I kept thinking though, that there has to be something more than just a small piece of chocolate that connects them to the true meaning and excitement of Christmas.
In the story, there is a little girl asking St. Nicholas if there is such a person as Santa Claus, and does he give her the Christmas gifts under the tree. Nicholas responds by saying: "Be careful with your questions, lest you get the wrong reply; instead of asking who brings gifts, perhaps you might ask why." I know the girls understand that the true celebration of Christmas is that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But how much of their excitement is about that, and how much is just about more worldly {present related} excitements?
They are still "babies" and of course I want them to be excited about receiving gifts on Christmas morning, but I also want them to be excited about giving gifts, and truly understanding why we give gifts in the first place ~ because God gave us his Son! At the same time I was trying to think of something creative to do with the girls, I saw this great idea on someone's blog. We put our own spin on the idea, and here's what we came up with...
I have these ornament templates that I use with my kindergarten class, so I printed out 7 ornaments for each of our girls. {we got a little bit of a late start this year, so I only needed 21 ornaments instead of 25} Without telling the girls what we were going to do with them, I asked them to decorate them anyway they like. When they were done, I wrote a Bible verse on the back of each one. They ranged from verses that talk about the impending birth of Jesus, to ones they have had as memory verses in church, to ones that they probably weren't familiar with. But I did make it a point to choose verses that they could connect to.
Each night before bed, we open one of the ornaments that I have wrapped in tissue. One girls gets to open it, one gets to read it, and one gets to hang it on the garland going up the steps. We try to spend a little time talking about the verse and what it means to them. This has gone better some nights than others. We have had those evenings where everyone wants to argue over who gets which job, and they all want to talk at the same time. Even the little troubles aside, I can already tell this has been valuable to them. In fact as I type this, Rebekah is standing next to me, holding up an angel from our nativity saying, "Joe-sup are you up here? Good news, great joy for all people." After Christmas, I'm thinking of mounting the ornaments on cute scrapbook paper and keeping them in a book to look at from year to year.
We also bought this kid-friendly nativity and storybook on clearance right after Christmas last year. It's called What God Wants For Christmas.
It's a cute story narrated by the angel Gabriel, with a box to open each day that has a character to add to the nativity scene. It's complete with a fun little surprise on the final day in box number seven.
The girls have loved it, although you can see from the pics, that Rebekah is very protective of all the little boxes and the characters within. Fun ways to share the joy of Christmas.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Alyssa's Christmas Boutique!
Because Alyssa's birthday is close to Thanksgiving, we ended up postponing a party with friends until this past weekend. When we talked about a theme for the party, she knew immediately that she wanted to do Christmas crafts with her friends, and she decided to call her party, The Christmas Boutique. I loved her idea, and it turned out to be so much fun!
All the girls love when I put up signs and decorations for their birthdays. It's a fun surprise when they wake up on their birthday morning to see what we've done in the living room. I enjoy decorating a lot too, and the Christmas theme could not have been easier or any more fun.
Some of the Christmas crafts all set up and waiting for the guests.
Gift bags for her friends.
Ka'iulani loved the streamers hung in the door way. She kept pushing her way through them dramatically and saying, "I feel like I'm walking up on stage on Broadway!" She was of course saying this in her fanciest voice.
On Friday night, McKenzie and Martina stayed over. All the girls enjoyed the crafts a lot {much to my relief, it would have pretty much ruined the whole "boutique" theme if I had chosen crafts that the kids weren't excited about} I collaged a bunch of the pics below because there were so many I wanted to share, this post would have gone on forever if I posted them individually.
This is Ka'iulani's most prized ornament that she made. I thought she did a great job too :-) In the photo where she's making a funny smile, she is admiring Martina's work on her own ornament.
Little Kamele painting a green, yellow, and red Christmas puppy. For a while it was only yellow and green, I told her she needed to add another color. I realize we live in Packer Country, and we're probably one of the few people that ARE NOT fans, but I also knew Dave would cringe at a green and gold ornament on the tree.
Emma proud of her globe ornament. In one of the pics she is painting a Christmas dove yellow. She thought I had offered her a Christmas Duck. When one of the older girls complimented her cute yellow dove, she threw up her arms saying, "It's a dove? Then why am I painting it yellow??" It came out very cute, although she was disappointed with the misunderstanding.
Rebekah loved the foil confetti that we stuffed in the glass ball ornaments. It was fun watching her scatter it around. These ornaments were surprisingly easy to make, she did most of it on her own.
The kids had a blast making brownie sundaes. We had the most festive Christmas sprinkles to top the ice cream and whipped cream. I love how the girls look so happy.
Making sundaes.
More silly laughter over their dessert ~ these sundaes must have been awesome :-)
A few of the Christmas concoctions. They were yummy!
And what Boutique isn't complete without a session of Wii Sing It?
Emma was all excited to play with the older girls! We had two more friends spend the night on Saturday, and it took her just about all afternoon on Sunday to recover from back to back sleepovers with her big sisters friends.
Some of the globe ornaments we made on Saturday night.
One of my favorite ornaments.
On Saturday night some of the streamers came down. The girls were running through the living room waving them all around. It looked like they were doing rhythmic gymnastics. Alyssa was telling the girls, "Remember our training from Fine Arts Camp? Do that!!" I had no idea they learned anything like that last summer.
Some {but not all!} of the ornaments the girls painted over the weekend.
With our Saturday guests, Annalese and Julianna. We decorated cupcakes instead of brownie sundaes.
Emma loving all the sprinkles!
Rebekah making a huge mess as she decorates her own cupcake.
Not so sure about the cupcake...way too many sprinkles!!
Alyssa and Julianna having a serious conversation about the book Julianna gave her, Homer Price.
Alyssa and Julianna.
Alyssa and Annalese.
The girls with their ornaments.
It was really fun to have a Christmas craft themed party. Even if we don't do this as a birthday celebration again, it would be such a great tradition to continue with friends!
All the girls love when I put up signs and decorations for their birthdays. It's a fun surprise when they wake up on their birthday morning to see what we've done in the living room. I enjoy decorating a lot too, and the Christmas theme could not have been easier or any more fun.
Some of the Christmas crafts all set up and waiting for the guests.
Gift bags for her friends.
Ka'iulani loved the streamers hung in the door way. She kept pushing her way through them dramatically and saying, "I feel like I'm walking up on stage on Broadway!" She was of course saying this in her fanciest voice.
On Friday night, McKenzie and Martina stayed over. All the girls enjoyed the crafts a lot {much to my relief, it would have pretty much ruined the whole "boutique" theme if I had chosen crafts that the kids weren't excited about} I collaged a bunch of the pics below because there were so many I wanted to share, this post would have gone on forever if I posted them individually.
This is Ka'iulani's most prized ornament that she made. I thought she did a great job too :-) In the photo where she's making a funny smile, she is admiring Martina's work on her own ornament.
Little Kamele painting a green, yellow, and red Christmas puppy. For a while it was only yellow and green, I told her she needed to add another color. I realize we live in Packer Country, and we're probably one of the few people that ARE NOT fans, but I also knew Dave would cringe at a green and gold ornament on the tree.
Emma proud of her globe ornament. In one of the pics she is painting a Christmas dove yellow. She thought I had offered her a Christmas Duck. When one of the older girls complimented her cute yellow dove, she threw up her arms saying, "It's a dove? Then why am I painting it yellow??" It came out very cute, although she was disappointed with the misunderstanding.
Rebekah loved the foil confetti that we stuffed in the glass ball ornaments. It was fun watching her scatter it around. These ornaments were surprisingly easy to make, she did most of it on her own.
The kids had a blast making brownie sundaes. We had the most festive Christmas sprinkles to top the ice cream and whipped cream. I love how the girls look so happy.
Making sundaes.
More silly laughter over their dessert ~ these sundaes must have been awesome :-)
A few of the Christmas concoctions. They were yummy!
And what Boutique isn't complete without a session of Wii Sing It?
Emma was all excited to play with the older girls! We had two more friends spend the night on Saturday, and it took her just about all afternoon on Sunday to recover from back to back sleepovers with her big sisters friends.
Some {but not all!} of the ornaments the girls painted over the weekend.
Not so sure about the cupcake...way too many sprinkles!!
Alyssa and Julianna having a serious conversation about the book Julianna gave her, Homer Price.
Alyssa and Annalese.
The girls with their ornaments.
It was really fun to have a Christmas craft themed party. Even if we don't do this as a birthday celebration again, it would be such a great tradition to continue with friends!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Adios Fall
With our first snowfalls of the season, it certainly seems like Fall is long gone, although A and E remind me daily that it's not even Winter yet!! So in memory of some milder days and pretty colored fall leaves, here are a couple collages of some favorite fall photos:
Having fun throwing the leaves around. And raking them up. And jumping in...Poor Alyssa was busy with her castle project on this afternoon.
Some fun fall photos that didn't make the collages...
This pic was taken through our garage window, I was on the outside, and she was inside hiding. We were playing hide and seek and usually Rebekah is pretty easy to find {she has a few hiding spots that she LOVES, and uses repeatedly. Not only that, but the first time you call out her name she responds, giving up any secret location.} We were all stumped as to where she was and were calling for her when I heard her laughing. It sounded muffled or far off, and then I caught her reflection in the window of the garage. You can see from her smile, she was so proud that she us looking!
Having fun throwing the leaves around. And raking them up. And jumping in...Poor Alyssa was busy with her castle project on this afternoon.
Some fun fall photos that didn't make the collages...
This pic was taken through our garage window, I was on the outside, and she was inside hiding. We were playing hide and seek and usually Rebekah is pretty easy to find {she has a few hiding spots that she LOVES, and uses repeatedly. Not only that, but the first time you call out her name she responds, giving up any secret location.} We were all stumped as to where she was and were calling for her when I heard her laughing. It sounded muffled or far off, and then I caught her reflection in the window of the garage. You can see from her smile, she was so proud that she us looking!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
I could have really used a snow day!
We were supposed to get hit by a heavy snowstorm earlier in the week. It pretty much missed us here, the amount of snow we got was really minimal, although not far from here they had over a foot and a huge power outage that left many people without heat, so I won't complain. The thing is, that the day before the Big Snow was supposed to arrive, I had pretty much convinced myself {and the girls were CERTAIN} that we were going to have a Snow Day! We had plans to hang out at home and relax, maybe do some baking, so what we woke up to was at least a little disappointing.
Our pumpkins' snowy winter home in the bushes.
When the snowflakes are falling so peacefully like this, I always have the hardest time imagining how those tiny, perfect things accumulate into massive snow piles that take hours of shoveling to clear. One of my favorite things about snowy winter days is that they are the perfect excuse to stay at home with the kids playing in the snow until we get too cold, then cozy up inside with hot cocoa and a movie. Sometimes it's so fun to have nothing at all to do.
When the girls got home from school they went right to playing with some of the games I had left out the day before, building towers with the Jenga blocks as I cooked dinner. Alyssa was actually happy to have school once she got going earlier that morning.
My brain had been going in about 15 different directions as I was driving home from the school after dropping the girls off. With Alyssa having friends over both nights this weekend to sleepover, a Christmas Party to plan for my kindergartners at church, and a big project I help out with at school kicking into full gear (not to mention shopping, wrapping, baking etc...), I really needed to get things done even though I had mentally prepared for a snow day. It was then that I saw hazard lights ahead of me on the road, and a car that had completely worn off one of it's tires. The guy was driving on the metal part that holds up the tire {is that called the axle?} . I know very little about cars, but I do know that driving on only three wheels can't be good, and this was the second time in two snowy days that I had seen a very similar scene. Not to mention that the dashboard thermometer was reading at a brisk 7 degrees at this time. So I got over my snow day disappointment, feeling thankful that my morning wasn't working out to be as bad as missing a tire off my car, and got busy getting things done.
When the snowflakes are falling so peacefully like this, I always have the hardest time imagining how those tiny, perfect things accumulate into massive snow piles that take hours of shoveling to clear. One of my favorite things about snowy winter days is that they are the perfect excuse to stay at home with the kids playing in the snow until we get too cold, then cozy up inside with hot cocoa and a movie. Sometimes it's so fun to have nothing at all to do.
My New Vacuum, Hooray!
Dave got me a new vacuum, because as we were putting up our Christmas tree, our old one bit the dust. It had been on it's way out for while, but still the timing of it breaking was not great. I love the smell of a fresh Christmas tree in the house, don't as much love the pine needles stabbing me in the foot as I walk through the living room. And for a pic of the new vacuum {drum-roll please}...
The amazing Barbie Bissell. Kidding, this is a toy that belongs to the girls, and quite a cool little thing too, a toy that actually cleans up. They love it so much that they fight over who's turn it is. All I can say is that toy maker is a genius!!
The new vacuum is awesome ~ a great little machine! Very quiet {hence the name, Whisper} and very thorough. A strange thing to get excited over, I know. But I really have not been this enthusiastic to vacuum, probably ever.
Thanks, Dave!
The new vacuum is awesome ~ a great little machine! Very quiet {hence the name, Whisper} and very thorough. A strange thing to get excited over, I know. But I really have not been this enthusiastic to vacuum, probably ever.
Thanks, Dave!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
a wonderful season...
It's snowing this morning, and Rebekah and I were out running errands before the big snowstorm arrives. We were catching snowflakes in our hair and on our tongues, and it just felt so much like Christmas! For me, it's very easy at this time of year to get so busy running around, doing things that seem {and maybe are} quite important, that I miss out on the fun of small things like getting caught up in a flurry of snowflakes. While I'm sure there will continue to be a lot of running around, I'm determined to slow down and enjoy everything this Christmas season! 
Didn't the girls do a nice job with our tree? And the peaceful nighttime photo of it just sparkles :-)
I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but Rebekah's constant remark for anything Christmas related over the last week or so has been, "This is the best Christmas ever!!" I love her excitement this year, it is so much fun and very contagious. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a three year old, just taking the time to see what she sees, is an amazing gift.
The girls' boots all lined up after a visit from St. Nick.
As I was trying to walk out the door this morning, Rebekah asked for one of her chocolate Santas that she dug out of her boot. I had to say no {it wasn't even 9am yet}, but she continued to unwrap him, telling me that she just wanted to give him a kiss! She was true to her word, he's still safe inside a ziploc bag.
I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but Rebekah's constant remark for anything Christmas related over the last week or so has been, "This is the best Christmas ever!!" I love her excitement this year, it is so much fun and very contagious. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a three year old, just taking the time to see what she sees, is an amazing gift.
The girls' boots all lined up after a visit from St. Nick.
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