The Third Annual Viking Family Advent Calendar: updated

Can't believe that I started a tradition that I'm actually keeping! LOL You can read about our attempt last year here, here, or here.

Anyway, the way this works for us is that starting tomorrow, this Viking family will try to do one Christmas-y, family-oriented, frugal/free activity each day until Christmas Eve. I have one day still unaccounted for but the second third draft of the calendar looks like this:

December
1: Reindog Parade - Don't ask! LOL

2: put up tree

3: cut out paper snowflakes

4: make EZ ornaments probably from one of these ideas

5. MOMS Club holiday card hen party completing party. Too frugal this year to send out my historical mounds of cards but we'll be trying to send out a few! LOL

6. donation drop-off to local school. A teacher friend of mine asked for as many AA batteries for his scientific calculators that we could carry! LOL

7. sleep under tree (have to work the details out on this one yet! LOL)

8. Cmas craft at the library

9. go see the snowmen public art display (still trying to find the link...)

10. night walk w/ parents as sled pullers

11. putting candles in window (with explanation that this may have started as a Celtic/Gaelic [my background's] custom)

12. local kids' museum Cmas activity

13. St Lucia Day. BIG surprises in store for DaGrandpa with Flicka dressed up like the lovely girls in the top photo on this page.

14. make red/green Rice Crispie treats (one of DaHubby's favorites)

15. my family's Cmas party in Detroit - and we're having it here! Wa-hoo!

16. church Cmas party

17. make Scottish black bun

18. Parents As Teachers holiday open house/party

19. night drive to look at lights

20. make some Cmas cookies

21. drive thru local nature preserve, gardens dressed in lights for Cmas

22. baking a birthday cake for Jesus

23. watch Polar Express. Burned on DVD from last year's ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas. We can't watch these anymore "live" since we no longer have cable! LOL

24: go see a matinée, a "real" movie, Pojke's first around noon since DaHubby has this day off!

My goal was for this to be inexpensive and I noticed while typing this out that it is still pretty "money-" and "supply-heavy" so it may still be tweaked. But, what do y'all think so far?

A year ago last week...

...I began the transfer of all my old posts from Faithprints to Blogger. Lisa, Sara, Anita, Debbie, Marilee - can you believe it? A YEAR! So happy Blogger anniversary to us all!

And, I just noticed while logging in the last couple days that I am up to FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY posts! *stunned silence* How did THAT happen? LOL

Must be my big bloggy blabbermouth! LOL

The last year has been amazing, transforming, uplifting, affirming, delightful, and many equally cool things thanks to the ladies listed above along with several others who have been "bloggy mentors", who had gotten here first and showed me the way. Kelly, GiBee, Peach, Laurel, Kari, and others...thank you as well!

My world is better for having "met" all of you!

A Published Author

Our church is fortunate to have several pastors present in the congregation. Yet, we are still a pretty small church. We have the couple actually called to us - Pastor Don and Pastor Deb. Then, Pastor T has retired from the ministry at our church and is our pastor emeritus. Then, there are others who are certified pastors (from our organization as well as others) who call our little congregation their church home and step in occasionally to minister when the need arises like DaGrandpa. Another of these is Pastor Harold.

Pastor Harold and I share a fondness for books and have both dreamed of being paid for what we write. By God's grace, provision, and guidance, he achieved this dream first! Directly below our picture in the right column is a new button showing the full cover of Pastor Harold's first book! He's really "arrived" - it's listed on Amazon! Wow! LOL

Please feel free to check it out. Search for the title via my Amazon associates link directly under that button which should you decide to purchase it would provide me with a very small percentage of the sale!

Tack själv! (Thanks!)

Thursday Thanks Tank

In honor of Peach and the ladies of Thankful Thursday...

No specific list this week...just an observation. Before I was familiar with the Biblical call to tithe, I really misunderstood all that was involved. Faithfulness and honoring on our part. Provision on His. "Small" things like that. LOL

Then, I began hearing stories about how the money of folks who tithed was seemingly going farther. Those that gave God the first 10% found that the remaining 90% could be stretched beyond logical, natural explanations.

In the interest of transparency, there are times DaHubby and I have tithed and there are times we have not. But, when we did, I finally experienced that supernatural provision for myself. But, that's another story.

Well, the last 2.5 months, we have been doing Financial Peace University as I've talked about here, here, and here. Yesterday, we hit a milestone. We completed baby step number one! We have an emergency fund with $1000 in it!

And, during the last few weeks, we've noticed a few things...

We seem to be getting fewer bills in the mail. When I open our mail, there's a little basket in the kitchen into which all the bills go to be filed in an organizer by due date. I barely have anything to file the last couple paydays. And,...

We seem to have more money than we can spend! LOL Proportionally speaking, I mean, considering 3 months ago we were going $100-200 in the hole each month. For example, got done grocery shopping yesterday and realized that even after a regular trip, I had $16 dollars left. If you think that's no big deal, keep in mind I'm only budgeting $65 a week!

And, since the Vikings have had monies budgeted for them to earn a quarter here and there for things they do around the house, there was money to spare when both got to pick out a new toy all for themselves at Family Dollar yesterday.

And, when we got done paying all the bills written in our FPU cash flow plan yesterday (DaHubby gets paid on Wednesday if you were wondering), I had over $100 left! There had to be a mistake! DaHubby and I checked the numbers over and over and realized that it probably had to do with the fact that we had to pay a bill last week for about that amount that wasn't scheduled to get paid until this week. Anyway, that extra $100 topped out the emergency fund! Two weeks earlier than planned! Wa-hoo!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've come to realize that remembering that it is ALL God's and He is only asking for 10% of it "back" has increased my thankfulness for whatever portion He allows me to manage.

And, right now it feels like He approves. Praise Him! I'm thankful beyond words.

Wordless Wednesday

Man, am I getting a lot of bloggy fodder out of these snow photos or what? *wink*

Check out other WW's here.

Flicka's Future Photography Fun

I read in our local paper yesterday that the consumer market for digital cameras is saturated. According to Ritz Camera, they were the #1 requested electronics gift for the 2006 holiday season. So, what's an industry to do? Let the marketing begin to a new demographic: kids! LOL

Apparently, as my mom was packing it up to leave Saturday after a visit, Flicka and she were discussing the next time we'd see them - around Christmas. And, Flicka (in a typical three-year-old fashion) suddenly burst out with the fact that she's wants a camera of her own.

Now, I've mentioned here before Flicka's seeming obsession with our camera. I've even posted a few of her masterpieces for Wordless Wednesday. I also entered her in a contest for photos from a kid's perspective. So, it has been established that she has an eye like her daddy for a good shot.

So, my mom (being the excellent grandma she is) promptly goes home, goes through the Sunday advertisements, and finds three kid cameras on sale this week! LOL (I come by frugal shopping naturally!) She calls and asks which one do we think would work best. Included in her list is one of these digital cameras from Ritz.

Talk about the marketing folks earning their keep! Even the front lens area of the Disney camera looks like Mickey! LOL

So, DaHubby and I hashed things out over the specs of each one and, yes, Flicka will be receiving her very own camera some time in the next 30 days! LOL

Hey, someone is gonna have to be responsible for taking all the photos of the future! *wink* And, some day if she keeps it up I may actually show up in a few family photos since I won't always be the only behind the camera anymore!

She is SO right!

Laurel dares ya to watch this and then NOT sing it all day! I'm hooked! LOL

(I'm providing the link since embedding it would ssslllooowww down the blog loading to a snail's pace.)