Family Musings

I'm stepping out on a limb today to share how our family celebrates Christmas in regards to Santa Clause. But before I do, I want to make it clear that our way of celebrating isn't a judgment against the way any one else celebrates... do as you please with Santa. First, we believe that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Gifts, parties, parades, and fun activities are all secondary to this special birthday celebration. Without God's gift of a tiny baby, we would not have the ability to have a personal relationship with God or the promise of eternal life. Second, we pretty much ignore the department store Santa Clause type. Mostly. Of course, as I write this, Charlotte is watching Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure in which Swiper gets put on Santa's naughty list. But we don't talk about Santa Clause, chimneys, or pretend people bringing us gifts. What we do talk about though, is the original Saint Nicholas. We found a great children...

Last winter, I bought several small mailboxes from the Target Dollar Spot. I wasn't sure what I'd do with all of them, but they were just $1 and I knew I could come up with some clever ideas given enough time. Finally now, it's December, and I came up with one. I embellished these mailboxes with Christmas scrapbook paper and filled them with candy. The stockings were cut out using the Ellison machine at my local library and serve as the cards so our teachers knew who the gifts were from. The entire process was very simple and didn't require any special skills or materials. First, I measured the sides of the mailbox and cut a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper the same width. That was adhered to the metal mailbox with double sided tape. I did have to trim around the flag, but that was easy. A little tape on the back of the paper around the flag made sure the paper didn't get bunched up when the flag was moved. Then, I traced the front and the back shapes and cut t...

As I was filling out the daily activities for our family Advent Calendar, I really had to stretch to come up with 24 unique ideas. While searching for ideas online, I came across a review opportunity for a printable Christmas games megapack . And I'm glad I did. There are over 70 Christmas themed activities available to download. I didn't download all 70 games because I was specifically looking for things I could do with my preschooler but the ones I did download are fun, easy to play, and I'll still have the PDFs if we want to repeat any of these activities next year. Just to make the review more valuable to those with older kids or no kids, I looked at a few of the other activities available and the teacher in me was surprised to see that they seemed to do a good job of combining fun movies like Frosty the Snowman with comprehension questions in the guise of a trivia game. And there are activities for teenagers and adults too. Our favorite activities were the paper d...

Our Advent Calendar activity for today was to make a hand print wreath. It didn't take long at all and is an easy craft for kids who don't have sensory issues and like to paint. All you need is some paint, a brush, and some paper. Draw, or trace, a circle onto your paper in whatever size works best for you. I traced the glass lid of my crock pot as a guide. Then, cover your child's hand in paint and let them make the first print. Don't put the paint on too thick or it will get blotchy. We got 2 hand prints from each coat of paint before it was too thin. Then, let your son or daughter use their finger tips to make berries by dotting the paint onto the paper. You could make this with lots of different variations -Green paint for "leaves" then red berries (what I had intended, but Charlotte had other ideas) -Make berries with gold or silver paint for extra sparkle -Blue hands with silver berries to match a more subtle Christmas or Hanukkah decor -Spring t...

It's been a while since I shared an update about Mary and her hyptonia. In August, her physical therapist moved to West Virginia and unofficially released us from therapy at the same time. We agreed I could come back once a month to meet with someone else just to check in and address any concerns I had. I went once in September and skipped October. I went back in November, but really, I only went to confirm that PT wasn't needed any more. Mary seems to have evened out the strength on her left and right sides. Her legs aren't bowing as much and she wants to climb on EVERYTHING she can. So, again, we are unofficially done, though we do have authorization for treatment until next April. Just in case. As for speech therapy, we still continue to go once a week and work with her more frequently at home. She can say two words - Mama and Yeah. At this point, that is behind the norm, especially since she says neither on command. Thankfully, she has no feeding issues and is alway...

As I pondered Christmas this year, stood over the crib of my screaming daughter the other night I wondered, did Jesus cry like this when he was a baby? He was after all, fully human. Because of that, I have to assume he did cry as a baby. That means Mary probably had many nights when Jesus was teething or waking to eat during a growth spurt. The Bible does say he experienced what we experienced and we know from the description of his time on the cross that pain was included in his experiences. So, that led me to wonder, how did Mary deal with it? Mary, though very righteous, was not perfect. Did she ever just want to give up? Did she ever kick Joseph and beg him to please just take over for one night because she was exhausted? Did she go to her local MOPS group and ask for advice on how to deal with tantrums or teething? Did Jesus throw tantrums? I have written before that I think the cause of many tantrums is unmet expectations. Since we know Mary wasn't perfect, did the to...

I've been looking forward to Charlotte being old enough to go through an Advent calendar since her first Christmas. And now, we've reached the age where she is! Yay! I put this calendar together by using scraps of Christmas paper, poster board, my own ideas, and the scripture readings from My Insanity . I cut out stockings using the Ellison machine at my local library. On the back of each stocking is an activity for the day that is Christmas themed as well as one of the scripture readings I linked above. Each stocking is just taped up and can be pulled off each day to read. This is a simple calendar. That is what suits us best during this stage in our lives. I think the real important part is taking time each day to impart the real meaning of Christmas to my children. Do you use an Advent Calendar? What do you include in yours?