My Birthday Weekend :)

It's Sunday night and we are finishing what has been an extremely busy but fun three day weekend. On Friday (my 28th birthday, yuck!) Jason and I both took off of work and had a fun day with the boys. The highlight of the day was a visit to Build a Bear where Caleb built a Frosty the Snowman.

Caleb putting the "heart" in Frosty. He had to jump up and down three times and spin in a circle three times to put "magic" in it.

Blake enjoyed watching Caleb. The next time we go Blake will have to be big enough to make something too!

Giving Frosty a bath!

The finished product!

Though a little expensive, I highly recommend Build a Bear to any one with a little one! I did feel better about spending the money because I had a $5 off coupon!

After visiting Towson Town Center I ran into WalMart and picked up the Little People Nativity Set that I have had my eyes on for a long time. Again, I got a deal because I mentioned that I had seen it advertised for $15 cheaper on the internet. Just by mentioning this they took this amount off. I debated for a while if having a toy nativity set was sacrilegious, but in the end I decided it wasn't. It has already provided many opportunities to discuss the true meaning of Christmas with Caleb and Blake (although he is a little young to understand) as we play together with it.

Blake playing with the nativity set.

On Friday night Caleb spent the night at my parents and then on Saturday he went with them to a Christmas Tree Farm in Manchester, Maryland to get a live Christmas tree. I am not into live Christmas trees, but I'm glad that he at least got to experience this with my parents. It has always been an important tradition to my Mom. While Caleb was with my parents Santa's elves were extremely busy wrapping presents. In fact I wrapped until 9 p.m. Saturday night! I am exhausted, but it's a good feeling to know that the house is clean and decorated, the presents are bought, and the presents are wrapped. I was very proud as I realized how much money I have saved this season. By buying throughout the year, waiting for sales, and going out on Black Friday I saved hundreds of dollars this year. In previous years I just grabbed things as I saw them, but this year I had to be more thrifty. Even if we are better off in the future (the far future) I think I will continue to do this.

Today, Sunday, we enjoyed a great service at Community Christian Church on "Defining Moments." Jason and I each have dominoes that were given out at the service. It's a reminder that defining moments can be that "first" domino to a ripple effect. I was also reminded that I still need to work on increasing God and decreasing myself.

Tonight we went to Jason's parents to celebrate his brother Christopher's birthday. My fingers hurt from our crazy weekend. I'd like to say that next weekend will be slower, but with three holiday parties it's not looking hopeful. However, I am getting better at not being too distracted by the world. No matter how much "stuff" I have to do, my God and my family need to be the number one priorities. I thought of this as I held both of my boys on the couch a few minutes ago and snuggled as we watched "Polar Express." Despite the busy holiday season being upon us, I hope you too get a few moments to enjoy life in the next weeks!