Annual Ornaments

One fun Christmas tradition is giving your children annual ornaments. Each year pick an ornament out for them that reminds you of them (specific to that year). We give ours to the children the night we put up our tree. We actually wrap them and hand them out at random then the kids have fun guessing who's is who's. This year we gave our oldest daughter one with a big monkey bathing a little one and our baby boy who began walking at 6 months got a superman onesie. I think I am also going to start writing them a letter as to why this ornament was chosen for them and give them the letters someday when I give them their box of ornaments. My mom did this for us growing up (minus the letter) and I still see my "annual ornaments" and they make me giggle because of the silly memories they bring back. I have about 3 different raccoon ornaments and my kids think it is funny because anyone who knows me would never describe me as an animal person but there were a few years that I was obsessed with them! Plus when I first got married it was so nice to have 21 hallmark ornaments to start my tree off with that had meaning. My kids even know a bit about me growing up from the ornaments that I doubt I would have thought to tell them otherwise.

Advent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and I hope you all are anxiously awaiting the beginning of a beautiful season of celebrating that Jesus came and is coming again! What good news!

For those of you who do not know Advent is a Latin word meaning Coming. The season of Advent is a time of preparing our hearts for the fact that Christ came and is coming again. Traditionally people use an advent wreath with 4 candles going around and 1 center Christ candle to light. You light one each Sunday leading to Christmas and the center candle Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. For more info on the meaning and depth of the season just google it... there are so many resources. With the ages of my children we don't go too in depth on the meaning behind the candles we just light them and say"He's Coming" "He's Coming" and each candle our voice is more animated and excited.

I just wanted to encourage you to spend the whole season celebrating the only ONE worthy of a month long birthday party where all the attention is placed on Him and the fact the He is a perfect gift to all of us. Try to use each of the symbols of the season to teach the TRUTH of the season! Remind the kids that the tree points up - not down to the presents but up to the TRUE PRESENT who is very PRESENT to us all and loves when we look to Him and seek Him in our daily lives. Remind them that the gifts are reminders of the ONE TRUE GIFT we have in JESUS! Every symbol that is going to be in front of their faces for the next month is an opportunity to draw their hearts back to the one who made them.

Our family spends each night before bedtime going through a special Advent book beginning December 1st. In it there are beautiful doors on each page that you open and read part of the Christmas story from. Each day we get to open one more day and by Christmas morning we have read the whole story straight from the bible and the kids have most of it memorized since we start from the beginning every night. The pictured book is an heirloom addition that I am not sure is available anymore but I know they have another red version you can still buy.

After we read the story we talk about what we read then we all get to pick one Christmas song of worship to sing to Jesus and of course we finish the night of in prayer to our favorite Birthday Boy ever! I find these times so wonderful and they really help us keep our hearts focused on the real reason for the season.