, "What do I need to do next?" or "What should I add to the mile long to do list?" Is this really how we were intended to spend our life? Did the Lord create this world so that we could get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life? We all spend too much time worrying. Worrying about what we need to do at work when we are at home and about what we need to do at home when we are at work. I admit that I am guilty of thinking these very thoughts and this is why I decided to write a blog titled The Sweetest Blessings. It is here that I will take time out of my day to talk about the blessings in my life that I too often overlook. I hope that by reading this blog, I  inspire you to do the same... maybe not write a blog, but just sit back and think of the sweet little blessings in your life.