Brand New Prints + Holiday Kick Off Sale {SAVE 50%}

I've been hard at work this month preparing some new prints to go up on my Etsy Shop. Take a look!

HOLIDAY PRINTS

O Holy Night

Names of Jesus (Isaiah 9:6)

NAME PRINTS

Colossians 1:9-10 Chalkboard Print

Matthew 5:16 Custom Dedication Print

ADOPTION

John 14:15 Print

(50% of sales of this print will be donated toward Bobby & Kyla Mitchell's adoption fund.)

HOLIDAY KICK OFF SALE: 

Take 50% off your total order when you shop November 29 - December 3.

COUPON CODE: THANKFUL 13

Need something customized? Contact me to place your special request.

My Christmas shipping cut off is December 13.

Thank You God for Thanksgiving! {Printable}

Thanksgiving happens to be my husband's favorite holiday. What's not to love about turkey, football, family and being grateful, right? Every year throughout our entire marriage we have spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey at his parent's house. Yes, this family likes their traditions!! So it's no surprise what our plans are this year! Since I don't host, I don't normally go all out decorating for Thanksgiving.

This year, we are heading down to NJ a bit earlier than normal. My mother-in-law had surgery recently, so Tommy is helping his dad with all the cooking. YES, I got a man who can cook a mean turkey and stuffing! How did I get so lucky?!

So, since the rule of our house is that Christmas decorating doesn't begin until Thanksgiving is over (although I do secretly listen to Christmas music — don't tell!), this year I'm getting into the spirit of celebrating my hubby's favorite day! And my new-found love for all things pumpkin flavored is helping!

A favorite activity we've started doing with our three-year-old is the Thankful Tree. We gather sticks from our yard, place them in a vase and then hang tags on the branches that list things we are thankful for over the past year.

Some of Levi's tags are our tree say:

Thank you God for ALL candy. (We still have way too much Halloween candy in this house.)
Thank you God for Keane and Annika (Two of his best buddies)
Thank you God for Thanksgiving.
Thank you God for George & Clifford. (That's Curious George, of course!)
Thank you God for my favorite cars.
Thank you God for Red Lambs and church. (Red Lambs is his class at Community Bible Study)
Thank you God for wearing shorts and shoes.
Thank you God for playing with my dump truck.
Thank you God for Daddy, Mommy & Silas. And Kirby too!

So, here's a 5x7 printable to get you into the spirit of Thanksgiving — or really any day! Because this Thanksgiving and throughout this Christmas season, I want our family to focus more and more on thankfulness and giving and less on STUFF.

And since Christmas is almost here, I wanted to pass along an interesting blog post I stumbled upon last week that really challenged my thinking about Santa, materialism and teaching our boys about the greatest gift of Christmas. I know, it seems a little over-the-top, but it's a great perspective! (I don't follow Jen Hatmaker regularly, but I know enough about her to know that she is the real deal.)

Finally, I'm really, really trying to hold off until after Thanksgiving, but I'm very excited about some Christmas prints that will soon be available on Etsy!! Ok, here's a hint: Isaiah 9:6. Of course I'll let you know when it's ready as a download from my shop!

Shirts for a Worthy Cause {Adoption}

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." James 1:27

"I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." John 14:15

Do you have a cause that is close to your heart? For me, it's adoption. {And it just so happens to be National Adoption Month.} While my husband and I don't have any adopted children, it is a huge part of our extended family – my husband's cousin (who is like a cousin to our boys), two of my cousins and our niece and nephew.

Emma Betilehem and David Shashigo, our niece and nephew, have a special place in our hearts and our among my son's most favorite friends. Cousins are the best! And these two are so fun to be around!!

And what's so exciting is that these two cuties will soon have TWO more siblings, and my boys will have two more cousins to laugh and giggle and play with. My husband's brother and sister-in-law, Bobby and Kyla, are waiting for their travel itinerary to meet their twin baby girls – Sadie Tseganesh and Eliza Dinknesh. The girls turn one this month, making them just two months younger than our youngest.

Not only is this national adoption month and Sadie and Eliza's birth month, it is also (hopefully!) the month Bobby and Kyla will get to meet their babies! Unfortunately this time around, the process has already taken 2+ years, and they will be required to make two trips to Ethiopia and won't bring their babies home until their second trip in Jan/Feb 2014.

Here's where you and I come in. Do you have a heart for adoption too? Do you want to share the message of God's love for all orphans and His promise to care for them? Are you excited that God is using families like Bobby and Kyla's to rescue these precious children?

I would like to invite you - friends, family and maybe even some of you whom I haven't even met - to help Bobby and Kyla in a very small way with their travel expenses (can you imagine the cost of 4 round trip tickets to Ethiopia??)

I spent some time last week designing this super cool shirt to support their adoption. And we tried to keep it affordable for the whole family! We are currently taking pre-orders for these shirts, which will arrive in time for Christmas!!

Available in sizes 2T - 3XL.  Gildan soft style. Dark Heather Grey.
Toddler: $10, Youth: $12, Adult: $15
$5 flat rate shipping or choose local pick up.

Cash or check is accepted as we want as much as possible to go directly into their adoption fund!  Pre-orders will be taken through November 25 and after that a limited quantity will be available through my Etsy shop. 

If you want to order a shirt you can contact Kyla or email me here with your size. Or leave a comment below!

Thank you for supporting a worthy cause to give Sadie and Eliza a loving home where they will have two parents and a brother and sister who love Jesus with all their hearts!

Erin