I have so much catching up to do on this blog. We have been having a completely wonderful Christmastime. Santa came to our house early this year, so I will do another post soon about Nathan’s third Christmas (THIRD. How is this possible??).

Also, this morning I read the best blog I’ve read yet on the tragedy that occurred on Friday. It’s here if you would like to read it and I very much encourage you to do so.

Still continuing to pray for those families who lost their sweet babies. My heart just aches for them. I am so reminded in times like these that we were not created for this and this world is not our home.  May we never forget how fragile this life is and live every moment treasuring the time we have with our loved ones. And oh, may Jesus come very soon.

I really loved this advent calendar that we followed. Most everything was easy enough and short enough that even when we missed a day or two here and there, it was fairly simple to catch back up. 🙂

Day 15 – we read Luke 2:12-14 and walked around the mall and looked at Christmas decorations.

 
Day 16 – we read Luke 2:15-18 and sang Christmas songs.

Away in the Manger from Erynn Mangum on Vimeo.

Day 17 – we read Psalm 95:6 and read a Christmas book.

 
Day 18 – we read Luke 2:19-20, 33-35 and made snowmen out of cotton balls.

 
Day 19 – we read Luke 2:21 and drove around to look at Christmas lights.

Day 20 – we read Luke 2:22-24 and met Santa.

Day 21 – we read Luke 2:25-32 and took pictures by the Christmas tree.

 
Day 22 – we read  Matthew 2:1 and read a Christmas book.

Day 23 – we read Matthew 2:1-2 and went to the River of Lights.

Day 24 – we read Matthew 2:9-10 and made cookies for Santa.

Day 25 – we read Matthew 2:11 and celebrated Christmas!!

And what a wonderful Christmas we had!

Praying for you and yours,

Friends, I had planned on posting a blog about all that we have been up to preparing for Christmas today but my heart is so heavy right now that I am not able to do so.

Please pray for the families involved in the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting. I have spent much of the morning crying, praying and hugging my son tight as more and more news comes in about this senseless act.

I do not understand why these things happen. In times like these, we have to cling to what we know: God is good. He is not cruel, He is not unloving. How His father’s heart must be breaking right now for these parents in grief for their babies. May He comfort them with the peace that only He can give.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

I loved reading all of your favorite Christmas gifts!! The winner of the autographed Sketchy Behavior is…

Abby! Email me at erynnmangum@gmail.com and I’ll be sure to put that in the mail ASAP. 🙂

I am so far behind on this blog. We have been having SO much fun this Christmas! I’ll write a post tomorrow about everything we’ve been doing.

Someone has been loving all the Christmas movies we’ve been watching! Yesterday, Nathan told me that there was a “little boy with a stick” (Tiny Tim) who always said, “Happy birthday, everyone!” (ala Frosty the Snowman).

Well, almost. 😉

Hey guys!

Somehow I missed Friday completely – so sorry about that! 🙂 So, here’s our final Holly Jolly Giveaway – an autographed copy of Sketchy Behavior!!

Leave a comment answering this question to enter: What has been your favorite Christmas gift you’ve ever received? I’ll pick the winner on Wednesday!

In other news, Cool Beans is currently free on Kindle this week! Just in time for some post-finals reading. 😉

Have a great Monday!

So sorry I never got back to some of your questions on my first advent post – we have had a crazy couple of weeks!

I got ideas for the activities by searching a ton of blogs and just remembering things we did as kids or do now that I love – like looking at lights or reading Christmas story books. Things like that. I searched “advent” on Pinterest and found a TON of blogs with some great ideas!

Here’s our second week – we have been LOVING this. 🙂

Day 8: We read Luke 2:5, sung “Away in the Manger” and learned “Silent Night”

Day 9: We read Micah 5:2 and made thumbprint Christmas cards for our family. 🙂

Day 10: We read Luke 2:6-7 and went to get frozen yogurt.

Day 11: We read Luke 2:7, bought three toys and donated them to a church Christmas store.

Day 12: We read Isaiah 9:6 and made peppermint hot chocolate.

Day 13: We read Luke 2:8-11 and watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. (Both Jon and I had just worked out, so please don’t look at us. My favorite part of this picture is the hot chocolate spilling down Nathan’s shirt as he drinks. Ha!)

Day 14: We read Luke 2:12 and made paper snowflakes.

🙂

We have had a crazy day but I did want to post this picture of my boys before it got lost in the depths of my camera. We gave Jon a Vikings shirt for his birthday that was late getting here and as soon as Nathan saw it on his Daddy, he said, “Hey, the Bikings?!”, went running for his playroom and insisted that he needed to put on his Vikings shirt too.

It seriously makes my heart just melt that he wants to be so much like his daddy. 🙂

And the winner of the autographed copy of Double Shot is…

Stephanie! Send me an email at erynnmangum@gmail.com and I’ll get that out to you ASAP! 🙂

I’ve got one more Holly Jolly Giveaway for this coming Friday!

We had a very laid back weekend. I even got a little bit bored at one point (can’t remember the last time that happened) and this was the result:

Yep. Bangs. We’ll see how long they stay. 😉 We spent Saturday around the house soaking up the last few weeks of college football.  Nathan was overjoyed because he got to watch a lot of the Alabama/Georgia game from his favorite place on earth – right between me and Jon:

Afterward, our friends Shannon and Eric had a Christmas party. So fun, but I will say that parties are not what they used to be before we had Nathan.

Not that I would change our crazy son, but I always feel like we need to send an apology gift to our poor hostess when we leave. 😉

Yesterday, we had another day at home after church and then “Unca Bynant” came over and stayed until after dinner. Nathan might have been a little over the moon about this. He loves going to see the extended family at Gammy and Pops’ house, but whenever anyone comes to our house, it’s like the angels have started singing. Poor Bryant got dragged all over our house looking at every single thing that could possibly belong to Nathan.

 
I am so proud of my mom because she ran in the Las Vegas marathon yesterday and did great, despite getting texts like this from Nathan:

We try to be encouraging. She did awesome and I’m so proud of her!

We went to Lunch Bunch this morning, ran by the grocery store, I put Nathan down for a nap and got dinner going and I’m finally sitting down for the first time all day. Life is crazy but we are more than blessed.

Please know that even if I don’t mention it often, I am still praying for all of you who are waiting for something along with us, especially those of you waiting for a husband or child. There is such an emphasis on love and families and children around Christmastime and I know it can be an extremely difficult, lonely time. I don’t want to pop the spiritual band-aid on there so I just want to say I know it hurts and I’m praying for you.

Love to you all!

 
I am now taking pre-orders for Paige Torn on my website – just in time for Christmas! Yay!

Please note that the actual book will NOT ship until it becomes available – on or around May 1st. In the meantime, I’ve prepared a PDF file for you to print out and wrap up for Christmas. 🙂

Don’t forget to enter my contest for Double Shot down below! Hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday afternoon – I’m about to go make some spiced tea and settle in for some writing time during Nathan’s nap. 🙂 Happy December!

 We were so busy celebrating this amazing guy’s birthday yesterday that I completely spaced to put up the next giveaway!!

This week’s giveaway is an autographed copy of Double Shot!

Leave a comment letting me know your favorite Christmas food or drink to enter! I’ll draw the winner on Monday!

Have a great weekend!

We are starting early this year just because of a few different things, but we have LOVED doing Advent so far! Nathan gets so thrilled to open the little doors and see what the paper says we’re going to do that night. 😉 I got the layout for the verses from this blog here.

Day 1 – we read Luke 1:26-28, 31 and decorated an ornament for the tree. I think he looks about 19 in the second picture.

Day 2 – we read Matthew 1:18 and prayed for our extended family.

Day 3 – we read Luke 1:46-55 and watched Frosty the Snowman. Nathan got to eat pizza while he watched at Mom and Dad’s. 😉

Day 4 – we read Matthew 1:20 and decorated a tree in Nathan’s room.

Day 5 – we read Matthew 1:21 and put up Christmas lights on the house.

Day 6 – we read Matthew 1:22-23 and Isaiah 7:14 and played a family game (Duck, Duck, Goose and Ring Around the Rosy were the choices). 🙂

Day 7 – we read Luke 2:4 and watched a Charlie Brown Christmas.

I love this season so much!!