Sending Christmas Cheer

Friday, December 23, 2016

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. -Luke 2:11-12

Tis the season for all things red, green, silver, and gold. Stores are packed with holiday shoppers, houses are decorated with garland and lights, and everyone is anticipating the parties and presents. It is easy to get caught up in the merriment of the holiday, but we have not forgotten the reason for Christmas. We have been playing with Rowan's nativity and reading some of our favorite Christmas books, including Song of the Stars...my new personal favorite! And this year we added a sweet Christmas verse to the cards that we sent out.


Picking out Christmas cards is one of my favorite holiday activities. I love sending some Christmas cheer to those we love! It is usually quite the processes...finding (or taking) a picture of our family, scrolling through the numerous options on my favorite card sites, designing roughly 5,206 different cards and ending the decision with a family vote. This year, I knew I wanted to use the family photos we had taken in Oklahoma, and I quickly fell in love with a design from Tiny Prints. I love that I was able to incorporate so many of our pictures.

I love looking back at all of our Christmas cards through the years, and this one is sure to be one of my favorites!

Wishing you all a very, merry CHRISTmas!

DIY Lip Balm

Monday, December 19, 2016

Anyone else using lip balm like crazy? Especially this time of year...I mean, we have to keep our lips smoochable with all the mistletoe hanging around! ;) I recently made some of my own lip balm and it is absolutely my new favorite!


It is the easiest thing to make, and wouldn't they make the cutest little gifts? 

Here's what you need: 

Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil

Melt 1 tablespoon of beeswax and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a glass bowl. Stir in 30 drops of essential oils...I used 15 drops of peppermint and 15 drops of cinnamon bark. Use the pipettes to transfer the liquid to the empty lip balm tubes. (Tip: You may want to rubber band a few of the tubes together so they are less likely to fall over.) Let them harden in the fridge for a few minutes & enjoy moisturized lips!

That's it! I told you it was easy!

Affiliate links included. 

Family Pictures

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

A couple months ago Dane, Rowan and I went on a little road trip to Oklahoma! While we were there our dear friend, Madison Vining, took some amazing pictures of my sweet family! Rowan was quite a character...as usual, but Madison was able to get some great smiles out of him. These pictures will be treasured forEVER! The last time we had family pictures take, Rowan had far less hair...and was far less into running! My boy is growing up!







I am so happy that I get to call these fellas mine!

Messes & Memories

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

I am usually up for some DIY decor, and Rowan is always up for mess making! Last weekend we decided to make paint some little reindeer ornaments for our tree. I picked up some wooden ornaments, covered the table with some paper (almost skipped this step...glad I didn't), and let Rowan go to town with the paint brush. 


Painting ornaments takes some serious concentration...and if you get distracted it is probably because you thought it would be fun to paint your hand. 


These perfectly imperfect little ornaments are my new favorite! Making ornaments was always something I loved to do as a kid, and I hope that Rowan and I can make this a little holiday tradition. If my tree was covered in half painted ornaments that my little guy made, I wouldn't hate it!


Every year when I put these ornaments on our tree, I will think of this messy little moment!