Christmas

Cue the Christmas music and hang up your stockings, it is finally Christmas time y’all! With only weeks away from Santa’s arrival, we wanted to do something to inspire you to keep the little ones occupied. So, we bring you “12 Days of Christmas Crafts.” Much like the popular Christmas song, we will give to you a new Christmas craft idea for 12 consecutive days. The posts will include everything you need to know from ingredients to instructions to little tips. Let’s get right into it! On the ninth day of Christmas, Red Stick Mom gave to me… Christmas tree stem activity, Have magna-tiles and mini jingle bells laying around the house? Turns out, that is all you need for this...

Growing up, I had many lofty visions of future holidays with my own family. In my dreams, my husband and I would wake up well-rested and full of energy on Christmas morning. We’d enjoy our coffee while watching the kids gratefully open their gifts. We’d spend a relaxing morning at home, head to church, and then have lunch with the entire family. Everyone would be present; the food would be delicious, and all would be merry and bright. Is anyone laughing at me yet? Then I became an adult and realized just how stressful the holidays actually are. Between sending out Christmas cards, making sure the perfect gifts are bought, baking cookies, moving the elf on the shelf every night,...

Cue the Christmas music and hang up your stockings, it is finally Christmas time y’all! With only weeks away from Santa’s arrival, we wanted to do something to inspire you to keep the little ones occupied. So, we bring you “12 Days of Christmas Crafts.” Much like the popular Christmas song, we will give to you a new Christmas craft idea for 12 consecutive days. The posts will include everything you need to know from ingredients to instructions to little tips. Let’s get right into it! On the ninth day of Christmas, Red Stick Mom gave to me … snowman powered donuts, gingerbread play dough, Christmas Water Play, DIY play snow, Christmas Peppermint Sensory Bin, Christmas present sensory bin, Salt dough Santa handprint ornaments, DIY Christmas play...

When Your Home Is a Battleground. When your home is a battleground, you pull in the driveway in the evening and it doesn’t feel like the end of the day. It feels like the day is just getting started. You have a plan in mind for how the night will go. What needs to get done and what you want to get done. You said your mantras and prayed your prayers. You listened to your podcasts. You convince yourself you can keep it all together tonight, no matter what gets thrown your way. When your home is a battleground there’s territory claimed. The kitchen is yours’s. The front porch is his. There are unspoken agreements. He gets the bathroom early evening; you...

As the song goes, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmasss…,” but in my mind, I am currently picturing white sand and blue water. Unfortunately, the holidays can be a stressful time for many even though it is supposed to be a time for joy and celebrating the birth of our savior. It’s a time with lots of extra expenses and you still have all your usual expenses too. And the all too familiar Covid throws another grinchy wrench in it all. Basically, holiday stress + pregnancy hormones = recipe for Level 5 meltdown.   After a disagreement between my husband and I one evening, I found myself sitting on the couch and wishing we were back in Hawaii. We sort of...