Christmas Countdown Days 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8

On Christmas Countdown day 12 the kids made Christmas presents for their Sunday School teachers. We made magnets using canning jar lids (the flat part). We painted them and added a snowflake stamp, jewels, and buttons.

On day 11 of our Countdown we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 in the Bible.

Then on day 10 we rode around looking at Christmas lights. This was also the day of Isaac, Sarah, and Elijah's piano recital. My parents and Bryan's parents were able to come up and attend the recital. Bryan's parent's brought the kids a tree swing! The kids LOVE it!!

Day 9 of our Countdown to Christmas was game night. Playing board games, card games, etc. is always lots of fun family time! Bryan's parents had to head home this morning but my parents were able to stay a few more days. UNO is just one of our many games we like to play. What is your favorite family game to play?

Day 8 of our Christmas countdown was when we had Christmas with my parents. Christmas with Maw and Paw is always special. Since we have been in Tennessee my parents have came up and spent Christmas with us, such a great time! This meant that altogether my parents would end up staying with us for 11 days!!!!

 Maw and Joanna enjoy playing with one of Joanna's presents from Maw and Paw.

My parents got Timothy this hat, overalls, and green long sleeve shirt. Now he can look like Paw!

Christmas Countdown: Day 14 and Day 13

I promise I will finish this Countdown and maybe I will get it down before January 1. :)

On Day 14 of our Countdown to Christmas we went caroling in the community and then went Christmas shopping. It is such a joy to hear our kids singing Christmas carols and watch them serve the Lord. After our caroling we went in to town and did some Christmas shopping. We had lots of fun spending time together as a family!

On Day 13 of our Countdown we watched a Christmas movie. The movie we chose was "Christmas with Tucker". My mom had watched it and thought we would enjoy it. It was a very cute and very family friendly movie.

Purple Monday Sale at Lilla Rose!!

I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas!! We did! My parents were able to come and visit with us for 10 days! It was so hard to let them leave. :( I will be sharing Christmas pictures soon!

Here is a picture of Joanna's hair for church yesterday, Christmas Day! The clip in her hair is the Silver Fir and size is Medium. This looked so pretty on her and she liked it.

Today is Purple Monday at Lilla Rose!! That means its a SALE! Everything is 10-15% off and some of the holiday items are 50% off! Free shipping on retail orders of $40 or more. Just head over to www.lillarose.biz/cantinacamp to check out all the beautiful hair accessories that are on sale!

21 Years Ago

On December 23, 1995, Bryan and I had our first "official" date! That was 21 years ago and I love that man more today than ever before! Very excited to spend the rest of my life with Bryan and I am looking forward to all that God has planned for us!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 16 and Day 15

One of the things we miss the most that was lost in the fire is our home videos and pictures. Those are things that we will never be able to replace. Back in 2007 and 2008 Bryan made our parents home videos of the kids. For day 16 of our Countdown to Christmas we watched one of those home videos! It was so fun to see those home movies we had made. Of coarse there was lots of laughter as we watched and I shed a few tears. I miss my kiddos being that small and I wish I had all the home movies we had ever made. Very thankful my parents shared these videos with us!

On Day 15 we had our Christmas with the Camp family. We were able to be with Bryans family and enjoy some time with them. We had got to Alabama on Thursday night and on Friday my dad had a heart cath, so we were able to be there with my parents during that time. Dad is doing well and had a good report. Then on Saturday afternoon we had our Christmas with the Camps, then headed back home later that evening. Always a blessing to be with family!!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 18 and Day 17

On day 18 of our count down we wrapped a few presents for our Camp family Christmas that was just a few days away! The kids enjoy wrapping presents and do a pretty good job of keeping secrets.

Then on day 17 of our count down we prayed for a family friend that is going on a mission trip next summer. As one of our gifts this Christmas we are not just giving prayers for this friend but also going to give financially. As parents desiring to train our children in the way of the Lord, we feel that teaching our children now about missionaries and the impact they have on others is very important. We also want our kids to know the importance of having a giving heart. As a family we will continue to pray for our friend as they prepare of their mission trip and we will pray for them to be a great witness as they share Jesus with others.

Merry Christmas 2016!

Merry Christmas to your family from ours!! 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. Luke 2:13-20

Count Down to Christmas: Day 20 and Day 19

On Day 20 of our countdown to Christmas was made birdseed ornaments. This is something we did last year and the kids really enjoyed it. We found this recipe for the ornaments and it was very easy! We even gave a couple of them to the chickens!

I don't have a picture to share for Day 19 because it was so busy I forgot all about taking pictures. LOL! Day 19 was our Christmas/Craft Party with our Homeschool group. We had a great time! Each child did 3 crafts. A few of the moms were in charge of the crafts. I did a craft with the 4-6 graders. Then each family brought a food item to share with the rest of the group. A great time of fellowship for all of us!

This picture is of a sample of what we did. We put magnets on the back and the kids decorated them in Christmas theme.

Count Down to Christmas: Day 22 and Day 21

For Day 22 on our Count Down to Christmas we read two Christmas books. One was a small book called "A Night Like No Other" and the other book was a Bernstein Bear book titled "The Joy of Giving". We love reading together and enjoying a good book. We have many other Christmas books that we will be reading between now and Christmas.

For Day 21 on our Count Down to Christmas we were to see how many acts of kindness we could do during the day. Since this day was on a Sunday the kids were able to give acts of kindness to those at church. One of the children helped a lady take her things to her car. All the kids enjoyed giving acts of kindness to each other and Bryan and I at home. One of the kids folded clothes for all the other children, one made mine and Bryan's bed, one child cleaned out the dishwasher, and the list goes on.

Count Down to Christmas Day 23

On Day 23 of our Count Down to Christmas we were to bake something to enjoy and share. The kids and I love to bake, so I knew they would really like this. My plans were for all of us to bake something together but the kids had other plans. We ended up turning it into a cookie bake off. There were two teams and each team had to bake the cookies and then we would let Bryan be the judge. We had lots of fun!!! One team made monster cookies and the other team made "brookies" (which is brownies and cookies combined). 

After supper we blind folded Bryan and gave him one of each cookie. He tasted the cookies and enjoyed them both! Both teams were winners!! Yes we enjoyed them and will share them with others as we go with our church caroling, sharing cookies, and sharing Christ on Sunday afternoons. 

Count Down to Christmas! Day 24

We have started a tradition in the Camp home and it has been so much fun! We have been doing a Countdown to Christmas for 5 years. I am not sure how I got this idea but I am very thankful for the joy and fun it has brought us! The first picture is of the "tree" we place on the door with each card. I took index cards and wrote the activity for the day, folded it, and then on the outside I wrote the number of day till Christmas.

The activity for yesterday was a Nativity Hunt. I took our Nativity set and hid each piece around the house and the kids had to find them. Then we all gathered in the Living Room to put the Nativity together. The only problem was no one found baby Jesus. We talked about how important He was to the Nativity and without Jesus there would be NO Nativity or Christmas. Jesus IS the Reason for the season!!

Thankful Thursday!!

Its been a long time since I have done a "Thankful Thursday" post. I meant to post this yesterday but my day got busy.

I am thankful for...
232) God's mercies that are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23
233) creative children.
234) Lilla Rose.
235) the smell of banana bread.
236) a GPS on my phone.
237) the sound of my kids playing praises to the Lord on the piano.
238) blueberry tea.

More Creativeness!

Recently I shared some of Elijah and Timothy's creativeness and now I want to share Joanna's creativeness. One of the things I requested for Christmas was a new purse. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the purse I have now, it's just really worn. It is the only purse I have had in almost three years. My mother-n-law gave me this purse after the fire and I have really enjoyed it! When Joanna heard that I wanted a new purse she decided she could make me one...Here it is!

On the other side it has a pocket. Too cute! This purse is a little too small for ALL my things...but it is the thought that counts. Joanna is so thoughtful and has such a big heart. She is a blessing! Very thankful that God gave her to us and I can't imagine life without her.

HUGE Lilla Rose Sale!

I really have enjoyed my Flexi Clips and the other products that Lilla Rose has. That is why I don't want you to miss this HUGE sale that is going on! Only 2 days left. To check out the wonderful products and great deals go to www.lillarose.biz/cantinacamp! 

We Have Blue Eggs!

If you have been following us long you know we have chickens! You also know about Isaac hatching a few eggs and we had baby chicks a few months ago! (so cute!!) Those babies are at the laying stage now and one of them is laying blue eggs!! Our rooster is an Americana and the hens are red sex links.  An americana hen will lay red, white, and blue colored eggs. These chickens and raising them has been such a great thing for the kids...and me! :)

Lilla Rose Black Friday Sale!!

I am very happy to announce a HUGE sale at Lilla Rose! Its a Black Friday Sale! All the details are below and starting at midnight Thursday you can check it out at www.lillaraose.biz/cantinacamp! 

Another Deer!

Isaac killed a 6 point deer yesterday! He was so excited! (Warning: pictures that follow may not be suitable for everyone) :)

 Bryan was not around yesterday which meant Isaac had to get it done himself. This was a great experience for him! With the help of a neighbor, Isaac and I were able to get the deer to the house. Then with the help of Sarah, Elijah, and myself we were able to hang the deer up. Then the rest was up to Isaac. He skinned it and got the meat off. We now have some deer meat in the cooler!

So proud of him and thankful that he is learning some skills that he can take with him through life.

Creative Children

All of our children have a very creative side. It is so fun to see what they can come up with. I am amazed at how their minds work. Wanted to share some of Elijah and Timothy's creations.

Elijah's name in blocks

Timothy's name in blocks

A bat in a bat house

C-A-M-P using lunch items

C-A-M-P using pretzels

Love it!! Thank you God for these children and their creative minds!

Loving My Lilla Rose

I can't say enough great things about the Lilla Rose products! I wear a Flexi Clip almost every day. I really feel that you would enjoy them too. Head on over to www.lillarose.biz/cantinacamp and take a look around at these great products.

A long time friend of mine bought a few of the Flexi Clips and I just had to share with you the picture she sent, along with the following comment: "It did great! My hair stayed pulled back all night. :) And I was coaching 4, 5, and 6 year olds in soccer. I was moving around a lot, and it worked great!" 

Science In Our Back Yard

Isaac was doing his outside chores when he happened up on this big thing! Isn't that cool!!

He couldn't wait to share it with the rest of us (after he made sure there were no living hornets in there). The younger kids and I have learned about the paper wasp and this was a great example of their nest. 

Here is the inside, see all the little rooms (cells)? You can see how paper thin the walls are like the paper wasp nests. It is wonderful to be able to touch what you have been learning about...hands on learning here!

This was really huge! Think about all the time and dedication it takes these creatures to build this massive nest. Wonder how many rooms are in there.

Here is a picture of one of the dead hornets that were inside. God is amazing and so is His creation!!

Thank you Lord for sharing Your creation with us!

Lots of Fun!!

Today the kids and I did a few fun things along with our regular school work. Our church had a Fall Festival last night and our kiddos had lots of fun there too! I read this book to the kids right before lunch. We enjoy this story every time we read it!

Then after lunch we made chocolate covered pretzels! Here is Joanna about to eat her pretzel!

We made white chocolate and milk chocolate covered pretzels. YUMMY!!

Then I printed off some pumpkin coloring sheets for the kids. They all enjoyed a little coloring! Here is Timothy using his markers to color his picture.

We had fun today and we enjoyed doing a few fun things today! Love being with these kids!!

MOM!

Below is a bag from a famous fast food restaurant...can you guess what restaurant?

While we were on our 12 day school trip up the east, we ate at this restaurant once. My kids like eating here, but on this particular time during our trip Timothy brought me this bag and said "Look, MOM!" I didn't quite get it at first, but then I saw it...can you see it? The word MOM on her collar? My heart melted... Because he would notice that detail and that he saw "MOM". I LOVE my kids and they are a joy to me, I am very blessed!! The other day while Timothy was doing his school work he had to finish a few sentences with words of his choice. One of the sentences was "I love..." And Timothy finished the sentence with "my mom"! Moments like these are God's reward to me for being the mom that He has called me to be. It's not always an easy road but the joy and rewards of following the Lord gives me strength for the hard days. 

Apples!!

Fall is here! The weather is feeling like fall and the apples are in season! I really do like this time of year! I usually cut up an apple (Fuji is our favorite) each afternoon and that is our favorite snack. 

When we bought our home 3 years ago there was an apple tree in the back yard and we enjoy picking those apples in the fall and baking with them. They are too tart for me to just eat right off the tree but they are delicious in a few of our favorite recipes!! Thought I would share a picture of one of the baskets we picked this week. 

Then the kids and I made an assembly line and peeled, sliced, and put in freezer bags these wonderful apples. :) I had a few apples that didn't quite fit in to a bag, so with those I made baked apples (see picture below).

I placed the cut up apples in a glass baking dish, added some butter, cinnamon, and sugar (Stevia to be exact). Baked them at 400 for 20-30 minutes, stirring half way through baking time. DELICIOUS!!!

We like apples in our apple muffins, Apple oatmeal bake, Apple bars (I need to get Sarah to post that recipe soon), and Apple oatmeal. My next attempt will be Apple pie or cake. Yummy!!!

Do you like apples? What is your favorite way to eat apples?

Crown of Hearts Flexi-Clip

It's been a while since I have blogged and that means it's been a while since I have posted pictures. I wanted to share Joanna showing off her Lilla Rose Crown of Hearts Flexi-Clip. She loves this clip and it looks very cute in her hair. She likes it when I do a braid/ponytail and add the clip to the ponytail. Hear she is showing it off by saying "See". 

Below is a picture of what the braid/ponytail looks like. One of our favorite ways to fix her hair. 

This is a cute Flexi-Clip for little girls, matter of fact I ordered two of them and gave them as gifts. I want to encourage you to head over to my web page at www.lillarose.biz/cantinacamp and check out this clip. It will be retiring soon, don't miss out on this one! It would make a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. Of coarse there are other hair accessories you might want to check out while you're there.