The Holidays

Our intention during Advent and Christmas is to focus on why our family marks these celebrations. We try not to fill our days with hectic busyness, hours at the malls or making out lengthy lists of things we want, but be intentional about what we do and how we do it. We try to create space for hope, peace, joy and love. As well as family, fun and generosity.

To read about some of our holiday family traditions, go to these links:

Shoeboxes

St. Nicholas Day

Putting up our Tree on Santa Lucia Day

I share our traditions not to say our way is right or pass judgment on anyone who celebrates differently, but to encourage you to make the holidays about what you desire them to be--not about what consumerism and commercialism try to make them. May this season be meaningful for your family--not something you dread.

Picking Out Presents

Yesterday a local youth organization held their annual gift Children's Gift Sale. School children from the neighborhood needed their parents to pick up a ticket for them last week for $1. The kids can then go and pick out up to five presents for family members and friends. Businesses and neighbors donate generously supplying a wide array of gifts for the children to pick. Volunteers take the children and help them keep the receivers in mind as they look for the right presents. While the parents are waiting, we were entertained by a jazz band singing Christmas songs. The boys loved having an opportunity to get gifts for people. They wouldn't really be able to otherwise (though they are making a few handmade presents).

If you've got an organization near you that does something similar, help them out if you can. We focus a lot on things like Toys-for-Tots, which is a great program, but this helps teach children the joy of giving as well.

Neighborhood Holiday Festival

On Friday night we ventured up to check out Holiday on 44th, a neighborhood holiday festival on the far north side of Minneapolis. 44th Avenue was blocked off for a dozen blocks or so, between the high school on that road and the elementary school.

We were going to check it out last year, but it snowed a lot on that day and we decided not to leave the house. So this year, after my wife got home from school, we headed up to check things out. We ended up parking closer to the elementary school so we went there first. A magic show just finished, so we stayed for a delightful puppet show. It was quite hilarious. Several families from the boys' school were there, so it was nice to get to talk with some friends. There was ice carving outside as well as a fire pit for roasting marshmallows.

We ambled down the street, talking with other families as we went, enjoying being able to hold hands while the boys tromped through the snow.

The puppet show took up most of our time (which was fine...we didn't get there right when it started), so the only other thing we ended up doing was stopping in a business where the kids could make a bird feeder. They enjoyed it, and they came home with a nice feeder. They plan on hanging one in our yard and giving the other one to someone at Christmas.

There were several other activities going on. Many of the shops on the street had a sale at least, some had giveaways. There were pony rides, horse-drawn wagons, flame jugglers, carolers and a lot of other fun activities (most of which we didn't get to see this time). The high school had a craft/art/bake sale that I was told was pretty good (some friends scored some wild honey for a good price).

It was just a nice evening to get out and enjoy some neighborhood fun in a larger metro area. It didn't cost anything (though there would be opportunities to support some local businesses) and was a fun memory for the kids. Look for those fun little neighborhood/small town type of holiday events. They're simple, but enjoyable times.

Cookies

Over the past few weeks the boys and I made some cookies (those pictured are not the ones we made)--and Beth helped as well. We made several plates to give to some of our neighbors. It was one of those good bonding moments as we made the cookies, decorated and delivered them. Plus, they got to see the joy on people's faces as we delivered the plates. Even one of our neighbor kids wanted to help deliver them (though he stopped after we got to his house, because he's been eying up the cookies since we made them).

St. Nicholas Day

Yesterday was St. Nicholas Day. We have chosen to honor that day for gift giving over Christmas Day which we want to keep more focused on the birth of Jesus. St. Nicholas was known for his generous charity to others, so we follow suit by packing a shoe box filled with toys, crayons, toothbrushes and other items for children overseas who wouldn't receive gifts otherwise. Nils and I were able to deliver our boxes yesterday to the Operation Christmas Child dropsite in the Twin Cities. The boys also receive a present in honor of St. Nicholas, but we try to keep the main focus on giving rather than receiving.

Advent

Today marks the first day of Advent. I know it's not a big deal in all churches or families, but we're finding the importance of rhythms and celebrations in our children's spiritual development. I remember fondly as a child the candles being lit each Sunday by a family in our church congregation as one of the family members read the Scripture reading for the day.

I didn't prepare well for Advent this year. In the past we've had an Advent wreath with our own candles at home. We've had interactive Advent readings to do together as a family each evening. I know some families buy the advent calendars that have a little gift behind each day's window. I remember a homemade advent calendar when I was young--I think it just had something like lollipops tied to it. The calendar's aren't always very meaningful, though. Often they just add more sugar to a child's diet--or more trinkets that they probably don't need.

I was given a book a few years ago, Seeking the Christmas Lamb: Forty Days of Celebrating Christ's Sacrifice Through The Season by Tamara Buchan, that I may try and use this year. Most Christian bookstores will have some Advent devotionals. Check with your pastor or priest, too. If you want to make Advent more impactful and less about materialism, be sure to check out Advent Conspiracy. Their resources page has a download for a children's ministry curriculum.

One easy-to-access online resource we've used a few times is The Jesse Tree. It has short daily readings, a question for reflection, a prayer and a picture with which to make a mobile.

May you find something memorable and meaningful for your family.

Pumpkin Guts

My favorite part of Halloween is carving pumpkins. Not because of the carving itself, but because of pumpkin seeds. Honestly, the seeds are my favorite part (other than getting to rifle through my kids' candy stash). Roasted pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite snacks.

Thankfully, even though pumpkins aren't around for too long, squash seeds are just as delicious (and often it's far cheaper to purchase squash than pumpkins). If you haven't tried them yet, roast some seeds.

After scooping out your squash, pick out as much "guts" (pollination stems) as possible. Wash the seeds. I don't worry too much about getting them too clean--I figure extra squash on them is just extra nutrients. I only dry them through the colander; I don't worry about them being overly dry (though you can let them dry more if you want). Turn your oven on to 350 degrees (I've seen many different recipes with different temperature settings--I'm often baking the squash at the same time, so I just keep them at the same temperature). Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet. Spray them with cooking oil. Sprinkle salt and other seasonings on top (chili powder, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, etc.). Roast for about 15 minutes (I'm not positive on the time--just keep an eye on them. When they're turning brown, they're ready.

Labor Day

Labor Day is one of those holidays with little meaning to it. Basically it got on the calendar to appease the labor unions, as I understand it. Most of us observe it as "the end of summer": a chance to travel, get outdoors, bar-be-que or hang out with friends and neighbors. Often it's a last-bash-before-school-begins event, but we're already a week into school this year. For almost everyone it's a day off from work. Except stay-at-home parents, of course (unless your spouse is gifting you with a day to yourself, but it usually tends to be a family day).

An older gentleman asked me this weekend what I do. I told him that I'm home with my kids. He replied, "Oh, you're a babysitter." I didn't bother with trying to change that idea--he was from a different generation, and I doubted I would get too far.

We all know people who have that image of us. And well all know that there is so much more to being a stay-at-home parent. It's a thankless job that pays nothing. But there are great benefits.

So to all you who don't get a break from work today because you're with your kids, may your Labor Day be a memorable time with your family. Keep up the good work!

Quantity

It's getting be that the amounts of food I usually make for lunches isn't enough anymore. I don't have this problem with supper--I usually make it a larger meal so that we have leftovers, and I'm not as particular about catering supper to the boy's tastes as much. One can of spaghetti-o's isn't enough for Anders anymore--let alone for Nils to have some. I can't wait until they're teenagers (oops, was I being sarcastic?). At least they're eating. Maybe this will help me with portion control for myself a little more.

Merry Christmas!

May the gift of God's love be the greatest gift you receive, knowing He loves you as a perfect Heavenly Father (and covers up all the mistakes we make as earthly parents).

I hope you're able to develop wonderful Christmas traditions with your family as well. We're still working on them, but our morning consisted of eating Swedish pancakes, singing Christmas carols, reading the Christmas story and opening presents (yes, in that order--the kids were wonderful about waiting patiently).

Traditions

We put our Christmas tree up tonight. I think this is one of the earliest times we've done it before (we tend to put it up later and keep it up through at least the "twelve days of Christmas"). We're still developing those holiday traditions as our children are getting older. Everybody gets at least one Christmas ornament each year, so we each have a box with our own things to hang on the tree. I noticed tonight that our tree has become more about what the kids want to hang on it than anything else (back in the years before kids we'd occasionally do themes with the ornaments).

Another tradition we started tonight as well was doing Advent devotions together each night. We're using Jesse Tree family devotions again this year (some years we've had books with stickers to put on a scene each night; the Jesse Tree has an picture to print out and color and hang up as a mobile to go with each night's devotion).

We also finished getting all the gifts we needed to fill our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child today. We started doing this last year so the boys could see that it's more important to give to those who have nothing than to fill up their toy bins with more toys. We hope to be able to add some service projects to our Christmas routine at some point.

We try to build traditions that focus on the season--why we, as a family, celebrate Advent and Christmas. We do "fun" stuff, too--taking pajama rides to look at Christmas lights is a favorite, and making cookies for our neighbors--but through them all we try and remind the kids of what why we do all this. We try not to celebrate mindlessly, but to have some intent in all we do.

So what are some of your family's traditions?