Glimpses of Christmas Part. 2

Christmas is the people and traditions……

 

No mistletoe required….

 

……Santa hat, a must!

New quilts from Grandma…….

………new tool kits from Grandpa.

What guy doesn’t love a remote control car?

Christmas is about people…… and dogs too!

A new Christmas tradition started this year: matching PJ pants for everyone. The kids LOVED this! My first sewing job ever didn’t turn out too badly.

Santa came…….

…..and went.

Traditional Christmas breakfast……

…..traditional Christmas day puzzle building.

It was a wonderful holiday! I’m going to bed!!!

Glimpses of Christmas Part. 1

I love the details of Christmas. I went with glitter and shine this year.

 

 

Merry Xmas!

My friend Belinda taught a Relief Society class several weeks ago about keeping Christ in Christmas. She began the class by writing Xmas up on the board and talking about how, although Xmas was probably just invented as a short-cut so people wouldn’t have to write out the word Christmas, it is a short-cut that tends to diminish the meaning of what this sacred holiday is all about.

I agreed with her, until, searching on the internet for information about the meaning of various Christmas symbols, I stumbled on the origin of the word Xmas. Turns out it is a short-cut of sorts, but not the way you might think. XP is the uppercase abbreviation for the ancient Greek word for Christ. Later this was shortened to just X, which, when translated, is Greek for the letters Chi. So, although it is an abbreviation of sorts, it isn’t as sinister as it may seem. The mas part of the word Christmas comes from the Latin derived, Old English word for mass, as in “a religious ceremony.” Amazing how a little bit of correct information can change your ideas about something.

This being said, I have been trying to focus more this year on ways to help myself and my family remember the true meaning of Christmas. This can be a challenge when competing with Santa Claus (who I still love and encourage belief in), but we have spent some time celebrating the Christ child.

All of our family nights this month have been about keeping Christ in Christmas.Last night for FHE we had a lesson that Mike and I have been thinking about for weeks. We started out by telling the Christmas story using our nativity set. When we arrived at the part about the wise men we took our time explaining about how the wise men brought precious gifts to give the Christ child. I’m sure most of you know where I’m going with this…. you know, the lesson culminates with giving our own gifts to Christ.  You know the one.

Mike was in a Bishopric meeting several weeks ago where our Stake President, a very sweet and inspired man, told about his family making a commitment not to yell in their home. He told of what a huge difference it had made in the feeling and atmosphere there. Mike was struck by this, and came home to discuss it with me. He felt that we should take President Bowen up on the challenge, but in order for this to work at our house I would have to be entirely on board with it, because, you see, I’m the one with the biggest yelling problem.

I didn’t instantly jump on the idea, because frankly, I’m incredibly skeptical about my ability to succeed with it. But,as I’ve thought about it for awhile and let the idea marinate, I really feel like it’s something that I/we should do. I like the idea of it being our gift to Christ. It’s very motivating for me to think of it this way. So, after reading John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” We all wrote down our gift to Jesus on special paper, signed our names, and placed our papers in a treasure box.

Now folks, there is NO way that any of us are going to be able to quit yelling, cold turkey. This little challenge is going to take some serious effort and time. We decided as a family that anyone who yells will be reminded not to by having to do ten sit-ups or push ups (five for the boys), sort of in fun, not really as a harsh punishment. I’m certain that by the end of the year I will have a washboard stomach and huge biceps!

I will definitely be revisiting my Scream-free Parenting book (I’ve mentioned it before in a previous post), reading and studying the pages with a highlighter. I’ll definitely be spending time on my knees, reading and re-reading this talk, and re-committing myself over and over, but I’m determined. Part of my commitment is to record my goal here, so that I will be accountable. I plan to report periodically on this blog about how things are going, process my thoughts, you know the drill.

Today is our first no-yelling day and so far Jonathan has done one round of sit-ups, but I can tell that everyone is thinking about it. My biggest challenge will be finding alternative ways to communicate with my children that will get results. Now they only take me seriously when I raise my voice, something I, unfortunately have trained them to do. This is going to be tricky. If any of you have any ideas, please share them. Any little bit helps.

As hard as this is going to be, I am excited and hopeful. I think the benefits will be numerous and profound. So, happy birthday Jesus. Ironically, we will be asking for lots of help with this gift to you.

Can you see what’s out of place in this picture? That’s right, two Hot-wheels vehicles. I over heard the boys talking. Apparently the blue truck is parked there because it’s what Mary and Joseph drove to Bethlehem instead of riding a donkey. The ambulance arrived on the scene when one of the sheep was injured and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Little practical twists on the Christmas story, added in Jonathan and Jeffrey fashion.

Merry Christmas all!

The Best Christmas Movie Ever Made

Last night Mary Kate, Mike and I got in our PJ’s, mixed us up some hot chocolate, busted out the doughnuts, and settled down for our annual viewing of the best Christmas movie ever made “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

It was Mary Kate’s first time seeing it. I was excited to introduce my daughter to this gem of American cinema. I’ll never forget the first time I watched this movie. I was pretty young. I remember I was really sick and had been laying in bed for days. Our family had just received our first VCR for Christmas (yes it was a long time ago). We had opened the VCR early so we could record holiday movies. I remember how amazed we were with the new technology, being able to record movies straight from television! It couldn’t get better than that! “It’s a Wonderful Life” was one of the first movies we ever recorded. I watched it over and over. I’m sure most of the profound message of the story escaped me then, but I remember loving it just the same.

I’ve watched this movie many times since then, with various people. Some of my favorites watching companions include Grandma Winnie, every year that I lived with her during college, and Mike, when we were dating. It was his first time seeing it, and I remember being so happy that he held my hand while we were watching. Every time I watch this movie it gets my endorphins flowing. It’s just a feel good story.

George Bailey is my hero. He always does his duty, even when it means sacrificing his dreams. He always does right by others. He gives of himself all his life, and in the end gets the chance to see what all his efforts have done. He learns what truly matters. I love the quote written in Clarence’s book at the end, “No man is a failure who has friends.”

Last night after the movie ended, and after I had wiped all the tears and boogers off my face (I cry shamelessly every time I watch), I asked Mary Kate what she’d learned from the story. She said she learned that people shouldn’t get discouraged because everyone’s life is important.

Right Mary Kate, you’re exactly right. Every life is important. What a great message at Christmas time or any time for that matter.

“See George Bailey, you’ve really had a wonderful life.”

Oh, how I love this movie!

Gingerbread House Decorating Extravaganza

Tonight my mom and dad hosted a gingerbread house decorating party for all of the grandkids. The kids were on cloud nine. They had a blast, and are still insisting that I tell them who’s house I liked the best. I can’t say. They were all something else (if you know what I mean).

We had the kids pair up in teams of two per house. The results were fantastic and so was the mess!

Grandma let Mary Kate do everything herself, even squeeze the icing. Kate was going for a clean, orderly, minimalistic look for her gingerbread house, but her partner Jonathan would have none of that……

……he insisted on using every single piece of candy from his kit no matter what, no matter where he had to put them. In his mouth was just fine too.

Jenny and Paul, another brother and sister duo, created a lovely house as well. Paul also got more candy in his mouth than on the house.

 

I was privileged to be hired as the foreman for team Jeffrey and Emily. These two took their jobs very seriously and were at the table decorating long after the others had petered out.

I’m not sure if they could have gotten more candy on this house if they’d tried.

Precious if you ask me.

I’m sorry to break this to you Mom and Dad, but the gingerbread house decorating extravaganza might just have to become a new Christmas tradition.

Neighborhood Bonfire

Tonight we held our second annual neighborhood bonfire. Last year, instead of giving my traditional neighborhood gifts, I decided to invite the neighborhood to a bonfire where we could sip hot chocolate, enjoy delicious goodies, and visit with each other as friends around a warm fire. I turned the event into a service opportunity. I invited everyone to take the money they would have spent on neighbor gifts and donate it to the local food bank.

Last year we had such a positive response from our neighborhood, that we did it again this year and had an even better turn out. It was a fun night. All the neighborhood together, enjoying each other’s company.

We had a beautiful fresh snowfall today, but the snow let up just in time for our bonfire. It was cold though, so there was a crowd around the fire.

Elayne made her famous cinnamon hot chocolate. This stuff is not your traditional Swiss Miss. It’s made from scratch and it’s amazing! I think Jonathan and Jeffrey had about 17 cups between them. One of the worst things in the world is to hear, “Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom,” coming from a kid who is dressed in seven layers of winter outerwear.

People brought all kinds of yummy treats. The first things to go were Colette’s Belgian butter cookies that she makes in a special cookie press.

Our neighbor Bobby turned the bonfire into a marshmallow roasting opportunity. Pretty soon others were following his lead. Jeffrey’s coat is in the washing machine. He had quite a bit of roasted marshmallow stuck to it.

 

This is our neighbor Dallas with Jeffrey. Dallas made his own hat. It’s very colorful! I got Jeffrey’s hat at the store for a buck. Not very colorful.

People brought lots of food donations for the food bank. Lots of checks too. My neighbor Lee manages a Jiffy Lube where they will match any donations, can for can and dollar for dollar, so they will double everything that was donated tonight. Awesome!

I have the best neighbors in the world. I love them all! Thanks to all who helped make this night happen. Merry Christmas everyone!

Promo

Here are my kids with Liz the Food Nanny. Remember the TV show our family will be featured in sometime in the next few months? Well, there’s a new little video on BYU TV’s website that features our family. The video gives you a little taste of what you will see in this new series.

Click here, and then click on the Food Nanny button on the right.

Of coarse you’ll see Liz, but you’ll also see a bit of Me, Mary Kate, Jeffrey, even Winnie featured in this little promo. I think it’s going to be a good show all around. I”m nervous to see our family’s own episode though. I hope we don’t look like total idiots! I guess we’ll see for sure in just a view months.

While you’re on the BYU TV website click on the Generation’s Project button too. This is another series produced by my friend Kendall. It’s going to be awesome!. My cousin John will be a guest on this show sometime this year.