The Grinch Who Stole Our Elves!

On Day 5, our elves arrived bearing gifts and dressed up like the characters in the movie, The Grinch.  We are NOT big movie people, so we had YET to see the Grinch movie and our elves knew it.  

They greeted us with tickets to see the movie, in little elf envelopes.  Aren't they so dang cute?

They also brought grinch ski hats, grinch lollipops, and a sno-moji HEART maker.  I loved incorporating this gift, that I previously planned to gift to my kids in their christmas stockings. Remember, the Grinch's heart grew and grew and eventaully the true meaning of Christmas lived inside of him?

"Let's Go To The Movies!"

I would totally share my movie ticket design with you, but this idea wouldn't be able to be replicated since the movie won't be playing next year. LOL!

We did finally get to see the movie.  Lilah brought her girlfriend Salena and Jax brought his buddy Matthew.  

Although these elves are work, I cannot imagine NOT doing it.  It's an opportunity to be creative, to bless my children, and to create memories.

Outdoor Movie ~ "Up"!

During the Summer, our church plans some fun, FAMILY activities.  A few weeks ago, we had family kickball, but we were just heading back from the beach, so we couldn't attend. Last night, we had an outdoor movie, at our dear friends Brett and Jody's home. Brett is also the youth pastor.  The kids begged and begged to go, but Darren and I felt it was a tad too late for our schedules.  We had a long talk and decided that it would really bless our children as well as ourselves to be with our church family, so we broke out of our shell and decided to go. Since we are early risers, it's hard to keep ourselves motivated past 9 pm.  The movie didn't start until 8 pm because Brett needed it to be dark out, in order for the movie to be visible.

*I apologize, in advance, for the horrible photography.  We were politely asked, by Ansley, to "silence our phones during the movie", haha, and so I didn't want to be the loud audience member with flash photography.  Haha.

Brett picked the movie "UP".  Darren and I have a REALLY hard time sitting still long enough to watch a movie, especially a kids movie, but what I have seen of the movie "UP", prior to going, I will say it goes down as one of my all time favorite Disney movies.

We arrived to a play house dressed up like the house on UP. Ansley was a cute advertisement for the movie!!! Brett and Jody provided popcorn, made from the professional popcorn machine, soft drinks, and all kinds of fun ways to relax while watching the movie.  The kids could sit on big lawn pavement blankets, on top of a trampoline with blankets, in the bed of a pick up truck, or on one of the many tailgating chairs provided.  There was a large, over-sized fan blowing along with a nice fire to roast marshmallows in.  

The air was cool, the crowd was large, and the kids were ready! We prayed and thanked God for the gift of good food, friends, fun movies, but especially for His son, Jesus Christ.  I am so thankful that we have this family in Christ to do life with.  My children love to be around other people and our families are so spread out.  They would really be missing out on the blessing of family if we did NOT have our family in Christ.  Brett and Jody, last night was so fun, relaxing, and a true gift. Thank you for opening up your home to everyone! Lilah was especially thankful because she was able to spend the night with Ansley.

Let's Go To The Movies: Minions!

#campkristin was at it again this past Wednesday! I took 8 kids, ALONE, to see Minions!!! I brought my laptop and attempted to blog a little.  I got half of a post written in-between taking kids to the bathroom, refilling popcorn buckets, and reminding some kids to use their inside voice.  LOL!

The Christmas Story MOVIE Clips

For all of my dear friends/family who have NEVER seen the movie, The Christmas Story, here are a few, small explanations of WHAT our Christmas card was all about. This movie is a CHRISTMAS CLASSIC. Ask anyone!!!!! I'm still amazed it's even possible that someone has lived on this earth and has never seen the movie. For the last decade or more, a certain television station plays The Christmas Story in the form of a marathon. For 24 hours straight the same movie is played over and over and over and over for again.

Tyson's Character - "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Jax's Character - " I double dog dare you!"

Lilah's Character - "Ohhhhhhh fudggggggggggge!" Soap poisoning.

YouTube DOES NOT provide an embed code, for the soap scene, that is pleasing to the ears aka audible. Just click on this soap poisoning youtube video link to redirect you to the actual video on youtube.

God Grew Tired of Us!

Tonight, Darren and I watched a VERY INCREDIBLE documentary called, "God Grew Tired of Us!" The documentary is about three young men who leave behind a land in chaos to find new lives in a thoroughly different culture. As the African nation of Sudan fell into political disarray near the dawn of the 21st century, with unspeakable violence following in its wake, thousands of refugees attempted to flee the country, making their way into Kenya in hopes of earning passage elsewhere.

Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abu Pach, and Panther Bior were three such people who eventually came to the United States. A filmmaker spent four years following them on their journey from Africa to the United States - a new unfamiliar land.

In God Grew Tired of Us, the filmmaker documents the young men as they struggle to build new lives for themselves, acquaint themselves with the "American" way of doing things, the difficulties of being black in a primarily white culture, and try to track down the friends and family they were forced to leave behind.

It was really difficult watching this documentary. It sickened Darren and I to see, up close, the massive struggles that people in other countries go through: starvation, loss of family members, being barefoot, and illness, just to name a few. It was incredible to see how uncivilized these gentleman were, yet how humble they were as well. When they flew from Africa to New York, we got a chuckle as they got onto the escalators in the NY airport. Each of them almost fell because they had no idea what an escalator was. It was amazing to see how appreciative they were over things that we complain about, ie. having a trash can.

This documentary was very sad to witness, especially after they entered the U.S. It was a reminder that as Americans, we are SPOILED, unfriendly, and unaccepting of different cultures. The 3 gentleman found it difficult to manage paying their bills on top of spending time with each other. In Africa, family bonding and staying together in groups was the norm. In America, it seemed, from the documentary, that we have/make little to no time for family and bonding.

We rented this movie on NETFLIX. I highly recommend it. It's great for ALL ages. I hope to let Tyson watch it so he can see how blessed he truly is.

For a sneak peak of the movie, view this link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32IxyvoSZKo

IT's a total MUST SEE for so many REASONS!!!!!