I've always loved traditions, and over time our Christmas season has become chock full of family favorites. Every year we re-examine our list and our schedules. Some traditions carry on, others take a rest, and we try out new options.
New: Christ-Centered Dinner
Last year a read a brief blog post about the idea of inviting over a person (or family) who is a great example of Christ-like behavior. I loved the concept! I like that it focuses not only on Christ as a baby, but reminds us that Christ grew to be a man and set the perfect example for us. I like that it helps us to look around and notice the love and service being offered all around us. I also love the opportunity to say "Thank You," in a deliberate and meaningful way.
Since the concept was new to my kids, they needed a bit of guidance. "Who do you know that is a good example of Christlike love and service?" I asked. *Shrug*
After a few more, guiding, questions, my kids finally determined that our dear Primary President, Sister Erickson, is a great example to them. Like Christ, she loves and serves and blesses children. As an added bonus, we realized that her two children are also fabulous examples. Abby is quick with a smile, adores children, and helps everyone around her feel loved and welcome. Will, though only eight years old, consistently gets up almost every month to bear his sincere testimony and share his love of the Gospel to the whole ward.
I'm kind of thinking we shouldn't save this tradition just for Christmas time.
Old: Salt Dough Nativity
We kind of combined our Christ-centered dinner with a Salt Dough Nativity FHE, which turned out to be a wise decision. The salt dough nativity is perfect for all ages. Before being tucked off in bed, Graham (per tradition) squished out his version of baby Jesus. We experimented with using color this year, to mixed reviews. Aubree and Abby became our resident scientists and mixed up different combinations by request.
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| Some of Bryce's contributions (left), Thane's contributions (right) |
The final results are indicative of our negligible artistic talent and young ages. Someday we'll be consistent about whether our sculptures are 2- or 3-D. In the meantime, I love how it turned out.
New: Christmas Tree Waffle Cones
When Mark walked in after work one day and saw the kids decorating their waffle cones he said, "Wait! Is this a Pinterest idea?"
"Of course," I responded.
"But," he sputtered, "it's so simple, and just so... so, obvious! Why didn't we think of it before?"
Needless to say, the kids loved it.
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| Don't mind the ghetto photo-bomber...he was in the process of getting ready for bed |
I used the idea again the next day for my Christmas-themed preschool. They loved it too, but how can you go wrong with frosting, m&m's, and licorice?
New: Gingerbread Craft and Playdough
Speaking of preschool... being in charge of the Christmas-themed day turned out to be quite the boon for my kids. I came across a number of really fun, yet uncomplicated crafts that were a hit across the board. One, for example, involves painting a gingerbread outline with a combination of brown tempura paint, glue, and cinnamon. Once it's painted, the kids could immediately decorate it with assorted pom-poms and buttons.
I also made two different types of play dough for the preschool kids (I like to offer Montessori-like stations at the end of each session, so I had a LOT of options prepared). The first was regular play-dough mixed with Christmas colored glitter.
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| Never too old for play dough fun! |
The second was gingerbread playdough, which smelled so delightful I was surprised none of the kids tried to taste it. When Bryce had a turn to play, he carefully cut out (with cookie cutters) a sleigh and eight reindeer, then crafted a harness to connect them all. Pretty awesome.
New and Old: Ward Christmas Party
We go to our Ward Christmas Party every year, but since this is the first year of our new ward, I guess it kind of counts as new. At very least, the approach was a novel one. The idea was to have a tacky/old-school party, complete with ugly sweater, Charlie-Brown decorations, 50's casseroles and jello dishes, and jammies for the kiddo's. While the idea was good, the implementation could have been better.
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| There was tons of food, which counts as an automatic success, right? |
I was in charge of a small craft for the kids. Aubree and Bryce diligently counted out different colored beads into 100 small cups. Saved me hours of work. There are definite benefits to kids getting older.
The kids had a brief visit/photo op with Santa. Aubree and Bryce are now old enough to smile and nod, or respond reasonably appropriately to the Jolly Fat Man's questions, but (since we don't really talk much about Santa) Thane was completely stymied by the question, "What do you want me to bring you for Christmas?"
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| You're not surprised that Kit came too, are you? |
The most impressive part of the night was the awesome family picture props one of our (insanely talented) ward members made (the night before). We were laughing so hard I'm semi-surprised any of our pictures turned out.
Oh yeah, I made some sugar cookies for dessert. I'd had that silly melted snowman idea pinned on my Pinterest board forever. Glad I finally had a chance to follow through with it!
New: Nutcracker Ballet
We've talked for years about taking Aubree to see the Nutcracker, but it never really panned out. This year, when tickets came up on Groupon, I jumped on them, and decided Bryce was old enough to come along. The morning of the event, however, left me reconsidering my decision to take him. "I don't want to go!," he moaned, "I never wanted to go. I just want to stay home with Dad."
Ugh. What to do? After talking with him for a few more minutes, he added, "I don't want to miss the end of the movie (that he had started watching first thing in the morning)."
"Oh," I explained, "the Nutcracker doesn't start until after lunch. You'll still have time to finish your movie." His eyes lit up, "Then I DO want to go!"
Like my kids, I'd also never been to the Nutcracker ballet, and in the interest of full disclosure, I thought it was pretty dull and just *might* have dozed off a time or two. "Uh oh," I thought, "Bryce is going to wish he had indeed stayed home!"
But I was wrong. Halfway through the performance he leaned over and whispered, "so far, I love it!" He hadn't changed his mind by the end. Aubree also really enjoyed it, though she also got a little bored when, "the same two people kept dancing over and over at the end." Their favorite part was when the mouse king kept falling off the stretcher. Thank goodness for a little humor!
We'd also been invited to hear our neighbor's sing in a homeschool choir that evening, and since both events were far from home, yet near each other, we opted to stay out between performances. To kill a little time, we stopped at Costco for light shopping and dinner. The kid's choir concert was fun. Bryce was especially fascinated by the kids his age using boomwhackers. What a fun idea!
Old: Live Nativity
This is always one of my favorite activities of the year. It's always a little (or a lot) wild, but so wonderful. Amidst the numerous kids we invited, we only had two girls. Finley decided to be Mary, which necessitated that Thane be Joseph. He was excited about the idea, and great about dressing up. Yet, when our friends arrived, he somehow got it in his head he needed to be tackling everyone. I spent most of the evening pulling him off of shepherds, wise men, and yes, even poor Mary.
No surprise that Aubree was the angel again. She loves that part, and had no competition this year.
Here are (almost) all our cast members following their performance. I'm impressed they stayed still long enough to get a picture; they were all quite anxious to tackle the yummy treats.
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