Dec 7 - We celebrated Grandpa Dee's birthday tonight. Every year Grandpa Dee reserves the Thanksgiving Point Trolley for the entire family and we drive through the lights. It is great fun and the kids love riding the 'bus' with their cousins.
Afterward, we visited the reindeer. Kate, of course, loved them. She kept saying, "cow, cow, cow." Yeah, teeny cows. Not quite, but that's okay. Every year I'm surprised at how small reindeer actually are.
We finished off the evening with cake and ice cream at the Fowler's. It was a really fun night. Happy Birthday, Grandpa Dee!
Dec 8 - Tonight we remembered our favorite Christmas memories. Gavin said his best Christmas was when we got the 4-wheelers. Enoch seconded that.
Dec 9 - Our family played a great game tonight, "The Present Game." I read about this in a magazine and thought it would be good for us. Everyone gets a gift bag and then are assigned a family member they are to 'shop' for during that round. We gave everyone about one minute to search the house and come up with a gift. Then, we gathered in the family room and exchanged gifts. The tricky part of the game is that the recipient of the gift has to express genuine appreciation and then say one nice thing about the gift.
We started out pretty tame - gits were books, favorite stuffed animals, etc. By the last round, we were having to say kind things about receiving smelly shoes, a cotton ball and a fork. It was very fun and funny and I'm hoping the kids learned something about giving and receiving gifts.
Dec 10 - Gavin's favorite holiday treat - Hot Chocolate Cream. It's quite good, actually. Homemade hot chocolate with frozen whipped cream dollops floating on top. We have it every year.
Dec 11 - Tonight we watched the holiday classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Great movie and a fun low-key night.
Dec 12 - Today we were suppose to go to Temple Square, but the thought of getting everyone bundled up, driving up there in the snow and then trying to keep track of everyone (I keep losing Enoch) by myself was too overwhelming (Greg was working, of course). We settled on staying home and being lazy. I've had a headache for about a month now, the kids are grumpy and missing Dad and we are pretty much in survival mode in our family. We had plans with friends, but they called this morning saying their kids were up all night with fevers, so we canceled our plans and stayed home. We needed a down day.
I had my Christmas epiphany today. I have it every year about the same time in December. Maybe it's because I'm extra stressed with Greg gone all the time, Gavin (and me!) working so hard in school and Kate and Enoch being pills, but this year, it really hit me hard and I'm determined to do something about it. I realized how stressed our family is by trying to do everything we think we should be doing, especially our daily traditions calendar. This isn't how I want Christmas in our home. I'm teaching my kids that Christmas is all about doing things, fun things. And while, all of those fun things have their place at Christmas, I don't want that to be our focus. Next year, we are doing things different and I'm going to try very hard not to feel guilty about cutting out some of the fun and replacing it with quiet time and service. Wish me luck and let me know how you balance the holiday fun with the true meaning of Christmas.
4 comments:
Tresa I'm sorry you have had a headache for so long and you are carrying the load by yourself since Greg's job is so demanding. I like your idea of doing christmas traditions but not feeling pressure to get them all done. You know how to manage things very well. No matter what you do or don't do your kids will still have a great christmas!!
Moderation in all things. No matter how much fun you have or don't have, your children will still have fun memories. We didn't do nearly as many fun things as you are, but I still think our Christmases were fun and memorable. I LOVE the idea of service and would be glad to help with something or work together with you on something. Pace yourself and realize that your children want a relaxed and fun Mom for Christmas. I wish I had been more fun and relaxed, too. We just do the best we can.
Looks like fun. I need to get your recipe for Chocolate Cream, it sounds yummy! I am also realizing the same thing you are. I think I'm going to adjust as well next year. We'll have to brainstorm together!!
I love that Kate's mug is as big as her face. hahaha :-)
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