Christmas 2007
Christmas 2008
Christmas 2009
Christmas 2010Merry Christmas, dear friends!
Christmas {through the years}
Christmas 2007Christmas 2008Christmas 2009Christmas 2010Merry Christmas, dear friends!
The Slumber Party
We added a new Christmas tradition this year: The Slumber Party.
We drug our mattress into the living room, along with Ella's twin-sized mattress and a toddler-sized mattress, and used the couches for two more beds, and had a big family slumber party by the Christmas tree!
Once everyone was all tucked in, Mark began the nightly read-aloud~ which is a book about King Arthur. Here's what he read: "But when Arthur beheld what his father did, he cried aloud like one in a great measure of pain; and he said 'Pajama Ride!'" (which isn't, of course, actually what Arthur said, but the kids were thrilled and shrieked and scurried to get their shoes and get out the door.) We drove to Dairy Queen, and then through town to see the Christmas lights.
Then we came back home to our living room full of mattresses and blankets, and settled in to sleep-- which eventually we all did. :)
Here are the final two sleepers at about 8:00 the following morning. Cute girls.
I'm so thankful for the memories we made and the fun we had as a family! My favorite quote of the night was Ella saying, "Adelia: please stop licking my hand. That's gross." And her cheerful: "I sure have a wiggly bed-partner!" And she did-- Adelia was very squirmy and very noisy! Isaac was so thrilled to discover that the light coming through the blinds (from a neighbors porch) that shone onto his arms made stripes, so he stretched his arms out in front of him and gazed at them, all delighted to be a stripey boy. :) Audra snuggled up next to Mark and he scratched her back until she fell asleep. Isaias loved his spot on the couch, closest to the tree and closest to the window so that he could peer out of it when he wanted to.
The kids all loved the slumber party and are already talking about next year... :)
We drug our mattress into the living room, along with Ella's twin-sized mattress and a toddler-sized mattress, and used the couches for two more beds, and had a big family slumber party by the Christmas tree!
Once everyone was all tucked in, Mark began the nightly read-aloud~ which is a book about King Arthur. Here's what he read: "But when Arthur beheld what his father did, he cried aloud like one in a great measure of pain; and he said 'Pajama Ride!'" (which isn't, of course, actually what Arthur said, but the kids were thrilled and shrieked and scurried to get their shoes and get out the door.) We drove to Dairy Queen, and then through town to see the Christmas lights.
Then we came back home to our living room full of mattresses and blankets, and settled in to sleep-- which eventually we all did. :)
Here are the final two sleepers at about 8:00 the following morning. Cute girls.
I'm so thankful for the memories we made and the fun we had as a family! My favorite quote of the night was Ella saying, "Adelia: please stop licking my hand. That's gross." And her cheerful: "I sure have a wiggly bed-partner!" And she did-- Adelia was very squirmy and very noisy! Isaac was so thrilled to discover that the light coming through the blinds (from a neighbors porch) that shone onto his arms made stripes, so he stretched his arms out in front of him and gazed at them, all delighted to be a stripey boy. :) Audra snuggled up next to Mark and he scratched her back until she fell asleep. Isaias loved his spot on the couch, closest to the tree and closest to the window so that he could peer out of it when he wanted to.
The kids all loved the slumber party and are already talking about next year... :)
Please pray for this family
Please take a moment to pray for this family...
I don't know them and I don't normally read her blog, but a friend of mine linked to this blog post and I've been weepy ever since, and thankful for every.single.minute God graces me with the life of my own five...
{Photo of Tiggy here}
Thank you, dear readers...
~Stacy
I don't know them and I don't normally read her blog, but a friend of mine linked to this blog post and I've been weepy ever since, and thankful for every.single.minute God graces me with the life of my own five...
{Photo of Tiggy here}
Thank you, dear readers...
~Stacy
The Part of Christmas I'm Most Excited About
In a few days, we'll drive to the bank and ask for a lot of ones.
It's just how we do it.
The catalog has been out for several weeks, and Ella, Isaac and Isaias have already circled and written their names on the pictures of what they would like to give.
When we gather together to celebrate our own family Christmas, this is my favorite thing, my favorite part, my favorite tradition. It's what I look forward to most each year. Each child sits with their own stack of one-dollar bills and waits while Ella turns the pages of the catalog to remind everyone what they had previously marked.
Then we take turns with each child, counting out their money, writing down the gifts they have chosen on a piece of paper. If there is money left over, or if there is a costly gift that one of our children in particular *really really* wants to give, everyone pitches in some money from their stack or Adelia and Audra will be sweet-talked to part with some of those papers in front of them or Mark and I will agree to add in a certain sum of our money, so that we are able to get it.
Then we sit with the list, remind the kids what they've chosen to give, and we take turns praying. We thank God for His generosity to us, we pray for the gifts we have carefully chosen, and we ask God to bless those who would receive them, and that He would multiply each one.
Would you consider giving this type of gift this Christmas? Here are two organizations I heartily recommend:
Samaritan's Purse~Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog
Compassion International~Gifts of Compassion Catalog
It's just how we do it.
The catalog has been out for several weeks, and Ella, Isaac and Isaias have already circled and written their names on the pictures of what they would like to give.
When we gather together to celebrate our own family Christmas, this is my favorite thing, my favorite part, my favorite tradition. It's what I look forward to most each year. Each child sits with their own stack of one-dollar bills and waits while Ella turns the pages of the catalog to remind everyone what they had previously marked.
Then we take turns with each child, counting out their money, writing down the gifts they have chosen on a piece of paper. If there is money left over, or if there is a costly gift that one of our children in particular *really really* wants to give, everyone pitches in some money from their stack or Adelia and Audra will be sweet-talked to part with some of those papers in front of them or Mark and I will agree to add in a certain sum of our money, so that we are able to get it.
Then we sit with the list, remind the kids what they've chosen to give, and we take turns praying. We thank God for His generosity to us, we pray for the gifts we have carefully chosen, and we ask God to bless those who would receive them, and that He would multiply each one.
Would you consider giving this type of gift this Christmas? Here are two organizations I heartily recommend:
Samaritan's Purse~Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog
Compassion International~Gifts of Compassion Catalog
"Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now."
~Saint Teresa of Avila
Thank you cards
I love it that some of my kids are now able to write their own thank you cards. (They are so much better than anything I could come up with on their behalf!)
{front}
{back; ... and a self-portrait!}
{front}
{back}
LOVE.
[Birthday thank-you's done by Isaac.]
{front}
{back; ... and a self-portrait!}
{front}
{back}LOVE.
[Birthday thank-you's done by Isaac.]
Christmas Picture Books
Each year when we bring out the Christmas decorations, there is one box in particular that we are all *most* anxious to open: our box of Christmas picture books.
These books are held in a basket by our fireplace and we delight in the pages of these well-loved books throughout the month of December. Each December we also purchase a new Christmas book, write the year inside the front cover, and add it to the basket.
Here are just a few of our favorites:
Good King Wenceslas
I love this book. The illustrations are truly beautiful, and the words of the familiar carol stand as the text. From his castle window, Good King Wenceslas views a poor man gathering kindling for a fire, and makes preparations to bless the man out of his own wealth. Oh, how I love this book! It makes me a little tearful every time we read it. This is one of my personal favorites.
The Gift of the Magi
This book adorned the coffee table of a childhood friend of mine at Christmastime, and I caught glimpses of the pages but was never able to read the whole story or see each illustration. Fast-forward several years, and I bought us a copy and it is probably my favorite book. I don't think any Christmas collection can be complete without this book. I love this story of a poor husband and wife~ each sacrificing for the other in order to buy their beloved a gift for Christmas.
Christmas Day in the Morning
This was Mark's choice of a book two years ago and it is a treasure. It is the story of a boy who decides to surprise his father, a farmer, with a unique Christmas gift. Our children love to see this story unfold from page to page.
A Small Miracle
When I asked the kids- in the middle of summer- which Christmas books they remembered and liked best from our collection, this is the one book they all remembered and wanted to describe to me all over again! In this story, the figures from the nativity set of a local church come to life and assist a poor older woman. They see her impoverished state- no food, no money, no warmth- and while she sleeps, they work to ready her home for Christmas morning. The whole idea sounds a little odd, I realize- but it truly is a captivating story. The pages of this book are illustrations only, and my children are enchanted by every single picture.
* * *
What is the Christmas book your family most enjoys throughout this season?
The Extent of our Christmas Craftiness
can be seen right here, in just a few pictures.
Of the same craft.
And that's all we're going to do. :)
The only way we even accomplished this was with a well-timed movie for the little girls. Otherwise, it would have been disastrous.
But~ if you have older kids, it was a fun (and easy!) project. It took us about 20 minutes, and all you need is a hot glue gun, some popsicle sticks, and some buttons. Maybe a ribbon/string/thread if you want to hang it on your tree.
Of the same craft.
And that's all we're going to do. :)
The only way we even accomplished this was with a well-timed movie for the little girls. Otherwise, it would have been disastrous.
But~ if you have older kids, it was a fun (and easy!) project. It took us about 20 minutes, and all you need is a hot glue gun, some popsicle sticks, and some buttons. Maybe a ribbon/string/thread if you want to hang it on your tree.
