Merry Christmas!

We had the most delightful Christmas with the kids this year.  Reflecting back on it a few days later, I was really content with the ways we found to focus the Christmas season on the Christmas story even with the excitement of gifts and Santa.  I think embracing the entire season of Advent, finding many days and celebrations along the way to help the children learn the story of Christ's birth and its relevance to our lives, set the perfect tone for the holiday.  Our Christmas celebration culminated with a family Christmas Eve service at a local church.  Because our church did not hold a Christmas Eve service this year, we attended one at 5pm at our "sister church," and it was just perfect.  It was a simple service in which a children's rendition of the nativity story was sprinkled with simple and meaningful carols, ending with Silent Night by candle light.  The kids got to sit up front on the floor and see the whole story acted out.  It was really fun to see (and hear... because they certainly couldn't keep their questions and comments entirely under wraps) how much both of them have come to understand of Christmas.  

When we arrived home we had a tamale dinner already warmed and ready, and then the kids set out their cookies for Santa and kale for the reindeer.

There was much excitement about going to bed anticipating Santa's visit.

David reminded the kids that if they heard Santa, they were to be REALLY quiet and stay in bed.

They heeded the warning well.  They told us the next morning about how they'd heard Santa up on the roof with jingle bells, reindeer footsteps, and a loud "Ho ho ho!  Merry Christmas Jonathan and Abby!" and they had remained perfectly still and quiet lest they scare away the bearer of gifts.  Amazingly, they eventually fell asleep despite the excitement over the clamor above.

I had dressed the kids in matching Christmas PJ's in hopes of adorable Christmas morning photos.  I'm so glad I caught the one of the two of them together (top of blog) the night before, as I was in for a surprise Christmas morning.  I'm not sure whether it was an attempt to stall while waiting for morning (as it was pitch black when they awoke) or just a random idea, but for the first time ever my kids awoke, took off their pull-ups and PJ's and got dressed on their own.  More accurately, they donned T-shirts and undies but had not yet gotten to pants when they burst out of the room.  So much for matching PJ's.  They were excited about having dressed themselves in their favorite T-shirts.  And in Houston this year, T-shirts were perfect for a warm Christmas morning.

We then discovered a note from Santa.  The reindeer had eaten the kale, and Santa had nibbled on the cookies.

The kids found their stockings stuffed and each with a much-anticipated dinosaur.

 Abby had specifically requested a pink dinosaur from Santa this year, and Jonathan was over-the-top thrilled with his new T-Rex.

There's CHOCOLATE in this stocking!!!

The chapstick was also a huge hit.

Then it was time to exchange gifts.  Daddy was very enthusiastic in unwrapping his gift from the kids -- a hand-painted pine-cone Christmas tree.  Jonathan had painted a green one for Daddy, and Abby made a blue one for me.

Playing doctor is a big deal in our home these days, and the kids were very excited about the full outfit and additional doctor tools Abby received.

Both dinos received much medical attention.

In preparation for her little brother's arrival, I bought Abby an Ergo baby carrier for her baby dolls, as she'll see Mommy carrying her brother quite a bit in the months to come.  Dino was lovingly cared for in the carrier for much of the morning.

Abby also received some fun girly clothes from their nanny, Carmen.

For Jonathan, our aspiring paleontologist, we found an explorer outfit and a few tools to go with it. David received some great fishing gear, including a fishing vest and some huge waders, as well as a check to attend the men's camping church retreat in Big Bend next month.  We caught a photo of the two guys in their new outdoor gear.

Dad tried on his new fedora.

 Jonathan's other current interest is Lego building, and he and his Daddy enjoyed putting together some of his new kits, including this helicopter.

We really enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa over for Christmas lunch.  We exchanged gifts with them as well, including the ornament Jonathan had made.

 A highlight of Christmas was the scooters the kids received.  Abby's Halmony and Hariboge bought her an adorable pink first scooter, and I was impressed with how quickly she caught on!

My parents caught this video of Abby riding at the church across the street.  She's telling them she's "fast as a rocket!"

A cold front blew in late on Christmas day, but the kids were eager to ride despite some impressive winds!

Christmas Party

The 3 prior posts highlight our Christmas celebrations so far.  But despite the drive and effort that went into the Polar Express, the kids' preparations for the preschool Christmas performance, and the time that went into a day of Christmas cookie decorating, a little spontaneous Christmas party this afternoon was by far the best.  It was both heart-warming and amusing to see Jonathan plan out a celebration of the Christmas story all on his own.

Jonathan told me as Abby went down for his nap that he'd need to prepare some of his Christmas party while she's sleeping so the party would be ready when she woke up.  This is the first I'd heard that we'd be having a party this afternoon.  He explained that "it's an important party, because it's about Jesus' birthday."    While she slept, he made a variety of preparations, collecting props for a Nativity scene and planning out a snack.  I let him plan it all out, down to laying out the blue tunnel we were required to crawl through to get to the party after paying a quarter for admission -- which confused me, but I just went along.  The tunnel activity was a big hit with his sister and definitely had her sold on the party, so I guess it was well played.


The pile of packages on the left was constructed as a church with steeple where Jonathan led us in some songs from Kids Praise (yes, the Psalty album from the 1970's that I grew up with and still play for the kids in the car).


This little fairy was recruited as an angel for the nativity, and she led us in Angels We Have Heard on High.


Jonathan, with a Home Depot toolbelt as a carpenter, played Joseph.  Abby was Mary, and Baby Jesus was  played by a spotted stuffed puppy wearing red reindeer antlers, cozy in his cradle-manger.  Jonathan then transitioned to shepherd, with a shoe horn as his shepherd crook.  But when he found Abby and Pepper too uncooperative as sheep, I was recruited.  And when your 4 yr old son is leading a rendition of the Christmas story, you go with the flow and end up crawling circles around the house despite a 38 week pregnant belly!  Finally, bathrobes were donned by two wise men paying their respects to Baby Jesus.  We sang a few Christmas carol  as the story unfolded, and Abby chimed in with Baa Baa Black Sheep as the shepherd and sheep joined the scene.

We set up the Little People Nativity, then had snack time with little chocolates, candy canes, and apple sauce :)  It was definitely the most random, sweetest, and most sincere Christmas party I've attended.

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Christmas Carols and Christmas Cookies

More holiday catch-up.  Flip back to the Polar Express and Advent Season for the first installments.

The kids have been singing Jingle Bells in the back seat of the minivan since the day after Halloween.  Apparently, there are no standard preschool songs for Thanksgiving, and they got started preparing for the Christmas presentation right away.  So they were quite excited when the evening arrived!  

Abby's class didn't perform this year, but she was happy singing along from the church pews.  This series of Jonathan singing cracks me up.

He and the "Owl Class" had a good time up there.

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Christmas cookie time!

I thought we'd start some Christmas cookies one afternoon with Jonathan while Abby was napping.  It made for a fun afternoon, but I confess when we got started I hadn't quite counted on 4 hours of  baking festivities!

Jonathan quickly caught on to the process of rolling out and cutting the dough.

Before long he was an expert at flouring out the cutting board and rolling pin and carefully lifting the cookies. 

So when Abby woke up, it was so sweet to watch Jonathan teaching her how to roll out the dough and cut out the shapes she wanted.

He's really enjoying the big brother role these days and is usually enthusiastic and pretty patient teaching and including her.

Finally, ready for the oven!

Abby was really excited to watch her cookies bake!

Next, time to make the frosting.  Have you ever noticed that pouring powdered sugar into a bowl creates a bit of a  powdery "smoke" effect?

Jonathan saw the puff of "smoke" and ran right off to get his construction goggles, declaring the process quite dangerous.  I was so amused that I made minimal efforts to correct the misunderstanding ;) 

Out of the oven and ready to be decorated.

Four hours after we got started, Daddy arrived home from work and lent a hand to wrap up frosting the last batch.

More Merry Christmas!