Small group Christmas party

I love my small group; I really do. I love that we can all come together, just as we are, and share about what Christ is doing in our lives. And learn about Him. And worship Him. And love on each other when times get hard.

But, we have a lot of fun together too :)

We all gathered at Teresa and Gino's house last week for our annual small group Christmas party. Here are some pics from that fun night:



Teresa handing out little gifts to all the kids

Presents!

Jamie, Tara and I in our PJ's and Ugly Christmas sweaters.

The guys looking studly in their Ugly Christmas sweaters :)

My favorite man and I lookin' spiffy (why yes, that IS a turtlenecks he's wearing, haha!) ;)

Playing Musical Chairs

Fighting it out and the winner was Al!

The kids playing Musical Chairs and the winner was Ashlyn!

Gifts for the gift exchange

Gift exchange fun :)

Happy Birthday Jesus Cake!

Ahh, such a fun, memorable night. Love these people!

Christmas Bucket List; Christmas movies

One of my favorite things to so with our kiddos is snuggle up and watch movies with them... especially after they are bathed, lotioned and jammied :)

So in preparation for Christmas, we watched a few movies over the course of the month; Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas, Veggie Tales Saint Nicholas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Curious George; Very Monkey Christmas.
I saved you all from pics from each one of those movie nights :), but here is one night where we snuggled up with hot chocolate and snuggly blankets:

:)

Merry Christmas!

Hi family and friends!

My power cord on my computer died so I've been unable to update the blog in a few days. And because I'm writing this on Justin's computer, I can't access any of my pics. So, give me a few days until the cord arrives and I'll be back ;)

Love to you all :)

Singing!

The children at our new church got up on stage last Sunday morning and performed. I went to the front pew to record them while Justin sat further back and snapped a few pictures between heads ;)

It was adorable. They sang a few songs (Away in a Manger was my fave) before praying with the whole congregation and then going to their classrooms where they were taught by Pastor Mo.

Love our new church and how valued our children feel going there ;)

Visit to the animal shelter

For Christmas this year, my dad and stepmom asked if we could all go to the Mary S. Roberts No-Kill Animal Shelter so that the kids could pick out a kitty that my stepmom would make a monthly donation to that cat in their name :)

The best part is, we got to visit each and every one of the kitties. Lauren and I LOVED being there... the guys? Notsomuch ;)

I chose, I mean Megan chose this kitty named Ursula because she was the sweetest thing ever:

Lauren chose this cute kitten (I'm not sure the name):

And Jake chose Gidget, because she was soooo playful:

And hanging out at the 'pet tree' where they got special pet coloring books to take home with them:

I love gifts of service and actually DOING things with the kids. Yes, they did get toys from Grandma and Grandpa Haynes also, but it was nice to go on a field trip and visit with the animals without bringing them home ;) Thanks for a fun day Dad and Flo!

AVC Christmas party

The kiddos had their Christmas party at school a few days ago and Miss Meg and I went to help out :)

While she played the role of 'taste tester' (yuck!),

Jake and Lauren made some crafts:

 They even made edible crafts (actually, the same ice cream cone ones we made a few days back, haha!)

After the crafts, they got a special PIZZA (and cookie!) lunch!

Lauren, Jake and Mrs. Wanda above :) We LOVE Mrs. Wanda... she is SO kind and loving ;)

Lauren and Lily, best friends in class and Jake and Fabian below, also best friends in class ;)

We LOVE AVC!

Happy Birthday Jesus cake!

We try extra hard during this Christmas season to remind the kids why we celebrate Christmas every year. With Santa and elves, and presents at every turn, it's easy to see why kids are consumed with all that stuff. So this year, we decided to make our first ever 'Happy Birthday Jesus cake', which I stole from my girlfriend Melissa ;)

I got a white cake mix and a chocolate cake mix, and had the kids prepare them separately:
.

 Then we divided the white cake equally into 2 separate bowls. Jake added the green and Lauren the red (we also dumped 1/2 of the choloalte cake mix so all three layers were even). 

Then we tasted it to make sure it was edible. It was ;)

After it cooled, I frosted it, added some festive sprinkles and a candle:

The meaning behind the cake:

Chocolate layer- Our sins
Red layer- Jesus' shed blood for our sins to cover them
Green layer- Growing in our new life with Him
White frosting- A reminder that only through Jesus that our sins are wiped clean.
Candle- A reminder that Jesus brought light into this world and we too need to be a light to others and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

That night, we brought this cake to our small group party and after lighting the candle, we all sang happy Birthday to Him.

What an awesome tradition to celebrate our Savior.