Breaking The Silence

I'm breaking the blog silence with some Christmas pictures! These are in no particular order, and only show a handful of the many memories we made during our surprise visit to Minnesota.

With four of the five Gregerson siblings married, we are now a group of nine. I loved being all together on Christmas Day. Lots of noise, fun, and laughter ~

Calvin-turned-Mr. Incredible ~

Chloe Jo, one of my adorable nieces ~


A mass of knit stockings, stuffed full with 3M treasures ~

Some time with friends ~

A private Christmas concert (the musicians were exceedingly handsome!) ~

That's just a jumble of a few precious moments. And that shows nothing of all the wonderful time spent with grandparents, and with our friends Bob and Dottie, and sledding, and wrestling with uncles, and all the other Mr. Incredible poses, and my other adorable niece, and my sweet nephew....and a loooooooong trip home to Kentucky.

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Joy Of Every Longing Heart

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Born to set Thy people free

From our fears and sins release us

Let us find our rest in Thee

Israel's Strength and Consolation

Hope of all the earth Thou art

Dear Desire of every nation

Joy of every longing heart

Merry Christmas! We'll be back on the blog in a week or so!

~~~

Family Night: Homespun Christmas

Tonight we made popcorn garlands, sang Christmas carols, and had homemade hot cocoa.


Teddy and Calvin's contribution to the garland project? Eating popcorn and making a royal mess.


Teddy also put popcorn in his cocoa and told Ken it was marshmallows. Smart kid; he fooled his dad. Ken spooned it out and was about to eat it. "Hey!" Ken said, "That's not a marshmallow!" Teddy just giggled. How can a not-quite-two-year-old be such a trickster? Answer: He's Ken Schmidt's son.


The garlands are now adorned with Wraffia bows and hanging over the back doorway. They're pretty, in a Cabin Christmas sort of way. (Though I'm wondering how long I'll be able to stand the stale popcorn smell coming from that doorway. I have an overly sensitive sniffer.)


After advent readings tonight, we knelt together to pray. The boys have prayed for a teenage boy named Ben ever since they met him two months ago. Calvin prayed, "Dear God, thank you for Ben. Please anoint him." Okay. Prayer time then dissolved into giggles. Anoint him?? Hmmm....maybe that came from memorizing Psalm 23 as a family. I'm positive, though, that Calvin has no idea what "anoint" means!


The Christmas song that went along with tonight's reading was "We Three Kings." No sooner had Ken and I started singing, "We three kings of Orient are bearing gifts we traverse afar..." than the kids started galloping around the living room, down the hall, through the kitchen and back again.


Our family advent times this year lack a certain...shall we say...reverence. But we'll choose to savor these antic-filled Christmas moments while we still can.

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Baking...With Children

We baked Christmas Cookie #1 today: Peanut Butter Blossoms.

The boys' little friend, Jonathan, came over (and his mom, my friend Becky!) and we took on this little endeavor as a group. Peanut Butter Blossoms are good cookies to make with little ones. They can roll the dough in sugar ~

And smash the Hershey's kiss into the cookie (keyword: smash) ~

Even with all the Hershey's kisses that disappeared into little hoppers, we ended up with four dozen lovely (and delicious!) cookies ~

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Christmas Craft

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I said last year that I was going to use last year's Christmas cards to make crafts this season. I'm not much for crafts. But if they aren't too messy, don't take long, and involve little more than a scissors and a glue stick, I can do it!

So here are last year's cards, re-created:

This may not even qualify as a craft in your mind. It did, regardless, bring some Christmas cheer to our kitchen!

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Deck The Halls

Christmas should not eclipse Thanksgiving.

You know, "Jingle Bells" playing in the supermarket when you're shopping for your turkey dinner?

Thanksgiving is worth celebrating, a time to pause and give thanks to the Lord. And in our household, we enjoy Thanksgiving Day tremendously.

But once the last Thanksgiving dish is washed, I don't waste any time heralding the Christmas season!

Today was Deck The Halls day at our home. The Christmas bins came out of storage. Garlands and lights went up everywhere. The boys got out all their holiday books and toys.

Traditionally, we have Christmas music playing all day, but I can't find any of our holiday CD's. One of the hazards of moving twice in 18 months, I think....

Ken and I snuggled on the couch this evening and looked through all of the Christmas cards and family photos we received last year.

We are looking forward to a meaningful advent season. I'd like to fill it up with old traditions, but also add a few new ones.

So, tell me, friends, what are your families' best Christmas traditions? And, especially, traditions that center your hearts and minds on Jesus Christ?

~~~

Our Last Christmas Party of the Season

Last night, we had our Sunday school class over for a late Christmas/New Year's party. It's kind of fun to let the Christmas season linger on into January! We had a delicious potluck ham dinner. Between the dining room table at full length...


And a second dining table set up in the entry way...

We comfortably sat fifteen people for dinner! Here are a few pictures of our friends enjoying the fellowship in our home:

This group on the couch is watching the Packers game. What Christmas party is complete without football, right?




We also played a group game that revealed some little-known facts about one another. Every one's kiddos were with baby-sitters, so we all actually enjoyed some uninterrupted conversations. It was a fun night! And now, it's time for the Christmas decorations to come down.

Christmas Cards

We have enjoyed receiving Christmas cards and photos this year from family and friends new and old. A couple years ago, my cousins Jeff and Nancy had all their cards on one wall in their home. It looked fun and festive and really put the cards on display. So I stole their idea and created our own Christmas card wall.

As is our tradition, when I take down all our Christmas decorations (mid-January for me!), I will tuck all the Christmas cards from 2007 in one of the decoration boxes. Next year, when I decorate once again for Christmas, I'll take out the stack of 2007 cards and Ken and I will sit together and look through them once more. I plan to use the cards after that to make Christmas crafts with Calvin and Teddy.

Thank you, friends and family, for all the cards and photos! Can you spot yours in the photo?

Schmidt Family Christmas

We have had difficulty loading pictures onto our computer over the past couple weeks, but we finally found a solution. Now we can share some of our Christmas pictures! Above is a picture of our family in front of the church Christmas tree last Sunday morning. Our boys are in their adorable matching Christmas outfits from Grandma Patti.

Auntie Lyndsay sent the boys some Christmas pancake molds. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast Christmas "Eve" morning of snowflakes, elves, and snowmen. Calvin was tickled pink to be eating snowmen for breakfast. I think this will turn into a yearly tradition. Thank you Dan and Lyndsay!

This is after the Christmas Eve candlelight service. Sitting in church on Monday night made me think of last year's candlelight service in Minnesota: Holding my tiny, five-day-old Teddy Dean, marveling at his sweet face and tiny hands, while singing about Jesus' birth.

New toys!

Christmas Day at Scott and Marcie's house...The Kids' Table.

Christmas was fun and special this year. But it was different, as well. Family in Minnesota, Seattle, and Houston, we missed you!

Preschool Christmas Party

We had a fun time at the church Christmas party for families of preschoolers on Sunday night. As I thought, it was a riot. I played Christmas carols and sang to a fidgety group. The whole time, there was something of a low roar, as all the kids talked, screamed, cried, etc. Pastor Jeff read the Christmas story after that and remarked, "Tough crowd. Kind of like preaching at a nursing home." Very true. The kids enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies. Here is a picture of Calvin with his Sunday School teacher, Miss Becky.

Here are some of Calvin's friends from Sunday School, also enjoying decorating their cookies.

Pictures of Our New Home

Here are a few pictures of our new home, decorated for Christmas.

(This one was taken in November.)

Away In A Manger

A couple days ago, Calvin and I worked together to put out our nativity scene. I was so impressed with the care he was taking with each piece, and how interested he was with the whole thing. Since he so enjoyed it, I decided to take the risk of displaying it within reach. Here you can see both Calvin and Teddy examining the manger.


For an hour or more, Calvin played happily by the manger, looking at the baby Jesus and singing, "Away In A Manger." I was in the kitchen, smiling as I listened to him play in the other room. How precious, I thought.


Later in the day, Calvin was alone for a while as I tended to Teddy. I came into the living room to find the nativity pieces strewn about, and the manger grass and shrubs smashed into the carpet. My two-year-old was not so trustworthy after all.


The nativity is now safely displayed above the TV armoire. The three wise men journeying on camels toward Bethlehem are the only pieces within reach.


I guess any hands-on manger activity will need to wait for a couple years. For now, we will talk about the nativity and admire from a distance.

Christmas At Ninth & O Baptist

The past couple weeks have been an exciting time of attending Christmas events at our church, Ninth & O Baptist. Two weeks ago, the Sunday evening service was "Family Night and Christmas Cookies." All the children went to the worship service with their parents; there were no children's activities or nursery. The service was brief, with a few people sharing their faith stories of how God has worked in their lives, and the children's choirs singing. Afterwards, everyone mingled in the worship center, where tables of Christmas cookies were set out. My boys loved it...the cookies especially, but also playing with all the kids and hearing the music.

Then, last Friday night, our Sunday School class had a Christmas party at church with the senior adult class. We had a wonderful dinner. Calvin and Teddy each had two helpings of sweet potato casserole. It was nice to meet some more of the seniors at church. We've met so few at this point. The seniors doted on all the children in our group. Anyway, it was just a great night, tons of fun. Calvin made a new friend named Gracie; they chased one another around and fought "monsters" hiding around the Christmas tree.

On Sunday evening, the church's choir and orchestra performed a concert entitled, "Love's Pure Light." It was fabulous! If they had done the same concert three nights in a row, I would have been there every night. The songs and narrations helped me set my heart on Jesus during this Christmas season. They sang about Jesus being Emmanuel, God with us. Ever since the concert, I have been meditating on Emmanuel, God becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us.

This coming Sunday, we will attend yet another party at church, this time for all the families of preschoolers. That should be a riot. I will be leading the group in Christmas carols