Friday Favorites: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hi friends!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Wow. I had intentions of getting up several blog posts this week...but um yeah. that didn't happen. HA! It's been a FULL, FUN week of Christmas EVERYTHING for my kiddos- so pretty much everything else has had to be put on the back burner. 

I HAVE cooked dinner every night this week...which to me feels like I am MAJORLY winning at life. So there's that. HA! Don't ask to see the state of my laundry though. It is NOT a pretty situation currently.

Anyway...it's Friday and the kids get out at noon and then we are OFFICIALLY on Christmas Break!!! I am SO excited and I know they are too. I am ready for some lazy mornings and the freedom to just come and go as we please. 

Not having to make lunches and rush out the door by 7:30 am is the best Christmas present I could receive. HA!

Since it's Friday...here's some fun FAVORITES I wanted to share with you!!

//ONE//

This Christmas, I have been more focused on staying within our budget and not just buying STUFF to buy it. This is VERY different than many previous years :)

I mean- there is SO much cute Christmas stuff out there. The crafts! The coloring books! ITS.ALL.SO.CUTE!

But- wow. it adds up- not just on my credit card bill...but in my cabinets and drawers too! HA!

And I can't stand clutter! So- I have tried to do more "free" things this season. A fun thing we've been doing is utilizing the hundreds upon hundreds of FREE worksheets and coloring sheets and activity pages available on the internet. The girls LOVE when I print them off a coloring page or activity sheet- and because of the kindness of the people who created them- they don't cost a thing! I thought this Elf activity page was especially cute! You can find it HERE along with TONS of other free printables!

//TWO//

Aaron and I were WAY more social than we normally are and attended two Christmas parties last weekend! One was at our church and the other one was his office party. It was SO fun to get dressed up and hang out with Aaron and all the people he works with everyday. It's kind of crazy...because he spends more time at work than he does at home...so it's always nice to get the opportunity to spend some time with his "other" family. HA!

//THREE//

The pace of our life is pretty much GO, GO, GO...so lately, more than usual, all I have wanted to do is just SIT and BE WITH MY KIDS.

A couple nights ago, the girls and I snuggled up in our reading area and read a few Christmas books and it was heaven. I love them so much!! A lot of our time is spent going here and there...so to just have them snuggled up on me was the BEST. 

//FOUR//

I consider every single one of you a friend...so I thought it was only fitting to share our Christmas card with you!!

I shared earlier in the month, I used Simply To Impress this year for our Christmas cards and I am SO happy with how they came out!

And here's the back of our card....

//FIVE//

And finally- here's what I want to leave you with today, as we enter into the next few days of celebrating Christmas:

"What it comes down to is this: True joy is not found in anything of the earth. No money, no connections, no power, no pleasure, no position, no worldly sense of freedom can take the place of the happiness of knowing God." Claire Dwyer

 “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Wishing you all the most beautiful days with your loved ones as you celebrate Christmas. My hope is that no matter where you are this holiday season, you have a peace and joy in your heart, that can only come from knowing God's unending love for you.

Merriest Christmas to you!!!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

My plan is to take a little holiday break from the blog as well as from Instagram. I want to detach and be fully present with my family as well accomplish some things that I would love to have done before the New Year arrives!!

I will be back the first week of January! Until then, sending all of my love and wishing you a beautiful CHRISTmas!

Linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci!

Linking up with Tif, Becky, Della, Whitney and Katie too!