Even before Thanksgiving, I started singing a lot of Christmas songs to the kids, and playing Christmas music on the radio. Eli's favorite ones quickly became "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." They became part of our bedtime routine to sing them. I was able to get a video of Eli singing his songs.
A tradition that I've heard of and like is the wrapped 25 Christmas books that you read one every night. The only downfall to that of course is that you only get to read it once! We have a pile of Christmas books that my mom gave us that were some old ones from when I was a kid. Then every week when we went to the library we'd pick up several other Christmas books to read that week. So every day for the month of December we read LOTS of Christmas stories. Some were just cheery Santa fun, and several others touched my heart so that I could never read them without getting teary. Reading those special Christmas stories with Eli always brought the wonderful Spirit of Christmas (spirit of CHRIST) in our home).
One weeknight in December, David's mom came up to babysit so we could attend David's work Christmas party. It was held at Capri restaurant for the 2nd year in a row, and we had a great time! I made a new friend with one of his co-workers whom I hadn't met before, and we sat by each other and talked through the evening. The food was good, and we got to CHOOSE our own delicious desserts! David's bosses are kind and generous people.
A Saturday afternoon we drove into the Arts District in Carmel for a little holiday festivity. There was NO WAY we were going to stand in the mile-long line to see Santa (which neither kid cared about, as we saw him at the Childrens Museum and they both kept their distance). We tried to see if we could do a free carriage ride, but they were filled up. SO, we met a reindeer, frosted and ate some cookies, and then headed back home. :) Thankfully it was enough to please both kids.
The only advent "calendar" I have so far is a wooden tree of numbered small cardboard gift boxes that are attached to the branches. (Some year soon I hope to have something more Christ-focused). The boxes can be opened to reveal little treats or notes. I did it with Eli this year and it was rather a pain! I put three different types of candy in the boxes, and every morning before he even ate breakfast he'd ask for his box. But getting just one was never enough. He'd always beg and whine for more! I'd try to explain how it was a countdown to Christmas, but he didn't understand. It sadly took the fun out of it for me. Hopefully next year he'll feel more grateful for each box, or I might have to give them all to Clara! ; )
Since we planned to go to my parent's on Christmas Eve, we had our own Christmas before that. On the evening of the 23rd, I was telling Eli how he needed to get to bed so Santa could fill his stocking (Santa only does stockings in our house). Then Eli suddenly exclaimed, "It's Christmas Eve??!! We have to lay out cookies for Santa!" Ooops. I hadn't made any cookies for Santa. Thankfully Eli's little, and was pleased as punch when I pulled out some vanilla wafers. :) He requested cookies, milk, and a bucket of water for the reindeer.
We didn't do anything super big for either kid. Eli received sail boats, a search & find book, a Frozen book, a magnifying glass, new clothes, and a stocking full of goodies such as chocolate coins (which he RAVED about), dinosaur stamps, playdoh, glitter glue, etc.
Here's a video of Eli opening his stocking--
Clara received some finger puppets, and a stocking with snacks, bows, etc. Instead of spending much on Clara, we pulled out two old toys that have been put away most of her life, so they were new to her! A ball popper and a rocking horse. She FLIPPED about both! So, so excited. And Eli was, too! They both spent Christmas Eve morning playing with those "new" toys.
When we got to my parent's, we enjoyed a little tea party. It's one of Eli's favorite things to do with Grammie. All he ate during the few days of Christmas was cookies and candy.
Clara sure loves playing with her Grandpa!
My mom made a nice dinner, then we acted out the Nativity. When Eli was asked what role he'd like to play, he chose Mary. :) Grammie was the angel, David was Joseph, Becky & Kyhle were shepherds, Clara and I were Wisemen, and Grandpa was the narrator. It was quite the humorous performance, which ended in Clara and Eli fighting over the baby Jesus. :)
Here's a video of the crazy 'play.'--
After the Nativity, we sang Christmas songs that I accompanied on the piano, as Eli continued to dress up in more layers.
Before I put Eli to bed, we showed him the classic 1940s "Twas the Night Before Christmas," that my dad grew up watching, and that we kids grew up watching, too. He loved it! He again laid out cookies, milk, and a (much bigger) bucket of water for Santa and reindeer. It didn't seem to phase him at all that we were having two Christmases. We just told him that Santa came to our house, and then was coming to Grammie's.
Christmas afternoon we drove with my parents to Terre Haute to spend time with my Metheny cousins. One cousin had a new baby that I got to hold. What a sweetheart! We also took some cute pictures of the kids dressed up for Christmas.
The Saturday after Christmas was when we had our Hayes gathering. (We try to stretch Christmas out as long as possible. ;) Eli was SO excited to spend time with his cousins, Caeley and Gracie. They are both so sweet to Eli and Clara. Clara received a new doll and stroller from G&G Hayes (which she LOVES), and Eli received a train set and more legos (both of which are played with often).
Hopefully we can try to keep Christ at the forefront of our minds throughout the year, and also continue to give more of ourselves to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment