Christmas Festivities

The Berger house has been abuzz with Christmas festivities and activities.We've completed many Christmas activities this year, from making gingerbread houses, to Santa's house. The boys have had a lot of fun with these activities and so have I.  Even Daddy got involved a few times.  We've been reading Christmas books each night, one of the favorites is "Who is Coming to Our House".  The boys like to read parts of it to me, which is fun.  We try to read a book about Jesus' birth each night and the boys for sure know that Christmas is for Jesus and His birthday.  The love to talk about Baby Jesus and say coo and act all cute like a baby when we talk about him.  We've had a verse and a little object each day in the advent calendar as well as looking for our Elf on the Shelf-Oliver.  Oliver is sure sneaky and likes to hide in a new spot each day.  We made a cradle for baby Jesus and put a cotton ball in it each day if we are good, to make sure Jesus will be "nice and cozy" when he comes on Christmas.  I love teaching Chase and Owen about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas.  Sure the other stuff is fun too, but after the fun is done, after we've talked about Oliver, after we've talked about Santa, after we've made cookies, they still know and understand we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus.

 

Chase punches holes in the base of Santa's house.

Chase and Owen complete Santa's house with a little help from Mommy.

Chase and Owen do some Christmas color themed paintings

We made spritz cookies and the boys got to help. It was a lot of fun.  Somehow they remembered that we used a bowl for the sprinkles, rather than dumping them on top straight out of the shaker. 

Owen carefully sprinkles.

Chase has the aftermath of lots of sprinkle tasking on his face.

We made angels and talked about the angel of the Lord appearing to Mary and Joseph.

We made lambs out of our hand prints and talked about the lamb of God.

We made Santa's workshop

And we made a manger for baby Jesus, all cozy and warm.

Friday night we went driving around to look at lights. The boys loved it and didn't want to go home. We saw some pretty amazing displays. There were plenty of oooahhs from the backseat.  We listened to Christmas music and Jeff sang along.On Saturday night the 17th, we went downtown with the intent of going to Macy's 8th floor displace of "A Day in the Life of an Elf.", and then to the Holidazzle Parade.  The wait to get to the 8th floor was an hour and 15 minutes.  Jeff and I didn't even consult each other, we just turned around and left.  We went to the Christmas decorations section and looked around. The boys saw a sleigh and Santa.  We then tried to find a place to eat and ended up at Jimmy Johns.  The 4 of us sat in a booth for 2.  We then had 45 minutes to spare so we went to Target and the boys had free reign of the toys section.  They have never had so much fun!  We just let them look at whatever they wanted.  Finally it was time for the Holidazzle parade.  It was a little windy, but about 35 degrees, which made it not too cold at all.  We didn't have great spots but were still able to see the light coming.  Chase got so excited he started screaming and laughing.  Owen was with Jeff on his shoulders and then Jeff held him in his hands so he was standing.