Super Slumber Party

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic today is from the Christmas Home Tour Roxie, Katie and I went on Sunday. We had the most wonderful time, and I loved this guy as soon as I drove up. He's great, isn't he?

The Gallery Pics are a play-by-play of our weekend. They are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll be talking more about each one in the Monday Mayhem section.

REMINDER - I ordered my Christmas cards Saturday, so this week I should be mailing out HUNDREDS of greetings. Let me know if you need my address!

NOTE TO JENNY AND ROBIN - Thank you, Jenny. The pain is gone and the stitches come out today. Hopefully, it will be an uneventful stitch removal. If not, you can read about it here (in depth) tomorrow morning! Robin, I responded to your comment in the Comment Section Friday. Have a good day, girls!

NOTE TO TONYA - I drove by your house yesterday. I had no idea you had so many inflatables. I must admit, I coveted your Snow Globe. I love those. I am trying to be happy for you, but instead I am consumed with "Inflatables Envy"!

SEMI-FUNNY STORY - I walked into our local grocery store Friday (a small discount store where I buy crispitos and lasagna and baby quiches for unheard of prices). Standing in front of me at the door was a life-size Santa with a knee-high elf standing beside him. And it wasn't a cheap looking Santa either. He looked marvelous! He was standing right beside the bread rack.

I stood there for several moments just taking in all his Christmas glory. I picked up my items and went to check out. "I love that Santa," I told the lady at the cash register.

"Well, if you'll get your camera out of the car, I'll take your picture with him," she said.

Now, I'll tell you why I thought that last sentence was a little odd. How did she know I ALWAYS have a camera in my car, purse or in my bra? Why would she think I, a 48 year-old woman, would want my picture made with a nice, albeit plastic, life-size Santa? (In reality, I was dying to have my picture taken with that guy!) And why did I suddenly become all prim and proper and tell her, "Oh, that's okay. I just think he's a very nice Santa. That's all." That's all? That's all?

I've been thinking all weekend about how I can get back in the store and have her take a picture of me for my Project 365 blog. I was thinking about telling her it was going to be a little gag gift for my Mikie to put under the tree. I hate to lie this close to Christmas, but my options are very limited.

Keep an eye out on Project 365 this week for my picture with that Santa!

CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY IN DECEMBER - And the ideas just keep coming! I just have one for you today, but it's a pretty good one, I think.

DAY 5

8. Have a puzzle table set up in a corner of the den or another room where family and friends gather. This is a season with many visitors, and working on a Christmas puzzle together is a fun way to sit around and catch up. Have a goal to finish the puzzle before Christmas Day OR New Year's Day.

Monday Mayhem

We had a very "Christmasy" weekend, as the pictures in the Gallery can attest. Our Friday extended family movie night was fun, and although the food was green (in honor of the Grinch), I think everyone had a good time. Why is it kids can eat green food (that wasn't originally green) and think it's fun, but adults tend to ask if there's anything else to eat? Hmmm.

Of course, Saturday morning was pretty with our little snowfall. Maybe since we have had snow in early December, we'll have more snow before winter is over. In Alabama, you just never know.

Saturday night found Roxie and Hannah having a good time with the pre-fab gingerbread house, watching Christmas With the Kranks (I love the part where Tim Allen gets Botox injections and pokes himself in the face with a fork), and sleeping on the air mattress under a lit Christmas tree. I think I'm going to plan a night where Mikie and I sleep under the lit Christmas tree. I'm sure that will freak the kids out!

Sunday was a busy day. Austin left after church for his last week of school for this semester. It's amazing how fast it's gone by. I received a letter from the school asking if I wanted to purchase a Final Basket for Austin. I think they started at $40 and went up, up, up. When Austin came home this weekend, I asked him if he had noticed anyone receiving baskets in the dorm. Bless his heart. Unless a person had tripped and dropped a $40 basket on his foot, he would never have noticed gift baskets being delivered up and down the hall... But just in case, I made a very inexpensive basket for him and Kris (his roommate). Creme sodas, hot chocolate, apples, eggnog pound cake (which turned out to be a delicious cake, by the way) and, of course, Little Debbie White Christmas Tree Cakes made a very nice and affordable Final Basket for TWO.

When I talked to Austin last night, they had eaten all the pound cake and had made a huge dent in the creme sodas. Their Final Basket will probably be gone by this afternoon. It isn't going to last through Thursday!

Roxie, Katie and I spent the afternoon visiting house after house on the Christmas Home Tour. You can leave each house with a ton of decorating ideas... like big, blue tractors in your front yard. (I wish I knew how to drive a tractor!)

Josh and company worked on a math project, and it is ALMOST completed. One more get together and it will be done AND done!

Our Sunday evening ended watching the finale of Amazing Race without Austin (but he will catch up Thursday afternoon).

And that was that. Another weekend complete, and another week beginning. And only 18 days until Christmas! Be still my heart!

Super Slumber Party

Since we've talked about sleeping under the Christmas tree, let's have a meaningful family devotion and spend the night under the tree as a family, shall we?

You will need a Bible, pillows, blankets or sleeping bags or air mattresses, flashlights, a good Christmas movie (or a good Christmas book) and plenty of popcorn.

Invite family members to gather for an evening of entertainment and a night of snoozing under the Christmas tree. Encourage everyone to claim a comfy spot.

After the movie or the reading from the book you chose, turn out the lights as you turn on the flashlights. Ask:

When is a time you were afraid of the dark or afraid to go to sleep? Encourage everyone to share his or her experiences.

What happens when you're afraid at night or any other time?

Say: Do you know there is someone who is always on guard, protecting us through every day and night? There is someone who never sleeps, who never slumbers. Listen as I read from the Bible. When you know who never sleeps, put your hand on your head. Read aloud Psalm 121:1-8. Then ask:

Why do you think God stays awake?

How does knowing God watches over our family all day and all night make you feel?

Then use the flashlights to play a game. Shine a light on a family member and say, "God watches over you, in the day and nighttime, too." Then pass the flashlight to that person and let him or her shine the light and repeat the rhyme. Continue until each family member has had a turn to shine the light.

Say: It makes me feel good to know I never have to be afraid at night. I know that God is with me all the time. And he is with our family all the time, too. Let's say a bedtime prayer thanking God for never leaving us alone.

As you can see, this devotion could be used any time of the year. But doing it during the Christmas season will make a sweet memory AND teach the kids a Biblical truth they will never forget.

The devotion was taken from Affordable Family Fun by Susan L. Lingo.

Have a marvelous Monday. I have a fantastic recipe for tomorrow you will NOT want to miss. I'll also start our topic of the week, and I have a few more surprises up my sleeve this season, so you'll never know what might pop up!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda