Holidays

Celebrating holidays isn’t like it used to be.  We used to go to so many fall and winter events in Milwaukee, from Fall festivals and pumpkin patches to Christmas parades and Candy Cane Lane (several blocks of Christmas lights) just to name a few.  Really, we did a lot of activities with our friends in the fall and winter and had so much fun.  It’s not easy to think about these past events while casting aside the desire for what we can’t have.  Yet, it is nice to reflect upon all the good times we had and the good times we will have.

Annual family picture at Candy Cane Lane, December 5, 2014.

Now, we don’t have a lot of decorations nor events to go to which remind us that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.  In fact I didn’t really think about Thanksgiving until the week of.  On top of zero fall decorations and activities, I didn’t have the cool fall weather to warn me Thanksgiving was coming soon.  It was hotter than ever in November (yet thankfully no longer humid).

I don’t want Advent and Christmas to pass us by, so we are working hard making Advent and Christmas decorations.  Not that we let the other holidays pass us by.  The kids worked hard on their Luther’s seals for Reformation, pumpkins for Halloween, and turkeys for Thanksgiving.

The only part of the house that was decorated for fall was the kids' doors.  That's slowly changing for Advent and Christmas.  (The pictures on their doors are the kids with their Baptismal sponsors at this time last year.)

Now they’ve made an Advent wreath with candles and also ornaments for our Advent tree.  For that, we have an advent calendar with little books that the kids hang on the tree each night during evening prayers.  Yet to come in the next few weeks are a toilet paper roll nativity scene amongst many other crafts.

Right now, Sam is really into cutting and gluing things which is perfect for making decorations for our house (since we did not bring many at all).  We’ve gone through a lot of colored paper and are unfortunately running low.  Hopefully we have enough to make it through all our Christmas crafts.  Thankfully, Sam has learned to be resourceful and color a whole piece of white paper the color he needs for something, such as orange for pumpkins to put all around the house.  White paper is easy enough to find around here; bright colored paper not so much.

So, since we don’t have holiday events to go to (except for the Reformation Celebration at the CLET, which was very nice to have!), we are working hard to remember and celebrate holidays by doing lots of crafts.  Starting new traditions isn’t always easy, but can still be lots of fun.  Our kids aren't phased in the least.  Sam is the only one old enough to remember some of the things we did in Milwaukee thanks to lots of pictures, yet he really enjoys all the crafts now.

Blessings this Advent season as you, too, prepare for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.