Christmas Stockings 2011

With a varying Christmas schedule each year, we do our Christmas stockings at a different time each year. This year, we did them after lunch on the 24th. We had the whole morning and afternoon at home. In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve candlelight service.

The kids in front of their stockings. They could see a few of the items sticking out so they were anxious to open them.

Pulling out their first items. Ephraim was thrilled with his Extreme Dot to Dot book. Each picture has 500 to 1000 dots! He loves these!

The girls got two books, a few bracelets, a purse and two hair ties. The boys got a pair of pliers, a small Lego boat, a paddle ball and an educational card game on Space & Ocean Life.

All the kids got a DVD (Gigi, Strawberry Shortcake & Answers in Genesis Creatures), CD (Veggie Tales & Adventures in Odyssey), a toothbrush and a toy animal--horses & cattle.

Emmet took this picture of Seth and I waiting to open our stockings.

I think she loves her horse.

We had an enjoyable afternoon with their new items. The DVDs on nature from Answers in Genesis were great! So educational for kids and parents--and they all point to a Creator, not evolution or "billions of years ago."

The kids were also able to get outside to feed the cattle and enjoy the unseasonably warmish weather.

All I want for Christmas is to LOSE my front tooth . . .

We left for church and were just about one block away. Wait, I should back up and say that Emmet's prayer for the last few days has been "and please help my tooth come out on Christmas." He had a loose front tooth. So now we're close to church and Emmet says "Oh my, I think just lost my tooth."

"What?" I say.

Yes, it's true. He lost his tooth and wasn't sure where it was at. I give him a Kleenex for the blood and ask if he had been wiggling it. No, he had tried another method. He and Eliza were playing with a tape measure. Eliza was in the back with the tape measure and gave Emmet the end to let go and snap it back at her. And then Emmet got the bright idea to put the end in his mouth, open his mouth and let it snap out. Great. That did the trick. We have found his tooth and now he'll get to pick a special meal. (We don't do Santa or the Tooth Fairy).

Then it was time for our candlelight services. It kept our focus on the birth of Jesus--the whole reason we celebrate Christmas. And we sang all the favorite Christmas songs. Christmas isn't about the presents, the lights, the food, the tree. All the kids did great job holding their candle--nobody dripped wax and we didn't get any pigtails caught on fire.

After the service, it was time to go home and go to bed--a hard task for any child on Christmas Eve.

All through the house and no one was sleeping -- not even in the middle of the night. We had three kids up in the middle of the night, all for different reasons (scared, thirsty, potty break).

We are now ready for Christmas morning! May you all have time to stop and focus on why we celebrate this time of the year. Jesus came to earth, as a part of God's Master Plan to bring us a Savior.