traditions

I know that I say it all the time but I can't seem to say it enough...I love traditions and so do kids! If you want to be amazed start asking your kids about Christmas last year....do not say anything about presents just ask them what they remember about Christmas last year. Unless they received a significant gift or they just happen to remember crazy details....they will most likely have forgotten all about the gifts that you spent so much time and effort and STRESS on! They will remember the traditions of baking or parties or grandparents! I remember very few of the gifts that I received as a kid but I have vivid memories of the traditions! What about you? If that is the case shouldn't we put a little more effort into enjoying the traditions!

This weekend we went to my moms to celebrate Christmas with her....she just lives a mile from me, and my sisters live 7 and 9 miles away but we all spent the night with my mom and dad....all 20 of us and 3 dogs! Yes it was nuts! Yes it was great fun. We sat up last night playing spoons. Great fun but it was wild and noisy and a great memory! We woke up this morning and Eric read the story of Jesus' birth and then we opened gifts and ate an enormous breakfast. We spent the day playing games..taking naps..and cleaning up.

Eric...yes my husband..set this little thingy up, by himself while watching the game...boys never grow up. I love it! We had a wonderful time making memories.



Love those babies!

We have winners!

Thanks for all the lovely comments! Our three winners are......

Deborah

Cherie

Chromiumman......You did not leave an email address...you can contact me at

michele at driventoencourage dot org (no spaces)

Have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Give Away

Hello Ladies....I am giving away 3 copies of my book...you can read more about it in the post below. Just leave me a comment and name your all time favorite dish that you remember as a child. You do not have to leave the recipe, although you can. 3 winners will randomly be chosen on Friday morning....just in time to mail our for Christmas!

Cook Book

I love to travel and speak to womens groups. Outside of being home with my babies...which I love the most.....I love to encourage other women to love Jesus, love their husbands, love their babies and enjoy their time making a home! It truly brings me great satisfaction to pour out the things that the Lord has taught me over the years. I spoke last year at a ladies event in Newnan, Georgia and one of the ladies who was there wrote a really sweet comment on my blog and told me that she is going to feature my book on her blog! WOW! That is awesome! Her blog is great...you can check it out here.

I love cooking and I love having time with my family around the table. You can learn many, many things at the table! We live in a society that is WAY to busy! The story is long and I am tired but it is a great story about how the book came to be...I will try to write about it tomorrow. But for today...this book is a really easy read.....about 30 of my families favorite recipes (easy, simple,and enjoyable), a few cooking tips, a few parenting tips and a lot of encouragement to enjoy your family at the table.

If you are interested you can order it right here for $6.95 which includes shipping. It is also available on Amazon. It would make a great stocking stuffer or gift for a mom who needs some encouragement! If you wanted it and order it today I will send it out immediately and I think it should make it for Christmas. Love those babies!

Why is our first thought NO!

I am getting better the longer I am a mother...but I still fight it.....that urge for the first response to be.... NO. I am thinking...that is too messy...that is too much trouble...it is too hot...it is too cold. I really try to stop and ask myself....is this really a big deal. I always tell my kids that they are in charge of clean up and they almost always agree that clean up is still worth whatever it is they want to do??? Kids?? We had a really big rain and this is the giant puddle that was created at our church across the street. The kids had a great time until the security guys stopped all the fun...party poopers....although you know they secretly wished their mothers had let them play in such a great puddle!

Christmas Videos

One of the great things that we do around here is to watch all the classic Christmas Videos...we all enjoy this. I keep these videos put away all year so that they are fresh for the season. We watch very little tv here...we do not have cable so there really isn't a point to watching a lot of "snow" and we really limit the number of videos they see. I am a big believer that kids should go out and play or use their imaginations inside. All of that to say...they love to totally veg out and watch these shows. It was a bonus to snap this picture of my youngest two..Benjamin 9 and Luke 6 watching one together tonight! Sweet! Love those babies!

Saving Dogs

I was watching the news tonight while I was clipping coupons....exciting huh???? I live in Georgia and there was a story about a man who beat his dog almost to death and a neighbor found the animal and took it to the vet. There was apparently a huge outpouring of support money wise to help pay the bills. The very pitiful dog was leaving today to go home with it's new owner...cameras catching the whole thing. Then a story about the owner who is now in jail for beating the dog.

OK...I love my dog and I feel for the animal...they should not be beaten. But what in the world is wrong with our society that lets babies be murdered in their mothers wombs and even born and left for dead as seen here, and we are silent but for a dog there are cameras and an outpouring of sympathy. Come on Christians we need to make some noise and stand up for these injustices!

Love those Babies!

Busy, Busy, Busy

How busy are you?? I really try to keep it under control. My shopping is all done and most of it is wrapped. We keep things really simple here with gifts...no buying just for the sake of buying. We love Christmas time and we love to spend time doing really fun things. I am going to post some of those fun things over the next few days. I will tell you that we enjoy all of the "magic" of Christmas. We love to drive around and look at lights...attend fun parties....and eat special food..but we do keep our focus on the fact that this is Jesus' birthday. We spend lots of time being thankful!