I really LOVE Christmas

I love the whole thing. Especially the advent calendar. When we were little, my mom would put up our advent calendar and each pocket would have a felt ornament to put on the tree and a little slip of paper that told you what fun thing we would be doing that day. Sometimes it was a choir concert for a sibling or making braided bread or Christmas cookies and sometimes it was a special surprise under the tree. The advent calender is the center of activity at our house.
What will it be?
What will it say?
And now I get to be the mom and plan something for each day and buy fun surprises for my kiddos just because I think they will like it. This year Ethan grew crystals and Mat got a magnetic rollercoaster ball thingy. Megan got some FABulous princess bubble bath and Laney got snuggly moccasin boots. Mark got a warm winter hat, jiffypop (that fun kind that bubbles up under the foil and comes in its own little pan) and some 'Hotshot' - a red and black pepper mix. For those of you who are not aware, Mark has developed quite a taste for all things spicy. My surprise (thanks honey) was a great set of super soft gloves and a matching hat....RED! I love love them.
Isn't that fun?
Other things we've done this month were...
Decorating the tree Doing the live nativity with the Jones Family....chaotic and so fun. Decorating a gingerbread house that came fully assembled inside the box....so lame. However, I was relieved because I had gotten backed up on activities and this needed to be user friendly. Next year we'll pick a better kit. No, I never plan on making my own gingerbread from scratch. That's asking for tears. My tears. Visiting the lights. ahem...where the heck were the horse drawn carriages this year? We were forced to WALK through the lights on our OWN TWO FEET. Oh, and there we are in our new hats!He smiled and she smiled. The planets aligned.
Mathew had the sudden urge to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Good thing I had my camera. If you hadn't noticed, I almost always have my camera.Mark finished off the night with a slide down the courthouse banister. Born Free! As free as the wind blows!Taking a family photo You were supposed to get this in a Christmas card with a comprehensive family letter (we had a big year!) but now you will be getting it in a New Year's card. Sorry. I have a hard time sitting down to do that kind of stuff. It gets procrastinated. Making sugar cookies Megan sitting on the table. mmmm. Sanitary. The boys insisted on "freehanding" theirs. Nonconformists. I was busy saying to myself , over and over: "Let them do it. It's fine. It doesn't need to be perfect. It's a cookie. They are having fun. Let them do it. You do not need to fix it. You are fine. You can stand back and let it happen. You are fine. Take a breath. Enjoy this experience. Deep breath. Deeeeep breath." I have such a hard time with this kind of stuff. I really want the cookies to be even and spaced nicely etc, etc. I have been working on this all year. Trying to let go of stuff that doesn't matter and focus on the fun of an activity. I think I'm making progress. Deeeeeep Breath. This is right before Mark told Mathew that is unnecessary to remove your shirt to decorate cookies.
Mark making us a sumptuous spaghetti dinner while the kids decorated. Doesn't this photo just scream SUMPTUOUS?
Ethan's hand carved reindeer. That's right, those are reigns he is making with green icing. Reindeer are just horses with antlers, right?
Megan and her pink star. In fact, she made a pink tree, pink stocking, pink gingerbread man, pink snowman, pink house, pink holly and pink santa cookie right after this.
The fruits of our labors. Making 30 (THIRTY!) loaves of braided bread
It should be noted that two loaves ended up in the trash and two loaves were eaten before I could slap a bow on them and give them away. AH. Carbohydrates.
Making Children's Nativity Sets I love last year's Christmas presents...my scroll saw and sander. Thank you, Mark!
Shephard's Night This is our tradition of sleeping by the tree (under the stars...like the shephards?) on the Christmas Eve Eve and watching Polar Express (JUST like the shephards did). It started out like this.....
And ended up like this....
And THAT is why I haven't been blogging.