christmas decorating

we broke the rules this year and did our christmas decorating the weekend before thanksgiving. i was scheduled to work thanksgiving night so we figured we would do it early when mama was not exhausted from working. it was so fun to decorate this year! kya always has loved it, but i was so cute to see kinley really get into it this year! the girls were so fun helping get everything up. we always kind of go overboard decorating, but we LOVE it! we got kinley a tree for her room too this year, both girls LOVE having decorations in their room. this is really my favorite time of year when we can sit at night with the lights on, christmas music going and spend time together as a family.one of our favorite traditions is sitting around the christmas tree before bedtime and reading christmas stories. here are some pictures from our day decorating together :)

so fun to decorate as a family! we all equally enjoy it!

family room

tree in kitchen

dining room tree and christmas village from mark's mom. it means SOOO much to mark to have this as it is such a great memory that he and his mom had putting it up together every year! we have the rest of the village in our bedroom on our dresser. i still need to take a picture of it :)

dining room decorations

loft playroom tree :)

sitting and reading books by the tree :)

pure joy!

i love how excited kids get over the simple joys of life!

1st snow!

we finally got out first snow. they girls were so excited to go play out in it! it was so fun to watch the girls build a snowman together!

family time at the zoo

i love days like these when it beautiful outsideand i get to spend time with my family!

a servant spirit

"a true servant of God must be willing t0 surrender to God's plan completely. Godly servant hood means laying aside our desires in full pursuit of His."

being a servant to God was the topic we talked about in bible study today. we learned about samuel how he was a servant and was submissive to what God called of him.

i was convicted to take some time to let that sit...am i a true servant..do i submit?

sadly i came up with the answer that i do....on my OWN terms. i give my time, my energy, my heart...but only to the things I want to. all to often the things God calls me to submit to are on the bottom of my "to do" list.

"He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him" john 13:5

i am really going to work on this and to remove my hindrances and take up my "towel". to truly have a servants heart that has no "conditions".

Being a servant is not about your talk it is about your walk.

aladdin

we went and saw Aladdin with 3 of kya's cute friends and their sweet mama's. we had such a great time having a girls night out!

lady a

we had a much needed night out with a bunch of fun people. we rented a limo and went and saw lady a! it was so fun to get out with friends and family and just have a great time!