Christmas 2011

I love Christmas!  I can't remember especially liking it as a kid or as a "young" adult (I'm not all that "old" now, am I?), but now that I have children Christmas is that "magical" time of year for our family that is always described as in book and song. 
We do have a couple of traditions that we've created in the past couple of years.  One is that in every Nativity scene placed around our home, we take out the Baby Jesus (if its removable).  The kids then look in the mangers every day to see if Baby Jesus has been born yet.  After the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve, we then place all the babies back in the mangers they belong in.  Another tradition that we have is candles in the windows.  We use electric candles and place them in every window that faces the road, which is every window in our home but three... for a total of thirteen candles and five extension cords to reach nearby outlets.  Then at dusk, the kids help turn on all the candles, making for a very Christmas-cardy scene when travelers are going up and down the road by our home.  (Along with the icicle lights strung along our front porch, it IS very pretty!)  Another tradition that we re-established this year is the star on the silo, of which you've read all about in a previous post.  We've also started attending a new church, and along with that began the new tradition of Christmas worship services and programs.  And of course, we do the traditional Christmas tree, stockings, lights and other decorations around our home.

One tradition that we broke this year, however, was that of Santa.  For a while, I was kind of torn about what to do about Santa.  We really emphasize Christmas being all about Jesus' birthday, with gift giving being a way of sharing the love God has for us by sending His Son Jesus as a gift to mankind.  We continue that gift of love by gifting others at this time of year.  I know the origin of Santa is St. Nicholas, but the story of Santa has evolved so much from that origin that its really not even comparable anymore.  And the fact is, telling a child that a big, jolly man dressed in a red suit is going to travel the globe with his flying reindeer and deliver presents made by tiny elves down our chimney (or other magical source) is a lie, pure and simple.  Along with teaching our children that Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth, we also teach them the Biblical principle of truth.  SO... the explanation of Santa not being real was given, along with an explanation that parents get to choose their own time to tell their own kids and that Caleb shouldn't tell anyone about Santa.  We told him with still a couple weeks of school left before break and as far as I know, he didn't tell anyone.  (As a funny side note, when Mr. and Mrs. Claus visited Caleb's preschool room for their Christmas party, Caleb wouldn't have anything to do with them; his reason:  they were fake!)  We still have fun with Santa, having decorations and reading stories or watching movies.  But its like I told the kids:  we can watch Curious George or read a book about him, but that doesn't make him real. 

Now, after that prologue, time for pictures!

First, leading up to Christmas Day:

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

Making gifts for all the ladies in our lives: grandmas, aunts, and teachers.  This picture is the making of a vanilla-cinnamon sugar scrub.  We also made them homemade vanilla extract.

Introducing Charlie Brown for movie night.  We borrowed Charlie Brown's Christmas from the library and the kids loved it.  This was also Sarah Rose's first time having real popcorn!

When the popcorn was finished, it was snuggle time with Daddy.

The next night was another movie night... this one with hot chocolate!  Ten points to the first person to identify this movie!

And now, Christmas Day:

We opened our stockings Sunday morning before church.  The kids got dressed in a hurry in their excitement, but then had to exercise much patience while waiting for Daddy to get ready!  They did great!

 

Sarah Rose and Caleb each got a pair of johnnies (pajamas) that I made them.  Caleb's were a Cars theme and were a complete surprise.  Sarah Rose picked out her own fabric (kinda hard to keep a surprise when she does all the shopping with me) and was around when I made them (again, she's with me 24/7 and I'm not the stay-up-til-midnight-sewing kind of gal), so not so much a surprise but once they were made and stuffed in her stocking she forgot all about them until she pulled them out Christmas morning.  Along with the johnnies, the each received a movie, a poster for their room (seen above) and bath stuff (a special washcloth and tablets that turn the bath water bright colors).

After church and lunch, we opened up gifts.  Caleb wasted no time!

He received a dinosaur that roars, talks and even snores when he falls asleep! 
hoo for clearance sales and storage closets!)

Then it was Sarah Rose's turn....

... and she adored her dolly, which she and Daddy decided should be named Rosie! 
(Remember the note under Caleb's picture about clearance and storage closets?  Same story here!)

The kids got one other small gift from us and Josh and I exchanged gifts.  The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying their new toys. 

The other special memories from this year was the time spent with our families.  Christmas Eve was spent with my family near Tama.  We had everyone present this year except Baby Allyson, who is still in NICU at Iowa City.  It was a joyous time, as we haven't been able to celebrate as a whole family for several years now.  We celebrated Christmas on the Van Zante side with an extended family gathering the day after Christmas and immediate family on New Year's Eve.