About Gifts…

1.  Three Gifts. 

It was one of those moments when I thought, “How in the world have I never heard of this before?” It seemed like once my friend Mitsy told me about it, I discovered tons of families were already doing this. Still, just in case you, like me, have never heard of this tradition, I’ll pass it along. It has really helped our family keep reasonable expectations for gifts, restrain the spending, and streamline my thinking for what to get whom.

Basically the tradition is that each child receives three gifts for Christmas in remembrance of the three gifts the magi gave to Jesus. We don’t do a lot of detailed symbolism with it like some of our friends do. In fact, we kind of stretch this by giving p.j.’s and slippers on Christmas Eve. And then giving a couple of family gifts, like board games, puzzles, or something like zoo passes. And there is the stocking stuffers.

2. A memory instead of a toy.

So it may not have the WOW factor unwrapping a toy does, but still, for longevity and family-building, giving an event/memory is totally worth it. Maybe it is a membership to the aquarium, science center, or children’s museum (or even just a one time pass). Maybe tickets to zoo-lights, day trip to Ohio , a kids cooking class, pottery painting. I would love to hear more ideas for making memories in lieu of giving toys.

3. Sibling Stocking Stuffers.

This is another idea I got from a friend. We have the kids draw names for each other. They aren’t allowed to tell whose name they chose (and they do really well keeping the secret). We then take them, in shifts, to the Dollar Store with five dollars each. It is so fun to watch them choose gifts for their brother or sister. They LOVE this — especially giving the gifts on Christmas morning. This is really fun and one of the highlights on Christmas morning (we do it last).

Do you have any fun ideas/traditions regarding gift giving? Please let us know in the comment box. or better yet, write a post on your blog and I’ll post the link here.

Gift Ideas for the Holidays

It’s coming.

You know it because the day after halloween our Wal Mart Supercenter had the floor to ceiling tree hung and decorated.

You know it because everyday a new covet-R-us catalog comes in the mail – and the toy magazines come as well.

You know it because the frugal girls are blogging all about how to afford the holidays with various clever home made gifts, while the simple living girls are blogging about how to plan far enough in advance to avoid stress and last minute spending.

You know it because there are various rehearsals at church for cantatas, pageants, and other special Christmas services.

It is coming, and I love it!

I can’t wait to put on the Christmas Carols. I can’t wait to deck my halls. I can’t wait to bake cookies and side dishes and desserts that will accompany our traditional holiday feasts. I can’t wait to be with my family and my extended family opening presents, singing carols, and playing games til the wee hours. And most of all, I can’t wait to have my mind blown once again as I spend a season pondering the fact that the Creator of the Universe, the Prince of Glory, came to earth in the form of a helpless baby born in a manger in Bethlehem. I love Christmas! I’m so glad it’s coming soon.

Keeping in mind my simple-living friend’s counsel, I want to get a head start this year on the Christmas shopping. Yes, for some of us November would be an early start. I just thought I’d throw out the question:

What are some of your favorite, stand the test of time Christmas gifts for children?

My kids are 11, 11, 10 – boys  and 7 – girl. I’d love to hear your suggestions for gifts for these ages. I would love to hear in the categories of books, board games, and brain building things.

If you’re interested, here is a small sampling of our tried and true gifts from over the years:

pajamas, slippers, robe (we give this on Christmas Eve every year so they can wake up in their new duds for Christmas pictures – we don’t get a robe every year, it just depends on if last year’s still fits. My kids wear their robes every morning. It’s funny to me that they love them so much, but they do.).

Nerf guns (we get one for each boy and for daddy because he loves to chase them around the house shooting at them. over the years we have collected a complete arsenal so when other boys come over to play, they have plenty of guns to go around. I try to stock up on bullets a couple of times a year.)

legos (this is something we play with every single day of our lives – for our family it has been completely worth the money. We started with the Duplos, but moved on to Legos early on because the Duplos can be frustrating due to falling apart easily. We still keep duplos for making weapons and large robots . )

Thomas trains (this was also a daily until the boys were about 7 or 8. One of my boys had a train in each hand everyday all day for a couple of years of his life. they still pull out the tracks once in a while to make a new train…totally worth the money and I recommend getting the real stuff, not the cheap kind. I don’t know if they resolved the led paint issue – does anybody know?)

Hidden Pictures books from Highlights. We used to order Highlights for them, but honestly, they mostly loved the hidden pictures so we get a collection of them each year. We like I Spy books too, but we borrow them from the library so it’s not such a novelty to get them.

Action Figures for the boys. It can be super heroes, star wars guys, g.i. joes, any action figure that fits in your hand (4-6 inches tall) and it gets well used in this house. The accessories like space ships, jeeps, other devices really don’t get the longevity that the actual guy gets.

Stuffed animals for Maggie. This girl would prefer a stuffed animal anyday to a doll.

army men. The super cheapy kind you get at the dollar store will work. we have a ton of them and they get pretty consistent play action. The boys set up vignettes with old fashioned wood blocks as barricades and such.

paper, scissors, tape, markers, stickers, pipe cleaners. This is what Maggie plays with every day. Give a kid a whole thing of tape all to themselves, and they think they hit the jackpot. This year I’m going to put together a crafting kit in a tackle box. I think the idea came from simple mom, but I’m not sure. It seems like a good way to store all of her crafting stuff. If you  haven’t before, try the pipe cleaners. My kids play with these for hours sometimes. Who knew?!

Your turn! Please!!!! Leave some ideas for gifts that you believe will really get played with for the long haul. It doesn’t matter what age group because we can all help each other. I can’t wait to hear from you ladies.

Jazzercise for Jesus

My name is Laurie Reyes, and I jazzercise. Did you even know it existed anymore? Well it does in Wadsworth, OH . If I begin donning shiny spandex unitard, leg warmers, and coordinating head and wristbands, somebody please do an intervention.

So it all started when my dear, sweet husband surprised me with a one month membership to the Fit Zone which is just one mile down the road. I haven’t had much success with self-motivated, independent exercise here. I love aerobics classes – spinning, kick boxing, step, you name it. I work harder and enjoy the camaraderie with the regulars that show up. So when I saw the Jazzercise class chock full of ladies of various ages, shapes and sizes, I just had to give it a whirl – and a grape vine with jazz hands.

I am here to say that this is not your grandma’s jazzercise. I got a great workout and I had a great time learning new moves ( I love calling them moves – just shows how cool I am). And I’m sure the ladies around me had a great time watching me learn my moves. Seriously, I look ridiculous, but hey, I am determined to chasse like the best of ‘em. I’m gonna get that around-the-barrel thing if it kills me!!!

If you were skimming over my blathering on about my adventures in jazzercise just now, please pay attention to this part. It’s important and I need your prayers! I have had an opportunity to meet some ladies from my neighborhood through jazzercise. I believe I am there to get fit, but also to reach out to others with the gospel. Please pray for opportunities to share with others the hope that I have in Christ Jesus.

Halley and Megan’s Birthday Cake

Here is the cake I made for the Allison twins. These dear girls are 23 years old and are bright and bubbly just like the cake .

Sobbing Mess

That’s what I am after watching this video.

My old church has a new name, and part of the celebration was the cardboard testimonies of people whom I know and love dearly. They point most powerfully to the sovereign grace of our merciful Father demonstrated in the lives of ordinary people. Indeed, Sovereign Grace Church is aptly named.