Archive for the ‘christmas’ Category
Oh come let us adore Him!
So….
My very best intentions of turning this blog into an advent celebration extravaganza for the month of December went horribly horribly wrong. Though I did not post about it here, we *have* had a delightful month of reading scriptures and learning about the prophecies of the Messiah.
The probability factor alone is compelling enough to get one to investigate the claims of Jesus.
The Bible said that he would be born of a virgin, would be born in Bethlehem, that He would be called a Nazarene and that He would come out of Egypt. It foretold that he would be worshiped by Kings who would come on camels and give gifts of Gold and Frankincense. All of those things were prophesied in the Old Testament and came to pass when Jesus was born. (These are just the prophecies about his BIRTH. The ones about his life, death and resurrection are more numerous and came to pass as well. And the most exciting part? The prophecies about His glorious reign are more numerous!)
We have hope and peace, we know love and joy because of His birth (and ultimately His death and resurrection.) The season of advent is a wonderful opportunity for our family to spend an entire month being deliberate about our remembrance and celebration of God’s gift.
Yes, I know, Christmas is a conglomeration of a pagan and a Christian Holiday. It is a celebration that was superimposed over an old pagan tradition in an attempt to “Christianize” it. Yes, I know that Jesus probably was not born in December and that the wise men did not show up right after Mary delivered Him. I do know, however, that His story is for all the ages. I know that God was made into flesh to dwell among us.
Along with our nightly advent devotions, we have watched the Nativity Story several times. With each viewing, I am struck by the “realness” of it all. Though we do not know the exact details of some things, the intricacies woven into the storyline are beautiful. (Just a few examples: Joseph buys back – redeems – a donkey for Mary’s father after it had been taken to pay his taxes which he could not afford to pay. They would later take this animal to Bethlehem on their Journey that would fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah would be born there. Mary almost gets bitten by a snake as they are crossing a river – that pesky serpent – doesn’t he know that he can’t win? And as the wisemen offer their gifts, the one who was the most skeptical and reluctant to follow the star to find Jesus is the one who, through tears, presents him with the gift of Myrrh saying that it is “for His sacrifice” – foreshadowing Jesus’ death.) It is a beautiful movie and a family tradition here in the Clark house!
May you prepare Him room today!
He is a savior for the lowest of men to the Highest of Kings!
Angels From The Realms Of Glory – Bebo Norman
Angels from the
Realms of Glory
Wing your flight o’er the Earth
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim the Messiah’s birthCome and Worship
Come and Worship
Come and Worship
Worship Christ the Newborn KingShepards in the
Fields abiding
Watching o’er the flocks by night
God with man is
Now residing
Yonder shines the infant lightCome and Worship
Come and Worship
Come and Worship
Worship Christ the Newborn KingCome and Worship
Come and Worship
Come and Worship
Worship Christ the Newborn KingSaints before the
Alter bending
Watching long in hope and fear
Suddenly the Lord descending
In His temple shall appearCome and Worship
Come and Worship
Come and Worship
Worship Christ the Newborn KingCome and Worship
Come and Worship
Come and Worship
Worship Christ…the Newborn King
Advent starts THIS SUNDAY!
A few years ago we started a new family tradition in the Clark household. We don’t just celebrate Christmas Day – We celebrate the season of Advent.
For Christians, it is a beautiful way to spend the Season of Christmas. Instead of a frenzied rush of shopping or a “countdown” to a day that goes much too fast (and often without very much focus on the reason we’re supposed to celebrating), advent allows us to focus for an entire month on the blessed miracle of Christmas.
We have done this several ways in years past. Each year’s observance has included an Advent wreath and some form of daily devotion.
One year I made this snazzy magnetic Advent calender out of a cookie sheet. Each day corresponded with our daily devotional book (a gift from the nursery director at our church – I’m trying to find a link to post for you!!) We look forward to getting it each year. It’s similar to an “I Spy” book in that each day you read a devotional and look for the object of that day’s story. (A star, a shepherd, a baby, etc.)
(We still plan on using the book this year but the calendar didn’t store so well in the Christmas decorations.)
We also have a plush nativity set that the kids use each year to play with and “act out” the Christmas story.
Celebrating this way really helps me to focus on the joy of the season.
May your season of Advent be one of anticipation, peace, joy and hope!
Would you like to know more about celebrating Advent?
Here are some links for you:
The Season of Advent: Anticipation and Hope
Origins of the wreath
Making an advent wreath
Day by day devotions (The dates are off but the links are still GREAT!)
Finishing Touches
We don’t do big huge Christmas around here so we’ve not got TOO much to do before the big day.
Tomorrow we will go to Nancy and Buddy’s and celebrate Christmas Eve with them by going to a Candlelight Service at the Church in which we were married. Then we’ll head back to their house for Baked Potato Soup (I hope this becomes a yearly tradition – That stuff is so great!) and the kids will open presents with their cousins.
I spent tonight making this year’s version of my annual Christmas Ornaments. With Carols playing on the radio, I hot glued away while Bruce put together a Train Table for the kids! Our biggest challenge will be to keep them from seeing it tomorrow! Bruce is sleeping upstairs so that when he hears the kids wake up, he can be sure to shoo them away and keep them from stumbling upon their big gift. (Well, actually, he’s been sleeping upstairs off and on for a few weeks now since sister Sarah has decided that she wants to party all night long!!!)
We had a nice time working together preparing for the kids Christmas. It’s what we like to call “real life husband and wife stuff.”
Here are a few of the ornaments: (Misty – I put this on here for you because I know how you like to see your family’s faces on here!!)
And… Oh my goodness, could these 4 be anymore handsome? I mean, it’s like the picture that comes with a picture frame when you buy it.
Here’s me hard at work:
(What you don’t see in that picture is Sarah on my back in the Kelty! It was the only way I could get anything done but I had to get her down when she started trying to yank my hair out by the fistful!
And here’s Bruce hard at work on the train table. (Anyone wanna take bets on how long it will be before someone breaks something or bops someone over the head with a train? I’ve got my money on, oh, maybe sometime within the first 13 minutes.)
We got lots of stuff done tonight and we’re ready for tomorrow!
One more picture just cause it’s so dang cute:
Hope you’re ready, too! Merry Christmas, Y’all!
Christmas ornaments make great teething toys!
(Under mama’s supervision, of course).
And – great photo ops!
See the snotty nose? Sarah and IÂ stayed home from church today because she’s just snotty and coughing like nobody’s business. So I used our time alone in the house to try and snap a few pictures. At least she was in good spirits!
And yes, I had to take about 100 pictures to get this one good one. 
) Yay for Digital Photography!
See some more here:
Flashback Friday – Christmas Light Tours!
Tonight we went and took a nice family drive to look at Christmas lights and sing carols together. Abby and I held our noses and tried to sing like Alvin and The Chipmunks and Nathan screamed, “ALVIN!” – Sarah just screamed period after about an hour of being in the car – She was ready to be home.
But while we were out looking around, they all had a grand old time. And there was some snow left on the ground. We didn’t get any at our house so it was a double treat for them.
Lots of other folks were there taking in the sights. We even saw a few tour buses, including this stretch hummer! (Guess the economic crisis ain’t hittin’ everyone, huh?)
We stopped at a place not too far from where Bruce works to see a HUGE lights display in someone’s yard. They do it up big and have for the last 26 years. It is in honor of their son who passed away at a young age and who would always tell his dad, “next year, we need more lights!”
So, for today’s flashback. Here we were 2 years ago when Nathan was just the age that Sarah is now. My babies and the baby Jesus.
Why does it seem that time is flying by faster than the speed of light? I swear, this was YESTERDAY.
And… while we’re talking about Christmas Displays, here’s one of my favorite posts ever.
Happy Friday!
Flashback Saturday: Christmas Cookies!
(Yes, I already did a Flashback Friday Post but… it’s my blog – I can write what I want to!)
Here’s a picture of Abby helping Grammie make cookies back in 2005. Mom and I have baked cookies together for years and adding Abby in to the tradition has been so special. The cookies go to a party to be exchanged for all different kinds of goodies. I go in with a box of cherry snowballs (a recipe I found in a magazine several years ago) and come home with a box of all sorts of treats. The Cherry Snowballs are the perfect tactile-kid-friendly cookie to make. They have few ingredients, involve rolling dough in to little balls, and then rolling said balls in powdered sugar. They are mucho fun to make.
That was 3 years ago in 2005. Abby was 2 years old.
Here she was last year, Age 4:
(Remember last year when we did this, Bruce took the opportunity to cut Nathan’s hair without my knowledge?)
And here we were today (complete with recipe card!):
Sister Sarah even got in on the action this year:
While cookies were baking, mom and Abby decorated the tree:
I am so thankful for my mom and that we get to do this together every year.
More decorating
We got a LIVE tree this year! We got rid of the big gargantuan tree from years past (it was pre-lit and several strands of lights were not lighting up anymore! Pshaw!)
I love the smell of fir tree that we now have in our living room. (Although every time I put up a tree, THIS BIBLE VERSE always sticks in my head.)
Yubba enjoyed playing with the lights! (And I may or may not have pried the lights out of her mouth a few times while trying to get this picture. And she didn’t get electrocuted so it was worth it, no?)
Daddy bringing in the tree:
Lights on:
We’ll decorate it tomorrow afternoon!! Maybe I can convince mom to come and bake cookies and decorate with us!
Decorating… in bits and pieces – AND – Advent links!
Welcome WFMWers!
Decorating a little bit at a time is helping me to stay centered this Advent season.
This year I am taking a much more laid back approach to decking the halls. I’m doing it in little chunks instead of all at once.
We’ve got the little miniature trees up. (One in Abby’s room – it’s PINK!), one in Nathan’s room, and one in the bathroom. The big colored lights are on the tree out front. The garland is hung on the mantle and the stockings are up.
The advent wreath has a prominent spot in the great room, the bench in the entryway is adorned with lights and holly berries and poinsettias.
Tomorrow: The Tree! This year we’ll opt for a real one. I sent the mammoth pre-lit tree to Goodwill last season after fooling with 7 new strings of lights that I had to add to it because the old ones had blown out.
Finally, I took a tip from Meredith and got down one of my favorite wedding gifts – a lovely crystal bowl -Â and filled it with fresh fruit. It’s sitting on our table doing double duty. (Once all that fruit gets eaten, I may replace that centerpiece with THIS ONE. Same concept though! And just as pretty!)
The Nativity is set up in the Dining Room and thanks to this more hassle free approach of decorating a little at a time, I’m more able to focus on The Reason why we’re decking the halls in the first place.
Here are some advent calendar links for you to celebrate this advent season with your family in a meaningful way!
Super Easy Centerpiece!
I was in a pinch the other night for a centerpiece because I had moved our huge advent wreath off of the table to make room for food and guests.
I pulled out a crystal plate and put a candle in a brass stand and hurricane globe on the plate. Then I grabbed some random Christmas Greenery and sprinkled the plate with peppermints. It was pretty *and* functional as we were having chili that night and the peppermints were swooped up to fend off chili breath.
I think it’s awfully pretty!
We’re taking all the decorations down Wednesday – I will miss all the pretty, sparkling things!
My favorite gifts today were:
1. The fact that when Abby came into our room this morning, she FIRST wanted to do her Advent calender and put Baby Jesus on today’s little block.
2. The sound of abby’s “gasp” when we sent her into the kitchen to “see what time it is” and found HER VERY OWN KITCHEN! And then she came running back into our room to tell us all about it!
3. This picture of my boy in his diamond necklace, cell phone, and too tight shirt. 
Oh! And Bruce got me a pair of diamond earrings! 
