A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 24-learn a carol

"Like the wise men from the east, we too must travel a great distancein order to come unto Christ, the Light of the World. No matter--He waits for us "with open arms" (Mormon 6:17). May Christmas cause us deeper contemplation and deeper determination to complete that journey, the journey of journeys--in order to experience that resplendent rendezvous."
~Elder Neal A Maxwell, "The Christmas Scene," 12

Activity: Learn a Christmas hymn (or primary song) to sing as a family. My favorite Christmas primary Christmas song is "Stars Were Gleaming."

Scripture: On the eve of Christ’s birth, the prophet Nephi prayed in behalf of his people who were about to be slain by the wicked. Read the Lord’s response and the fulfillment of the prophet Samuel’s prophecy in 3 Nephi 1:9-22.

Luke 2:7, Matt 2:1-2

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 23-sandaled feet

"If we are to have the very best Christmas ever, we must listen for the sound of sandaled feet. We must reach out for the Carpenter’s hand. With every step we take in His footsteps, we abandon a doubt and gain a truth.

It was said of Jesus of Nazareth that He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”7 Do we have the determination to do likewise? One line of holy writ contains a tribute to our Lord and Savior, of whom it was said, He “went about doing good … ; for God was with him.”8

My prayer is that at this Christmas season and all the Christmastimes to come, we may follow in His footsteps. Then each Christmas will be the best Christmas ever."

LDS First Presidency Christmas Message, December 2008, found here.

Activity:

Scripture: Read Matthew’s account of the Savior’s birth in Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 21-forgive someone

Activity: Forgive and make amends with someone. Talk with your children about someone who might have recently hurt them--in ways small or large--and help them think how to make amends. Better yet, help them think of someone they have hurt, and how they can make amends.

"[The Savior] came into the world to be the Lamb of God, to pay the price of all of the sins of His Father’s children in mortality so that all might be forgiven. In the Christmas season we feel a greater desire to remember and ponder the Savior’s words. He warned us that we cannot be forgiven unless we forgive others (see Matthew 6:14–15). That is often hard to do, so you will need to pray for help. This help to forgive will come most often when you are allowed to see that you have given as much or more hurt than you have received.

When you act on that answer to your prayer for strength to forgive, you will feel a burden lifted from your shoulders. Carrying a grudge is a heavy burden. As you forgive, you will feel the joy of being forgiven. At this Christmastime you can give and receive the gift of forgiveness. The feeling of happiness that will come will be a glimpse of what we can feel at home together in the eternal home for which we yearn."

~From "Home for Christmas," by President Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, Dec. 2009, 2–7

Scripture: Read Luke’s account of the Savior’s birth and childhood in Luke 2

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 20-testimonies

Activity: Watch the above video clip and take turns bearing your testimonies to one another.

Scripture: Read about Mary’s and Elisabeth’s experiences before Christ’s birth in Luke 1.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 19-act of kindness

Activity: Sit down together with The Friend and do the "I Spy" activity, "In the Giving Spirit," page 20-21. (online version found HERE.) People in the picture are spreading Christmas cheer in many different ways. Can you find and circle each one? What other acts of kindness can you find?

Think of one act of kindness you can perform tomorrow.

Scripture: Read Mark’s account of the Savior’s baptism and ministry in Mark 1:1—2:13.

Matthew 7:12, 3 Nephi 14:12

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 18

"Manger Scene," Carl Bloch
My very favorite Christmas painting.

Activity: The Christmas Story picture strip, found here.

Make the craft, then as a parent or older sister or brother reads the verses of scripture, a younger child can show each picture. (See Luke 1:26–31; Luke 2:1–20; Matt. 2:1–12.) Or you can tell the story of Jesus Christ’s birth by looking at the pictures and telling the story in your own words.

Scripture: Read the Prophet Joseph Smith’s testimony of the Savior in Doctrine & Covenants 76:19-24, 40-42.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 17

"Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Friends are remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the 'Spirit of Christmas,' we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the 'Spirit of Christ.' "
~from the LDS First Presidency Christmas Message, December 2008, full message here.

Activity: Attend a live nativity together. If that isn't possible, make easy gingerbread houses.

Scripture: The Lamanite prophet Samuel prophesied to the wicked Nephites about Christ’s birth and death in Helaman 14.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 16-chenille snowflakes

Activity: Relax, slow down and enjoy some craft time with your children! Doing Christmas projects with my kids is my favorite thing to do in December. We love to bake cookies, decorate gingerbread houses, paint wooden reindeer with googly eyes, and on and on...Here is an easy, kid-friendly activity at Chocolate on My Cranium. My kids are going to love this!

Scripture: King Benjamin testified of the coming of the Savior in Mosiah 3:1-12, 20-21.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 15-carol & treat to the elderly

“True happiness comes only by making others happy—the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service. “It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring ‘peace on earth,’ because it means—good will toward all men.”
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals (1953), 551.

Activity: Take a Christmas treat to someone elderly in your neighborhood and sing a Christmas carol at the door. Better yet, go to a nearby retirement home! Call ahead and notify the front desk, then take some games to play with the elderly. They love the lively spirits of children and seem to like just watching kids in action.

Scripture: Nephi saw in vision the Savior’s birth and ministry before and after the Lord’s Crucifixion. Read Nephi’s account in 1 Nephi 11:9-33; 1 Nephi 12:4-8.

Blogging From Bed. Rated G.

(This post was begun Sunday night at midnight
and finished Monday morning at 10am.)

List-making in bed.

I am a compulsive listmaker. It probably goes beyond compulsive, actually. It's an obsessive-compulsive thing. I cannot go to bed without charting out the next day.

There is a lot on tomorrow's to-do list; most of it festive, but still. A lot. And I tend to pressure myself. I hate that trait about myself.

My sleeping pill just kicked in, so I'm thinking I'd better concentrate on filtering myself. I get a little spill-the-beansy when I'm falling into a drug-induced doze.

So--quick rundown of the day before I succumb to narcolepsy. I was up last night til 3:30am, then got up at 6:30am this morning. I cannot WAIT until we switch from 9am church to the 11am time. Church was good for me today, though. I left the house feeling groggy and came home happy.


Later, I woke up from a Rip Van Winkle-esque nap (2-4pm, woohoo!) to see Max traipsing up to his room with 3 cans of camoflauge spray paint & a ginormous roll of duct tape. NO idea what he was up to & I didn't even want to know. When I gently reminded (ha) him that spray painting only occurs on a tarp in the garage, he said, " I KNOW, Mom." Well alrighty.


We ate dinner & then watched Pres. Uchdorf's talk from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I love that man. I loved how he talked about being among those who are able to see the Savior. His comments on how we get so busy dealing with managing our lives that we do not make room for spiritual necessities....that gave me pause. (Watch the whole talk HERE.)

We plan to watch the rest of the devotional tomorrow for FHE/tomorrow's stocking advent activity. I am managing to do most of the Christ-Centered Christmas ideas from my blog but have ended up doing them all out of order, due to scheduling constraints. But I'm having a lot of fun doing all the small activities. Most are really easy to work into life.



Tonight some sneaky elves dropped this at my door! My kids ran to the window to try to catch the elves, but they were good--really good. Not a trace of them was seen! How did those elves know we LOVE pumpkin choc-chip bread?! (especially Isabelle) And this was GOOD. Really dense & moist. My kids attacked it. I am finding myself giddy to find out what happens on the second day of Christmas!

But even better than the treat was feeling like someone loves me enough to go to the effort of doing this! For me! Me.

Tender mercies from the Lord really do come through the hands of people, usually doing small for one another. I plan to remember how meaningful a small kindness is when someone is feeling kicked in the gut by life. (I actually feel more like life is a WWF wrestler who threw me to the ground & stomped on me, but I won't digress into that or my sleepy pill will have me blubbering like a drunk at the corner bar.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Note: I fell asleep at that point, phone in hand. So much for a coherent post.


- Posted using BlogPress from
my iPhone

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 14

"For Unto Us a Child is Born," George Frederic Handel, from "The Messiah."
Mormon Tabernacle Choir, First Presidency Christmas Devotional 2009

I can't stop listening to this piece.

Activity: Monday is Family Night! Chocolate on my Cranium does a weekly Family Home Evening post; here is a fabulous Christmas in the Book of Mormon lesson. It includes scriptures, pictures, and maps along with other materials.

Scripture: The prophet Isaiah foretold and testified of the Savior’s divine mission and birth in Isaiah 7:14-15; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 53.

[Note: From now until December 24th, the scripture will be taken from the "12 Reading Days of Christmas" portion of the above lesson.]

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 13

Activity: Read a Christmas story from the Friend or Ensign.

Quote: "As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always."
--Thomas S. Monson, "In Search of the Christmas Spirit," Ensign, Dec. 1987, 3

The decision between best & bester.

Tonight: All is calm, all is snowy-bright.

I get even more nocturnal than usual in December. I putter around the house after the kids are in bed and just soak up the quietness. It's so peaceful to be in a quiet, clean house. And this is the kind of night I love in the wintertime...snow outside, quiet inside. I love looking out the window late on a winter's night, when everyone in the world but me is asleep, and seeing snowfall.

Typical me. Flipflops outside in December.

So. I had planned to go wait in line--OUTSIDE--tonight to try and get standby tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. I was dying to go because David McCullough is a guest this year; what a treat that would be. But I opted to stay home and relax with my family. I just felt like I should be home with the kids. A choice of good/better/best. And bester.

This was my drive down the hill this morning on my way to Annette's. After getting my hair done by Annette for 12 years, it feels like Truvy's Hair Salon.

The toffee bribery got me a great color, but I'm not sure about the cut--mainly because I don't know what I want to do with my mop. I'm bored with my hair, but want to keep it long. So I didn't feel too different or too extra-fabulous after getting it cut. But at least I no longer have 3-inch black roots.

Sis & Mimi went sledding most of the day, then watched a movie at their friends' house (thanks,Christine!), then we went to the library, then a quick stop at walmart for cheater-frozen-skillet dinner, then home & watched "Miracle on 34th Street."


Max built an igloo on the back patio, cozied up in his room for a while, watched Jack for me for a long time while I took a long nap, helped Mike put Christmas lights on the entry (FINALLY), went to home depot with Mike, then watched "Miracle on the 34th Street" with us.

At one point during Igloo Construction, I looked out the window and saw this. Gave me a heart attack. He was just hollowing out his mound, but still. Boys.

Baby scruffled all morning, napped, scruffled all afternoon, stood at the back door watching Max build an igloo & laughing while Max threw snowballs at the window right at his face, went to the library, then watched 1/4 of "Miracle on 34th Street." He wouldn't settle down for bed until 8:30pm because he was so hyped up from being allowed to be part of movie night. His favorite part of movie night is running at the dvd player to push the power button, causing us to all jump off the couch and run after him before he turns the movie off. He thinks it's a big chase game. Not so relaxing.

And now it is 2:31am. Ugh. Church is at 9am tomorrow. I'm an idiot.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 12

Activity: Foster peace on earth by not quarreling with your family or friends all day.

Quote: “This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again. Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning-with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.” Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Dec 2002, 16

How to get a good cut & color, part I

Tonight I got the kids into bed after our ward Christmas party (advent activity this evening), and the flour flew. This countertop full of goodness has been waiting all week for me to dig in. I'm going to get my hair done tomorrow morning and couldn't show up at Annette's empty-handed. It's only logical that if I come bearing Season's Sugary Greetings, I will bribe my way to a sublime cut.

Do you see the gleam of Holiday Baking in my eye?

How sad is it that a good portion of my food storage is devoted to chocolate chips? I figure if a natural disaster hits, I will derive comfort in stirring my pot of melted chocolate and frosting a cake.

This photo was supposed to show the rather telling stockpile of chocolate chips and nuts. (Whatever will get a girl through food shortage, I tell you.) But I just think it's funny that my Diet Coke ended up in the photo. Next to a bottle of corn syrup. Basically, they are both the same thing. Except that one is delicious and is the nectar of life. (Also, it is a necessity for late-night baking.)

Ha! An entire pound.

I turned on a great movie for company. Notice Mimi's stars on the the post-it note. She's obsessed with practicing her stars--in permanent marker. I'll be lucky if I don't see one on the baby's forehead, in black permanent marker.


Essential for successful toffee-making: 1 magic spoon, which ONLY stirs toffee and has been seasoned with years of use.

After a long time of stirring, a sore wrist, half the movie of "Miracle on 34th Street," and possible onset of carpal-tunnel syndrome, this is what I ended up with. Then this.

I've been saving these formula canisters for A YEAR, waiting to pile Christmas treats into them.

I've been threatened with death sworn to secrecy if I reveal the toffee recipe, but if you email me your address, I'll send you some.

Get on the treadmill, in preparation. Remember that all that butter? (totally worth it.)

Tomorrow is Another Day. Channelling my inner Scarlett O'Hara.

I really shouldn't post at night, when I'm prone to discouragement. (I have felt down in the dumps lately, not my usual self.) I really wish my days were going as planned. But they are not, and I'm frustrated.

But Monday & Tuesday this week were good days. We did our Gingerpeeps on Monday night. And Tuesday night we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and assembled the little nativities from Tuesday's post. Well, Isabelle did hers with my help. She loves to do crafts. Mimi was too tired and Max was engrossed in the movie. They all really loved the movie, which surprised me a little, since it is so different from what they usually watch. But they were glued to it the entire time.

Isabelle's nativity, on her nightstand.

On Monday, Jack got out of bed with the cutest little bedhead ever. All morning, I kept walking by his high chair and burying my nose in those ruffled feathers.

Isabelle, home sick, wanted him to play near her while she lay on the couch. She entertained him off and on throughout the day.
He thought it was pretty funny to have his favorite blankie as a cape and walked around like this for almost an hour.

I'm still taking pictures, nearly every day, of Mimi's school hairdos.

Yesterday Jack helped me put away the dishes, piling everything in the silverware drawer. I love this stage; I have vivid memories of Mimi doing this same thing, 5 years ago. Sniffle.


Yesterday Mimi & I went to get new dance shoes; she sneaked & tried these toe shoes on. She was in HEAVEN.

Tonight Jack had a hard time going to sleep. Again. When will it end??? Ever since Thanksgiving, when he got so sick, he's been really hard to get down at night. He went right down at 6pm on Tuesday, lulling me into thinking he was back to his old self. But no. Wednesday night and tonight were terrible. Tonight, after he finally fell asleep, I peeked in on him and found this:
His pillow and all his blankies, tossed out of his crib.

And there he was, with only his favorite blankie. I guess he'd been searching through everything, gotten grouchy and thrown them out one by one until he found the right blanket. I wonder if that is all he wanted, all along?

A closeup of his round, delicious cheeks.

Isabelle made the cutest Baby Jesus & manger in Activity Days yesterday! It's my new favorite Christmas decoration.

And the best Good Mail I've ever gotten was left at my door today.
I really can't believe it. I started to cry when I opened the little envelope. To think that someone would be so generous to my family at this time of year, when everyone is feeling an economic pinch, is beyond belief. It's humbling.

Thank you, whomever you are, little Christmas Elf.
I love you.

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 11

Activity: Get cozy on the couch & read Christmas in the Trenches, by John McCutcheon. (This gorgeous book is worth buying and comes with a cd.)
Quote: “My brothers and sisters, let us bind up the wounds-oh, the many wounds that
have been caused by cutting words, by stubbornly cultivated grievances, by
scheming plans to ‘get even’ with those who may have wronged us. We all have
a little of this spirit of revenge in us. Fortunately, we all have the power
to rise above it, if we will ‘clothe [ourselves] with the bond of charity,
as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.’ (D&C
88:125.)” Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Jun 1991, 2

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 10-gift to Jesus

Activity: Read "A Gift for Jesus" in The Friend. Have every family member cut out a paper angel. Just as Anna did, in the story, write on the angel something that you can give Jesus. Hang it on the tree to remember what you said you would give, and try your best to do that thing every day.

Scripture: Mosiah 2:17


* Idea from The Friend, FHE Ideas, Dec 2009

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 9

My favorite arrangement of "Silent Night."
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional 2008.

Activity: Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional; you can watch it on video stream HERE.

Scripture:

A Christ-Centered Christmas, Day 8

Activity: One of my all-time favorite crafts, printed last year in The Friend--a darling nativity scene you print, cut, and assemble.

Find it here.

This is a miniature version of a simple cardstock nativity we had in my home growing up. My childhood Christmas memories will forever be associated with it.

Scripture: Luke 2:1-7