December Photo-A-Day 22

"Tradition"

Every year we make & decorate sugar cookies while listening to Christmas music or stories. This year was definitely no different. 

Traditions to Honor

CHRISTmas is gaining on us fast!

Every year while we are decorating our tree, ask my girls what the meaning of CHRISTmas is & Makaila usually chimes in first. We talk about the reason we give & receive presents is because of the presents that were given to Jesus & the gift of life He gave us by dying on the cross. She loves to hear the stories of Jesus & the angels & tell them just the same. This year she told us that CHRISTmas is about being together & loving one another!

When I think about how many children I have to buy CHRISTmas presents for, I always think about him, because I know there is one present I will not be buying. Every year we take all of our clothes & toys to the Faith City Mission. Andrea has been donating her toys since she was a toddler. We only had to explain to her once that there is a man who has many children & he cannot afford to buy them clothes & toys, so she is being like a big sister giving her stuff to these children. I have never had to fight with her or Makaila & for that I am grateful.

I am thinking next year we are going to pick an angel from the Angel Tree that Salvation Army does & buy for that angel. I am going to make this a yearly tradition & it will be like I am buying for Nehemiah. This year we bought for a friend of mine's son. I would do the angel tree this year, but I believe the deadline has passed.

What family traditions can you start to remember someone by?

December Already

I cannot believe it is already December! This year has just flown by & I feel dizzy because of it!

CHRISTmas time is approaching. This is one of my favorite holidays, beside THANKSgiving! When I was a child it seemed like it took for ever to get here. Now it just speeds up here unexpectedly!

I remember waking up super early CHRISTmas morning & having to wait on our parents to wake up so we could go see what Santa left us. It seemed like an eternity waiting on them to wake up!

For the first few years my husband & I were married we would spend the night at my parents' on CHRISTmas Eve with my sisters & brother who still lived at home & we would do the same tradition we had been doing all my life. But it has gotten to where there are too many of us for all of us to spend the night in my parents' home. The times when my older brother & his family don't get to come down for CHRISTmas we have not quite figured out a tradition to suit us. The funny thing is we live in the same town my parents do, so it isn't like we have to travel far!

But, it is fun just the same to see our children's faces light up when they get to see their presents. My mom has made the sweetest stockings for all of her grandchildren, so it is really special when we get to see those filled up.

It will be extra special this year with Crispin celebrating his first CHRISTmas! There is a still a part of us missing on these special occasions.

But we can never forget the true meaning of CHRISTmas, now can we?!

The day our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ was born in a manger!


"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him a manger because there was no room for them in the inn" Luke 2:7

TrAdiTiOnS

Well, it has been a few weeks since I posted anything.

Easter was fun! The girls & I went to my little brother's church where he lead the praise & worship that Sunday morning. It was awesome! There church is really nice, not too many people & the music was fantastic! I know my girls enjoyed kids church.

That morning we got up to check on our cookies, well I messed up somewhere & they did not turn out. They were thin & runny in the middle. I found another way to make them, so next year I plan to do it all over again. The girls enjoyed the story that followed along with making them. But while I was beating the mixture Beethoven & I had this discussion:
B: "That is boring!"
Me: "What is?"
B: "That noise!"
B: "Do you like this?" She asks as she stomps her dress shoes on the floor.
Me: "No, that is just annoying."
B: "NO, that is boring!"
So, needless to say, she has boring & annoying confused with one another. It was funny anyway.

We decorated eggs after we got the cookies into the "grave". That was fun as well. That is my most favorite memory of being a child. Sitting around the table covered in newspaper with bowls of different colors & a dozen hard boiled eggs w/my brothers. This is one tradition I will keep going for as long as I can. No one else in my family does this, so the girls & I make enough for my dad, JD & Andrea to eat after we are through.

I love the holidays & I try to find a new tradition that the girls & I can do w/each other every year. Christmas is a hard one since we never know who is going to be here. When I was a child, my brothers & I had to stay in each others room until my parents got up for us to see what Santa brought us (usually one of us would have already snuck out to see). When my sisters came along we would all sleep in mine & my sisters room. We had a daybed w/a trundle underneath, so we would raise the trundle up to make it one huge bed & we would all five sleep in there.We did this until we all started getting married. Then it got too crowded & some of the people did not want to continue this tradition. For me, what is one night w/out sleep together. Oh well.

For Thanksgiving the girls & I usually try out a new recipe. Either a desert or snack recipe. My brothers say the prayer, which are usually awesome to hear! Maybe we can think of a better one to start this year.

New Year's Eve we spend it at my parents' home w/my aunt, cousins, grandma & any other family that is here & not working. We drink margaritas & eat junk food. This year my older brother & his family got to stay & we did Karaoke! It was so much fun! JD & I use to spend it at his cousin's house, but it got too scary driving across town w/all the drunks out there.

What an amazing family I have though & love spending time w/all of them! I would not trade any of them for anything in the world! Some of them I wish I could see more though since they live farther away. Maybe one day we will all be closer.