Christmas

Our family had a wonderful Christmas. We spend Christmas Eve at home most of the day, then we go to Laquita's house for dinner. Laquita and my mom grew up together-they were friends as little girls. Needless to say, Laquita is one of the most special people in my life. Christmas morning is spent with my parents. My mom cooks an awesome breakfast that we look forward to every year, then we open gifts. We then drive to Steve's parents for dinner and more gifts! It is a busy day for us. As I look at the pictures, I notice there are very few with Steve's family. Sorry Sharon-I'll try to do better next year with the pictures. The Saturday after Christmas we hosted my dad's family for my Grandma. I was the host so needless to say, I have no photos to post!

This is Laquita "Nani" with the kids.

Nani and me.

Lydia asked Santa for a Pink Pig Town...and as always, he delivered.

Joshua playing with his emergency vehicle set.

David, my brother, and his family, Elizabeth, Julia and Matthew.

Mom and dad with the grandkids.

The Advent of Christ

The word Advent means "coming". Each morning our kids can hardly wait to open the next door on our Advent Calendar as they anticipate the "coming" of Christmas. At their young ages this serves many purposes. First, it makes the abstract concept of time concrete as they count down the days until Christmas. Secondly, it allows for repetition of the Christmas story. Children learn through repetition and in this busy season with so much talk of Santa, presents, and parties it is nice each morning to take a moment and talk about the "coming" of Christ and what that meant for the people of God 2000 years ago, and what it means for us today. As the children mature, we will include disussions about the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and the second "advent" of Christ that we are anticipating. But for now, I am content to answer the questions such as "Did Mary really have a pink dress on?" "Did the shephards bring their sheep to Bethlehem or leave them in the fields?" and "What is Myrrh and why would a baby want it?"

The Christmas Season

I have not been posting consistently lately. Once you read this post you will understand why. We have been very busy this month with lots of fun Christmas activities!

I love baking at Christmas time. I have learned to prepare some treats from the kitchen of my 89 year old grandmother (peanut butter balls, potato candy etc). A fun family treat to make is my peppermint bark. The kids (and dad) enjoy crushing the candy canes. This is a great time for discussion of why the candy cane is used to celebrate Christmas. I had planned to post a picture of the final product...but there is none left!

We always put up our tree and other decorations the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Here are the boys working hard on the tree.

Here is Katherine looking cute.

Each year we visit the Festival of Trees and Lights. The children like to look at the beautiful trees and train displays. This year they made Gingerbread Houses.

The girls are terrified of Santa. Joshua, being the courageous big brother gave Santa their requests.

Each year we go to my Aunt Diane's with my neice and nephew. She cooks hamburgers (they are delicious!), and we open presents, make a craft and watch a movie. The movie this year was Frosty the Snowman. The craft was Christmas necklaces.
Great fine motor work! (the OT in me could not resist...)

The evening would not be complete without snacks...popcorn and giant Santa cookies.

Since 1974 the KIDS Center has had a puppet show each year at their Christmas party. Joshua, Lydia, and Katherine were in awe.

This one has nothing to do with Christmas. I came downstairs the other day to find the kids in their swimming suits and goggles. Evidently they were at a water park on vacation... note the Christmas decorations in the background.I never know what I am going to walk into when these two are quiet for too long! At least this one did not involve blue goop, Elmers Glue, and rubber boots...

In addition to these activities, the kids also had Christmas parties at pre-school, we had a birthday party for Jesus at church (Lydia was a little disappointed that He did not show up), Joshua has had a concert at church, they have also had AWANA and choir Christmas parties. Tomorrow we have breakfast with Santa at a friend's house and baking with Grandma.

okay, I could not resist this last one. While playing Don't Break the Ice today, instead of putting the "red" man on top, Joshua put Mary and Joseph. He really wanted baby Jesus, but we can not find him...nor can we find Mrs. Clause and the Santa train. Last time I saw it the wise men were giving Baby Jesus train rides around the house.

Gingerbread cookies and Jesus

Joshua has always loved to "play trucks". However, it is never just about driving hot wheels around the house. He creates very detailed and elaborate situations/events in which the cars participate. Today, it was in Bethelem about 2000 years ago! The traffic jam you see in the photos below are people lined up to see the new King, Baby Jesus (if only people were seeking him like that today...) anyway, they are in line to see Jesus...until Ms. Clause shows up on her train (also in the photo) with gingerbread cookies! Baby Jesus just could not compete and people stopped coming to see him, and waited for cookies instead (a pretty accurate reflection of folks today). In the second photo, if you look closely, you will see a police car at the stable. This particular police man had been hiding out all day to protect Jesus from the "bad king" (that would be king Herod). But at this time felt it was safe enough to come and visit Jesus (he also wanted a cookie). Now, although I was playing with Joshua and lining up cars, the story line is all his own, not prompted by me in the least.
And just for the record, Mrs. Clause shared cookies with Jesus and the others at the stable before serving the line of cars.
I love having a five year old!