Our Advent Experience

The thing I've sadly discovered about this family blogging process is that as the children get older, sharing our funny family happenings would often compromise their privacy.  It has been months since I shared, but I want to share our advent experiences before 2015 ends.

The Nutcracker auditions for Olivia and Evelyn were in August, and they were both cast and started rehearsing Sept. 1st.  Their final show was on Dec. 23rd.  At times if felt like ballet classes and Nutcracker would take over our family's life.  The girls rehearsed all those months with only two weekends free.  Early morning cross country meets added to the Saturday schedule in the fall.  Even with the blessings of carpooling for ballet, it was overkill.  There are few opportunities for children in which they get to work so closely with professionals, and they absolutely love dancing in the Nutcracker on the grand Kauffman Center stage.  The end result was spectacular.  It was exciting to volunteer with my young dancers backstage and see the newly designed costumes worn by professional dancers up close.  However, with our schedule so full, it was important to remain mindful of the true reason for the season.

Journey to Judea at Countryside Baptist Church was an evening walk outdoors through time and the land of Jesus, which culminated with the birth of the Lord.  The actors were at about ten stations, and there were live animals among them.  At one point a Host of Heavenly Angels somehow appeared behind us on a choir stand and surprised us with a song.  The message of the night was of the beauty of God's gift to us through baby Jesus, and ultimately his promise of eternal life for those who believe.  Henry said it was the best thing he'd ever done in his whole life, and he wanted to go 100 times.  The weather was pretty mild, and their wood fires burning at each stop warmed us.  Robbie and I thought it was amazing.

For years we have heard about Christmas at Resurrection, which is a lovely full-out musical production at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood.  We took Mom and Mike.  There were actors on stage with a choir 100+ strong behind them.  A narrator helped portray the meaning of Christmas as actors performed while beautiful Christmas songs with over 20 hand bell musicians entertained us.  There were giant screens on stage, and the sets were professional.  The second act led us up to the birth of baby Jesus, complete with a live baby who didn't even cry.  I was moved to tears during the song Mary Did You Know, as Mary's life as Mother of God was portrayed. The song began with Jesus' birth in a stable, then a little boy actor appeared (like Vivian).  Before long a big boy Jesus (like Olivia) walked with his mother.  Next, Mary was filled with despair as she watched her only son carry a cross to his death by crucifixion.  It made me instantly mindful of the fleeting time we parents have with our children.  The days are long, but the years go quickly.  Tiny Tim sang a solo of Let There Be Peace on Earth.  The small child's voice was slowly joined by the actors, and finally the enormous choir sang along.  The effect was very moving.  We were so thankful for the experience.

My father has a nativity set with a stable that he built for his mom.  He earned paper route money to buy the figurines, and it has been part of his Christmas tradtion ever since.  I purchased a plastic Little People nativity set when Olivia was little, and the kids had a ball with it.  I've been on a search for the perfect set for several years, and this year I finally found one that I loved.  I brought it home, and the kids were totally ecstatic!  Their little hands were all over the camel and Jesus and the wise men, and I thought the pieces would break before we put them in the stable.  When Robbie got home, they rushed to the door shouting," Mommy has a surprise!".  Then the little ones said, "We have Jesus!!!"  They were jumping up and down.  I have felt so happy with this new and very special addition to our holiday decorations.

I have an amazing Catholic friend, Katie, who has enlightened me with many experiences for which I am so thankful.  Among them, for our second time, we visited the Little Sisters of the Lamb at the Lumen Christi Monastery in Kansas City, Kansas to sing Christmas carols and share treats.  The sisters come from many parts of the world, and the little brothers are monks.  They live a life of poverty and their aim is to bring the Lamb of God to the poorest of the poor.  They are so meek and kind.  My heart was warmed by our time with them, and I love when my children converse and pray with them.

Olivia asked me to reach out to my friends to see if they needed her babysitting services, because she wanted to earn money to give her family members Christmas presents.  I obliged, and she had several jobs before Christmas.  The little kids made paper gifts and crafts for all of us, and that resulted in a trememndous number of presents under the tree.  Henry strung jingle bells to make Evelyn a bracelet, and he wrapped it in a shoebox.  Big boxes made an impact.  Vivian asked to shop for a gift for Evelyn at the Catholic Book Store, because, "Ev is the MOST holiest person I know."  She gave her a small statue of Mary and Joseph lovingly standing over infant Jesus.  Viv made a book for Ev that talked about FAF (faith) and had crosses and Jesus drawn.  Their hearts are good.

Our family hosted one of our parish priests for dinner right before Christmas.  We enjoyed a meal and shared stories and prayers around our dining table.  Robbie and I were so grateful for some of the points Father shared with our children about the value of parents requiring discipline and order.  The children behave quite well, with the exception of Henry announcing that one of his sisters (whom he named to our priest) toots a lot.  "Son!!  Enough."

During a nightime drive, Henry saw a yard decoration of the holy family's outline in white lights.  He said that he thought it was the perfect combination of the true meaning of Christmas, baby Jesus, and Christmas light decorations.

On Christmas Eve, Robbie went to the church early with Olivia to stake out a pew for our family.  I stayed home to get the little ones ready.  When Henry saw his suit and tie he absolutely flipped out.  He threw a major, and extremely loud, tantrum just as Robbie was texting me that I needed to get to church pronto as he couldn't find six seats in a row for us.  At one point, in an attempt to shake some sense into my out of control son, I said to our Elf on the Shelf, "Porton!  Do you hear Henry?  Make sure you report back to Santa about his behavior tonight."  Henry, sobbing, finally said, "Daddy isn't wearing a suit."  Daddy was wearing a lovely cashmere sweater, but Henry was right.  I explained to my boy that if he communicates his thoughts to me in a calm and mature manner, then I am often willing to reconsider my original position.  Tantrums only aggravate me.

Christmas morning, Henry appeared at our bedside at 4:25 am talking at high speed and in full volume.  "Mom, there is a present in Santa paper wrapped in the shape of a pogo stick.  AND...I didn't get coal in my stocking!  Presents are sticking out.  Remember my tantrum last night?  Santa still brought me presents.  Hee hee.  I think that's because Santa understands little boys, and Santa understand that little boys don't like suits.  Viv ran upstairs crying, because she thought she got coal.  She didn't see any presents coming out of her stocking like mine."  I snuggled him under the warm covers and told him to stop talking becasue it was not 5 am.  He told us he just couldn't wait any longer to look under the Christmas tree.  He was too excited for Christmas morning.

The children had breakfast with St. Nick earlier in December, and they gave him a gift idea.  Vivian wanted a Hammerhead shark stuffed animal.  Olivia suggested a snow globe.  Henry said he'd like to get a Pogo Stick.  Evelyn said she didn't know.  On Christmas morning, Santa gave each child their special gift.  Evelyn received an OSMO that attaches to our iPad for learning fun, and she was thrilled.  She told me she really wanted that for Christmas until she learned the price.  She's so practical that she withdrew her request.  Henry and Evelyn are pretty generously sharing their toys from Santa.  Evelyn is the official Pogo Stick pro of the family. She's pretty impressive.

Our church is still celebrating the Christmas season.  The focus at mass was on the holy family.  I continue to pray, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin in our family."  Robbie and I just designed a large wooden sign of family values and mottos that an Etsy lady made for us.  It was pretty funny when Daddy was getting frustrated during the process of hanging it, and Olivia said, "Dad, Number 7."  Have Patience.