This has been the year of learning to let go of some of our old traditions...and "tweak" a few of the others. Steven promises me that our first Christmas in Idaho after we retire will be AWESOME! I hope so! Anyways...here are a few more Christmas pictures *smile*
We always hear the Christmas story on Christmas Eve from the bible. Some years my dad has read it, some years Steven has read it when he was home. Well this year we had the experience of having Steven read it over the internet to the kids. That was interesting! He got to watch them on webcam and read the story off of lds.org
Ignore my messy desk...but I thought this was a fun shot of them watching the computer screen while he read it. It was very special.
In lieu of a Christmas tree this year...we had the Christmas cactus *grin* but it definitely made for an interesting dilemma of "Where to put the presents??" I finally came up with the idea to put our new cowboy nativity on the little table with my blanket over it, and then the presents under the table. We also didn't have stockings this year...so after much debate, we came up with "Christmas Gift Bags" LOL! It definitely didn't feel like Christmas...but it was okay. We'll figure something out different next year since our stuff will still be in Idaho!
Another tradition in our home is the "Christmas Ribbon". It started with a very curious kid--I had to figure out a way to keep Stevie away from the Christmas tree before we woke up. We came up with the "Magic Christmas Ribbon" that he couldn't go past until Mom and Dad were awake. It worked! Each year after that, we would hang the ribbon and then take pictures of cutting the ribbon in the morning. It has been such a fun way to track how tall they got! Stevie is now MUCH taller than Kimmy even. Well, Christmas Eve, I realized I didn't have the ribbon--it was in Idaho too. What to do??? Well, we came up with "Christmas Chains" and the kids thought that was great! This one we may have to continue instead of the ribbon *smile*
Here is Missy's Christmas Chain. Luckily I have a ton of scrapbooking supplies *grin* and could pull it off quickly!
Stevie liked making his chain too!
Here are the kids Christmas morning before they broke the chain open and could run for the "tree" and the presents. I am sure Kimmy will say she is "slouching" but boy my younger two have grown this year! (Sorry Kimmy)
In years past, I have bought lots of Christmas story books, and then have wrapped them up to have an "advent" of stories we could read each night before Christmas. Well, this year we had just one I bought last week. It is called "The Soldier's Night Before Christmas" with Sergeant McClaus...all about soldiers getting presents in their boots...
...and here would be Kimmy finishing the book when Heidi started to cry and couldn't read anymore *sob* (I miss my soldier)
One tradition we were able to keep was the "Feeding of the Reindeer". Every Christmas Eve, we make a big bowl of "Magic Reindeer Food...to help the reindeer find our house! It's just a bowl of oatmeal with lots of different colors of glitter, but the kids love to do it!
I had a hard time getting pictures to turn out...they were all so blurry! The kids were running all over covering the yard. (The birds really liked us the next day!) Here is Stevie throwing his reindeer food.
You can just see all the glitter in the air on this photo! Kimmy threw what was left of the bowl in the air for me to try and catch a photo LOL!
In lieu of a Christmas tree this year...we had the Christmas cactus *grin* but it definitely made for an interesting dilemma of "Where to put the presents??" I finally came up with the idea to put our new cowboy nativity on the little table with my blanket over it, and then the presents under the table. We also didn't have stockings this year...so after much debate, we came up with "Christmas Gift Bags" LOL! It definitely didn't feel like Christmas...but it was okay. We'll figure something out different next year since our stuff will still be in Idaho!
Another tradition in our home is the "Christmas Ribbon". It started with a very curious kid--I had to figure out a way to keep Stevie away from the Christmas tree before we woke up. We came up with the "Magic Christmas Ribbon" that he couldn't go past until Mom and Dad were awake. It worked! Each year after that, we would hang the ribbon and then take pictures of cutting the ribbon in the morning. It has been such a fun way to track how tall they got! Stevie is now MUCH taller than Kimmy even. Well, Christmas Eve, I realized I didn't have the ribbon--it was in Idaho too. What to do??? Well, we came up with "Christmas Chains" and the kids thought that was great! This one we may have to continue instead of the ribbon *smile*
Here is Missy's Christmas Chain. Luckily I have a ton of scrapbooking supplies *grin* and could pull it off quickly!
Stevie liked making his chain too!
Here are the kids Christmas morning before they broke the chain open and could run for the "tree" and the presents. I am sure Kimmy will say she is "slouching" but boy my younger two have grown this year! (Sorry Kimmy)
In years past, I have bought lots of Christmas story books, and then have wrapped them up to have an "advent" of stories we could read each night before Christmas. Well, this year we had just one I bought last week. It is called "The Soldier's Night Before Christmas" with Sergeant McClaus...all about soldiers getting presents in their boots...
...and here would be Kimmy finishing the book when Heidi started to cry and couldn't read anymore *sob* (I miss my soldier)
One tradition we were able to keep was the "Feeding of the Reindeer". Every Christmas Eve, we make a big bowl of "Magic Reindeer Food...to help the reindeer find our house! It's just a bowl of oatmeal with lots of different colors of glitter, but the kids love to do it!
I had a hard time getting pictures to turn out...they were all so blurry! The kids were running all over covering the yard. (The birds really liked us the next day!) Here is Stevie throwing his reindeer food.
You can just see all the glitter in the air on this photo! Kimmy threw what was left of the bowl in the air for me to try and catch a photo LOL!
1 comment:
We read that book too and I cried too, lol
Post a Comment