http://www.2000tutus.blogspot.com/ to help bring Mary-Kate home. The girls love them!! They are gorgeous. Great job, Mindy!!
And...are we going to be fighting the boys off with a stick or what...
That said, I will now turn back to Christmas. Oh how I've wanted to write about Christmas. I am even writing this now knowing that it will not contain all I'd like it to contain because I'm still not typing very well yet. However, one can only get so far past Christmas and still write about it. I want to put down thoughts about Christmas traditions because they have become such a blessing to our family...well worth sharing.
When our oldest, Mitchell, was about 6 (that's 12 years ago) I became discouraged by what Christmas was. All the hype, buildup, shopping, rushing, tons of presents, and then..nothing...it just seemed empty...like there should be so much more. I kind of felt like we rushed around for a month getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birth and then when Christmas day came, there was no time to devote to Him.
So, I read some books..the only one I remember the name of was "Making Christmas Memories" by Cheri Fuller. There were others. I pulled together lots of ideas that we still faithfully practice today, but the biggest idea that I pulled together and have done faithfully every year since is to use an advent chain for the entire month. I fill out my entire December calendar the end of November and put one special thing on each day. Many days are as simple as reading a Christmas story by the tree with hot cocoa. Some days are attending local Christmas pageants, or having the kids gather some of their own toys and clothes together to deliver to a local charity, or caroling, or making some cards for people in the retirement home. It may be "family tree decorating night" or maybe a splurge to a Christmas concert. I try to keep big activities to a minimum and they are "special days"...maybe a day is as simple as baking a batch of cookies together. I write each day's item on a strip of red or green paper and make all the strips into a paper chain. (I discovered early on that I had to cut the strips fat and tri-fold them so they can't be read until they are actually opened. I also learned the hard way to make sure I don't lose my copy of the calendar or I have no idea what's coming up.) Every morning when the kids get up, they open a chain link and read what we are going to do that day. It has been such a blessing. I try to really use these activities to focus on Christ and so by the time Christmas day arrives, I feel like we've really focused all season on Jesus. It's funny that at 18 and 14, my two oldest still come down to open the chain every morning and participate in the day's activities. Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas around here without our Christmas chain.
We also have a book called "The 25 Days of Christmas". A devotional we read every dinnertime by candlelight. I told the kids tonight at dinner that I'm always kind of sad when our special Christmas devotion book is over.
Also, when Christmas cards come in the mail, they are placed in the center of the dining room table to wait for dinnertime. At dinner, they are handed out to different family members who read them aloud and then we pray for each family who sent the cards.
Tree decorating night has been special and I tried to get a few characteristic shots of the kid's tree as they did it. Each child has their own box of ornaments because every year we take them to a Christmas shop to choose an ornament, my grandmother also has always gotten each child an ornament each year...something that suits their interests. The boys are so funny. (Gracie and I are always commenting that when girls try to be funny, it just annoying. But boys are just naturally hilarious.) The boys started a few years ago designating different "sections" on the tree. If one of the girls puts an ornament in the wrong section, it is promptly moved!
Here are some of their sections. Oh, it made me laugh. What in the world am I going to do when these guys are all grown and gone!
First, we have the "Sporting Goods" Section"...
Next, the "Music Section"...
You guessed it, the "Train Section"...
What tree is complete without a "Car Section"...
Then, we have the section where the boys graciously allow their sisters
to hang their pink, girly ornaments...
And, if you twist, bend, and crane your neck, you just might get a glimpse of the spot they've lovingly deemed the "Embarrassing Section". This rather large section on the very back of the tree is where the boys proudly display all their "baby's 1st Christmas" ornaments and such.
When I went down to turn out the tree after everyone had gone to bed that night, I found one seemingly malicious hunting ornament with his rifle pointing right at one pink ballerina. Hmmm... coincidence?... One can only wonder.
And one final "note" of tree decorating would be to point out that Matthew's new ornament wasn't hung on the tree until several days "post tree decorating". Now, one might ask, "Is Matthew's new ornament "IN" the music section....or...could it be that Matthew's colossal G cleff now "IS" the music section?
...and the boys stayed up late with me on Christmas Eve and made all the stuffing for me. Matthew refused my "pencil in the mouth trick" for chopping onions because he was quite certain that onions only burn the eyes of whimps. Ten minutes later found him donning ski goggles supplied to him by Christian, and 3 pencils in a futile attempt to turn back the clock.
Ahhh...kiddos. Gotta Love 'Em.
A photo of my 2 favorite ladies, "Gammy" and "Aunt Susie"
And last but not least, Matthew turned 15 this week. Where do the years go?
