One of my favourite parts of being a mother is getting the Christmas tree all set up on Christmas Eve. I love imagining the kids' faces when they open presents that we have lovingly and carefully chosen for them (sometimes months before because of a sale). I want it to feel magical. I want their little hearts to remember that Christmas is magical. A babe, coming to His Earth to redeem His people, yet so frail and vulnerable. Since we were already thinking of our move back to America, we bought much fewer gifts. We got them a Wii and of course the trip to Hawaii. Not sure if they were more excited about the trip or riding on the Airbus A380 with Emirates.
For Advent this year the kids made notebooks. We went through a book by Marty Markowski and I supplemented with other favourite lessons and activities to round it out for a meaningful Advent season, although I did get a bit slack by the end. We attempted to light our candles regularly and squeeze in the lesson, even on a busy evening. The kids books were beautiful. I bough scrapbooking materials and cut outs that they used along with their own drawings.
