Day Six: Art and Gifts

My art teacher is a lovely lady from my church who is amazingly talented 

and so generous with her time.

She pours of herself into me and encourages me tremendously.

She is a gift to me.

 Speaking of gifts,

Grandma brought coats for everyone!

We are ready to go sledding, snowshoeing, skiing - 

ready for any of the winter activities that Colorado has to offer!

Day Six...waiting in eager anticipation for Grandma to arrive.

Lots of hugs and exclamations!

Art class for me while the kids tried to beat Grandma in Sequence.

It's their favorite game to play together.

The evening wrapped up with cozy time chatting after dinner.

Day Five: Preparation and Practice

We have a special guest arriving on Thursday.

Grandma is flying in for an early holiday visit and to see her granddaughter's recital.

We spent last winter with her and miss her tremendously.

Grandma lives across the bridge from NYC, and the we enjoyed numerous adventures there!

Today was a quiet day of preparation for her visit and rest.

The evening had us going different directions -

Barnabas had a swim class and practice for the Christmas play at church.

Mireille had tech rehearsals for her recital.

 Here are pictures from my baby girl's first recital when she was five.

 I just started a new painting of the her in the picture above.  

My beautiful butterfly.

It's important to take time for rest.

To refuel in order to finish strong.

(This is my precious Barnaboo at age four.  He was dressed as a football superhero,

a combination of his favorite things.  He took this race very seriously.)

Day Four: Elf Hunting, Cookies and Conversation

This was posted on Facebook yesterday and described my sentiments exactly:

"I'm trying to be Fabulous today,

but I'm exhausted from being 

so freakin' Fabulous yesterday!"

So I'm a little late with this blog post...apologies :-)

Day Four of our month long adventure found us running an errand in Boulder.

I have a love-hate relationship with that place -

I love it because it's funky, and I hate it because it's funky.

It's the combination of hippie culture mixed with wealth and privilege.

Lots of cool shops and events, people-who-honk-incessantly-when-you-don't-do 

what-they-think-you-should-do-at-the-moment-they-think-you-should.

It's artsy and liberating but also leans way over the edge at times.

After our errand, we decided to go into Whole Foods for lunch.  

This sign immediately grabbed our attention.  

(One think you should know about us is that we love scavenger hunts.  In fact, we won 1st place at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Scavenger Hunt a few years ago, dressed as pirates.  

Here's the link to a Youtube video of the event...we start showing up at 30 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R1lVOMvSM4  

Ever ready for action, the Elf Hunting crew gathered their materials and went off to search.

Aha!  Found one!

 And another hiding out in the Deli section.  

There were some lovely Whole Foods employees who made our time there enjoyable.  

One lady kept checking up on the kids to make sure they were finding the elves,

and the lady at the Deli counter offered them samples of anything they wanted to try.

That made up for the number of shoppers who almost rammed into us with their carts and behaved so snooty in the store.  

 Barnabas suggested that we grab some bread and cheese for lunch -

very European!  So we did.

Crusty Ciabatta Bread with Gouda Cheese and Irish Butter

 Cheddar bunnies and natural soda.  A special treat.

The munchkin had his last swim class in the afternoon.

  As cute as the games are, I think we're going to avoid classes with animal names in the future.

I need him to know how to swim!
And I'm not so keen about the two little girls who chased him around the whole time.
Back off, girlies!

Our Rec Center is an awesome facilitiy including a large shallow area and slide for little ones,

two indoor slides, a lazy river with big tubes to float around on (my favorite), 

a hot tub, steam room and sauna.  

 Day Four concluded with the celebration of National Cookie Day - 

we sat around the kitchen table chatting while munching on Oatmeal Scotchies, White Chocolate Chip Macadamia and Chocolate-Caramel Turtle Cookies.
A delicious way to end the day.   

Day Three: Brotherly Love and Gingerbread Houses

A life lesson we've been pushing, insisting upon, fussing about, emphasizing with the kids is family loyalty. God chose each child to be born into this family, and they are each a gift and a blessing.  

I recall too many incidents in my growing up years of sibling battles that were never resolved and the distrust and distance that has carried over into adulthood. I want my children to remain close, to have one another's backs and that their families when they are grown would be close. I believe we have to be intentional about this and not dismiss squabbles and mean behaviors as "sibling rivalry." We have been teaching the kids that love, patience, attitudes of the heart, character, etc. are developed at home - though it may seem easier to be kind to a friend than a sibling, eventually any behaviors that we exercise consistently will manifest outside of the home. It takes self-control and choosing to do right over what we feel, especially at home!  

Today, on Day Three of the 25 Days, we had back-to-back swim classes. The boys started out playing well while waiting for their sister's class to end...then started the downward slide into teasing and frustrating one another. Weary, so very very weary, of lecturing, hushing and getting riled up myself, I pulled out my camera phone.  And asked them to show me love.  It worked.  They started giggling.  hugging. tickling and smiling at each other.  loving.  Thank You, Lord.       

After swim classes, we dashed over to our awesome public library for a Gingerbread House Making Party. They have fantastic programs throughout the year, and we have gotten to know the librarians and several other families that are "regulars."  

Who can pass up an opportunity for messy fun, especially when it's not at my own house??? The children have chipmunk cheeks in their pics because of the candy canes and peppermints that somehow bypassed the houses into their mouths. I had a wipe in one hand and my phone in the other, trying desperately to not get frosting on myself while capturing their gorgeous creations.  I'm realizing this Christmas season that I really enjoy the simple. Though glitz and glam are wonderful, they often add an element of stress to me.  Getting back to the heart of this season has been life-altering, even three days in.  And the kids even told me on the drive home that they think they want to keep the 25 Days of Christmas tradition going.  We'll talk about it once Christmas Day arrives and see what has happened in all of our hearts.

Day Two: Church, Football & Shopping Surprises!

The giving spirit of Christmas must have nestled into the hearts of my precious ones a little bit.  My older son, Barnabas, used the rewards he's earned in church to buy a journal for his sister and a Matchbox car for his little brother who adores cars.  Melts my heart!

After service, we went to see the final football game of the season - Sean stepped in to be a coach to help a friend and has faithfully poured into these 4th-5th graders, even though our son didn't play this Fall.  Barnabas did go to practices to help the team prepare for their weekly games and enjoyed cheering them on - what a good sport!  

My daughter, Mireille, has been saving her allowance for months in order to get an American Girl doll.  She faced temptation every time we went to the store but overcame it by reminding herself of her bigger goal.  A few weeks ago, she stepped up in a huge way at home to help me.  She worked diligently and with a great attitude to the end, and we decided to make up the difference for her doll.  

She tried to be patient, since we weren't sure when we'd be able to drive to the store in Denver.  With a busy week ahead, we decided to make Day Two of the 25 Days of Christmas a Surprise Shopping Day.  I was inspired by "Elf" and asked the kids to keep going around and around in the revolving door - silly fun!

The guys were such awesome troopers for hanging out in the store while Mireille tried to decide what outfit or accessory she wanted to get for her doll, Caroline.  Thank God that the store in Denver is a lot smaller and less crowded than the one in NYC.  We visited it twice last year, and it was always packed!

With the decision made and the doll purchased, we decided to walk around the lovely Park Meadows shopping center.  But first, a photo op.  

A store that the boys can get excited about, hurray!  We discovered recently that the kids play really well together with Legos.   

 It's something that the girl, the boy and the little one can enjoy together.  And they share.  And help each other build.  And laugh together.  Peacefully.  For hours.  I think I love Legos.

Ikea happens to be down the road from this shopping center, so the kids "allowed" us some of our own happy time wandering around the store.  After we exhausted ourselves in that massive store, we grabbed a quick bite and made the long trek back home.  Day Two was all about family time - surprising Dad by showing up at the game, rewarding the princess for her hard work, and blessing the boys with fun inside the Lego store.  

(BTW, I did try another "Elf" inspiration by attempting the splits as we headed up the escalator like he did in the movie.  I'm not that limber, nor was my stunt double available.)    

Day One: Holiday Festival

Look who we ran into while waiting for a horse & carriage ride!

There's a groovy Work-Play Community in our town with bright colored, ultra-modern houses with chic restaurants and shops sprinkled throughout that was hosting a Holiday Festival along with a 5k Run-Walk to raise funds for a Homeless Outreach. We arrived just in time to cheer for the participants while waiting in line for a carriage ride.  Suddenly, Santa popped out of a store to invite the kids in for a free photo.  My kids looked genuinely puzzled when he asked them what they wanted him to bring them for Christmas...though they're familiar with Santa Claus, we'd never introduced the idea that he really brought presents for kids.  So they smiled and thanked him and waited excitedly for their turn on the carriage ride.

The carriage driver was super friendly and told us about other neat Holiday happenings in Ft. Collins, which is about 45 minutes north of us.  In fact, he gave us a lead on a place to ride a vintage sleigh!  The kids and I waved to people sitting in restaurants and on their balconies as we passed by.

Though the crowd waiting for a ride was long, our driver quickly jumped out and offered to take a picture of the whole family at the end of the ride.  

We walked over to the park in the middle of the neighborhood and listened while the runners received their awards.  There were tables offering free food and hot drinks - only in Colorado do you get served Bhakti Chai instead of hot chocolate at a Holiday Festival!

Day One of the 25 days wrapped up with dinner at home and the movie "Elf."  We let the kids stay up an hour past their bedtime to play with Legos, since they were all getting along so well.

25 Days of Christmas

Our family is doing something NEW this year.  

We're calling it "25 Days of Christmas"

and are planning a family activity every day from December 1-25.

Wanting to EXPERIENCE Christmas the whole season,

especially the presence of the One Who is our greatest Gift,

we are choosing this in lieu of presents.

Holiday Festivals.  Performances. Christmas Movie Nights.

A Sleigh Ride.  Making Gingerbread Houses.

Lots of fun things but also outreach activities

such as making giveaway bags with practical items for the homeless

and blessing others throughout this season.

I'll post pictures of our activities each day!