Christmas Unwrapped

Our vacation days are slowly dwindling down, soon it will be time to return to our little bungalow. I am looking forward to cozying back in for another year of motherhood with my ever growing brood of boys.

We had a lovely Christmas this year, albeit a scattered and strange one. We celebrated with my family on the 12th of December and with J's family on the 26th & 27th. The calender was slightly off with all the traveling and birthdays thrown into the mix. Making a concentrated effort to teach your preschoolers the Christmas Story is difficult when there are so many events crowding each day. And then of course the added dimension of having multiple preschool age children to instruct is quite challenging.

A deep desire of my heart is for my children to enjoy worshipping Jesus from an early age. Falling in love with God will be the greatest joy of their lives and I am excited to share in that with them. But how to impart such meaning into tiny hearts? I am always encouraged at BSF to pray for my boys and for their understanding of worship and the word. I believe its the most valuable thing I can do for them.

I am also finding other ways to teach my boys. History and tradition play a great part in this hunt and I am eager to establish both in my own little family. I am always on the lookout for special ideas for events or whimsical items that can be absorbed into our family traditions. I found a few this year that I would love to share with you!

I found this beautiful advent calender designed by Kurt Adler. I fell in love with the small wooden drawers that open each day to reveal a hand painted figurine from the Nativity. Each piece has a magnetic back and adheres to the painted backdrop. I love that I can share the Christmas Story with my boys a little bit at a time. Its so much more tangible for them at this age.
I also found this fantastic advent book. Designed by Jack & Kathy Stockman of Chicago, IL. This will definitely by considered a family heirloom for us. There are 25 beautifully designed pages, each with its own special door which opens up to reveal another piece of the Christmas Story. Our favorite door is fashioned after one of Frank Lloyd Wright's designs. You can find both the book and information about its design and history here.

Lastly, I don't have a photo of it, but I finally found an Advent wreath to call my own! I've been looking around for several years and never quite found one that "fit." This year I managed to find a simple pewter one with the lyrics of my favorite Christmas hymn inscribed around the band. O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

I am excited about these little additions to our traditions. More importantly, I am over the moon knowing that my boys are growing spiritually. I wonder what other spiritual treasures we will glean throughout the church calender this year.

We will be home within the week. The boys have made great memories with J's parents. Despite having the flu for the first few days of our visit, we really made the most of our time with them. I am still floating on the white fluffy cloud called, "I haven't fixed dinner in a week"... I'll be firmly ensconced there until Saturday. Did I mention that I managed to read six or seven books on my new kindle? Ahhh, joy. I feel rested and ready to return.

I'll be updating as much as I can this year with stories and projects and memories for my boys to look back on one day. Of course, several odes to both bungalow and garden will be included.

Happy New Year to you and yours. God Bless!