Christmas

Christmas day is only an hour away, and I haven't posted any pictures from the season. We've been too busy having Christmas fun! Here's a sampling of what we've been up to.

Picking out a Christmas tree


Decorating the tree


Visiting a live nativity


Visiting Santa


Riding the train at the mall


Baking cookies


Dressing up for Christmas Eve service


Falling asleep during church


Setting out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and the reindeer


Merry Christmas!

Operation Christmas Child

It's National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse! This is one of my favorite seasonal projects to get involved in. Landon helped us pick out the items to fill our boxes, and he had a great time placing the items in the boxes. It's not too late to fill your own box with small toys, toiletry items, and school supplies that will be distributed to a child in need. These boxes show children just how much God loves them. See the Operation Christmas Child website for info on how to pack a box and where to drop it off. Also, this year, if you make your $7 donation online (covers distribution costs), you'll be able to find out what country your shoebox ended up in!

Merry Christmas!

We've had a busy week, but it's been good. Here are a few of the many pictures we've taken over the last few days.

Christmas Lights

We drove around town last night and looked at Christmas lights. Landon loved it. Anytime we got to a stretch without any, he'd say, "I want more Christmas lights!" And whenever he saw lights, he'd announce that, too. We stayed out for about 45 minutes, and he would have gladly stayed out longer, but we'd driven on nearly every street in town.

Online Christmas Games

Landon and I played a few online Christmas games tonight. We decorated a Christmas tree, colored Christmas pictures, and decorated a snowman. Have fun!

Christmas Cookies

We had a very Christmasey night. We watched Mickey's Christmas Carol and Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too on t.v. Landon also got to help decorate Christmas cookies (and eat one, of course!). He also wore his Christmas jammies for the first time.



Darth Vader would like to wish you a Merry Christmas too.

(He was singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas while wearing the helmet, but we couldn't get the video camera out in time. Maybe next time.)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We had some time to kill at the mall today while waiting for my new glasses to be ready, so we decided to let Landon ride the train, then if he wanted, go see Santa. We didn't expect that he'd actually go up to him, since he's not usually much for strangers. Not only did he go up to Santa, but he even sat on his lap, talked to him (told him he wanted cars for Christmas), and smiled nicely for a picture. We were so proud of how friendly he was!


Also, here's tonight's easy craft project: we made a shaker instrument. I stapled two paper plates together to make a pocket, then Landon poured in dried beans, and I stapled it the rest of the way shut. He decorated it with Christmas stickers, then... Shake, shake, shake!

Putting the Star on the Tree

12/5/08

Visit from Santa

Landon and I finally made it to storytime at the library today. (We been trying for months. It's held once a month, and either I forget, or we go on the wrong day, or we show up on a day it's been canceled.) After the books were read, Santa stopped by for a visit with the kids. Landon had no interest in sitting on his lap, but he did shake his hand and tell him, "Bye," and "Merry Christmas."

O Christmas Tree

Tonight we visited a Christmas tree farm and picked out our tree. We like to go to farms where we can cut down a fresh tree. It didn't take us long to find one, and it cut down quite easily (unlike last year, which was quite a chore). We put it up as soon as we got home, and Landon got to add a few decorations before bed.

Christmas Time is Here!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're into the full Christmas swing of things. This weekend we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and we went with them to cut down a Christmas tree, then we helped them decorate it, too. We drove around and checked out several Christmas light displays, also; Landon's loving all the lights.

We've started decorating our own house, and he's very excited that we have lights on the outside of our house. Soon (probably tomorrow) we'll go get our own tree.

Tonight we started our Advent calendars. We have two this year. We saved one from last year; it's a chain of animals, and we add one animal each day. I also bought a new open-the-flap kind this year. Both of our calendars focus on various names for Jesus.

I got out our pile of Christmas books, and we started reading some of them today. I have a list of Christmas books we've enjoyed here, and I plan to add more soon as we discover new ones this year.

Festival of Trees

We recently visited a local Festival of Trees. After checking out all the decorated tree displays, we headed to the kiddie area. There, Landon stamped his hand print on a backpack and decorated a BIG cookie (he ate it over the course of three days).

Operation Christmas Child

We worked together to fill two shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child this week.

Here's the project description from the OCC website: "Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ."

Landon got really involved. He helped pick out the items for our boxes at the store and understood that we were buying them to give to other kids. (Some of the items we included were crayons, coloring books, stuffed animals, soap, washcloths, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and bubbles.) He helped pack the items into the shoeboxes and "signed his name" on a note that we included in each box.

I've been participating in OCC for a few years now and think it's a great project, especially for kids and families to participate in. If you're interested, now is the time to pack a shoebox. Next week (November 17-24) is National Collection Week. Visit the OCC website for packing instructions and to find a drop-off location near you.