Merry Christmas!

This year, we traveled south to Missouri to visit my parents' farm for Christmas. My brother and sister-in-law and their two adorable daughters were coming as well. We arranged with Santa Claus, on Facebook of all places, to come to our house when we got home instead of on Christmas Eve, and prepared the kids for the change.

They took it really well! I like to think that the prospect of spending a week with Grandma and Papa, Uncle Brian and Aunt Amy, and two cousins whom they rarely see trumped the materialism of a traditional Christmas morning. They're pretty great kids if I do say so myself.

The kids were sent on a treasure hunt using our Garmin Handheld GPS Navigator. Between all of us, we have three of them that we use for geocaching. The younger kids found treasures that were closer to the house and easier to find, while the older two kids had clues leading them to more clues, eventually leading them to a treasure box full of little gifts and candies which was hidden under a tree root at the big pond in the sheep pasture. We had a good time, not only finding the treasure but also exploring the pond area.

The girls found a turtle shell that had been gnawed by an animal of some kind, as well as various rocks, tree nuts, animal tracks, pretty leaves, and other bits of nature that only a kid truly knows how to treasure. I'm glad they can still see the beauty in the natural world and I hope they will continue to do so forever.

John Denver said it best in his poem, Alfie the Christmas Tree, which you can see him recite here on YouTube.

"...You see, life is a very special kind of thing
Not just for a chosen few
But for each and every living, breathing thing
Not just me and you

So when you're at Christmas prayers this year
Alfie asked me if I'd ask you
Say a prayer for the wind and the water and the wood
And those who live there too."

Me and You Friday - 12/10

Yesterday was "Me and You Day" with Matthew. I guess it sounds a little weird to dedicate a day as such, but Matthew is the kind of kid who likes to associate each day with something.

Weekends are when the girls are out of school.
Monday is Matthew and Daddy day, when he gets Tyler all to himself until the girls get home, and it's his Taekwondo day.
Tuesday is a short day at his school while I am in class.
Wednesday is a short day at his school while I study. It's also Taekwondo day.
Thursday is his long day at his school while I am in class and lab.
Friday is Me and You day.

He just needs to know what day it is (and with that comes What Time Is It? and Where Are We?) to keep himself centered. I bet he would like a calendar that he could mark the days with a big X to have a visual cue. Hmm ... maybe Santa will bring him something like that!

Anyway, yesterday was Me and You day. We headed down to Grammy's neck of the woods for lunch and then he and I went shopping together. He picked out some great little gifts for his sisters. Mancala for Hannah, Connect 4 x 4 for Clara, and Color Fillz for Rebecca.

And he picked out a coloring book for himself, ha ha. I colored with him for a while, and then he colored in that book the entire rest of the day, breaking only for supper! He was still coloring when it was time for lights out and when I got up in the moring, he was sitting in bed coloring again! He was dedicated, that is for sure. There are only a few pages left in the book that aren't colored but the desire to color has finally worn off.

Christmas Crackers

When I was a very little girl, about 5 years old, my family lived in a town called Morton-in-Marsh in England. My dad was stationed at the Air Force base nearby. I don't remember much about England, but I do remember making brass rubbings at Westminster Abbey and I remember our next door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis.

Mr. Lewis was an elderly gentleman who was (as I remember) soft-spoken. He wore cardigan sweaters and had a book about birds and their eggs that he used to let me look at when we would visit. We would sit together and look at the bird egg book and talk.

Anyway, one year Mr. and Mrs. Lewis invited us to Christmas. On the table were these Christmas crackers, which I had not seen before. Traditionally, two people each grasp one end and pull the cracker apart. With a POP, it cracks open and little trinkets and a paper hat are revealed. The person who ends up with the larger portion of the cracker will have good luck.

This year, I'm thinking of ordering some of these Christmas Crackers from Amazon. I think it would be a fun way of introducing my own kids to this fun English tradition.



I really think they would get a kick out of them!

Christmas Countdown - 12/1

Day 1!

The girls woke up so excited to see a note in the pocket of Day 1 of the stocking. They were even more excited to feel a heavy box inside! Oh the joy of being able to actually open it before school! The note said:

Pancakes for
breakfast
AND
check back
later!

You would have thought I handed them each a $20 bill and took them to the candy store! They danced around and sang a little pancake song like they'd never had pancakes before today.

Can't wait to see them when they realize they're getting hot chocolate later!