How to Keep Christ in Christmas (for Kids)

I wrote a post similar to this last year but I thought it needed to be re-vamped and discussed in greater detail! So here are my 10 ways to Keep Christ in Christmas (at your house) For Kids!

 I hope this helps those of you who are often battling with the excitement of Santa Claus but wanting to teach the true meaning of Christmas and Christ's coming!

1. Teach kids about the real St. Nicholas by celebrating St. Nicholas day in early December. This year St. Nicholas day was held on December 6. You can start by telling your children about St. Nicholas, the man who enjoyed helping others. On December 5th, have children put a shoe or hang their Christmas stocking outside their bedroom door. They can also leave a carrot or apple for his horse and a cookie for St. Nick. After the children are asleep, you can put a small simple gift in their shoe or stocking for them to receive on St. Nick’s day. Keep the gift small and simple. 

For more history and ideas on St. Nicholas day you can click here.  

For prayers to St. Nicholas, click here. 

There are also some great kids movies about St. Nicholas called: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. There are two versions… 1985 excerpt & 2000 excerpt. 

2. Make 25 ornaments with different names of Jesus. Have your child hang one each day in the month of December leading up to Christmas!This is a wonderful idea. You can make some like in the picture or check out some printables and a tutorial here.

3. Visit a live Nativity scene. Many churches will host these and some even allow the kids to pet the animals, which can be fun for the little ones. Just google “live nativity scene in (your city)” and I’m sure you’ll find one. 

 4. Have a Birthday party for Jesus! Make a cake with the kids! And save a place for Jesus at the dinner table. At this party, you could even... Read the Birth Story of Jesus from the bible (Luke Chapters 1 & 2).

5. Send your kids a letter from Santa about the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus' birth. This is a really neat tradition. I don't know if it is something you should do every year but it would be cool for trying to incorporate Santa and Jesus. Here is a great free printable example of what I'm talking about! 

6. Watch some Holiday movies about Christ & Listen to Christmas songs about Christ. This one is pretty simple. Even though, there are plenty of Santa Clause movies, there are a few holiday movies that include the story of Jesus. Here are some I recommend: A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Small One, Veggie Tales Christmas Collection, The Prince of Peace and The Nativity Story. The Nativity Story actually is not a cartoon. It came out in 2006 and is pretty good. I believe adults would like it and it's rated PG so it's okay for kids too.
Christmas songs about Christ are always my favorite. We own the WOW Christmas CD which can be picked up at any Christian Books Store! Love Love Love it. But here are a list of a few that I love: O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel, What Child is This, Silent Night, O Come O Come Emmanuel, Mary Did you Know, O Come All Ye Faithful... and many more!

7. Decorate with religious decorations! My little man is still a baby but I do have some nephews and a niece. My brother's sons are 4 and 6 and they love to ask questions! Decorating with religious decorations will definitely spark interest in kids and open the conversation to talk about the true meaning of Christmas! We always have a Nativity scene set up and some religious ornaments as well! I would like to start incorporating an advent wreath too. Each week you light a candle to prepare for Christ's coming, which is practiced in the Catholic church! Another cool tradition that I just recently heard of is the Jesse tree!

8. On Christmas morning, Hide the baby Jesus from your Nativity set and wrap him. Let him be the first gift unwrapped on Christmas morning! I've heard a few variations of this one. You could also hide him and the first kid who finds him, gets a small special gift! I like him being the first gift unwrapped though. It makes it extra special that Jesus has arrived on Christmas morning! He is what Christmas is all about so it seems extra special that he is the first gift unwrapped.

9. After unwrapping gifts, have your kids donate 3 of their old toys to a homeless shelter/toy drive, or Do some act of charity. There are so many ideas out there but to keep Christ in Christmas, I believe it is important to teach your children that Christmas is not just about receiving but also about giving. I've heard of some children giving three of their old toys to a toy drive, children's home or homeless shelter. After all, they did receive new toys at Christmas and this keeps them giving to others and involved in the Christmas spirit.
There are other acts of charity that can be done too.. such as visiting a nursing home, children's hospital, or helping out at a soup kitchen! Plenty of charity to be performed on the holidays! I hope we can incorporate this in my house in the future!

10. Attend a Church Service together as a Family. Growing up, my family always went to Catholic mass as a family on Christmas and we still do this to this day. It instilled in me the importance of Christmas and Christ's coming. If you are Christian and believe/celebrate this special holiday, than going to a church service together is a great idea!

These are just a few of my ideas on how you can incorporate Christ in your child's Christmas celebration and festivities! I'm going to try to work on a way for adults to include Christ in their Christmas festivities in a special way too! Coming soon! I'd love to hear if you have other ideas that I didn't mention!
What the special way that you keep Christ in Christmas, if you do so?

2 months.

I just can't take the cuteness. How do u do it? I just can't take the cuteness of my own child. This may sound stuck up because everybody knows that you always think your child is the cutest. It's human nature because he or she is a part of you. If you have children, you know what I mean. Even when they frustrate you by being fussy, being smart mouth or whatever, it's like an ache inside your heart that you still love them so much. Not that my child has been a smart mouth... but I know I have been to my mom and now I finally get it. I wish I could have explained that more eloquently.

I haven't even been able to get on the computer lately to blog, check email or anything because I feel the need to hold the little man, watch him as he sleeps, catch up on my own sleep, clean, do laundry or just entertain him plain and simple. 

Here are some instagrams lately. I'm asking Santa for a new camera for a Christmas!

He's only been here 2 months and has stolen pieces of my heart. He's a big boy! Already 15 lbs and I could just eat his chubby lil legs! His smiles drive me wild as I dance about the house being as goofy as can be to get some constant smile action. He does have a few fussy moments here and there but they are very few. Most of all he's just a happy and content lil guy. His favorite thing this month is sitting up. Even thought he can't sit up on his own yet, he loves when u hold him like he is sitting up! He'll look around the room and make the cutest little face. He also enjoys talking... Not that he can talk but he makes noises and its fun to pretend we are having a conversation. It's funny because sometimes it will almost sound like he understood...and who knows, maybe he does.

I was talking with my friend Victoria the other day, who now has 2 little ones. She mentioned how when she had her first little one, she looked at parents of multiples like they were rock stars. I am totally there. I try to give Noland Jr. my complete attention and can't imagine having a second little one running around. I know there will come a day and time when it happens, and I'll just figure it out like everyone does. For now, I'll enjoy my naps with baby boy soaking in every ounce of his smell, smiles, chubby legs and coos.

Being a mom is definitely one of the best things I've ever done. And my husband is the best dad! When I'm not patient or at my best, he is. And that's what it's all about. We're a team that works together. It's been a pretty great 2 months as we try to cherish every moment because 3 months will be here before we know it! 

If you are still looking for a Christmas gift for that special someone, check out my Datevitation review and giveaway going on here.

Datevitation & Giveaway

Do you like to go on dates with your significant other or maybe even a best girl friend? Well, you've got to check out Datevitation! Noland & I love taking that special time to spend together randomly and it's become extra precious now that we have a little one. Most of the time one of us is carrying him as he sleeps but we still get that special quality time.

I read a quote recently that said "Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." It's so important to keep the flame alive in a relationship. So many couples lose that "love and feeling" (Sorry about the Top Gun quote) early on and never get it back. Marriage & relationships are something you have to work at...and it can be as simple as going on regular dates! Helps keep life new and exciting!

I was recently contacted by Datevitation to sample their product. Datevitation.comis the web's first online platform to create a custom love coupon book. Unlike the pre-packaged love coupon books on the market, you pick the dates and can customize the text. Once you are done customizing the text in your book, Datevitation will print it out and ship it to you in a ready-to-gift box. This is the perfect Christmas or Anniversary gift for your significant other. And it's fun because get to pick from over 200 date options on the  Datevitation.com and personalize it for your hot honey ;)

Books start at just $20 so it makes for a thoughtful yet economicalgift. You can use the code ‘SPICY’ for $5 off your purchase this month. 

The order cut-off date for guaranteed delivery by Christmas is Dec 15.

There are over 200 fun date ideas to choose from! So you can personalize it any way you want! I'm telling you, this is such a great gift for that special someone if you are struggling on finding the right thing.

The founders (Alex & Olga) of Datevitation are so cute too! 

Just for fun, check out how Alex proposed to Olga here: 

My datevitation is currently still in the mail because I was a slacker and just ordered it but I wanted you all to be able to have this giveaway now so that you could place your order by December 15 and receive it by Christmas. I created my own Datevitation for my husband on this site and it was really easy to use and had awesome date options that really fit our personalities and things we like to do. I can't wait to receive it and give it to him! I'll share some pictures when I give it to him! :)

All this information posted is my own thoughts & personal opinion. 

Today I'm giving away 1 Datevitation book with up to 5 custom date pages! Check it out and Enter now!

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Personalize your Wrapped Presents!

I know it's crazy. It's only December 7 and I already have started wrapping presents but Noland's family is visiting this weekend so we will be giving them their gifts. One of my friends asked to share how I did it when I shared a photo on instagram.. so here's what they look like and the "how to".

How to: 

Wrap your present and place it aside. Open Microsoft Word and type the person's name that you are gifting in the font that you would to use. Square fonts are easier to use. You can download cool fonts at dafont.com. Then print what you have.

Then cut the letters into individual squares. Cut out a piece of  wrapping paper.

Then place the printed letter in front of the wrapping paper and cut along the outline of the letter.

When you have all your letters cut out, place them on top of the wrapped package to decide where you want to place them.

Now take your photo strips and place them on the back and use them as adhesive to stick them to the package. Then add your twine and tie in a simple bow. Then you are all done!

That's all there is. Easy Peezy.

Good luck wrapping your presents and let me know if you use this technique! :)

Posts of Christmas Past

Last year I wrote some great posts about Christmas. In the past year, the blog has probably doubled the readers that were reading at this time last year so I thought I'd do a little review so you could check out the old posts that interest you. And there is one post that I will be completely re-vamping.

You can read about these amazing cookies here.

Posted on 12/1/11.

You can read about our visit to 

Robert's Christmas Wonderland here.

Posted on 12/3/11.

 Check out  the tradition of Elf on the Shelf here. I can't wait til Baby No-No is big enough to start this!
Posted on 12/6/11.

Check out My No Bake Cookie Recipe here. I failed to make them properly but maybe you are up for the challenge!
Posted on 12/13/11.

Check out The Christmas Quiz here.
Posted on 12/14/11.

You can read about our visit down Christmas Lane here.

Posted on 12/17/11.

I hope you check out and enjoy some Posts of Christmas Past! That's all for today!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I'm back & ready to attempt to post every other day or so. Some minor changes will still be made to the blog in the next few weeks such as adding networking info (twitter, fb). You can navigate through the blog a lot easier using the navigational bar at the top of the page. Having a little guy is busy and making it a lot harder to post consistently but most of all, it's that I just want to enjoy every little moment with him.. but I'll share more on that later!

(These pictures are low quality due to being taken on my phone. So Sorry.)

 Well, I don't know about your family but Noland & I started playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. We put up our tree, stockings and all the magic. We could have waited a little while but he had off the whole week of Thanksgiving and it was just easier to go ahead and start the decorating! As a Catholic, I don't consider it to be Christmas just yet though. It's what we call Advent... preparation for Christ's coming at birth. No worries, Christmas will soon arrive and Catholics don't take all their decorations down the day after Christmas because Christmas is such an important holiday in the eyes of the church, it should be celebrated at least 12 days ending on January 6. The Epiphany! So growing up, we usually kept our decorations up until them and we probably will this year too.

 One of our favorite places is to visit the Christmas store... we bought 2 ornaments this year and plan on buying one every year to add a little here and there to our tree. I can't wait til the little man is older so he can enjoy it more! They had all these fun colored trees there too, which I felt the need to take a picture of. 

Noland picked out this adorable little outfit for baby at Target! Don't you just want to pinch his little cheeks?

 Also, here is a shot of our tree. Usually a shelf goes their with a cross over it.. and I didn't take the cross off the wall because I just like it. And we got our 1970 blinds on the left, gotta love 'em.

 The best part of putting up Christmas decor, is that baby boy absolutely loves staring at the tree. He will get fussy sometimes so I just place him on the floor or in his papasan and he will stare at the tree like it is magical. Now that we have the little guy, I feel like Christmas is going to be so exciting again. The mystery of Santa, the magic of all the holiday lights & music, and the birth of our Lord and Savior. It's all so wonderful.

This really is the most wonderful time of the year. People are so much more friendly in the giving season. I love shopping for others and being creative. I love the music and the smiles on children's faces. I love the decorations! And we live in the south, so the weather is pretty perfect too.. not too hot, not too cold. 

What's your favorite thing about the holidays?

Blog Redo

Forgive the mess on the blog in the next couple days.. I'm re-vamping.. :)

I'll be back with more baby updates, life, giveaways and just plain ole ramblings soon!

30 Days of Thanks {LINK UP}

November: the one month a year we take the time to share what we are thankful for! I started this link up because I've seen a few people take part in "30 Days of Thanks"... Each day, they share one thing that they are thankful for via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter...etc. I thought it would be cool if we could all get together and write one blog post on our blogs to share our own 30 days of thanks!

So here 30 items that I am thankful for... 

{LINK UP yours @ the bottom}

1. My Catholic faith in a Loving & forgiving God

2. A kind-hearted husband who is not only my husband but my best friend!

3. our Sweet Baby Boy

4. Family: both mine (some pictured) and husband's side (not pictured)

5. Good Girl Friends: who always got my back!

6. Health

7. To live in the Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave. Good ole' U.S. of A.

8. Weekends. At least we have 2 days to share with loved ones every week.

9. Reflection time.To think of all the things you are thankful for...

10. Television

11. Blogging & all the wonderful blogger friends I have met through the blogging community. 

(Sponsor Love.. Check out the sidebar!)

12. Pacifiers. Nuk. He loves them.

13. A great childhood and wonderful high school years. Ahh.. Memories

14. Sleep. Sometimes it just feels good to sleep.

15. Sweets, Sugar, Chocolate, Ice Cream, Cakes, Cupcakes. Yes.

16. Education

17. the beauty in every day life... sunsets, beaches, babies...

18. A shelter and food to eat.

19. Comfy clothing: There is nothing more comfortable than a pair of sweat pants, t-shirt and slippers

20. Photography & the ability to capture memories.

21. the gift of LIFE because after all it is wonderful and tomorrow is never promised.

22. Transportation. When your car stops working, you'll remember to be thankful for transportation too.. Been there.

23. Telephone. No matter where I am in the world, I can always pick up the phone and talk to the loving voice of a friend or family member.

24. Hot baths. So relaxing.

25. Holidays. I always loved that song "It's the most wonderful time of the year"... because it really is the "happiest season of all"!

26. Our service men and women. The military. They keep us safe!

27. Air Conditioning...and heat. but I live in Florida so mostly, Air Conditioning!

28. Chapstick. Carmex. Blistex. Couldn't live without them!

29. Disney.

30. Flip Flops.

Happy Thanks! 

Now it's your turn! What are you thankful for?

This party will be open until November 30 at midnight!

Not Mandatory but Please:
1.  Follow these party hosts: It's just called Spicy, Catholic Newlywed & Beyond, Call Her Happy, Sunshine & Grey, Eat. Enjoy, Live
2. Comment on at least 3 other posts that have linked up!
3. Spread the news about the party via Facebook, Twitter, or sharing the button on your page somewhere:
 

<a href="http://www.thislittlelightblog.com/search/label/30%20days%20of%20thanks" title="30days thanks-200pix by spicy123111, on Flickr"><img src="http://www.thislittlelightblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/8177272447_3841761be9_m.jpg" width="220" height="225" alt="30days thanks-200pix" /></a>

30 days of Thanks {Link Up Coming Soon}

I love the month of November and the fact that we are able to spend a whole month thinking about what we are thankful for. I know a lot of folks on instagram and facebook are posting one thing they are thankful for each day. While I know that is a great way to spend the month remembering to be thankful each and every day, I would totally forget to post every day. I had an idea this week and thought I'd share it.

This Wednesday, I'd like to start a "30 days of Thanks" Link Up Party! I will post my list of 30 things I am thankful for and I'd love you to post yours too to your blog, then link up!!! The link up party is going to run for the rest of November. Be sure to come by, link up, and comment on at least 3 few others posts who have linked up. I'm lucky to have a few other bloggers who will be co-hosting this sweet thankful link up... that will also be sharing this same massive link up on their blogs on Wednesday Nov. 14, 2012! I love seeing what others are thankful for too because sometimes it makes me realize that I'm thankful for that too or it is just fun to get to know each other better. 

So excited to make new friends and learn more about each of you!

To promote, you can grab the button in the side bar (on the top right)! And spread the news! See ya Wednesday! 

The more the merrier.

So excited about this! & Looking forward to Wednesday!

Free Red Box Code Giveaway

Have you checked out some of the movie reviews I've posted? 

I was trying for awhile to post a regular movie review on Mondays... calling it movie Monday... 

I haven't been much of the movie go-er lately due to the new arrival of our little man.

We are quite fond of the Red Box due to the convenience and low price to rent a movie. Only $1.00

They have a great selection of movies that you can check out here!

Some of my favorites out right now are The Amazing Spiderman, The Avengers, and Madagascar 3. I've also written reviews on these movies, click them to read my reviews!

Today, Red box is giving away 25 FREE Red Box codes to 25 different people. You can enter up to the 25 times using the Rafflecopter and come back every day to re-tweet and get another 5 entries! You can also win more than once! Giveaway will run until 12:01am on November 18, 2012. 

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Insta-Baby Lately

Well, this past Tuesday was 5 weeks of sweet snuggles, kisses, and smiles with our sweet baby boy! I've been absent from the blog but with good measure. I'm starting to get the hang of things and I'd say we have somewhat of a schedule going for us. Today, I decided to share some baby instagrams of late.

 If you've been wondering what I've been up to well, I just can't get enough of this little man. When he sleeps, I sometimes just like to stare at him because he's so handsome. He's like a part of me and a part of my husband. I stare at him and see both of us. 

Every day when Noland comes home from work, he holds him for an hour or longer because he hasn't seen him all day and I throw something together for dinner. The two of us are just so in love with this little fellow. Just when you think you can't love anymore, your heart grows three sizes and makes more room to love.

I always think it is funny when people ask who a baby looks like because other than particular features, you can never tell at 0-5 weeks old... or at least I can't. Our little man just looks like both of us. Sometime I look at him and think, "that is totally a Noland face" and other times I think, "he looks just like me." Today, I think his eyes are shaped like mine but he has Noland's eyes. My baby pictures look like him minus a few features. It's just so exciting every day to watch him as he grows. He's already bigger.

 His most recent appointment was on Monday. 

He is 12.44 lbs and 23.75 inches long at 5 weeks old. Crazy, huh?! He's a big boy! 

He loves eating, playing in his play gym, swinging in the swing, riding in the car, his pacifier, being held, waking up when he is put down, staring at mom and dad, when we hold him like he is sitting up, rocking in our rocking recliner, tummy time (he can already hold his head up and almost roll over). 

He likes to play the game where his pacifier falls out of his mouth and then he makes a little fussy noise until you put it back in. Sometimes he'll be laying in his little bouncer and it will fall on shoulder, he will make a fussy noise and try to move his shoulder to maneuver it back into his mouth. He has been unsuccessful so far but it sure is fun to watch for a second as I reach to put it back in his mouth. 

He is just so fun and we are so excited and blessed to have him in our lives! I wake up with him in the middle of the night to feed him during the week because the hubs has to wake up early for work and I'm able to nap while he naps during the day. It's actually not too bad. He probably wake up twice a night around 1-2am and 4-5am. I say that now and tonight he will probably wake up like 17 times... haha. No, but he has been a really amazing baby, such a little angel.

Alright folks, well that's all for today. Stay tuned: in the next day or 2, I'm going to be giving away 25 FREE Red Box codes to 25 different people! And more fun posts coming soon! (still waiting on newborn pictures but hopefully I'll have those soon too!)