Getting toward the end of December!

We're getting to the end of December - crazy! I have been having so much fun with Eliana doing holiday things each day, though. Next year I'd really like to do an advent calendar / book or advent tree. I didn't grow up with advent, but I have a few friends who are doing it with their kids this year and I really like the idea. I have a few ideas for making an advent book, but it will take me a while to put it all together, so hopefully I'll get to work on it throughout the year and have it done by next December! We'll see. =D In the meantime, it looks like I'm going to have to start planning our activities out so we get them all in!

December 14 - we sang Christmas carols. I played the piano and sang, and then Ellie and I just sang together. We also listened to carols as we drove around on our errands!

December 15 - Peppernut Day!!

December 16 - Our 9th anniversary - we are going to go out to dinner tonight. Ellie and I are also baking gingerbread snowflakes to use as tags on our gifts this year. =D

December 17 - We read "The Gingerbread Baby" complete with a gingerbread hand puppet that added to the fun!



December 18 - We baked sugar cookies with Erika and Zoe!





December 19 - We might go see Santa at the Children's Museum and have Ellie's picture taken. She knows Santa isn't real, but it might still be fun! We should also take our family Christmas picture this weekend!

December 20 - Sunday before Christmas - Ellie will get to wear her pretty Christmas dress!

December 21 - Leif is home from work this week, so I hope he will take Ellie out to make a snow man!

December 22 - More Ellie and Leif time, I hope they make snow angels or go sledding!

December 23 - Hmmm... Salt Dough Ornaments? Ice ornaments?

December 24 - Leif's Family Christmas in Roundup, Christmas eve dinner of crackers and cheese

December 25 - Christmas!! Christmas morning gifts followed by a plane ride to Texas to see my family!

Daily December...

December 10 - I got to do some holiday crafting while Ellie got to play with a friend and a sitter. I had worship team practice at church and played some Christmas carols! =D (Okay, so today is a bit of a holiday stretch!) I also wrapped gifts today!!

December 11 - Right Now Christmas Party!!



December 12 - Holiday Cookie Exchange with the church ladies! Also, Ellie started opening her 12 days of Christmas gifts... (Flower slap bracelet)



December 13 - MK Holiday Open House (and Day 2 gift - stick on earrings!)

December 14 - today we are either going to make Peppernuts or salt dough ornaments or sing Christmas carols. =D

Daily December

This year Eliana and I are doing holiday activities daily in December. I tried to do this last year, but we didn't do a very good job of recording everything! This year we are doing more activities and I am trying to document them as we go. So far here's where we are, with plenty of photo documentation to prove it...

December 1 - Ellie and Josie made their first batch of holiday cookies! We tried to make cookies with a cookie press using Martha Stewart's recipe, but it wouldn't go through the press. Instead the girls rolled the cookies into little balls and pressed their thumbs in for thumbprint cookies. They ended up tasting pretty good, and the girls had fun making them! We used the rest of the dough to make large circle cookies, and dipped them half in chocolate. Yum!







December 2 - We started devouring the gingerbread house!







We also donated to the Salvation Army and talked about giving to others on this day.



December 3 - I wrapped the first Christmas gifts!



Then Eliana and I made little heart candies for the holidays.





December 4 - Amber and I took Ellie and Josie to Arts on Fire to paint some Christmas gifts.





December 5 - We went to the Christmas Stroll in downtown Bozeman!





And today? Well, we'll see what today holds. There are still plenty of holiday things to do!

Holiday Ornament Making

This year Eliana made a few Christmas presents in the form of salt dough ornaments. I would like to see her take a more active role in our gift giving, and this was a first step. We went over to Erika and Zoe's house and the girls made ornaments while we did other holiday baking. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to do it again next year!





Ellie and J flattening out the salt dough.



Baking the ornaments...



Singing Christmas carols!



Painting the ornaments at home the next day... Eliana painted them all by herself!



I think they turned out very nicely for ornaments made and hand painted by a 2 year old! I think they were appreciated by the grandparents. I kept a couple for her to have as keepsakes, too.

Santa Clause....

I didn't grow up believing in Santa. And I don't feel deprived. We really have no intention of teaching Eliana about Santa, either, though I would have liked to get a picture of her sitting on Santa's lap this year. But we missed that opportunity (by mere minutes) at Murdoch's the other day for a free photo, so we probably won't do it. It's not THAT big a deal, I just thought it would make for a cute picture. I have never heard a really convincing argument against teaching your kids about Santa Clause, because I have seen people do it without taking away from the focus of Christ. But today my friend Jaime posted an excellent reason behind their family's decision not to celebrate Santa Clause. It's not because Santa is evil, nor because Santa secularizes Christmas. It's because if you use your power as a parent to convince your children to believe a lie (that Santa is real, that he lives at the North Pole and brings kids gifts, etc.) then the time may come when they question the truth of other stories you have told them are true (that Christ is God's son and that he came to earth in the form of a baby, born of a virgin, and that his death has provided a way for us to be reconciled to God and be saved). Because if you lied about one, how will they know you didn't lie about the other? We need to be honest with our children and make sure that we act in a manner that is worthy of their trust.

Anyway, I am not nearly as eloquent as Jaime on the subject, so please read her post instead of just taking my summary of it. =D I appreciate friends who think through their parenting in light of Scripture and who are willing to post their thoughts online to spur the rest of us to deeper thought and more deliberate parenting. Thank you, Jaime!

S is for Star

The other day I was at Barnes and Noble looking for some Christmas / Winter books to read with Eliana. She was happily playing with the train set when I stumbled upon this little gem of a book:


I assumed that S is for Star would be just like all the other secular "____ is for _____" alphabet books published by this company. We have the "B is for Big Sky" book and it's cute, but it isn't anything spectacular. I figured the Christmas book would be the same way. You know, C is for Candy Cane, P is for Presents, F is for Frosty the Snowman.... It turns out, though, that this is a surprisingly good book for the Christmas season. It is pretty much an alphabet book centered on Christ's birth, which is awesome! Each page, in addition to the "_____ is for ________" statement includes scripture verses and tidbits of history that pertain to the focus for that letter. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of scripture verses throughout the book. The side information also makes the book more interesting for older children, making this a book that can be read as a family for years.

Like I said, pleasantly surprised. Not only that, but the book retails for under $7. It really makes me wish I had nieces and nephews - I'd buy a copy for each of them for Christmas this year. Instead, though, I'll just settle for the copy I bought for our household. =D

If you click here you can see some of the pages inside (I'm a big fan of the "surprise me!" button on the side bar for seeing what a book is like inside). But just to give you an idea of the way the letters are incorporated to give a picture of why we really celebrate Christmas, here is a sample...

A is for angels and archangels
B is for Baby Jesus
E is for Epiphany
I stands for Inn in Isreal
Joseph begins with the letter J
K stands for King
L is for Love
M is for the straw-filled Manger
S stands for Shepherds
W is for Wise Men
Zion starts with the letter Z

I love that the books draws in not only the nativity story, and cultural Christmas traditions, but also starts to give the big picture of Christmas, mentioning Christ as the King of Kings, born into King David's line and Christ returning again. It really is a good book and I can't recommend it enough if you're trying to find a good book to read with your kids this season.