Enchanted Railroad

My mind has been a bit scattered this Christmas season- distracted by thoughts of moving and trying to get life a bit more organized. But now Christmas is starring me in the face and I feel like I haven't done enough to create a magical feel of the season for my boys. So this morning we headed over to the Arboretum to see their Enchanted Railroad exhibit. They have filled the entire room with trains carrying miniature Christmas trees and presents and candy canes. There are little villages and trees nestled among the tracks. The boys were just mesmerized by it all! Of course, they were a bit bummed that they couldn't touch the trains or eat the candy canes off one of the cars. But overall, it was a great way to usher in a little last-minute holiday magic. And it's free!



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Holiday Weekend

It was a busy holiday weekend, but one of the best I could have hoped for. The weather was great although a bit hot. But that didn't stop us from having all sorts of holiday fun. My parents were in town from Florida and we just had a fabulous time.

The boys just adore their "Mimi and Pa" and we had an action-packed weekend with them including the Wheaton Parade and the Glen Ellyn Fireworks (both fabulous and super-fun!). All the weekend fun did make for some tuckered out little boys though. I mean, who falls asleep at a parade?!



Other highlights of the weekend...

...this Chevy Traverse I got to test-drive for the weekend. The awesome-ness of this car surpassed my expectations... But more on that later.


....and running the Warrenville Firecracker 5K with my dad. My dad is a retired AirForce Colonel and long-time runner so I was pretty nervous to run with him. But he graciously stayed with me the whole time and we had a really nice run. It was super hot and I was having some trouble with my hands (they tend to swell and cramp when I run or when I get too hot- darn Lupus!) so I didn't do as well as I would have liked (right around 32min for the 5K). But, I ran the whole thing and had a really nice time with my dad so I am content with that. We even talked about making it a tradition but we'll see.

Overall, we had a perfect holiday weekend. It was full and fun, drama-free and refreshing. Perfect.



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Lent for Kids- reprise

I originally posted this last year but we are using a lot of the same resources and activities this year so I am sharing it again. I will try to post some new thoughts, crafts, links and pictures in the coming weeks.

With Lucas being almost 3 (and a human sponge) and our family attending a housechurch right now, I have been thinking a lot lately about the ways Hubby and I will teach him about Scripture and the church calender. He loves stories of all kinds so we try to use that vehicle as much as possible for teaching him about God. And just as during Advent, I want this Lenten season preceding Easter to be rich and full of learning experiences for our whole family. Lent is a unique season of focusing on prayer, on making God our priority and giving sacrificially to others. Last year, Lucas was a little young to be able to "get it." But this year, he is ready and eager to learn. He has the most tender and teachable heart and it is my job (and Hubby's) to fill his mind and heart and soul with the knowledge of God and the story of His redemptive work in us.

Here are some of the ways our family is observing Lent this year and making it inviting and exciting and meaningful for Lucas too.

Our big activity this year is our Jesus Tree. It is basically a felt tree with 47 different cut out characters (cut out by me, and yes it DID take forever!) that help tell the story of Jesus from his presentation at the temple as a boy through the resurrection. Each day, you and your little ones read a scripture or story from the Bible and then place the character on the tree. Lucas is WAY into telling stories so this is right up our alley. It is cool to work through the progression of Christ's life and parables and for me to have a plan and schedule to help me be intentional about it every day. Lucas is learning the stories and I feel like I may actually be teaching him something. Today was day4, Ash Wednesday being day 1, and there are 47 days in Lent total (including Sundays)- so you still have time to get going. This was a bit labor intensive (still is actually, I haven't finished cutting the pieces yet and they are quite intricate) but it will be something our family will hopefully use for years and years as we teach the boys about Lent and its significance in our lives and in the church.
Today's reading was from Matthew 4, the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert. The piece for the tree was a group of stones. Lucas said, "Mommy, why did Jesus not eat the rocks if He was hungry?" What valuable discussion we had then about obeying God even when it is hard and depending on God to sustain us! Cool lesson for such a little guy.

Here is our tree with the first week of symbols (I put extras up just so you could get a better idea of the concept.)

Our other little craft is a Lenten Chain. One of the ladies in our housechurch (God bless her!!) made these for all the kids. There are 40 purple links and 7white links for the Sundays. Each purple link has something for the child to do that day. Like draw a picture of why you love Jesus, clean your room, pray for kids who have less than you, tell your mommy thank you for all she does for your family, etc... Lucas loves to pull the link off for the day. Actually, he loves to pull links off in general so I have had to put it back together a couple times! :) But we have had fun with the activities so far. Tonight, he sat in his bed and prayed (with prompting) for kids "in Chicago and in Florida" (the main two places he is aware of in the world) that don't have a bed or food. "Help them to love God," he said (unprompted). Way to make your mama smile, Lucas!! I actually don't know what all the activites will be for the next 43 days, so kinda fun for mama too! :)

Another cool idea I saw last year and filed in the "cool idea to try someday" area of my brain... the Jelly Bean Prayer. I was recently reminded of this by a friend and, though we may not do it this year, we will do it someday because it is very, very cool. The basic idea is that the child earns a different color jelly bean for different tasks or behaviors throughout Lent. Then, on Easter morning, the jar is filled the rest of the way with white, unearned jelly beans teaching them the priceless lesson of God's amazing grace and love for us.

Links to other Lenten Activities for kids:
CatholicMom.com- some really great ideas and resources, even if you aren't Catholic (which I am not)
Homemaking through the Church Year- a great blog I often refer to for ideas and activities; She is hosting a Lenten Carnival which will have more lenten links than a girl could hope for! :)
Two Square Meals- one of my dearest friends who wrote a great post last Lenten season on how to include your kids in fasting during Lent.
Domestic-Church.org- some cool craft ideas, including this Lenten cross craft which I have prepped to do this week.
Heart Prayer During Lent- prayer ideas and scripts for leading your child in prayer and confession
Another cool list of activities... and yet another.

I hope this is helpful to you and inspires you to do some fun and teachable activities with your kids this Easter season. If you have ideas or resources to add, I would love it if you would share. If you want a copy of the templates I used to make the Jesus Tree, comment here or send me an e-mail.

May this Lenten season be reflective, refreshing to your soul, a time of deepening your faith and nurturing your heart. May it be full of precious and tender moments with your little ones, teachable for you both.



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Sharpies Make Me Smile

In the midst of the sickness that has been running rampant through my home the last week or so came a bright spot of fun over the holiday weekend. I had to get out of the house. Plus, I had a list full of Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers still to buy. Why not try to accomplish both tasks at the same time? So I loaded up my family and we drove over to Staples to cross some things off our Christmas list.
I used to think of Staples as the place you go to buy large volumes of printer paper and 3-ring binders or that hard-to-find printer cartridge. Being a bit of a school/office supply glutton, that was never a bad thing in my book. I am one of those girls that has resisted the Palm calenders or using Outlook to schedule my life. I am a paper-calender, hand-made cards kind of girl who appreciates the joy of a really smooth gel pen or a pink Sharpie. So going to Staples is a bit of a dangerous place for me. I could go in for one thing and find at least 10 others that I "need."
But for this trip, I had nothing in particular in mind that I needed to buy. Well, maybe some holiday paper and envelopes for Christmas cards but that was about it. We have enough printer paper to last us 'til the next decade so I was unsure of what I would find to buy during this shopping excursion. I was pleasantly surprised.

Staples is WAY more than paper and pens. They have almost anything you could need this holiday. Lucas and I had fun roaming the aisles, looking at the cool holiday gifts. Everything from snowman tins full of peppermint bark to Flip video cameras (one of the main items on my Christmas list this year) and so much in between. Lucas was convinced we needed a ginormous bag of rubber bands and the large display of pens in every color imaginable (well maybe we do need that).
Even though we were all a bit under the weather and fatigued, browsing the aisles full of fun stuff proved to be just the little pick-me-up we needed. Unfortunately, the charm of the trip wore off quickly for both boys. They both wanted to walk around and handle everything which was a bit stressful for Hubby and I. But we still had fun picking out some cool gifts (a new iTrip for me, a fancy jump drive for Hubby, some Crayola stocking stuffers for the boys) and browsing around. And while browsing was super fun, I think next time I'll do a little bit of online homework before I go so I can narrow down my gift-search.

I am a big fan of the holidays and all the fun and tradition that comes with them. This little Staples excursion was a fun way to kick-off the Christmas season and brighten up an otherwise germ-filled weekend. Plus, I got a pretty Sharpie which always makes me smile. :)

The awesome folks at Staples were kind enough to give me a giftcard to use for my shopping fun. Thank you, Staples! It was truly a bright spot in my weekend. If you have any techies on your Christmas list or need to buy a GPS or a camera or a Sharpie, check out Staples and you won't be disappointed! :)


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Advent- on Hold

Advent is upon us. It is my favorite season of the year. I love the carols and traditions and the beauty of the richness and intimacy of this time. Last year, I really got into making this time of year especially meaningful for the boys- starting traditions and planning activities for the family. I had big plans for this week, this first week of Advent. However, my plans have been a bit derailed. My Hubby was sick over Thanksgiving, all but ruining any family time we could have had. Total bummer. Well then, the boys both started running fevers on Friday when we were out trying to give Daddy a quiet house to get some sleep. I took them both to the doctor today and both boys swabbed positive for influenza. (Probably not H1N1, just influenza A, but we'll know for sure later this week.) So my plans for the first week of Advent are somewhat on hold for a few days. We did get the tree *mostly* up tonight and we have our Advent calender and wreath out. We have been reading our favorite Advent and Christmas books and talking a lot about the season. I just still feel a little behind in terms of where I wanted to be in my Advent prep and celebration. We are just two days in. I guess I need to cut myself some slack. I had high hopes of being done with Christmas shopping and travel plans and decorating so that I could focus on my soul and my boys during these next weeks. I am almost there, but now I feel like I am playing a little bit of catch up.
Regardless, taking care of my sick boys is gonna take priority this week (and trying to keep healthy myself). Add in a few Advent readings and maybe a craft or two and I'll be happy with that. I did get to go to church on Sunday (alone actually, which was heavenly and the perfect way to start Advent) so I feel like my soul is in a good place. A good place to keep my mind and heart in Advent while I give Motrin and Tamiflu.


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Sling Use #5,245

If your shopping cart's seat belt is broken and you have a squirmy little munchkin in the seat, just put the sling around both them and the seat back and tighten and go. :) Voila! Seatbelt. Thank heavens for my sling!

I had my first market of the season on Saturday. It went fine, I suppose. A bit disappointing, but overall OK. It is so hard for me to remove myself from the product. I put so much of my time and energy and heart into these slings. I take time away from my babies or from the sleep my body needs to sew them and make them perfect. I pray over each sling while sewing it- praying for the mama and the baby that will get to use it and enjoy it together. Then when I am at the market and people don't respond as I feel they should to this product that I value and love, I feel personally rejected. I know that is a bit dysfunctional and probably says something profound about my character flaws or overall emotional health. But, mostly it just feels like a let down to have put so much in and get so little back. Looking over my numbers from the previous two years, the market in May has historical low sales. But I was hoping for more and felt a bit let down. I had the thought while I was there that maybe I should just buy some chickens and sell eggs. The egg people seemed to be having a good day. Or maybe I should learn how to make cheese. Or handbags. Both of those items seem to be big sellers. But my heart wouldn't be in selling cheddar or tote bags. My heart is in babywearing and teaching moms about how awesome it is. I love showing a mom how to put her baby in a sling instead of that dreadful "very popular carrier that will remain unmentioned." I love to hear her say how comfortable it is and how cozy baby looks in the sling. I love teaching people about how great (and convenient) it can be to have your baby close and nurture them in that way. That is my heart. That is why I do this and not sell cage-free chicken eggs. I have to remind myself of that when the sales disappoint me. So as to not paint myself as this altruistic saint, I do this to make extra money for my family too. Which is why I get bummed on days like yesterday. Oh well, just pick up and get ready for June. Right? One silver lining.... I won't have to sew as much to get ready for my next market. :) And I spent about 5hours staring at this hottie boy in the BBQ ribs booth just across the aisle in my line of sight. I am a mother of three... I should be ashamed of myself. But if you could have seen his cute little- um, smile. :)

Anyway, I hope y'all have a great Memorial Day and celebrate our great country. And the men and women who have fought to make it so great.


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Valentine's Day- Toddler Style

As promised, here are some pictures of today's toddler valentine brunch. All the hard work paid off and we had a great time. Anytime there are 6 mamas, 6 babies (5months to 3weeks old), and 6 toddlers on the verge of turning 3 all in the same little townhouse, fun times are ahead. :) It was a bit crazy but mostly very fun. The kids decorated little bags for their valentine exchange and also decorated sugar cookies (which was their favorite part, I think). Later, I found red sprinkles in my hair, Caden's diaper, our upstairs bathroom, and other places throughout the house. I guess they had fun! I certainly did and I hope the other mommies did too!

Lucas and a friend coloring on their bags

Decorating cookies

Can I eat it now? Yummy!

Caden (on right) with one of his baby friends- doesn't he look ginormous but oh-so cute!!



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Merry Christmas, y'all!

Our family Christmas card

Setting out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer

Silly Lucas

Santa baby

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Many blessings to you and your family this season and in the year to come.

Much Love,

Farrah

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He Came to Complete my Brokenness

I have always been one easily moved by moments/songs/memories where I can sense something bigger than what is on the surface. I am a deeply emotional person, as are most women I guess. I cry during the National Anthem because of all it represents to me, all the people I know as a military kid who have sacrificed so much. I seem to cry a lot during worship when the reality of the words on my lips overpowers my soul. I tear up a lot this time of year because the beauty of the season (the lights, the carols, the traditions, ...) really touches me. I think about Mary and her journey to motherhood. I think about the deep, deep significance of Christ humbly coming to earth as a baby to save all people. But mostly, I get very emotional when I find myself in the midst of a moment with my loved ones, my boys... a moment where time seems to stand still and I am struck with the "big-ness" of life.

I had one such moment tonight... watching Polar Express of all things. I watched as my awe-struck, train-lovin' little boy sat and watched this movie with his eyes as wide as saucers. Every few minutes, he would turn to me and announce with exuberance the amazing thing he had just seen. "That boy is walking on top on the train, mommy!!" I smiled in response as my littlest boy sat cooing in my lap. Lucas eventually made his way down to the floor where I was sitting with Caden and climbed into my lap. I had both my boys, contentedly sitting with their mama, all snuggled up against my chest. The beauty of that moment was not lost on me. And quite predictably, I started to cry. I held them close and tried to drink it all in. My boys, two of them anyway. Lucas was once this small and how fast the time will go with Caden too. The days are not too far off when they won't want to sit with mama anymore. But my tears were not for how quickly my boys are growing up. The emotion of the moment was simply having them at all. Having lost my first, having moments to hold and kiss these two will NEVER be lost on me.

I was asked by a friend today if having Caden now makes my family feel complete. I answered with an emphatic yes, because he really does in so many ways. But not completely complete. Holding my two boys tonight and watching the wonder on Lucas' face, I felt warm and full. Yet empty. I squeezed them both to savor the moment, these seconds where I feel so grateful for being their mother. I am overwhelmed by the enormity of this calling at times, but can't imagine anything I would rather be called to. But it is also in these moments of maternal clarity that I feel the deepest joy and grief all at once.

This same friend blogged today about missing her baby she hasn't met yet. It is about such a deep longing, a physical need to be connected to that baby and touch him and see his face. I know that pain. I am feeling it right now. I can hold and touch and kiss two of my babes but the one I cannot will always leave a big hole. Even as I sit here and type and weep, I try to remember what is was like to hold him and touch him and kiss his soft skin. And it is hard to remember. So I lean down and kiss Caden instead because it helps soothe my maternal aching. My longing does not lessen my love or appreciation for the special moments with Lucas and Caden. If anything, it deepens it. I want ALL my boys. I long for it. Longing doesn't even scratch the surface. And I know it will never be so here on earth and that is why I will never be completely complete.

In this season where we celebrate God sending His Son to earth, I am moved by so many things. Precious moments with my boys, the simple beauty of a brightly lit tree glimmering through the snow, the words and peaceful music of the carols, ... But mostly, I get emotional when I am reminded of the truth that Christ came to earth not just to save me, but to make me whole. To heal the places where I am wounded and raw and longing. To complete my brokenness. And when I look at my boys and hold them close, I know the He came to heal their brokenness too. My little Micah is is heaven, also now whole. And although I long for the day when I can hold him and kiss him and tell him how very much his mommy has missed him, I am oh-so grateful for moments like tonight when God reaches down and opens my eyes to the amazing gifts I have right here in my lap. I am the mother of three boys, and I can kiss two of them. So I will. Every chance I get.

P.S.~I just read this over before clicking "publish" and it seems a bit jumpy. I don't know what to do about that so I apologize to those who actually read this far down. It is the result of trying to transform my raw emotion into cohesive thoughts and it is harder than it seems. But it is helpful for me to have an outlet for this raw emotion and to process it all. So thanks for bearing with me, if you were able to follow me. Consider it ramblings from a grateful yet grieving mama who is caught up in a moment of deep love and longing for all three of my sons. Longing for complete completeness that only God can bring. May God grant you, and me, His perfect peace.

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My toddler's Nativity

Luke 2:10 "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.' "

This is Lucas' interpretation of the Nativity, complete with Thomas the Tank Engine, Sir Topham Hat, the Little People, a random robot, and the characters from Madagascar 2. He created this scene yesterday on his train table and then proudly announced that "everyone should come see baby Jesus. He is such a good baby!" When I asked him what he meant that baby Jesus is a good baby, he replied "he smiles a lot and doesn't spit up and obeys his mommy Mary." Sounds reasonable to me. Trying to use this as a starting block for teachable conversation, I asked Lucas who he thought Jesus came to earth to save. "He came to see everyone. Jesus is friends with Thomas and Alex the Lion and ...." "Did Jesus come to save you and me?" I asked. "Oh, yes, Mommy. Jesus came to save everyone." And that is such good news.

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Advent for Little Ones

Since I want to share this Advent season with y'all but am trying to be a bit more present with my family (instead of in 50-million different places), I am taking the easy route and letting someone else talk about Advent for me. This is a post written last year by one of my dearest friends where she shares some really awesome ideas for how to make Advent meaningful for your whole family, including the little ones. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did. (Additional thoughts from me in italics.)

My friends Rachel and Farrah have both asked for ideas about doing Advent with little ones. We are just figuring this out for ourselves, so I am not sure how much help I will be. I definitely recommend searching the blogosphere and internet for Catholic and Anglican family ideas. But here is what did last year and what we hope to do this year. Don't get overwhelmed. We aren't doing all of this. It's best to start small and focus on a couple of things.

Advent Wreath

I definitely recommend having one of these. You could get crafty and have your little ones help you make it, or you could buy one. I made one out of fake garland and red berries and nestled short candle holders in it. Put it in a central place in your home, either the dining room table or coffee table. (We have one felt one Lucas can play with and one with real candles that we keep up out of reach.) We tended to do our Advent devotions after dinner in the living room, so ours sat on the coffee table. We may have to change that this year, since Hobbes will not be likely to keep his hands off of it. Wherever you put it, light the candle(s) every night during devotions or dinner. Calvin was so excited to get to Christmas and be able to light the "Jesus candle" in the middle. It is a great, tangible way to anticipate Christmas.

Books and Toys

I have heard that the Jotham's Journey trilogy is great for Advent. Unfortunately, they are out of print and expensive to buy. If you find them cheap, get me a set too! We have really loved this book. It is great for devotional time or for breakfast reading. Each day has a door you can open with a bit of the Christmas story. The illustrations are beautiful.We also have a plastic nativity that we picked up at a garage sale. We leave that set up under out tree for the kids to play with. (Lucas loves to arrange all the characters of our nativity set. It is a good tool to ge them talking about the story of Christ's birth and make it interactive. We also have a Fischer-Price one that he loves so much that it never got put away after last Christmas.) There are lots of options out there. I think you can even get a stuffed Advent wreath. I am hoping to find some more good Christmas board books, one to introduce every few days of Advent.

Devotions

This depends on the age of your children. Last year, we used the Advent book for the boys and then did some readings our church had prepared for us. The boys are used to sitting through a decent amount of reading at night during devotions. We also used Advent hymns. If you really look, you can find quite a few. Focus on a couple that you can teach the kids. We did a different verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel each night. (There are about a gazillion.) This year, we are doing a Jesse Tree with scripture readings. I ordered these books, and I am planning to eventually make these ornaments. This year we may just do ornaments cut out of paper!

Waiting For Christmas

This is the most difficult part of Advent in our culture. Everything around us is telling us to get up the lights, decorate the tree, start singing carols. A radio station here is already playing Christmas Carols 24 hours a day! Like I said, we sing Advent hymns until Christmas Eve. We put up our tree and stockings before Christmas, but we decorate the tree on Christmas Eve or shortly before, depending on where we will be Christmas day. We put up the stable for our nativity and bring the figures out slowly. I think this year we will have Mary and Joseph travel through the house, set the shepherds up across the room, and let the wise men travel (hide them around the house) from Christmas to Epiphany. Baby Jesus never comes out until Christmas.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

This is probably my favorite part of Advent and Christmas. We don't give our children a big gift bash on Christmas. We try to reserve this day for family. This year we are really looking forward to doing Christmas morning at home with just our stocking gifts. Of course, we can't avoid the gift insanity that happens when visiting grandparents! We do give our children gifts. We do mostly small gifts over the 12 days of Christmas, one opened each morning. We will do a couple of bigger gifts in there, with the biggest on Epiphany. This give the kids time to enjoy each present and makes Christmas Day more about celebrating Jesus' birth and being with family.

Rest and Relax

This is a lot of information. I am overwhelmed just looking at it! Take a few things that will work for you and go with them. There is a lot of information out there that can help. I would love to hear your ideas about what you are doing. Things will change for us every year as we figure out what works for our family. Mostly I love how Advent allows me to prepare for Christmas in a less-frenzied way. I try to get most of my shopping done before Advent begins, and I also try to minimize my Christmas party activities.

P.S.~ Was that helpful? Let me know if you use any of her ideas or if you have questions. Here are some other links that I enjoy and use too:

Other great Advent-ish resources:

Small Notebook- Come as you Are: Christmas without the Frenzy

Ten O'Clock Scholar- Advent Traditions Carnival and lots of other great Advent posts too

Homemaking Through the Church Year- good ideas daily for Advent activities

Follow the Star.Org- daily Advent devotionals

Peace to you!

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A little less conversation...

...a little more action.

This week I have been trying to heed Elvis' advice and apply it to Advent. Today is the second Sunday in Advent, my most favorite of all seasons. I know I haven't done much talking/blogging about how we are preparing our hearts and getting ready for Christmas. Advent is such a big deal to me that you'd think I would have said more. But in my attempts to maintain a sense of order to our family and be present with my boys, the tasks of doing Advent have precluded the talking about it. Here are some of the things we have been up to so far...

One of the things I am most concerned with this Advent season, in addition to teaching Lucas about the true spirit of Advent and Christmas, is to begin to establish family traditions that my boys will cherish and look forward to in the years to come. That motivation is behind almost all the decisions Hubby and I have made regarding activities and plans for this season. It is why we decided not to travel anywhere this year (that and the massive airport crowds this time of year). It is behind the books we are reading and the activities we have done so far to begin to teach Lucas what it means to prepare for Christ's birth and celebrate the waiting.

Every night, we accompany Benjamin Bear as he follows the star and journeys to see baby Jesus. Lucas is really into chapter books lately (the young reader books where there are less pictures and way more words) so this has been a special treat for him. This book is set up so each night's story is a new adventure for Benjamin until he finally reaches baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. There is also a little mini lesson (ie: faith can move mountains, God answers us when we call to Him, God forgives us when we are sorry, ...) at the end of each story. But the best part... every night he asks to keep reading. "Let's read one more!" And here is where we get to teach about the waiting, the anticipation. These are usually not a toddler's strong points, so I do let him look through the pages to see what stories are coming. I think that is part of building the anticipation. But he is learning, one story each night, and he gets excited when it is time to find out who Benjamin Bear meets next on his journey.

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I have tried thus far to include Lucas in decorating our house and our tree. I am usually pretty particular about things like how the tree is decorated but I am trying to let that go and give Lucas the opportunity to get right in there and really help. I actually put the lights on the tree but I did let him try it and help with the ornaments. Hubby and I also told him that he got to put the star on the top because he is the "big brother" and he thought that was super-cool!

We joined some friends for a fun morning of gingerbread houses and a visit from Santa. Lucas surprised me and sat on Santa's lap. He asked Santa for "Thomas the Tank Engine" at my prodding (so cute that he said the whole name) and has since been asking me regularly what Santa is bringing him for Christmas. Hubby and I agree that there must be a balance when bringing Santa into the Christmas picture. It is hard to avoid since the images and songs and books, etc... are all around. And we don't really want to avoid it either since that is a fun part of childhood Christmas. Lucas loves to read about Santa and talk about him and he seemed to enjoy meeting him. But when asked what we celebrate at Christmas, he can say without hesitation that it is Jesus' birthday. He is learning about Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and the whole story. And we are trying to teach him that although there are lots of other fun things about this time of year, the real significance comes in the real story. And he gets it, or at least is starting to.

As far as other festive activities, we are trying out some of the crafts in this book. We made the candy cane reindeer and plan to try a few more. This book is cool because along with each activity it has a story for you to read to help explain the significance and tie it back to Jesus. I made a nativity scene out of felt and he is having fun rearranging all the characters. We have an advent wreath on our table in addition to the one he helps light at church. We are drawing and painting and coloring Christmas pictures while listening to carols to get us in the holiday spirit. He calls "Away in the Manger" the "Stable song" and wants to listen to it several times a day, especially the Johnny Cash version thanks to his daddy. We talk about the story, we sing about the story, we color pictures of the story... he is such a sponge and I want him to know, really know, the real story of Christmas.

My favorite moment so far this Advent season came quite unexpectedly. I took the boys (by myself) to a college bookstore one evening to get a CD I wanted desperately. To say it was a disaster doesn't quite capture the moment. Lucas rearranging bookshelf's, a toddler's blood-curdling scream, a un-child friendly employee... getting the picture? But when we got back in the car, I put the CD in and Lucas and I drove around and looked at Christmas lights in the neighborhoods around our house for close to an hour. "Mommy, they have an Advent wreath on their door!" he said. So cute! We talked about how beautiful the lights were, especially in the snow, and how fun it is to see how other people decorate for Christmas too. We found one house with a huge decorated tree in front of their house (pictured at the very top of this post) and we drove past it many times. "That tree is so beautiful, mommy." And it was. But more beautiful was the smile on my little screamer's face and the moment we were sharing as we drank in the joy of a budding tradition.

I truly love this season. I love the waiting, the history, the beauty and joy that is found in the little things and tender moments.... With a few weeks left until Christmas, a hope we continue to teach the significance of Advent and enjoy the season. But if you don't hear too much from me, it is because I am trying to live it and feel it and not just talk about it.

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Cool Toy Giveaways

As we prepare for Christmas and gift giving, here are some great websites and giveaways for you to check out.

LOTS of great giveaways at A Child Chosen!!

My favorites...
I just entered to win the Playskool Helmet Heros, although now I am not totally sure I want to win! Just one more reason for Lucas to run crazy around our house. He would love it though.

Also, Olive Kids has the cutest personalized gifts! Lucas hates to use a placemat for some reason. So I would love to get this personalized one in hopes that he wouldn't throw it on the ground. If I don't win, this is going on the Grandparents gift list!

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Yet another from A Child Chosen, these super cool sunglasses by My First Shades for kids. Lucas is constantly complaining about the sun in his eyes so this would be great for us.

ebeanstalk.com is an amazing site for quality wooden toys and other great gifts for kids. I would love to have these adorable cars that are puzzles for Lucas whose two favorite things are puzzles and cars. How perfect is that!!

Another site with some great toys is Hazelnut Kids. I love all their colorful blocks and amazing wooden toys. I love these Haba Cathedral blocks because they are so colorful and interactive. I think that Lucas would love them but I especially want them for Caden so he has really nice toys that are especially for him! :)

Marcie at A Child Chosen has really outdone herself... check out all these great giveaways ending December 7th.

OneBookTwoBook is giving away a great book to help you be creative with your family. I LOVE to do crafts with Lucas and find new ways to entertain him. I am putting this book on my list for sure!

There are also a ton of amazing giveaways at Kiddio.

I really love this mail set from Paper Daisy ( a super cool Etsy shop). What a great creative idea! If we don't win, I may try to make one. (I said try... maybe). Her giveaway ends Tuesday the 9th.

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I also really want to win this cute tea set. She is giving away a whole tea party gift package and Lucas would LOVE IT!! I know, a boy and tea parties... but he thinks it is super cool and so do I! This giveaway end 12/13.

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