Christmas Traditions?

As Asher is older and understanding and even asking questions about the way and why we do certain things, we're trying to be more intentional about making Christmas purposeful this year. More about Jesus. Less about the junk that is so easy to get caught up in among the hustle and bustle of this wondrous season.

I've started reading this book online, but it should be arriving to my front door any day now. I finally sucked it up and spent $10 of my amazon gift cards (that I redeemed with my Swagbucks) on it. It's been a great read so far. I knew it would be. Several of my friends have recommended it and I mean, John Piper's wife wrote it...so how much more convincing does a girl need?

We don't do Santa. I know. Some of you might be really mad at me right now. It's okay. If I had read that statement just a couple years ago, I would have been mad at me, too. I grew up LOVING Santa and stubbornly believing in him until the 8th grade. I know, ridiculous...but that's the truth. I also played dolls and "house" with my friend, Brittney until that year, too. I just made us very uncool, Brit. Sorry.

I am going to include an excerpt from Heather's (my beloved mentor) post here. The following conveys our personal conviction more eloquently than I ever could (Did I mention that these are our personal convictions? We don't think you're evil if you "do Santa". We won't judge you. Asher knows who Santa is...and that's okay with us...we just don't focus on him.)

From Heather:

There is so much about the Christmas story...so many absolutely true things from scripture...so many good, wondrous, mysterious, life-impacting, miraculous thoughts about Christmas right out of the Bible that we want to ingrain in the minds of our children during the holiday season that we simply don't have time to care about Santa, and quite frankly...the idea of Santa seems small and pales in comparison to everything else we want to bring to life for our children this Christmas.

We want their holiday season to be filled with longing...excitement and anticipation as we remember what it must have been like for the people of Israel to wait for the promised Messiah. We want to focus their hearts and minds on the fact that we are still waiting...right now, longing for the return of our King. He's coming back again!

We want the Christmas story and characters to come to life for them in all of its richness...the wise men, the shepherds...Mary, Joseph...the prophecies that were fulfilled, every last one of them and point them towards a faithful God who keeps His promises. He said He would come the first time and Christmas teaches us that God is faithful. Which means...He is going to come again.

We want to dive into scripture this month and learn about God's character...his love...his servant heart, and then ask the Lord to help us be more like Him.

A million incredible truths...so little time.

To be honest, we feel overwhelmed with how many truths we want to pass down to our kids (year round) but also every December. Trying to add in something like Santa seems silly to us. As a teacher, I find it harder to justify Santa. Our goal is to communicate to our kids during Christmas why we celebrate this holiday...what its true meaning is. As a teacher when I'm teaching anything else, I want my kids to succeed...to learn. I would never try to teach them something complex and add in elements that were not true, or distracted them from the real things I wanted them to know. I wouldn't waste time teaching them things that I was claiming were "unimportant" when there are important things that do need to be taught and taught well in order for them to grasp what I'm trying to teach.

We don't "do the Santa thing" but what I hope we are doing is creating memories in our children's hearts. I pray December is a special time for them that is filled with truth, family, friends...sitting around the fire listening to true stories of mystery, wonder, goodness and grace. I pray they look back and remember our home filled with friends, families, neighbors...light and life.

I pray they remember times in front of the fire, or snuggled up on the couch as we listen to the very breath of God read in our living room.

As if that wasn't long enough (and too beautifully written, might I add) for our little family blog, the entire post is here.

So...all of that to say...I am looking for traditions to implement into the Apel family.

Last year we celebrated advent-which is the 4 week period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christ! It encompasses both the arrival of the Christ child and His second glorious coming! Now celebrating advent was not "new" to me; I've celebrated it my whole life, growing up in the Lutheran church. What made celebrating advent completely different for me last year was that we intentionally prepared our hearts daily for the birth of Christ through Scripture readings, songs and prayer as a family.

Kendra (my dear friend and our pastor's wife) put together a great devotional that we'll be following this year. Go look at this post. (She has so many great ideas that I'm going to be stealing and will probably be sharing with your soon.) Originally, we were going to follow the same study the Hendrick's were following since they're our second home, but after comparing them both, we decided that the Duty's schedule was more suitable for our young kiddos. The Hendrick's have three older boys (plus a little guy McKlayne's age) so if you have school-aged children, you may want to check this one out. This one is GREAT.

Intrigued by the thought of doing an advent study, but don't know where to start? Once again, Heather has so gracefully communicated what we're all just figuring out. Read this and this. Don't I have some fabulous resources? By God's goodness, He lead us to a body of wise people that long to be refined by His Word and constantly challenge us to evaluate our life compared to Scripture. We're overwhelmingly thankful for all of the friends that He has given us.

Okay...so if you're still hanging in here...back to the intent of my post: I want to hear what traditions have been special for your family! Whether you're just beginning to implement them or you've grown up with them...please share!

Though we're not "doing Santa" we still want our kids to experience the anticipation, excitement, wonder, awe, and use their imagination and creativity for this most special time of the year as we celebrate our Savior. I found a cute idea (and now, of course, I cannot recall where I found it. I just know that I aimlessly happened upon it...it was a stranger's blog. Yes. I'm guilty of being one of those creepy lurkers.) that I knew my kids would LOVE!

And since I can't find it, I will just have to show you mine. The inspiration...with a few of my own spins:

Gather 25 children's Christmas books.

Wrap them.

And place them in a basket (that normally houses your library books) under your tree. Let the kids choose one book to unwrap and read each day in December.

But wait...there's more.

Designate the Christmas story for the "Do NOT open until Dec. 25" book. Yes, you can see through this paper. Charlie asked why I wrapped it like that. "Because we don't want this story to be kept a secret. It's the greatest story ever told. We want everyone to be able to know about it."

And how do you go about finding 25 non-Santa Christmas story titles, you ask? You use those resourceful friends.

Ones that you really know, like Kendra:

Read Christmas Books – books we like or that have been recommended to us:

Who is Coming to our House? By Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
B is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner
Alabaster Song by Max Lucado
One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
Jacob’s Gift by Max Lucado

And ones that you know but that don't know you, from blogland...this is her recommended book list.

I had about 8 that we already had or that I'd acquired over the year at various garage sales or thrift stores. Then I checked more out from the library. Who knew that we'd have such a fine selection? Plus, I have a few coming with that Noel Piper book from Amazon and even more that I have on reserve at the library.

I will be making a list of the ones that we really like that I can be on the lookout for at garage sales to add to our permanent collection....as I am hoping this will be a tradition that we continue for years to come!

I found this one last night. I may need to buy me...I mean, Asher an early Christmas gift. It just looks so cute:

Any cute books that you can either confirm from the list? Or one that you love that is not listed? I'd love to know some that you recommend!

And. Please. Give me any tradition ideas. I'd love to hear. I will be posting more of our plans shortly.

For Our Pretty Bird...

Finally. I'm getting to this post.

Finally. The bird mobile is done. I got to scratch it off of my "to do" a little over a month ago.

Charlie sent me this link last August (as in of '08) suggesting that I make one of these for McKlayne. I haven't been working on it since then...but it has been a while...on and off since the Spring, probably.

This is her bedding.

These are the Pottery Barn inspired canvases that Kyle, Charlie and I decoupaged the month before McKlayne was born:

Here are the birds that I sewed and stuffed in Design Sponge Fashion (thanks Mel and Blaire for your help along the way) :

The backs.

The breasts.

And here is the mobile. My sweet husband patiently spent half the time it took for me to make these bird to find the correct position for the birds to balance on the branches. Without him, the birds would be sitting defeated on a shelf in her room. My brain does not understand physics at all.

And while we're at it...the rest of her room:

I got these old flashcards (and the frames) at a garage sale. Picked out some of my favorite cards, put fabric behind them, and spray painted the frames. She loves books. I just wish there would have been a "dolls" flashcard to represent her two loves.

I got these vintage paper dolls and the frame at the Austin City-wide garage sale (Don't go there expecting "garage sale" prices or steals or you'll be disappointed. But there are still some great deals to be stumbled upon. I will definitely go back.)

Friday Funnies a little late but still to come!

Friday Funnies

Asher seems to be apologizing for a lot around here these days. It's always for things that he is truly sorry for. Sometimes, it's for sweet things like, "I'm sorry. I did not mean to step on your foot, Momma."

Other times it's for things like:

"I'm sorry that you have pimples back there, Momma" (referring to the tiny bumps on the back of my arm that I've loathed my entire life) "You're too pretty for that..."

Or like when McKlayne pooped in the bath tub, (for the 6th time in the last month) "I'm sorry that you pooped in the tub, Nayne. I forgive you."

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During Baking Day this week, Asher grabs the camera off the counter and starts taking pictures, while I'm busily at work mixing up some brown bread. A few minutes later he says, "I took a picture of your bottom, Momma. It's a cute one."

Friday Funnies

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Last Saturday night I was talking to my brother, Jordan, on the phone. I was asking him if he'd spend the night so that we could leave to go run (we had an 11 miler to do...we're training for the Austin marathon) the next morning while Asher and McKlayne were still sleeping. While talking to him, I said, "You can just take Asher's bed." (as in to sleep in...we put Asher in another portable bed in McKlayne's room.)

When I got off the phone, Asher was very upset...and he told me, "No, I don't want Jo to take my bed away. I won't have anywhere to sleep. How will I sleep without a bed? I want him to leave my bed here in my room."

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Proof that living in this town has brain-washed our child:

While we're driving around the mall parking lot, Asher points up towards this sign, and says,

"Look, Mommy, that mouse is saying Gig' em, Aggies!"

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We were jumping on the trampoline earlier this week, I double-bounced Asher and sent him flying, which knocked him down pretty hard. As I went over to help him up, he told me in a serious voice, "Hey, you better settle down, Mister!"

He left a boy and came back a MAN...

...Asher, that is. (Kirby is crying while I write this post.)

ASHER AND HIS SHOVEL

I had always thought about how fun it would be to take my son(s) camping someday. So when our new friends Joe and Isaac said they were going, Asher and I jumped at the chance. I had wondered when Asher was going to be old enough to sleep outside for a night. Isaac is almost a year younger than Asher. So I thought if they were willing to try it, we were definitely going.

For our first experimental camping trip, Joe and I decided that keeping it relatively close to home would be preferred. We ended up going to Hilltop Lakes just outside of Normangee. I wouldn't say that they were the nicest campgrounds that I've ever seen, but they were definitely adequate for the men. (And the community is pretty interesting with an airstrip, golf course, motel, restaurant, and small lakes.) I would recommend it.

We got there in the evening with enough time to let the boys run off some energy while we got a fire going for dinner. Here is Asher's fire. If you've read some of our recent posts, he has cultivated quite the imagination. While we were prepping the campfire, he kept asking me to come see his fire as he would throw sticks into this hole.

ASHER'S FIRE

Asher was a natural camper. When we would go on walks, I expected my "I don't like my hands dirty" boy to stick close and on the main trail. No way. He would just walk straight through the woods making his own trail. If he'd had a machete and backpack, I would never have seen him again. I honestly couldn't keep up as it was. The holes/trails he could fit through were about a quarter of the size that I could. And I found my self sprinting around a different way to head him off or pushing through all the brush.

Asher and Isaac played well. All they needed were a couple of shovels and the great outdoors and they were totally content. Asher repeatedly told me throughout the trip, "Daddy. Isaac is my friend."

As the Apels were in charge of the meals for the trip, I quickly realized how much I equate camping with eating junk food — smores, powdered donuts, etc. I think the healthiest thing we ate were the nitrate-free hot dogs. (Sorry, Terry-men. I'm pretty sure we'll rethink this next time.)

Isaac was a champ at tent-sleeping. Joe put him down and we never heard from him until the next morning. Asher was a little harder to convince. But I think it was a little more due to the excitement of a new adventure than being afraid or uncomfortable. (If we tell him that he's going to Seaworld or somewhere exciting the night before the trip, we can hear him talking in his room extremely late that night. We've all been there.)

JOE AND ISAAC

DADDY AND ASHER

We had a really great time camping and spending time with Joe and Isaac. We will definitely be doing this again. Who's coming with us?

Freezer Cooking Day

For the last 6 months, I've been designating (about) every other Monday as my "Baking Day." I'll bake enough muffins, quick breads or cereal bars to put in the freezer that will last us around 2-3 weeks. (recipes at the bottom of this post...since I'm always up for trying new recipes) This has been really helpful to me for snacks or a hurried breakfast (if we're trying to get out the door quickly for some reason) or even just a lazy-day breakfast when I don't want to scrub the eggs off my (used-to-be) non-stick pan. (This is absolutely the WORST part of making breakfast to me...does anybody else hate this?)

Anyway, Asher loves to help with this, while McKlayne pretty much just likes to taste-test.

Our church has a HUGE fellowship meal after our service on Sunday evenings...which is something that I LOVE but most Sundays it has stressed me out, trying to make a meal, plus a side dish or dessert, and get everyone dressed, ready, bags packed and out the door in time. So, about a month ago, my wise husband told me that he'd like for me to find a way to make Sundays more restful.

My solution?

Several weeks ago, Crystal, from MoneySavingMom inspired me to have a freezer cooking day...she is also who inspired me to have my very first baking day 6 months ago...and I am sharing this, in hopes, that maybe it will inspire you to make meal preparation easier on days that are busy or difficult!

Read up on how to package and freeze meals properly here. (This had been what kept me from attempting something like this in the past, but this lady gives great, easy-to-follow instructions!)
**Secret Ingredient to a successful Baking Day: If you have kids (and you live in a college town), get yourself a cute college girl, who wants to learn how to cook but can also step in to help with babies when needed.**

Madeline (my cute college girl)

Then, get all of your ingredients for each meal, along with the recipes (even if you have it memorized because when you have several different meals going at a time and if you're trying to double/triple recipes-it just gets CRAZY!) and group them (along with the pans or bags that you're freezing them in) together like so:

Then get to work...leaving your once clean kitchen, very messy...and rejoice as you think about all the hours that you're about to redeem since you're getting that kitchen REALLY messy ONE time rather than FOURTEEN!

In about 6-7 hours, we made 14 meals (not all pictured here):

-3 meals of Spaghetti Bake

-2 pans of Lasagna

-3 pans of King Ranch Chicken
-2 meals of Baked Ziti
-2 meals of Angie's Fideo
-1 meal of Sloppy Joe's (meat mixture)
-1 chicken pot pie

This has worked SO well for our family that I will probably do this every month. In two weeks, we've already eaten 4 of these meals, I'd designated 4 of these meals as New Life (our church) meals (2 of these down and 2 to go) and two families from our church have needed meals and I took them each one of these. So we've only got 4 left...but it's been such a blessing to be able to run to the freezer in the morning (or at about 4:00 in the afternoon in desperation) and pull out one of these ready-made meals. A stress free wife/Mommy=a MUCH less cranky and irritable wife/Mommy.

What I will do differently next time:

-Ask a friend or two if I can borrow at least one (maybe two) extra large pot(s) and several large bowls for mixing so that I can have several things going at once...this will speed up the process.

-Possibly brown the turkey/beef/sausage and boil the chicken the night before.

-Figure out a new way to cook the Baked Ziti. The noodles in the spaghetti and the lasagna (though, those were not cooked before I froze them) tasted fine! But, the penne pasta in the Ziti was a little too mushy. Suggestions? Would you barely cook them next time, since they'll freeze, thaw, and be cooked in the oven again?

-Experiment with different recipes to see how they freeze.

And if you only browse my blog to see my cute kids and you don't care what I have to say, I don't want to disappoint:

Asher grabs "his" apron every time we bake.

Guess what? As I was typing this post, I realized that Crystal is having a Two Day Freezer Cooking/Baking Day...starting today!

And if you have any tips or recipes that you know freeze well, PLEASE share! I'd love to hear!

Oh, yes, the recipes that I promised from Baking Days. I usually choose a couple from these depending on what ingredients I have:

Banana Bread (my sister gave me this recipe...I love this because it uses minimal ingredients, is simple and delicious!)

3/4 c. unsweet applesauce
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. grated carrots (optional)
1 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
*I sometimes I'll add choc. chips. (Just eyeball it.)

Preheat to 350. Spray 9 x 5 loaf pan w/ cooking spray.
In one bowl combine applesauce, sugar, and eggs; beat until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, soda, powder, and cinnamon. Add to batter and blend well.
Fold carrots and bananas (and choc. chips) into batter.
Pour batter into pan(s).Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until toothpick comes clean.

Brown Bread (This is what my Baking Day will consist of today...I plan on making MANY loaves..this is my kids all time favorite snack/breakfast bread...this recipe is an old family favorite.)

With my recipe, I bake them in a can in the oven. Just save an old, tall (family size) soup can or spaghetti sauce can and a big fat shorter can like what a can of whole tomatoes would come in. Two of either (or I use one of each) size will be enough for the recipe:
-Boil 1 and 1/2 cups water, put in 1 and 3/4 cups raisins, once it boils, remove from burner and let stand for 15 minutes. Put 2 teaspoons of baking soda in raisin mix.
-Beat together 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 egg. Then add raisin and water mixture. Add 3 cups flour.
-Pour batter into greased cans and stand them up in your oven. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Stonyfield Farm Strawberry Muffins (from the Stonyfield Farm yogurt carton)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 2 eggs 1 cup Stoynfield lowfat plain yogurt (I've used vanilla yogurt and omitted the tsp. of vanilla and did not taste the difference) 1/4 cup butter, room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup chopped strawberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 12 muffin tin or line it with paper baking cups. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar andbaking soda. In another bowl, stir together eggs, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla until blended. Toss the strawberries with the flour mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the flour is just moistened. The batter will be lumpy. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Yields 12 muffins. Jason's Deli's Gingerbread Muffins (Asher loves these!) I just googled it and tried this recipe one day...these are pretty close to the real thing! Cereal Bars I googled these, too, and got this recipe.

Remember this?

McKlayne would like me to note...

that she is not the only one who wakes up with beadhead in this house...

Yup. That's going to be a doozy to tame.

(And. Yes. He is long overdue for a haircut, too.)

Happy Halloween!

We love Halloween. See how much fun we had?

One little...

Two little...

Cute little indian...

Boy.

The Eagle that he was so proud of.

Precious.

First stop: Jin & Jisook's

How.

The Ash's

Aunt Ash.

Second stop: MammyOu's & Dane's

She caught on to trick-or-treating quite quickly...and L.O.V.E.D. it! She would walk all the way up to the door toting her bucket and either lift it up to the treater or set the bucket down at their feet and then just look up at them as if to say, "Now, it's your turn."

She had SO MUCH candy that she could barely carry her bucket. But, she did. And would not let it go.

Asher loved running from house to house.

And would say, "I'm a pirate indian!" or "I'm a ninja indian!" whenever he would see another child dressed up as a pirate or ninja and so on...

American Gothic throws a mad party.

Cute Black-Eyed-Peas.

Has-Been Hulk & The REAL Dr.'s Wife

The Flintstones.