Last year we decided that we were staying put in the month of December until Christmas Day. Since it seems like the rest of our year is on the go, we so enjoyed this restful advent and decided to do a repeat of it this year.
Also on repeat this year was getting our second REAL tree. I'm pretty obsessed with the concept of a real tree now... nothing artificial comes even close to its beauty and the smell, OH the smell.
My morning (all-day) sickness was at its peak in December, which actually lent well to giving me freedom from the pressure to do all things at Christmas. We kept our advent simple: Lit a candle each Sunday, read a story from Jesus Storybook at night, and let every heart prepare Him room.
We also had some fun times with students (that I failed to get pictures of). One favorite was a carol singing night at our house, with a student at the piano and precious advent verses in between each song. It was so dear to us to celebrate our hope with these students who have become our family. And then we brought a few along with us to our annual tradition of the Lewis Lights. Wilson thinks they are all his big brothers and sisters and I really love that.
Andrew's parents came into Mississippi on the 22nd and we had a fun couple of days celebrating Christmas with them. Like last year, we treated the 23rd like our Christmas Eve and had some fun making sugar cookies with Little Man.
Who am I kidding? He did maybe three before a combination of his disinterest and my controlling-personality (the reindeer HAS to have both of his feet) made him run off and play legos while the adults had fun with sprinkles.
But he did get to pick out which cookies to leave for Santa that night (because Santa came a day early at our house).
He kept saying, "Just these three and then the rest he will not eat?" We've got a Scrooge-like tipper at our house, Santa. Sorry, Old Man!
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| This is a "Mom if you have to take one more picture, I'm going to make you pay for it" face. |
We finished the night with the advent calendar and a Jesus Storybook Bible reading.
The next morning we woke up to a lazy morning of cinnamon rolls and coffee and a little boy who didn't know it wasn't normal to eat a long, slow breakfast before running into the living room to open presents. How much longer do we have before that's over? I'm not sure, but I'm going to milk it.
Santa fills the stockings in our house and then Little Man gets three presents from Mommy and Daddy. I love the simplicity of that and the fact that he has full attention to really enjoy and appreciate what he gets.
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| New underwear! |
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Monster trucks were the theme of this Christmas |
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| Monster truck legos were a hit and combination of his two favorite things
His "big" gift from us was a rocket ship. He hadn't asked for one but I had an inkling that he would love it. And he did.
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Baba and Grandan got him the coolest fire truck sleeping bag and he really couldn't wait to sleep in it.
That night we headed off to our church's Christmas Eve service which is probably the biggest reason we wanted to stay in town.
We are so thankful for the time to adore Jesus, to ponder in our hearts what it means that He has come, and to watch and wait for His return to set all things right. All the bad is coming untrue, and this world will be made new. Amen and amen!
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