TTAH Tuesday – Keeping Christ in Christmas
Struggling to find ways to keep your (and your kids’) focus on Christ during this busy season??
One of my favorite traditions we’ve started is having a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve.
We have a ham dinner and usually invite extended family over. For dessert, we have a cake – complete with candles and singing happy birthday to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Then we go to our church’s Christmas Eve candlelight service.
This is a simple way to incorporate into our holiday a reminder of the true reason for Christmas. That God sent his one and only Son to Earth to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the greatest gift ever and we give each other gifts to symbolize that.
It’s great for the kids because a birthday party is such a tangible and familiar way to celebrate. Try it this year!
Merry Christmas!
TTAH Tuesday – Pop-up Cards
I’m totally stealing this tip.
And so sorry for you, fellow MOPS mommy readers, because you know this already.
But, for those of you who don’t come to our local MOPS group (why not, by the way, because we’re really cool?), your tip to make some very, very, fabulous pop-up Christmas cards is located
Go there. (or don’t, I won’t get my panties in a bunch). But if you do, you will also delight in reading the funny writing of a friend of mine, Pamela.
Enjoy!
Remember When…
Christmas decorating was actually fun??
I’ve always loved the Christmas season – filled with cookie-making, shopping for the perfect gift, awesome music, decorating, and I love, love, love when the ground & trees are covered with a blanket of snow and flakes are softly falling…
ok, back to reality…
I still look forward to decorating every year. But I could do with a little less of this:
L: “He picked the nativity scene? I wanted to do it!” (picture crossed arms, pouty lips, complete with a major whine)
Me: “Well, why don’t we each do a couple of pieces.”
D and L: “I want… I want… She can’t have… Why does he always get to… She hit me…” (and on and on)
Me: “OK, let’s put up the stockings now.”
L: “I want mine to be next to A’s.”
D: “No, I want mine to be next to A’s. But not next to L’s.”
Me: “OK, we’ll put A in between the two of you.” (this appeased them for about 2 seconds, until they realized this meant that they wouldn’t each get their favorite stocking holder, because Mom wants the stocking holders in a particular order – I can be picky, too.)
A: “uh, uh, uh” (that means give me that or I’ll scream)
Dad: snoring on the couch
D: “Can I go get something else out of the box?” (I’d told them that they could get one thing at a time and take turns… I thought it would cut down on the bickering. Ha.)
L: “No, it’s my turn… you just got something.” (Who said less bickering??)
And a few minutes later…
L: “Mom, D dumped out my decoration and he’s not putting his boxes away. D, you better put your boxes back.” (Thank you, my firstborn bossypants tattler.)
And me, by the end of the day: Ahhh, where is that wine?
TTAH Tuesday – Shopping Date
One of our traditions is to take a day in December, just my hubby and I, to do our Christmas shopping. We get a babysitter (usually one of the grandmas) and we spend the whole day – just the two of us – together.
It’s like a day-long date. Almost like playing hooky (although I assure you, Dave legitimately takes a vacation day). We shop, we talk, we eat lunch out together. It’s great.
There’s something special about having lunch together for us – because, I think, it only happens once a year! It’s fun and refreshing. And I like shopping together because then he can help me pick out presents for the kids – it doesn’t all fall on me.
So if it’s possible for you / your husband to take a day off to go shopping, go ahead and do it. You just might make it a tradition!
i love the first snow of the year!
Warning: This is going to be an interactive blog. You MUST comment or I’ll wish for more snow. 
My tradition is to pull out some Christmas music and play it the first time it snows. So we did that last night.
My top three favorite Christmas songs…
- I’ll Have a Blue Christmas – Elvis
- O Holy Night – John Denver
- Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
OK, here’s the interactive part… What are your top three Christmas songs (please include the artist, too)?
