Christmas memories

The Christmas season is all about remembering.

Maybe it's because as young kids, there are many family traditions that are instilled in us that we repeat year after year. Or maybe it's because we "remember" the birth of Jesus, simply based on traditions of setting aside the day to remember and reflect on his birth.

As a mom of young kids, I am faced with the challenge of creating our own traditions for our family. It was important to get a Christmas tree and decorate the inside of our house. And to watch many favorite Christmas movies like Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, and Small One. And to bake and decorate sugar cookies.

Of course, we were already faced with questions from Adele like "can we put up Christmas lights outside??" (Note to self: begin that tradition next year.) Or "why don't we have stockings hung by our fireplace?" (Because Mommy didn't finish sewing them this year...another important tradition that will be necessary next year.)

Every year as the Christmas season rolls around, and lights pop up on houses around the neighborhood, and the house is filled with smells of sugar cookies and a mix of cinnamon and cloves, and we fill our calendar with fun Christmas activities...I am flooded with memories of my own childhood and the traditions I grew up with.

I love this time of year.

It is in the midst of those memories that fill my mind, that I am also overwhelmed by emotions of love and gratitude and general joy and happiness.

This year, however, rather than simply reminiscing my childhood memories of Christmas, I have thought often of our years spent in Costa Rica during the Christmas season.

One year in Costa Rica, David and I were sitting around a campfire with some of our neighbors in the valley singing songs, and it was then that I was introduced to the song Canción para la Navidad by José Luis Perales. It is a beautiful song, and one that is now a permanent part of my Christmas playlist each year.

This year as the song popped up on my ipod, I found myself replaying it many times and each time my eyes filled with a few tears as I remembered fondly our Christmas seasons in Costa Rica.

Naturally, traditions are different in Costa Rica. Even the manger scene is different - very rarely did we see what we would consider typical manger scenes with wise men, shepherds, sheep, Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus. Most manger scenes we saw included many, many other animals like dolphins and whales, pigs, Mickey and Minnie Mouse figurines, etc.

Leading up to the actual Christmas Day, many Costa Rican families spent hours preparing tamales together. And there were posadas, where many gathered together to do some scripture reading and sing Christmas songs.

Christmas Day was also the only day of the year where even the Savegre Hotel shut down in the valley, so that the entire family could gather together and share a meal and a time for exchanging presents.

But one of the best memories I have is simply the changing of the seasons.

There was no dreaming of a white Christmas. Rather, the Christmas season marked the end of the long rainy season, and as the much-anticipated summer approached, December was known for being less rainy and more of a warm-windy feel. It was called the "Christmas winds."

And I am thankful that Christmas is a time for remembering - and that a simple song popping up on my ipod can transport me back to that time that was so different than the traditions I grew up with.

But were just as special.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Oklahoma is not known for having snow.

About 3 years ago, before we moved to Oklahoma, we began to stock up on good winter gear. We anticipated moving somewhere in the western/northwestern part of the U.S. So when we ended up in Oklahoma, we put our winter gear in a box and stuck it in the garage. And since kids grow out of clothes so fast, we never keep with winter gear for them while we're here in Oklahoma - we simply borrow boots and coats when necessary when we visit family where snow is more commonplace.

A couple weeks ago, our weathermen started preparing us for "winter." They talked about a huge snowstorm coming in, started tracking the arctic blast coming down from the north, and began predicting precipitation a week in advance.

Of course, we were talking about a mere 3 inches of snow.

Having lived in other parts of the U.S., it's always humorous when "winter" comes to Oklahoma, and people bust out their scarves when it hits 50s and 60s, and stay crippled inside with even the threat of some snow falling or cancel plans for the next 3 days with the first glimpse of snowflakes.

However, it is not my intention to knock on Oklahoma for their anxiety and general craziness that comes with "winter." I am reminded of my own anxiety and craziness during other times of the year in Oklahoma - the times that I park myself in front of the TV days in advance when there is a threat of a tornado, and the months days that I scour the weather for hour-by-hour forecast hoping to see cooler temps.

But back to our "winter."

Adele and Henry were thrilled to look outside and see snow falling and actually starting to accumulate on the ground. The morning we woke up to a white blanket covering the ground, we did what we could to gather warm clothing for the kids, found big gloves for their hands, and covered their heads. Given the choice, they would have stayed out there all day.

The first time there was the tiniest bit of snow-like precipitation, we brought a chair inside that we had accidentally left outside. The kids were excited to lick up even the smallest amount of snow...

...so a few inches of snow was pretty exciting when it came to eating it!

Henry in his make-shift snow gear

Loving being outside!

 Adele wanted to make snow angels all over the yard

 Fun on the playground!

Daddy's shoveling helpers

Adele loves playing with the small decorations 

(and ornaments) she's carefully placed around the house

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Finally caught up to the Christmas season!

We kicked it off this year helping my parents decorate their Christmas tree. Adele played the good big sister role and would take an ornament and say "this ornament is very breakable. I'll put it up high so Henry can't touch."

"I can do it! ....how does this go?"

Shawn and the ornament he feels most connected to...The Grinch :)

My favorite! 2 aunts helping my kids decorate

A little post-decorating fun...

"He's so heavy Mommy!"

We continued decorating when we came back to Oklahoma and got out our own Christmas box and got our own Christmas tree. And believe it or not, though David and I have been married for over 9 years, this was our FIRST Christmas tree. Because we spend so much of Christmas time with our families, and spent 4 years in Costa Rica, we never had a reason to get our own tree. Knowing how much fun it is for our kids, and they are at ages where they will remember not only the decorations in their extended families' homes but also in their own home, we decided to get a tree.

Our tree doesn't look like this anymore...most ornaments have been re-located to the top of the tree to avoid Henry's curious fingers.

What we didn't realize, is how much fun it would be for David and me!

We actually have a Christmas box that we thought was just David's ornaments when he was a boy. So when we pulled it out to decorate our tree, we were thrilled to find a plethora of other Christmas decor. And we have decided that it is so much fun to have our house feel all Christmasy that we will most definitely be decorating BEFORE Thanksgiving next year.

Adele is also at a fun age to be doing more holiday-themed activities. This year we made a Christmas chain, counting down to Christmas Day. Each day Adele gets to remove a chain and then we do whatever activity it specifies for that given day. *Disclaimer: because our schedule can change on any given day, before I go to bed each night I write on the chain the activity planned for the next day. Thus, I have a long list of ideas and can decide what I feel motivated to do with the kids the following day. :)

Activities have included:

1. Buy a Christmas tree

2. Decorate the Christmas tree

3. Make hot chocolate with marshmallows and watch your favorite Christmas movie

4. Make an ornament for the Christmas tree

5. Visit the museum and do Christmas crafts

6. Help Mommy wrap presents

7. Create a crafty snowman

8. Eat popcorn with a movie

9. Make sugar cookies and decorate them
10. Deliver cookies to your friends!

It has been a fun-filled Christmas season so far, and there is still more to come!

A couple of our creations - Adele's crafty snowman

And a Rudolph ornament for the tree

Thanksgiving Fun

Continuing with updating the blog...

For Thanksgiving we once again traveled up to Iowa. I've always loved Thanksgiving, but after spending many of our Thanksgivings without family while we lived in Costa Rica, it makes me appreciate even more being within driving distance to my family.

Somehow it's become a tradition to get together with my best friend Theresa and her husband Jefferson and son James for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. Once again they treated us to excellent coffee and a delicious breakfast. While our kids ran around and played under the supervision of our husbands, Theresa and I once again got caught up on each others' lives.

Though these two love each other, getting a picture with them gets a little harder as they get older...Adele is pretending to play with the fan and James is making a face just to make it through the picture-taking session. :)

Later that day my family had our Thanksgiving meal. This year we had hamballs, and after a decent battle with Adele simply to get her to TRY them, she ended up eating four. That girl, I tell you. My Aunt Cindi and Uncle Garry joined us all for dinner, and we enjoyed a post-dinner entertainment show, brought to us by Henry. My kids simply thrive in the spotlight.

A real treat this year was being able to go to Disney on Ice the day after Thanksgiving. My Uncle Al works at the venue and was able to get us tickets, so David, myself, and my mom took our kids to the production. They were slightly more than really really really excited.

Adele getting ready for the show

The first time the characters came out on the ice - Henry was beside himself with awe!

Adele might have had this look of excitement for the entire show

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

As of late

'Tis the season!

'Tis the season for busyness, lack of sleep, gift-making, house-decorating, crafts with kids...and no time for blogging.

So I'm getting caught up. Bear with me, those that like to follow my life.

Waaaay back in November, Adele celebrated her 4th birthday. I can hardly believe we have had Adele in our lives for more than 4 years now. I know each stage of life has its own challenges (midnight feedings, temper tantrums, etc.), but each stage has also proven to be the best yet. So far, I wouldn't want Adele to be any other age but 4. :) She is sweet, smart, loving, caring, and really funny.

Conveniently enough, my parents had planned a trip to Oklahoma the same weekend as her birthday, since OU was playing Iowa State University that very same day. They came a few days early and even brought my Uncle Mark to join in on the fun. We were able to get out and do a little walking, enjoyed being up in Oklahoma City, and naturally, be entertained by the kids.

Saturday, November 16th, was the big day full of activity. Adele woke up to birthday donuts, balloons, and presents, and then shortly after, David and I left with Uncle Mark and my dad to go to the game. My mom graciously stayed at home with the kids, and we arrived home not long before Adele's friends showed up at the house.

This was Adele's first "friend" birthday party, and she absolutely loved hearing the doorbell ring and running to see who was coming to our house. We were thankful for fairly nice weather, so the kids could play outside. Adele had so much fun welcoming people here!

             

        

 

         

 


Pretty much right after Adele's birthday, we did more activities to be intentional about Thanksgiving coming up. Adele loves to sit at the table and do all things related to school or crafts, so we did some worksheets that traced Thanksgiving words, colored pumpkins and turkeys, made turkeys out of her hand, and came up with our own "thankful tree".

We did this activity as we were getting lunch ready, so naturally Adele was thankful for things like Pirate Booty and Chicken nuggets. :) And I tried to get the "leaves" to be more on the top of the tree, but my particular daughter wanted them covering the entire tree, trunk and all.

And though the busyness continues, I am thankful. For the chance to BE busy. With a happy, healthy family, who keeps me on my toes and causes me to lose sleep.