We All Stayed Up

 All of the kids asked to stay up until midnight this New Year's Eve, so we decided to give that a try.

We had Mountain Dew sherbet floats for dessert, partly because they're yummy, and partly for the caffeine.

Todd looked pretty tired when we finally turned on the video feed from Times Square, but he made it all the way to midnight!

Couch Catch

 Christmas break is just a week long for us this year . . .

. . . and things look a little bleak outside . . .

. . . but we're having fun inside!  The kids made up games using a purple fluffy thing Anna's friend Sam gave her.

The catch in Couch Catch is that if the purple fluffy thing falls on the floor, you have to retrieve it without touching the ground.

There's no rule that a squishmallow can't touch the ground though!  Thanks for your help, Pip!

Tools, Cozy Blankets, and a New Little Table

Our Christmas Day started off with . . .

. . . Daddy passing out gifts, and Joy reminding everyone of proper gift-receiving etiquette (i.e. say "thank you" for each present, and keep any negative opinions to yourself).

The rest of the day was filled with cozy blankets, sticker books . . .

. . . a new tool set, and loud bubble wrap.

We also made kitchen sink cookies . . .

. . . and a little laptop table.

Endie's kind of over Christmas at this point, but the rest of us had a nice day.

I hope you did too!  Merry Christmas!

Traditions in Flux

After 15 years of parenting, I'm kind of surprised that our family's Christmas traditions are still a work in progress.

The "enderman on the shelf" has been a delightful constant the last few years . . .

. . . and the kids enjoyed waking up to favorite Christmas books that I set out last night . . .

. . . but the virtual fireplace video with Christmas carols was new this year . . .

. . . and I decided to connect with our Danish roots by making risalamande tonight.  It's a fancy rice pudding recipe served with cherry sauce on Christmas Eve in Denmark.  It was good but not great, so I doubt I'll make it again next year.  Christmas can be such a hectic time, so I try to only do the festive things that we truly love.

Even our Christmas Eve program is kind of in flux.  When we finished it this evening, the kids asked why we sing carols and talk about Jesus the night before His birthday, then spend His actual birthday just opening presents and lounging in our pajamas.  They suggested that we do the program on Christmas itself next year to lend more reverence to that day.  I think I'll add that to the list of things we may do a little differently next December.

Lights in the Garden

Some friends had spare tickets to the Tower Hill Botanic Garden's light festival tonight . . .

. . . so the girls and I decided to go check it out.

The illuminated garden was a magical place . . .

. . . where you could walk through a living light tunnel . . .

. . . act out dramatic scenes in a purple courtyard . . .

. . . or enjoy cocoa and a cider donut . . .

. . . next to a kaleidoscopic reflecting pool.

Advent

I've kind of struggled to make Christmastime feel meaningful this year.  I want it to be fun for my family, but I also want it to be a time of generosity, service, and reverence for the Savior.

At the beginning of this month, I tried to inspire everyone to serve others by hanging up a chart and inviting the kids to write or draw on it every time they served someone.  Unfortunately, that only seemed to resonate with Anna and me.  Everyone else forgot about it.

When I mentioned my problem to a friend, she invited us to join her family for their advent celebration.  On the four Sundays before Christmas, they light a candle . . .

. . . then read some scriptures and a short message about Jesus.  It helps them focus on what Christmas is really about.

I think I may try some variation of that with a special advent calendar I bought several days ago.  Each ornament has a different title of Jesus Christ (Redeemer, Prince of Peace, etc.), and a scripture where that title is used.  At first my kids thought it was weird that I hung this advent calendar up a few days before Christmas (especially since we already have a similar Santa calendar that we've been using for years), but we've found it to be really uplifting.  Every night this week, each of us has chosen an ornament, read the title and verse out loud, then explained why that title applies to Jesus, and why it matters for us.  It's been a sweet way to turn our hearts and minds to Him, and focus on what truly makes this season magical.

The Force is Strong with This Secret Santa

Todd and Anna each have some interesting holiday homework due this week.

Todd needs to make a "Secret Santa" card for a classmate.

Anna has to prepare a Secret Santa card, write three sincere compliments, and make her assigned classmate a present.  She decided to make an R2D2 perler bead ornament, because the classmate likes Star Wars.  We didn't know whether he prefers the prequels, sequels, or originals, so we figured R2 was the safest bet (since he's in all of the movies, and everyone likes him).  Of course, that meant I had to go to the craft store to buy lots of black and white perler beads, but I figured it was a minor sacrifice in the name of creativity and generosity.  And also Star Wars.

Endie the Christmas Coach

 The "enderman on the shelf " wants to know . . .

Are you tired of December yet?

Do you feel like just taking a nap for the next two weeks?

Well, hang in there!

Focus on the people and traditions you love, and don't sweat all the other stuff!

Stay Six Pies Apart

I've seen some interesting holiday decorations at our local stores lately.

Like this "Wish I Could Fly South" gingerbread house at Whole Foods . . .

. . . and its neighbor, the "Unabashed Advertising" gingerbread house.

I know the Spanish term for feet is "pies" (pronounced "pyes"), but since that's the only Spanish word on this Home Depot sign and it's holiday party season, I can't help thinking they're encouraging us to stay 6 pumpkin pies away from their employees.  You may not know how far 6 feet is, but it's pretty easy to imagine being 6 apple pies away from another human.

Over at the grocery store, I was amused to see that the Jim Carrey Grinch's agenda was included in the holiday decorations . . .

 

. . . especially since the florist section was selling cuddly Grinch cacti.  I was tempted to buy one when I realized it was actually a dragon fruit plant (cool!).  Then I learned that those plants can grow 20 feet tall.  Um, maybe not.

Will Rake for Cash

I needed the yard cleaned up, and some of the kids needed money to buy Christmas gifts . . .

. . . so I hired them to rake leaves this afternoon.

Anna and Todd worked as a team gathering leaves and hauling them to Compost Hill . . . 

. . . while Joy preferred to work on her own.  I was glad to see those leaves go . . .

. . . but I kind of want to keep these poetic ones Anna made at school. :) 

Duets, Doc, and Dark Side Candy

Our piano teacher's Christmas duet concert was virtual again this December . . .

. . . but the kids still had fun learning and performing beautiful carols.  This year, Daniel performed "Angels We Have Heard on High" with Anna, and Todd performed "Joy to the World" with  . . . Joy  (who respectfully requests that you keep any name-related holiday puns to yourself).

Speaking of Joy, it's her birthday today!  She asked me to try a new quick bread recipe instead of  baking a cake, so I made her some pumpkin bread.

Joy received a lot of candy for her birthday, including treats from Anna in our favorite candy box.

This is also the 2nd anniversary of the day Doc joined us!  He was really skittish for the first year or so, and we wondered if he'd ever let us hold him, but now he lets Joy carry him all over the house! 

Tree and Toast

This December, our church Christmas party . . .

. . . was called "Breakfast in Bethlehem."

After we enjoyed baked French toast, the youth acted out the Nativity story.  Joy was a shepherd (with a Star Wars shirt and a purse) and Daniel was a sheep (wearing green creeper pajamas).

In other news, since we didn't get a tree at the New Hampshire farm last week, we decided buy one from the local farm stand with the twirling trees.  The kids probably thought that was just as magical as a wagon ride and free cider . . .

. . . especially once we took our tree home and decorated it with our favorite ornaments.

When we finally found our pickle ornament (I forgot that I had put it back in its box last year), I hid it on the tree . . .

. . . so someone could find it again.