Christmas continues! Storytime with Santa

Saturday we went to Tivoli Village for Story Time with Santa.

The girls had a hard time getting into the Christmas time.  They were quite reserved for a while.  They didn't know what to do with all the colored Christmas trees, the gift boxes, a larger orange chair that Santa would sit in.  We waited for Santa to come and read a story but in the mean time they had time to relax, forget about the cold, and play.  Soon Santa made his grand entrance and read "The Night Before Christmas."  Then he let everyone come up and give him a hug or take a picture.  The girls weren't quite sure what to do with this strange old man. 

Soon they started to explore and forget that they were cold.

Still not sure what to think about Santa, but they had a blast enjoying everything Santa shared.  There was cotton candy, hot chocolate, cookies, face painting and little goodie toys.  Hailey got a yo-yo.  Emi got a Christmas bell necklace.

Combining Christmas more fully with Christ

Joel and I were talking about how we can teach the girls about Christmas, Santa Claus as well as Christ and the Nativity.

We started by putting up the Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving so that we can carry the spirit of Thanksgiving throughout the whole month.  Usually we get it a week or so before.  Then after we have put the tree up and decorated it we pull out the Nativity set.  We go over each character--who they are, why they are important, and what they represent.  Christ was the the greatest gift and yet people still brought gifts to us.  We should be thankful for the gifts that we receive.  This ties into Christmas and Santa Claus. 

Santa Claus comes bearing gifts.  Most people have fallen into the tradition of teaching that if you are naught you get coal and if you are nice you get gifts.  While talking about it with Joel, I liked the concept that Christ gave everyone a gift whether they were naughty or nice.  Sometimes those least deserving need something to be thankful for the most.

So Christmas and Christ come together along with the following of Thanksgiving to help us remember to give thanks and be thankful year round for the things that we have, big or small. 

It's Christmas Time!

We aren't usually the type to run out the day after Thanksgiving and get our Christmas tree.  We usually wait until the week before and then go.  But this year, Joi Warburton in our ward said she was bringing in fresh Christmas trees from Utah.  Joel and I have made it a tradition that we buy a fresh tree.  He used to do that when his dad was alive but then the tradition stopped.  Even in Boise when we were dirt poor we managed to still buy a small 3 foot tree.  This year, things are a little better than Boise AND we were supporting a local friend.  We got a Balsam Christmas tree.  That means it has boughs instead of fluffy branches.  

Joel wasn't feeling the greatest for Thanksgiving but I begged him to come with us to pick out a tree.  He's glad he did.  The trees reminded him of the ones in Colorado and in Wyoming.  We picked a tree and loaded it up.  The girls were excited for the tree.  They wanted to help in any way they could.   We got our lights on and then the next day put up ornaments.  The tree still looked pretty bare so we made stain glass cookie ornaments.  The girls loved making the cookies, but they enjoyed eating them even more.  

I woke up the next morning and half of the cookies were gone.  The ones on the lower levels.  I was talking on the phone with my mom when I heard a crunch crunch, nibble nibble behind the couch.  Hailey crawled out with a cookie in her hands... 

There is only one cookie remaining on the Christmas tree and that's only because it's at the very top and Hailey couldn't find anything tall enough to stand on to get it. 

 We continued to decorate the house in the small inexpensive ways we could. A friend posted this cute snowman on the door and I thought, "I CAN DO THAT! I even have the construction paper!"

 The wreath was a little more of a challenge.  We had to cut some of the tree trunk off in order to get the tree in the stand.  This left unused branches.  I managed to put the branches together with tie wire to make a little wreath.  Then I went to the dollar store for a few decorations.  I don't decorate... So this was a win for me.  It hangs in our kitchen and even though it's not ornate or perfect or anything close to one that people buy at the store, I made it and I'm proud of it.  Plus it really adds the Christmas feeling to our kitchen.

 The only other thing that was missing was a Nativity.  Joel and I mentioned last year that we didn't have one and that he would like one.  We say the Willow Tree Figurines but they were way out of our budget.  I looked and looked this year for a nativity and I could never really find one that I liked more than the Willow Tree one.  I searched and searched and found the set in pieces for less expensive.  We ordered it and as we pulled the figurines out of the boxes we told the girls the Christmas Story.  They didn't catch much about the story other than that they liked the little lambs. "They go Bah."