Friday Favorites: Advent is Here!

And the heart that makes time and space for Him to come will be a glorious place.

A place of sheer, radiant defiance in the face of a world careening mad and stressed.

Because each day of Advent, we will actively wait. We will wait knowing that the remaking of everything has already begun. ~Ann Voskamp

Advent is here! The waiting and the coming of Jesus! I love this season and the hope and joy it brings!! 

I'm starting my days during Advent with The Greatest Gift. I read it last year each morning in December and I'm doing it again this year. It is amazing and I can't recommend it enough. We also love starting each day as a family with our Nativity Advent Calendar. (The price has gone up on Amazon but it's cheaper other places) We're also attempting something new this year and doing Ann Voskamp's family devotional. We're just doing the devotional and discussions this year, nothing extra. In the future we may do more, but for now we're planning to keep it simple and hoping we can still keep up!  

This week has been a little on the crazy side. I've come down with an awful nagging cough, it has taken a sweet forever to get the house cleaned and back in order after finishing up all of our Christmas decorating, and we've all been a little slow getting back into the swing of things. But we are enjoying all things Christmas and this season of Advent SO much. 

Here's a look at my faves...

*Thanksgiving Eve shenanigans. Haha. We enjoyed our break to the fullest. 

*All piled into daddy's truck about to head to the tree farm for one of our favorite traditions! With Christmas books in tow!! 

*Last year we got the boys Christmas pillowcases as a fun surprise to enjoy during the Christmas season and on Friday I changed the sheets and made up all the beds so they'd be surprised to find them Friday night. Mission accomplished!! They were THRILLED.  

*There's something here that doesn't belong... that definitely wasn't a part of the 1st Christmas. Hahaha. #Laytonwashere #boymomlife

*Layton spent a couple of days with Granna and Piper this week and he discovered a new favorite Christmas decoration. 

*The double Ferris Wheel that actually goes and plays Christmas music. He's smitten. =)

*My mom hosted us and Anna's family on Tuesday night for supper and made us a huge feast! And this is after she hosted Thanksgiving! Obviously we're extremely spoiled and the bar has been set HIGH. =) It was a fun, delicious, and festive night. 

*Soooo good. #southernfood #soulfood #thebestfood

*2 of my favorite people. =)

*On Wednesday we completed our 30 days of Thanksgiving. Every year since Garrison was 3 and a half I've asked the boys what they're thankful for each morning in November. It's a great way for us to be intentional about gratefulness but also to acknowledge God as our Provider and the giver of all good things. They enjoy it so much that they reminded me several mornings throughout the month! 

We had one repeat on Garrison's by mistake and Layton had several repeats which we eventually tried to discourage because he was thankful for tractors a LOT, hahaha, but each of their personalities can be seen a little in their lists and it's become a neat little tradition. (Brandi, you made Austin's list after your help with getting his brothers well. =))

*Game Night by the Christmas tree! Don't Break the Ice is a favorite for all 3 boys. =)

*Favorite Not-Pictured Moment: Last night was our first family devotional with Unwrapping the Gift by Ann Voskamp. It started off a little wild (and honestly Layton never really did calm down, ha), but it turned out so special. The big boys seemed to really enjoy it and I loved our discussion once we finished the reading. I think it's going to be a really meaningful addition to our Christmas season. I'm especially looking forward to starting each day together with our Nativity Advent Calendar and then wrapping up each day together with our devotion. 

We are so thankful for Friday and the weekend!! (Especially after coughing kept me up half the night last night. Ugh.) Tonight Terrell and I have a Christmas party to attend and the rest of the weekend is pretty wide open. We're hoping to tackle a couple more Christmas projects around the house... possibly some outdoor decorations so we aren't the lone dark house on our street, haha, and maybe even getting a tree up in the basement. That one's a long shot but we'll see. I'm also starting on Christmas cards and wrapping. So it should be full of Christmas fun. =) Happy Friday, Happy Weekend!!