A Handmade Christmas Carnival Starting Soon!

  For several years now I have hosted a blog carnival on my blog called "A Handmade Christmas". I usually run it every week throughout the couple of months before Christmas.

   I debated doing it this year just because life is very busy and I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to getting this post done every week and also because last year not that many joined in to participate and that may be because there are so many other carnivals of various types out there and I didn't work all that hard to get people to participate. However there were reasons I did think it would be fun to do it again as well and in the end hosting it won out.

  One of the reasons I did decide to do it is because I have made several things already that I haven't yet blogged about that I think are neat handmade gift ideas and then there are a bunch of other things that I hope and plan to make and I don't mind having something to encourage me to get busy at them. I considered not having it a carnival but I do truly love seeing any ideas that you have so even if not a lot of people link up I will be happy to see whatever ideas are linked up!

 I do think it is truly fun to have a Christmas Celebration that is filled with handmade things -from gifts, to decorations, to food. Now I know sometimes we can go overboard with making things ourselves and in the process just stress ourselves out, I will try not to do that but as much as possible I am going to have a Handmade Christmas.

 

  Here are our house we do strive to keep things as simple as we can. We exchange gifts only between those of us that live in this house (no extended family). We do enjoy giving some other gifts (like packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child) but don't do any other exchanges. This takes a lot of stress off. We can give what we want but don't feel obligated or under pressure. Also with the gifts in our family we have a rule- everything has to fit in our Christmas Stocking. Those are some of the things that help us keep life simpler.

 

  We are planning on having a link-up starting next Tuesday and then going every Tuesday (Lord willing) until Christmas. I would be delighted if you would post about the things that you are making and would link up! I would very much appreciate it if you would grab my little logo picture and if you would link back to here.

 

Meanwhile, I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things I have made in the past.  One of the ways I like to organize things online is by using Pinterest. It makes it so I can have everything filed according to subject and I can quickly look at the file and see a picture and a description of each link. I decided a practical way to share some of the tutorials and ideas that I have done in the past would be to pin them on my pinterest file along with all the others ideas I have pinned there from other sources and then just share the link to the different files with you. Even if you don't have pinterest you can still look at what I have on there. Each photo that you see has a link so that you can go to the source of that idea where most of the time there will be instructions on how to make it.

 

Here are the links to some of my different Pinterest Files:

Chocolate Nut Clusters

Gifts to make for Men

Fabric Flowers

 

Gifts to make for Ladies

A costume that I made for Aaron one year.

Gifts to make for Boys



Fairy Crown
 

Gifts to make for Girls

Poncho and Slippers

Gifts to make for Babies

An evergreen swag

Things to make for Christmas

 

I hope you will come back next week to join me for A Handmade Christmas!

 

I would love to hear your handmade gift ideas either in the comments or link some up in the weeks to come!

 

The story of a tree fort and simple celebrations

Three years ago on this day I blogged about our finishing making a tree fort for the kids.  The kids had fun playing and then this summer we had a windstorm that caused it to come part way down.

And then it looked like this:


As the summer went on it started to look even worse. We didn't have time to deal with it right then so everybody was just told to stay away from it.

It was Dad to the rescue.

 He came up with a plan and brought his bob-cat in. They attached a rope through the top part and pulled out some of the supports.

 My brother Luke ran the bob-cat and pulled it down. It landed on its side but didn't crash apart like we were concerned it might.

 He was able to tip it up right and now we have a lovely little fort on the ground instead of high in the trees.

The only problem?...... It doesn't have a door. The trap door is next to the ground of course so for now windows are the only way in and out. Hopefully sometime soon we can make ourselves a doorway!

 We did put the tree house to use lately anyway- door or no door.

For a while now I have been wanting to celebrate the Old Testament Festival of Booths (or Sukkoth). Last year it came later in October and it seemed a bit to chilly to eat outside but this year the feast started on the 1st. The 1st was a good day for celebrating because we were already going to be celebrating Ken's birthday (35 this year - he has been joking that he should have run for president!).  My sister Anna had loaned us a book called "Celebrating Biblical Feasts in your home or church" by Martha Zimmerman as well as a tablecloth with fruit and veggie pictures all over it that is perfect for Sukkoth.

For Succoth you are supposed to eat outside in a little booth/shelter that you have made. We did consider the tree house but thought it might be a little to permanent so the kids set about to make a more temporary shelter on the deck above our outside table. I wasn't able to help as I was needing up to finish taking care of the bees/honey and I didn't have any extra time that afternoon.

 They made some good progress at making a shelter but it ended up not working out and rather falling apart so we went back to plan two which was eating in the tree house.

 Of course the tree house (that was) if you recall still doesn't have a door so everything and everybody had to go in and out through the window. We weren't sure if the card table would fit but Jonathan managed to get it through. The kids decorated with veggies, candles and leaves. It looked very pretty  but unfortunately I didn't get good pictures of everything. You also cannot tell from the picture how pretty and fitting the tablecloth is.

  This holiday is a pretty neat one in which we remember to be thankful for the harvest that God has given us and also to remember how the people of Israel about the years of wandering (without permanent homes) in the dessert and how God brought them through. For those of us that are Christians we can also think about how our lives here on earth are not permanent - that we are sojourners through this land looking forward to our permanent home which is in heaven.  (Hebrews 11:13-16)

 Jonathan and Ken at the table.

 Jonathan using the "entrance".

A friend from church grew some lovely pumpkins this year and gave one to each of the kids. They decided it would be fun to make them into lighted "Fairy/Little people house". This is one of those house all lit up. We had them in the corners and it added a neat look to the place. (Mara's poor pumpkin was actually to big to move easily in here and so it stayed out in the yard and then some deer decided to use it for their midnight snack. It has rather big holes in it now!)

   It was rather fun to put the newly "remodeled" tree house (that was) to use in this way. It was one of those times when things didn't really go the way we planned (we rather liked having a tree fort in the trees) but we will enjoy things the way they are.

   Tomorrow is Simhat Torah which is a celebration for the last day of Sukkoth. It is a celebration that celebrates the Law (first 5 books of the Bible)  or in a broader sense a celebration of God's word. We are planning on doing some celebrating tomorrow too.

  Have you ever looked into or celebrated the feasts talked about in the Bible? We to be honest have just done it here and there and rather casually but what we have done has been fun and a time of learning for us.

I am linking this to the Homestead Barn Hop at Homestead Revival
 

I am willing.....

 

Continuing on in my searching through the accounts of Jesus life here to see how He walked and to learn how I should live....

 

The scripture that I want to share today is found in Matthew Chapter 8, verses 1-3

 

"When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord if You are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."

 

What I was noticing in this account was Jesus willingness to help. Though Jesus did not come to earth to heal every sick person or raise all of the dead, when he was in the situation where it was presented to Him, He was willing to help. He didn't (unlike His disciples) say "Go away, don't bother me" or "I have more important things to do". He was willing.

 

  Though I cannot heal the sick I can in various ways help the people around me. I want to be willing, to the best of my ability, to help when I am asked or I see the need. I don't want to be stopped by my own selfishness.

 

 May Jesus inspire you as well to be willing to help others!

What lesson do you take from these verses?



 

I thought I would share this picture that I took yesterday morning. The snow is all melted now but it was very beautiful when we woke up!

I don't buy.... Family pictures taken at a studio

 

It used to be that every couple of years our family would get all dressed in matching clothes and head to the mall to the Sears photo studio. There we would carefully sit in front of a fabric background and have our photo taken. Children would sometimes cry or they would want to play with everything there while the photographer took the required number of pictures. It actually isn't my intent to put that down, it did actually work just fine for us then but I am thankful we don't do it that way anymore.

Since digital photography has become common there has also been many more people that are interested in photography. Since taking pictures is not expensive (just buying the great cameras is!) they take a lot of pictures and many of them have gotten very good at it. My "baby" sister is one of those people. She loves to take pictures, does a great job and has a nice camera. We have had her take family pictures for us several times now. When we work at having nice looking clothes and good backgrounds (which out in nature that comes pretty easily) we can get a very nice product - much better than the photo studio pictures!

 

 This year we wanted to get a family picture and I thought it would be fun to do it with the fall leaves as a background. I planned to have my sister take them but it ended up that with her working and practicing for a play we wouldn't have been able to do them until this weekend and the leaves were falling fast and wintry weather was predicted (and it arrived today - we have cold snowy weather!). But thankfully there are other good photographers around. My sister-in-law (using my sister's camera) and our friend Benjamin (a young guy from church) were willing to be our photographers.

 

 We had fun going out on my parents land, enjoying the beauty that God made and getting some pictures. Here are a few that were taken:

The photographers did a great job. Our biggest problem was people whose eyes like to close (Ken and I are the worst at this!) and some people (Aaron and Megan were are big culprits here) who like to make very strange faces.



 I love looking at my kids in pictures and really noticing how big they have gotten and how beautiful they are.

Mara (13)

Jonathan (11)

Aaron (9 soon)

Megan (6)

 My sister-in-law (Molly Bea) suggested a kissing photo with the kids reacting to it.

How blessed I feel with the family God has given me! I also feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place and have some great photographers around too.

  Having friends take our picture saves us quite a bit of money especially when I find great deals for printing them too. I was happy to receive an e-mail today from Snapfish with a deal for 101 free photos (though I think I will have to pay shipping). That should take care of our Christmas cards! Yea!

I am linking this up to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

The peaceful hour before supper

 This evening I was in the kitchen making supper and enjoying the happy sounds I was hearing.... The older children playing out in the yard (flitting around trying to catch the falling leaves) and Megan (age 6) playing paper dolls at the table (it was so fun to listen in on the "conversation" that went from politics, to reasons for not sending your children to all the classes at public school, to Bible stories to singing). I could see Megan over the counter and the others out the window.

  As I was enjoying that time of just making supper and observing my kids I happened to think about how that is often considered one of the worst hours of the day in homes with children. Though it can get stressful here at times when I don't plan well - it is rare and was rare even when my kids were littler for it to be a bad time of day.

  I thought it would be interesting to think about why it does go smoothly some nights and not so much on others. It is always my goal to improve as a homemaker and to lead a more gentle and peaceful life so thinking things through helps me with that goal.

  Here are some of the things that I think help us to have a good and peaceful hour before supper:

• Menu Plan. When I have a plan for supper and get it going in plenty of time (including getting the meat out in time to thaw) that helps tremendously!
• Have an afternoon snack. Children's stomachs are smaller and they do better with stuff to eat a bit more often than just 3 times a day. If they have had an afternoon snack (usually for us around 3:30 pm) than they aren't "starving" right before supper.
• Have the kids get their chores done earlier in the day. It makes it easier if you don't need to be overseeing chores while you work on supper.
• Make sure everybody is well rested. For us that means an afternoon rest time where we all read and I sleep too . The rest time is around 1 hour for us.  Children are much less crabby (and this is especially true when they are younger - but might well fit when we are in teen years too - and I have a teen now!) when they are well rested.
• Make it a rule that children get along. In our family that is expected, it doesn't always happen but that is what we expect and encourage. When children place peacefully together then everything goes smoother in life.
• Adjust your methods so a child can help if they want to spend time with you (or if you want to spend that time with them). Tonight I worked alone but often I do include a child or so in the supper preparation.
• Prepare the setting. Sometimes lighting a candle or putting on some music (or having a child practice their music) will help everyone to feel more peaceful and calm.

I hope this may be of help to someone. It was just something I was thinking about this afternoon and so I thought I would share my thoughts.

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

May God bless you as you strive to honor Him in your home.

An old picture of Jonathan - one of my great kitchen helpers.

Learning to walk like Jesus

A while back for our Wednesday night class at church we talked about Walking with Jesus and we were challenged to memorize a few verses including 1 John 2:6 which says: " Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." Though it has been my goal for many years now to follow Jesus and do His will I always have room for growing in this area.

  I decided it would be fun to read through the gospels again this time being extremely focused on the things that Jesus did that are examples for me that I should follow. Some of the things in His life were just the situation He was in or the time that he lived or because He was God (being born of a virgin mother, being baptized in the Jordan River, teaching in synagogues and performing miracles) but many of the things that He did were things that He did simply because it was the right thing to do- no matter when or where we live or who we are. Those are the things that I am going to try to notice and follow in my life.

  When I was reading in Matthew Chapter 4 about Jesus time of fasting in the wilderness and being tempted by Satan the things that jumped out at me that I feel I should also strive to do were:

• Standing firm against the devil. The devil is real and does want me to follow him, it is my job to say "NO!".
• Knowing scripture to help me to resist the devil. I can know scripture better by studying it, reading it, memorizing it, singing it and just focusing on it throughout all of my life.

A good verse from that chapter is Jesus' words to Satan in verse 4:
"It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

 I hope you will join me in striving to follow Jesus. I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter!