Random holiday stuff

Whew! Time flies when you're busy, doesn't it? I just finished sending out 30+ Christmas cards. And let me tell you. I wish I would've had this tip beforehand. On Becky Higgins' blog, she said her husband sealed their envelopes by using a wet foam craft brush. What a great idea!

I also just finished wrapping and bagging 5 teacher and 2 therapist gifts. I would like to think I know what teachers like, since I taught for 8 + years. And I would like to think I know what they don't like. If I were still in the classroom, I would not want a hundred more "apple" themed gifts. Those are great for first year teachers, but after that, it gets kind of old...unless it's something really unique and cool. This year, I went simple, since I had so many gifts to get. For my kids' teachers, I got cool Christmas socks, a cool, red jingle bell ornament from Hallmark and some M&M's (repackaged). The M&M idea and the tags I used with it came from Stacy Julian's blog and Big Picture Scrapbooking. Aren't they the cutest things?

On Sunday, we went to the mall. Believe it or not, we go there only once or twice per year. It's just not our thing! But while there, Matthew enjoyed the Christmas decorations and seeing Santa. See his village... Merry Stuff, huh?

After the mall, we went to the Jackson Christmas parade. It was definitely parade weather...cloudy and cold! (You'd never know it now. The highs have been in the upper 70's this week here...Yikes!) Here are some highlights from the parade.

Below is the middle school band. The director told Jonathan as he passed, "You'll be here next year."

I loved this Subway entry. They had "elves" passing out coupons for free yummy Subway cookies and tossing plastic Subway water bottles to the crowd.

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And below is ole Santa himself atop one of the fire engines! Ho! Ho! Ho!

And here's the real reason my kids love to go to this parade every year. Look at the amount of candy...and that was just HALF! One lady tossed this cute Santa doll (above) to Matthew.

In the midst of all of this holiday hustle and bustle, let's remember why we celebrate Christmas. The photo below was taken at an event called "Return to Bethlehem" put on by Grace United Methodist Church in North Augusta, SC. It's a great way to "show" your kids the story.

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23