Halloween: Just another Christian girl's perspective

It's not breaking news Halloween is rooted in evil. We all know the meaning of the day when we drive around neighborhoods and see demons hanging from trees, spider webs, ghosts, and all things creepy. My husband and I both grew up in families that pretended the day didn't exist. Our parents said it's evil, we don't celebrate, pretty firm in their stance. We participated in Harvest parties at church and dressed up in silly, happy costumes, we still got to bring our loot of candy and cakes home so we never felt we were missing out.

This year is the first year we have a house and a neighborhood and our 2 year old little man who is starting to comprehend what's happening. I wrestled through it, I asked friends, I've been struggling with going against my upbringing but here's the conclusion I came to. The point is we have to find our conviction for our own family, line it up with Truth of the Bible and go with it, and for us it seems to be that deciding year. For my family, my 2 year old has been wanting to see the creepy houses, he says he likes them. I've already needed to explain several times we don't celebrate creepy, we stay away from creepy. We don't want to bring creepy into our house.

There's a verse that rings true 1 Thessalonians 5:22
Paul is writing a letter of encouragement to the church of Thessalonians. He tells them to cling to what is good and stay away from every form of evil. Our knee jerk reaction is to say Halloween is harmless, we bring home a loot of candy, it's fun but do we go on the other side of the spectrum and lock ourselves in the house in order to abstain from every form of evil? Maybe yes your family needs to do that, maybe yes my family will reevaluate and need to do that but for now here's my charge for you. Be salt and light.
Inside your house should be a safe place filled with warmth and love.
Outside your house should be a bright light for Jesus.
Jesus never said hide out, cover your lamp with a basket. He said "put your light on a stand so it will give light to all in the house. Let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is heaven."

If you want ideas of what to do.. . I'll be decorating my house with all things Thankful, all things Blessed, all things Joyful. This is a time of year to remember all the good things Jesus has done for us and be thankful.
We can hide that truth or we can shine that truth.
Host a front yard party, serve hot apple cider to parents, meet your neighbors, make new friends. The whole neighborhood is out one night a year, we have an opportunity to hideout or shine bright. 

As for me and my house, we serve the Lord and I am so thankful Jesus died on the cross for me so I could live a full, abundant life and I don't want to hide that truth.


 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 5:13-16
 

1st "Wild Zebra" Birthday

Zane turned ONE. My little chubby, happy boy. 
We won't be doing a big party every year but we think the first year is a year to celebrate their new life. 
If your little one is about to have a birthday and you're thinking of throwing a big bash, it really doesn't take much. Pick a THEME first then everything else will fall into place as you collect decor and store food.

On the Menu:

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Chicken Salad

Broccoli Salad

Fruit

Assortment of Desserts

Zebra Poop

Animal crackers

Cupcakes 

Lots of decor can be DIY with a little paper goods and making use of naptime. It all comes together.

You can do a lot of filler decorating with pictures and what mom doesn't take at least a few pictures of their first year? ;)

Bouquet of flowers at the Farmer's Market can go a long way to add color to a table.

Mini popcorn cups at Target in the party aisle.

 

Frozen fruit ice cubes adds color and flavor to your drink.

Re-use Frappucino glasses and decorate them to go with your theme. I used tiger print wrapping paper found at Joann's for a $1, cut them 3 inches wides and wrapped the glasses. Wash them and use again for your next party. I store them in that cute box which also works great to lift the drink up.

Zebra Poop

(Chocolate Pudding, Oreo and Gummy worms, yumm!)

Don't forget to WELCOME your guests with some cute signage. A detail that gets forgotten a lot.

Happy Birthday little Zaney boo. We love you!!

 

 I want to take a minute to encourage you mama. I'm no one special, throwing a party like this is not hard to do. I make my list of Theme, Food, Decor, Games (none at this one), Favors, Signage and go from there working my way through the list. You can refer to my ideas, pinterest ideas, ask your friends, YOU can throw a party too. I just enjoy what I do and I enjoy even MORE encouraging other mamas they can too. Your little sweet babe is a life worth celebrating, a true gift from God so just have fun with it :) LOVE love to hear from you and see some pics of parties you throw!

 Send them to Hhinnenkamp9@gmail.com or post a comment below.

You ROCK Mama!!! 

Celebrate Life

 Moments like this don't come all the time, certainly not every day, but it was a moment captured in time that shines true joy and embracing life.

 Nobody posts pictures or can fully describe the dark moments in life, and who wants to read about those, but we all have them. We can go through months of darkness and time can keep marching on before a bright, shiny moment like this is captured. Some of us might even look at this moment in my life and feel sadness or hurt, and I'm not sharing this post to bring about those feelings at all, quite the opposite. We have choices in life. We go through the valleys, the dark moments, but we can choose to stay in them and let time pass us by or. . . we can choose to step out into the sunshine and embrace the precious things in life that we do have. 

There's a lot of things I don't have, a lot of struggles I face, a lot of dark moments I've walked through, a lot of uncertainty, but I do have a husband that wants to walk by the river and a son that wants to play in the river and (as of Aug. 6 at 3:19pm) another son who wants to sleep by the river. 

We can choose to focus on what we do have and choose to embrace the life we have been given. Everything else we can choose to let go of or life will pass by. 

Life really does pass us by if we let it. 

There have been so many days I have chosen to sit in pity or wallow and I've just completely missed what joy that day had to offer.

But for me, this moment, I want to forever encapsulate this moment to remember to choose joy and choose to embrace life. 

1st "ABC" Birthday

Asher Zion turned ONE and we had lots of fun from A to Z.

I kept it sweet and simple. Family and a few close friends. Appetizers and cake.

 Any mom can throw this party. Enjoy looking at some of my ideas. 

Pick a theme for your party first.

"ABC" Time

Menu:

Veggie Tray with dip

Ham sandwiches 

Cheese & Crackers

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls

Cupcakes on the tables

Cake on display

Fruit Punch

 I picked up a few plates and stands at the thrift store and dollar store.

Glued and spray painted them gold.

Scrapbooked some little signs with blank notecards.

 Made a cake stand out of a microwave food warmer cover and ribbon, glued on a stand.

Box cake and icing, easy peasy.

 A few decorations, some pictures, rented our apartment party room and called it a fun party.

 I wrapped a couple cans with wrapping paper to use as stands too. So easy. 

Don't forget plates, silverware and napkins.

 And remember a lot of love and a little detail goes a long way. 

Happy party planning!!

Camouflage Tea Party.

I just had to share this baby shower with you. The mama is pretty and girlie, and the dad loves to hunt. It was the craziest combination but so fun. Thought you might gain some inspiration from the theme for your next event. Just goes to show you can combine anything if you're willing to have fun with it, and we all wore camouflage.

 

Wedding Coasters.

Tea Time coaster collection.

Follow the colors of their wedding invitations.

#1 All things Blue and a bit of pink with a wood box

#2 Love of Lace Pink and Grey with a treasure chest

L.O.V.E. coaster collection

#1 August wedding in Grey with a splash of mint

 #2 Keep it cool in July with Sky blue and printed accents

 #3 Sunshine fun with bright yellow and offset with navy

 #4 Pick your Purple plain and simple

Put it with a date night gift card and tie it with a bow,

send it off with love and blessings!