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teresa swanstrom anderson

5050 S Chester St
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
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teresa swanstrom anderson

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happy birthday, Jesus! {+ printable cake banners}

December 24, 2013 Teresa Swanstrom Anderson
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This morning Imani and I got to work on Jesus' Birthday Cake.

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Four layer red velvet cake with crushed candy canes {yum!}.

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Every year I put something different on top. Sometimes sparklers, sometimes ribbon bunting, this year I thought I'd make my own printable banner.

{I printed mine onto cardstock}

printable banner

If you'd like to print your own, click here!

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Oh how I love decorating our Christmas table!

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Who says paper plates can't be used for a fancy dinner? Silver chargers beneath add shine, depth and make them seem more substantial.

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After our candlelight church service, we came home for dinner.

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The past few years we've done fondue.

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They get so serious about it!

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Sweet Imani wanted to wear her Christmas apron over her dress so she didn't get it dirty.

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How I love that little face!

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After dinner, we popped open the musical crackers I had placed next to each plate.

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Inside were crowns and pieces of a xylophone, each with a different tone.

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We each got to play Conductor, playing {well..."playing"} our Christmas carols together.

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After dinner, the kids opened the package holding their new jammies and the World Vision catalog.

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{after much deliberation, they decided upon gifting a family with a sheep}

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Abreham asked that we have Ethiopian food for Christmas Day's dinner so he'll be cooking most of the day tomorrow.

And after dinner is over, our Birthday Party with Jesus will begin!

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The cake is all ready!

{and so are we!!}

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We're still waiting on our Christmas cards to arrive {how does paying for 2 day shipping turn into several weeks??}

Sigh. Oh well. I sure do love our card though!

Print

. . Merry Christmas!!! . .

take joy-signature-new-pink

In Celebrate, Holidays, Family Life, Freebies Tags Christmas, Christmas decor, Christmas dinner, Christmas traditions, Happy Birthday Jesus
← Life:Beautiful - a new {to me} magazinefor the love of polka dot →
teresa-headshot.jpg

Writer, speaker, and busy mama of six

2 biological & 4 from Ethiopia

I have a fervent eagerness to build a place where we can get filled up, when we feel like all we do is pour out.

I do my best to be real and honest about life, our struggles, and how God stretches me through (so many) mistakes along the way.

May this be a place of nourishment for an everyday, beautiful life.



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Thank you!


Instagram

Confession: we came to the @denverartmuseum today to see the Dior exhibit...but it’s this one that filled their hearts the most.

As we walked slowly through the incredible works by @jordanmcasteel, they had so many questions about why she used certain colors and why she painted a certain way.

I was surprised they paid that close attention and was thrilled to take the time to explain art and expression to them.

This piece in this first photo was their favorite. We sat on the benches near it for a long time and they swished their legs back and forth as we chatted about why someone would wear a shirt that read “Black is Beautiful”.
.
“Of course it is, Mommy,” Imani said to me with a grin. “But so are all the colors of everybody.”
.
So glad she gets it.
👧🏾💕👩🏼💕🧑🏻💕👩🏿‍🦱💕🧔🏼💕👩🏽‍🦰💕👶🏽💕👩🏻
Excited to tell you that there’s another fun braid tutorial on my IGTV today! Head on over!

@katprostudio seriously rocks
It really is amazing what kids glean from how we live. This morning I came downstairs after blow-drying my hair and found Elsabet cleaning up the kitchen AND this gorgeousness on the countertop!

They don’t have school today so she wanted to make ME a breakfast party (and specifically wanted me to notice she also cleaned everything back up after having cooked 😉)
.
Being a mom is often hard and exhausting so having moments like these is a great reminder of how sweet mommyhood is. Sure love them!!
Have you purchased faux plants that come in a pretty pot? I went through a bunch of mine that just look old and soooo not real (🤷🏼‍♀️😂) and ripped them out so I could keep the fun vessel and toss the fake plant portion.

I’ve loooooved having these flowers in what used to hold faux ferns from @target’s #threshhold collection a few years back. (In case you’re wondering, the stems are pressed into floral foam)

I’m wondering how many more days they can be enjoyed before having to give in and toss ‘em...this part of fresh flowers SO bums me out!

Fresh flowers are the BEST!! But now I’m remembering why faux are my friends, too.
😂
Give me a little 🙋🏼‍♀️ if you have a hard time throwing away your flowers...even WAY after they need to be!
One of these things is not like the other 😂😂
.
Imani won the big prize at school and Elsabet is wondering why hers suddenly looks so small
🤷🏼‍♀️😂😂😂
I’m horrible at creating a Smokey-Eye (you too?!) but tried my hand at it today after @katprostudio and I did a tutorial on it (because Elsabet told me I needed to “dress fancy” today for her Valentines Party 🥰😉).
💕
Head to my IGTV station to watch it and to my Stories if you’d like to Swipe Up and get the gorgeous @beautycounter palette we used!!)
💕
Happy Valentines Day, friends!
🌸❤️💕🎈
.
TIPS:

1. Apply Nightfall over the lid.

2. Go in with the color crown on the center of the lid to add that pop for sparkle!

3. Apply denim in the corner and crease with a blending eye brush( that will be a fluffy brush).
.
4. Then apply bone in above the tear duct area and below the eye brow.

5. Apply your eye liner to your desired look.
false lashes if you would like ✨Boom! You got yourself a fabulous smokey eye!

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Nov 16, 2018

The party is over on instagram

Confession: we came to the @denverartmuseum today to see the Dior exhibit...but it’s this one that filled their hearts the most.

As we walked slowly through the incredible works by @jordanmcasteel, they had so many questions about why she used certain colors and why she painted a certain way.

I was surprised they paid that close attention and was thrilled to take the time to explain art and expression to them.

This piece in this first photo was their favorite. We sat on the benches near it for a long time and they swished their legs back and forth as we chatted about why someone would wear a shirt that read “Black is Beautiful”.
.
“Of course it is, Mommy,” Imani said to me with a grin. “But so are all the colors of everybody.”
.
So glad she gets it.
👧🏾💕👩🏼💕🧑🏻💕👩🏿‍🦱💕🧔🏼💕👩🏽‍🦰💕👶🏽💕👩🏻
Excited to tell you that there’s another fun braid tutorial on my IGTV today! Head on over!

@katprostudio seriously rocks
It really is amazing what kids glean from how we live. This morning I came downstairs after blow-drying my hair and found Elsabet cleaning up the kitchen AND this gorgeousness on the countertop!

They don’t have school today so she wanted to make ME a breakfast party (and specifically wanted me to notice she also cleaned everything back up after having cooked 😉)
.
Being a mom is often hard and exhausting so having moments like these is a great reminder of how sweet mommyhood is. Sure love them!!
Have you purchased faux plants that come in a pretty pot? I went through a bunch of mine that just look old and soooo not real (🤷🏼‍♀️😂) and ripped them out so I could keep the fun vessel and toss the fake plant portion.

I’ve loooooved having these flowers in what used to hold faux ferns from @target’s #threshhold collection a few years back. (In case you’re wondering, the stems are pressed into floral foam)

I’m wondering how many more days they can be enjoyed before having to give in and toss ‘em...this part of fresh flowers SO bums me out!

Fresh flowers are the BEST!! But now I’m remembering why faux are my friends, too.
😂
Give me a little 🙋🏼‍♀️ if you have a hard time throwing away your flowers...even WAY after they need to be!
One of these things is not like the other 😂😂
.
Imani won the big prize at school and Elsabet is wondering why hers suddenly looks so small
🤷🏼‍♀️😂😂😂
I’m horrible at creating a Smokey-Eye (you too?!) but tried my hand at it today after @katprostudio and I did a tutorial on it (because Elsabet told me I needed to “dress fancy” today for her Valentines Party 🥰😉).
💕
Head to my IGTV station to watch it and to my Stories if you’d like to Swipe Up and get the gorgeous @beautycounter palette we used!!)
💕
Happy Valentines Day, friends!
🌸❤️💕🎈
.
TIPS:

1. Apply Nightfall over the lid.

2. Go in with the color crown on the center of the lid to add that pop for sparkle!

3. Apply denim in the corner and crease with a blending eye brush( that will be a fluffy brush).
.
4. Then apply bone in above the tear duct area and below the eye brow.

5. Apply your eye liner to your desired look.
false lashes if you would like ✨Boom! You got yourself a fabulous smokey eye!

Let's stay connected

I'm just so thankful you're here. May this be a place where you can sit back and feel nourished...take a few moments for yourself so you may be filled up. No one can pour from an empty bucket.


ForMERly known as HUGS + PUNCHES

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