Christmas

December 25 gets some serious fanfare, but as a mom, I prefer the overall Christmas season much more than the actual holiday. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day come with a lot of expectations, obligations, and stressful deadlines. Panic precedes leaving the house. Are all of the presents wrapped? Do we have all of the ingredients for the green beans and the queso we are supposed to bring to my parents’ house? Did we pack backup outfits for all three kids? Do we have enough bottles to get through the entire day? What time do we have to leave my aunt’s house to get to your mom’s house? AND WHERE ARE THE MATCHING BOWS?! It’s a lot of work. The kids are...

Each year, almost immediately after Halloween, our calendars become full with holiday commitments, leaving hardly any time to stop and breathe until after the New Year. Around this same time of year, thanks to social media, we fall into the comparison trap and evolve into a wannabe Pinterest perfect Christmas super mom. You know her, and you may even become her when the end of November rolls around. She wants to make meaningful holiday memories with her family in all the ways---baking cookies, crafting ornaments, taking Santa pictures, and hosting holiday parties, all while trying to budget and shop for the perfect gifts for loved ones and juggle her normal non-holiday related responsibilities. AND don’t forget to MOVE. THE. DANG. ELF. We tend...

With all the Lego calendars and chocolate calendars and elves and toys, you may be thinking, "Really? I have to add another thing to my holiday season?" Well, first of all, no, you absolutely don't. But let me tell you why you may enjoy celebrating Advent. I’ve long been a lover of Advent. In the fullness of the Christmas season, Advent anchors me. The point of this simple practice is to build expectation as we remember the first coming of Jesus and as we look forward to His second coming as King of Kings. The word “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival” and if you look into the history of the church, Advent is celebrated with candles and scripture reading,...

Maybe you've seen the posable elves? One that can effortlessly climb the refrigerator door? And you wonder, just how those elves got blessed with magic while your elf has sitting magic. I'm here to tell you Elf Surgery is simple and easy! My little sister is an elf surgeon and performed surgery on our first elf. Last year I may or may not have found some on clearance to add to our outrageous elf collection but I needed them to be just as much fun as our original! So I put in a call to the Elf Surgeon and she walked me through, step by step--it was very Grey's Anatomy! And now we have 3 posable, magnetic elves to...

The holidays are here. Family gatherings are around the corner. For most of us, that means navigating difficult relationships that we are only obligated to navigate twice a year. “Eliminate toxic relationships from your life” has become a buzz phrase as of late. While the notion had great initial intentions, it has become overgeneralized. There are two problematic ways people have synthesized this: 1) Eliminate anyone who thinks differently than you from your life. 2) Remove perplexing relationships from your life and label them as toxic for validation of your decision, rather than growing as a person by learning to navigate the relationship. I hear people stamp the “eliminating toxic relationships” mark on difficult family members in particular. In comes the United States Supreme...