Christmas 2009

Christmas here was nice, especially if you ignore the photo enforced traffic violation ticket that came in the mail on Christmas Eve for me, a big gift that didn't arrive on time, and a leak that was discovered in our kitchen after we were in bed and sent Steve out to clean the gutters at 11:00 PM on a wet night. All memories, right?

Really, those events put a damper on Christmas Eve for a short time, but it is hard to stay in that mood when there was baking to be done with the kids and then two hours of viewing Christmas lights with Steve, the kids and Izzy.

On Christmas day Sophia slept in until about 6:30am which amazed me. I was awake for about an hour waiting on her. Our family rule is nobody goes downstairs until we are all awake. Waiting was hard. I was so excited. Following tradition, we headed down to see what Santa had left for the kids and in our stockings once everyone was awake. Sophia received a mini trampoline from Santa which she has been bouncing on almost non-stop. Alexander's gift from Santa was delayed, but the wait will be worth it - a genuine WWII bayonet. He also received a WWII shovel from us. He loves this kind of stuff. Afterwards we ate breakfast and opened the rest of our gifts which I think everyone was more than pleased with.

I was fortunate to receive many gifts this year - all of which I needed or wanted.

My ears and forehead get extremely cold and uncomfortable even when out for short periods. Thanks Steve, Sophia and Alexander. It is just what I need.

Ever since the kids were very little they have made Christmas gifts for Steve and me. This year Alexander jigsawed puzzle pieces and then wood burned the heart and squiggles. Isn't that a creative idea?

From Sophia I received a crocheted scarf. I love it! This is her first scarf ever. She went to the craft store one day and within a few short days a gift for me was under the tree. I never imagined this would be what was inside. The handmade gifts from the kids always mean so much to me.

This year Alexander wanted a blazer. He looks so grown up and handsome, doesn't he?

The rest of our day was spent eating (I had a planned day off from the diet and enjoyed myself, but didn't go overboard which felt nice), playing Bananagrams, and enjoying each other's company. I hope your Christmas was just as delightful.

Christmas Traditions

The first two years after moving from Kansas to Illinois, we drove 12 hours both ways to spend Christmas with our family. But, the trip was long and Sophia hated her car seat and it seemed once we arrived we spent a lot of time in the car rushing from one family to the next. It just didn't seem worth the trouble when we could visit in the summer and really relax and spend the quality time we wanted with our family and friends. The decision to stay home and create our own traditions was a little lonely the first year since I come from a large family and I am used to being surrounding by noise and people, but well worth it.

I have really learned to appreciate the time we have with just the four of us. Our holiday is quiet and relaxed. On Christmas Eve we bake cookies for Santa, we bake bread for Christmas morning, we prepare the Christmas meal, and we usually do some type of activity together before Alexander and Sophia exchange gifts with each other. Then at night we leave the Christmas tree lights on for Santa and head to bed. Sophia is always the first to wake up on Christmas morning and I can usually convince her to snuggle in bed with me for a while so the boys can sleep a little longer. Finally, when she can't stand it any longer, we all head downstairs together to see what Santa has left.

I have heard my kids both say that one of their favorite parts of Christmas day is that Steve and I devote the entire day to them. Most of the cooking/baking is finished on Christmas Eve so we have little preparations to do. Instead we spend the day playing. As the kids get older and less toys are purchased I can see us playing board games or finding new ways to spend the day together. Whatever it is, I can't wait. I find myself getting more and more excited each day.

Homemade Advent Calendars

Every year since the kids were very little we have had some type of advent calendar to help count down the days to Christmas. We have made construction paper rings, we have purchased Lego advent calendars, Playmobil advent calendars, and even chocolate calendars. Together the three of us would open each day and marvel at what we found inside. This year the kids were discussing what they would like to do for an advent calendar when I had this brilliant idea. Why don't they make advent calendars for each other?

After some brainstorming, we came up with some great ideas. Alexander found a box and created his calendar for Sophia to look like a Christmas gift. Each day she opens a little door he cut from the box.

Sophia used felt and sewed a hanging calendar for Alexander. So far they have opened several pieces of chocolate candy, tiny ornaments for the trees in their rooms, bells, and a coupon from Alexander for a free night of washing dishes. As they got more involved in making their calendars, the ideas for each other became more individual and fun!

My poor camera is old and tired. I will have to try again on this photo.

Alexander and Sophia have always been very close. They are 25 months apart in age and have just always seemed to like each other. Maybe it is the differences in their personalities, the fact that they are of the opposite sex, that they share so many of the same friends, or that they have just always been compatible. Anyhow, since coming up with the idea of making advent calendars for each other, I have also seen a renewed spark in their sibling relationship. Steve and I have both had to remind them at one in the morning that their laughter is too loud, they come home from walking our dog laughing together, and they just seem to get the other one more than usual. Making the advent calendars and concentrating on one another during this holiday season reminds me of when I was a child with five siblings and my mom came up with the idea of having angels. It was fun to focus on one other person and do nice things for him/her. It gave us a true understanding of what the season was all about. I am happy to see my kids experiencing the same magic of Christmas.

Christmas was Perfect!

Christmas was perfect! I hope your day was just as great as ours.
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve we made gluten free ginger snap cut-out cookies for Santa and added a cup of cider to wash them down.

Christmas Morning Sophia started waking up around 4AM. She is ALWAYS the first to wake up. We all agreed to go downstairs at 6AM so she laid down with me for two hours. We giggled and whispered our excitement until Steve was forced to put his earplugs in.

Izzy found her stocking right away.

Yep, she was right. Santa did leave her a filled kong! How lucky for us!

Santa left Sophia a huge wolf. She has tons of smaller stuffed animals but really wanted a big one to snuggle with. This one is so soft.

Santa left Alexander a spring assisted knife - just what he wanted. That Santa always knows just the right gifts.

Sibling Exchange With six siblings, we have always done a gift exchange. This year my younger sister Robyn and her family painted a beautiful picture frame with snowmen and they gave us a dvd of Bridge to Terabithia and the game Scattergories which we played for hours on Christmas day. Thanks!

Gifts from the kids
For me, Sophia crotcheted a pink and purple bag and Alexander made a wall hanging with "MOM". They are both perfect!

Alexander wood burned a magnet for Steve....

while Sophia was busy crotcheting a coaster for Steve's cups at the computer.........

and designed a great guitar pick box so Izzy can't get to his picks and eat them.


After the Gifts were Opened
We kept thinking Sophia's new wolf, Dasher, was our dog Izzy. So, Sophia decided to take some fun pictures of them together.

Sophia has been reading about Kit, a 1930's American Girl. Like Kit, she loves to write. What she wanted to experience was typing. Finding a typewriter wasn't easy, but it was found on Freecyle!

Alexander got busy playing a new Wii game - Animal Crossing. This morning I am going to create my own house in the game.

Thanks for all the other wonderful gifts we received this year. Having each one of you a part of our lives continues to be a great gift that we cherish each and every day.

Cathy

Christmas Traditions - Reusable Gift Bags

I have a long history of recycling when it comes to Christmas gift wrap. Growing up in a family of six children, I am sure it was financially difficult enough to buy all of the wonderful gifts my parents did each year, without having to buy gift wrap also. So, for as long as I can remember, we wrapped all family gifts in recycled newspaper. It is honestly one of my favorite Christmas memories. After the gifts were wrapped in the newspaper, my mom handed us brand new permanent markers - black, blue, green and red!!! We would go to town on decorating the presents with trees, wreaths, snowmen, or whatever else we could think of. The best part was we never had someone telling us it was too much or too little. We could just decorate the way we wanted. I like to think each gift had a "one of a kind" gift wrap.

Since leaving home, I have tried reusing paper grocery bags but mostly I have used gift wrap or paper gift bags, always feeling like it was a waste of money and resources.

A few years ago my friend Darcy introduced me to a tradition her family has had for many years. Instead of gift wrapping presents, they reuse cloth Christmas bags. When I first heard of the idea, I liked it but worried we might miss the sounds that come with paper - the tearing of the paper, the crinkling, and of course, picking up the mess afterwards. But, I decided to give it a try last year and made bags of all sizes. Every gift that came from our immediate family was wrapped in a gift bag - Sophia even insisted the last present without a bag be wrapped in a purple pillowcase so we didn't have to use any gift wrap.

On Christmas morning, I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't miss the sounds that come with wrapping paper and we definitely didn't miss the wrapping paper mess we generally have to clean up after all the gifts are opened. The cloth felt more personal, like each gift had been wrapped in love, which really, after Alexander, Sophia and I had picked out the fabrics together and I had spent many hours preparing them - they were wrapped in our love and will continue to do so for many years!

Christas Tradition - Ornaments

Every year since the kids were babies, I have given them one new ornament for the tree each year. The ornament is supposed to signify an interest they had during the year. My original hope was that when they have a tree of their own, they will be able to fill it with memories from their past.


This year for Alexander I found a really cool revolver ornament. I loved the surprised look on Alexander's face.


Since Sophia has been totally immersed in gerbils since this summer, I found a cute wooden gerbil ornament. They wood burned Sooty and Pumpkin's name of the front. She keeps looking at it and saying, "I just love this ornment."


Alexander also made ornments for us. He jigsawed a "M" for Mom, "D" for Dad, and "S" for Sophia. Thanks Zandy!



*This is my 100th Post!!!! Who knew I had so much to say?

Christmas Traditions - Angels

Christmas always makes me reflect on the traditions of my past and present. I thought it might be fun to reminisce about some of those traditions from now until Christmas.

Growing up, my family had many traditions. One that I always looked forward to was the night we chose "angels". After we had decorated the tree, the names of all six kids plus mom and dad were put into a bowl. One at a time, we drew a name and kept it secret. From that point until Christmas Eve, we were supposed to be an "angel" to that person without them knowing who we were. We would do fun things like leave little notes in his/her room, clean his room or do dishes on her night, buy or make small gifts and secretly leave them.........whatever we could think of that was nice. The goal was that we took a little extra time during the Christmas holiday to focus on being extra nice to at least one other person. I always felt excited creating new ways to be nice. On Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, we would guess who our "angel" was and why we thought it was that person. Sometimes you had no idea (maybe because everyone was always nice, right mom?) but usually it seemed like we could each figure out who had been especially nice to us and it felt good - it connected us as a family.

When I was teaching 5th grade, I shared this story with my class two years in a row and both years my class begged to do it with their peers. It was really fun. I could see many of them trying really hard to come up with creative ways to be nice to each other and many of them guessed the "angel" correctly.

With all the busyness and stress of the holidays, it is refreshing to set aside some time to focus on personal gifts we have to share with others.