Christmas 2013

Our Christmas season began as soon as we decorated on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Once our home was decorated and Christmas music was playing, I began making batch, after batch, after batch of cookies (lost track after 10).  Jared and I sat down with a calendar and scheduled parties, and events we wanted to be a part of.  I began making lists, of supplies to collect, items to prepare, and what the events would look like. 
This year we had only two parties in our home.  Both included making, and decorating sugar cookies, along with sharing the Christmas story.  (Oh, and dinner!)

 We also went to each of the kid's classes to share the Christmas story, play games, sing Christmas songs, etc.  It was fun, and ended up being easier than I expected.  I think the hardest part was just scheduling in the time to get there.  Each of the 70 plus kids, plus at least 18 teachers heard the story of Christmas!

In addition to telling the story, we played Bingo using items from the story, played Christmas songs in local language (using guitar and bells), made paper Christmas trees, and handed out cookies and coloring booklets with the story. 

We also visited Josiah's elementary school class. I had prepared for the 20 kids in his class, when we arrived there were 40.  The two 1st grade classes decided to combine for the party.  I quickly attempted to make our supplies stretch over twice as many kids, successfully, I think.  The time was chaotic and crazy, so neither Jared or I had time to take pictures, but it was fun, and Josiah loved having us there.  I actually ran home and packaged up another 20 baggies of cookies and coloring booklets to take to the other 1st grade, to add to the 20 I had originally taken for the party. 
Since the parties, multiple parents, from all three classes, have come to me and thanked us for coming to the kid's classes.  We are asking for fruit from these short times we had with each of these kiddos. 

This year our kids learned a couple of local Christmas songs, in "Asianese".  They were given ample opportunity to sing and share with others, at parties, in taxis, at stores, solos at their schools, at a local coffee shop (below).  Neither Jared nor I are big performers, especially not when it comes to singing :).  However, our kids are being taught and trained to sing and dance at their schools, and they have become accustomed to it, very accustomed to it!

The weekend before Christmas we spent time with local friends, celebrating Christmas.  No pictures to share on blog from that time, sorry.

Just before Christmas we also took cookies and books to Josiah's taekwando class, and to neighbors and others around our apartment complex.

Then on Christmas day, kids played hooky from school, and we spent an entire day at home, playing and eating!  It was a wonderful family day!

This year, as gifts for the kids, we added to their dress-up collection.  We now regularly have a ballerina, old man, a ladybug, and jedi, running around our house.

Our Christmas season was full and busy, with things outside our regular family time.  Josiah even commented the day before Christmas that he hadn't had a chance to decorate any cookies, even with all the cookie making that happened the month before.  (He did make, and eat, his own gingerbread men on Christmas Day!)  He was busy serving others, each time we had a party or were preparing to give cookies away. More than anything else, this Christmas season, I learned the importance of involving our kids in the prayer and preparation for anything we plan to do as a family.  December did not start out that way, and our family definitely did not have the same mindset as we began having people in our home.  I made a mess.  Father is good, and He made it all right again.
Each evening of December, as a part of our regular routine, we opened a new Jesse Tree ornament, read from the Bible, and sang, in preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth.  It was a timely reminder, at the end of each very full day, of what a mighty God we serve!