Get Joy

Friday, December 11, 2009

12 Days of Christmas~ 4 new little buildings

On the fourth day of Christmas, I decided to display four new little buildings.

Come and enjoy the Johnson Family Village! We have a beautiful home, gorgeous church, a wood shop, and doll shop and a quaint bed and breakfast.

I remember as a small girl how much I loved little houses, churches, and stores that would glow during the Christmas season. I would peer through the tiny windows and imagine what Christmas fun would be going on inside. My little fingers would walk up the steps and my mind would wander away into Christmas bliss.

I have had the church for years. It was given to me by a boy that was in a daycare that I worked at. I love churches...surprise...surprise. Anyways, last year at the end of the season I found three building marked down by like 80%. So, I decided that my little church should not be lonely anymore. Then my Aunt found a building that she wanted to give the girls and it fits perfectly with our tiny little village.

Now, I am not totally into this because I really don't want it to get out of hand. I just don't have the room for a whole town. My mother-in-law collects Dept. 56 buildings and it is really cute and fun. I just don't have the room. But, I will enjoy my five little cozy buildings that sit on the corner of my piano.

The girls love it and they had fun placing the trees and the little characters. I hope it sparks their imaginations and add's to the joy of Christmas. I love how simple little things can bring about such warm memories.

Is there anything that was in your parents home or grandparents home that you enjoyed seeing at Christmas? Try to take sometime to remember fond memories and make some with your children this holiday season.

3 children decorating
2 pairs of shoes
1 holiday ornament

Thursday, December 10, 2009

12 Days of Christmas ~ 3 Children Decorating

On the third day of Christmas in our home you'll find 3 children decorating!

Now that I am a mom it is very clear why we decorate....it is for the kids. LOL Well, most of you probably do it because you want to. I on the other hand find that I do it purely for the kids. They love it so much, just like how much I loved it when I was their age. When I am old and gray, I will be one of those old ladies that has a little fiber optic tree, manger scene to the left, and a wreath on my door...that's it....I know I am such a Christmas Scrooge. LOL

We have some traditions regarding the decorating of our tree as well. The girls and I put the tree together. I put the lights on. We each put up our own Christmas ornaments (check out our yearly ornaments for 2009) I then finish off the tree with my wood bead garland and bows. During all of this my hubby is making sure there is Christmas music playing. This year his job was also to keep our one year old from eating the fake pine needles sprinkled all over the floor. It leans a little to the left for some strange reason. All this makes for one fine "Kids" Christmas tree.

Oh, and yes that is a Bugs Bunny tree topper. John and I bought that the first year we were married. Bugs moves his lighted candle up and down and it has the most ridiculously loud motor. It sounds something like this WRRRrrrrrr WRRRrrrr WRRRrrr WRRRrrr. Every year when I pull it out of the box and plug it in, I secretly wish that this...just maybe... might be the year that this awful tree topper dies. Maybe, I will take my Red Ryder BB Gun to it. I will be just like Elmer Fudd..."Ooh, wait 'till I get that wabbit!" But, I would probably shoot my eye out!

I love Christmas time and watching my kids light up with joy decorating our home!

2 Pairs of Shoes

1 Holiday Ornament

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Dream of Snow!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow;
Snow, snow, I wanna wash my hands, my face and hair with snow.

Snow...I long to clear a path, and lift a spade of snow;
Snow, oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow.

Snow, where it's snowing all winter through,
That's where I want to be;
Snowball throwing, that's what I'll do;
How I'm longing to ski through the
Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow,

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow,
Those glist'ning hou - ses that seem to be built of snow;
Snow, oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow.

What is Christmas with no snow?
No white Christmas with no snow.
Snow...

I'll soon be there with snow, I'll wash my hair with snow,
And with a spade of snow, I'll build a man that's made of snow;
I'd like to stay up with you, but I recommend a little shut-eye --
Go to sleep, and dream of snow, snow, snow, snow.

Don't you just love snow?

Snow
Words & Music by Irving Berlin
Recorded by Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney & Vera Ellen*, 1954
From the movie "White Christmas"

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

I am not Superwoman!

How do you do it, Christina? How do you have time for things? These questions were asked of me yesterday. I had to reflect on it a little because people’s perception of me is very different from reality. To be honest, I don't do it all. I am not superwoman! I think I am realizing that it is a good thing I am not. Nobody is perfect and nobody can do everything; but for some reason many women are under a delusion that you have to do all, be all and look pretty at the same time.

God has me in a season now of learning what it is to be His daughter. It has been a very interesting time of growing and finding out that my expectations are most of the time very different than His. For a long time, I plac

ed some very unrealistic (what I like to call) burdens upon myself. For instance someone once told me that your house should be able to receive unexpected guest everyday within 30 minutes of your dear husband’s phone call. Wow, I really allowed that to put unnecessary pressure on me when my third baby came into the picture. I have also realized that I was actually letting people speak things like that into my life quite a bit. I felt that I need to follow all these rules to be the perfect pastor's wife and mom.

It all came down to the fact that I was living my life waiting for the approval of others. When in actuality the only approval I need is Christ's! I began to ask God to prioritize my life. He began to show me what is most important to Him. What is most important is my relationship with Him. I can keep and clean house all day...care for the children...make meals....exercise....do hobbies....do things at church....whatever; but if I am falling asleep during my devotions my priorities are not right. So sometimes things have to be restructured. Sometimes things have to be reconsidered. Sometimes things need to have us let go. Sometimes we just need to realize that we are in a season and it is okay.

I am in the baby season of life. My little one consumes me sometimes and it is a wonderful time. But, God has also called me to be a minister to the children at our church, be a mom to two older beautiful girls and a wife. Somewhere...in all of this...I can not lose my sanity. So somewhere something has to give and right now it is my house. I am okay with that. I am getting to the place that I can just be real. If someone stops by unexpected...I have to be okay with dirty dishes in the sink. I have to be okay with folded laundry on the couch. It is where my life is right now. My priorities are right....my relationship with Jesus is growing like never before and I am not falling asleep during my time with Him.

So, if you stop by my house and see it in its "real" state, this is what you may see.....

If only my children were as patient as my laundry....see how patiently it sits there waiting for me to come and care for it....

Oh, I wish I thought better during this photo...I missed the big glob of blue toothpaste that was sitting on the back side of the sink.... Hey, check out the Starbucks snow globe, it very cute, thanks sis.

The mustard stained IKEA dish is mine...I forgot to rinse it off good...it wasn't fun to clean later. LOL Is it just my children or do other children throw straws in the sink??? For some reason, I can't get them to throw them in the trash. LOL

Oh, my kitchen table the main hub of our home...when it gets cleaned off after a Wednesday night ...I think it gets lonely.

If only Elmo could get busy and clean up the perpetual toy mess on my living floor. Maybe if I pay him $7.40 I might begin to see results.

See my Nutcrackers bravely guarding my folded laundry while I write my blog....I later had to fire them because the baby monster pulled them all down to the floor.

To be honest I was scared to do this...but I wanted to share it with you. Right now my house is last on my list. When the baby is older, I will get some of my time back. I know now that my time is better spent playing with my baby on the floor than cleaning behind my oven. I want my little man to have moments with me that are lasting for a lifetime. We are not guaranteed a long life...so I want to make the most of each day. So when my children remember me they will not remember the clean house we always had; but the fun they had and the love they felt from John and me.

As women we must be careful not to judge other women. We don't know what phase of life they might be in or what they might be going through. Let us always be mindful of Christ's love and compassion. Let's help one another and encourage. Don't put unnecessary pressure on ourselves or others to be Superwoman...she doesn't exists.

I am reminded that sometime we need to be like Mary when all the world is acting like Martha.

Luke 10:38-42

[38] As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. [39] She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. [40] But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

[41] "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, [42] but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Ask God what are some things you may need to let go of...be with Jesus and...

Monday, December 7, 2009

12 Days of Christmas ~ 2 Pairs of Shoes

On the second day of Christmas you'll find some candy in two pairs of shoes.

I am all for new ideas and starting new/old traditions for the holidays. This past Thanksgiving my brother-in-law told me about one that they have started and I love it.

On Dec. 6th they celebrated Saint Nicholas Day, which is actually a very old tradition. They put candy in their children's shoes/socks. They also take the time to remember who Saint Nicholas really was and what he believed in.

Now, I never grew up believing in American version of Santa Claus. Don't freak out on me...don't worry I never felt deprived of my childhood. My children have never been taught to believe in him either. We have always celebrated Christ at Christmas.

But, I am all for teaching my children about the real St. Nicholas. I think he is a wonderful example of how all Christians need to be. He cared for the poor and did it secretly. He did not do it for his glory ...he gave out of love and compassion. He gave because of his love for Christ.

VeggieTales has a very good Christmas movie out this year. Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving. My family loved it. I think you will enjoy it too. It is great because we all could learn a little about having a joyful heart during the hectic holiday season. This movie and my brother-in-law is the reason I am starting the new tradition in our home of celebrating St. Nicholas Day. It is a great reminder of who the real St. Nicholas is, giving and the perfect gift that was given to us through Jesus Christ.

I love using wonderful memories to teach deep truths to my children. Sure they will love the candy in their shoes. As they grow, they will have with them why we celebrated the day. Just as God gave to us we must also give to others with a joyful heart.

Love it!

All of you who are sad for my third child don't worry he will get some candy next year...he is just to little for it now. LOL

Check out the 1st Day of Christmas ~ 1 Ornament

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

12 Days of Christmas ~ 1 Holiday Ornament

On the first day of Christmas my family must each pick 1 holiday ornament...

Every year John, the kids and I pick out an ornament. Sometimes, it is a theme from the year for me but for the kids it is whatever they like in the moment.

We try to go to Bronner's in Frankenmuth, MI to find that perfect ornament for our tree. It is the most Christmassy (can that be a word? LOL ) place on the planet...I think..next to the North Pole. My oldest has the hardest time picking one out. We have to go through the whole store before she decides on the perfect one. It is usually something very unexpected. My other daughter usually picks one out in the first few minutes and there is no changing her mind. My baby seems to like Elmo this year...so that is what we went with. John usually gets something sports or penguin(LOL not sure why) related. I usually get a bulb or something that represents something we did that year.

So....drum roll please.....here are the 2009 selections for the Johnson's Christmas tree....

Baby's pick...

Youngest daughter's pick...it is her birthstone and an angel. She found this pretty much by the front door and I had to make sure nothing happened to it for the next hour and a half, Ugh. (sorry about the picture it is the best my little camera could do with this one)

I have no idea why my oldest picked this one. I think it was out of desperation because we had to give her a time limit. I mean good grief ...we had been there and hour and a half and she had no idea what to pick. She just kept saying that it was to hard to decide, typical of this child

My husbands very typical pick...something to do with sports and his favorite team.

And my not so typical pick.... a decorated palm tree...in honor of my trip to Jamaica this year. Loved it and had to have it!

I hope you enjoyed the Johnson's family tradition of picking out an ornament. It is one of our favorite things to do. The next 11 blogs should be very interesting how I fit them into the 12 days of Christmas thing....I haven't really thought it out very good....you may be in for a good laugh at my expense. LOL
I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed holiday season!