Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Christmas 2015 Highlights!
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Christmas isn't quite over just yet...in fact,the fun has just begun as we are in the middle of celebrating the 12 days of Christmas that started on Christmas Day! I really think celebrating Christmas as a season vs. a day makes sense as explained in this post from my archives.
Since it's still Christmas, I thought I would share just a few highlights of our family's 2015 Christmas! It was a blessed one and I'm so grateful no one was sick with fever like last Christmas.
Our family enjoyed The Christmas Star from Afar nativity set that I blogged about in an earlier post.
A few weeks before Christmas, my sister and her family came for a visit to celebrate Christmas a little early with us since they live out of town. We had a lovely visit and I was excited to set the lunch table with the silverware stockings I made several years ago. :)
I made a set of these simple stockings for myself, parents and friends and it's always so nice to decorate the Christmas table with them. In the center of our Advent wreath, I placed the St. Nicholas Shining Light Doll and a St. Nicholas peg doll from the Saint peg doll exchange I was involved in a few months ago.
One of our family's Christmas traditions is to make a gingerbread house (not from scratch, however!) Last week before Christmas Day we spent the evening decorating (and eating) the house with candy and icing. We never got around to making more sock Baby Jesus' as in year's past, but maybe next year!
Another fun tradition my children look forward to is adding on to our "Handy Tree Skirt" that we started in 2008. Our littlest one cried last year when we painted on her hand, but this year she proudly held up her green hand with no problem and with lots of smiles! My children always love comparing their hand sizes each year and taking note how much they have grown through the years. I love the expression on our 2 year old's face that I happened to capture as she watches her older sister get her hand painted first!
Speaking of hand prints, each year I try to give some sort of creative gift to my parents from my children. This year we went with a hand print theme thanks to Allison's inspiration at Reconciled to You. When I saw she posted her hand print wreath on her Facebook page, I knew this would be perfect to make since I love collecting previous years Christmas cards, but I don't always know what to do with them! With a stack of previous year's cards, my children traced their hand and cut it out. We then arranged all the hand prints in a wreath shape. My parents loved it!
Here is their wreath hanging in their living room against a mirror.
In November and December we saw several light displays and rode past some wonderfully decorated houses. We try to drive around town to look at all Christmas decorations/lights on or around December 13, which is St. Lucy's feast day. Lucy means "light", by the way.
We found a new house to visit thanks to a friend posting about it on her Facebook page and WOW! You can view the house from the outside AND walk inside to look at ALL their decorations! Yep, we walked through their living room, kitchen and hallways to admire their decorations. When we got to the kitchen, my kids were wondering how the owners ate since decorations were on the table and counters. The owner said she just moves things around, cooks and then puts things back in place. They start decorating on Sept. 1! These pictures don't do it justice, but here's a few I got with my cell phone.
On Christmas Eve, before the Christmas Eve children's mass where my
three older daughters sang in the choir and my son altar served, we went
to my parent's house for lunch. Here's our gang.
Here's our family after the 4 PM Christmas Eve children's Mass.
After Mass we drove around to see more Christmas lights and then I went to an 11:00 PM choral/orchestra concert at our parish with my 3 older children, then we stayed for the beautiful midnight mass. It was all so wonderful and beautiful!
Christmas morning brought much joy and smiles...
We decorated our annual birthday cake for Baby Jesus with the cousins. The kids love dumping sprinkles on the cake each year!
Here's my husband's side of the family with my mother and father-in-law sitting in front. My husband has a twin brother (far right in black t-shirt) and an older brother (standing behind my niece with the racoon hat) and they are each standing with their families.
We will soon welcome 2016 with the Solemnity of Mary on Jan. 1 and an Epiphany party our family will be hosting. (I don't think I can pull off another Nativity play for the Epiphany? But, miracles can happen right?)
Also, coming up on a near future blog post I'll update you on how one of my new year's resolutions is to do more jogging, maybe not so much blogging, but for exciting reasons! So stay tuned!
God bless your Christmas season! (which hasn't ended yet remember :) )
Monday, December 30, 2013
My "Most" Posts of 2013 {Link-Up}
Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things is hosting a "Most" posts of 2013 where you create a post of "mosts"- highlight five of your own posts from the year that fit into the following categories:
The only rules are that the posts should be from your own blog, and they should be from 2013.
Post with the most clicks: 2013-2014 Classroom and Curriculum
(Like myself, others also enjoy peeking at where homeschoolers learn and what they are learning!)
Thanks for stopping by to visit some of my 2013 blog highlights! May you have a blessed 2014!
Happy New Year from our family to yours!
- Post with the most clicks
- Post with the most comments
- Post with the best picture
- Post that was hardest to write
- Post that was your personal favorite (not your readers' favorite- your favorite)
The only rules are that the posts should be from your own blog, and they should be from 2013.
Post with the most clicks: 2013-2014 Classroom and Curriculum
(Like myself, others also enjoy peeking at where homeschoolers learn and what they are learning!)
Post with the most comments: Advent 2013: How We Keep Christ in Christmas
(This was a fun link up in Advent and there were so many wonderful comments on my blog and great ideas from several bloggers.)
Post with the best picture: 30 Weeks Down...10 To Go!
(Some say I have my hands full...I like to say I have my heart full! I really love this preggo pic my hubby took with my older 4 cupcakes touching their new sibling.)
Post that was hardest to write: March for Life 2013
(Not only was this difficult to write because we still have a need to march for life, but it was also difficult tbecause I couldn't be at the March for Life this past year and I wanted to join the march so badly to stand up for those that can't speak for themselves!)
Post that was my personal favorite: HABEMUS PAPAM! In My Own Words/Photos/Videos
(Experiencing history in the making with my own cupcakes was exciting and memorable!)
And if you want to check out my 13 most viewed posts in 2013, be sure to visit my Blog in a Blink: Best 13 of '13 post that I recently did hosted by Monica at Equipping Catholic Families
Thanks for stopping by to visit some of my 2013 blog highlights! May you have a blessed 2014!
Happy New Year from our family to yours!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year with Mary and Epiphany!
In the Catholic Church, January 1st is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Many are not comfortable calling Jesus' mother, the Mother of God. Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosi has an interesting article titled, Mary, Mother of God?, which discusses how this title of our Blessed Mother came to be and the history behind it.
I always enjoy attending Mass on New Years Day as a family to set the new year off right. We went to the vigil Mass tonight at 5 PM since we knew we would be out late ringing in the new year with friends. So we played Wii games with 2 other families and then rang in the new year with glasses of champagne and the kids had sparkling grape juice (out of real wine glasses!) :) They loved it!
May you have a blessed 2012!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
My First Post of 2011 and Join In on Our NO ORDINARY BLOG HOP!
Welcome to my first post of 2011! I hope you have a blessed and happy new year and to help celebrate, I would like to welcome you to No Ordinary Blog Hop January 2011! With the new year Lynda, Anna-Marie, and I are excited to announce a new feature, and new guidelines for our blog hop.
Just click on the button below for more details about our fun and relaxed blog hop so that everyone can read great blog posts and meet friends along the way.
Or you can click this button to join in on the fun!
Also, to start off the new year, Angela at Blog Mommas is starting over and collecting submissions to her directory for blog mommas and blogging dads too. If you would like Angela to include your blog, go here and submit your information. She also has a directory for businesses too! Angela does a wonderful job highlighting all the great blogs out there! Be sure to spread the word about Blog Mommas to all your blogging friends!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Mary, Marriage, Epiphany, and Happy Twenty Eleven!
In the Catholic Church, January 1st is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Many are not comfortable calling Jesus' mother, the Mother of God. Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosi has an interesting article titled, Mary, Mother of God?, which discusses how this title of our Blessed Mother came to be and the history behind it.
I always enjoy attending Mass on New Years Day as a family to set the new year off right. This year we will be spending New Years Eve at a rehearsal dinner for a young couple getting married. On New Years Day we will attend their wedding Mass and we are looking forward to this joyous occasion! Our oldest daughter and my husband and I have a small part in the wedding ceremony. I introduced this couple to each other so we are excited to see them exchange their wedding vows on such a special day!
I remember when I got married, a good friend gave us something similar to this:
Then I typed out "Look Inside for the Recipe for a Successful Marriage"
This is what I have inside:
"Cups of Kindness"
"Forkful of Forgiveness"
"Piles of Patience"
"Lots of Love and Laughter"
"Plenty of Prayer"
"Overabundance of Offspring"
This Servette is a part of their wedding gift and it's a fun way to wish the happy couple a long and successful marriage!
To start off the new year, Angela at Blog Mommas is starting over and collecting submissions to her directory for blog mommas and blogging dads too. If you would like Angela to include your blog, go here and submit your information. She also has a directory for businesses too! Angela does a wonderful job highlighting all the great blogs out there! Be sure to spread the word about Blog Mommas to all your blogging friends!
Happy New Year to all my family and friends! May you have a happy and blessed Twenty Eleven!
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I'm Tracy. I love my faith, family and on most days, homeschooling my 5 blessings. When I'm not busy baking cakes for my family or making memories in real life or dreaming I had a housekeeper or professional chef, I enjoy documenting a slice of Smith life in blog land.
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