More Christmas Memory Making

The day after Christmas began earlier than most since Lukas was singing with the Kids Matter worship team in the combined family worship service at church. He had to be there at 9, which is actually an hour later than we normally need to be at church on Sunday morning, so we were glad for the extra hour.

The service was probably my favorite family service ever. We've done some great family services at our church in the past, but I just loved the way this one flowed. I don't even know how many of our pastors spoke, but I don't think anyone spoke for more than 5 minutes, and everything was fluid and made sense. Ava was interviewed by Pastor Deb, our lead elementary children's pastor, and she loved that. It was a beautiful morning of worship. It makes me sad for all those people who stayed home because it was Christmas weekend.

We went to Mom and Dad's in Coshocton later that evening and celebrated with them. Everyone loved their gifts, of course, and it was nice to visit with Mom and Dad for a few hours. The kids new pillow pets have me coveting them a little. Haha! Have you felt how soft and comfy they are? 

We had a couple of relaxing family days after that. Last night, we went to Wildlights at the zoo, and so did the rest of the entire city as well as all the suburbs. It was seriously crowded. We haven't gone for a few years, but we decided to go this year since it is free to us and the weather was pretty good. Eric's parents went with us. We were there for about two hours and barely made it through North America and the Polar Frontier. It was beautiful. I love Christmas lights. How great is it that the whole nation as well as other parts of the world celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, by lighting up their homes, businesses and communities? I realized last year as I was gazing on a light display that, even if the people didn't know the Lord, those lights were in celebration of Him. The whole nation lights up for Jesus once each year, and I enjoy it so much. Even the zoo was lit for Jesus! If He didn't exist, neither would all these light displays. I had hoped to post a blog in which I explored that idea further, but it just isn't going to happen this year.

Today we're kind of getting back to the grind. Yes, I'm blogging, but I'm also doing laundry and getting ready to work on school planning for the start of school next Tuesday (I have another eye injection on Monday, so we're getting an extra day off). The kids have had a laid-back day, but there will be some straightening up and vacuuming today as well as the dreaded laundry folding. Eric is working until 8. It feels like we're back to normal, and I think we're ready for routine to set in.

I hope that your holiday season has been a blessing to you. I know that some people struggle through this time of year, and, at the beginning of the season, I was one of those. At the end of the season, I'm struggling again, but only because life handed us a little more than we wanted to handle in the past two days. Still, I have joy. I have amazing kids and a loving husband. I have a church which I find to be our greatest family blessing. Serving there is incredible. That might be for another post as well. 

We still have a few days of family time left. We have no specific plans for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day at this point. Want to get together? Haha! It would be great to see so many of you for the holiday. Maybe some day, that'll happen. Until then...Happy New Year!!! May 2011 be your greatest yet!

Christmas Day

Here we are on December 29th (actually, I'm editing this on Dec. 30th), and I'm finally blogging about Christmas. Why? We haven't been busy, per se, but I have purposefully focused on spending less time on-line, which results in less time for my blog. I didn't want my kids remembering that I spent this holiday time on the computer. I wanted them to know that I wanted to spend time with them enjoying their new toys, games and movies together. That's exactly what we've done.

Christmas Day was fantastic. The kids were awake at 6:00, but they didn't wake us until 7. Considering how late we were awake, I was grateful for that extra hour. Truthfully, I heard them around 6:30, but I tried really hard to ignore them until they actually came in to get us. ;)

Christmas morning is always the same at our house. Eric went downstairs first, plugged in all the lights, lit candles, turned on Alabama Christmas and manned the video camera. I manned the actual camera, and the elephants bumbled down the stairs. Do you remember that kind of excitement? I do. I remember looking forward to Christmas like no other day of the year. My kids are definitely on that band wagon. I'm pretty sure I'm still on it as well.

We took our time opening gifts one at a time. We always begin by opening the stockings. I know a lot of families do the Santa thing on a huge scale, but we've always made Santa a smaller part of our celebration. He stuffs stockings and may bring one or two small gifts. This year he brought each child a coloring book and their stocking treasures. Santa had to get a little creative with Lukas' stocking since Lukas asked him for something we decided he couldn't have (Bakugon is too dark for the McEvoys). Do you know how much Easy Bake mixes are? They are EXPENSIVE(It's ridiculous). Santa found a box of 12 mixes that cost a fraction of what the mixes usually cost, and, voila! Lukas' stocking was stuffed! There was also a Webkinz sticking out of the top holding some candy. He was thrilled.

The rest of the gifts were opened with much excitement including screaming over cowgirl boots and jumping up and down over an American Girl doll from Grandma and Grandpa. We had to stop everything when Lukas opened his camera so that we could install the batteries. Lukas has probably taken 1000 photos in the past 5 days. I love it. He loves photography, and he seems to be pretty good at it. Ava has worn her cowgirl boots everywhere except for church (only because she missed Christmas Eve service and wore her Christmas dress on Sunday instead. Otherwise, she would have found an outfit to wear w/those boots to church). I think she would have slept in them the first night if we had allowed it. 

Our gifts were simple this year and few, which was fine. I prefer it that way. Even when our situation is less lean, we don't go over-the-top on Christmas. I was still so blessed on Christmas, and, while I don't want anyone to think that I'm blogging about a laundry list of commercialism, I got a gift that I want to share with you. It wasn't expensive, but it was the best thing I could have received. The kids chose a frame for me that says LOVE down one side and has three photos on the other side. Eric had their first day of school pics printed and put them into the frame. I love it. It is one of the most special things the kids have ever given to me. 

We spent the rest of Christmas Day enjoying family time. My parents are usually here, but they were at my aunt's this year. Eric's parents stopped by for a while, which is always nice. We played games since both kids received new games. We played with toys. We had a nice, but very simple, Christmas dinner. We watched The Santa Clause 2. We relaxed and didn't stress about anything. It was a perfect day. It was the kind of day that only comes around once in a very long while, and we are grateful for it.

25 Days of Christmas Days 23 & 24

Today was a day of crazy busy activity around here. It isn't that we aren't ready for Christmas. It's just that I want certain things to be done. I want the house to be clean even though we aren't having a lot of company because we are worth it (and the mama enjoys life so much more in a clean house). I want certain things to be baked to give away as gifts since that's one annual tradition that doesn't cost us very much. I want to not stay up all night tomorrow getting things ready for Christmas morning. Because of all these "wants," today was a seriously busy day.

I had planned a craft for our 25 Days, but I neglected to get the necessary photos needed for the project, so we couldn't do it. However, we wrapped Eric's gifts, cleaned bedrooms, did countless loads of laundry (at least 1 more to go), baked sugar cookies, mixed and baked thumbprints, enjoyed a healthy, family dinner and snuggled poor, sick Ava a few times. It's her "most favorite thing to do" when she's sick, and the poor child is indeed sick. She has a head cold, most likely the same cold that has Eric taking two antibiotics. I'm hoping that she doesn't end up on antibiotics. It has been so long since one of the kids was sick that I didn't even know what medicine to suggest to Eric when he called me from Walgreens. I think it's been years since one of them has had an antibiotic!

All that is to say that baking together became the activity of the day. When we make sugar cookies, we all help. It's a blast each year. We mix the dough one day, roll and cut them out the next. We throw flour on each other. We eat cookie dough and fresh, warm cookies. The good news this year is that I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe, which I got from DeeDee Wesney when we were first married. I probably haven't seen DeeDee in 10 years. She would probably be surprised that her cookie recipe has me thinking of her each Christmas.

Tomorrow is another busy day. I doubt that I'll take the time to blog. Our 24th Day celebration will consist of going to Christmas Eve service, at which I'll be singing with the choir while Eric and the kids watch along with Eric's parents. I'm glad they'll be joining us this year! We're also headed to a party after church at our friends, the Fents, who used to live in our back yard (not literally, of course, but they did live on the other side of our fence for the first 4 1/2 years that we lived here). We miss them, so we are very much looking forward to seeing them tomorrow night!

This 25 days has been a lot of fun this year. We didn't do as much crafting as usual, but we made a lot of great memories this year. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are going to be so wonderful for us!

Tomorrow night, when we get home, the kids will exchange gifts with each other. This is our Christmas Eve tradition. Lukas is absolutely falling apart because he wants so badly to give Ava's gift to her. She's going to love it. I have no doubt about that. Lukas told me that he's really into giving more than getting gifts this year. Ava jumped on that as well and agreed with him. I love this about my children. They really get "it" sometimes. Today I was reminded about how great they are. Snuggles with Ava are my favorite even if she is sick. Listening to Lukas giggle and wrestle with Eric is my favorite too. Christmas is my favorite. Jesus is my favorite.

This favorite time of year...rocks.

25 Days of Christmas Days 20-22

This has not been the relaxed, laid-back week for which I had hoped. What was I thinking? Of course this week is busy! It's the week before Christmas!!! Because of this, we had to alter our Monday plan. Day 20 was supposed to be a baking day, and we did actually bake two cakes (Eric needed dessert for an Aflac luncheon). It ended up being a "shop for Dad" day because shopping, in general, took far too long. Traffic was insane. Stores are crowded. I do not enjoy shopping this time of year, especially when I go to three stores and don't find the treasured gift I seek. I digress. Monday, Day 20, our activity was shopping for Daddy. The kids chose the perfect gift for him, and they are pretty excited about it!

Day 21 was baking day, though we didn't get as much baking completed as I had hoped. We're still working on it. Sugar cookie dough is waiting to be rolled. Russian tea cakes are baked. Cake truffles are done(those Aflac folks liked them, but we have PLENTY left over!!!). Cinnamon vanilla toasted walnuts are complete, and they are super tasty! The walnuts were a new recipe, and I am so glad we tried them! Click the recipe title to check it out!

Day 22 isn't complete yet, but, as I type, Eric is gathering the wrapping supplies from the garage (where we have recently discovered a mouse is living!!!), and the kids will get to do some wrapping. They'll wrap the gifts they purchased for each other, and they'll wrap the gifts they bought for Eric and me as well. It's always a fun time wrapping gifts with them and watching to see how they decorate their packages.

Three days til Christmas. Can you believe it? This month seems to have flown by! I'm so glad that we've taken the time to make these memories together. More to come! Check back soon!

The Simple Woman's Daybook #74

Outside my window...snow and rain did NOT fall today even though I believed the weather forecast and skipped Ava's dance class last night to finish shopping in order to avoid shopping today (I'm not bitter. Nope. Not at all).

I am thinking...I never want to be the person who gave someone the silent treatment and prevented them from having the opportunity to make amends the way Christ would desire.

 
I am thankful for... singing.

 
I am wearing...purple and cream PJs.

 
I am remembering... lighting lots of candles and listening to Alabama Christmas while decorating the Christmas tree when we were kids.

I am creating...memories.

I am going... to experience Christmas joy through my children.

I am reading... A Christmas Carol by Dickens. I might have some time to devote to it now (no guarantee).

 
I am hoping... to have an amazing Christmas.

 
On my mind... the way the Lord guides us in making mature choices when we rely fully on Him and make Him the Lord of our lives.

From the learning rooms...  baking, giving, crafting, wrapping, singing and playing.

Noticing that... my children may need more activities to keep them occupied and to prevent electronics from taking over their lives while on their school break.

 
From the kitchen... Russian tea cakes, sugar cookies and cinnamon vanilla toasted walnuts.

Around the house...baking, cleaning, wrapping.

One of my favorite things... celebrating special holidays with my family.

 
Praying for... guidance and discernment.

A verse to share...And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name. Luke 1:46-49

A lyric or two... 

Breath of heaven, hold me together,

Be forever near me, breath of heaven.

Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness,

Pour over me your holiness, for You are holy

Breath of heaven.

A Picture thought... 

This is from the ornament set we purchased as our souvenir on our first family trip to Disney World.

A few plans for this week...baking, grocery shopping, wrapping gifts, Christmas Eve service, a Christmas Eve party with friends and CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Back to the Manger

It was nothing short of a privilege that I was able to direct our church's children's choir in their annual Christmas musical, and it was made even better because Eric assisted me. We started rehearsals the first week of September after reviewing several musicals and deciding on this one, which was created by Christy Semsen, who was mentored by the Clydesdales. I love Clydesdale musicals, so I knew this was going to be the perfect musical for our kids to perform. When Eric and I were discussing it yesterday, I concluded that, of all the musicals I have directed or with which I have assisted, this is my favorite. The plot is well-written, and the music is a blast.

Anyway, our kids did a great job. Lukas was cast as Jackson, who does not enjoy Christmas caroling and also does not understand the point in giving at Christmas. A time machine malfunctions taking Jackson and three friends on a journey that bounces them around from decade to decade until they finally end up back at the manger. The story is fun. The lines were delivered better than I could have imagined(and the ad-libbed lines were the best!). The four main characters were cast perfectly. The entire cast came together so well. Everyone knew their lines. The soloists sang like angels. 

Since this is my blog, I will be a little self-indulgent and say that my children were amazing. Lukas had never played a role this large. He did a lot of memorization to play this role! I was never concerned about him memorizing it all. I knew he could do it. What surprised me was his ability to act, I mean really, really act. His facial expressions and body language came naturally. This boy is talented. I believe the Lord is leading him to his sweet spot in ministry already.  His favorite part of the role was the chance he had to rap in the middle of one of the songs. Jackson had a solo rap part, and Lukas definitely embraced it! He had a blast!

Ava played a small role as a 1940s war volunteer, and she also did very well. It was the first time she had any kind of part in a play. Her scene was with Lukas, which made it even better for me as their mama. She also had a solo in the play. She sang half a verse of Away in a Manger. During dress rehearsal, she ended the verse with a very loud, "Hey!" It was hilariously cute, and I wish we had been recording that. 

All of the kids did a great job. I had one child drop out at the last minute because of sickness, and another girl learned her part in just a few days. There were some other last minute things that came up, but we worked it out. The kids were amazing. All of them. I couldn't be more proud of this choir of children who are using their gifts to serve the Lord.

The behind-the-scenes team was also amazing. I had an exceptional team of volunteers serving with me to make this production happen. I am grateful to them. Rehearsals went smoothly because of these people. Props were found. Costumes were found, created or discovered in parts of the church which I didn't know existed. I was repeatedly reminded by one volunteer that everything was fine during dress rehearsal. I needed that. I am so appreciative to so many people. This musical wouldn't have happened without them.

Most importantly, this musical wouldn't have happened without Eric. He began the journey calling himself the "drama coach" and was then re-titled by me as the assistant director. Co-director is probably more like it. Yes, I technically made the final decisions, but he kept me sane and took on anything I asked of him. We have never done anything like this together in quite this capacity. It was a blessing.

In 1996 I spent the summer working at a Salvation Army summer music conservatory. I loved that summer. The Lord put a call on my life that summer to use the musical gifts which He gave to me within the church to reach others. I nearly dropped my music ed major but was advised to continue on that course and instead added a church music degree. At 20, I knew this was what the Lord planned for me, and to see it come to fruition again and again as I have served in churches throughout the past 12 years feels amazing. I have never felt more at home serving the Lord. I have loved this time directing these children. Music is one of God's greatest gifts to me. I am humbled to be used in such a way, and I am grateful for the privilege to once again be serving the Lord as He desires. I am thankful for my calling. I am one blessed gal.

25 Days of Christmas Days 15-19

Obviously, we have been BUSY, or I would have blogged more before now! I'll give you a quick snapshot of what we've been up to for our 25 Days activities.

Day 15: We drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We had kids' choir rehearsal on this evening, and I had a long rehearsal right after that for the adult Christmas production too. Eric and the kids had small group Christmas parties. We still took some time to do something a little special. On the way home, we spent about 20 minutes driving through a neighborhood which had gorgeous light displays! This is one of our favorite 25 Days activities each Christmas season.

Day 16: We attempted THIS CRAFT. Notice, I don't have an actual photo because I purchased the wrong kind of satin ribbon (it was weather proof, something I didn't realize until we started the craft). Ours did not turn out. If I have a chance, we may try it again with the right kind of ribbon. If we do, I'll post the pics. I'm hoping to do a couple crafts with the kids this week, and we may re-visit this one while we're making a mess.

Day 17: We had dress rehearsal with the children's choir for the Christmas musical.

Day 18: Performance night! The kids had a blast performing in the play, and Eric and I were so blessed to be directing them!

Day 19: We went to Walgreens to see Santa today, and then we went to Cold Stone for ice cream. My Dad gave the kids money for Cold Stone last night after the play. It was a nice treat. Santa was fun to see too. He talked to the kids about how challenging it can be to get those reindeer to make such a sudden stop on each roof. We'll pick-up the photos later this week, though they won't be posted since they aren't digital.

So that's the last several days of our lives in quick review. I want to blog more in depth about the musical, but I'm just too tired right now. I'll get to it tomorrow or the next day, and I'll post some photos too. This week should be less demanding. I'm looking forward to baking, finishing some shopping, wrapping gifts, spending time with my favorite people, and getting some good sleep! Sleep...I'm planning 9 hours tonight. I've been surviving on 4-6 hours for a week now, and I'm a girl who is at her best when she has 8 or 9. It's time for some good rest! Good night friends!

25 Days of Christmas Days 13 and 14

I've never taken the time to blog about our 25 Day celebration in such detail. I'm having so much fun sharing this with all of you!

Yesterday, we started a really cute ornament craft. Here's the LINK to the directions for this little sled ornament made with craft sticks. This is definitely a craft that requires a parent's help. I cut the pieces as necessary. The kids painted them using Christmas colors, and then the paint had to dry. Because we did these late in the day and had somewhere to be in the evening, this turned into a two day project. I glued mine together last night to see if basic Elmer's glue would hold the sled together. It worked perfectly. When the kids glued their sleds together, it required much assistance. I suggest doing one yourself. It's simple to do, but it will help you decide the best sequence for gluing the pieces together. The parent really needs to help hold the pieces together. In the end, I hot glued the string to the sleds.  Anyway...here's the photo showing how they turned out. I love them! From left to right, you can see Ava's, Lukas', and then mine. The paint is shimmery, but I'm not sure you can really tell in the photo.

Today's special activity was supposed to be another craft, but I needed to get some supplies (for the first time in four+ years of homeschooling, we are out of glue sticks and almost out of regular glue too!!!). We watched one of our favorite Christmas specials instead, Frosty the Snowman. I used to watch it with my Grandpa when I was a little girl, and I continued to watch it even as an adult before having kids. This cartoon and Rudolph are my favorite Christmas cartoons. I love passing fun traditions like this onto my kids. They look forward to watching Frosty each Christmas season just as much as I do (I mean did, right?)!

Last night during our crafting time, I talked to the kids about why we do this each year and how Jesus is the focus of this season. Making family memories is important, but there is a method to my madness. Planning all these activities for our family requires us to stay home more often, which, in turn, allows us more time to focus on Jesus during this season. Trust me, the McEvoys are busy this time of year, so we must be purposeful about our time with the Lord and our time with each other.

Of course, we make the Lord the focus of our lives all year round, but, during some seasons of the year, it is necessary to work harder because there are more outside pressures. I read a blog post recently that said having time to blog or surf the net means that you have plenty of time to spend with the Lord. The same could be said about the Christmas season. If you have time to do all those commercialized things(some which even push their way into the church), then you have time for the Lord. Keep your priorities straight and spend time with the Lord and your family this month and all throughout the year!

The Simple Woman's Daybook #73

Outside my window...our first sparkling blanket of measurable snow.

I am thinking...about checking things off my to do list.

 
I am thankful for... a long Christmas break.

 
I am wearing...brown yoga pants and a rust colored sweatshirt.

 
I am remembering... Christmas when I was 6.

I am creating...an ornament craft with my children this afternoon.

I am going... to church...every day except Thursday.

I am reading... A Christmas Carol by Dickens. Still.

 
I am hoping... for a greater measure of Christmas joy.

 
On my mind... details. Lot of details.

From the learning rooms...  Christmas crafts and line memorization.

Noticing that... when people pray, the Lord answers.

 
From the kitchen... sausage lentil soup.

Around the house...cleaning and sorting bedrooms, reorganizing the kitchen and laundry (which is hopelessly behind until we get a new machine).

One of my favorite things... hanging out with my kids when school is not on the schedule.

 
Praying for... increased peace and good health.

A verse to share...Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

 

 

A lyric or two... I think I've probably shared this last year, but it's one of my absolute favorites to hear at Christmas right now, so I'm sharing it again and hope that you'll listen to it.

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe, after all we've projected,
A child in a manger?
Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother's shawl -
Just a child -
Is this who we've waited for? 'cause...

How many kings step down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior
All that we have, whether costly or meek
Because we believe.
Gold for his honor, and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he will suffer
Do you believe?
Is this who we've waited for?

All for me...
All for you...

A picture thought I'm sharing with you...

Three years ago, Lukas found this, the first gift of Christmas, hanging on our tree on Christmas morning.

A few plans for this week...If I listed it all, it would require a blog post of it's own. We have lots of rehearsals this week as well as a hair cut, dentist appointment, a medical appointment, piano lesson and groceries and other errands to run. Pray for us!

Southwestern Goulash

Searching for a quick, super easy, healthy meal? Look no further. I promise this is just as easy as making something from a box. Someone recently told me that I make some pretty strange things. I think she may be right (Hi Shereda!), so I decided to post a recipe that is a simple twist on a classic meal. This one is not strange, and it's super simple!

I made Southwestern Goulash tonight, a recipe which I found in my Taste of Home magazine. They've included an entire section of recipes in the December-January issue that are slimmed down, which is exactly the way I cook. If you like to cook, I suggest you pick up a copy of this month's magazine. They've divided the healthy meals section into recipes featuring beef, pork, seafood, poultry, and veggies. I've already tried two recipes, and I'm pleased with them. Here is the link to the recipe I tried tonight.

Southwestern Goulash

I made a few very small changes(a recipe is a guide, never a rule). One cup of macaroni did not sound like it was going to be nearly enough for this recipe, so I cooked 2 cups and then added half to see if I wanted to add more. I added about half of what was left, so, next time, I'll cook 1 1/2 C macaroni (use whole wheat if you can). I also initially added half the can of chilis. Ava is sensitive to spicy foods, so I didn't want to spice it up too much. I ended up using about 2/3 of the can. I would have enjoyed it with the whole can, but I expected Ava to love this recipe, so I kept it a little tame for her. I also did not have fresh cilantro, so I used a tablespoon of dried cilantro instead and added it when I added the other ingredients after browning the meat.

The next time I make this I will probably double the amount of corn in the dish.There was so little in the recipe that you barely noticed it as you were eating it, and I wanted just a little more flavor from the corn. Also, I served this with the option of putting a dollop of reduced fat sour cream and a little cheese on top, but it totally didn't need it. I tried it both ways, and it was delicious either way. The recipe says it makes 6 servings, and it was definitely accurate. We ate just over half of the pot tonight and will have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

If you give this a try, let me know. Three out of four of us loved it (which is what I expected). It is a rare recipe that pleases all four of us (uh-hem...Lukas...cough, cough). This was a perfect, warm meal on a cold, snowy night. I hope you try it!

I apologize for getting a photo of my finished dish. There is a photo of the recipe on the link.

25 Days of Christmas Days 11 and 12

This weekend's planned activities were pretty simple. Yesterday, we watched the movie, Elf, with the kids. Lukas had been asking to see it(prior to this viewing, I had said no because I was afraid it would encourage him not to believe in Santa), and it is one of my favorite newer Christmas movies (my absolute faves are all older movies). Our children giggled all the way through this movie. Ava, who initially begged us to watch The Polar Express instead (which we watched this evening while the snow fell), squealed with laughter all the way through the movie. That's why we're doing this. Moments like this, when I hear Ava's laughter or gaze on Lukas' grin, remind me that it is so important to be purposeful about the memories you choose to make with your family this time of year. Your kids don't want to remember that they were dragged around to someplace different each and every day. I promise that they will be thrilled with staying home now and then! More than anything else, they want to be with you, and home is where they are able to get the greatest measure of your attention.

Today we attended an open house together that was hosted by the Kids Matter ministry team from our church. We got to see the McKay's new house, which was a treat, and we visited with other families from church for about an hour and a half before heading home. The roads were mostly good other than the near accident we had in a parking lot as we slid uncontrollably while the driver heading toward us was completely oblivious to our near collision. She seriously didn't even notice us, and we missed her by a foot at the most.If you must drive in bad weather, please be aware of the other drivers on the road!

That was bonus information that clearly has nothing to do with our family fun this month. The kids also had the privilege of performing in church this morning with the kids choir. The musical is coming up on Saturday, and they are getting more and more excited as the days go on (which means that I am getting more and more busy as the days go on since I'm directing).

One more thing that really doesn't go with this blog, but I'm sticking it in here anyway since I can! Hahaha! Does anyone have any great Christmas devotionals to do with kids? We spend time each evening doing a family devotional, and I've been wondering if there was something we could do differently over the next couple weeks. Any ideas are welcomed!

25 Days of Christmas Days 9 and 10

Day 9 has been an annual tradition since Lukas was 3. Each year, our children are given the opportunity to purchase a gift for their sibling. We try to remember who took which kid shopping the previous year, we plan where we will go so that we're not in the same store, and we go shopping. This was my year to shop with Ava, so we headed to Target.  She picked the first item that she wanted to consider for Lukas and added it to the cart. She picked out a second item and added it to the cart. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth.

I asked Ava if she was ready to choose which item she was going to give to Lukas. She looked at me with a look of utter confusion, then looked toward the items in the cart and had no idea what to say. I immediately realized that she thought she was buying ALL of those items she had chosen for Lukas, which would have put her way over her little budget. We talked again about how much she had to spend and how much each of the items she was considering cost, and then we started putting items back. Later, she found yet another item and decided on it instead. I won't say what she bought just in case Lukas' eyes wonder to my blog, but he's going to love his sister's gift to him this year!

Eric and Lukas had intended to head to Walmart but made a stop somewhere else first, purchased a gift that Ava would definitely have loved, and then went to Walmart where Lukas found something that he just knew Ava would love. The great thing is that I know she will love it, and he chose it perfectly for her. That is what is so sweet about this shopping trip. They always choose perfect gifts that the other one will please the other child.

When both children open their gifts from each other, something we traditionally have them do on Christmas Eve, they will be thrilled. It really is special to see your kids loving each other in this way. If you have the opportunity to let them shop for one another, I recommend it. If you have a larger family, you could have the children pool their money and decide on one sibling gift per child. Since children don't often have a lot to spend, it could get pretty expensive to buy gifts for four or five siblings all at once!

Today was Day 10. Eric had to work at Aflac and UDF today, so we didn't really get to do anything with him. That always makes the kids sad, but we made the best of it since we are extremely grateful for Eric's new job for which he is training. I planned a game night for the kids. The plan was for all three of us to play Mouse Trap. Unfortunately, poor Lukas has been struggling with a headache today after being awake during the night, so both school and game night were a little less than productive for him today (not a big deal since it was our last day of school til January 4th). He laid on the couch while Ava and I played Mouse Trap. 

The trap defeated us! By that, I mean that we did something wrong. The trap didn't work, and I finally had to take about 10 minutes to disassemble and reassemble the trap until I figured it out. The marble was in the wrong spot. Ha! It couldn't have been a simpler mistake. That'll be fun to remember each time we pull the game from the box.

34 Year old Woman Defeated by Game Designed for 6 Year Olds.

Yep. That's me!

These moments when we are doing special things are some of the most important that we have. Some fun crafts are coming soon! I'll be sure to take photos for you to see!

Dazzling Decorations

I have ornaments all over my tree that are dazzling to me whether or not they are to someone else. I thought it would be fun to pick a few and blog about them.. My hope is that you will be inspired to blog about your favorite ornaments or to leave a comment on this post about your favorite dazzling decoration. I'll post another post each week until Christmas.

This first ornament that I'm sharing is a tiny porcelain angel. My second grade teacher gave it to my mother for being a room mom, and it was always one of my favorite ornaments to add to the tree when I was a child. I adored Mrs. Overdorf, and she was a breath of fresh air after my first grade teacher. When Eric and I were married, my  mom passed the ornament onto me. I'm sure it was more special to me than it was to her as it represented one of my favorite teachers.

One Christmas when we lived in Coatesville, PA, my little angel was missing. I was devastated. I sobbed over this sweet little angel ornament. I realize that sounds so silly. It was the memories attached to the ornament that I would miss each year. I assumed we had accidentally tossed her to the curb with the previous year's tree. She did not hang from our tree that year. I was sad about that for sure.

The next year, as we were unpacking our decorations in our house here in Ohio, I realized that what I thought was just a bunch of rumpled tissue in the bottom of a tiny box was indeed the hiding place of my precious little angel ornament! She has hung in a place of honor each year since, and I take special care that she is wrapped and stored properly so that I don't lose her or find her broken.

Here is a photo of this little angel ornament that I have loved for 27 Christmases now!

25 Days of Christmas Days 7 and 8

Eric wasn't home to enjoy our Day 7 festivities as he had to work both of his jobs yesterday, so we kept it simple. We read a Christmas storybook, and I allowed the children to choose it from our library book crate. I reserved several books, all recommended in the December supplement for Five in a Row, which is Ava's homeschooling curriculum. The children chose for me to read Babar and Father Christmas. 

I personally love Babar stories, and I remember the Babar series being read to me as a child. I even remember the Toledo Museum of Art having a Babar exhibit, and my first grade class visited it on a field trip (my husband will tell you that I have a crazy weird memory). Babar is special for me, so I was glad they chose this book. I don't remember ever reading it, but it was a fun story. The kids got a few chuckles out of it even though it had pretty much nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas.

Tonight we made Christmas cards for grandparents as our Day 8 activity. The kids have very much looked forward to this project. I am not posting the photos because I want their grandparents to be surprised, but I will say that they are super cute this year!

Here are links to the ideas on which we based our cards this year so you can try them with your kiddos(Don't look grandparents):

Snow Man Card (We added glitter dots for snow)

Tree Card 

The cards turned out extremely well! The second one turned out so well, I could easily make more and have the kids display them in our own house!

This was probably the most fun I've had doing a craft in a while. I'm so pleased with them! The kids did an excellent job!

25 Days of Christmas Day 6

Today is Saint Nicholas Day! We have never celebrated this day, but I figured it was an ideal time for our annual reading of Dandi Daley Mackall's The Legend of Saint Nicholas. My children did not remember this story even though this is at least the third year we've read it. That makes it even more special to me because it's like they experienced it for the first time! Here's a photo of the book. Check your local library or favorite book store for a copy to share with your kiddos!

The Simple Woman's Daybook #72

Outside my window...the ground is dusted with snowflakes (and I'm ready for a blizzard).

I am thinking...about Mary and Joseph and what it must have felt like to know they were expecting "their" first child who really wasn't their child at all. What must it have been like to see his face the first time? I can't wrap my mind around it.

 
I am thankful for... an extremely kind, generous eye specialist.

 
I am wearing...red Christmas pajamas with green trees, snowflakes and reindeer on them. Oh yes I am!

 
I am remembering... Christmas lights and candle light and all of Warsaw lit with luminaries on Christmas Eve.

I am creating...plans to finish my Christmas shopping.

I am going... to remember whatever it is that I am probably forgetting to do in preparation for the upcoming kids' musical at GCCN.

I am reading... A Christmas Carol by Dickens. I've never read it. I'm loving it.

 
I am hoping... for peace and discernment.

 
On my mind... ensuring that the Lord is truly the Lord of my life, and not just someone I call Savior. He is so much more than that.

From the learning rooms...  Joseph, ancient Egypt (my kids are so over Egypt at this point), Christmas crafts and fun writing assignments.

Noticing that... I need to get some of my own negative attitudes under control.

 
From the kitchen... pate chinois (a fancy name for a casserole with ground beef, onion, creamed corn, whole kernel corn, mashed potatoes and cheese).

Around the house...much organizing needs to be accomplished soon, or I may go absolutely berzerk.

One of my favorite things... Ava's piggy tails.

 
Praying for... healing.

A verse to share..."A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

 

 

A lyric or two... 

Sing, Mary, Sing!
Lullaby the king.
Born to be our pardon.
No longer shall we weep.
Come soften what was hardened.
Sing, Mary, Sing!

A picture thought I'm sharing with you...

A few plans for this week...wrapping up school before our break, rehearsals, and Christmas shopping.

Scale Olympics

Lukas spent the past several months learning new piano skills so that he could compete in Scale Olympics this weekend at Otterbein College (which we just discovered is becoming a university). I am certain that his keyboard skills are going to be much improved now that he's spent so much time learning essential skills such as transposition and harmonizing from a lead sheet as well as many technical skills like playing scales, arpeggios, chords, and more. It was a lot of work, but Lukas worked hard at mastering these skills.

Yesterday, we got to Otterbein around 10:15 for Lukas' 10:30 competition time. His first task was to take a music theory test followed by going from room to room to compete in each of the event categories. We were left waiting in the auditorium while he did this as the competition actually takes place in the practice rooms of the Otterbein music department (if you're not a musician, picture a large closet big enough for a piano and bench and little else).

Lukas was gone for just under two hours, waltzed into the auditorium right past us and went straight to the little station they had set up at the end of the stage where his score was tallied and he received his awards. Lukas earned 6 blue ribbons and 2 red ribbons, and his score was high enough to receive an overall yellow rosette ribbon(Students could receive blue, yellow or white). He was pleased with his performance and with his success, and we were proud of him. He did almost all of this on his own. He loves playing piano and rarely needs a reminder to practice. He definitely seems to have found his niche.

Here are a couple of photos that we took of Lukas at the event.

Waiting to take the Music Theory test and get started with the competition

He was very proud and tried to wear his yellow rosette for part of the afternoon.

4th and 5th Days of Christmas

I've never kept track of what we did each day for our 25 days of Christmas celebration quite as well as I am this year. There are no guarantees that everything will get posted in a timely manner, but I'm not doing too terribly so far. Here is what kept us busy the past two days.

On Day 4 we intended to go to a festival in Canal Winchester. Unfortunately, it became apparent early in the day for many reasons that this wasn't going to happen, so I pulled out one of our craft ideas. I recently discovered in a Five in a Row December supplement that pomander balls were a traditional, Victorian Christmas ornament. What's a pomander ball? An orange with cloves stuck into it and ribbons tied around it so that it can hang. It smells heavenly!!! Here's the pic I took today (this ended up being a 2 day project):

Now here are my tips. If you decide to do this, it's pretty simple, but it is time consuming. Lukas worked on it for half an hour and decided to put it aside until the next day(and he never came back to it). Ava worked a little longer than that and came back to it a couple times. Eric was working on Lukas' but gave it up all together, and I was determined to finish Ava's. It smelled incredible, and I love the historical tradition of it. So here's what I suggest. Use clementines. Use a nail to poke a few holes at a time, and fill them with whole cloves(you will need a lot of cloves. We used the store brand from our grocery's spice aisle). When your clementine is covered, glue the ribbon onto it and use the nail to attach a loop to the top of the orange. I secured the nail and ribbon with a little bit of hot glue as well. This seriously smells incredible. It's a great project to keep little hands busy, and they can come and go when they have time if they don't want to get it all done at once. Plus, they look pretty when they're done!

Day 5 was today. We try to keep Sundays pretty simple around here. We often have movie nights. Today was no exception. We watched The Santa Clause. My kids had been asking to watch it, and we had fun watching it with them. As an added bonus, we also watched Rudolph, my favorite Christmas cartoon. It's unusual for us to watch that much t.v. in one day, but we split it up by watching one in the afternoon and one over dinner. It was a very relaxing afternoon and evening!

What memory making activities are you doing this month? I'd love to hear your ideas, and maybe I'll even get around to using them!

25 Days of Christmas Days 1-3

My intention was to post short little blurbs each day about our 25 Days of Christmas activities, but you can see that this has not happened. This has been a busy, busy week, but everything we've been doing has been fun, so we'll take it!

The 25 Days of Christmas is something we started celebrating when we first moved to Pennsylvania in 2004. We had barely lived there for two months when December rolled around. We were very used to being blessed with the busyness of church activities and ministry and time with friends during the holiday season, but having recently moved and having barely even settled on a new church home, we didn't have anything on our calendar for the month of December other than Christmas Eve service. I was feeling down that year because I didn't really want to move to PA and missed all my dear friends back in Corning, NY so, so much, so I needed something to fill my time.

Because of this, I created this plan of making each day of December special, leading up to our family celebration on Christmas Day. We did crafts, watched Christmas cartoon specials, baked Christmas treats, made cards and visited local Christmas light displays. This was so much fun that we have made it an annual tradition even though we actually do maintain a much busier calendar that is filled with church activities, ministry and time with friends and family again. The Lord has blessed us for sure, and I've had to get more creative as the years pass both because the kids are getting older and because, sometimes, things like "Dress Rehearsal" just have to be the big deal on the day they occur rather than adding an extra craft or activity.

I have found that doing this each year is a catalyst for so many blessings, but the most important is that it forces us to remember what is important during this Christmas season. We slow down and celebrate the birth of our Savior rather than getting caught up in the busyness and commercialization of the season. The kids look forward to this special family time every year. Whether or not you are into the idea of crafting and planning activities for each day, slow down and enjoy the season. Say no to a few things and make sure that the things to which you choose to say yes are truly important and meet the needs of your family's purpose. Remember that the people God designed you to spend the most time with are the people in your immediate family, and make them the most important people with whom you  make memories this month.

Now I'll get off my little soap box. We're three days into our 25 Days celebration. Here are some pics and brief explanations of what we've done so far.

On Day 1 we read The Legend of the Candy Cane and added strawberry flavored candy canes to the Christmas tree. This book has a beautiful explanation of all that the candy cane represents. We read it every year! I think Eric and I love is as much as the kids do! It really makes Jesus the focus of the season.

We usually make these on Day 1, but this craft fit into our Day 2 schedule better this year. The top chain is Ava's, and the bottom chain is Lukas'. They'll remove one link each day until Christmas. I do ask the kids to choose traditional Christmas colors, but they can create a pattern or just do the colors in a random order. Both children chose to create their own patterns this year.

On Day 3, we visited the Ohio Statehouse, which was decorated on the inside in Victorian era Christmas decor. This doubled as a school field trip and helped to fulfill our Ohio History requirement.