The good, the bad, the ugly…

OK…so I’m keepin’ it real today. And you’re getting a slice of real life…the good, the bad, the ugly—and just because that’s only 1 positive and 2 negatives…we’re adding “the cute” to that too. The good, the bad, the ugly…and the cute in the Young house:)

The Good 
CHRISTMAS CARDS! There is nothing I love more in December than going to our mailbox each day to get our Christmas cards! SO FUN! I’m always stumped for the best way to display them. We’ve done the frig–I mean COVERED our frig ALL sides top to bottom. We’ve done cute little baskets…but they get tossed in and rarely enjoyed. This year I wanted to create something with purpose. I’m using my basket again for families with older kids and I’m putting together a bulletin board for 2010 to put a different set of cards on each week to remember to pray for these families. FOR THE KIDS though…we created my most favorite Christmas decoration yet…not another tree or ornament that has more traditional meaning than the true meaning…but instead we created something to display our little friends to pray for that we can keep up all year (or until the kids tear it down):

[Notice our little heart in Ethiopia?!]
How appropriate to remember THE WORLD and Jesus’s love for all at Christmas. As we made it, we had an AMAZING talk about the world—the creation of the world…the stars in the sky (they had a BLAST putting the stars on) and ultimately…the world is the reason Jesus came. We wrote the words “Jesus loves the little children of the world” around our world–and we talked about how much Jesus loved each one of these friends as we put them up. I explained to them that THIS is why each of our friends has SUCH GREAT VALUE! Because GOD created them and HE LOVES THEM! And we should treat all of these friends with such love and respect because of our Creator.

We put this world on the door that leads to our garage—really, OUR door TO THE WORLD! I love the feeling that *I* personally have going out of it. Like I am being SENT out into the WORLD! I love the mental picture of sending MY CHILDREN out into the world to love others as Jesus loves them! And as I reach for the doorknob I see these faces and remember that indeed Jesus really does love each of these…AND DEEPLY, PASSIONATELY…SO MUCH HE CAME FOR EACH OF THESE…born in a manger over 2000 years ago for each of these sweet children…and I pray that we can love each of them with His same love!!! Man, talk about a way to exit your home! Talk about one of the best Christmas decorations we could display…THE WORLD!

We’re going to keep these up as long as we can…as long as they stay up with a 1 year old, 4 year old and 5 year old;)…and to make the pictures less seasonal–I trimmed close to the images before popping them up with tape. I knew they would fall with time—so to better secure them I found some fun paperclips and above and below each image I made a tiny little slit with a sharp knife and attached the cards directly to the paper with the paperclips too. They are shimmery paper clips too and fun colors (got those at OfficeMax) By the way, everyone needs a HUGE kraft paper roll–we use ours WEEKLY—you can buy yours here
Love the paper clips though…such a fun shimmery touch:)

THE BAD
Just in case I come across together and like super mom with these crafts–I’m really not. I’m a sinner saved by grace—and I mess up daily. More specifically, I’m a complete slacker when it comes to house cleaning and laundry. I am also really forgetful. (Praise Jesus for sweet, forgiving, patient friends!) And my office is always a complete disaster (unless a friend forewarns me days in advance they are coming over…it’s never tidy). Please know that when I take pictures I usually move a bunch of junk out of the background—and life here is really REAL. I love to blog though because I LOVE to write…it’s a passion of mine. And writing is such a healthy outlet for me. My husband laughs and says my blog readers know me better than most people because I am so open when I write…that’s just how I express myself best. I want my blog though to be an ENCOURAGEMENT to those who read it, to share what we do here just in case it gives other moms ideas too…and I can also appreciate being a stay-at-home mom stuck at home during nap time, needing just to sit and read…and NOT wanting to do laundry (I blog during naps instead of laundry:) I would just fall over backwards if I ever made anyone feel like I’m super mom or perfect. Because I’m far from it!

Yes, that would be a McDonald’s hamburger (sorry Richard–it had to be done!) We zipped by the assisted living today to visit great grandmother—and although it was great to visit her and make the elderly smile—you can’t do it all. And if it means letting the laundry go or going to McDonalds so you can do things like this…IT’S OKAY!!! Some of my sweetest childhood memories were at McDonalds;)…stacking those boxes at birthday parties:)

And I even let my baby some times play with swords…isn’t he cute:)

THE UGLY
I had to think of something ugly to share…and this is what is most ugly right now in ouu home!

FRUIT FLIES.

Oh my goodness I just have to say that I hate fruit flies. I’m so proud of myself though because after a week of craziness and attempts to kill them all, I discovered a way to finally be rid of them. Of course put all your fruit in the frig first–but if simple tricks like that don’t help–here’s my 911 tactic that wipes them out forever and fast!
*1 cup of raspberry vinegarette (something sweet and vinegar scent lures them) in a disposable cup
*Put a tablespoon of dishwashing detergent in and stir (makes them sink..yes I’m drowing my fruit flies)
*Cover tightly with seran wrap and poke holes with fork

See those little black dots in the cup?!…poor guys!
THEN pour this

down any kitchen drains and let it sit (better to do at night when you won’t need to run water)
WA-LA! They are finally gone. YUCK…that really is ugly isn’t it?! But the holidays when you have lots of fruit baskets and sweets is prime time for those little boogers.

AND THE CUTE

Wishing you a great weekend! XOXO!

Andrea