Nativity Scene - check
This year we've left Jesus out of the nativity until Christmas, so that there will be more anticipation for His coming. I love the kids' version because he can play with the pieces all season long, and we can talk about them while he plays.
Tree - check
A little bit of an adventure to get the tree. We were in Walmart on a Saturday afternoon (bad idea) trying to get stuff for a Christmas party (bad idea to take Dalt with me to spend money on party stuff…at least he saved me from spending too much). By the time it was time to get the tree we were all frazzled and the kids were restless. Dalt bought one and we figured we'd pick it out on the way out. Turns out the one he bought was shorter than he was…we needed to go up a price range. So I returned the tree and by the time I got back to the garden center the line was super long. At that point we abandoned Walmart and got a tree at Allsups (gas station), and it's great! We've gotten one there for the past 3 years and they've all been nice.
Pre-decorating
Decorating it wasn't as peaceful and fun this year. It was more of a race to get the ornaments up before they got busted by an ever bouncing Cooper or eaten by Ace the chewing machine. We did manage to get most of them on the tree, and it looks festive.
I was busy with Ace so Dalt snapped a pic of Cooper hanging his ornament.
Notice lots of white wall, the stand, and no top of the tree.
So I asked him to try again. He did a little better, but Cooper was cheesing it up instead of smiling normally. Oh well! At least we documented the moment.
New Christmas PJs - check
It was so nice that we ate outside!
Waiting for Ace to open the gift
"Yeah! Christmas Jajamas" Cooper; "Yeah, paper" Ace
"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." Romans 8: 19-22
With the fall of man came the fall of all creation, and it can only be restored through Jesus and His kingdom.
Watched Rudolph - check
Besides The Santa Clause, which I think is my favorite Christmas movie, Rudolph is my favorite. It's classic, corny and very Christmasy. Cooper enjoyed it, for the most part and now any time he sees the Keebler elves on cookie or cereal packages, he points to them and says 'dentist'.
Presents - partial check
This year I stepped out of the box and did some online ordering. I feel pretty good about those purchases, but it's very disturbing not knowing how much will be on that lovely CC bill in a couple of weeks. It's so easy to just enter numbers and hit buy….The rest of my shopping will get done soon. I'm ready to go to actual stores and pick things out. Love carrying those bags in and sorting through them.
Christmas Baking - working on it; I think I know what I'm going to do, just haven't done it yet.
We did make some peppermint bark and Cooper loved crushing the candy canes.
Pizza and a movie!
Yes, Graham is so cool. Our drive in showed this movie last weekend and we decided to give it a try. It was super crowded and the kids didn't make it through the entire movie, but the hour and one half that we were there was so fun!
Ace even got a little crust.
"And God bless us, everyone"
Ornaments with Jesus's name - we are writing a different name for Jesus (Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Messiah, Good Shepherd, etc) each day of December and putting the ornaments on the tree. Great idea…though we're about 5 days behind already!
Christmas Card Prayers - each time that we get a new Christmas card in the mail we pray for that family before hanging it up. It's such a sweet way to minister to those that we know and may not think about or see throughout the year.
3 gift rule - It's so hard to resist buying the kids everything cool that I see; the Momma in me wants to lavish them with gitfs. So, to help keep my buying in line, and to bring the kids back to Christ, we are giving them 3 gifts, just as the wise men gave Jesus three gifts. Of course Santa will bring them something else, but from us, 3. I think it will work out and will help me to really put some thought into what I give them.
Happy Birthday Jesus - We're adding stickers to a paper birthday cake to celebrate the countdown to Christmas. On Christmas we'll celebrate with a birthday cake for Jesus.
Christmas light cruising - We haven't gone yet, but we're going to load up and go looking at Christmas lights. I found a neat idea to do as we cruise around looking. At each house that we find that has a nativity displayed we'll leave a note in the mailbox saying "Thank you for celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus" or something like that. That way the kids get excited looking for Jesus in the lights.
Jesus stocking - this is an idea that I love but we aren't going to start until next year. You hang a stocking with your stockings and throughout the Christmas season you fill it with money for a cause that your family decides on. Then, at the end of the season you give the money to that cause. What a great way to give back!
We are in full swing for Christmas. Jesus's birthday is a great thing to celebrate! I love the verses below. The fact that Jesus is the Word..He's fulfilled all of the Bible, over 300 prophecies which is statistically practically impossible. And that He came to dwell with US. Just think on that. Amazing and beautiful.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1: 1, 14
No comments:
Post a Comment