Christmas catch-up

We had a wonderful month of December, counting down the days until Christmas morning. The boys' excitement grew as we made cookies and gave them to some of our community workers, bought presents for our Angel Tree, watched several classic Christmas movies, read great Christmas books, visited the Christmas train display in Cincinnati, spent time with my family in Cincinnati pre-Christmas and time with David's family post-Christmas (and that is our short list)! I wish that I had pictures for all of Christmas activity but Santa waited until Christmas morning to bring my new (well, refurbished) camera. However, I was able to capture some of these memories even post-Christmas!

The boys made these candy Christmas trees at Breakfast with Santa.

Our gingerbread house!

Santa brought the boys a parking garage.

David and his dad displaying their fun t-shirts. The boys got David a Green Lantern t-shirt for Christmas (this was one of his favorite comic characters growing up.)

Santa also brought Asher a football uniform that now has become his everyday uniform. He loves it to say the least!

count down to christmas

So this is NOT my advent calendar above but the one that I got the idea from. You can go here to learn how to make your own from Jolly Allsorts blog...if you dare!! :) I would show you a picture of mine but my camera is not working. :( How can this be with the first day of December tomorrow. I may need one of my nearby friends to stop by daily and take pictures of our happenings until I can get mine fixed. OR, maybe I should change our first activity to "go buy a new camera." ha!! Well here is our final list that we hope to attempt this advent season. Would love to hear how you count down to Christmas! Special thanks to Carrie and Rachel for your ideas.

12/1 Read the Nativity story

12/2 Buy present for Angel Tree.

12/3 Watch Christmas movie of choice.

12/4 Go to Breakfast with Santa.

12/5 Make gingerbread house.

12/6 Make Christmas cookies.

12/7 Give cookies to trash men.

12/8 Make jingle bells and sing song.

12/9 Read a special Christmas book.

12/10 Give cookies to firemen.

12/11 Watch Christmas movie of choice.

12/12 Walk through Bethlehem.

12/13 Give cookies to mailman.

12/14 Take dinner to a needy family.

12/15 Donate winter coats.

12/16 Deliver gifts to Contributor vendors

12/17 Give cookies to policemen.

12/18 Clean out toys.

12/19 Learn a Christmas song

12/20 Go see Christmas train display

12/21 Watch Christmas movie of choice

12/22 Make a donation to non-profit of choice

12/23 Write letter to Santa.

12/24 Set out cookies for Santa.

12/25 Make donation to Heifer International.

If you are looking for a unique look at Advent this Christmas season, the Martha O'Bryan Center has created a weekly look into some of their families' lives and sharing their stories. Go here to learn more.

Hoping to post my finalized count down to Christmas activities tomorrow!! Please feel free to share any more ideas you may have for our family.

christmas books

We are pulling out the Christmas decorations and along with that some of our favorite Christmas books. The Jolly Christmas Postman was one of my childhood books that my mom just passed down to my kids. They have loved opening the letters inside and feeling as though they are the "Jolly Postman." Do you have any favorite Christmas books that you like to read?

advent sneak peak

Here is a quick sneak peak of the advent calendar that I have been working on since LAST Christmas. I think it should be ready for December 1 of this year if I can get 5 more red buttons. The ones I went with were not what I had in mind but I gave up on it just to complete this already too long of a project. I still would like to solicit some of your help for this calendar. While I will go with the fun, traditional theme of filling each day with a special chocolate candy for us to enjoy, I also found a cute idea of including an activity for our family to do each day. Here is a sampling of things that I have come up with so far but would love any other ideas!!

-Give cookies to our trash men, mailman and local firemen and police men.
-Take dinner to a family in need.
-Make homemade decorations for the tree.
-Make cut-out sugar cookies and ice.
-Buy presents for an Angel Tree child.
-Make a gingerbread house.

share the gift of HOPE

This Christmas make a difference with the presents you choose to give! You can not only find a great gift for your friends or family but you can be spreading the gift of HOPE around the world this Christmas. Above is a picture of Elena. She has been orphaned and sexually violated because of the wars of Congo. She currently lives in Dina Center orphanage in Goma, Congo. Sponsored by eXile international. My friend, Bethany Haley, started eXile International and took this picture of Elena and shared her story with me. I am going to be hosting an open house on December 3rd from 7-9pm that will have jewelry from eXile International, as well as from KEZA and from my Ida's Modern Heirlooms. If you are interested in coming, leave a comment with your email and I will send you an invite!

Even if you can't make it to my open house, I would love for you to consider any of these great options for those on your Christmas list this year (my sister-in-law Angie past many of these on to me)!!

The Hunger Site (has a great selection of gifts for male, female and even kids and you choose on what you want to support from hunger, children's health, breast cancer, etc.)
Bongo Java (both local and fair trade AND great coffee!!)
Fair Indigo (again great for the whole family)
Ten Thousand Villages
Handcrafting Justice
TOMS shoes
Other great options include gifts from non-profits gift catalogs. Check these out...
Heifer International
World Vision
Samaritan's Purse
You can also check out Cool People Care every Friday when they recommend "Gifts of Impact" to remind us all that "Christmas is not your birthday."
Would love to hear any great ideas you may have for how to spread HOPE this Christmas!!

Christmas 2009

Our lives were quite busy leading up to Christmas with friend activities in Nashville and then we headed to Cincinnati for Christmas with my side of the family.
Asher being our "Santa."

We were supposed to have Christmas with my sister and her two kids along with my aunt and grandmother but Asher came down with croup so my sister and her kids stayed away. Thankfully we didn't have to cancel all of Christmas.
Asher and Jonas enjoying playing with Asher's wooden pizza set from my mom and papa Bruce.

My mom helping Jonas unwrap a gift. (He is only acting like he can't open it so he can have some lap time with his Nana.) My aunt Candy is videoing for all of us in the background.

David's parents came to our house for Christmas Eve and then returned Christmas morning to see the boys open their gifts. The boys were so glad to have them there, especiallly since they brought their dog, Princess!

Asher trying out his "new" (consignment sale purchase) bike! Jonas looking on and trying not to covet. Ha!

This picture pretty well sums up our Christmas with the Wilsons! Our nephews and neices had a great time but our kids were sick (Asher with croup and a fever) and tired (Jonas missed his morning nap b/c we were taking Asher to the doctor before going to David's parents.)! Glad that the rest of the family put up with our kids in such positions.

Well that is a quick summary of our 2009 Christmas! Jonas ended up having a fever on New Year's Eve that kept lingering and after two visists to the doctor's office we found out he had RSV (bronchiolitis) and a right ear infection. (He also had this a year ago during Christmas 2008!) So we are now glad the holidays are over, we are all on the getting better side, and we have the internet again (our internet has been down for awhile, in case you were wondering why it's been so long!). It's good to be back in the blogging world!!

Snowy Day

While it may be great to go to Hawaii or some other warm, exotic place for Christmas, you just can't beat going to Ohio and having a white Christmas! The boys and I arrived a few days before Christmas and were welcomed by snow. Asher could not wait to play in it and get dressed as soon as he woke up. We told him that he had to eat breakfast first. Then, we got dressed. My mom went out a bought him some "snow gloves" and "snow boots" that were on clearance. I think the boots may be for girls, but Asher didn't care. They were boots!

Jonas loved just sitting in the snow. Of course, I don't think he could do much more than that with as wrapped up as we had him.

Asher walked all over the yard. I think he wanted to walk through every bit of the fallen snow. His glove looks like it has a lightsaber on it!

Jonas attempting the sled with Nana (my mom).

Asher and I built a tiny snowman. He was so proud and when we turned to go inside, he had a full conversation with the snowman, telling him good-bye and that we would come see him later. It was so sweet.

We have had snow in Nashville since Christmas but when it's less than 1/4", it don't think it counts. We were so thankful to have fun with it in Ohio!!

Hope Gardens Luminaria

Our neighborhood wanted to do an event over the holidays so I suggested a luminaria. We used to do this in my dad's neighborhood at Christmas time when I was growing up. I have fond memories of it, so it was easy to convince the others to try this in our neighborhood. Our playgroups planned the event. So, as the days approaced closer to having it we slowly kept scaling the event down....we all have kids two and under! We ended up having the luminarias around our neighborhood park and offered free hot chocolate (thanks to Jessi's mom for an incredible mix) and cookies (I baked up some slice and bake cookies). It was cold but the kids from the neighborhood and our own kids had a fun time (and the adults did too, of course). Maybe next year we can expand to the sidewalks in front of our homes!

It's that time of year!

We have been busy, busy around our house and enjoying the holiday season. This past weekend we went with David's family to see the lights at the Opryland Hotel. The lights were beautiful but the hunting for a parking spot for 20 minutes was not the most fun we had....note to anyone wanting to go to Opryland--stay clear on the weekends! Here was our first attempt for a 2009 family Christmas card picture. Maybe next year we can get one with the kids looking in the right direction.

Asher has been enjoying rearranging the Nativity scene. Here he has decided to form a congo line.

While living with David's parents last year at Christmas time, Asher enjoyed making cookies with Nana. We were hoping to recreate the memory and start a tradition. Asher refused to roll any cookies and agreed to decorate about two cookies...can you consider it a tradition, if you force the kid to participate? ha! We didn't force but Pops was in the other room and he is much more fun to play chase with than ice cookies with your mom or nana.

I've been busy making cookies, exchanging cookies and finding who might want to recieve the cookies. Asher and I packed up a few cookies to give to our garbage men. Asher loves to watch for our garbage men every week and the men know that we are always at our back window watching for them so they wave and acknowlege us every week. So kind! Below are new cookies that I tried this year and have been well received. These Chocolate Decadence Cookies are from the December issue of Sunset magazine. What I love about them is it is one dough with four variations. Find the recipes here.

Hope you have been enjoying your Christmas preparations as much as we have!

Picture with Santa

Click here to view these pictures larger

As you can see, this was not the most enjoyable time for Asher. At least it was FREE! We told him before attending the Christmas with Santa breakfast that some people call Noah, "Santa." So, he really didn't know who we were seeing or why.

Breakfast with Santa

This past Saturday, Asher and I attended the Breakfast with Santa at our church. We had so much fun! The organizers did a great job with keeping us busy during each station and it never felt like there were 400 people there!! We were in a fun group and moved from crafts, to a live navtivity, to breakfast (more like brunch for us) and onto Santa.
Made a snowman ornament. Actually, I made it while Asher just stared at all the other kids in the room.

Asher with a goat...

Asher loved the animals and I wish that I had video of him talking to him. It was the cutest thing. He would say, "hi sheep, hi" in the sweetest little voice. Although as much as he loved this part, he finally said, "Brrrr! Momma, it's cold; let's go inside."

Any guesses for who Mary, Joseph and the "wise man" are?

Sorry there are no pictures of Asher with Santa. Hopefully when we get our picture, I can post it. I couldn't take a picture of him with Santa because I was holding Asher and sitting next to Santa. He was not quite ready to do it alone. He did though smile when Santa touched his cheek but was still clinging tightly to me.

Christmas Tea Party in Kenya

No, I have not flown to Kenya for Christmas (although that sure would be a special way to spend it). I just finished reading a post on the Made In The Streets blog and had to share it. I know that Darlene (who wrote it) would not mind and would hope that you would visit the blog and read more about their work. This is where David and I lived and who we worked with for 6 months five year ago. I hope you gain as much insight as I did after reading this about the true meaning of the Christmas season.

From the Made In The Streets blog by Darlene Coulston.

"It's December and I love giving parties. So on Friend Sunday, I asked Mbuvi to announce that all the church ladies were invited to our house Thursday at 4 for a Christmas Tea. OK, that was today. First, I was at the school, and Moses came to tell me there were women at the gate for me... for a tea party. In Swahili, hour 4 is our 10 am whereas our 4 pm is hour 10 -- confused? They were too. So I go home, make two big cakes, cut them into 15 pieces, and then, the rain started. Only if you've been here in Kenya during a rain will you appreciate how hard it is to walk in our particular kind of mud. I thought, "Oh, no. There won't be anyone for tea! Well, maybe 5 or 6." It continued to rain -- a lovely sound on our tin roof, and we really do need the rain. But my party..... Around 3 pm, I started making chai. I arranged chairs, etc. and I was ready, but not expecting many.


Well, by 4 pm, there were 33! I was thrilled! We prayed, and started the cake around. Then 5 more came. And another group, and another, and the rain keeps coming, and another 5. There are muddy shoes everywhere, I'm bringing out a pkg of cookies, making more chai, finding cups and chairs, and I stop counting after 50 women are in my house. I had no more milk or tea leaves for chai, no more food to offer, no more things we could sit on (Maureen even went home and brought all her chairs!) . And we were having fun!


One thing we did was share Christmas memories (around the small group of 50). As I listened to the women, they talked of sharing good food, special food like chapati and mandazi, and being with family and friends, and of going to church on Christmas eve. Not one mention of presents or busy schedules. I feel sorry for all of us with money -- we've been robbed.... in a very real way. There are certain advantages to poverty. We read Mt 2; Jesus' family sounds a lot like their economic situation -- and angels came for them.


Well, my guests left. The oldest woman, who had been a guest on Friend Sunday, gave me a hand woven basket; and I gave her a bag of our tomatoes and we were happy. We all sang "We wish you a merry christmas" I wish that for you all too!"

Thoughts of Asher

Tonight we ventured to the Lighting of the Green on Lipscomb University's campus. I was looking forward to this first Christmas event of the season and hoping the kids, well at least Asher would enjoy seeing the lights and hearing the music. As we settled in our spot to take in the festivities, Asher turns and says, "What are we doing here?"

Oh well, maybe next year he'll appreciate it as much as I do.
(He did enjoy the free cookies though!)
Picture from here.

Reading at Christmas Time

Asher received this book, Merry Christmas, A Storybook Collection, from his great-grandmother for Christmas last year. We have already been enjoying all three stories that are inside. I especially like the first story, Once There Was a Christmas Tree. It is such a sweet story about taking what you have and sharing with another. What a wonderful tale to share with your small child, especially when this season often turns into wanting things for yourself. Hope you can find this story to read to your child this season. You can find it at Amazon (as shown above) or you can borrow ours! :)

My Little Elf

As soon as the first box of Christmas ornaments was opened, Jonas decided that he wanted to help in the Christmas tree decorating as well. He would pull out the boxes and I would hang them on the tree.

I gave him our only knitted ornament and you can see him below trying to get it on the tree...ooops, didn't quite make it. I realized I only have two soft ornaments to hang at the bottom of my tree so the tree is a little bare at the bottom this year. Not going to risk the the breakables within a one year old's reach!

I am sure you all are wondering where David was in all of this. Do you see what's on the tv in the background....College Football....does that answer the question? :)

Making gifts

This year I have would really like to make some of my Christmas presents rather than buying them all. I just am tired of falling into the trap of buying things just to have a present in the gift exchange. I am hoping my homemade gifts will be somewhat more thoughtful and hopefully more appreciated.

I love these painted mugs shown above from Martha Stewart's Craft ideas. You can find the directions here. She shows not only these mugs but other painted china.