It’s a new week and I pray your weekend was full of rest and fun and memory making. That’s my cute introverted pastor husband who literally passes out on a rare meeting free Sunday afternoon after spending the morning extroverting at church. Any introverts out there feel his utter depletion? Too bad he married an extrovert. I’m ready to run laps on Sunday afternoon. 😉 Here is a glimpse into our weekend (and a few of my favorite tips too!)

1. ADVENT CALENDAR GIVEAWAY

• I had a handful of Advent Calendars left and at the suggestion of a friend I decided to give a bunch away. I asked people to tag a friend who could use a bit of encouragement and the names poured in. A mama whose 2 year old had just been diagnosed with cancer. A young woman whose father just passed away. A mama of 2 just recently doing that job alone. I am so grateful for a God who cares so much about the hearts of people that He would provide the means for me to give in this way.
• TIP: Giving is ALWAYS the better way.

2. LAUNDRY

• Saturdays are laundry day. I only do laundry one time a week. Sounds crazy but it works and at the end of the day all the laundry is 100% done, folded and put away. Hooray for no accidental loads being left in the washer or dryer for days on end.
• TIP: Have the littles help you. They are responsible for matching the socks (for whatever reason we go through 1,429 pairs of socks a week.) and putting their clothes away. Organize their drawers and closets in such a way that they can help put the laundry away (i.e. within reach.) To me, the hardest part of this chore is actually finishing the job and putting everything away, so with their help you can succeed at finishing!! Each of my littles get their basket, fill it with their clean and folded clothes and then march upstairs to put everything away. This isn’t without it’s hurdles but it for sure cuts my job by 75% AND is teaching them a bit of routine responsibility.

3. CRAZY BUGS

• The weekends are for resting, something we need and desire and also something our little family is still trying to fully implement. We have chores (i.e. laundry) that is mostly uninvolved (as in the washing machine does the work) but we mostly try to limit our activity and plans as much as we can on Saturday. One small way to implement rest on the weekends means simple meals!!
• Back to Nature Organic Crazy Bugs = My favorite boxed mac & cheese.
• Organic because that makes me feel a little better about feeding my entire family something from a box. 😉
• TIP: In order to truly rest on the weekends, have meals planned and semi prepped or a few boxes of Crazy Bugs ready and available in the pantry.

4. LIVE NATIVITY

• We walked through a “Bethlehem” and were taught the most fun and interesting little facts about what the city would have been like at the time of Jesus’ birth.
• The walk through “Bethlehem” ended with a ‘time travel tunnel’ and on the other side were these crosses representing Jesus’ death; because without His sacrifice on the cross, hope would still be lost.
• TIP: There is much that we want to do and see and experience over the month of December as we celebrate Advent as a family. Making a plan of priorities helps us to not only accomplish those things but also enjoy them. Having a plan means we can see where we are trying to do too much or where we have a little room to add something in. On Saturday, we sat down with our calendars and planned out the rest of December together as a family. We asked the kids what fun things they wanted to do over Christmas break and made sure those things were a priority. That means saying no to other things in order to say yes to them during this season.

Praying for your week to be filled with much joy & hope!!