Just a few Christmas finds

I have really been trying to refrain from talking about Christmas decor too early.....really I have.  But last night I went to a Holiday event.....we sang Christmas Carols......did Christmas crafts and really got in the holiday spirit. So I am going to show you just a few things I have found and purchased for this season.  Some of these items will go quickly and I care about you so much I really don't want you to miss them

First up, I found this at Hobby Lobby

It is labeled as Cotton Garland and I assume you could use it on a tree.  But I thought it would be great tied around wrapped packages in place of ribbon.  It is super sturdy and I think it would be a perfect present accent.

Then I found these at the Dollar Tree

I have a little party with my girlfriends and we always have to use some folding chairs.  I thought this would be a nice little touch to make those folding chairs a little more festive.  I figured they would be pretty small and wouldn't actually work on my kitchen chairs.....but they did.  These are definitely a good buy for $1.  Think of how cute these would be if you were doing a kid's dinner table.

Then I ordered these plates from World Market 

I have some Fiesta Red dinner plates already.  I am going to see how these look as an accent plate on top of those.  

I hope to pull out all my Christmas stuff this weekend.  I am going to wait until after I get out my Christmas bins and see and remember what I already own. Then I will decide if I need to pick up anything else this year.

Monday is a holiday and I will be taking off from the blog......so I will see you back here on Wednesday.  Have a great long weekend.

And a big thanks to those who have served our country.....Salute to all the Veterans.

October Book Review

You guys know how much I love you and I would do almost anything for you.  So I read all Christmas books in October so I could tell you about them now and you can read them leading up to the holidays.  You are so welcome......but I REALLY want to put up a tree or two now. I am in the full Christmas Spirit!

I really enjoyed all of these.  I hope you find a couple you might like

First up,



The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan. This is a sweet story about three adult sisters who were adopted as children.  They all reunite at their childhood home at Christmas.  Each of them is facing their own struggle and they have to decide to join together and stand behind each other or continue with the lines they've drawn in their adult lives.  The setting sounds lovely and the relationships beautifully unfold.  I enjoyed this one a lot.

 Then on to



Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock.  In this story an innocent cab driver is summoned to give an elderly lady a ride to her doctor's appointment.  From there his daily calls turn into carting her around on various errands.  It doesn't become clear until the very end exactly what she is doing on these errands.  Just a little warning......this one has some sadness in it but I still enjoyed the story very much.  The cab driver is quite a character and has a great dry sense of humor so I enjoyed him a great deal.

and then



The Christmas Town by Donna VanLiere. A young girl who has grown up in foster care has a real desire for a family to share Christmas.  She witnesses a car accident in a neighboring town and that random incident may just make her dreams come true. Great, fun characters and one of those towns I wish were real so I could stop by the diner for lunch.

and lastly



The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo.  In this story a mom of four adult children tells them to show up for Christmas when she will be getting married.  The catch is she won't disclose who the groom is......not even to the groom.  So there are a few grooms hoping it is them.  The kids have their own favorites.....this whole situation is going to need some Christmas magic and that is exactly what they get.

Enjoy some great holiday themed books. Thank goodness Hallmark has started the Christmas movies because I was going to be in some serious holiday withdrawals if not.

Surrendering - November Prayer Focus

Welcome to our collective prayer focus for the month of November.  It has been a wonderful year of surrendering it all to our God and watching Him do exceedingly more than we could imagine.  As a reminder our year long plan is below

Printable Version

So this month we are are going to Focus on the strength of the Lord, His power, His presence and us having nothing to fear

Printable Version

Just click on the link for the printable version if you would like to print and post somewhere to remind you to pray.

Thanks for joining in and praying with our blog community.  God is awesome and He certainly hears the prayers of His people.

Make it a great week......be strong and courageous!

Falling Back

Well I survived Halloween even though every television channel wanted to try to scare me.  Thank you, sweet QVC, for just continuing to sell me stuff and not scaring me at all.

But now we are headed to my favorite weekend of the year.....bring it on Fall Back.  I am here for it.  This is my weekend.  You guys know the drill.  Every bed in the house will get fresh sheets, we will go to bed early to maximize that extra hour and I will be super happy come Sunday morning.  I could be a gold medalist if Falling Back were an Olympic sport.  I am focused and intentional.  I don't let it just slip by.  I am thinking about that extra hour and relishing in it.

So here's the plan.  I am going to prep this Pioneer Woman Italian Chicken Soup

photo credit: ThePioneerWoman.com

 and load up the crockpot Saturday morning.  I will get all my errands done and chores completed early in the day.....by seven o'clock I will enjoy a nice relaxing hot shower using my favorite shower tabs




(Check Whole Foods, Earth Fare or Sprouts if you are looking for them locally.)

By eight o'clock I plan to be in bed with my heating pad and every magazine in my house that I haven't read, a good book and maybe a few pieces of left over Halloween candy. And don't forget there will also be new Hallmark Christmas movies to enjoy.

The key is to keep anticipating an extra hour of rest all day.  Do not make the mistake of staying up later because you "get an extra hour".  No, you have to savor it in extra down time, otherwise it won't even feel like it happened.

I hope you enjoy falling back.

I will talk to you on Monday.

Have a great weekend.