hedgie love
his fire truck dream finally came true (thanks to grandma)
K made that construction worker sign for L for Christmas and his Nana and Grandpa got him the vest.
drilling holes
"Mary (and) Christ Mass" by K
We are still in the midst of celebrating these twelve holy days of Christmas. Life is full, wonderful and exhausting with Christmas Eve Mass pageants, making Christmas cookies, our own little personal pageant, construction boys at work, a tooth lost by my sweet C, camping and play. Oh how we love this time of year! Wishing you all the peace, love and joy of this Christmas season.
Logging you in...
Michele · 535 weeks ago
So how does your family celebrate Christmas Day with gifts? My understanding is that you don't do Santa, correct? Are all the gifts from parents or relatives then? We have few gifts & don't so Santa cause we celebrate Bishop Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6th instead, Dia de Los Reyes (Three Kings) on Jan. 6th & I can't stand how materialistic & consumer oriented the Santa thing has gotten in the world around us. I was very greedy as a child about it. But my 6.5 yo boy heard about Santa at his former Waldorf School & from other children. His school stopped celebrating St. Nicholas in the Kinders before he got there cause of concerns about Black Peter I believe it was. They also read The Night Before Christmas in class too. I try to respect other's traditions & have always wanted Christmas to be magical so we've always had gifts appear on Christmas Day under the tree, some from us & 1 or 2 without a source. He's started to ask alot & we've evaded or said "must be Christmas magic". We have a Unicef book called Celebrations which shows festivals around the world & we read that in parts of Germany they believe gifts are from the Christ child. I recall being really betrayed & let down when I found out about Santa so I don't want my child to feel that way about the Christ child! Plus we don't have cultural support for that where we live in the US. They even have large Santa images in the Parish Hall at my Catholic church & the priest talked about Santa & brought out a Santa doll one year, ugh! Anyways, my boy is now convinced that surprise gifts come from Santa even though we have not encouraged that. His big gift was from us this year & I think he wasn't thrilled with the small boring gift from magic. His secret wishes are probably electric circuit sets (not old enough), legos, & toy guns which he isn't getting! Anyways, just wondering how your family keeps the magic in the day & deals with evading Santa.
We've been celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with alot of singing carols & reading picture books about the Christian symbolism in the 12 days of Christmas song. He loved that song from Kinder. We got new ornaments representing the symbolism too. We put one on the tree each day. I'm trying to come up with family traditions that will make these 12 days focus on Christ & giving as we await the Three Kings visit. We're looking into how we can give gifts to the Christ child these days to celebrate his birthday by doing things he would like, like good deeds & giving to others. We got a 12 Days cookie mold to make cookies to decorate & give away. At the same time I'm really beat from homeschooling & the baby so wanting to relax & enjoy the break & the help with Daddy home (since Christmas Eve through this upcoming week!) so I want to make sure I really rest before school has to start. Merry Christmas!
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago
Thank you for your kind words on my photos. I felt like these ones were all dark and grainy (due to no sun or being taken at night). My camera is old and slowing down so I am *hoping* to start saving for a newer one once we get out of debt. I was told by a photographer friend that I needed to upgrade from my dinosaur. :)
You are right - we don't do Santa (and I so agree with you on what Santa has become). I feel we were able to skip that pretty easily because we didn't start celebrating Christmas until K was 2 or 3. I was on a long journey before I made it back home to the Catholic church and Kevin was involved in Krishna Consciousness so we decided not to celebrate. Then when I came back and we did start celebrating I decided I wanted the focus to be on Jesus and celebrating his birthday. The children know of Santa and know other children celebrate Christmas with him but it doesn't phase them. They know he isn't real. Perhaps they aren't too interested because Saint Nicholas visits them on his feast day. I am not sure. Santa actually didn't come up in K's classes at PWS - her teachers focused a lot on the Christ child, which I really appreciated. But the day is still magical to them with baking Jesus' birthday cake and the joy of watching each other open gifts, although it is all pretty simple. The children know the gifts are from us and other family members. Kevin and I give the children each three gifts - one for each gift the Magi gave baby Jesus. Our family on the other hands gets them quite a bit. A lot of times it's things they need like clothing, homeschool supplies and things of that nature. I am very grateful for that. My MIL still doesn't quite get "quality over quantity" and usually sends a lot of little thins with something we requested but because she lives on the east coast we are able to intercept and give what we see fit then donate the rest.
BRB...
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago
K keeps asking me "When will homeschooling start back up?!" I keep telling her after Epiphany but, like you, I need to relax and unwind before we start back up again. I have to admit it is really draining me!
Anyways, I hope I answered your questions okay. It was so nice hearing from you - as always! Merry Christmas!! Get some rest! <3 <3
Fida Hurlock · 535 weeks ago
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago
Sarah · 535 weeks ago
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago
Dawn · 535 weeks ago
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago
Stacey · 535 weeks ago
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago
wrapslingsnthings 40p · 535 weeks ago
Best wishes for 2015!
FrontierDreams 111p · 534 weeks ago