We had the fortunate blessing of having Ryan with us for the entire two-week Christmas break this year. We has been wonderful and we did a lot of fun things together. Ryan took Adelyn, Preston, and three of the neighbor kids sledding a couple times. We also took the kids out to Brick Oven to celebrate a great 2010 and Ryan and Adelyn's perfect report cards :). We also took the kids to Salt Lake to see their cousins who were in town from Washington. They had three sleep-overs at Grandma's house and had endless hours of play-time. We also built another gingerbread house, which the kids always enjoy. And, of course, we did a lot of just hanging out together: watching movies, laying around, playing games, and laughing.
The kids love making our laundry basket into a "boat" by stuffing it full of pillows and blankets and taking turns pushing each other around the house. Annalise was the fortunate rider this time.
One Christmas tradition we started last year and continued this year was making a Christmas chain counting down the days until Christmas. On each link, we had a scripture about Christ to read and a Christmas carol to sing before bed. Then we read the kids a Christmas story.
We also had an FHE about service. We read them a story about how by serving others, we are really serving Christ. We made each of the kids a small manger out of pretzels and marshmallows. Then we encouraged them to do service, and each time they did they could add a piece of straw to Baby Jesus' manger.
The last tradition we did was on Christmas morning. We talked about what gift we would like to give Jesus. With a little encouragement, the kids each decided they wanted to try to keep the Spirit in our home better by not fighting with each other as much. I'm planning to make a peacemaker chart so they can put a sticker up for all the times they almost got upset, but instead chose to be a peacemaker. It turned out to be a really meaningful December. We thought these little things helped our kids remember
who we were really celebrating this holiday season.
We had the fortunate blessing of having Ryan with us for the entire two-week Christmas break this year. We has been wonderful and we did a lot of fun things together. Ryan took Adelyn, Preston, and three of the neighbor kids sledding a couple times. We also took the kids out to Brick Oven to celebrate a great 2010 and Ryan and Adelyn's perfect report cards :). We also took the kids to Salt Lake to see their cousins who were in town from Washington. They had three sleep-overs at Grandma's house and had endless hours of play-time. We also built another gingerbread house, which the kids always enjoy. And, of course, we did a lot of just hanging out together: watching movies, laying around, playing games, and laughing. 
The kids love making our laundry basket into a "boat" by stuffing it full of pillows and blankets and taking turns pushing each other around the house. Annalise was the fortunate rider this time. 
One Christmas tradition we started last year and continued this year was making a Christmas chain counting down the days until Christmas. On each link, we had a scripture about Christ to read and a Christmas carol to sing before bed. Then we read the kids a Christmas story. 
We also had an FHE about service. We read them a story about how by serving others, we are really serving Christ. We made each of the kids a small manger out of pretzels and marshmallows. Then we encouraged them to do service, and each time they did they could add a piece of straw to Baby Jesus' manger.
The last tradition we did was on Christmas morning. We talked about what gift we would like to give Jesus. With a little encouragement, the kids each decided they wanted to try to keep the Spirit in our home better by not fighting with each other as much. I'm planning to make a peacemaker chart so they can put a sticker up for all the times they almost got upset, but instead chose to be a peacemaker. It turned out to be a really meaningful December. We thought these little things helped our kids remember who we were really celebrating this holiday season.
2 comments:
we have those LOVE outfits! Such fun and cute play outfits. Merry Christmas!
Such great ideas! I am happy for you that you didn't have to go in to work! in the basket i see the pillow with all the transportation vehicles. We have that same set. :)
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