My family and I had a spectacular Christmas holiday with my husband’s parents and grandmother.
I have to say, it was so nice to not have to pack up the whole crew and travel. Once Flynn is with us and (God willing) the dairy goats, I don’t think picking up and heading out of state for long weekends becomes as feasible with our little Subaru.
In any case, it was such a blessing for Gram (their great-gram) to see the kiddos and they loved playing with her.
We had a wonderful visit and some pretty fantastic food *ahem* if I do say so myself.
So today, we’ve been catching up on laundry (and by we I mean my wonderful husband), and dishes (I took the bullet on that one.) and the kids have been enjoying their Christmas gifts.
In preparation for the new year, I’ve been doing goal setting and year-end evaluations which I was inspired to do by Jami Balmet at Young Wife’s Guide and going over what has worked and what hasn’t worked over the last year. That process led my husband and I to discuss some changes we can make in the upcoming year to better utilize our family time, blog, homestead, Etsy shop, and so on.
So, we took the plunge into Amazon affiliate links, and monetized the blog. What does this mean for you our faithful followers? Basically nothing will change. WHL content will continue as it has been focused on holistically honoring God in all we do on the homestead. The only notable difference will be that now anytime I brag on favorite books, products, or tools, you’ll be able to see minimal ads and access my favorites as well as support us here at Wholly Holy Living/ Shaggy Maple Homestead by using our links to make your Amazon purchases. Cool, right? I think it’s a pretty win-win situation. It’s coming a little at a time, and the changes will occur gradually.
Additionally, in the long-term, we’ve decided that in order to improve our business marketing strategy, we may incorporate some social media avenues. I’m not entirely sure what those will end up looking like, but for now, we’re thinking those things through and coming up with a strategy that won’t rob us of our time and attention.
I thought I’d share with you our favorite Christmas Gifts of 2018
The kids loved loved loved the Dino tools Play-doh set
My favorite gift this year was a 3-way tie. My husband got me a dining room set! and I love it. It seats up to 10 individuals so we now have space to host guests, as well as our larger than average family. I was super excited about that. And from my lovely in-laws, I received a new sewing basket, and a stainless steel milk can! The sewing basket I needed desperately to organize and store all of my embroidery and sewing paraphernalia- we spent Christmas Eve untangling all the embroidery floss! Wouldn’t you know, it was blue- my favorite!
And the milk can was my special request for when we get our dairy goats.
I’ve been making a concerted effort to switch my dinnerware to stainless steel, as well as prepare all the necessary tools and building materials we need to house and shelter and care for our new additions this spring (again, Lord willing.) So both were welcome wonderful gifts, and I couldn’t have been more thankful!
My husband got a really neat new tool, which rates it’s own brag post. His parent’s got him this little “thingamajig” called a Dodow.
Anyone seen these before? He has diagnosed insomnia and as such finds it difficult to turn off his mind and find sleep. This device basically functions by giving a visual light representation of pranayama relaxation breathing in order to slow the heart rate and intentionally quiet the mind for sleep. It does this by casting light on the ceiling which pulsates and you synchronize your breathing to the light movement. Pretty cool! He hasn’t used it yet, but I have hopes that it will work for him. He also got some full-length baseball Tees, which, may actually be more for my benefit because that’s one of my favorite things to see him wear. They’re flattering and comfy, doesn’t get much better than that.
Franhais Mens Casual 100% Cotton 3/4 Sleeve Baseball Tshirt Raglan Jersey Shirt,Size M-2XL (M, White)
AND- Gram brought with her the first of the 3 wise men for our nativity set. He is spectacular!
My daughter loved all her gifts but so far has spent the most time playing with a Melissa and Doug veterinary medicine set.
I was stumped as to what to get for that little one, as she’s kind of a hard read. I knew she liked animals though and so far the gut instinct has not failed me. She was taking care of the puppy and kitty last night up until bed time!
OH- and now that Christmas is over, I can share what I was working on for Gram!
I finished it just in time! I found a frame for it that matched the lettering and complimented it nicely, I think. And she liked it! We chuckled over wondering where I find the time for needle point.
So those have been the favorites so far, but what a wonderful Christmas we had! Now we’re counting down the days until we pick up Flynn pup!
Wholly Holy Living 