Christmas Cookies 2013

We are busy-busy as always, but I found a cozy afternoon to bake several batches of Christmas goodies! The kids were most excited to decorate sugar cookies. I was a bit of a lazy-mom and decided just to do one kind of cut-out: snowmen. The kids were good sports about only having one kind of cookie to decorate and made a whole batch of super-cute (&delicious) snowmen! 

I always let each kid pick out a cookie to eat after all the work was done. This was the yummiest part of their day! 

A few of our sweet snowmen!

Advent

I wanted to do advent with the kids this year, but I changed it up a bit to help make it easier for them to understand the symbolism... and easier on me as I did not have any purple candles. A traditional wreath uses only purple, pink and white candles. I made these simple advent wreaths using plastic lids, paper and a standard pack of birthday candles. Each Sunday (& Christmas Eve) we light a candle and hear a part of the nativity story.

Here our the advent stories that go with each candle:

Week 1- The Prophecy Candle

A yellow candle representing those who saw light in the darkness. 

We read "Peace Will Come," the story of the prophet Micah in Micah 4-5 from the Read & Learn Bible.

Week 2- The Love Candle

A pink candle for the heart of Mary and her love for Jesus.

We read "A Message for Mary" Luke 1:26-55

Week 3- The Shepherd's Candle

A green candle for the fields where the shepherds kept watch. 

We read "The Shepherds" Luke 2:8-20

Week 4- The Angel's Candle

A blue candle for the sky where the angels & star appeared.

We read "Wise Men From the East" Matthew 2:1-12 

(I deviated a little on this one because we already read about the angel visiting Mary and the angels visiting the shepherds, so the focus is on the sky and the star of Bethlehem.)

Christmas Eve- The Christ Candle

A white candle for Jesus' purity.

We read "Jesus is Born" Matthew 1:18-25/Luke 2:1-7

Deck the Halls

The day after Thanksgiving, we bring up our boxes (& boxes... how did we end up with so many?!) of Christmas decorations and set about making the house festive. The kids were super-duper excited to decorate this year, especially the tree. 

I love the photo above because it is the tree as decorated by the kids without help or direction from us, which means that all the ornaments are right at hand level, mostly in one spot at the front of the tree. We stepped in to lend hand, of course, and the tree filled up fast with all our decorations from childhood and little hands and vacations and family memories. I love our tree because it truly represents our family!

A big year as it was Degen's first year to put the star on top of the tree... and this decision did not come without a few tears on Kyrie's part. We ended up compromising by letting her choose a special ornament to place near the top of the tree. 

Our beautiful Nativity!

Our beautiful family!

Our beautiful tree!

St. Martin's Day Lantern Festival 2013

The St. Martin's Day Lantern Festival is a highlight of the German School year. We missed making lanterns at school, so I made lanterns with the kids at home (using peanut containers, tissue paper and pipe cleaners). We bundled up and met the other families at a nearby park to walk and sing traditional songs before heading to a shelter house for food & drink. 

Back In Time

These are photos that we took at the Historical Society. These might look a bit familiar since we just did similar ones over the summer, but the kids really enjoy it!

Note: The first weekend in November, Darren went to Asia for a 3-week business trip. He went to Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. The trip went well, and we kept busy with all our usual activities while he was gone. He brought home lots of goodies for us all, including some wonderful outfits for the kids. While he was gone, Kyrie got her cast off. When he returned, we were just a few days away from Thanksgiving, which we celebrated here at home. 

Operation Christmas Child 2013

As the kids get older, some activities mean a little more to them. This year, they really enjoyed putting together their boxes for Operation Christmas Child. They picked out toiletry items, art supplies, toys & candy for a child about their age. This is an easy activity that helps them to understand the joy in generosity. 

Degen took this photo of me- ha!

American Girl Fashion Show 2013

We were pleased to once again attend the American Girl Fashion Show benefiting the Lauren Faith Miller Foundation in support of children & families living with congenital heart defects. This is a great occasion to dress up and spend an afternoon with friends. We had a great time!