I have always enjoyed hearing from friends what they do for Christmas (and all other holidays too). I love hearing generations of the same family retell of their favorite traditions and laugh at all the "remember when" stories intertwined within them. And every year I feel a little sad as I can't much participate in the discussion much beyond, "the kids get a new pair of PJs every Christmas Eve night".
And every year I have these grand plans to change that...
And for many years I have given birth just weeks before Christmas...
And the last few years was having surgeries or dealing with ailing parents...
This year has been different. In many ways, I see it clearly as God's hand of grace, helping the children build some traditions seems to be carrying them through their first Christmas without their PawPaw. We started two little traditions that I hope will be a memory we will make and re-make every year. The one that I have enjoyed most has been a nightly devotional and activity throughout the Advent season. The children call out for it each night and hate missing it! We light a new candle every night, and now the candles are all ablaze as we come to the eve of Christ's birth, the excitement of the Savior's coming continues to mount...
The other thing we are doing is building a Winter Village out of Legos. Growing up I remember my mom having a small collection of porcelain houses that we would set up each Christmas. I remember the little guy and girl ice skater that we would set up on a hand mirror that was set under a white sheet with a hole cut out to be "more realistic". So, last year when a friend told me about the Lego Winter Village, and I thought of that little Christmas town growing up, and I had to decide between porcelain or plastic, I just knew I wanted to get it for this year. And Lego releases a new piece each year, so this year we had a few things to put together, but next year we will just have one. The kids and I sit around the table, taking turns on assembly, ooohing and aaahing at the intricate details and clever uses of specialty pieces.
We still hope to make some cookies for neighbors...
We still want to do some caroling on our street...
We totally forgot to have the kids exchange names for each other and purposefully seek to do good for one another... but that is ok, they all made each other gifts out of duct tape...
We are planning to do something really cool with our Christmas tree to look forward to Easter... I will let you know how well we execute that...
What are your family's traditions?
How do you make the season shine for Christ?
We made a birthday cake for Jesus.
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