Deck the Halls with a Time Capsule Tree

One thing I really love about Christmas is getting out our ornaments.  We don't do a theme tree.  Instead our tree is more like a time capsule full of handmade ornaments done by the kids and ornaments that commemorate travel and new events in our lives.  I really don't collect anything other than lots of pictures and lots of ornaments.

Each of the kids has two first Christmas ornaments. As they have each collected ornaments over the years, I plan to give them to my kids to start their own tree collections when they have their own homes.  I felt it only fair that I get to keep a first Christmas ornament for each of my babies and let them have one too.

This is our newest addition and the only ornament added this year.  Tessa and John picked this up for us on their honeymoon trip.

Mom brought this one back from Ireland for us.

Mom brought this one from Germany for us.

Each of the kids have one of these in various colors.  Mom bought these in Mexico.

Wow!  That picture was taken 19 years ago.

Each of the kids has a nutcracker.

Our Sunday school class has an annual Christmas party for the grown-ups.  They used to include an ornament each year for every family attending.  We actually made these one year.

another first Christmas ornament for Zach

Julia's first Christmas.  For Wyatt and Julia, I put the actual year that they joined the family and thus celebrated their first Christmases.  On another ornament, I put their Chinese name, birthdate, and American name.

Olive wood ornaments found in Zach an Savannah's stockings years ago.

Savannah's first Christmas ornament.  Savannah's ornaments were added to the tree late this year.  She was really sick when we trimmed the tree and very slow to recover.  She was then overwhelmed with school work and prep for finals.  I finally put her ornaments on the tree, and she was so relieved that she did not have to do it herself.

our first real Christmas tree - I love it and am not sure we will do artificial trees any more.

Just a few of their favorite things

Great Christmas gifts

Julia loves the Wildcats.  It really started with the NCAA championship last year.  She loved that team and finally owns a t-shirt that almost fits along with a hat and earrings. She's still flushed from the fever in some of these pictures.  We postponed opening gifts this morning to try and get her fever down only to have it spike again later in the afternoon.   I am definitely concerned about this as she is 24 hours into a course of antibiotics and still fighting solid fevers.

Our power lifter needed a weight-lifting belt and was thrilled to receive one along with a subscription to "Muscle and Fitness" magazine.  Have I mentioned that in his conditioning testing at school, he blew away his competition in all areas except jumping - in other words in all weight lifting categories?  Family members reading this can send me an email, and I will shoot you a link to the article.

Her first pair of Sperrys

He can't get enough of Mario or Webkinz, so he had some of both under the tree.

Music!  Lots of it! Genesis, U2, and Peter Gabriel.  She and Zach both like the old stuff.  They are their father's children.

Our Bruce Lee fan has a few new items for his collection including a bobble head for his car.

 This is a story about this Christmas that I just have to record for posterity.  Anyone who knows me well knows that trying to reach me by phone is nearly impossible.  Half the time my cell phone is either off or silenced without my knowledge or worse - lost misplaced.  I lost my phone over the weekend and found it again on Sunday which played perfectly into Andy's Christmas plan.  He knows I want the iPhone 5 which will be my first smartphone ever.  So, he made up a ringtone using some music app on the computer and added his own lyrics.  He then stole my phone which I of course thought I had lost again.  He took it to the Apple store to get an iPhone for me and to have it activated with his homemade ringtone.  The plan was to put it under the tree and call it.  He ran into a big glitch because I am not yet eligible for an upgrade. I am only a few weeks away, so he assumed he would just have to pay a small fee.  However, he was going to have to pay the full price of the phone which derailed his plan, so I now have a gift card to get my new phone when the time is right.  Isn't he cool?!

More UK stuff...Anthony Davis signed photo which really thrilled her. I was just thrilled to get her cleaned up.  She was so sick Christmas Eve and Christmas day that she didn't even change clothes.  After fighting a morning fever on Christmas morning, she finally felt well enough to shower and change in the afternoon, and yes, the tank and shrug are new.  She's a clothes girl!

These girls are trying so hard to be patient while I open their pigs' ears. I don't think they are crazy about the bandanas from one of Andy's co-workers.

How's this for a great hand-made gift?  Scripture upon scripture done by the artist Savannah.

Our best quote of the day comes from Wyatt.  Santa was good enough to help a mom out and give every one of the kids socks in their stockings.  Wyatt's socks are the same brand and style as the ones I normally buy.  When he saw them, he exclaimed, "Really, Mom?! You put my own socks in my stocking?!"

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Christmas Eve

We gathered at my dad's house per family tradition.  We were late, and everyone had already eaten by the time we arrived, but it couldn't be helped.  Julia awoke early and was fine, but she went back to bed shortly thereafter.  I checked on her when I grew concerned that she had been asleep for a few hours.  She was burning up with a fever, and with the pediatrician's office closing and Christmas on the horizon, I opted to take her to an Immediate Care Center.  We spent about 3 hours there before learning she has strep...so glad she went as she spiked a temperature again on Christmas Day.

Anyway, the pumpkin cheesecake made by Danielle was divine and worth being late.  Hopefully, Julia did not infect anyone else.

When my sisters and I gathered to purchase gifts for the kids, we selfishly bought a few gifts for Regan to open instead of one big gift.  We figured this would be the year that she would get a kick out of opening presents. Regan seemed to like it okay, but it was so much more fun listening to all her animal sounds, new phrases, and her attempts to get her aunts to give her the M&Ms her parents had forbidden because she didn't finish supper.  Of course, we love her kisses and the way she plays all of us by bouncing from one person to another.  She's a blast!

I don't think anyone was more thrilled with a gift than Ira was with his little workbench.  He seemed to love his first Christmas.

He is a whopping 27 pounds now at 7 months old which means he officially weighs more than his big sis.  His eyes still remind me of Zach's at that age.  Because Zach and Jonathan have similar eyes, I believe Ira's eyes will look like theirs when he is grown.

Our traditional Happy Birthday, Jesus cake.

Regan gets her oldest cousin to hold her.

Julia is doing a good job of keeping her nasty germs off the cake.

What crime did she commit?  I promise that we did not sneak her any of those forbidden M&Ms. Well, maybe an aunt snuck her one, but it was not me.

Savannah is in the background, but I love her expression in this picture.

Tradition -One of my favorite things

Per tradition, the baby Jesus arrived in the manger late Christmas Eve.  I collect a new piece every year for our nativity and added the donkey this year.  The calendar is already marked to add another shepherd next year.  The shepherd showed up with the rest of the scene this afternoon, and the wise men will arrive later this week.  Mary and Joseph traveled through the house during the weeks before Christmas and spent a couple of nights in each of the kids' rooms. Because there is no Easter without Christmas, I believe this will remain on display until Easter.

I have probably shared this before, but here is the story of our nativity.  Years ago we decided that a nativity set was a must have for our holiday decorations.  We bought a cheap porcelain set and were satisfied.  We also decided that to keep some symbolism of the true Christmas story in our family traditions. Mary and Joseph would travel through our house from Thanksgiving to Christmas and arrive at the manger on Christmas Eve.  Jesus would arrive later that night.  One Christmas, many years ago, we had boxes stacked on two couches as we were cleaning up after decorating.  One stack of boxes was old and worn out, so I asked Andy to take them to the trash.  I did not specify which stack, and Andy took all the boxes out.  Before I could stop it, the baby Jesus went out in the trash.  I then launched my search for a realistic looking but kid friendly nativity set.  I also needed a replaceable baby Jesus just in case we made the same mistake twice.  I found a Fontanini starter set that fit all the criteria except the budget and purchased it.  From that point on we still used the porcelain pieces until we replaced them one by one by adding a piece each year. We had one poor wise man who had his head super-glued back on three times before he was replaced.  We are almost finished with the collection.  I want another shepherd, and he is already in my Amazon cart.  I think he will be the last addition to this set, but who knows?

Another tradition we have here is that Santa brings one gift and stuffs the stockings.  This simplifies Christmas and makes for a quiet day at home for just the six of us on Christmas day.  Of course the kids buy gifts for each other, and we also buy two additional gifts for each child.  Santa's gifts are always the only ones wrapped in Santa paper and left on the hearth.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting   Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6r, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 NIV

so much fun

Don't you just love this flower-pot holy family that Julia made at school?  She is giving it away, so I had to have a picture.

I have to admit that this Christmas brings much heaviness with it.  Our country is a mess, and the massacre in Newtown just tears at your heart.  I know of three families who faced devastating loss this year when people they loved were taken suddenly from their lives - two moms with several years of parenting to go, and the other a teenager and only child.

However, as only kids can do, they make Christmas so much fun.  This year we are getting the biggest kick out of Julia.  She was so excited to get $20 to spend on small gifts for her siblings and loved the adventure of shopping and choosing gifts for each of them.  Savannah and Julia stopped in Claire's while we were at the mall.  When Savannah pointed out some earrings she liked, Julia immediately ordered her to leave the store. How's that for subtle?  Julia is also so excited about what she will find under the tree.  She shakes her gifts and makes guesses and really wants to help with the wrapping so that she can see what the rest of the family is getting.  We don't share any gifts with Julia as she is not so good at keeping secrets, so she really is ready to burst with anticipation.  

Julia's class did Secret Santas this year, and she had a blast with that.   I think she was more excited about the gifts she was giving and keeping her identity a secret than she was about learning the identity of her Secret Santa.

In addition to all of this, Julia has begged us to get an Elf on the Shelf, and while that looks like lots of fun, I cannot justify paying $30 for a doll that would really only be fun for a couple more years.  Neither Wyatt nor Julia still believes in Santa.  Julia just loves hearing her classmates share what their Elf is doing, and she wants to be a part of that.

While we are talking about kids and fun, I have to share this Wyatt story.

Andy heard something on the radio about how Santa's biggest pet peeve is that nobody asks what he wants for Christmas.  He shared this with the kids, and Wyatt's response was:
"Duh! He wants milk and cookies.  Everybody knows that!"

I am so thankful for the innocence of children and the joy they bring to a family.

Flashback Friday

Christmas Past

2005

2006

2007

2008 (my all-time favorite)

2009

2010

2011

2011- Yes, we had two cards this year.

Remember that you can click on any picture to see it bigger.