Away in a Manger
I read Lots of Scotts religiously. JMom is the mom of triplet three year olds. I am inspired by her writing every single day. Today she posted about how her family is staying focused on the real meaning of Christmas - a difficult thing with young children. I encourage you to hop over and see what she's shared. Even the comments she received are insightful and encouraging. I look forward to hearing what her other readers do to celebrate the birth of our savior.
She and I both have child friendly manger scenes that are played with often, but only in my ceramic set does the baby Jesus wait to make his appearance until Christmas Eve. I don't regret letting them have the wooden baby Jesus out - especially when I hear Julia say JeJe for Jesus and then give Him a kiss. 
Only 14 months and already she knows to put the angel on top. Uh....but what's the camel doing up there too, my dear sweet baby girl?
We do the Santa Claus thing too and it's amazing how quickly they pick up on that sort of thing. Julia just about runs to the tv when the opening music for Rudolf starts. We hang stockings 
(handmade by me - a tradition passed down from my Grandma). We visit Santa at the Mall, we read secular 
Christmas stories, but I'm trying very hard to always talk about the real meaning of Christmas. I am going to incorporate the Jesse Tree devotions into our advent calendar this year. With no energy to be crafty or the time with Brian being gone some much this week, I will simply use the pieces we have to put on what is intended to be a Christmas tree advent calendar and read/talk/pray with Sam.
What are your traditions for Christmas? Do tell! Even if you've never commented before - tis the season after all.
Here are a few photographs of the kids from my never-ending quest for a Christmas card
picture. It was fun to sit back and observe them interact. One minute they are playing sweetly and the next Mary is transformed into a battering ram, aimed right at Sam's nose.
Aren't Sam's PJ's the cutest? I love the butt flap!
3 comments:
Thanks for thinking of me in the last days of my pregnancy. I am trying my best to stay positive while I wait for this baby to come. I was overdue 10 days with my last, so who knows when this one will decide to join us.
Your reindeer ornament idea sounds great. You'll have to post pics!
Also, I LOVE the picture of Sam & Julia sitting on their knees looking at the tree the best. Really sweet. I am waiting for this baby to arrive so I can start trying to snap some pics for our Christmas card, although it may end up being a NEW YEARS card at this rate :)
A fun tradition we do, is wrap up all of our Christmas stories (books), then every night the kids get to unwrap one for story time. We start it 12 days before Christmas. It only takes a few seconds to wrap up a book, and they REALLY look forward to opening them up at night. Also, we play hide the pickle (ornament) on the tree, and whoever finds it first gets a prize of some sort. We are always trying to think of more meaningful traditions to start as they get older and gain more understanding.
Merranda -
What a great idea to wrap up the books! Do the kids help or do you do it so they can be surprised each night? We hide the pickle ornament too. :)
Hang in there! It's so exciting that you don't know if it's a boy or a girl.
Their pajamas are super cute, and the pictures look great. I LOVE Julia's hair! Her curls are adorable and go so well with her beautiful eyes. I just read your post about your day. I'm sorry that you had to say "no" to a showing when you're needing your home to sell. I hope you feel better soon. Get lots of rest. I also enjoy reading about your Christmas traditions. Best wishes.
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