Enjoying the Christmas Season

I always begin the Christmas season brainstorming the most important activities and traditions to share with the girls. I want to be purposeful in our Christmas celebrations, not missing an opportunity to bring home the real reason for Christmas: Jesus' birth. But I never end up making detailed plans to make sure we do all these important traditions. This year after my brainstorming, I requested a few CD's to share with the girls, but after that, I've been pretty informal about our activities. You know what? It's a lot more fun that way. (Plus, why should I stress about implementing every valuable tradition? Why not just enjoy the season and enjoy doing what we can?) With that in mind, I'd love to share with you the special ways we've welcomed Christmas so far.

The high point was getting our first real Christmas tree! The day after Thanksgiving, we tromped through the snow at a Christmas tree farm (okay, there was barely any snow--but enough to give the idea) and picked out a perfect Balsam fir.



The farmer gave Kardelen candy canes while Jacob tied the tree to the roof of the car. At home, we brought in the tree and had snacks and cocoa while Nat King Cole crooned Christmas tunes. The tree filled our home with the scent of balsam. Aah. . .exactly the experience I was hoping for.


The girls took turns hugging the tree (Kardelen's idea). Then Kardelen stood in the tree stand herself before we put the tree inside--should we decorate you, little girl? As soon as the lights were on the tree, Sofia moved from light to light saying, "Ooh! Ooh!"


This year I'd like to finally follow-through with my idea to give each of our neigbors Christmas cookies. One morning while Jacob worked, the girls and I dipped pretzel rods in almond bark and added Christmas sprinkles. We delivered them to two neighbor families. There are seven families left. I assumed I'd have to do it all in one big day, but this has been my downfall for years: not feeling outgoing or energetic enough to go knocking on every door in one day! So we'll do it little by little as we make treats throughout the Christmas season.

My grandpa moved to a nursing home last year, and one thing I like to do with the girls is make him seasonal decorations for his room. This year, Kardelen and Nana (my mom) worked together to make a cotton-ball snowman. Kardelen had never made a cotton ball craft before, so I thought it would be a great time to try one!



We're decorating our home for Christmas little by little, too. Our manger scene came out the day we put up the tree, and Kardelen likes playing with the figures. I think we're still missing a few, though, and there's a funny story behind that. Last year, I packed up the manger scene before we went to my parents' home for Christmas Eve, wanting to use it to tell the Christmas story in the morning. When I began to set it up for the telling, I found angels, shepherds, sheep, and a donkey. . .but where were Mary and Joseph? And most importantly, where was Baby Jesus? Then Jacob clued me in: Kardelen had been playing with them, and our stash of gift bags, a few days ago. Note to self: next year check the pieces to make sure none of the main characters are missing!

Speaking of my parents, their Christmas tree is always groaning under the weight of years of homemade decorations. (Yes, the toilet paper roll I fingerpainted in kindergarten is always hung with pride by my parents, too.) Our Christmas tree, on the other hand, shows bare spots when you turn off the lights, so I figured we'd better make a few ornaments with the kids. Each year I make a photo ornament of each girl, and that will be done before Christmas. In addition, the girls and I sat made sparkly pinecones for the tree.



Sofia played with pinecones while Kardelen painted glue on the edges of a pinecone, then rolled it in glitter. (It would have been easier to shake the glitter on, but live and learn!) The cones look gorgeous sparkling on our Christmas tree, but I ended the project early because my three-year-old was getting very hands-on with the glitter (what did I expect?) and I was having flashbacks to the warning of doom from one of my fellow education students: glitter should NEVER be used by children, because these little pieces of foil can easily get in children's eyes. I thought I could be somewhat careful, but glitter is all over our house now. I'm even finding it in our dishes. So much for careful! Ah, well. I'm sure multitudes of children have used glitter safely. Right?

I'll close by sharing a few pictures of our Christmas decorating.


Above: I'm in love with pine boughs (actually more Balsam left over from our tree), pinecones, and stars. I love the natural look, and it gives me the feeling I'm outside!



Dwarf palm Christmas tree (with more pinecones!)

I'll share more of our Christmas-enjoying activities as we go through this season! May God bless you richly today.