Christmas 2011

Well, Christmas has come and gone already (wasn't December quick this year?), and I didn't have an opportunity to share much of our Christmas with you.  I guess we should catch up before the new year arrives, so here's what has been going on at our house...



Truth in the Tinsel: I mentioned in November that we were going to try an advent this year with the ebook Truth in the Tinsel.  The activities in this book are excellent and really focus on the importance of remembering that we don't just celebrate a baby Jesus on Christmas, but we celebrate the King who came to die for us. The girls and I did several of the crafts in the book, but we didn't get to do all of them. When it didn't get done, usually it was because I hadn't planned things ahead of time. Next year, I plan on fixing that by using the materials list and pre-packaging each day's supplies ahead of time. The other reason I didn't finish all of this book was because I didn't realize how much time our homeschool curriculum was going to spend on Jesus' birth. Usually our curriculum doesn't line up with specific holidays like that, but it did this year.

Pinterest: Okay, so if you haven't discovered Pinterest yet, check it out when you get a chance.  I used it this holiday season to find lots of yummy recipes, easy crafts for friends and family, and ways to jumpstart my resolutions for 2012. I love that it provides me an easy way to organize ideas so that I can easily find them again. 

Christmas: Although I was glad to avoid long car trips to the Midwest this year, it was sad not to see my family, especially since Jeff worked Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  However, we had a great Christmas at home and Skype helped us all connect by video even 800 miles away. The girls and I chatted with my parents, siblings, and even my little niece (who is adorable!).  We had church in the morning and just spent the afternoon relaxing.

One little bit of excitement was that the neighbor's dog had puppies on Christmas while I was puppy-sitting! I took Mikayla over the next day to see them and she is in LOVE!

I feel like this month has flown by at the speed of light and am looking forward to getting back into a routine again next week. I probably need the structure even more than my girls do!