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.


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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.)