Ginger Casa

Tyler, TX blogger - parenting, cooking, DIY-ing, crafting, sports, and life with three boys!

Visit Texas Christkindl Market Arlington TX

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Christkindl Market Arlington TX

Texas Christkindl Market Arlington TX

This post has been brought to you by the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau. All opinions are mine.

Arlington 2011 Christkindl Market Day Two photographed Saturday, December 2, 2011. Photography by Bruce E. Maxwell.[/caption]

We love holiday events, but are always unsure about the best ones in our area, and if they are even family friendly.  This year we will be attending the Texas Christkindl Market in Arlington, TX and here's why!  

First of all, the event is free and parking is free.  It's not a gamble to if your family will like it and if it's "worth it," because you only spend what you want to spend.  It's an open air market where you can shop for gifts and holiday decorations, enjoy German cuisine, holiday beverages, live entertainment, events for the kids, and much more.

Christkindl Market Arlington TX

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Easy, Fun Crafts for Kids from Oriental Trading

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This post about crafts for kids was brought to you by Oriental Trading.  All opinions are mine.

As a stay-at-home mom of two boys who loves crafts, as well as a volunteer teacher for Children's Worship at church, I'm always looking for fun crafts for kids that are easy to do and worth hanging on to after they're all done.  When I browsed the Oriental Trading website, I was pleasantly surprised with their selection!  I picked out a few things to review and I'm so happy with what we got.  

First up, we received the Color Your Own Knight Mask.  My boys LOVE knights and pretending to be knights, so I knew this would be a hit.  We were scheduled to teach Children's Worship at church, too, so I thought, what better way to use this awesome craft with the them of "I'm in the Lord's Army!"  The kit came with 12 masks that were very easy to assemble, all for only $5.25!  (The masks are currently out of stock, but keep checking back!)  Oriental Trading also has color your own shields, swords, and more, to coordinate with the knight masks.  

Here are the boys, coloring their masks:

oriental trading

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Shop ALDI For Your Holiday Grocery Items!

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 I have shopped at ALDI a few times before and have always been pleasantly surprised with their selection of products.  The store itself isn’t big, but they have LOTS of stuff and all at a reasonable price.  The Captain loves to put the quarter in the shopping cart and then retrieve it later.  This is just one way that ALDI saves customers’ money, by having us return our carts so they don’t have to pay someone else to do it.

ALDI always has a great selection of seasonal items, as well.  Upon entering the store, I quickly saw lots of red bows on the price tags of the holiday items:

holidays

When we visited ALDI, there were many displays of Christmas themed items, such as these Cookie Ornaments, Gingerbread Houses, Gingerbread Men, and mixed nuts:
holidays

And don’t forget the paper goods!  Christmas napkins and plates, all for a great price:holidays

We were able to buy all of this for under $30.  You can’t really tell, but there are two frozen pizzas, a ham, a Rice Krispies Holiday House kit (the Captain’s choice, was on sale,) Benton’s Cranberry Cookie Straws, chocolate chip cookie dough, a pineapple, two boxes of hot chocolate, and two boxes of fruit strips!   Shopping at ALDI really helped take a load off of our holiday shopping list!
holiday groceries

The boys absolutely loved making their holiday Rice Krispie Treats house.  The Captain had been asking for a gingerbread house and this was a great substitute at a fraction of the cost!  It was on sale for only $2.99 at our ALDI.  We have already eaten some chocolate chip cookies as a little treat and devoured the hot chocolate after a night of caroling with our church!

ALDI has a lot of new, different, reasonably priced food, candy, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and more so stop in for all of your holiday shopping needs!  Some special holiday items include seasonal beverages such as egg nog and sparkling apple cider, as well as wines, cheese, crackers, and desserts.

Visit the ALDI website to find a store near you!  How might ALDI help you with your holiday shopping list?

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for ALDI. I received a gift certificate to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.

"Love Came Down" – The True Meaning of Christmas

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Everyone knows that Christmas has become a commercialized holiday.  While it has Christ's name in it, Christmas isn't about Christ to so many people in this world.  That's why it's that much harder for Christians to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas.  But I'm up for the challenge because really, it is the greatest story ever told and the reason that we are who we are.  Jesus Christ came down to this earth as an infant, pure and innocent, as a gift to the world so we might be forgiven of our sins and get to spend eternity with him in Heaven.  What a wonderful story and the perfect cause for celebration!  Christmas IS the celebration of Jesus Christ!

Did you know that God sent Jesus to this earth for us?  Did you know that Jesus is the true gift of Christmas?  After all of the toys have been opened and long after they're gone, Jesus still remains and always will.  Love came down and He will never leave us.

I am always looking for ways to not only teach my children about Christ, but ways to remind myself of Jesus' love for us.  I like things that make my kids ask questions and spark interest so the story can be told again and again.  I love these beautiful reminders of Jesus' love from DaySpring.  These drinking glasses simply say "Jesus purest love."  As we are sipping our holiday cranberry juice or water, we can simply be reminded of why we are celebrating.  Jesus.  Purest love.  Amazing love.

love came down

I also love the idea behind DaySpring's "giving platter."  The idea is that you give the plate, along with a food item such as cookies, to a friend or loved one.  They can choose to keep the plate or bless someone else the same way that they were blessed.  I think this is great because it shows friendship and love, has a reminder of Jesus' love for us, and has a simple "pay it forward" reminder on it.  Plus, it's beautiful!

love came down

This is the inscription on the back of the plate:

love came down

Ornaments that remind us of how love came down and that Jesus is the true reason for the season are my favorites.

wonders of his love

This is the back of the ornament, that truly explains the "wonders of his love."

verse

These DaySpring items would make great gifts for someone you love or a great way to serve as reminders to yourself of God's love for us!  

Find all of these great items and more at the DaySpring website.  And, pick up this tabletop advent calendar for only $5.99 (regularly $14.99):

Jesus

DaySpring wants to give one Life With Captain Fussybuckets reader their own set of drinking glasses and giving platter like the ones we received to review.  Just enter in the Rafflecopter form below.  Giveaway ends on November 30, 2012.  

Lisa G. is the lucky winner!!

 

Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway

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Just in time for the holidays, Melissa & Doug has released their "Terrific Twenty!"  These toys are the top toys of 2012 with toys for every child in every age range!  And beginning today, November 6, Melissa & Doug will be giving away a toy from their Terrific Twenty list every day for 20 days on Facebook!  Head over to the Melissa & Doug Facebook page to enter!

 

Terrific Twenty

**Disclosure:  I will be compensated for writing this post.**

 

 

Our Christmas Weekend!

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We had a great Christmas Eve at Grandma's and then Christmas Day here at home.  The boys got to wear their jammies to church and we had a great lunch with some great friends!  Here's hoping that you and yours had and continue to have an awesome holiday!
 
Christmas
The cousins (minus sleeping Baby D) wait for gifts!
baby

 

Christmas morning

Back in Action!

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You may have noticed that things were quiet on the blog this weekend.  Then again, maybe you didn't, because it's a crazy hectic time of year!  All of us except for Daddy had the stomach bug towards the end of last week, and then got well just in time to head to my side of the family's houses for an early Christmas celebration.  We got back last night after dark and had a great time on our trip!  Over the weekend, we got to hang out with family, watch the four cousins play, eat a lot of food, open some gifts, watch the kids open a huge amount of gifts  :), and just be with each other!  It was a great time, but short, as always.  We also celebrated Baby D's birthday on Saturday in between all of the other activities.  He didn't have a full blown birthday party because there was simply NO time, but he had his cupcake and presents and had a good time!  (pictures to come!)
 
Then today I took him for his well child check-up and it turned into a sick child visit!  The poor guy has a double ear infection and a sinus infection.  🙁  I'm sure he's had it for a couple of days, but he has been in a pretty good mood and traveled extremely well in the car, even with our hour detour because of a huge wreck!  
 
Ahhhh…..so glad we're safe and sound in our warm little house today.  I am hoping that you all are having a great day and will have a great Christmas!
 

cousins

family

 

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