The decorations came out right after Thanksgiving this year and it wasn't a day too soon for our eager little ones. They couldn't wait to get the tree out of the box! Once it was out, they enjoyed playing IN the box until Marc and I had all the branches ready to decorate. Pictures were few and far between because we had to keep the pace up with their excitement. I quickly threw up the mesh and then they started hanging ornaments. They loved seeing ornaments they had made from years past and finding the perfect spots for their favorite ones, which was usually the front bottom branch!
We are slowly figuring out some of our Christmas traditions. Last year, the season passed and I was bummed that we hadn't found any structured Advent time together as a family. The kids were still quite little so I knew we had some time to create something. Then for Christmas last year, my mom gave us a nice wooden advent calendar box. It had more pieces than the felt one I had been using and seemed like a great start! From there, I found a scripture reading schedule that I liked, along with an advent story book, and then we were set! The kids LOVED our family time each night through the month of December. Marc is such a great story teller. It was more involved than what we typically do at night throughout the year, but the kids really stuck with it for the whole month (I think the piece of candy in the box each night may have helped motivate them just slightly!). I am continually blown away by how much knowledge and understanding a child even as young as three can have. It was the most amazing thing to watch and be a part of. This was my favorite memory from our Christmas.
I had hoped to do a few crafts with the kids this year along with some Christmas cookies. What happened was ONE craft and then we ran out of time to even make cookies. We did Mod Podge with scraps of paper on some ornaments and added glitter sequins to the outside when we finished. It was a huge mess! The kids had a great time but I'm thinking I might just stick with cookies for next year. At least you have something to eat while cleaning up that mess. :)
We still travel to see both of our families around Christmas so we're never in our own home during Christmas. We just pick a free day to open up our gifts in between trips seeing family. Our kids get three gifts from us which keeps it simple. This year, I got a teepee for them as a collective gift. Eli and Hailey spend their entire day in imaginary play. They are always camping, traveling, or off on some adventure so I thought the teepee would be lots of fun (and it has been!). I really appreciated
this article (and video) "Rethinking Santa" put out by John Piper this year. It explains well why we have chosen to skip the Santa stuff (though we teach them about the real life of Saint Nicholas of Myra) I know there are tons of people who love this tradition with their kids and I'm not trying to step on those toes. However, I think this article is very thought provoking and worth the read.
Our "Christmas morning" this year!
A few other favorite moments of the season included hosting our Sunday School class for a Christmas party and attending the Christmas performance at church with some new missionary friends home on furlough and a Chinese family we have gotten to know. We have felt so blessed by the way many friendships have opened up to us in this past year! Lots of great memories. Stay tuned for all the fun memories we made with our families this year!
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