Real Life Behind the Scenes of Christmas

In this pinterest world we live in, it is easy to think that everyone's mantle is perfectly decorated with candles lit every morning,

That maybe they do feed their kids waffles on their Christmas China, and that the cute family in the Christmas Card picture really is that adorably dressed all the time. 


A world where Advent devotions get done every night at 6:45 without ever missing, and our children are actually grateful for
this season, not selfish, and eager to be generous.

Where our Christmas trees are perfectly adorned.

And we all just sip our nice holiday drinks while listening to Christmas Classics in nicely candle-lit room…
Just enjoying the Christmas moment.


And our hearts are perfectly centered on the
True meaning of Christmas.

 

Well, my friends…It’s not true.  We don’t live in Pinterest.
                   We live in real life. 

 

Where the laundry is thrown ‘round the room without care…

In hopes that a housekeeper soon would appear.

Real life…  Real Decembers.

Yes, I still sip my peppermint mocha and listen to my Josh Groban Christmas CD,--- but not while simply gazing upon the tree… while folding laundry and making grocery lists, and cleaning up hotwheels and baby dolls.  

Real life--
Where you go to get a dozen donuts to take to the local firefighters and your child erupts in a fit of tears because he thought the donuts were for him and he doesn’t want to give the donuts away….  doesn’t it sound like a great Christmas moment about learning generosity? 

Where it’s December 9th, but only 4 of your advent devotion cards are up... We’ll catch up… we’ve got plenty of time.

You won’t find these stories on Pinterest.   And that’s ok.
And it’s why I am just stepping back from some of the blogs and pinterest right now.. with all the advent devotion ideas, and tradition ideas, all the posts and links on all the things, recipes, and activities I must do in order to “make a memory.”

Well… making memories cannot be rushed. And quite honestly, I feel rushed by this world of blogs and facebook telling me how to celebrate, what to teach my kids, and showing me elaborate pictures of all the food and crafts that there is no way I  am going to make.   I mean how are my kids ever going to have a good memory if we don’t A, B, and C?? Will they ever grasp the true meaning of the season if I don’t do X, Y and Z??

And so I resort to my motto of late.

Making Memories cannot be rushed.   I will not be rushed. 
My children will still grow up having fond memories of Christmas even if I don’t make a wreath out of lollipop sticks, or homemade gingerbread nutella cookies.   I do not have to have the picture perfect Christmas all done by today in order for Christmas to be a memory.   Christmas will not be rushed.  Memories cannot be rushed.

So I decorated my house on December 6th (gasp!).  Have not baked a holiday cookie yet.  We are slowly catching up on our advent devotion.  And we are going to have plenty of time to enjoy this grand season of celebrating the Savior’s birth.   So, internet… I will not allow you to rush me.   I will make myself another cup of Peppermint Mocha and fold my laundry, homeschool my child, buy and wrap some presents.  Find a live nativity to take our kiddos to. 

We will make plenty of memories.  Christ will be celebrated.  My children will remember these days of their childhood with smiles (dear Lord, I pray they will).  

But these memories… they will not be rushed. 
Rather than compare myself, my decorations, my baking, my Christmas card, etc to the rest of the world…
I will do what I can with the capacity God has given me. 

And then I will enjoy my family.  And I will enjoy Christmas. 
Off now to make some memories---

Date Night!

It is really important in marriage to take the time and get a babysitter to take a Date night.  But it is also important to take Date Nights with your kids!  We did just that this past Monday!

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Right after we moved to DC last year, A Chick Fil A opened up near by.  Though it isn’t a free standing store (which means no playground unfortunately) it is close by.   And it is in a more business district, so really famiyl friendly and easy(er) parking on the weekends.    And one of the great things CFA does is host Date Nights for parents to bring their kids to.   And Monday Night was…

So Daddy, got all “hansomed” up and the girls felt SO special going on a date with Daddy.

They were all ready to go out on the town!
And in my opinion they had the best looking date there,

Little Ms Pretty, all ready for her date.

Helen was beside herself and I think she said at one point
”I never been on a date”

Carson was a great sport… and while we are waiting on Chick Fil A to host one of these soon…

We went out on our OWN Mother/Son date out on the Hill. 
Carson chose to go to a little Hot Dog joint called DC-3, where he got mini dog sliders! But the real reason he chose this place was for the hand spun cotton candy!

He took a great picture of a mommy eating her YUMMY Italian sausage!

Both Mommy and Daddy had a fun night making memories with our sweet children.  Taking the time out to enjoy them and celebrate them and remind them what sweet gifts they are to us!

When was the last time you had a date night out
with your child?  

Pumpkin Fun

We had a great time at a Pumpkin Patch/ Fall festival this past weekend up in Maryland!  This is our 2nd year going, and the kids had just as much fun as they did last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potato Sack slide!  Carson was Loving it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gemma and the girls!

Charlotte’s Web…. Get it??

 

 

 

Cute little pumpkin pickers!

 

Oh, my cuteness!  Little girl couldn’t make up her mind, and ended up deciding she didn’t want a pumpkin at all. 

 

It is hard to take a picture on a bright sunny day… but they sure did try and smile at mama!

 

Our family of 5!  Next year we will add another
cute pumpkin to our patch!

The hay ride back to the festival from the pumpkin patch!  Such fun!

 

Helen says “come back tomorrow to see how much fun our family had romping around in the hay!”  Trust me--- it was fun.  We all came back smelling like a barn. 

(I realized I had too many favorite pictures to put in one post—
So Fall festival Fun part 2 will post tomorrow!)

Remember this…

Dear Children,
When you look back on years of holidays,
I pray you will remember the fun we all had as a family. 
I truly try to make these years full of sweet memories…

The Easter tomb set out, with Jesus tucked inside.

Putting rocks in our Basket and talking about Sin. 
The Weight of sin… how we no longer have to carry the weight because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.

That you will remember the child like wonder you had
as you awoke to an empty tomb…

How we all declared with Joy…
“He is Risen”  “He’s Alive!”

How your baskets of rocks were replaced
with Baskets of Blessings

Though these goodies are yummy,
We pray you will remember why we do all that we do.

     

Our stories we tell, and activities we do….
Mean nothing if you miss the reason why we Rejoice.
We share it all that you might see The Great One we celebrate.

That you too would one day put your trust in Jesus…
The one who conquered death, and rose up from the Grave.
Whose death on the cross has paid the penalty for our sin…allowing us to have Eternal life in heaven, and Abundant life now.

Yes, dear children.  I pray in the midst of all my striving…
My yearning to help you get it… my traditions and stories, and snacks, and songs… I pray it will all piece together like a puzzle.  That right now your child like faith would lead you to one day totally embrace the Truths that we teach you. 

       

Oh Dear Children….
                  Remember this.

 

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***   And on a totally unrelated note….
   We had a last minute visit to the White House today to participate in the annual Easter Egg Roll.  A-MAZING.  Pictures and post to come, I promise… I just had to get this one off my heart first and it was next in the queue to post.  **     White House pics coming up soon!

Easter Traditions

As I finish pulling down my Easter Activities today  (I really should have been more on the ball with this) I thought I would link back to some favorite posts explaining how we celebrate The Resurrection with our family.

Easter Tomb

Throughout the year, one of the main “searches” that brings people to my Blog is “Resurrection Play set”.  Though I have beseeched Little People (twice) on behalf of all moms everywhere, they have not listened.   So, forget a Little People Resurrection Playset…. and Make your own.
         See here how much our kids have enjoyed it!

 

Lenten Lights

We love to decorate our table with Lenten lights (we celebrate the week before Easter) It is a great way to anticipate that great day of Resurrection!

Jelly Bean Prayer

I love putting together little goody bags of Jelly Beans with this
Jelly Bean Prayer in it.  It is a great favor for preschool classes.

 

Great Devotional Books

Check out some of my favorite Devotional books leading up to Easter.  No time to order these books this year?  Spend the next few weeks reading through amazing scriptures that show old testament prophecies and how they were fulfilled.  

Rocks in the Basket

We began a new tradition last year called Rocks in the Basket that I really loved.   It was a great visual to talk to our kids about sin, and why Jesus’ death pays the penalty for our sin.   Check out how our Baskets turned out and how curious and into it my kids get!  Check out both links above to get a better feel for how to do these baskets.

Empty Tomb Rolls

We tried one year to do the Empty Tomb Cookies, but they were a little too Complex (something about me and meringue that never works out).  Instead, I found I loved the Resurrection Rolls from Courtney over at Women Living Well .  She posted it last year too and that is where we got the idea from.   We still incorporate much of the scripture references as we do it though.
      *I don’t think either of these women are the originators of the above ideas, but it is where I found the ideas from.  It is so hard to credit “traditions” unless they are clearly in a book or someone’s original idea.

The Gospel

I think most of all, as we prepare for Easter, and celebrating the Resurrection… we must meditate on the Gospel and ask ourselves the hard question of “Do I really believe this?”   For if we do not truly believe this great sacrifice that was made on our behalf, all these celebrations are in vain.  

 

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I pray you have a meaningful few weeks leading up to Easter and Celebrating the Resurrection with your children!

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I am linking this post up over with Impress Your Kids where dozens of bloggers are linking up Easter ideas.  Go and link up your own and get some great ideas from others.