Sorry...

     I apologize for NOT writing on here since January - UGH!!  SO much has happened and I have SO much to share!  I am not sure that I have pictures of my Easter Traditions calendar - but I will TOTALLY post on here next time - LOVE IT and all the traditions sweet Tammie has shared with me! 
     You'll be happy to know I am PAR for keeping up with Bible in a year - YAHOO:)!!  I must admit, some days I am like, "OH NO I HAVE TO DO THIS."  But most days, truly I open my app up and read my chapters for the night - it has become a nightly ritual that I really do LOVE:)! 
     On a totally RANDOM note - a girlfriend and I are JUST finished up our training for the Fargo Marathon!  Only had 12 this weekend - and she left for Paris today (SO JEALOUS!), so we got up at 4:30am and got her done;)!!  SUPER glad - only 8 to go next weekend and then the marathon in two week - YAHOO:)!! 
   I will double check my photos for Easter things and post again soon!
Happy day all,
Holly:)

Bible in a Year

  New Year's Resolution - READ THE BIBLE THIS YEAR:)!  I found a really nice app called Reading Plan that gives you daily readings in the Bible to complete this task in a year.  I am SO thankful for this.  My friend, Amy, uses it and suggested it - so I took her advice and downloaded it - THANK YOU DARLING:)!!  It gives you an Old Testament, Psalm and New Testament reading each day - NOT overwhelming - REALISTIC and DOABLE:)!  I am excited to encounter this great way to connect with God each and every day while also maintaining the activities and busyness that we all feel each and every day!  If you want to follow me -  just find me on Facebook as I post each day's reading as I have others that have wanted to follow this journey with me!!:)  Praise God for these women and the chance to finally accomplish this Bucket List item:)!!

Happy Friday
Holly:)

Our "Meaningful Christmas" Get Together

     I had talked a little while ago about a devotional called A Meaningful Christmas.  It is SUCH a wonderful idea - but I put in too late for it!  SO, my Bible Study friend, Tammie, and I decided that we would be able to write one ourselves.  Tammie did/does SO many great things with her family and the "TRUE" Christian life, so she was the one that really knew the Bible and how to kind of go about this.  She came over one night and we were able to come up with 24 days - one for each in December - to read a devotional verse with your kids and a "symbol" to go with each day.  I talked with our Bible Study ladies about it and they wanted to participate in it - and before we knew it we had 24 beautiful, Christian women to participate.  Each woman was assigned a day and a symbol that they had to incorporate into an ornament.  They were responsible for making 24 of these that we would then exchange with one another so we have all 24 days!  I created a box for each family to store their Advent ornaments and devotionals in, and I also gave each family a Christmas Nail to put in the center of their family tree:)!
   Here are what the boxes and devotionals looked like:

Here are the ornaments that these DARLING ladies came up with:)

And here are the ladies CRAMMED in my living room to go through their box of ornaments and a little devotional time together!

What a PRECIOUS night and our family sure loved it!!! What a WONDERFUL thing to do each and every Christmas to always help remind my boys of the Love God had for us to send us Jesus!!!

Good Night
Holly:)

Christmas Nail

  I am not sure if you have ever heard of the Christmas Nail - but here is one that I have recreated instead of buying one! Each year at Christmas you should place this inside your Christmas tree!

  The reason you are to take a nail and put it in the MIDDLE of your Christmas tree of course is that Jesus was born at Christmastime, but he died on the the cross for us at Easter.  This nail serves as a reminder of what He did for ALL of us to spend eternity in Heaven with Him!
  I simple LOVE this, too!  I made these for each of the women that participated in an improvised version of "A Meaningful Christmas."  I also made some extra for the special families that I know would appreciate and love this also!
  Keep doing things like this - keep teaching your children - and keep staying STRONG IN THE LORD!!!

Have a great night,
Holly:) 

AMAZING!!!

I absolutely LOVE this new blog - JEANNIE JEANNIE: Design Finds for the Creative Mind!  She is SO great!  Today I came across this- now I have seen the concept of Left Brain/Right Brain, but NEVER like this!!  We all know the story:

"Left brain: I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am."

"Right brain: I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be."

But look at the creations that she has made to represent this concept:

    AMAZING:)!!!  What a GREAT visual for kids to see how they think and learn!  What a great visual for us TEACHERS when dealing with different kinds of students!!
Happy Day
Holly:)

Frames Galore!

  So my adorable girlfriend, Megan, and I both found this cute post on Pinterest - because where else would you find things nowadays??  We decided that we MUST make these!  The two of us went to the Antique Mall and found some frames, and then ventured to Hobby Lobby and Michaels to find the rest of the supplies for them.  I think they turned out SO CUTE!!!

SUPER EASY!!!  All you need to do is find open frames that you like, or frames that you have and can take the glass or picture out of.  Choose a color to spray paint them - the one of the left actually was red when I bought it - EVEN EASIER:)!!  Tie a bow at the top - this WAS the hardest part - but eventually after googling it and trying and testing, I got these three to work and staple gunned them in place.  Then you just simple tie bulbs with ribbon of your choice and staple them on the back side of the frame.  Add some wire for hanging and DONE:)!!!  SO GREAT AND SO EASY!!!

Here are what they look like up close:

 
LOVED LOVED LOVED how they turned out.  They are even CUTER in person and you can NOT ruin these!!!  I even bought some snowflakes as I think I will spray paint one either silver or white and create one for winter:)!  My ALL TIME favorite one I don't have a picture here or course, but I used the old old ornaments that my Mom and Grandma made - LOVE IT:)!! 

Another EASY craft that just take a little time - well not even that!  Once I had the supplies I was able to compete 3 of them in about an hour:)!!

Happy Crafting
Holly:)

Colossians 3:12-14

  LOVE LOVE LOVE this verse - and was JUST introduced to it again!!!

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy, and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put love, which binds them all together, in perfect unity." - Colossians 3:12-14

NOW I have heard the verse before indeed - but hear THIS story:

I have a SWEET DEAR Bible study friend/mentor named Tammie, and she is just the most AMAZING Christian wife, mother, friend, EVERYTHING!!  She is the most knowledgeable, faith based woman I probably know!  She lives and breathes what she says and always "walks the walk!"  I SO wish some day to be like her!  Anyways, she now likes to give  a little "talk" at bridal showers.  She uses the above verse as her basis and talks to the bride about how she picked out her dress, why she chose it, what else she might be wearing that day and really asks the bride to be a lot of questions about her wedding day attire.  Then Tammie makes reference to this verse, how we are to "clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience," just like the verse says.   We are to wear these clothes DAILY with our husband!  Now I was SO impressed with the idea of this talk - but look what Tammie did - she went ONE step further!  She felt that after being married 20 year+ (help me here, Tammie:))  that she didn't know if she still did this for her husband and felt she should.  LOOK AT THIS :

She used the words from this verse and sewed the words together, connecting them on her dresser drawers to serve as a reminder for her to each day as she is getting dressed to follow what God is asking her to do!! 

Here is  a closer view of each drawer - I absolutely LOVE this and play on making a version for myself to help remind me DAILY to put on these clothes for my husband, too:)!!

I absolutely LOVE this idea - not only does it serve as a great reminder each day of the women that we are meant to be - but it's one more thing that we can do to help us draw closer to our Lord!!

Make your own - I challenge YOU to "clothe yourselves" with the words!
Holly:)