Preparing for Christmas

I love Christmas, all of it. I love celebrating Jesus and decorating the house and gift giving. It’s such a rich time of year and it can be crazy with everything going on.  I can handle the stress of the season if I get an early start.  I really wanted to get an early start this year as I’ll have a newborn.  Newborns are fun and can be chill but they can also be a lot of work, especially if you’re breastfeeding (and I’m planning on it.)  So starting early and being organized is even MORE of a must for me this year.

Christmas Isn’t Over

My husband wrote a letter to our church about how Christmas isn’t over.  It made me think and I wanted to share it with you.  I hope it encourages you as it did me.

Dear Brother’s and Sister’s in Christ,

As far as our church-year goes, January 5^th is the second and last Sunday in Christmas; and for too many in our world (and maybe some of us too), Christmas was considered over and done with on December 26^th. But we know that Christmas – the celebration - is not over!

Luke 2: 17-18, ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told to them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

We, all of us, are the shepherds of today! Do we not all know people in our daily lives that would be amazed if you shared the news of Christmas with them? Believe me, I know the feelings of timidity, or lack of confidence, or even fear that can arise when considering sharing our faith with others. We know too well that this world is ever hostile towards the truth of God and His Word. But this is all the more reason to overcome that self-doubt and fear!

Not to steal thunder from the Pastors, but Epiphany is Monday, January 6 (for 2013.) If it has been awhile, even if it has just been the past year, take a moment (sooner rather than later) to brush-up on what we celebrate at Epiphany. The WELS website has a very good summary:

http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/questions-answers/church-and-ministry?page=1

Scroll down to the section “What is Epiphany?”

After reading this my heart was simply filled with joy, awe, and a very real need to tell someone, “Hey, did you know this?” And being a shepherd is really that simple.

“Hey, did you know that it’s still Christmas?”

“So, do you know what happened after that night in the stable?”

If we don’t ask them; if we don’t tell them - who will?

Christmas 2013

I’m always a little sad when Christmas is over.  I love the antcipation leading up to the big day.  Not just in buying and wrapping gifts, but in the celebrating the birth of Jesus.  Just like the excitement for a new baby to arrive, I get excited to celebrate the birth of my Savior.  With Christmas over, I turn my gaze to Easter and the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Before Easter comes though, I’d like to share how our Christmas went.  My in-laws arrived on Christmas Eve day about mid afternoon.  Munchkin was very excited to see them.  We snacked a little before heading to Christmas Eve Service, where we met The Man.  He had to work on Christmas Eve but got out early for the night and was able to join us.  Munchkin wore a gorgeous red and white dress that my Aunt and Mom made for her.  Auntie also made them for her grandkids, so Munchkin matched her cousins in Michigan.  The dress is a little big and I’m hoping that she can wear it next year too! 

When we got home from the Christmas Eve service, we changed into PJ’s.  We get news ones every year and this year was no different.  Mom & I picked them out while we were in Alaska on the cruise in September.  They were onesies and Munchkin & I matched in pink ones and The Man had a red one.  They were a little big but very comfy!  We let Munchkin open five gifts (in retrospect we should have let her open more) and then we watched Mickey Mouse’s Christmas Carol. 

Once Munchkin was down it was time to play Santa.  It was pretty fun, finding room for more presents.  The Man also had to put together one of Munchkin’s gifts, a play kitchen.  We got to bed around 1 am.  Not too bad but I can see how it might be later in a few years!

Munchkin slept in till 8.  We ate cinnamon rolls while we opened our stockings.  Stockings are a big production in our house and it took awhile.  Munchkin’s were in a new chair and she was more interested in the chair than the toys in her stockings (yes, she had more than one.)  She LOVES her chair.  If that was all she got she would have been a happy camper. 

After stockings came presents.  It took a while and was a lot of fun.  Munchkin got into unwrapping present.  I would start it a little or show her were to pull and she would tear the paper off.  I think she had a good time.  She had a lot of presents so we tried to hurry her along.  We ended up having to stop because she was whiny and crying.  So the adults finished their presents and we let Munchkin play with what she had already opened.

We stayed in PJ’s for most of the day, only changing later one because we wanted too, not because we had too.  We had a delicious ham dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn and crescent rolls.  After dinner Munchkin was in a much better mood so we got her to finish opening her presents.  The fact that we had to do Christmas in two parts told us that we *might* have gone a little overboard.  Maybe.  Now we know and maybe next year she’ll get less. 

Munchkin loves her toys and all the adults enjoyed their gifts.  The best part really was just relaxing all day and enjoying each other’s company.  All in all, it was a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas….Military Style

I’m on my way back from having fun in the sun.  Since I’m not home yet, I have another guest post for you today from Rheanna of Cammo Style Love.

For military families everywhere the holiday season can bring a swift dose of reality.  We are one short.  Although we might be one short, it’s more about what you make of it.  Making sure to include your service member is not only important for your loved one; but it is just as important if you happen to have little ones running around.  We’ve experienced several holidays without our hero and we’ve chosen different ways to handle that.  It wasn’t really until recently that the kids really grasped what it meant to not have daddy around.  They opened presents and had fun.  For them that was really the extent of it; not having him home really was harder for me.  Last year when my oldest was in Kindergarten things like time and dates really meant something to him.  We had to get creative.  So I thought of some ways that might help you make holiday time fun, including some of the ones we chose to do.

Christmas can always come another day

Last year, Daddy made a special call to Santa and we got our presents delivered a week early.  It was pretty cool, and my oldest was for it.  Making it work is the name of the game, and if the time you have together is closer to Christmas (either on the backend or the front) then go for it.   Being together and celebrating TOGETHER is so important.

Christmas isn’t just a date

Currently I have a friend who is leaving up Christmas until her husband comes home in February, the outside lights, the Christmas tree and all that is staying up.  What a welcome home for him.  It isn’t about a date, it’s about family and love, and you can’t confine that to one specific date.

Christmas with Technology
This is an old stand-by; but old stand-bys are tried and true don’t you think?  They work and there’s a reason why they work.   Skype and face time have revolutionized deployments, tdy’s and geo-bachelor’s lives!  It has mine and I am forever grateful for it.  If you’re going to take this route do it right!  Send presents early, decorate the house up, make food for the table.  You don’t even have to talk or carry a conversation.  Simply just being together doing an ordinary activity can revitalize a long-distance relationship. 

Remember when we were young, and long-distance relationships were this thing we wondered if we could do.  We wondered if it was even worth it, and maybe who those girls/guys were that did it.  Now we do it all the time, sometimes for twelve months at a time.   We have to get creative and shake things up.  Sure these ideas might not be grand or require lots of steps; but I know that especially for my children, it’s the simplest of things that provide the most joy.

 

Rheanna is a Military Spouse and Stay at Home Mom. Rheanna and her husband have been living the military life for eleven years, have lived in three different places, and have had many opportunities to travel around the United States. They have three children. On her blog, Cammo Style Love, she blogs about parenting, military life, her love of books and history, working out and any other random thing that comes to mind. With a husband that travels frequently, in her spare time you find her and her children giving back to their military community in our Nation's Capitol!

There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays!

I hope I’m having fun in the sun right now, so here is another guest post for you.  Enjoy!

Hi there, friends! I'm Elizabeth, known on the internet as The Young Retiree! My husband and I have been living in Southern California for the last 4 years for his job in the United States Navy. According to Mapquest, it's a 45 hour drive back home- 2,782 miles, $1,537 estimated cost for gas, add on a few overnights in hotels (at least 4 nights), add in eating out for those 4 days plus road trip snackies and we're looking at a pretty penny to get home for the holidays with our pups (and of course, back to our Southern California home)! Eight days of travel there and back- that's a little extravagant!  Let's say we fly instead? Round trip we can book on Southwest for $2,047 (then add on tax, possible luggage overage, a delicious airport Starbucks, long term parking or shuttle the hour down to the airport, and other flight expenses!) but that's not including boarding our 3 dogs for the length of time we're gone.

Man, heading home for the holidays can get expensive pretty quickly, huh? With a job in the military some could even say it's a luxury! A luxury we've not been afforded since we moved to Southern California, and a luxury we won't be afforded this year, not to mention my husband has one day off without taking leave- Christmas day! We try our hardest not to let it get us down and I cry randomly throughout the days as I decorate and make our house into a magically decorated Christmas wonderland because, like they say, there's no place like home for the holidays: our home, in Southern California!

I'm willing to bet we're not the only military family who can't make it home for the holidays so I'm sharing some of our tips for making the most of the holidays thousands of miles away from the traditions and family you grew up with! For my husband and I, we moved shortly after our wedding, so we've been making "our traditions" exclusive of our extended family.

ONE: The Weeks Leading To Christmas! We find fun things in our area to do. Google "Holiday events in (insert the name of your town here)" and a whole list will pop up of parades, tree lighting ceremonies, tree farms, Christmas wonderlands, and so much more! Head on out and see them! As far as your house goes: watch silly holiday movies over Danish cookies and cocoa, decorate as a family, and make your house a cozy holiday haven!

TWO: December the 25th! My husband and I have a special Christmas Eve tradition of unwrapping a new Christmas movie, finding snacks in our stockings, making a fire, and settling in for one last night of Christmas magic. By Christmas Eve he's probably so excited to be done watching Hallmark Christmas movies it's the best gift he could ever get! Christmas morning we awake and open gifts, play with the dogs, make a Christmas dinner, and lay about the house in our jammies! Every year.

THREE: The Final Moments of Each Year! Go on out there and celebrate, host a party, or snuggle up waiting for the ball to drop on your tv from Times Square! Look over pictures from the last year, talk about the fun memories you've made, play the top 20 songs from the last year: even without the celebrations from home, you can make the most of the end of the year wherever you are!

Wherever you spend your holidays, I surely hope they're happy! Make the most of the events in your area and the family you're blessed to spend it with no matter how big or small! Merry Christmas, friends!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Elizabeth can be found blogging all about building a happy marriage and dating her husband, hiking and participating in 5Ks on her weight loss journey, celebrating life and looking for adventure over at The Young Retiree! You can follow her on Instagram and find her on Facebook as well!

DIY Hanging Ornaments

Two years ago I pinned this pin and haven’t been able to get it out of my head. I really wanted to try it last year but with Munchkin being 5 months old, I didn’t get to it.   So this year I mentioned it to The Man and he bought me a tension rod.  

We have this weird open space in our living room.  It’s between a doorway post and a post at the corner of a counter in our living/dining room.  It BEGS for something but is usually just open space.  So instead of hanging ornaments from a tension rod in a window, I did it in this space instead. 

You’ll need:

A tension rod

Curling ribbon or elastic (I used sparkly elastic made for presents)

approx. 20 ornaments but it depends on how wide the space is and how close you place them.

To make it:

1. Put the rod in place

2. tie one end of the elastic around the rod and then cut it a the desired length. 

3.  Tie an ornament to the hanging end of the ornament.

4. Repeat steps 1-3, varying the lengths of the elastic and the order of the ornaments, following a pattern if you want to.

I had the ornaments and elastic on hand, so the only cost was the tension rod.  You can find inexpensive ornaments and ribbon, so this project doesn’t have to cost a lot.  I’m considering leaving the rod up and hanging different items for different holidays from it.  It could be cute!

The Kindess Calendar

While I’m basking in the warm sun and sand, I have some guest posts for you.  Up first is Lisha, an in real life friend and I love this idea that she shares in her post! I’m looking a forward to doing something like it with Munchkin when she gets older.  Curious to know more?  Keep reading!

Does your family have an annual December tradition?

We don't, yet. This year, I hoped to engage my 3 daughters in a Christmas-type daily activity - one that could potentially become a lasting tradition! However, I must confess that I am

a) not given to being creative (I am overly-practical, more serious than fun-loving, and a mathematician to boot. If it's not logical and/or productive, I'm not likely to think of it on my own) and
b) making messes with or for my daughters causes me to cringe a little (a lot, actually), and
c) I am very last-minute. As in, we started midway through the first week of December. (whoops.)

A few of my friends post photos of their daily Elf on the Shelf's antics, but my husband and I weren't terribly interested in going that route. Then I saw this pin about Kindness Elves, and really liked the idea!

So, the idea for our Kindness Calendar was born. And though we're not far into December, it has been a raging success with my daughters! It's not terribly messy, it's practical, it's great fun!, and costs as much or as little as you need it to.

Step 1: Create the calendar template. Ours was made with pink construction paper (E's choice) and black sharpie. Time invested: about 2 1/2 minutes. You could certainly print one out, or use posterboard, or...there are many possibilities.

Step 2: Fill in as many days as you want with the names of other people. I asked my girls who they would like to do kind things for. I did nothing to influence their answers; it was sweet to see who they thought of! A few friends, a few family members, and even people they run into in town (the librarian, for example!) They chose to fill up the entire month - I was glad to oblige because our days are not that busy. If you have a fuller schedule this time of year, do what works for your family. Maybe 2-3 days per week works better for you - this should be something to look forward to, not a burden or 'just another thing' to do.

Step 3: Help your kids brainstorm what 'kindness' is and looks like in action. Try to incorporate as many of their ideas as possible over the course of the month.

My girls came up with:
*baking bread/cookies
*making dinners
*sending cards in the mail
*drawing pictures/painting art
*picking some of their good toys to wrap up and give as presents
*creating jewelry
*calling on the phone to say hi

Step 4: Spread kindness! Today's activity was to make a loaf of cranberry-orange-almond bread for one of the young ladies at church whom they just adore (she's 12, and is such a blessing to our family!). Elizabeth did almost all of the mixing, pouring, and sprinkling the almonds on top. Abby made her a card. We'll deliver it tomorrow if we're able!

But wait!
What if I don't have kids?
You can make a kindness calendar for yourself! Even if it's setting aside one day each week to write a note, or buy flowers for, someone who has been on your mind. Or, if you're blessed to live close enough to a niece or nephew/grandchild, why not offer to start this up with them? It's a win-win - kindness to others and bonding time for you & some of your favorite young people!

What if we don't have a budget for this?
We don't have much of a budget, either. Maybe $2-3 per week from the grocery budget to spare, and another few dollars for postage. But even resolving to let your children make a phone call or send an email to a loved one will definitely brighten a day - for free!

What if we've already got too much on our plate right now?
Don't do it now! Entertain the notion of a Kindness Calendar in January or February - or any other time of year? Kindness isn't just applicable during the holidays. :)

The Christmas season serves as a reminder in our family that the loving kindness of God, and His great mercy toward us, is why Jesus left the glory of Heaven for the helpless form of a newborn baby. When we make showing kindness and serving others a lifestyle, we offer a glimpse of Jesus to the people around us!

Practicing kindness,
for His glory!
~Lisha


Lisha has been married to Will for 9 1/2 years and has been a mom for almost 8 years to four children: three precious daughters here and a little one in Heaven! She blogs over at the 'Blish, hoping to lift high the name and grace of Jesus while encouraging others as she embraces her roles as wife, mom, homemaker, homeschooler, & redeemed and beloved daughter of the King.

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DIY Felt Christmas Tree

Last year I saw several felt Christmas trees on pinterest and thought it was a great idea.  It’s a small miracle that I didn’t forget about it and a bigger miracle that I got it made this early in December.  It was really easy and fun to make. 

The great thing about felt is that it sticks to itself. You can take the ornaments on and off again and again and the stickiness never goes away.  It’s also nice that when you cut it you don’t have to worry about it unraveling.  These two things make it nice to work with for this project.  An added bonus is that felt is cheap!

Materials:

Felt in various colors such as:

Green for the tree. I used a 1/2 yard. You can find felt on the bolt at JoAnn’s or Walmart.

Blue/white for a background (optional) (I was going to do white on the bottom for snow and blue on top for sky but realized with the dogs walking by it all the time the white would be a bad idea.  So all blue was my choice.)  You don’t have to have a background at all. I chose to have one because it gives Munchkin more room to place the ornaments.

Your favorite colors for ornaments

Freezer paper

Sewing Machine & thread matching your felt

Scissors

Sharpie

To Make It:

1.  I started by making the ornaments.  I’m not good at drawing so I Googled Christmas ornament templates and printed several off.  Then I took the freezer paper, placed it on top of the printed templates and traced them.  I did manage to draw a few, such as holly, Christmas lights and candles.

1a. Cut around the traced ornaments but not on the line.  Iron them on to the felt.

1b. Cut the ornaments out.  Once you’ve finished cutting it out, you can remove the freezer paper and use it again.  When you iron it will stick again and again and again.  Just like that, you have felt ornaments for your felt Christmas tree.

2. Cut out the tree.  I did this by folding the 1/2 yard of felt in half.  Than I drew the tree.  I didn’t like it so I turned it over and had The Man draw it.  His was much better so we went with his.  Then I cut it out.  When you unfold it you have a tree.

2a. For the background, I measured the wall where I wanted to hand the tree.  Then I cut the felt to cover the wall.  Then I placed the tree in the middle and pinned it down, just on the spikes of the tree to keep it in place as I sewed.  I also put a small piece of brown on the bottom as the trunk. (Sorry about the funky sunlight in the photos!)

2b.  Using the blanket stitch, sew the tree to the background.  It’s an easy sewing job, as the lines are pretty straight.  It shouldn’t take too long, unless you have a kiddo who wants your attention. It might be best to wait for nap time.

YAY, you’re almost done!  See how easy it is?  To hang it up I used Command strips, the ones for pictures and posters.  They look like Velcro. I figured the side that stays on the felt can be used year after year and I can just buy replacements for the ones for the wall.  I used 6 large ones.  So far it’s working great.

While I don’t think the felt tree will completely keep Munchkin from being fascinated with the real tree and the plush ornaments we put on the bottom, I think it will be helpful in redirecting her attention.  I was able to tell her no about playing with the plush Eeyore and bring her over to her tree.  She played with it for about 5 minutes which for me was a win.  Right now her favorite part is pulling all the ornaments off so I keep putting them up.  I figure we’ll get a few years out of it. 

Getting The Christmas Tree

Every year during the weekend after Thanksgiving we get our Christmas tree.  This year was no exception.  The Man and his family would go and cut down their tree when he was growing up.  I had always wanted to do this so when we got married this became our tradition.  I don’t mind at all because it has yet to be snowing and is never super cold when we got to get it (one of the many perks of living in the Pacific Northwest!)

The tree farm that we go to is about 15 minutes down the road from our house.  It takes The Man and I about 25 minutes tops to park, walk around and find our tree, cut it down, pay for it and leave.  For some reason we agree really easily on a tree.  I’m wondering how long it will take once Munchkin can voice her opinion!  Hopefully not much longer.

This year The Man spotted it right away but I needed to look a little more.  After finding nothing else I liked, I agreed that he had found the tree.  Once we got it in our house, I knew he was right.  It fit perfectly for where we want it.  Tree always look smaller in the wild and seem to grow when you bring them in.  This one did.  It doesn’t help that our ceiling are short.  I love sitting in a dark room with the Christmas light on.  It’s so pretty and peaceful. 

Looking for our tree

In front of our tree before cutting it down

Getting ready to cut it down

   Our yearly photo in front of the wreaths.

Do you have your tree up yet?  Is it real for fake?

Munchkin’s First Christmas

Munchkin’s first Christmas was a lot of fun.  She had no clue what was going on but Nana, Dad and I had a blast!  She napped while we were opening our presents and was awake for her stocking and most of her presents.  She got a lot of great stuff, including Violet, Sophie, Baby Einstein DVDs, CDs & books, a follow me turtle, a new duck onesie and burp cloths for the upcoming bowl game, some cloth books and a bunch of other toys.  She also got the little people nativity that I’m looking forward to her playing with next December.  I also got a few things that she’s loving, like my teething necklace or the wet/dry bag and new diaper covers. 

Zoolights

Last weekend we took Munchkin to see Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.  I’ve been wanting to go the past few years and we just never made it.  I figure having a kid is a good reason to go, even if she is only 5 months old.  Munchkin LOVES the Christmas lights we have at home so I figured she would enjoy them.  I was right!

It was raining on the way and my Mom & I were ready to head to the mall instead as walking around in the rain does not sound like fun to either one of us.  The Man convinced us that we should wait until after we ate dinner to make any decisions on what we would do.  So we ate dinner and guess what?  It stopped raining.  Gotta love the PNW!  If mom had be given the choice, she probably would have vetoed going since there was some drizzle happening but nothing that a true Northwesterner would consider rain.

Munchkin enjoyed being carried around by her daddy looking at all the lights.  Her eyes were so big and her face had this look of wonder on it.  I’m so glad we went!  I think this is going to be a yearly tradition.

Do you have any yearly outings for Christmas?

Christmas Cookie Swap

I found a new blog the other day, This Beautiful Life, and saw that she was hosting a Christmas Cookie Link up to swap recipes.  I thought how fun!  I managed to get my mom in on the action too (meaning she made the cookies and I took pictures!) 

I’ll be honest, I don’t like baking.  I never get into holiday baking.  When I was a kid my mom and her two best friends would take a day off work and bake ALL. DAY. LONG.  From before I left for school until long after I came home.  They made 15-20 different kinds of cookies, triple and quadrupling the batches.  Then they would split them up and everyone they knew would get cookies.  People would look forward to it because they make such amazing cookies like Norwegian Krum cakes, Kudabees and Baklava.  My all time favorite Christmas cook is baklava and I would love to share it with you but I can’t.  My mom was given the recipe by a Greek coworker who made her promise that she would never share it, only pass it down in the family. 

Instead I’m going to share a new favorite cookie of mine, White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread.  I’ve linked you to the original recipe as the one I’m going to share with you has been tweeked a little bit.  The main change?  We didn’t use white chocolate!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup cold butter

2/3 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate OR 2/3 cup of normal size chips, finely chopped in the food processor (we skipped the chopping and they turned out just fine!)

4 squares semisweet baking chocolate

1/2 teaspon almond extract

2 teaspoons shortening

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.

2.  In large bowl, combine flour and sugar.  Using pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles find crumbs.  Stir in drained cherries and chocolate.  Stir in almond extract.  Knead mixture until it forms a ball

3.  Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls.  Place balls two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2 inch rounds

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until centers are set.  Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet and then transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool

5.  In a small saucepan, combine baking chocolate and shortening.  Cook and stir over low heat until melted.  Dip half of each cookie into chocolate and allow excess to drip off. 

What’s your favorite Christmas cookie?

Santa Success!

We brought Munchkin to meet Santa for the first time this past weekend.  She didn’t mind him holding her at all and was quite happy to sit on his lap!

Maybe next year we’ll get the crying child photo.  Every good parent has one of those!