Christmas Traditions - The Reason for the Season

I really try to downplay the commercial side of Christmas. We did some of the normal Christmas-y things, but I've been trying to talk to Emmett a lot about Baby Jesus and talk about the Christmas story. He has two nativity sets to play with, one magnet set on the fridge, and a sticker cling set on the dishwasher. We also made a little stained glass craft.

Here are some things we've clarified about the Christmas story:

- It's an angel, not a butterfly.
- It's not Baby Anna, it's Baby Jesus.
- Even though they're wearing crowns, they're supposed to be kings or wise men, not princesses.

I think we've made progress. One thing that did melt my heart was when he lined everyone up to see baby Jesus. It's amazing how often children end up teaching adults.

Siblings

I'm always amazed at how much Emmett loves Susie, and really hasn't ever been too jealous of her. He's so sweet with her. Just now, he sat down by her and said "I'll sing Susie a song!" I love watching them together, and I think they'll have so much fun once Susie can move around!

Christmas Traditions: A Visit with Santa

Santa made a stop at our library, so we went down to see him. They had cookies and milk for everyone, and the kids all got bells to ring as we sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Santa read "The Night Before Christmas" and then took pictures with everyone. Susie was perfect (of course), but E wouldn't get anywhere near him. And then when we left, he screamed "I want to sit on his laaaaaaaaaaaaaap!" So I still don't have a smiling picture of Emmett with Santa. Susie's is adorable!

Fun at Maw Maw's

There was one day that we stopped at Maw Maw's and Papa Steve came by too. Emmett had so much fun playing in the leaves and running around with the dogs. It was a perfect fall day!

Christmas Traditions - Decorations

We had fun getting out all the decorations, but we left a lot of the old, special ornaments in the box because of one adventurous toddler. We only lost one ornament in the process of decorating the tree!

Christmas Traditions - Lights

We had fun putting up "pretty lights," as Emmett calls them.He loved climbing the ladder with Daddy. This year has been so much fun, because everything about Christmas is so magical to Emmett!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. For the whole month we added things we are grateful for to our mantle. We also did some fun Thanksgiving activities.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family here in NC. Ryan took it on herself to help Emmett find trouble. He especially loved the game of throwing pennies down the stairs. (Another reason I'm so glad we don't have stairs!) He also played outside a lot with Papa Steve. (He calls him that because he looks so much like Papa, my dad!)