Mustard Seeds, Feathers and Sailor Mouths...you know...Christmas...Duh.

Many of us are familiar with the parable of the mustard seed found in the New Testament gospels.  We have been studying the gospel of Mark in Sunday School and I noted a few weeks back that I always think of our children when I hear this parable.  I think of planting these tiny seeds of faith, kindness, and love and praying that one day the seed will grow into something greater than any of us can imagine. 

I didn’t realize how quickly I would see this parable smack me upside the noggin.  It was only but a week later when my nine year old daughter, Natalie said, “Hey mom, listen to this.”  She began to read me the following paper that she had written for a contest at school.

Christmas

By Natalie Griffith

Christmas is not about getting new toys or getting gifts.  It’s about giving and Jesus’s birth.  Yes, you might get toys and other things and that’s fun, but that’s not as important as giving and Jesus’s birth. 

Jesus loves you.  Not everybody goes to church and not everybody loves him.  It’s sad how many people don’t love Him.  He came to earth and then he died for you. 

I go to church and I will always love Him more than anything in the whole world.  Nobody will ever come between me and Jesus.  Some people would do it in a heartbeat, but I don’t know why you would not love Him.  He died for you!

On Christmas when you are opening your presents, don’t forget to think about Jesus’s birthday.  You like your birthday celebration on your birthday.  Don’t you think Jesus likes his birthday celebration?  He will love you no matter what.  He wants you to love him, but he loves you even if you don’t.  Nothing will come between me and Jesus!

Did I mention she is 9?  Yeah. 

When she looked up from her paper, I’m pretty sure you could’ve knocked dear ole Mom over with a feather.  Sure, I take my kids to church.  We pray, we read our Bibles, we try to help others as much as we can.  But then there are times when we’re mean and ugly.  Mom and Dad argue, siblings argue, and we all are just looking out for Number One.  I have a mouth like a sailor when I choose to use it.  I’m not proud of that or the many less than ideal things I have done or said.  I’m just a poor sinner who has fallen off of more wagons than Carter has liver pills.  Aren’t we all though?  Haven’t we all?  “I won’t cuss today.”  (Then I drop a can of tomato sauce on my toe and scream things that would make an entire fleet of sailors get red in the face.)  “I won’t play with this fire or that fire.”  Then we do.  We are all human.  We try, we fail; we fail and we try.  And God loves us through it all, even when we say or do the most bone-headed things we can possibly think of. 

When Natalie read her words, I couldn’t believe what this little person had come to realize.  You can hear the revelations in her writing.  It’s as if everything she has been taught since she came into this world is finally coming together.  Each Sunday that I took her to church…each Sunday School teacher…each Children’s Church teacher…each grandparent, aunt, uncle, and friend—all had planted a tiny mustard seed in this child.  Natalie is going to fail a bazillion times over throughout her life.  She is going to do and say things that I don’t even want to think about.  She’s human.  But I know these seeds are in her heart.  Keep on planting, friends.  You never know what you say or do might take root in another human being.

Natalie Gray Griffith…you inspire me, kiddo.

“Train a child in the ways of the Lord and he will not depart.” ~Proverbs 22:6

Getting ready for Christmas...

My favorite part of Christmas is the ANTICIPATION! 

I knew I wanted to do a Family Advent Calendar to count down the days until Christmas,

but I didn't want it to be about candy or toys. 

I wanted it to be about time and memories. 

I found the idea for this advent calendar from my newest favorite blogspot,

Maple & Magnolia... http://www.mapleandmagnolia.com/ 

She's totally freaking FABULOUS!  Go check it out!

This calendar is from Pottery Barn (available last year.)
How cute, right?  It had a price tag of about $100.

Using that Pottery Barn calendar as inspiration, this calendar was made by Susan over at http://www.mapleandmagnolia.com.  It's so fabulous!  Mine is not NEARLY as fantabulous, but in my (very teensy-weensy) defense, I could not find that SUPER striped ticking

in my small-town fabric "department." 

I think that striped ticking makes Susan's calendar go from Advent to AdventASTIC!

I entertained the idea of doing an Advent Calendar with reds and patterns

like this one below from Kimberly Peterson's blog: http://kimberlypetersen.typepad.com/photos/things_i_made/advent.html

But I really think the cream and black just suits my decor better

and will be something I can customize throughout the years!

So here is what I came up with.  I used a little over 2 yards of canvas. 

I took Susan's advice over at Maple & Magnolia and traded in my needle and thread

for my weapon of choice--glue gun baby!

I cut my squares 6 1/2 inches square and I folded the tops down and glued to avoid fraying.  I used stamps and acrylic paint to stamp on the numbers. 
After that was done, I attached the pockets to the larger piece of canvas...and voila
errr...more like 4 or 5 hours of sitting on the hardwood floor with my aching joints later...
I was finished. 
I folded the top over to make a rod pocket and inserted a dowel rod.  
My plan was to use twine and hang on the wall, but I think I will leave it right where it is in between my tab top curtain panels in the (informal) dining area.

My FINISHED Advent Calendar stuffed with "goodies." :) 
I'm HAPPY with the end result!

My husband was awesome enough to have found these bad boys at Wallyworld today...
  
They are simply money holders and we got them in packs of 8 for 97 cents.  Not bad, huh?

I printed out 25 activities that we we would do as a family and I glued them inside of these cards like so...

And my personal favorite (can't wait til we get to put this one in action!)

While searching for Advent Calendar inspiration over at M & M, I found this totally awesome idea for a HOT BEVERAGE STATION!  Ingenious, right?  Check it out...

Yeah, so after seeing that, I knew I must do one of two things...

either move into Maple & Magnolia's fab farmhouse...

or make myself a hot beverage station...

So I showed up on the doorstep at M&M....

KIDDING! 

(Although the way my sweet children seem to have been posessed by somebody that rhymes with the Bevil tonight....that is starting to look like a viable alternative

Exhibit A

Yeah, I didn't like it either.

So I kept playing around until I decided on this one...

Ahhh....

Now THIS is the Griffith Family Way of Life :)

 

After I had a delish cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles,

it was time to make some ornaments.

So cute.  And So.Darn.Easy.

Found these little shells at the Dollar Store

and simply used my glue gun to attach jute twine to them for hanging. 

Easy.  Peasy.

These will make a LOVELY coastal addition to my tree this year :)

I have a few Thanksgiving tricks up my sleeve, so stay tuned :) 

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus...

"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" is one of my (newly) favorite Christmas songs.  I'm not sure if my kids (or my husband) even know this IS a Christmas song.  I've know this song for a very long time, but wouldn't have categorized it in the top 10 (or 20 or 30) list of my favorite Christmas carols until recently.
"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, born to set thy people free.  From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee."  Ok, so it's written in "Old English" but the message is still so very clear.
Click it on and listen to it...

It gives me chills.
I think that's the feeling we're SUPPOSED to get as Advent and Christmas approach.  I think we are supposed to feel the profound feeling of ANTICIPATION of the Christ Child!
I have had Christmases where I didn't put Christ at the center of Christmas.  I focused on gifts and hustle and bustle and cooking and baking and decorating...I forgot the real reason.  I didn't anticipate "Thou Long Expected Jesus" the way I should have.  I have let the days zoom by and I have felt downright depressed on December 25 after everything was over and done! 

Depressed?  Really?!  "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus..."  I am supposed to be CELEBRATING the anticipation of a baby who came to earth...not born in The Hilton, but born in the backwoods...in the ghetto...with the lowest of the low.  Why do you think that was?  You think God couldn't have made room at the inn if he would've wanted it that way?  One of the songs that the kids at church are singing in the Christmas Play is called "Part of the Plan."  It was all a part of the plan. 

Have you ever gone to dinner someplace super fancy?  I remember my dad coming home from a dinner at the Greenbrier one time--it was either a retirement dinner or a work-related dinner...something like that.  I remember us laughing as he described the food that was served..."and then there was something that looked like green beans, but there were only four of them."  Ha!  Sometimes "royalty" has a way of making us feel inadequate...not smart enough...not skilled enough...not good enough...unworthy.  Rarely have I ever thought I was lower than cow dung though :)   
Jesus was born next to cow dung.  I bet you never thought of it that way, huh? 
"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"...anticipation of what was to come...hope and excitement and eagerness.  I never remember seeing anything in the book of Luke about throwing elbows on Black Friday or anxiousness and stress over the the holiday season.

As Christmas fast approaches, don't forget to be in anticipation!  That's what makes this season so alive and full of wonderment!  I plan on doing plenty of decorating and baking (burning) cookies and making all kind of crafty goodness, but I will make sure it's all in anticipation of "Thou Long Expected Jesus."

'Twas the Week Before Thanksving...2006

What an incredibly fast year this has been!  I can remember as I child how my dad and my grandparents would tell me how the time went by so much faster as you got older.  Of course I thought they were full of baloney…once again, I realize how right they are.

In eleven short days, it will be Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is so very special to me.  Thanksgiving represents family and thankfulness and tradition—being an only child, I yearned for a Thanksgiving like many folks had—a table set for 20, an actual turkey instead of a just a small turkey breast for three, laughter and silliness, homemade placemats and maybe even Pilgrim and Indian hats. 

People wonder why I go nuts over all sorts of things—birthdays, holidays—you name it.  Well I guess it’s because I finally have a family which is larger than the average one.  I remember back several years…we had my husbands’ parents and his brother and sister-in-law and our nephews and we had my mom and step dad—my 1,000 sq. ft. house runneth over.  I sent out homemade invitations that included the following poem:

‘Twas the week before Thanksgiving

And all across the state

Were Kevin and Amanda saying

“Don’t be Late!”

The table will be set

Especially for you

In hopes that you will come

And join our zoo.

The children will be nestled

In front of the big screen

As Macy’s Thanksgiving Day

Parade is seen.

Perhaps to our wondering

Eyes will appear

One of the Griffiths

Dragging home an 8 point deer.

“Now Perry now Thelma

Now Barry and Mildred!”

On Roger on Angie!

Come and get fed!”

Down Route 18

Down I-64

Now dash away, dash away!

Right to our door!

So spring to your sleigh

Give your team a whistle

And put the pedal to the metal

And sore like a missle!

You will hear us exclaim

‘Ere you pull in the drive

“Happy turkey day to all

And to all a high-five!”

I went down to the church and borrowed a couple of banquet tables.  I put all of my living room furniture against the wall and we had a huge table down the center of my living room and dining room.  Hands-down it was, my favorite Thanksgiving to date.  I love having a houseful of people.  I love the stress and the chaos and all of the bad that goes with the absolute fantastic memories J

I have no idea what we will have in store this Thanksgiving.  I look forward to whatever memories we will make!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.~William Blake

I've always thought Will Smith was amazing...

I have thought Will Smith was a genius from the time I heard an interview with him when I was a kid.  Read this little excerpt about why he vowed not to use profane language in his music years ago.

http://www.wildwildwillsmith.com/bio.html

This video is amazing.  Take a look...

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Keep Hoppin'...

Today was the day we collected for our RAOK (Random Acts of Kindess) Day.  I have been promoting this to all of my 721 Facebook friends for a couple of weeks now.  I have asked for donations as simple as old newspapers or bottles of bleach or shampoo.  Natalie, her friend Eve, and I set up at the entrance of the church parking lot this evening at 6:50 and we waited...and waited...and waited...
The only donation we received was a couple of pairs of socks from our Pastor.  I was so disgusted.  I was so discouraged.  See...in my naivity, I had such high hopes for this for my daughter.  I really wanted her to leave the church knowing that a 9 year old girl really CAN make a difference in the world. 
At 7:54 pm, I told the girls it was time to go ahead and pack up.  We hadn't received any donations except for the socks and I was getting tired and still had to hit the grocery store for ice cream for the party tomorrow.  They were persistant, however.  They said they wanted to stay a little while longer.  A few minutes later, a member of our church stopped by and brought us a huge bag of newspapers to take to the shelter. 
Then...a few minutes later...a car pulled in.  It was a "beater" as my husband would call an older car with probably 200k miles on it.  The lady inside looked as if maybe she didn't have a lot.  She had a toddler strapped in a carseat in the back.  She asked the girls what they were doing.  They tried to explain to her and then I stepped in and started to explain, the whole time thinking to myself...this lady is probably thinking we're handing out stuff and wants in on it.  It was a terrible superficial judgement that I made.  We told her what all we were collecting and she sort of giggled and said, "Well I don't have any of that with me, but if I give you all a cash donation, you will get some of those things with it?"  I couldn't believe it.  There I was thinking that as soon as this young lady found out what we were doing that she would exit stage left pronto.  The kind lady then proceeded to tell us how much she loved animals and she knew the shelter helped so many animals and what a great organization SafeHome is.  She told us that she had to utilize SafeHome a while back, so it was very dear to her heart.  Then she unzipped her change purse and handed Natalie a $20 bill.  Tears welled up in my eyes and I knew this was all supposed to happen.  It never fails.  Every.single.time.  I was planning on getting bleach and laundry detergent and dog food.  That's all.  I wasn't expecting blessings. 
And we were blessed. 
After the lady left, Natalie said, "Mom, I wanted to cry when she was telling us that."  I smiled and said, "I did."  And so it begins...a spirit for giving; Seeing the circle of being in need and then getting back on your feet and giving back. 
A few minutes after that happened, JoAnn & Marty Forbes walked up with a bag of donations for SafeHomes and I remembered when Marty's mom, Pat "Punk" Kegley Tabor brought me a big food donation at the church when I was collecting food.  What a nice family reputation it is to have a reputation for giving. 
The United Methodist Men were meeting tonight at our church.  Our Pastor came outside right before we left and said to the girls, "Come in here and bring your fliers."  The girls did just that.  Our Pastor's husband, Pastor Jim had already heard about what Nat was doing so he quickly told the men that for her birthday, Natalie was giving to others and he challenged them to give to help the worthy causes.  When we left the church, Natalie had collected a bag of newspapers, 2 pairs of socks, a bag of donations for SafeHome and $96 in cash.  When we got back home, our neighbor threw in $4 to make it an even $100.  Natalie will split that and make a $50 monetary donation to the Humane Society and a $50 donation to SafeHomes.  I'm not disgusted anymore.  I'm not discouraged.  Through tears, I can say that I am ENCOURAGED.  I'm so very encouraged.  Keep hoppin Nat :) 

9 Random Acts of Kindess Birthday Party...

"If you have much, give of your wealth; If you have little, give of your heart”

Natalie's 9th birthday is Monday, July 25 and on August 12, we are doing a “9 Random Acts of Kindness” Birthday Party (9 for 9 years old!)

I can't take credit for this idea, as I was inspired to do this particular party from the following blog post I stumbled upon:  http://theletteredcottage.net/sweet-party-ideas

I love birthdays.  I love my friends and family and I love celebrating life.  After a birthday, my very frugal father will always say, "Ya went a little overboard again didn't you?"  Maybe Definately so, but I don't want my kids' birthdays to be "just another day." 

With inspiration from this blog post, Natalie and I have come up with 9 random acts of kindness that we have planned for the birthday party:

1) Donation/Volunteer at Safehomes (will check to see what they need)
2) Walk dogs and leave treats at Animal Shelter
3) Take homemade treats for the residents and staff at the nursing home
4) Take flowers to hospital and leave for the volunteers to give to patients who don't have flowers
5) Volunteer at Food Pantry (my mom does the Snack Packs for needy kids (they pack them at South Covington UMC) so she is going to show them what they do)
6) Stand outside Walmart and hand out free lollipops to kids (and young at heart!)
7) Place fliers under windshield wipers in Walmart Parking Lot that say “It’s Natalie’s 9th Birthday and we are celebrating by doing 9 random acts of kindness! Have a great day and pass on an act of kindness today!”
8) Go through the McDonald's drive thru and pay for the person behind us
9) Put change in all of the gumball machines and drink machines at the supermarket

When we return from our adventure, we will have birthday cake and food and watch this little diddy...

And then there is this scene from The Pursuit of Happyness makes me cry like a baby...

We will take plenty of pictures and shoot plenty of video during the day and it is my hope to make the girls a DVD of our pictures throughout the day and mail to them the following week.  I’ll be sure to upload it on here for all of you to see as well!

I can’t wait to see the faces of giving…

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” ~Kahlil Gibran

P.S. Feel free to copy this idea and do your own random acts of kindess party!

UPDATE!!!  Here is how the day went!

Well it's Father's Day.  June 19, 2011.  Hopefully Kevin had a good day.  He has been working nights and pretty much we could have handed him the keys to a brand new corvette and we would have probably gotten a half-smile at best.  Tonight is his last night though and then he starts vacation.  He's lucky that he is one of those people that everybody likes.  There's an older guy at the mill that likes him and each year, Bo hands him the vacation sign-up sheet and let's him pick a good summer week, while Bo takes a crappy week in the winter that Kevin would've gotten if not for trading with him. 

Natalie has been gone to Busch Gardens for three days with a friend and I have been missing her like crazy.  I didn't realize how much I love having her around.  Vacations from kids (and vice versa) are good.  Missing somebody is good for the soul.  I redecorated Natalie's room for her while she was gone and I am hoping she will be totally surprised and love it.  I didn't do any of the things I thought I was going to do.  I didn't repaint, but instead, I updated fabrics, rearranged furniture, and got new rugs and curtains.

It's fine with me.  It's cute enough.  It doesn't twang my buds like a big fluffy white down comforter and white gauzy drapes, but that's not real thrilling to an almost 9 year old I suppose.  Well at least not Natalie.  I left the room sort of bare bones besides the new fabrics because I want her to put her input into the rest of the room.  I made this for her a while back and can't wait to get it attached above her bed...

It was a fun project that I found from a really cool blog http://karapaslaydesigns.blogspot.com/  I used foam core and then crumpled up tissue paper and glued to the foam core.  I cut the letters out of magazine pictures to give the glossy finish and the border is some zebra fabric I had leftover from a previous project.  I just have to figure out how the heck I'm going to attach it!

We will be heading to Indiana for Kevin's family reunion this month and all of my closest buds laugh as they describe the trip as (and I quote) "The Griswolds go to Indiana."  Just to bring that statement to life, let me describe my morning at church with the kids.  My kids have been raised in church and they are normally as well behaved as any kids who have been raised in church are.  Today somebody must have slipped them a Red Bull or a Monster though.  They were bouncing off the walls!  They were giggling about the announcement of a PPR meeting (PP hee hee).  They were talking and not sitting still.  At one point, out of nowhere, a flash fills the congregation.  I looked over and Wyatt had dug my camera out of my purse and turned it around to face him (which also faced the 10 rows behind us) and took a pic of himself.  Exhibit A...

Yeah...then I heard giggling behind us.  We have great people in our church that have "been there, done that" and giggle at my silly kiddos when I'm wanting to "jerk a knot in their tail."  After a prayer and a hymn, I saw another flash.  This time he got the hymnal...

Suffice it to say, the camera was jerked out of little hands and placed by mom for the remainder of the service.  If that wasn't crazy enough, this same child literally fell off the pew during the service.  He was lying down and wrapped up in his "prodigal son robe" and got tangled up and literally fell from the lying down position onto the floor.  My dad was sitting behind me and got so tickled that I thought he was going to have to leave.  Yeah. Yeah.  It's the Griffith Family Way of Life.