READING: 10 Great Christmas Storybooks

I had Keeks pick out her 10 favorite Christmas storybooks. We have well over 30, so it was quite an accomplishment to narrow it down to 10. In no particular order:

1) A Winter's Tale by Robert Sabuda

If you haven't discovered Robert Sabuda yet, you are missing out. I have started collecting his books because I find them so magical. He creates the ULTIMATE pop up books. Truly spectacular. If your little ones don't treat their books well, this is not the book for you.

2) The Little Drummer Mouse by Mercer Mayer

If you love the Little Critter series you will enjoy this one. It shares the story of Jesus birth from the small perspective of a little mouse. Very sweet and the illustrations are gorgeous.

3) Moon and Star by Robin Muller

A sweet story about a toyshop dog named Moon who secretly loves a small china cat with a shining star on it's face, called Star. He believes that because he loves Star the most it will be his gift on Christmas morning, but the little china toy is sold and Moon is heartbroken... The pictures are lovely and big and the story is heartwarming.

4) The First Night by B.G Hennessy

paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

In a warm dark stable something special happened. A very simple story with lovely images.

5) Dear Santa - The Letters of James B. Dobbins

Compiled by Bill Harley Pictures drawn by R. W. Alley

A hilarious series of letters to Santa follows Jimmy's experience one Christmas.

6) A Star for Christmas by Trisha Romance

Clearly the pictures are pretty spectacular in this one. It's the story of a reindeer named Little Star who befriends a gentle old carpenter. A lovely story about friendship and service.

7) The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

Illustrated by Jean Hirashima

There are countless versions of this story and really it comes down to illustration...and we love this version.

8) The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler

Illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

A team effort ensues as Little Nell and her friends from the BIG snowy woods build the ultimate snowman.

9) Christmas Magic by Michael Garland

If you haven't discovered Michael Garland yet, you are in for a treat. His books are wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated. Here's a description for Library Weekly:
10) How Santa Works by Alan Snow
A really fun, comic style depiction of everything Santa, if you've wondered about it, this book covers it. There are so many detailed and multiple story lines in this one, that you always discover something new when you revisit it.

DOING: What makes it Christmas

Yes, more brainstorming ideas for the Advent'ing season. I think doing is really what makes Christmas so special. Doing things with those we love. There are endless jobs that need to be done at Christmas time, on top of the regular duties of life, but they really don't have to boring and ordinary, here are a few ideas that have to be done anyway and might as well be made special:

Christmas Shopping Dates

We each take Kia on a "shopping date" before Christmas, where she can purchase items with us and we can enjoy some time together. We usually incorporate a little lunch date in our outing and make a whole afternoon of it. I think this is a great idea for couples as well, get a babysitter or book some time off while the kids are in school to meet and do some shopping together for the family.

Decorating

Get everyone involved in Christmas by booking time to decorate together. Save little Christmas goodies for the kids to put up in their bedroom, even if it's as simple as a string of lights. There is something magical about having a few Christmasey things in your bedroom.

Doing a Good Deed

Do errands for a aging neighbour, shovel snow of your neighbors sidewalk, invite some kids in the neighbourhood over to go sleigh riding or ice skating and give their parents some time to themselves.

Send a Christmas Card

Take the time to write a note on a Christmas card and send it. Nice things in the mail is a novelty these days!

Christmas Inspection

Set the timer for an hour and set everyone to work getting the house ready (yes, I mean cleaning) for Christmas, plan a fun reward for the end so everyone has something to work towards. Maybe a holiday lights drive, or an outing for hot chocolate and donuts, or even a night of games at home with the popcorn and a crackling fire will act as motivation.

Watching: Favorite Christmas Movies

Favorite Christmas Movies

from the perspective of Mom

Little Women

The 1994 version with Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder and Claire Danes is so great. Gotta love a young Christian Bale as Laurie.

Little Women

The 1949 version with Liz Taylor as Amy is a classic, but hard to find. I treasure my copy and watch it on the old VHS player every Christmas.

One Magic Christmas

Proof that Mary Steenburgen is in EVERYTHING. Such a sweet little story about appreciating what you have, especially when it doesn't seem that by the world's standards, you have enough.

The Nativity Story

This was a great movie to share with my family. It is a lovely movie that covers the biblical depiction of the birth of Christ. A must see for children 8+.

Elf

I channel my inner elf and eat nothing but candy as I watch this comedy every year.

"Watch out for the yellow ones, they don't stop!"

Favorite Christmas Movies

from the perspective of the younger one

Eloise at Christmastime

"I like how Eloise gives so many gifts and buys them herself.

Plus she lives in a cool hotel in New York city."

How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Grinch

Gotta feel bad for Max every single year, it's a tradition.

The Santa Clause 2

She likes them all but for some reason she said this one was her favorite.

The Polar Express

"A fun Christmas train trip with lots of adventures on the way."

Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

"They're just funny"

Baking - Brainstorming Ideas

I love to bake with the kidlet, but I realize that for many people having little helpers in the kitchen is akin to torture. So, here are my suggestions for baking with little people.

1) PRE-MAKE your favorite cookie dough without the kids. Yes, I know this is where important measuring skills are learned but this isn't about that. This is about Christmas and you having your wits about you to be in the moment and enjoy the process of cooking with your kids. Pre-made cookie dough means the kitchen can be tidied, and the energy focused on cause and effect. Scoop it, cook it, wait for it, eat it. The best parts in my book! Simplify it even more to just decorating sugar pre-made sugar cookies or make it a two day event, cook Friday evening, decorate Saturday afternoon.

2) Embrace the gingerbread house kit. They are a life saver and come from heaven above. We tend to still buy our own candy favorites, but I would never have the time or patience to cook the gingerbread house bits myself, who am I kidding? Kids just want to build it and decorate it, my daughter has never once felt cheated because it wasn't home baked.

3) Classics are best. I've tried dozens of Christmas cookie recipes, but truly feel like we only need our three favorites: thumbprint cookies, chewy ginger cookies, and oatmeal chocolate chip. Those three make at least one of us happy. Narrow down your need for treats and resist the urge to buy the new cookie mags every Christmas...because you probably already have the recipe for the ones you really like, you just need to make them.

4) Find one baking project that can also be used to make gifts. If you excel at making homemade apple pies, share the love and don't forget where I live! Caramel popcorn, caramels, peanut brittle, bread, chocolates and a plate of cookies is never a bad thing (note favorites named above).

Creating - Brainstorming Ideas

CREATING with Paper: There is no end to the projects possible with paper. From origami to scrapbooking there are entire corporations dedicated to the manipulation of paper and that works for me! Here are a few of our favorite simple projects.

• Homemade Christmas Tags - We all need them, and why not make a bunch of homemade one? Some shipping tags, stamps and ink would make this job a breeze! If you want some inspiration, check out Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas - warning they are labour intensive!
• Make paper chains out of vintage music or book paper.
• Try out my paper barn star tutorial.
• Sparkly paper houses are all the rage and I found a great tutorial for a church, storefront and a couple houses here at Country Home.

CREATING with Ribbon: I have a bit of ribbon fetish. It was born naturally out of a love for pretty things, then warped into a business venture and now, really has become an obsession.

• Make a ribbon tree.
• Make some ribbon key fobs - great little gifts and stocking stuffers also.
• Tie some extravagant bows. Here's a YouTube tutorial.
• Some simple ribbon bookmarks that are so very pretty and useful.

CREATING with Felt: I love felt and think it's a great medium for kids of all ages and those who love them. It's cheap, forgiving and colorful, what could be better!

• I could show you countless little holiday projects - but really if you're interested in doing some crafting with felt there is only one place to go...Felt-o-rama. It is the melting pot of all felt ideas on the web and it kicks hiney. Love these felt Christmas trees, this felt bow, for both clothes or presents, hip felt flowers, and this sweet little house ornament.

CREATING with Paint and Mixed Media: I think everyone should take the time to paint. You don't have to be a professional to enjoy it...do you cook supper? Are you a professional cook? Probably not, but you do it anyway...painting should be like that, yes? Below you will find a project near and dear to my heart.

• July at it's a work of art made this darling angel. Don't you love it? A little project like this would make a great gift for a music teacher or coach in your child's life. We're working on some angels of our own.
• Make a butterfly for the The Butterfly Project. The Holocaust Museum of Houston is collecting 1, 500,000 handmade butterflies in memory of the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust. All the dimension and mailing information can be found at the link above and butterflies will be accepted until June 30th, 2012. Here is the inspiration behind the exhibit:

The Butterfly
	The last, the very last, So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow. Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing against a white stone....

Such, such a yellow Is carried lightly ’way up high. It went away I’m sure because it wished to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here, Penned up inside this ghetto. But I have found what I love here. The dandelions call to me And the white chestnut branches in the court. Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one. Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942

Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921. Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942. Died in Aushchwitz on Sept. 29, 1944.

An inspiring video on the topic:

God bless us, everyone.

Advent'ING Day 5, 6 & 7

Day 5: Sunday

READING

A package of 4 mini Christmas books was waiting in her mailbox, the perfect size to take to church. I also began an ongoing project for our family - a gratitude journal for all of us to share things in over the next year. The idea for this was born from a post by Becky Higgins on her blog. She had created a gratitude poster on the wall, which I thought was brilliant, but opted to create a coffee table book instead.

I used the blank books from Draw your World (I may have ordered a bunch for my nieces and nephews for Christmas...SHhhhh), some stickers and a sharpie to write on the cover - and it was just that simple.

I hope that by next Thanksgiving we can have quite a few pages filled up and enjoy reviewing our little booklet together and count our blessings.

Day 6: Monday
GIVING
Yes, it is better to give than to receive especially when it comes with 10 timbits. If you note the tag on the box it also asks Kia to prepare her Christmas list. She literally spent a solid hour researching ideas on the internet for the people on her Christmas list. We're surprising her with some Christmas shopping money in the next day or so, so that little list will come in handy very soon.

Day 7: Tuesday
PLAYING

We are a family that enjoys playing board games together. We love our PS3, gameboys and what not, but I especially enjoy sitting with family to play a game that promotes communication, laughter and insights into one another's personalities. Last night we pulled out Boggle and Russ and Kia remembered why they don't like it...Mom's hard to beat! I love games like this and seem to enjoy finding words in jumbled up letters. They humored me though, and gave me a run for my money.
Since we play soooo many games, a new game is always a welcome gift around here, but I thought it was time we started our annual Christmas puzzle. I was under strict directions to purchase a puzzle no larger than 300 pieces, because although they enjoy puzzles, they don't adore puzzles and this is a good compromise. So let the puzzling begin!

Advent'ING Day 3&4

December 3rd and 4th

Watching and Doing

Combining two in one today, as Kia spent the evening with her friend Alex at Chucky Cheese, we missed out on the opportunity to "watch" something - instead we're going to be WATCHING the matinee of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (yay, finally!). As a fan of the books, it is hard for me to accept that I'm going to the movie with two people who don't even realize what the three remaining deathly hallows are...but I'll survive (btw...they are the invisibility cloak, the elderwand, and the stone in Marvolo's ring, which fatally wounded Dumbledore) sorry my nerd is showing.

The DOING portion of today is putting up the Christmas tree. I've gone on about how I'm not in the mood to decorate but I'm totally into Christmas, but I'll bite the bullet today and put that bad boy up, if for no other reason than to see the boxes go back in storage and out of the entrance way and front room, where they are currently obstructing movement rather nicely. Eating turtles chocolate, and listening to Christmas music while Russ watches and snoozes on the couch is the tradition. Bring on the tree!