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Traditions!

Traditions....

I still don't even feel old enough to have traditions that are my very own! Nonetheless, after 14 years of marriage and nearly 11 years of parenting, they have snuck in without me even noticing. I'm so very fond of them! Here are a few of my very favorite Christmas traditions:

* 'Twas the Night Before Christmas:

Actually, for us, it usually falls on the eve of Christmas Eve and it began long before we had children. Craig and I began sleeping underneath the Christmas tree, snuggled up beneath warm sleeping bags, truly the coziest place in the house. As children came along, we nestled them down with us. As MORE children came along, they squeezed us out of our original spots and claimed the place underneath the evergreen as their own.....We now fall asleep near them, cherishing the soft glow of the Christmas lights on their cherub-like faces. This remains one of my very favorite of all traditions. Someday when we live in a bigger house, or we have less children in our home, Craig and I will return to our original places underneath the tree. But for now, its one of the most precious sights I see all year long, my children lined up in a row, nestled down in their sleeping bags beneath the Christmas tree. You really ought to try it sometime! That place beneath the tree....its nearly magical.* Our Christmas Books:

I'm not even sure how this tradition began but over the years, we have collected a handful of children's books related to Christmas in some fashion. I keep these books in a basket and they ONLY come out at Christmas time. The children have so much fun looking at and reading these books. Often, they have forgotten about them and so its like opening up a new gift each year. We've got "Hannah and the Manger" (one of Hannah's personal favorites), Eloise Wilkins' "The Christmas Story", Jan Brett's "Gingerbread Friends", Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman's "Mortimer's Christmas Manger" and another by the same authors, "Bear Stays Up for Christmas", Susan Wojciechowski's "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey", and even an I Spy Christmas. Some of them have been given as gifts, some of them were scores at the local Goodwill and some of them just seemed to appear. I have tried hard to weed out 'silly' books and keep my stash limited to books that really pertain to the birth of Jesus (though I must admit that "Spot's First Christmas", a book given to Kaleb when he was 2 years old, has kept its spot in the Christmas book basket if for no other reason than sentimentality). I enjoy this tradition along with the children, their little (and not so little, these days) bodies snuggled up next to me, reading the stories they've heard for years now and cracking open a new one here and there that has earned its place in the beloved basket.

*The Christmas Parade:

Complete with hot chocolate and a yummy snack of some sort, bundled up almost to the point of uncomfortable, I line them up on a curb downtown and we watch the Christmas Parade go by. Always at night, the lights and the music are spectacular and we do our best to stay until either gloved hands are finally frozen or Santa wraps it up with a mighty "Ho, ho, ho" that echos against the dark, winter sky. The children look forward to this every year, and I will readily admit that I DON'T because almost every year Craig has to work that evening and its a lot of hard work to get the gang bundled, loaded, unloaded, shuffled, nourished, safe, loaded, unloaded, and unbundled all by myself but I do it, nonetheless, because who could say no to these beautiful faces?!?! (Sadly, for them anyway, we had to miss it this year because Noah had a whopping headache and you just can't do something like the Christmas Parade when you're down a player.)

* O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree:

One last tradition, and truly one of my very favorites, and then its your turn. Our parents have continued a tradition that they both started with us when we were children. Each year, they give each of us a Christmas ornament often pertaining to something eventful that happened within that particular year. When one of them learned to ride a bike, they received a bike ornament. When one of them took ballet, played soccer, showed a chicken in the county fair, etc, they received a coordinating ornament. One year, Sarah got a goose because one of her nicknames is Goose. The year our first daughter was born, Craig got a cigar with pink details on it. When I was the mother of just two small male children I received an ornament that said, "Mothers of boys work from son up 'til son down!". Opening up the ornament bin and placing them on our tree is truly like reading the pages of a family journal. Memories come flooding in, not only for me, but now also for the children. The little girls wonder where 'this one came from' and the big boys smile with delight, "Oh I remember THIS one!" It is my hope that these historical accounts in the shapes of motorcycles and little rubber boots and turtles and ballerinas will be passed down, along with their stories, to generations to come.

So there are just a few of my favorite Christmas traditions. I'd love to hear some of yours! I really would! Either share a few of them with me in the comments or better yet, use this as fodder for your own blog post and leave me a note telling me that you've blogged about them and I'll go read it! Its always fun to hear other families' traditions and it'll warm your heart to ponder on them for a few minutes!

A Short Explanation

Well, now that things are officially private, I'll clue you in on my reason for making the change. A few weeks ago, I noticed that two new readers were 'following' my blog. I didn't recognize their names as friends of mine, thus checked out their profiles which led to checking out their blogs. One reader was from Malaysia, one was from the UK and both appeared to be Islamic extremist women who made it clear that they felt very strongly about their beliefs, one of them being that Americans, specifically Christian Americans, were an insult to their faith. Um....yeah. So maybe the TSA isn't into profiling but I AM! I have no idea how they found my blog or why they were interested in following it and I wasn't going to stick around to find out. Call me paranoid, but I suddenly became very uncomfortable with Islamic extremists from half way around the world knowing my children's names, my husband's name, what they looked like, etc. The "Pollyanna" part of me wonders if just maybe they were interested in Christianity and were there out of curiosity. But the large majority of me just felt very uncomfortable.

So there you have it! Now things are private and I can continue as before:).

Going Private

I'm going to go private with this blog so if you would like to continue reading it, please send me your email! Thanks:)

Recent Adventures

The boys had a WONDERFUL time recently at Tree to Tree Adventure Park. This was a birthday gift to my husband, who can be very difficult to shop for. After all, you can't really expect your mother-in-law to go to the local U-Pull-It to find some funky part of a transmission for your Suburban, can you? These are the types of things that would be on Craig's wish list, if he had one! Anyway, the gift was a HIT and Noah and Kaleb enjoyed it as well. They are all planning and dreaming about the next time we can go! And just for the record, us girls kept our feet firmly planted on the ground:).

And just for your viewing pleasure, I present to you a nearly 8 month old Jacob! If we loved this little Bubba-Stinky any more, we all just might explode.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending an Above Rubies retreat in Turner, Oregon. Nancy Campbell's message was more timely than you could even know. She spoke about the tactics the enemy used to try to deter the people from rebuilding the temple (from Ezra and Nehemiah) and how the enemy uses the same tactics today to try to prevent Christians from building families that seek to glorify Christ. Things like discouragement and fear and accusations and doubts. The list of 10 things was so very applicable to life as a wife and mother. Satan hates families, he really does. This weekend encouraged me to recognize the tactics of my enemy. He is sly and cunning but when exposed to the light of Christ, he is also powerless! Anyway, my friend took some sweet pictures from the retreat but I can't figure out how to download them so if you'd like to see them, you'll have to visit my friend Emily's blog!

And just a quick update: I'm now 22 weeks along and I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going. Just had a prenatal last week and Sweet Baby was doing wonderfully! I often look at Jacob and am amazed that at this time next year, I'll have another baby (Lord willing) the very same age as he is now! And you'd think by now I'd have this figured out, but I can't believe I will be able to love this new little one as much as I do the Fantastic Five! It just blows my mind! I love all of them so VERY much and it seems impossible that I could ever love anyone else as much as I love them. But then.... that precious life emerges and I hold him/her close and there I go again, falling wildly and madly in love. It truly is amazing! A mother's heart really is never full!

A VERY Thought-Provoking Post

If you are not familiar with the blog, Generation Cedar, you're missing out! This post, especially, has my wheels spinning. Very, VERY thought- provoking.....

Divine Appointment: Babies are a Part of the Gospel Picture

No Time for Bon-Bons Today!

Helping Momma wash jars...

Apple seconds from Hood River: $0.25/lb! Makes me smile...

The simple beauty of sparkling clean canning jars...

Thelma is doing what Thelma loves most: cookin' up a storm...

I know my grandma would be tickled pink to know that I'm STILL using her Foley Food Mill...

And 17 quarts later...

But no Bon-bons yet! Craig's birthday dinner: Manicotti...

Yummy, says the whole crew...

No birthday for Craig is complete without an apple pie! I'll never make them as perfect as his mom's, but then again, a wife should NEVER make apple pie better than her husband's mother...

And after such a day, Jacob wonders if he can come out now...