We love doing stockings for Christmas at our house. It's fun pulling out so many small gifts -- it's like they just don't stop! But I know sometimes it can be hard to come up with ideas. I'm struggling with ideas for my husband, so send your ideas my way. In the meantime, I'll share my toddler stocking stuffer ideas with you! Toddler Stocking Ideas Sensory Bin Tool Set I've been wanting to get this set for Raylee for such a long time. I'm finally pulling the trigger this year and sticking two of the tools in each girl's stocking. This 4-piece set is perfect for sensory bin Continue Reading
Christmas Gift Ideas for Her
I know there are tons of gift guides out there on the inter webs, so I don't write about Christmas gift ideas often. But a friend recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas because she wasn't sure what to ask for this year. Thinking of things I want isn't difficult for me, to be honest. I pretty much keep a wish list going all year long so when birthdays or Christmas come along, I am ready! Today, I will be sharing some ideas for the woman in your life -- split into two sections: things I want and things I already have and love. I hope it gives you some new ideas! Christmas Gift Ideas -- Continue Reading
20 Toddler Gift Ideas
A few people have asked me what Raylee would like for Christmas, and I've seen even more mamas asking what they should get their toddlers for Christmas. I do not have any difficulty coming up with toddler gift ideas for my little one. I have too many ideas, actually! So I created this toddler gift ideas list just for those of you who struggle in this area. This Christmas, Raylee will be 21 months old, just a few months short of two. She is a full toddler at this point. She loves books and learning and trying out all the things. Her vocabulary is expanding every day. So this list was created Continue Reading
Recentering My Christmas Priorities on Christ
It has been way too long since I've blogged. Life has gotten busy and this space has been put on the back burner. It's not that I haven't wanted to write, it's not that I don't have any content ideas, it's just hard to make the time to sit down and do it. And the longer I put it off, the easier it is to put it off more. Other things have become more important. I used to say this blog was my baby, but now that I have a human baby (who is actually now a full-on toddler!), this blog is much less of a priority than it used to be. But I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. The Continue Reading
Christmas Shortbread Bars
I recently went to a Favorite Things party. Have you ever been to one? I think I need to throw one myself! I wanted to bring a treat to the party, which had a Christmas theme, so I made these Christmas shortbread bars. And they were delicious! Plus, it didn't take me long to make them! Here's what you'll need: Butter Powdered sugar Eggs Vanilla Salt Flour Dark chocolate chips Shortening Christmas sprinkles Peppermint candy pieces How to Make Christmas Shortbread Bars To make the shortbread, you take softened butter and cream it together with the powdered sugar. I used Continue Reading
Christmas Decorations 2015
This year I considered not even putting up our Christmas tree. At the time I didn't think Travis was going to be able to come home for Christmas. I asked ya'll on Instagram and Facebook, and everyone said to put it up! Then I found out my husband was going to get to come home, and suddenly I wanted all the Christmas decorations I could get my hands on. I wanted the house to be very welcoming and cheery and warm for his arrival. I got the Christmas tree up and decorated with the help of my mama and soon-to-be sister-in-law. Thanks so much for your help! I loved putting together the rest of Continue Reading
A Holiday Gift Guide for Bloggers
I've been a blogger for ... jeez, how many years now? I think I started my first blog in 2010 and moved to Seeing Sunshine in 2012. So I'm going on six years of blogging. Over that time, I've figured out what helps me with my blog and some things that I would love to have for my blogging "career." Do you have a friend who's a blogger? Or perhaps someone trying to get into the blogging world? This is my list of gift ideas for bloggers. Blogging Holiday Gift Guide Coschedule I just recently started my free trial of Coschedule -- you can get a 14-day free trial to see if you like it Continue Reading
Gift Ideas for New Homeowners
Travis and I bought a house at the beginning of this year. I've been living there and slowly fixing the place up since March. In those nine months of being a homeowner, I have discovered so many things I wish we had. Travis and I have talked about all the things we'd like to have as homeowners -- practical items that will come in handy as we fix up this home and even build our own home someday. As new homeowners ourselves, we thought it would only make sense to share these items with you as gift ideas for your friends and family who are new homeowners. Almost all of these items are on Travis' Continue Reading
Christmas 2014 Recap Part 2
Did you see Part 1? In my first recap of our Christmas, I left off on Christmas Eve day. After lunch with my family, we headed to Grandma's for our annual Canasta Tournament. Grandma buys random gifts throughout the year to use as prizes for our game day. First we played charades, then canasta, then hand and foot. We break into different teams and whoever wins each game gets to pick a prize. Since you can steal prizes from each other, it can get a little crazy. Christmas Eve night it's tradition to have a birthday party for Jesus. We all sit around the living room with only the glow of the Continue Reading
Christmas 2014 Recap Part 1
We had SO many Christmas get-togethers this year. And it was fantastic! We loved getting to spend quality time with family. It was my goal this year to get a great family photo with each of our families. And now that we know Travis will be gone for a year, it was even more important to me. I would really like to make this a tradition to do every year. It all began in Georgia when Travis and I had our own Christmas. We opened our Christmas presents to each other, ate Christmas cookies, and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. We headed to Indiana for our first family Christmas Continue Reading
French Toast Casserole
Some friends of ours are in the process of adopting five little people. All of the kids are moved in and the overwhelming transition period has begun. My friend went from being a married woman to a mother of five (six if you count her husband!) -- all in a matter of weeks. I know there are moments when she feels stressed from all the scheduling, overcome with tasks and tantrums, and down right exhausted from trying to handle it all with a smile. It's a huge change for her and her husband. But they long to give these five children, who they have fallen in love with, a place to call home and a Continue Reading
Christmas Decor and Cards
This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my blog. The Christmas season is fully upon us! We have the house decorated, I've made Christmas cookies, and the Christmas cards are in the mail! Now, to just finish the Christmas shopping. This year we decorated our tree with even more ornaments than last year. Now, we have ornaments from our cruise, our Disney World vacation, our trip to Sea World, and the ones we got for Christmas last year. Our tree is looking a little more full, although we still used a few dollar store ornaments to finish it off. By next year, we probably Continue Reading