Preparing for Advent

I have been wanting an advent calendar since Aubrey was born. I have looked and looked, and loved the ones at Pottery Barn, but I didn't want to spend that much. I decided I could make one very similar to the one in PB so I ordered some felt and got busy. This is what it became. About $20 worth of materials and 2 Saturdays watching football while working on it, and here is our Advent calendar. I am so pleased with how it turned out. It's about 3 feet by 3 feet, and now I have to figure out what to put in the pockets each day. If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment! Advent begins tomorrow. It's hard to believe. I want to really teach my children that Christmas is not about the presents, Santa, trees, etc, but truly about Christ's arrival and the gift that God gave to the world with His birth. It is hard in this day and age, but maybe with traditions like the Advent calendar we will get there.

Now I'm on to ornaments and other Christmas crafts. I would show pics, but they are presents, so it will have to wait till later! We are going to get our tree today and get out all our decorations. I love it! It is so perfect that we are going to possibly have snow flurries tonight too. Just in time.

On another note, it was a great day in the Higgins house yesterday as the GaTech Yellow Jackets beat the UGA Bulldogs IN ATHENS! The Gators also beat the Noles in Tallahassee, so it was a perfect football day. Way to go teams!

thankful

Just posting some recent creations. Since the weather has been colder I have been taking advantage of staying inside and getting some creative juices flowing.

I just had to post this thankful banner I made this week. My very talented and generous friend Jill is a wonderful digital scrapbooker and she created these leaves for a design team she is on. She made a cute banner with hers, and sent the files to me also. So of course I had to do something with them and this is what I came up with. It's perfect for the season I think.

This layout is one I recently did of Mallory. It's one of my all time favorite pictures of her. I entered it in a calendar contest for the hospital she was born in and she didn't make it. Can you believe it? Something is wrong with those people! Just kidding, but I do love it.

I am so looking forward to this week. Tomorrow Aubrey has his Thanksgiving feast at school. (This year he's not going to be a turkey like his class was last year, he's just going to be "plain old Aubrey" he tells me). On Wednesday Leah, Chris and Jay are coming into town. We can't wait to see them. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, so I am really excited. Have a wonderful week full of thanks and giving.

So Thankful

This week Aubrey and I have been talking about Thanksgiving and I saw this idea in a magazine. I thought that it would be a great way to remind us through Thanksgiving how many things we have to be thankful for. So Aubrey and I got out the paper, paint, scissors, markers and crayons and went to town. He really wanted to have a squirrel, so we printed one out and he colored it. He also thought we needed some grass, so he was in charge of it. Anyway, our list of course includes our family and friends, God's love and also pumpkins, trees, Aubrey's four-wheeler, etc. I love how Aubrey is so literal about what he loves. He can make a list that noone else would think about. That's how he prays too. So sweet and I know God loves it. I am hoping to make this a yearly tradition. We can't be thankful too much, you know?!

Hawaii Highlights

I know I have been slow getting this post on here. We have just had a nice week of getting back into our normal routine. I know I said it before, but there is no place like home. I love being at home. Makes me kind of boring I know. Anyway, here are a few highlights from Hawaii.

Our first outing was to the Honolulu Zoo. It was a neat zoo, really laid back. The kids of course loved it.
These trees were so cool. I just had to take a picture of them.
From the time we told him we were going to Hawaii, Aubrey said he wanted to surf. We had to tell him he was too young, but the boogie board was a great substitute. It even made it back to Georgia with us.
Here is our bathing beauty. It was her first time at the beach and she loved it! She had so much fun playing in the sand.

Is there anything more precious than baby feet? I don't think so!

We got to have dinner on the USS Missouri, which was the battleship where the treaty to end WWII was signed. It is docked in Pearl Harbor. It was so beautiful at night, and we were the only people there (our group). Norman, the C12 leader in Hawaii's father was the interpreter for General MacArthur when the treaty was signed. He was a Japanese-American soldier in the US Army. Norman spoke of the work his father did in the Army and how they didn't even know he was part of that historic event until after his death. We owe our freedom to so many amazing people.

D. and Aubrey took a helicopter tour of the island. They both loved it. You couldn't pay me to do that!

Here is Mallory with some strange man she took to at the last dinner. He had some crazy hair!

Here's the whole clan. We had a fun time each night at dinner and the food was wonderful.

Here is the Aloha Tower. It is down by the ports. It used to be the tallest building in Honolulu. Now you can go to the top floor and go out on the 4 balconies to look out on Honolulu.

Here are some of the tropical fish that swim in the harbor where the ships come in. It is so crazy because you expect the water to be nasty, but it is beautifully clear and the fish are just like in Finding Nemo!

Here is the view from one of our hotel room windows. We were overlooking the Hawaii Yacht Club, founded in 1901.

And here is the view from our house in Georgia this week. Fall is so gorgeous in this neck of the woods. I'll leave you with this verse that is such a wonderful reminder to me.

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Psalm 116:7


Even with all that is going on in our world that troubles us, the Lord has and will continue to be so good to us.

Aloha! and Tag I'm It!

Aloha! We are back from Hawaii and very sleepy! I am embarassed to admit this, but I didn't get out of bed today till about 9:45! The kids are actually still sleeping right now at 10:15. I know it will just take us a couple of days to get back to normal. (whatever that is!) I will post pics of our trip in a day or two. I haven't loaded them onto my computer yet, but I will. We had a great time, but I am a firm believer that there is no place like home. So check back in a couple of days and I will have them on here.

For today, I was tagged by Heather to write 7 random things about myself! Heather was in my class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and is very crafty, so check out her 7 things and her fun blog. Here you go:

1. I can't wait to vote! I look forward to it every time I get the chance to vote, even in local elections. I am so proud to be able to do my American duty. If you haven't voted, please, please do. (but only if you are going to vote like me, otherwise you can skip it!) (: Just kidding!

2. I love candy. Those of you who know me well, know that, but D. makes fun of me b/c I have stashes usually around the house!

3. I can move my ears. I'm hoping at least one of my children will also be able to since it is a genetic trait.

4. Saturdays in the fall are my favorite days in the whole year. College football just makes me so excited! With that I have to say GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GATORS! They did it and did it well this weekend against the Dawgs. Now I don't have to listen to the Dawg fans again for another year. And I love the cool weather and beautiful trees. Just everything.

5. I really am not a beach person. I don't really like the sand and hotness. I would rather be at the lake or the mountains. It's not the being outdoors, just mostly the sand I think.

6. I lead a book club for women at my church. We read Christian fiction. The best book I have read lately is The Shack. If you haven't read it, run, don't walk to the bookstore or hop on to amazon. com and get it. It is life-changing. Fabulous.

7. I don't like to cook, but I love to bake. I don't know why.

Now I have to tag 7 of my friends! Here you are, you have been tagged!

Kim

Jill

Laura

Meredith

Amy

Sue

Jennifer

Ok, there you have it! Now we can learn 7 random things about you.