Amy Scott's Thoughts

What I’ve Been Reading – February 2025 February 28, 2025

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 5:55 pm

Bookish Thoughts for February

I had some fun finds this February!!! A friend of mine recommended The Host by Stephanie Meyer and she gave me a free copy from Goodwill. I was super skeptical of this sci-fi romance… She had recommended it a few a times before, but without handing me the actual book, I probably would have never read it. Turns out, I LOVED it. It’s now one of my new favorite books and I’m currently re-reading it, because once was not enough. I even watched the movie version to do a comparison. It’s no surprise the book was better, but I still enjoyed the movie (it felt like a Cliff Notes version of the book).

I also discovered a new author this month – Melissa Ferguson. She was a recommendation from another author I follow. You might notice I have a thing about books that are about books. Melissa’s Meet Me in the Margins and The Perfect Rom-Com were books about the publishing world and aspiring authors. Her other books were also delightful. I feel like I have made a new friend in the bookish world. Inkheart and Jenny Colgan’s books were also books about books. It’s seems to a theme with me!

Other highlights of the month included adding a few more books to our home library! I went Amazon route for a few (including a pre-order of the new Hunger Games novel coming out next month). I had a Goodwill shopping outing with a friend this month as well. I found a couple of good books for myself, but I love Goodwill for adding to the boys’ library. I grabbed a couple favorites from my childhood as well some from their favorite authors. To wrap up this bookish month, I hunkered down with my home library to work on a parenting resource list for my church. It was a joy to pull favorite books off my shelves and share them with others.

Jeremy and I taught a parenting workshop at our church. Not only did I type up a book list of every parenting book I would recommend, I also raided my bookshelf and brought as many as I could to share! Books are my favorite way to research, learn, and grow. It was a joy to share these resources with other parents.

The Goodwill Haul – the copy of *The Fault in Our Stars* is a signed hardback in fabulous condition! Also, *The Host* is one of new favorite books of all time!

Owen’s pick of the month – *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*. Graham’s pick – *Hardy Boys Adventures: Deception on the Set*.

Top Picks for February

The Book List for February
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing

Fiction:

People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations by Jinger Duggar Vuolo with Juile Lyles Carr – 3 stars
Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23 by Dallas Willard – 4 stars

Non-Fiction:

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan – 3 stars
Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan – 2 stars
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – 3 stars
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez – 2.5 stars
Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson – 4 stars
Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson – 4 stars
How to Plot a Payback by Melissa Ferguson – 4 stars
The Cul-de-Sac War by Melissa Ferguson – 4 stars
The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson – 5 stars
The Host by Stephanie Meyer – 5 stars

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These February Days are Flying By… February 21, 2025

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 10:51 am

I’m truly shocked to see the end of February creeping up on us! After a quiet start to our month, our calendar picked up pace and now it seems like we’re flying through the month! How is it almost done? There is so much to share today so here we go!

Our homeschool co-op had a field trip to Kalama Sourdough Bakery last week. Best smelling (and tasting) field trip ever!!! We learned how a homeschool student started this company by selling loaves at a farmers market as a young teenager and now as and adult he has grown it into a full time business with 30 employees. It was neat to see how something so small grew into something quite large. The bakery tour was fun and informative. We all received a giant sourdough roll to sample at the end of the tour. So yummy!

We finally got our “snow” day last week! Around 11:00am on Thursday, it started to snow and it was clear that it wasn’t going to let up. Jeremy came home for lunch and decided to stay home due to the condition of the roads. With Jeremy home, we were able to go sledding by pulling the boys behind the minivan on the driveway. Jeremy also passed on his skills for making a “snow bear” (instead of a snowman) to the boys. The kids even made snow angels in their swimsuits when they got into the hot tub that evening. Craziness! It was an afternoon for chilly snow play and warming up with hot cocoa. I got my “grass-fully-covered” snow accumulation that signifies a true snow day in my mind!

The snow day put our Valentine’s Day plans in jeopardy, but thankfully, we were able to keep them despite the winter weather. We try to make Valentine’s Day a little special, but it’s not a big deal in our household. This year we had dinner plans with friends that helped us to up our Valentine’s Day vibes. I decorated with paper hearts on the wall, tablecloths on the tables, flowers and chocolates on the tables, sparkling cider, and HeartBaker pizzas from Papa Murphy’s. Our friends brought all the fixings for chocolate fondue and we used our fondue pot for the first time in many years! It felt decadent and it was the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert. It was fun to share this holiday with friends.

After Valentine’s Day, our long weekend of adventures continued! On Saturday, we joined my parents in a visit up north to see our sweet GG. We enjoyed chatting, eating Chipotle, and hanging out at GG’s house for a few hours. Sunday, our family ran errands down in Portland. We were on a mission to find a bookcase at IKEA and we grabbed the last one before they were officially out of stock. It felt like a miracle! Monday, we rearranged our living room after Jeremy built the new bookcase. I spent quite a bit of time moving things around on the shelves, trying to find the right arrangement of items. I love how it turned out! I’m not great at interior design, so I’ll let bookcases display books and games as a form of lifestyle décor. I’m all for displaying what we value. Monday wrapped up with a book shopping outing to Goodwill with a friend. It was good, good day!

I realize that February is a short month, but it always catches me by surprised! The days are flying by so quickly! I’ll see you back here at the end of the month for my monthly reading recap and we’ll see what adventures are right around the corner for our family as the calendar moves away from winter and toward spring.

Our rearranged living room! I love how the bookcases look beside the television.

We moved the bookcase that was on this wall into the living room. Now we get to reimagined this space… I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

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Winter Chill February 10, 2025

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 1:57 pm

The title of this blog is two-fold. First, it’s been super chilly here in the PNW. Ice, snow, winter weather and what not. Second, we’ve been fairly low-key due to a flu/cold bug that kept the boys down for almost a week. Snow is fun, sickness is not. The highs and lows of life this winter. Here are a few highlights before sickness grounded us…

Our family took a walk around Carlisle Lake on a sunny Sunday afternoon after church. Jeremy had heard reports that part of the lake was frozen and that river otters had been spotted in the lake. The boys found the frozen lake a novelty. They tried to break the ice by throwing rocks. One very shaded part of the lake had thick enough ice that they would stand on the frozen lake. It was a very exciting experience for them. On the sunny, unfrozen side of the lake, we encountered four river otters. They were so neat! We had a blast watching them in their natural habitat and not a zoo enclosure. It was a chilly walk, but the sunny, fresh air and the exercise along with the ice and otters made for a fun adventure!

The kids enjoyed learning about natural disasters at co-op. They made houses out of dough and toothpicks to see how their structure held up to an earthquake. They loved this project! They also learned about wild fires and volcanoes. Owen loved sharing his volcano experiences with the teacher. We’ve enjoyed visiting Mt. St. Helen’s and the volcanic areas around Bend, OR. He had lots to contribute to the conversation. It’s been dry on co-op Tuesdays and as a result there has been plenty of time to play on the playground before and after class with friends.

We had a lot of time around the house while the boys were down with the flu/cold bug. The weather kept us entertained with lots of snow flurries each day. The ground was white occasionally, but it was never much snow. I have a thing about the grass being completely covered and we never reached my ideal mark. Oh well. I’m not sure the boys would have had the energy for an actual snow day, so the snow flurries were perfect to watch from couch without them feeling like they were missing out on fun.

We watched church online a week ago so the kiddos could see themselves in the Genesis recap video. They did so well! Thankfully, we made it to church yesterday so the boys could watch Jeremy (and I) be honored for 20 years as children’s pastor at Bethel Church! We are so proud of Jeremy and his faithfulness to the Lord and the families in our church. On our very first date, Jeremy shared with me how he had accepted the position of children’s pastor. While we haven’t been married those entire 20 years, I’ve definitely been along for the ride the entire time. There is no one else I would want to do life and ministry with! Jeremy is the best!!!

The boys are feeling better now and we are thankful to be back in the real world. We have a fun week ahead with a field trip, a holiday, and plans with friends and family. Back to the fun stuff! Yay! We are doing our best to stay warm during the continued chilly weather and praying that the only time we need to “chill” at home is to balance all the fun we’re having (not because of illness). We’ll see how the rest of February pans out!

Building a house to see how it holds up to an Earthquake

Their house made it to about 8 on the Richter scale

Watching the boys recap the seven days of creation for the adults at church. Such a fun opportunity!

Beautiful flowers as a thank you from our church! They sure brightened up all the extra time at home with their cheerfulness.

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What I’ve Been Reading – January 2025 January 31, 2025

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 2:12 pm

Bookish Thoughts for January

January was another good month for adding to my home library! It’s always an exciting project going over my book lists and deciding what books will win a place on my bookshelves. I’m still vacillating on how to spend my last few birthday dollars. You might see yet another book haul next month. Possibly… We’ll see. Book shopping is one of my favorite things and curating my home library is a delight!

With the addition of a new bookcase after Christmas, the boys have wiggle room to add more books to their personal libraries again. We’ve restarted having them add a book a month to their collection. Graham is into The Boxcar Children at the moment, especially the mysteries involving food. The Doughnut Whodunit was Graham’s choice for January and I have feeling The Pizza Mystery might his selection for February. Stay tuned! Owen is in a massive Harry Potter phase at the moment. He has read the entire series and he continues to re-read his favorites over and over again. He discovered the Minalima editions with their illustrated and interactive pages and he now owns books 1-3 in this fancy edition. He loves that he has “pretty” books on his shelf. My love of pretty books has spread to the next generation. I’ll take that as a parenting win!

When it comes to my actual reading, January has been a diverse month! I’ve continue to binge read Kasey Stockton and her regency romances. Many of my favorite Kindle Unlimited authors had new releases this month. I enjoyed Marie Soleil’s retelling of Beauty and the Beast and Kasey Stockton’s newest rom-com. Carina Taylor and Jenny Proctor also had new releases. Angela Ruth Strong’s Fiancé Finale was a well written ending to her three book series. Robin Jones Gunn is one of my favorite authors and it was thrilling to read a new release from her. It’s been a while since she’s released a book. I’ve missed her! Authors definitely feel like friends to me.

When it comes to non-fiction, I’m reading Mom Heart Moments: Daily Devotions for Lifegiving Motherhood by Sally Clarkson and Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!: Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens by Kate Bowler during my quiet time. I finished reading the New Testament this week and I started Psalms for this coming month. I read Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis and I hope to start Life Without Lack by Dallas Willard (a book about Psalm 23) soon. Add in the beauty of Fields of Joy and the suspense of God’s Smuggler and I’ve had a good non-fiction month. I’m so thankful for books that encourage my faith and spiritual growth.

**January’s Book** **Haul:** Audubon Society Field Guides, New Testament Filament Bible Journals, Madeline Martin’s WWII novels, Angela Ruth Strong’s Resorting to Love series, Ann Voskamp’s devotional journals, and Bob Goff’s new devotional.

**Boys’ January Picks:** Graham selected *The Doughnut Whodunit* and Owen chose *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone* (Minalima Edition)

Top Picks for January

The Book List for January
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing

Non-Fiction:

Fields of Joy by Ruth Chou Simons – 4 stars
God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew with John & Elizabeth Sherrill – 4 stars
Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis – 4 stars

Fiction:

The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin – 4 stars
Fiancé Finale by Angela Ruth Strong – 4 stars
Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn – 4 stars
Winning Winnie’s Hand by Deborah M. Hathaway – 3 stars
Isebelle and the Beast by Marie Soleil – 3 stars
Hail Marry by Martha Keyes – 3 stars
When Alec Met Evie by Jenny Proctor – 4 stars
Charlie Takes a Chance by Carina Taylor – 3 stars
Recipe for Rivals by Kasey Stockton – 4 stars
The Jewels of Halstead Manor by Kasey Stockton – 4 stars
The Lady of Larkspur Vale by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
The Widow of Falbrooke Court by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
The Recluse of Wolfeton House by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
The Smuggler of Camden Cove by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
A Forgiving Heart by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon – 3 stars
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan – 3 stars

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January Adventures January 25, 2025

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:04 pm

January in the PNW tends to be wet and I often find myself indoors wondering when I’ll be inspired to go outside again. January 2025 has been surprisingly dry and as a result, our family has been a little more adventurous. Outings are much more enjoyable when it’s dry… However, the trade off for dry is the cold… I guess I’ll take freezing sunshine over rain. At least for now. You know I appreciate a good rainy day as well.

This last weekend was filled with activity. I met with my monthly book club on Friday night. Book time with mom friends is a winning combination. Even though book club keeps me out past my bedtime, I look forward to it every month. We had dinner/game night fun with friends and family. We’ve enjoyed teaching Organ Attack to anyone interested. We even had a blast from the past moment this weekend when we took the boys to The Great Train Show in Puyallup. Owen went when he was tiny and Graham was too young, so we decided to go again with our older kiddos. The LEGO train layout was the highlight, but all the model train layouts were appreciated. We haven’t dabbled in model trains for years now, but they still hold a soft spot in our hearts. We also did a little more window shopping for potential living room furniture at the Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse. It’s a quirky place and the boys were thrilled to have free popcorn while we looked around.

This week, our adventures included the start of chess club with our homeschool co-op. The boys learned chess at co-op a few years ago. It was fun to brush up on their chess skills and compete with friends again. After a couple rounds of chess, the boys and their friends switched to a game of Organ Attack (I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that). It’s been sunny the last few Tuesdays which means playground time after co-op to run out extra energy. The boys also worked on a project for church this week. Our lead pastor requested that kids make a recap video for the book of Genesis. Our boys selected the creation story. They worked together to create a picture depicting the seven days of creation and they explained the picture on camera Wednesday night. I’m looking forward to seeing how the video turns out in a week!

The final adventure I have to share is our family trip to the beach yesterday. We had errands to run and the weather was so nice, we thought why not run our errands out at the ocean! It was a beautiful day for a drive out to the coast. We had breakfast our favorite spot, Pig ‘N Pancake. We took a chilly walk on the beach at Cannon Beach and then explored a few spots in town (the toy store, candy store, and bakery). We hit Costco and Walmart before having “linner” at Mo’s (Yay! Clam chowder in a bread bowl!). We were home in time for sunset which was very important to Owen. With all these clear nights, Owen’s hobby of stargazing has picked up again. He is quite passionate about searching the skies in the evenings.

We’ve had a bit more activity this January then previous years, but it’s been balanced with time at home. Today as been an around-the-house day and it’s been a good balance of productivity and downtime. The sunshine coming through the window certainly inspires me to be more active. My family jokes that I’m solar powered. When the sun goes down, I’m ready for bed! I have take advantage of all this sunshine-inspired energy while I have it. On that note, I’m off for a walk!

Furniture shopping is more fun with free popcorn!

The hardest part of visiting the coast in the winter is keeping the kids out of the water! So cold!!!

When walking back with the wind in your face… these kids are creative problem solvers! Ha!

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Happy New Year & Happy Birthday! January 15, 2025

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 2:12 pm

Not only am I welcoming 2025, but also 39. January is a month for change! It also tends to be a quieter month after the hubbub of the fall and the holiday seasons. The second half of our Christmas holiday was spent at home with Graham feeling under the weather. The first week back to school was intentionally mellow as we adjusted back to our normal schedule. Quietly welcoming the New Year has some merit. We had lots of time together a family. Jeremy and I took care of projects around the house. The boys watched some new movies while being restful. We played new games and read new books. Now that Graham is feeling better and we are back to the school groove, we’ve had a few more outings and celebrations.

To wrap up our Christmas break, we took the kids to see Sonic 3. The boys watched Sonic 1 & 2 after Christmas while resting. The boys jump at the chance for ICEEs and a movie on the big screen. We promised the kids we would go ice skating in January, so we made that happen last Friday. I haven’t ice skated in years. I was super nervous how it would go and how sore we would all be afterwards. I was positive I would hold on to the wall the entire time. I’m thankful to report that by the end of our skate, we were all skating independently without the wall!! We weren’t graceful or stylish skaters, but we did better than I expected and we had fun. It was definitely a family adventure!

The other highlight of the month so far has been celebrating my 39th birthday (last year in my 30s, wow). I love the excuse to gather with friends and family and eat all sorts of yummy treats. In fact, birthdays are often about the food for me! I enjoyed some of my favorite meals and favorite desserts. Lots of cake, donuts, and cookies! I took advantage of birthday freebies at Starbucks, Chipotle, and Crumbl Cookies. My family humored me and let me explore IKEA as my birthday outing. We didn’t purchase anything. It was more of a daydreaming visit, but still super fun. I love that place!

Now that January is here, we are back to school, church, co-op, piano lessons, play dates, and family dinners. Our monthly calendar has more margin and I’m enjoying the extra wiggle room to rest and recover from the holidays. I love making a big deal out of birthdays, but I’m also okay that the celebrations are in the rearview mirror. Time to settle into the cozy, winter, stay-at-home vibes that call to me in January.

Organ Attack – Owen’s new game he got at Christmas. We’ve been playing it often!

Lewis County finally has a Panda Express!!!

My greatest accomplishment of the month: staying upright on ice skates!

Celebrating my birthday is a sweet time!

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What I’ve Been Reading – December 2024 December 31, 2024

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 9:00 am

Bookish Thoughts for December

December and January are two of my favorite book months of the year. Christmas and my birthday allow me to splurge and add to my home library in a massive haul that I don’t have funds for any other time of the year! Thank you to the kind family members who gifted me the joy of books this Christmas. Not only did I put my Christmas cash toward books, I was also able to add another bookcase to our playroom. The one bookcase was completely full and since we have years of book collecting ahead of us, we needed more space for our growing home library. I also had to do some rearranging of my own bookcases to make room for this month’s acquisitions. Making space for books makes me very merry, indeed. It also tickles my nose. It’s good thing I rearrange my books almost annually, because the amount of dust that collects behind them is astonishing. I love making things neat, tidy, and organized. Projects like this are the perfect way to wrap up the year and tie a bow on the holiday season!

The freshly rearranged playroom with a new bookcase so we can continue to grow our home library!

The first thing the boys bought on our day after Christmas shopping outing was books. They didn’t want to leave the van after that. Raising readers!

My first book haul was the Timeless series! These books were my binge read series this fall. I loved each one and I’m looking forward to the next installment in May!

My second book haul! A mix of books I’ve enjoyed in the past and unread new releases. Not all my books arrived in time for this post, so I’ll share more in January.

Top Picks for December

I enjoyed a year with Bob Goff in 2024. He is such an encouraging author. My kids fell in love with Bob while we read *Love Does for Kids* this fall. They are excited to start *Everybody, Always for Kids* in 2025.
It’s was a very 3 star Christmas reading season, but *The Holiday Cottage* stood out as a 4 star read. It was a good recommendation from a friend.

The Book List for December
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing

Non-Fiction:

Until Unity by Francis Chan – 4 stars
Live in Grace, Walk in Love: A 365-Day Journey by Bob Goff – 4 stars

Fiction:

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb – 3 stars
Holiday Hostilities by Katie Bailey – 3 stars
Five Stolen Rings by Gracie Ruth Mitchell – 3 stars
Izzy and Her Off-Limits Love by Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor – 3 stars
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens – 3 stars
Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens – 3 stars
Catch Yourself a Snowmance by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
Since We’ve No Place to Go by Kate Watson – 4 stars
The Holiday Husband by Jenny B. Jones – 4 stars
Yuletide Bride by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
All is Mary and Bright by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
A Duke for Lady Eve by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
An Agreeable Alliance by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan – 4 stars
The Run Option by Annah Conwell – 3 stars
Dropping the Ball by Melanie Jacobson – 3 stars

Always fun to see to see my year in review on Goodreads. I read two more books than last year and was up about 700 pages!

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Christmas 2024: All The Festive Fun December 27, 2024

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Children's Ministry,Family Time,Tasty Treats,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:19 pm

So much Christmas magic has happened since my last post! It’s almost too much to recap in words so you’ll notice a LOT of photo collages to share the last two weeks. We’ve had church Christmas gatherings, Christmas lights galore, Christmas baking, Christmas movie watching (we introduced the boys to Home Alone 1 & 2 and Journey to Bethlehem), Christmas family celebrations, Christmas shopping, and Christmas gift wrapping. So. Much. Christmas. This time of year is truly magical. The sights, the sounds, the flavors… They bring out child-like wonder in all of us. It’s a joy to celebrate together as a family. All the Christmas festivities are a chance to remember the true reason for Christmas – Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. Emmanuel, God with us! I hope and pray that your Christmas season was filled with light, joy, and peace. Merry Christmas from our family to ours!

Jeremy turned our family into cartoons! The kids had a blast helping Jeremy make our Scott extended family into cartoons for Christmas as well.

A weekend filled with Christmas shopping and wrapping, our church float in the Lighted Tractor Parade, and Advent after multiple church Christmas parties.

Christmas Baking: I made molasses softies and sugar cookies. I used Starbucks holiday cups as my color inspiration this year.

Enchant Christmas Light Maze in Seattle, WA

Christmas Day: Stockings and gifts at GG’s house

Day After Christmas: Woke up to no power due to a wind storm, so LEGO building happened by lantern light. We still did our Day After Christmas shopping – books and Pokémon card were a highlight.

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A Musical Christmas Weekend December 12, 2024

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 2:22 pm

This last week has a been very musical one for our family. Every year our children’s ministry takes over the main gatherings for a weekend and performs a Christmas musical. It’s a full theatrical performance with drama, songs with motions, props, sets, costume changes… the works! It’s a huge endeavor and one that takes many months of preparation. We’ve been working on this production since September! Last week, we had extra practices and rehearsals leading up to the Sundays big performance! I’m always super nervous about how it will all come together, but each year the kids pull it off! The kids showed up ready on Sunday and everything went great! Praise Jesus! It’s such a joy to watch the kids share the true meaning of Christmas with friends and family. Owen had a solo again this year and he did wonderful. Graham prefers to blend in with the choir. He performs with focus and determination. I’m proud of both them (as well as all the kids and the team who helped pulled this off)!

In keeping with the musical theme of the weekend, we went to see A Drummer Boy Christmas Live in the theaters on Friday as a part of our family day. Jeremy and I saw this Christmas concert by for KING + COUNTRY last December in Portland, OR and loved it! We were so excited to see that the band was offering a theatrical version this year. A Drummer Boy Christmas is our family’s favorite Christmas album and it’s one we listen to on repeat throughout the holiday season. It was neat to show the kids what the concert we went to last year looked it. Also, we had nose bleed seats last year, so seeing the concert in the local theater meant we got a closer view as well. My family went to lots of concerts while I was growing up and this felt like a fun introduction to the concert scene for the boys. I look forward to more concert experiences as they grow older.

This month, we’ve also enjoyed Advent moments together as a family. We are counting down to Christmas in many ways! We have an Advent wreath with candles, an Advent wreath with daily candies, and an Advent sticker activity. We are still watching the Holiday Baking Championship (even though – spoiler alert – our friend is no longer on the show). We find out who wins next week. Christmas vacation is right around the corner. I have a list of Christmas movies to watch and plenty of holiday baking to do. We have some Christmas light adventures awaiting us next week as well. I got a decent start on my Christmas wrapping last night. I’m just waiting for the last of the Amazon packages to trickle in… It’s a busy time of year, but it’s full of festive fun. I love all the traditions and it’s a sweet time to share these moments together as family. It’s hard to believe that Christmas in less than two weeks. The countdown is on! Merry Almost Christmas!

I look forward to our Advent devotional time each year! Love counting down to Christmas this way!

We got a new Casper mattress as an early Christmas present to ourselves. These bed bugs were testing it out as we waited for it fully rise.

*A Drummer Boy Christmas Live* in the theaters. Our kids jump at any chance for an ICEE.

*We Three Spies* was a big hit! These kids worked so hard and did so well. Very proud of them!

Another fantastic Christmas musical is in the books! It’s always a blast to see the kids take over the adult gathering. They did a great job sharing the true meaning of Christmas!

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Happy Holiday Season! December 1, 2024

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 12:56 pm

The holidays are officially here! Once the calendar reaches November, everything holiday related is fair game. Christmas music is a must. Christmas books fill my TBR list. Mid-November the fall décor gets swapped for Christmas. But don’t think that Thanksgiving gets forgotten! We’re coming off of three days of gatherings with family and friends. My fridge is full of leftovers and pie is on the menu morning, noon, and night. We are definitely grateful for the joy this season brings!

A highlight of November was the Operation Christmas Child shoebox assembly party we had with our homeschool co-op. Our group donned a mix of Christmas sweaters, Christmas pajamas, and comfy clothes and we blasted Christmas tunes. Instead of doing our own gift exchange, we opted to make filling shoeboxes the main focus of our Christmas party this year. We played a few Christmas games and nibbled on yummy treats. The boys love Operation Christmas Child. It’s always exciting to see where our box ends up each year. The kids prayed over their boxes as they selected what they hoped would be the perfect gift for a child across the world. It’s such a joy to share this experience with my kids and to do it as a part of our co-op.

We decorated for Christmas the weekend before Thanksgiving. Some people have strong feelings about when Christmas décor should come out… but I am not one of them… I love getting a full month of Christmas cheer out of our decorations. Every year the boys put up little trees in their bedrooms. These trees are filled with their annual ornaments. Opening each ornament box is like a walk down memory lane. It’s sweet to see the things they’ve loved over the years. Mickey Mouse, Daniel Tiger, Thomas the Tank Engine, Super Mario, Buzz and Woody, LEGO creations – they all have a space on the trees. This year the ornaments were Minecraft themed which fits with their birthday celebrations and Halloween costumes. I love the extra light the Christmas tree gives our living room during this dark time of year. The house always feels so cozy once Christmas is in place.

Our family has been watching our friend, Megan, compete on the Holiday Baking Championship on Food Network. Megan won week two with a peanut butter honey cinnamon pie and Jeremy declared this was the pie he was going to make for Thanksgiving this year. The boys were equally excited to create Megan’s winning pie so it became a team effort. I documented because there can only be so many bakers in the kitchen. Jeremy was committed to following the recipe precisely and the results were spectacular! It’s no wonder Megan won with this beauty. It was neat to connect with Megan and the show by recreating this recipe at home. It was also special to share the pie with family and friends who are also watching the show and cheering for Megan. This pie certainly evaluated our Thanksgiving dessert table this year!

It’s hard to believe that December is here! Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror and Christmas is full steam ahead. We have a month full of Christmas commitments. For church, we have a Christmas musical weekend and a float in the local lighted tractor parade. We also have a couple of church Christmas parties in the mix. We only have a small amount of Christmas shopping done as we prepare for family celebrations at the end of the month. We have a few family adventures planned as well. We’re going to be hopping through all the holiday festivities! I’m looking forward to all the ways we get to celebrate this Christmas (especially if we can be healthy and have dry weather – fingers crossed and prayers appreciated)!