Tuesday’s Tip: Santa Rocks, but Jesus Reigns!

Welcome to Tuesday’s Tips,  a weekly IDEA SWAP for moms. I hope that when you drop by The Overflow on Tuesdays, you’ll find a gold-mine of encouragement and creative ideas excavated straight from the sticky trenches of parenthood.

 Of course a SWAP wouldn’t be a true exchange without many voices. So, please consider chiming in the discussion and sharing your own great ideas.  If you’ve discovered a tried and true trip that has made motherhood a little easier, a little more exciting, or a bit more meaningful, please let me know. Just leave a comment after this post or send me an email (rbruxvoort@iowatelecom.net) so I can share your idea in the next swap!  I’d love to feature you  on an upcoming Tuesday. Let the digging begin!

Santa Rocks… but Jesus Reigns!

Hannah loved the Santa rock so much that she promptly gathered some stones from our front yard and began to paint a whole legion of smiling St. Nicks.  She’s had so much fun secretly scattering her own Santas around town that she is already talking about making more. (Thank you, Sherri, for this fun Tuesday Tip!)

If Santa Clause is a piece of your Christmas celebration, grab some paints and get rocking! (We used acrylic so the paint wouldn’t wash off in wet weather, but I think permanent markers would work as well.) With your help, Santa can spend the next few days keeping an eye on your friends  to see if they are being naughty or nice.

Tomorrow, Josh will deliver a few of these express engines with a little note that reads:
I hope you Choo-Choo-Choose Joy this Christmas. Jesus has plenty to share! 


If you want to send the joy-express chugging through your town, just grab a glue gun, a pack of lifesavers (or any candy that comes in a roll), a few peppermints, a small pack of gum, a caramel and a chocolate kiss. Build the sweet train from the bottom up and send it off to spread the word: The true gift of Christmas is the joy Jesus brings!  Even Santa can’t offer that.






Merry Mugs…


Finally, we’ve had fun spreading the love of Christ this season with merry mugs. These cups of cheer are simple thank-you gifts for the people who fill our lives- the mailman, Sunday School teachers, coaches, and bus drivers. 

 We just filled up Christmas “treat bags” with hot chocolate mix and placed them in these cute cups from the Dollar Tree.