Christmas and what I learned

Having Christmas with three children getting old enough to understand the fun traditions and excitement around Christmas is absolutely a great time. Here are some pics and lessons learned:1. Gingerbread houses:Ages 3 and up....because once they're three, it's the magical time for making Gingerbread houses. Michael and I had the sweetest time together frosting, arranging cinnamon bears and other candies, and spraying the frosting blue. On the other hand, Jacob enjoyed eating anything he could get his hands on. The concept of "creating" has not quite become important for him yet. He got into the frosting and crackers countless times as his face and clothing show.
Nicole had the master technicians Jim and Chris to help her make a house with eaves and "joints" and other impressive terms. I was surprised the frosting could hold up the roof. Nicole liked the sprinkles and gel frosting very much.
2. Preschool Christmas program: arrive 15 minutes before they say you can, because the doors will be open (even if they say they won't be) and if you come right on time you will sit in the very back. We didn't get the "come early" memo, but maybe that was for the best with Michael and Jacob enjoying their usual high energy level. Lollipops worked, but after 3 each I decided there was such a thing as too many. Fortunately the program ended soon thereafter.
Lesson #3: Making goodie plates is fun- only if you make simple treats. This year was English Toffee and spritz cookies. Simple and delicious. My first time making this spritz cookies, and the almond flavor was worth every second of baking.
#4: Children can only look at presents so long before the magnetism of fingers to wrapping paper becomes impossible to prevent. This was taken after church, right before opening. They were waiting for Jim and the sparkles in their eyes does not tell the whole story of Jake and Mike opening one of Nicole's presents earlier (Jim and I heard a ripping sound and had about a 2 second realization time before racing out to stop them; hence waiting for Jim to re-wrap Nicole's gift)
#5: You really don't need to have pie, fudge, toffee, pumpkin bars, ginger snap cookies, a cheese plate, and fruit plate with just two people to truly enjoy it. Sure, Michael took four pieces of the intensely sweet fudge and shoved them in his mouth. Stuff himself? Yes. Enjoy it? Sort of. I guess it was worth it to see him try to talk with chocolate covered teeth. And we still have a few pounds of fudge (hey, the recipe made 3 lbs- not my fault), apple pie, half a pumpkin pie, ice cream, half of the toffee, and a tupperware full of pumpkin bars. There's only so much we can eat I guess :-)

#6: Best of Stocking stuffers: bath crayons, hot wheels, coloring books, bubble bath. I do not recommend loading your children with a can of tootsie rolls and some ring pops. Sticky and way way too much. Three or four pieces max until they learn some decent consumption control. I think they would have eaten everything they had if we let them. And since we opened stockings before church, that could have made for an interesting meeting to be sure. Of course, with me in the choir, Jim had the kids in the pew and that was quite a show in itself. The best part was when Michael, who had been sitting so nicely at the edge of the pew, took a look at Jim-making sure he got eye contact-and dashed down the aisle. Jim took off and nearly bit the dust in the aisle with his newly re-soled leather shoes and finally got to Michael and was taking him out when he remembered that although Nicole was sitting with friends, Jacob was all alone on the row. So he looks back to see Jacob making his way to the aisle with his lower lip quivering, ready to go into full separation anxiety bawling mode. As I was singing a sweet carol in the choir, I watched this drama play out. Fortunately, all was made right before any major noise distractions, despite all the action. Someday, someday, we will not have these exciting stories to tell about our Sundays.

#7: Hearing your daughter say that "the best thing about Christmas is celebrating Jesus' birth" is one of the best feelings ever. We try so hard to share our feelings and testimony of this special time and it's nice to know that there is some impact :-) Merry Christmas!

Here's a video of us singing to you right before we opened presents. http://delbifamily.blogspot.com

December Delights

For Family Night we did the nativity story on the wall with some paper cutouts I printed off the internet and then the kids colored some nativity pictures while I played Christmas songs on the piano. I think if we do this enough times, they will really get to know the story.Nicole had a date with daddy to "Disney on Ice." I gave her the camera and told her to take pictures so I could see her fun evening. I loved the pictures she took! She took this one of herself in the car on the drive there.Daddy driving...and I'll spare you the pictures of the windows, floor and ceiling of the car. She was obviously VERY excited to get there!The ice skaters reenacted short versions of three fairy tales: Tangled, Cinderella, and the Princess and the Frog. Nicole couldn't stop talking about a slipper and I had to ask Jim what in the world she was talking about! Jim said he couldn't believe how well the skaters in the horse moved and skated without crashing into others nearby!

Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, and Goofy introduced each new story.

A close second to the enjoyment of the entertainment comes the food! Popcorn and a soda were a delight to Nicole. Jim said she sat with the popcorn in her lap, eyes riveted on the performance, eating without taking her eyes off the show. Nicole told me she cheered and clapped too.After an extremely... energetic week for the boys, we decided they needed SOMETHING indoors to play with. Not having a fence is okay for Nicole and Michael, but not okay for Jacob. So we got this set off craigslist, cleaned it up and brought it inside. This worked complete magic for the kids and they didn't really leave the room all day. Until this morning when an enormous spider crawed out of some hole...and we realized that there could be countless bugs in there. (while washing we did clean off some spider nests, so I'm assuming there are some inside several of the many holes as well) So now it's outside, which will be awesome for the kids outside. And now, we have yet to figure out a way to redirect the boys' energy while Nicole is at preschool and they remember how fun it is to open doors, drop toys in toilets, and get out anything accessible in the kitchen.We volunteered at the nativity the stake puts on for the city of Apex. Over 5,800 people attended! I was in the children's room (the kids get two pennies, give one to the tax collector, then use the other to buy a snack of a grape and piece of pita bread)The kids can dress up in the amazing large nativity they have set up with wonderful costumes (lots of parents took pictures of their kids there), color nativity pictures, read books about Christmas, play with nativity sets... so fun! Jim and I also got to be Mary and Joseph in the live nativity outside for a shift. How precious to hold the little baby (fake) and picture how that night really was, and listen to the parents tell thier kids to find Jesus and the wise men and shepherds. We've done this for several years and love it! The nativity celebration also has live performances from local schools, churches and community groups. The main part is the 800+ nativities displayed from all over the world and the beautiful artwork of Christ that are all set up in the gym- which is totally transformed with trees and lights into a very special and beautiful experience for all who attend. The event ends with a Messiah singalong- full orchestra and choir to lead everyone in the packed audience. Jim helped with the cleanup until after 11pm and I couldn't believe they got the whole building completely back to normal by the next morning!We've been able to skype with Aunt Marian and our cousins in England several times! So much fun to see how they're growing!

Joy of Christmas is here...

Nicole helped me decorate the tree and when Michael woke up from his nap they had fun looking at the tree and showing each other each little thing. My favorite was when Michael called the ornaments "PLANETS!" I took a video later of them, go to http://delbifamily.blogspot.com/ if you get this via email.