Advent Chain Day 18--Visit a live Nativity

What does the chain say for today?


Tonight we took a journey to Bethlehem and on the way met King Herod, angels, shepherds and the 3 Wise Men. When we finally made it, we were told that there was no room at the Inn but that we could look in the stable for Mary, Joseph and their new little baby, Jesus. Sure enough, there they were, with the star right over head. A beautiful story brought to life.


We'll just warm our hands here.

We found the baby.

Advent Chain Day 17--Retell the Nativity Story

Advent Chain Day 16--Deliver goodies to the neighbors

While it was a whirlwind kind of day, we still were able to wrap up the cranberry walnut breads and take them to our neighbors. The Noodle enjoyed playing Santa!

Advent Chain Day 15--Read Christmas stories

Today was a little bittersweet since it was our last day of speech. Our therapist "DeeDee" has been great and the Noodle has always been excited to go and see her. There is no doubt that she is one of the reasons why the C.N. has made such progress. We will certainly miss her and all of her crazy antics!! Thanks for everything DeeDee :)


I'm sure if you are like me, many of the traditions that become incorporated into your family are variations on the ones that you participated in as a child. This is certainly the case for me and Christmas books. There is one in particular, Christmas at Bullerby by Astrid Lingrid, that holds a special place in my heart. We got the book while we were living in England and I have since looked for it here, but have been unable to find it. In a nutshell, it is about seven children who live in the small town of Bullerby, Sweden and how they get ready for Christmas. Some of you may be more familiar with the author's other famous character, Pipi Longstocking. Anyway, as we were reading it this morning in front of the tree and the Noodle was all snuggly and warm, I got tears in my eyes at the wonder of the situation--me holding the child that we had so desperately dreamed and prayed for. Christmas is such a wonderful time anyways, but especially when there is a young child to share it with. I just thank God once again for this wonderful little person who is now in our lives and who makes us smile each and every day. Here's to reading and all the memories books can conjure up!

Advent Chain Day 14--Take a walk around the neighborhood and look at lights

Ready to brave the drizzle and look at Christmas lights with Daddy.

Advent Chain 13--Make a "gingerbread" house

What do you do on a rainy, gray, gloomy Sunday? Stay indoors and make a "gingerbread" house! O.k. not actually a gingerbread house, but close enough. While The C.N. was waking up from her nap, the architect in the family got busy creating the structure of the house. Start with a couple of cardboard boxes and some packing tape and let your imagination run wild. By the time she was ready to participate, the "framing" had been done and the fun could really begin. At one point in time, she was shoveling in those little white chocolate disks as fast as she could...I shudder to think how much candy she consumed. Good thing she didn't like the Tw*zzlers or D*ots. By the time the peppermints were put into place she was more interested in helping open them then eating them (although I know one got sampled). While they were busy embellishing the house, I was making dinner--a winter warmer soup. Good thing it is nothing but vegetables! We'll see how it tastes since it is a new recipe--If it is good, I'll post it.


Can I interest you in a peppermint?Ta da...the finished product

Advent Chain Day 12--Deck the Halls!!

Fa la la la la...
Yeah! One of my favorite things to do...decorate the house and the tree. We always have had a real tree, but 2 years ago we were sick and tired of having dry needles by Christmas (even though we didn't ever put them up until the second weekend of December). Sooooo we bit the bullet and bought an artificial one at an after Christmas sale. Last year we ended up decorating around the same time in December, but it was easier just going up to the attic to get it down (I feel like a bit of a holiday slacker where this is concerned...Hollywood images fill my mind of going to a Christmas tree farm, cutting down that perfect tree, beautiful white flakes swirling around, all the while "White Christmas" is gently playing in the background...fade to black.....)Note: I've never cut my own tree down--we would always just go to a Christmas tree place where they already had them cut, so this is a totally romanticized idea. Annnnyway, I love to put up the tree and deck the halls. I love the soft glow from the mantle lights mixing with the tree lights while Handel's Messiah is quietly playing in the background. I love waking up each morning and turning the tree on. I love it all...until December 26. Then, for me, the beautiful sight becomes an unbelievable cluttered mish-mosh of stuff. By December 28th, I'm really ready to pack it all up and hopefully, if things aren't too crazy, everything gets packed away by the 30th thus leaving the house clean and tidy for the New Year. We'll see what happens this year......

The helpful elf
The excitement of a child--precious.
Studying each ornament.
Put it right...there!
Finishing off the night with some hot cocoa and The Night Before Christmas