Traditions....I love them!

I love Christmas!  And I love traditions.  We didn't have a lot of traditions growing up, so I may have gone a little overboard with my kids.  But I want them to remember these times and hopefully pass a few on to their own kids someday.  What are your favorite Christmas traditions? 

Here are a few of ours...
 - On Christmas Eve we open one gift...always new pajamas for everyone.
 - We also go to church Christmas Eve and read the book "A Tale of Three Trees" each year.
 - We set out cookies and milk for Santa and usually a letter is written to Santa (when they are young enough).
 - Each year we get the kids an ornament that is related to something in their life that year.  I keep a little journal for each of the kids and write down the ornament and why it is significant.  Then someday when they take their ornaments to their own home they can look back at the journal as they put their ornaments on their tree. 
 - When Harrison was little he always slept with us on Christmas Eve (so he wouldn't get up an peek...not that he would EVER do that).  Clara is a better sleeper so she doesn't usually do this.  Now she and Harrison let us know when they are awake and they have to wait at the top of the stairs until we tell them to come down. 
 - Santa fills the kids stockings.  That's really the only credit Santa gets around here.  We don't make a big deal out of him. 
 - Each of us gets only three gifts...since Jesus got gold, frankincense and myrrh. This simplifies Christmas and makes us really think about what we are giving. 
 - For the four of us, I wrap all our gifts in plain paper and paint on them for decoration.  Usually I use brown mailing paper, but this year I used solid red and green.  Harrison requested that I go back to the brown...he likes traditions.  : )
 - When Harrison was in kindergarten we started going to make a Christmas plate each year.  And once Clara got a little bigger she started helping with the plate.  Now I have a whole set of plates with the kids art on them for Christmas.  This is one of our absolute favorite traditions!  As soon as Thanksgiving dinner is done we get the Christmas plates down and use them everyday.  It is so fun!
 - The last couple of years we have gone caroling with our flock (small group) from church here on our street.  This is one of my favorite things that I hope will continue for many years.  I remember piling in the back of a pickup and going caroling as a kid.  I'm glad my kids are making these memories with our sweet flock family. 
 - We always celebrate Christmas with some of our friends too.  Last night we did the annual Merideth Christmas get together.  The Merideths have been kind enough to welcome us into their family.  And we always enjoy getting together and sharing a meal, opening gifts and usually playing Apples to Apples or some other game.  We celebrate Christmas with the Ingles by mail now, since they moved to Texas.  But we used to do the same thing with them when they lived here. 
 - Throughout the Christmas season we have an advent wreath on our dining room table.  Each week we read the meaning of each candle and focus on God's gift of His precious Son.  And on Christmas morning we read the Christmas story in the Bible and light the Christ candle. 
 - Of course, we have a stack of Christmas books that come out after Thanksgiving and we read those throughout the season.  And we try to watch several Christmas movies throughout the month too. 
 - And last year, Joey the Elf joined our Christmas traditions.  Joey is our Elf on The Shelf.  And Clara is CRAZY about him!  It is so fun to watch her try to find him each day.  And I have caught her more than once just talking to Joey, telling her whole life story to him.  This morning I heard her saying "I hope I'm on the nice list, I really try to be nice, but sometimes I'm not."  So fun having a 6 year old in the house! 

I've probably forgotten something.  But those are most of our favorites that we have consistently done for years.  Christmas (not "the holidays") is my favorite time of year.  I love reading the story of Christ's birth in my quiet time over and over during this month.  Seems like I pick up a little something new each year.  What a blessing it is to have the freedom to worship God and celebrate Jesus not only at Christmas, but throughout the year.  Merry Christmas!

Dance Fever

There's been a lot of dancing going on around here.  Okay...Clara dances a lot.  Harrison went to a dance, but I don't think any actual dancing took place.  But that's okay, Clara has done enough dancing for all of us.  In fact, while we were out carolling last night she danced herself right into a mailbox.  And last week she had her winter recital and they did a little jazz dance that was so cute.  They were all darling in their Rudolph antlers.  This is such a fun age! 

Then Saturday night, Harrison went to his first high school winter formal...with a girl.  As you'll see, it involved flowers, suits, and girls in beautiful dresses and fabulous shoes (for the girls...the boys shoes are boring).  It was a little surreal watching these kids, some I've known since early elementary school, looking so grownup.  It was a really fun group and they had a lot of fun.  They tolerated about a million pictures being taken.  Then they all went to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner, then on to the dance.  As I headed back to Edmond, I only made it about 15 minutes away before I got a text saying they were done with the dance and ready to leave.  So, back I went and they all headed back to the after party at a friend's house to watch a movie and play ping pong.  I'll admit, it's weird having your baby all dressed up in a suit, being almost 6 feet tall, going to a high school dance.  But...it's also really fun enjoying the young man he is becoming. 

                                             Run! Run! Rudolph!

                                                                   Ta Da!

                                                     Our little dancer!!

                              Clara had to get in on the act and appeared in this dress!

                                         Deep thoughts by Harrison and Mason!

                                        Harrison and Jaclyn, Winter Formal 2011

                                     The boys....or should I say men???

                                                  Very cool!

                               Ben is the sock guy....this time he had Christmas socks. 

                                            The whole group...great bunch of teenagers.

                                           My boy cleans up pretty good!

                                          Harrison and Rhett all dressed up for formal.

Seasons come and seasons go...

As a rule, I love the change of seasons.  Fall is my favorite, all the leaves changing colors.  Of course, spring is a close second, with everything blooming and starting fresh.  And even with my kids, I have enjoyed the seasons they were in, but had fun embracing new seasons.  But I'm sad to see a couple of seasons end. 

You see...my boy isn't playing basketball for the first time since he was four years old.  We went and watched the 9th graders play their first home game the other night.  I'll admit I got a little teary-eyed watching and knowing my big old boy wouldn't be on the court.  It was his choice.  He opted to not go out for the team this year.  Several factors played into that decision.  But, it made me sad.  I loved, loved, loved watching him play basketball!  And it was my sport too.  I wasn't a rock star player, but it was the game I loved.  And I always regretted stopping after 9th grade, not trying a new coach in high school.  More than anything, Harrison loves basketball.  He has played....and played...and played since he was big enough to have a Little Tykes goal in the garage.  When we moved in here and we met new neighbors they would always say "oh you live in the house with the blond-headed kid who is playing basketball 24/7!" 

That darn kid just keeps growing up and making choices on his own.  And he does mature stuff like telling me "Mom, my best shot of getting any kind of athletic scholarship money is for running, not for basketball.  So, I should focus on running.  AND academics of course!"  : )  And the kid can run, he's got some wheels.  And it turns out....the cross country coaches and track coaches have been amazing.  Not to mention the quality kids that he is running with.  So, once again, I entered a new season...one that involves running and lots of it.  Luckily, I can watch him run and never actually have to break a sweat myself.  But I still (sniffle, sniffle) hate saying good-bye to basketball.  Guess I'll have to get Clara signed up next year! 

And the other season ending?  Okay, I know it sounds stupid.  But...I really hate that Clara has moved out of the little girls clothing section.  I know shopping is not a sport.  And clothing your child isn't really a season of life.  BUT...I loved the little girl section at Target...and Gap...and Old Navy.  And moving up to the bigger girls section takes away a lot of the innocence.  Honestly, there a lot of hoochie clothes in the girls section!  My baby is 6, she does not need lace up and down the side of her leggings like a rock star.  She doesn't need suggestive slogans on her t-shirts.  She does not need to be wearing "camis" because all the shirts are low cut or see through.  Why oh why can't they make the little girl section go up to size 8, instead of size 5?  Seriously, they are little girls.  They have their whole lives to grow up (and hopefully not dress like hoochies).  I'm just sayin....it makes me sad!