Friday Favorites: Thanksgiving and Christmas

Hooray for Friday Favorites and HAPPY DECEMBER! It’s time once again for all of the internet to share the things that made our week just a little bit better. And to do a little victory dance. And to get the song “My Favorite Things” stuck in our heads. (Sorry.) So here are a few things I am loving lately, as I wrap up a festive week with my fantastic family of four.

ONE

Thanksgiving

You might have heard that on Thanksgiving day, Ry and I were recovering from sickness. So we just postponed our holiday, and prayed like crazy that our kids wouldn’t have to go through it too. Thank God that they didn’t! We had a great little feast on Saturday. We watched the parade and dog show reruns, we played, we ate a LOT, and we decorated for Christmas.

TWO

Christmas Fun

Speaking of decorating for Christmas, we’re ringing in the season with all sorts of things on our bucket list:

• Christmas music
• Eggnog
• Decorating inside and outside
• Christmas shopping
• Going to the annual Christmas parade
• Mailing Christmas cards
• Starting our advent book

THREE

Christian Yoga on YouTube

One morning this week, I leaned over to sweep crumbs up into the dustpan, and it felt like my hip was about to give out.

Thus the search for good yoga began.

What I found is an AMAZING channel dedicated to Christian yoga! I absolutely love Caroline. Her heart is genuine and I love starting my day with the flows she’s designed. It’s so nice to pop this on and know there won’t be anything that makes me uncomfortable. I can participate with my kids, work on flexibility (and lots of other things too), wake up, and say “good morning God.” It’s so healthy for all of us!

I found this quote from Caroline on her website, and I knew I had to share it.

To me, yoga looks like moving through a series of poses and spending some minutes in quiet meditation with the aim of surrendering the heavy burdens I’ve been carrying, noticing the drumbeat of Love echoing around me, and giving thanks with every cell in my being to the God who is worthy of it all. I practice yoga with the intention of connecting with and worshipping God.

To get started:

• Here’s the channel: Christian Yoga with Caroline Williams
• Here’s her advent yoga series (you heard me right!)
• Here’s her 15-minute morning yoga flow to help you wake up and say “good morning God!”

FOUR

Accidental Rap Battles with Kai

I didn’t teach my son to start rhyming. He just does it for fun, in the middle of our taunts at each other while we’re playing cops and robbers. Yesterday our conversation went like this:

Me: Bad guys forever!
Kai: Good guys are better!

Kai: Policemen are tough!
Me: Bad guys are tougher!
Kai: Policemen won’t suffer!

I love my policeman.

FIVE

My Favorite Pin of the Week

This is the busiest pinning time of the year, between holiday decor, devotionals, recipes, travel tips, gift ideas, and well, you get the idea. It was so hard choosing a favorite, but this one stood out just a bit:

Are you drooling too? It’s a recipe for Eggnog Cranberry Orange muffins by Bake. Eat. Repeat. On her blog, Stacey shares simple and delicious recipes that you can make from scratch for your family. I love her encouraging spirit and heart for moms who don’t have that much confidence in the kitchen. Not that I can identify with that problem at all, of course.

I’m adding this to my holiday baking repertoire! Let’s hope it goes better than my last attempt. (Note to self: always follow directions.)

I’m on Pinterest here, if you want to see what else I’m pinning lately. I’d love to see what you’re pinning too!

Tell me what you’re loving this week. And have a happy Friday!

Linking up with:

Friday Favorites with Andrea, Narci, and Erika
High Five for Friday with  Cup of Tea, Bright on a Budget, byBMG, and Della Devoted
Oh Hey, Friday with September Farm

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