14 Inexpensive Gift Ideas for a Busy Mama

I don't know about how things work in your family, but it seems like at my home, my husband tends to struggle with ideas about what kinds of gifts he wants to give on special occasions.  Seriously, I'm not picky.  I just like to know that he thought of me enough to pick something out.  I do know that sometimes he has amazing, complex ideas that just don't work out.

I decided to make a list of ideas for my husband and any others looking for great ideas for their loved ones.  Please leave a comment below telling me a fantastic addition to this list.

* Massage Oils

* Handmade Soap

* Exercise Videos

* Homemade Dinner

* A Live Plant

* A New Bag

* A Simple Date (hiking or a fire on the patio)

* Photos of the Kids

* Hobby Supplies

* A Fun Hat

*Hand Crafted Jewelry (think Etsy)

* Coffee and a favorite creamer

* A Tshirt from someplace significant to your story

* A framed map, menu, or advertisement of the place you met

Looking forward to Easter

You read it right.  Easter. Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth is over.  now it is time for us to begin looking forward to the celebration of his death on a nasty cross so that we could have an intimate relationship with God. 

Randy and I have begun preparing our home and family for the Easter celebration.  Okay, okay - so we have started in small ways.  The tree is still up (for today), there are still assorted Christmas goodies around the house.  We even have some more Christmas celebrating to do in the next week. 

Still, we have begun talking with the boys about the next celebration.  We want them to know that Christ's birth is a BIG deal.  Even more than that, we want them to know that his death means that we can live. 

As we are preparing for the next year in the life of the Crum family, we have laid out a course of study for the first 3 months of the year.   We will be exploring the gospels with the boys from January 1 through March 31.  Each week we are focusing on a different story as a family and will be learning it through a variety of formats - crafts, music, reading, games and more.  You are invited to follow along with us on my Friday posts. 

Here is our road to Easter schedule:

January

Jesus as a child

Jesus' baptism

Jesus calls disciples

Jesus loves children

February

Lazarus

Water into wine

Jesus heals the blind

Walking on water

March

Jesus calms the storm

Feeding of 5,000

Passover

Good Friday

Easter