We had a wonderful Christmas celebration and this year it was just a blast watching the kids open gifts. More importantly, it was a blast watching them grasp and understand the reason behind getting/giving gifts.
We had to wake Josiah up and it took him a long while to figure out what was going on. He perked up when he saw his new train stuff though.
Merry Christmas to everyone! I pray today is a day to celebrate the birth of Christ. God’s own sacrifice to give His Son to walk on earth.
We have been preparing for Christmas this year by celebrating Advent, reading Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide, and opening boxes to find out what God wants for Christmas. It’s been a blessing to hear the kids (especially those who are very into presents) inform us that it’s not about Santa or flying reindeer or gifts that the reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Jesus. They are listening!!
Yes, I made the girls outfits and they are quite adorable if I do say so myself. Lest you think we snap perfect pictures everytime…here’s proof that we don’t!
I’ll preface these videos by saying that while Liam’s 3 year old class was waiting to perform he was rough housing with the teacher’s younger daughter. She was used to it as she has two older brothers. He suddenly stopped, looked at her and said, “You’re a girl. I hug girls.” And then proceeded to give her a sweet hug. He’s a lover and loves to hug on other people, hence the video. I did not see any smooching and he said he didn’t kiss but he did give hugs and some quiet roars (at lease we couldn’t hear them).
Liam singing-the beginning from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.
Liam singing 1 from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.
Zoe’s Choir 09 from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.
Ace’s Choir Performance from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.
Listen closely and you’ll hear Josiah calling out, “Wee um!” He proceeded to call to Zoe and Ace too. We were sitting so far back that they couldn’t hear his frantic cries for waves. He loves his brothers and sister so much.
Ace and Liam chose the knight/dragon design and Josiah picked the…wait for it…any guesses??? Yes, yes, the train! He colored that thing so many colors and he concentrated so hard on it. I think he would have colored all night if we had let him. He let me help color his name, though. Ace and Liam did a great job on their own and their knights were colorful and complete.
It didn’t take much deliberation and it seems every year it takes less and less time. So, we picked out our tree, got popcorn and hot chocolate and sat around the fire. Now, our biggest blessing came as Mark worked with the Christmas tree people to get the tree on the van (an engineering genius if you ask me) and we sat around the fire waiting, munching, and spilling (there’s always a hot chocolate spill).
Zoe had a tough time when we first told them we were pregnant. She just wasn’t prepared for that. It broke my heart to see her so upset and I prayed for peace and excitement to grow. Now, she’s not upset and can’t wait until she can see pictures of the baby actually looking like a baby. However, I’ve also been praying for ways to show her what a blessing they all are to us, including this little one growing. God gave us two families that spoke to us while the tree was going on the van. Each one talked about how blessed we were and how much fun it had to be. Never once did either family mention how hard it must be or that I “had my hands full.” They seemed to be thoroughly excited to see a larger-than-normal family. And as we walked away, I quietly thanked God for giving her an opportunity to see that not all people think we’re weirdos!
The Christmas Story presented by That Price Family.
The Story of Christmas from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.
Singing for the staff at church…
Caroling from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.
We were able to celebrate Christmas this year with a bunch of our homeschool friends. I think the kids had a great time and I had less stress since Mark was there to help out!
Zoe has a 3rd cousin that is her age and Ace has one that is his age. Needless to say, they enjoyed themselves immensely with those cousins and their other 3rd cousins who are only slightly older.
