Life as Mrs. Emerson

I'm really looking forward to continuing our Christmas celebrations this week with family. Happy Monday and Merry Christmas!  Before you find yourself in a hurry to pack up each and every Christmas decoration this week take a moment to reflect on the fact that it is only the 4th Day of Christmas.  That's right.  Traditionally Christmas marks the beginning of the Christmas season and not the end.  December 25 marks the beginning of the 12 days of Christmas which run through January 6.  January 6 is also Epiphany or the day that Christians celebrate the coming of the Magi.  In our home I have passed down the tradition from my parents of leaving all of the decorations up until we celebrate the coming of the Wise Men on January 6. While you might feel a rush to pack everything away once-don't!  Even if you notice your neighbor's decorations are all neatly packed away in the garage.  Instead choose to incorporate just a little more memory making this week with your fa

This year for Christmas we opted to take a nice relaxed approach.  We cut out a few things in order to simplify Christmas and I am so thankful.  Together we decided to enjoy decorating our home, hosting a Christmas dessert fellowship, building a gingerbread house, enjoying a few outings, reading through Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, and enjoying a thick stack of Christmas books. On Christmas morning we just took it nice and easy.  Brandon and I woke long before the children.  Eventually Brandon couldn't contain his excitement any longer and we woke them up!  What a sweet memory to hold in our hearts. Together we enjoyed such a lovely morning of just being with one another.  We opened a few gifts, played with new toys, and enjoyed a leisurely brunch.  I baked a German Puff Pancake for the first time that was a smashing success (and so very simple).  After plenty of time spent at home to relax we headed to the Farm (my parents home) to enjoy Christmas with extende

I had so much fun sewing with Meme in November. Yes we are more than halfway through the month of December but I thought I would share what I was busy sewing in November.  Everything I made in November except for the following jumper is actually a Christmas present so this will be a short post.  Rather than spoil a nice surprise I will only be sharing the jumper that I made for Eva.  Stay tuned after Christmas to see all the gifts that I made. Brandon's grandmother Meme amazed me with her sewing skills!  Over Thanksgiving the family and I loaded up and headed to Arkansas to spend close to a week with family.  One of my favorite parts of the week included the afternoon where Meme (Brandon's grandmother) and I had a sewing party!  We had the absolute best time sewing right alongside one another.  Meme is pictured in the photograph above and if you look closely you can see that we each had a sewing machine.  (I'm actually blessed to keep a sewing machine and a small

The weeks leading up to Christmas are always busy.  In fact, they can be downright chaotic.  This year I'm hoping to be more intentional with how I spend the days leading up to Christmas.  It's always hard because I think each one of us has a tendency to get stressed out with Christmas just around the corner.  I find it helpful to ask myself, "In thirty years what is going to matter most to me?  Will I be sad that I didn't mark every minuscule deep cleaning item off of my list or will I be thankful that I took the time to make the memories that are important: teaching my children the true meaning of Christmas?"  Here are a few of the items I hope to accomplish this week in between all of the memory making!   Mothering/Marriage/Family 1.  Continue reading Unwrapping the Greatest Gift in preparation for Christmas with the family.  (We are actually a few days behind so hopefully I can squeeze in a few extra readings this week.)  I"m also anticipating lot

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings--and Life  by Laura Vanderkahm: I really enjoyed reading this book filled with tips and ideas for maximizing one's time.  Although I'm not clocking in at a paying job every morning I do take my job as a stay at home homeschooling mom very serious.  There is so much that I hope to accomplish each day and I must say that this book was so helpful.  The book itself is concise and could easily be finished in one sitting.  At one point last month I even caught the happy hubby reading this book which actually fueled some great discussions.  I am so thankful that he took the time to also read this book!  We talked of course about productivity but also had a great conversation about how we were spending our family time.  One part of the book includes a discussion on what successful people do on the weekends.  It was incredibly helpful for me to read through this section and really determin

A beautiful sunset at my parent's farm. Phew!  It feels good to be home after a week filled with traveling out of state to visit family.  We had a lovely trip but were gone almost the entire week.  This week I will be trying to balance the many responsibilities and appointments that we have with allowing my children to rest.  It always takes at least three days for my children to recover from a long car ride. This week I am turning my attention towards Advent.  It is my prayer that our entire family can be intentional this coming week to begin preparing our hearts for Christmas. Here are my goals for the week: Mothering/Marriage/Family Take the children on a nature walk one afternoon.  Attend 3 appointments with Evangeline this week. Begin reading  Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas  with the family.  We used this book last year and I was so excited to begin that we actually started a day early.   Complete a list of activities for Advent