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Circle of Moms--Please Vote and the Virgin Mary



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As you may know this year I really tried to focus with Hazel on the true meaning of Christmas and not all the commercialism.  To see some of the things we did you can check out my post with the Focus on the Nativity Blog Hop here. We also went to a live nativity which I highly recommend. Anyway, with our focus on it and going to church (my favorite time is Advent since I love all the Christmas music and stories), my mind has been on the Virgin Mary. Now I should add that the sermon at church the Sunday before Christmas was about Mary, so it was planted in my head. The sermon was on the true personality of Mary. She is always portrayed as obedient and good, however doing what Gabriel asked was a huge sacrifice and could have caused her death. Plus we tend to overlook that she was an unwed pregnant teenager when we look at her as a role model for our children. However this is not my focus of my thoughts completely tonight.

Happy Family Times

Has your family done anything different and fun this week? Kelly at Happy Whimsical Hearts and I would love to hear about it. Please share it below. Kelly has done a wonderful round-up of her favorite family activities shared!!

This is our last Happy Family Times. Kelly and I both feel we are not able to give this link party enough time anymore even though we love reading what your families have been doing. We hope you will continue to come read our blogs and share at Sharing Saturday.


This week Hazel and I drove to New Hampshire for a birthday party for twins of a friend of mine from graduate school. Steve would have joined us, however he had caught a bad cold and stayed home in bed. They had the party at an indoor play place called Nuthing But Good Times. Look at the crazy play set they have there.

The big slides scared Hazel and so did the crowds of people on the large playset, so she decided to stick to the small one after going on the big slide with one of my friend's babysitters holding her hand. Hazel and I tried the snake tube slide as well, but it also scared her. Personally I was fine with the little one since there were comfortable chairs for me to sit and watch.
Climbing on the small one
Small Slide
After some pizza, play time we were called back into the party room for cake and ice cream.
We had a good time. Hazel mentioned hoping she gets invited again next year.


Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.


~ please link up (family time oriented giveaways are ok, but please no Etsy shops)
~just crafts will be deleted since this is to share family times ~ use our button so others can join the fun


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~ we'd love for you to follow us Crafty Moms Share and Happy Whimsical Hearts
~ check out our Happy Family Times Pinterest board where we will be pinning some of our favorite ideas



Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Multicultural Monday--Fairy Tales from Around the World

It has been awhile since I have done a Multicultural Monday. I am so sorry!! This year I thought I would take some time to focus on fairy tales with a bit of their known origins and look at different versions of popular stories from our culture. I was inspired by April over at April's Homemaking since I have so enjoyed her 52 Weeks of Fairy Tales series and another blog that I apparently did not record that had a list of ten versions of Cinderella from around the world. If it is yours or know which one I am talking about please let me know so I can give them credit!!

Virtual Book Club for Kids--January Author is David McPhail

Sharing Saturday is still open to share your child-oriented crafts and activities!! Or come by and visit a few to be inspired!
As you may know I have joined a wonderful group of bloggers to present the Virtual Book Club for Kids where each month we pick an author and all choose a book by this author and come up with an activity or craft to go with the book. Then we post our ideas and open a blog hop where you can join us. The blogs hosting are:




One of the  the things I love about this book club is it has introduced me to some great authors that I would not have read otherwise. This month is one of those authors.I had heard of David McPhail, but had not paid any attention to his books. I am not sure why. I guess I looked quickly at a couple and didn't think they were our style. However now that I have investigated them some more and actually read them, I am finding several I really like. I hope you will join us on January 21st for our David McPhail Blog Hop. Make sure you visit all the other hosts so you can see all the great ideas and learn more about David McPhail books!!

Sharing Saturday 2013 #1

Sharing Saturday Button
Happy New Year!! I know the last few weeks have been a bit crazy for me, but I am almost all caught up now. I hope 2013 is going well for you and wish each of you happiness, love and good health! Thank you to all of you who shared your wonderful, creative ideas last week. We had many inspiring ones, so if you have not had a chance to check them out, please do so!!

You may remember at last week's Sharing Saturday I had not had time to visit all the posts that had been shared the previous week and therefore did not pick features. I finally did visit them all and picked features earlier today here.

We had a tie last week for most clicked, so I am just going to share some of my favorites.

1) From Life with Moore Babies: Icy Water Bead Cubes
2) From Family Home and Life: Fold-up with Handle Toddler Play Mat (Yes, I had to show you two pictures to give you the full picture--open and folded)
3) From Pam's Party Planning & Practical Tips: Pretzel Snowmen
4) From Raise a Boy: Decorating Popcorn Balls
5) From Adventures at home with Mum: Outdoor Play of Mixing Flower Cocktails for an Afternoon Tea Party
6) From The Iowa Farmer's Wife: Blessing Box


Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here or earlier this week, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog.
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From Your Hostess:
Hazel's Princess Party Actual party and Royal Menu and more


Now for This Week's Party 
I made a few changes with the beginning of the new year. Since Mama Mia's Heart 2 Heart has not had a new post since July, and I have not heard from her since that time, I decided to take her name off the party button. If and when she returns to the blog world, she of course will be welcome to join me in hosting again, but for now I'm solo again.
 
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.
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4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook and Google+
Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest