Christmas Traditions

I'm going to try to take some time right now while Jaden and Sienna are sleeping to write some more details about this past month and describe the activities we participated in as well as the Christmas traditions we have continued and begun this year.

On December 1st we decorated our Christmas tree as a family. It is always such a great time to bring out the Christmas ornaments, especially because Scott and I have many meaningful ornaments that our parents have given to us from our childhoods. Jaden helped us to unwrap the ornaments wrapped in tissue paper and hang them on the tree. Sienna watched with joy and said "Tree!" that night as she had heard us saying it while we'd been decorating. Her language is developing very quickly now and she is saying new words every day. Scott explained as we were decorating together the true story of Christmas and Jaden listened in awe. While we have incorporated many fun family events in our holiday schedule, we wanted to make sure that Jaden understood up front that we are celebrating Jesus' birth at Christmas.

On December 1st we also made our second attempt at the tradition of Jaden opening a Christmas book each day from Dec. 1-25. She enjoyed being able to open a gift and while most of the books are ones we've had for a few years now, Jaden only sees them at Christmastime so they seem new again. The excitement of Christmas decorating made it tough for the girls to concentrate on hearing a story the first night, but they sure enjoyed looking at the books throughout the month. I was not consistent on giving them a book every single day (bad me!) because some evenings we were out doing Christmas activities and we were also very busy with my sister here from North Carolina so a few days I forgot. Jaden and Sienna now have the whole basket of our Christmas books opened though regardless and are enjoying all of the stories and beautiful pictures. There's always next year for a third attempt at one book opened per day!

On December 9th, Scott and I took Jaden and Sienna to Lake Farm Park for their Country Lights exhibit and activities. I think the highlight for Jaden was making her own toy pirate ship in the "Elves workshop." She is very crafty and loved her first time using a hammer. Sienna also made a wooden Christmas tree with help from Daddy, but we left it unpainted and will save it for her to paint later. We also got to ride a horse-drawn buggy through some fantastic Christmas lights, saw a train display that Jaden loved, visited Santa and saw many animals including a cow that was in labor! I was hoping that the calf would be born that night, but I think the cow was waiting until the crowds of spectators left her alone. Jaden and Sienna really loved the whole event and we hope to go back again next year for some family fun.

December 11th was a nostalgic day for me because I got to take the girls to Kraynaks in Sharon, PA. When I was little, my parents and my Aunt Lori used to take me to Kraynaks every year to see the snow village that is set up there, as well as to look at all of the amazing Christmas decorations they have for sale. Jaden and Sienna loved the snow village because it has been updated with characters that are popular among children today--Mickey Mouse, Disney Princesses, Handy Manny, Thomas the Train, etc. There are also many nativity scenes set up at Kraynaks and Jaden enjoyed picking up the baby Jesus from every single one. We went to Kraynaks with our friends Laura, Hannah and Frankie Wiencek, and we definitely plan to go back again all together!

On December 13th Jaden, my mom, my mom's friend Mary and I all attended the Radio City Rockettes show in downtown Cleveland together. It was a fantastic show and Jaden couldn't sit down--she wanted to dance like the rockettes! The show's best part was at the very end when they had a Live Nativity complete with sheep and a camel. They told the story of Christ's birth and read this remarkable piece entitled "One Solitary Life:"

"He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an interant preacher. He never had a family or owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never wrote a book, or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends deserted Him. He was turned over to His enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of porperty He had--His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave. Two thousand years have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched and all the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this "One Solitary Life." "--I don't know why, but this was so powerful to hear as the live nativity was right before us.

On December 17th we also spent some time with the Wienceks, this time with both of our families going to Disney on Ice. While this wasn't exactly a Christmas-themed event, it was Jaden and Sienna's first time seeing ice skating and I hope that in future Decembers we can actually take them skating. Jaden loved seeing her favorite Disney characters take the ice--Cars, Mickey and Minnie, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and more. We had heard that there would be a special Disney Princess display at the event so every single piece of clothing that Jaden wanted to wear was Disney Princess-themed--right down to the hair tie in her hair and even her shoes. She was so excited to see some the show and the characters she loves. Sienna on the other hand enjoyed some of the show, but is a little young to be taking to such events. Maybe next time she'll sit still a little better :)

December 21st was set aside for baking Christmas cookies. We got a late start on the baking this year because I was actually contemplating not making any cookies until both my mom and mother-in-law mentioned me having them for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners! Jaden loved pouring ingredients into the mixing bowl as we mixed up six different cookie doughs including some family recipes which are very special to us. Sienna was having a tough day and didn't want me to put her down, so if you know how determined I am, you know that I wasn't going to let her spoil our baking fun. So I just stuck her into the backpack carrier and kept right on baking! All three of us girls enjoyed making the cookies, and Scott got to enjoy eating our creations that evening :)

As we got closer to the big day, Christmas Eve was full of family traditions from my side as we traveled to Columbus and spent the day with my mom, brother Seth, sister Mandy and Uncle Dennis. My mom's beau Chris also joined us for dinner and to exchange gifts. Jaden got to participate for the first time in our tradition for all of the ladies to get pedicures. She looked so tiny and cute in the pedicure chair, and she especially loved how the water in the foot bowl "changed colors" (it was actually a light in the bowl). We went as a family to my mom's church and since she goes to a Catholic church, there is no childcare / nursery for the girls. I was amazed by how well-behaved Jaden and Sienna were during the service. They listened attentively and didn't make a sound except for one time. My mom even commented on how many of the other children present in the church, most older than Jaden and Sienna, were misbehaving and I'm sure many of these children are those who sit through Catholic mass more often and should be used to it! After we got home from church we shared a wonderful meal together and each talked about our favorite Christmases from years past. We ended the evening with the adults exchanging gifts after Jaden and Sienna were asleep. It was a wonderful day spent all together!

On Christmas morning Jaden and Sienna got to open gifts from Grammy Pammy (my mom) at her house before we packed up to leave to head home for our dinner with Scott's family. Everyone is so generous to our children and they received some very cute clothes, toys and a new comfy blanket each from their Grammy.

Scott and I could not wait to get them home though to all of the surprises waiting for us under our tree. Jaden had asked for a "car that [she] could drive" so we splurged this year and got her a Barbie Jeep (power wheels). After she and Sienna had opened their gifts under our tree we brought the jeep out of our bedroom and Jaden was thrilled. She jumped right in and Sienna got into the passenger side. Scott had to disconnect the battery because both girls were ready to drive around the house! Scott and I also received some very nice gifts from one another--we are always very generous at Christmas in our gift giving because we don't buy a lot for eachother throughout the year.

Scott's mom, stepfather Gary, dad, dad's friend Shelley and brother all arrived at our house at 4pm Christmas to exchange gifts and then eat all together. Scott's Aunt Nancie joined us at dinner time and you can see in the picture below that all of the women are wearing red--something we did not plan, but how cute does that photo look!? We spent the evening eating too many cookies, watching the Cavs from the edges of our seats and just enjoying one another's company. Scott's family is also incredibly generous at Christmastime and we are so appreciative of their wonderful gifts, but even more importantly, that we all can spend some time with one another.

As I wrap up quite possibly the longest blog post in the history of blogging, I just want to say that we had such a wonderful December all together. As our children get older, Christmas keeps getting more and more special. We are so blessed in our life here on earth, but even more blessed because of what God gave to us--Jesus. I hope that this year we were able to show the meaning of Jesus' birth to our children while we had all of our fun together. And I hope that each of you had a meaningful and blessed Christmas too!