Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!!!

So what if I try to post an entry once a month? LOL!!! I tried to post once a week, I really did. The class I'm in however has a paper a week. But I did remember to try!

What do you think of our family picture? it amazes me that we somehow manage to get at least one group picture a year. This year, I was taking pictures of Matt and the kids, and he of me and the kids, when a kind couple asked if they could take one for all of us. YAY! :D
So... Christmas is coming! I love Christmas. And this year, I'm extra excited because Matt is not doing on-call over Christmas, like last year. (we hope) Last year was HORRIBLE! He started working on a problem on Christmas Eve EVE and was on that same issue for the next 3 days straight. We were so proud of how well our kids put up with the constant interruptions, the change in plans (he missed Christmas Eve Service with us), and the long blocks of time where everyone had to be quiet so he could either work on a call or try to sleep.

We're looking forward to a semi-normal holiday this year. I say it like that because even after being married 15 years, we don't know what a completely normal holiday is supposed to be like. Even then, we do have a few traditions I love, and it's time to start them. We have a standing law in our family (rule is to weak of a word... it's a law. :p). While we celebrate God all year, thankful for all that He has given us, we save Christmas and celebrating Christ's birth for the time after Thanksgiving. It all started with God sending His son, but being a Christian is about so much more than JUST Christ's birth and we personally think we snub everything else God gave us if we focus so much on just the one part of His magnificent gift.

The day after Thanksgiving, Sis and I pull out the Christmas movies and music. I love Charles Dickens's The Christmas Carol, and especially love to watch any movie variation of that story, so we look for it on the on-demand and bookmark it when we can. (I don't have any copies of it for my own. Not sure why. :p) I spent a lot of time in Europe growing up and Matt's grandma was German, so we include some European traditions in our "normal." One thing my family did growing up, and we do with our kids, is St. Nicholas Day. In Holland, St. Nicholas fills children's shoes left outside their door on the night of December 5th with treats. Another tradition we've both kept is an Advent Calender. The first Christmas Matt and I spent together (our first Christmas, he was in Korea, so it was our second one), his grandma gave us one, and we've kept it a yearly tradition. In the past ours have always had chocolate behind each door, but this year, if I can find one in my budget before we get to far into December... we're gonna have a Lego one! :D Growing up, December 6th was the official day for decorating, and that's another tradition of my family's that Matt and I have carried over. Oh, and there's the lights! He talks about driving around after visiting The Living Nativity at his parents' church when he was younger and my dad used to drive us around after Christmas Eve service. We made a compromise and drive around during the kid's winter break from school.

Sounds like a lot, but they're all so little, sometimes I feel like we hardly celebrate at all and that's a shame. We're all looking forward to attending services this year together, something we've missed for the last 6 because Matt was working. We also really hope to add more family into our "normal" now that Matt doesn't work nights anymore. It's the one thing I missed experiencing growing up, and the one part Matt misses about his traditions growing up.

OK, so enough babbling on my end. Any ideas for traditions we can build?

SMOOCHIES YA'LL!!!!