Cancelled last year, this year was much anticipated! Tatum was part of an “ensemble” so it was even more exciting this time.
Daddy and Tot posed in front of our fountain.
She wanted to take a picture of daddy on her watch.
Wait for it….
Now the mommy..
And my HHH
WE match! Ok so we got to school on time, but first we had din din at Chik-Fil-A. Not usually do we eat out, so it was a treat.
When we got to school, all of Tot’s friends crowded around for a smile.
They look so festive.
We had to hunt for a seat, but we had some luck on the side! I would sneak up and get pics when she would be on. Here is the program.
PEACE. This is the theme of the school this year. THE ONLY way to get peace is through a relationship with Christ (which is reconciliation with our FATHER!)
Tatum will be in the ensemble for Tell Me the Story!
She looks so poised and pretty!
Her buddy Sebastian had a solo here.
The evening was delightful! We ended with a hot fudge sundae bar at home.
I bought something new this year: ADVENT BLOCKS. We wanted to count down to Jesus birth this year vs. countdown to “presents.” Let’s focus on the reason for the season.
Tatum celebrated with an updo too. Truly a puzzle.
Every morning we do the devotion and pray. We decided in December to use the Advent blocks to. make each day countdown and COUNT!
Here they are all lined up. I heard this Pastor named Clayton on Family Life Today. He created these, and I just had to get them!
We read day one which was about the BEGINNING with Adam and Eve and the fall. What was the picture today?
An apple!
God’s plan of redemption started the first day SIN was introduced. He wants to bring the dark into the light and make the wrongs right.
Speaking of apples, Coopy is the apple of our eye, so he gets an advent calendar too!
The first day is……wait for it….
A STAR is born!
and gone.
We can’t wait for the rest of December. He is coming!
We celebrated a day early because Doug usually has his men’s group on Tuesday. So Tot and I prepared a nice dinner for our love!
But first, the ever popular puppet show starring Scaredy Squirrel, Gerald and Piggie. AND NO WHITE FLUFFY THING this year! Scaredy Squirrel (now named “Bravey” teaches Piggie and Gerald about overcoming their fears!)
Tatum made him a placemat and cards, and I added some candles.
I also made him pork loin with maple mustard sauce, roasted brussel sprouts, and butternut squash. Salad and wine of course!
He seemed pretty surprised!
WE had nice conversation about our gratitude journals, and then, time for Tot’s presents. She spent time on her gift to him; A LEGO ROCKET pencil holder!
She made this because we are reminded daily of our need to be armed and ready for those spiritual attacks that come to our mind. (“We take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ!” 2 Cor 10:5)
You never know, but if you’re armed, you can resist his nasty schemes. (or big bears!)
When we are armed, we can be filled with JOY! Also we can draw pretty cool pics with our daddy!
The morning started with our devotion, prayer, and craft. The Daily Bread today was remarkable. It’s a CRIME to be ungrateful.
“Here it is: Seneca, the great philosopher of ancient Rome (4 bc–ad 65), was once accused by the empress Messalina of adultery. After the Senate sentenced Seneca to death, the emperor Claudius instead exiled him to Corsica, perhaps because he suspected the charge was false. This reprieve may have shaped Seneca’s view of thankfulness when he wrote: “homicides, tyrants, thieves, adulterers, robbers, sacrilegious men, and traitors there always will be, but worse than all these is the crime of ingratitude.”
A contemporary of Seneca’s, the apostle Paul, may have agreed. In Romans 1:21, he wrote that one of the triggers for the downward collapse of humankind was that they refused to give thanks to God. Writing to the church at Colossae, three times Paul challenged his fellow believers in Christ to gratitude. He said we should be “overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:7 ). As we let God’s peace “rule in [our] hearts,” we’re to respond with thankfulness (3:15). In fact, gratitude ought to characterize our prayers (4:2).
God’s great kindnesses to us remind us of one of life’s great realities. He not only deserves our love and worship, He also deserves our thankful hearts. Everything that’s good in life comes from Him (James 1:17)”. BY: BILL CROWDER
With all we’ve been given in Christ, gratitude should be as natural as breathing. May we respond to God’s gracious gifts by expressing our gratitude to Him.
This prompted us even better to do our craft. We worked off this sheet from Family Life.
I got a stack of notecards and we each filled out ten.
We then each shared our ten. It wasn’t hard to do these; in fact we wanted more time! Coopy just listened with his grateful ears.
Yes, baby! My wonderful hubby then hung them up in the dining room.
Here the all are:
After all this fun, I spent the day getting ready for Mama and Austin and our dinner.
Setting the table with gratitude rocks!
And the appetizers are all ready
My honey is now all ready! He spent the day selflessly helping Mama on her fountain! Doesn’t he look spiffy?
We took a few pics beforehand. My HHH
Tot and Me. SMMOOCH!
Daddy! WE love you!
When A and Mom came, we had a fun game of UNO and some laughs.
We enjoyed having Austin and Mama over for our feast of turkey, gravy, cauliflower mashed, regular mashed, salad, green beans, and stuffing (mom made YUM). Oh, and my crustless sugar free apple pie for daddy!
Blessed. Grateful. Thankful. 2021 WE are so grateful especially for you, Father!
