home grown harts »

It’s hard to believe that we are already half-way through the Advent season, but true!  Although I really wanted to have all of our Christmas shopping completed before Advent even began (a goal for next year), I am really glad that have been able to slow down a bit and really contemplate what the season is all about.  A big part of that, for us, is our family traditions.

Although you don’t need children to have traditions, continuing our traditions with the purpose of passing them along, as well as embracing new traditions for the sake of childhood learning are pretty much my favorite thing about our family traditions.  If I would have been on the ball and spurred on by the spirit of sharing, I would have posted BEFORE Advent began, but alas, as I continue to write entry after entry in this season of life, we are cruising along at a speed that often leaves blogging time behind in the dust.

So, this Advent, we continued our long standing tradition of the Advent wreath…

it’s tiny and homemade, but it still works for us and fits perfectly on the table

I was so blessed to get a few great books through my Catholic women study group, we have been enjoying the readings nightly.  It just makes family dinner at the table a little more special when we get to light our candles and read a bit together.  I almost want to continue it in some form all year long!

We celebrated the feast day of Saint Nicholas this year on December 6th.  On the eve of his feast day, we sat down to dinner and lit our wreath candles and read stories about his life to the kids while they colored pictures of him.  We left our shoes out on the front porch that night in hopes that he would stop by and leave us some treats, and sure enough, look what we found in the morning!

shoes filled with oranges, candy canes and golden coins

This year we also did a few things differently with our nativity.  Starting with a new bed for baby Jesus made out of popsicle sticks and glue.  We placed a jar of “straw” nearby and when Asher is caught doing good deeds around the house, he is invited to add a bit of straw to the bed so that when his birthday arrives, Baby Jesus will have a nice, soft bed.  As he gets older we can start to use little bits of yellow paper that he can actually write his good deeds on.  I’ll take a moment to brag and say that so far, Baby Jesus’s bed is looking pretty comfy.  This year is also the first year that we have sent our “characters” out on real adventures.  Mary + Joseph, as well as the Wise Men are starting at far corners of the house, and slowly week by week, they are making their way towards Bethlehem.  It’s been fun with Asher and has truly brought more meaning to the whole “Christmas Story”.

Mary + Joseph starting their journey

kids nativity

Another new tradition that we have started this year is the Jesse Tree.  We improvised the tree part, instead of finding/making a traditional “branchy” bare tree, we just used Asher’s little Christmas tree that he has in his room.  I found some great ornaments online and after a quick project of cutting and attaching ribbon, we had TWO sets of ornaments (because we liked them both too much).  We have had so much fun reading a story from the bible each evening as we add the ornaments.

“symbol” ornaments along with “people” ornaments

It was freeing in a way, to let go of the desire to decorate solely for beauty, and to decorate with purpose this year.  I mean, the decorations are truly both symbolic and beautiful, but maybe not like Martha Stewart or Pottery Barn beautiful (which is how I like to envision the beauty inside my home looking like most of the time).  Actually, as much as I wish it, my house never has and most likely never will look like a page out of the Pottery Barn catalog, but a girl can dream.

My real dream is that these memories and traditions that we build with our children, especially during this special season of the year, will be remembered, cherished, and passed down by them to their own children.  They may not remember living in a “Martha Stewart perfect” house, but if they remember the beauty and love that these family traditions fill our home with, then I am truly happy.

Anyone else have traditions that they celebrate with?  We have a few more yet to occur, like baking with Nina or blowing out the candles on a birthday cake made for Baby Jesus on Christmas morning- looking forward to those!

We also picked out our beautiful fresh tree, brought it home and decorated it.  I love the way it smells in our house right now!  And I love that it is filled with a mixture of ornaments that have been handed down to us from my parents, some gifted to us over the years of our marriage so far, and some new ones that we picked out together as a family.  And we got a new star for the top this year!

It’s been nice to take decorating slowly this year- instead of having a huge Saturday decorating fest, we have been putting some garland up here, some lights up there, and slowing down to prepare for the celebration instead of feeling like we have done it all and are starting the party early.

We’ve been sticking to mostly online shopping as well, I’m just not brave enough to head out into the public domains and face the madness!

In other happenings, both kids have recently been diagnosed with some minor dental issues.  I never dreamed I would be facing cavities so early in motherhood (especially since we are great at teeth brushing!), but lo, I am afraid that the kids may have inherited my “high risk for cavity” teeth.  Poor baby had to have some work done on her top little teeth and due to the sedation required to do the work, it was a long and emotional morning for mama.  She bounced right back and is doing great now, but oh how I want to avoid ever having to do this again!

morning of dentist visit, recovering

brother taking care of her-in her big girl bed (which was my childhood bed)

We continue to look forward with eager hearts to Christmas!  How are you preparing right now?