Christmas Fun

Well, we are full swing into the Christmas Season! We have been busy with life, but we are all very thankful to have wrapped up school on Tuesday and we will be on break until after the first week of January. We are all very excited to have a little more free time, especially with the business of the holidays. I hate how sporadic I have been in my blogging. I often write parts of post in my head, but I never manage to get to the computer with those thoughts. They are either lost before I have time or I am too tired to write when I get the chance. I hope to get better about blogging again! I miss it. Maybe this Christmas break will give me a chance to renew my energies and start writing again...or maybe I am dreaming.

So since finishing up school on Tuesday, we took Wednesday as a day for some fun activities around here. We rented 2 Christmas movies, I gave the kids an early Christmas present from there teacher (a book for each of them) and we made these great little mangers. I found this idea online somewhere and they are perfect. They require little to no prep work and are easy to make. The kids loved them. I have always thought it would be so fun to do ginger bread houses, but we never have. This is that sort of idea, but it focuses there little hearts on Jesus which is my goal in all we do this time of year. Here are there masterpieces (be prepared to ooh and ah!):
Aidan has a Joseph to the left with the green face, Mary is to the right, and baby Jesus in the manger in the middle of them. Aidan wanted hay so we crushed frosted flakes to make the hay for Jesus to lay on. The creature to the right with the green and red is supposed to be a sheep and a shepherd is standing behind him.
Rebecca has Joseph, Mary and Jesus also. She also added a sheep (with its bottom facing you to the left) and a donkey standing to the right. The M&Ms on top are supposed to make a star.

Andrew really preferred to eat the m&ms more than anything else (you can tell by his messy face), but I helped him at least get a Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

After finishing these the kids ate them for a snack. I was having mixed feelings about making and eating Jesus, but I remembered that He refers to himself as bread and that made me feel better about it. I tried to share this great symbolism with the kids and they looked at me blankly, but at least I felt better about it.

While we were making these, Aidan asked if we have ever made these before. We haven't, but that question warmed my heart. I remember when Aidan was a little baby and I was sitting in MOPS and was hearing all these great ideas and traditions that other families had. I craved this. I wanted to create this type of family and home that would allow them to look back when they are older and remember the things we did together when they were young. To remember us being together and enjoying life together. We started a few things and we have added some over the years, but this is the first year that I am realizing that these traditions are special to the kids too. Aidan has asked if we are going to do certain things again this year. He remembers and he wants to be a part of those fun family activities. It is a great joy to have the opportunity to share these special times with my kids. We may not always get to do all of these things, but I want them to always remember us, as a family, together!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you are enjoying yourself and your family this holiday season!