Christmas Service Bucket List

I have seen a ton of Holiday bucket lists, so I thought it would be fun to do a service oriented one. I have made 2 lists. One has some suggestions, and the other is blank. I hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season!

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The Turkey with the Terrible Temper

I am not really sure where this story came from, but I loved it as a kid! I just used some templates that I had made to illustrate the story. If you need a quick cute story for Thanksgiving, this is it. You can either print this or if you are in a real time crunch, just put this pdf on your iPad and you are set.

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The Giving Tree

Shel Silverstein's story, "The Giving Tree," is a great example of how much you can love others by serving them. To start of this great month of gratitude, I thought it would be fun to read that classic story and to create our own "giving tree." Part of having an attitude of gratitude is serving others, so the purpose of this giving tree is to do one random act of kindness everyday for the month of November. Each day an act of kindness is done, a leaf can go up on the tree. Here's to having beautiful full fall trees by the end of the month, and having full hearts as well. Here is a free printable if you would like to do your own "giving tree."

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I am Still Here... And a Quick Game for Halloween!

I can't believe that it has almost been a year since I posted on this blog. Sorry I have been absent, but we have had a ton of changes in our little family. My husband has graduated from law school, passed the bar, and is now a gainfully employed attorney. That has simplified my life some. :) I am no longer working full time and have been able to stay at home with my daughter. We are also expecting another little girl right after Christmas, so we are really excited! It has been a transition going from being a working mom to a stay at home mom, but it has been great! I have been tackling projects that I had previously neglected due to my simple lack of time while I was working. I seriously have a profound respect for both working and stay at home moms. It has been a good learning experience for me to be on both sides. :) Anyway, I have recommitted myself to this little blog and I am hoping to have a new freebie/ post once or twice a month.

Here's the fun part. I saw on Pinterest, these little dice number games for Christmas, but didn't see any for Halloween. Since my daughter has started preschool this year, and has started learning to recognize numbers, I thought I would whip up a quick game for Halloween. We tried it out and she thought it was pretty fun! Basically, you just roll the dice until you fill in all of the numbers on the ghost. My daughter also LOVES to glue cotton balls to pictures, so I have also included a blank ghost that you could use for a little cotton ball project. I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween! I just love the holiday season.

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Gift for Jesus

On Christmas Eve our family likes to talk about the birth of the Savior, and the gifts the Wisemen gave to Him. After we talk about those gifts, we talk about the gifts that we can give to the Savior. We write them down and place them on our Christmas tree. After Christmas we will put our note in a place where we will be reminded each day to serve others and to remember Christ all year. It is a fun tradition and helps me to remember why we celebrate Christmas.

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Christ Centered 12 Days of Christmas

So, I must be on a 12 Days of Christmas kick this year, but I wanted to share with you the 12 Days of Christmas that we like to do for neighbors. It is a fun way to remember the reason for the season. I will give you some gift ideas that I came up with, but anything that goes along with the theme will be great!

On the first day of Christmas, Jesus Christ gave sight to the blind.
Gift: Christmas Movie

On the second day of Christmas Jesus Christ was the light of the world.
Gift: Candle/ Flashlight

On the third day of Christmas Jesus Christ healed the sick.
Gift: Operation Game

On the fourth day of Christmas Jesus Christ gave the gift of charity, the pure love of Christ.
Gift: Heart shaped cookies or heart shaped ornament

On the fifth day of Christmas Jesus Christ fed 5,000 with 2 loaves of bread and fish.
Gift: A nice loaf of bread from Great Harvest or Kneaders and swedish fish.

On the sixth day of Christmas Jesus Christ made the deaf to hear.
Gift: Christmas CD

On the seventh day of Christmas Jesus Christ gave the gift of selflessness.
Gift: The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke (There are some nice illustrated versions)
A Christmas Carol would work really well, too.

On the eighth day of Christmas Jesus Christ gave the gift of baptism.
Gift: Flavored bottled water and dove white chocolate

On the ninth day of Christmas Jesus Christ gave the gift of the Holy Ghost, the comforter.
Gift: Blankets

On the tenth day of Christmas Jesus Christ made the lame to walk.
Gift: Fruit by the Foot

On the eleventh day of Christmas Jesus Christ clothed those in need.
Gift: New clothes, or Christmas socks with candy

On the twelfth day of Christmas Jesus Christ gave his life for us so we can live with him again.
Gift: Picture of the Savior

Note: If you have any ideas for gift please share! There are a ton of different ways to do this and I would love to hear some. If you want to do this, it starts tomorrow! :)

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12 Days of Christmas Gift Tag Printables

Each year I have the hardest time trying to surprise my husband for Christmas! Every year I think that I am being so sneaky and he always guesses his presents! So, this year instead of trying to surprise him with that perfect gift, (hasn't worked the past 6 years) I decided that I would try doing something a little different. I thought it would be really fun to do the 12 Days of Christmas for who it has always been intended for, you true love, right? Don't get me wrong, I am totally going to do the ring the door bell and run 12 Days of Christmas surprise for someone in my neighborhood, but I wanted to add this for my cute hubby.  He told me that it can be hard to feel the Christmas Spirit when he is so stressed about finals, so I thought this might be a good way to help him feel like he is a part of all the merriment.

I think for me, the goal is going to be to find small gifts that represent some things that I love the most about him and also some of the Christmas memories we have had. For example, his aunt makes a mean red velvet cake and he shared his love of red velvet cake with me the first Christmas we shared together. So, one of the days MUST be red velvet cake!

So, get out there and spread some Christmas cheer to that special someone!!! Also, if you have any great gift ideas for that man in your life, please share! I am in desperate need of some help!

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