Advent Calendars
This year we decided to do two advent calendars to count down the days until Christmas, in addition to our tradition of unwrapping and reading one Christmas book each night. Lucy made her own calendar from a kit. We filled the pockets with candy. But the candy had a strange tendency to disappear too early . . . hmmm, I wonder why? Gavin was better about not opening the pockets on his Star Wars Lego advent calendar until the right days.
Yoda-dressed-as-Santa was behind the final door of Gavin's advent calendar. Love it. Who else could possibly play Santa?
St. Lucia Day
I know that one of these years, December 13th is going to roll around and Lucy is going to decide she doesn't want to dress up as Lucia. But for now, I just love to watch her throw herself into the role of the Swedish snow-maiden who brings goodies to friends and neighbors. She looks so beautiful in her white dress, red sash and candles. And Gavin plays Lucia's Starboy sidekick with equal enthusiasm.
Gavin's teacher once studied abroad in Sweden, so she asked Lucy if she would be willing to come to first grade for a Lucia procession. Lucy was a super good sport about it. We got the kids all outfitted in Lucia crowns and Starboy hats and brought cookies to the principal, staff, and some teachers.
Red and Green Dinner
We invited our friends to join us for a red-and-green dinner to celebrate the season. (Main course this year: spaghetti with red sauce or green pesto.) After dinner, I gave the kids frosting and star cookies to make either a Christmas tree or (since we had Jewish friends joining us) some blue Hannukah stars. The tree branches were a little unstable -- I assumed one rolo would be enough to serve as a "trunk" between cookies -- but the trees were eaten so quickly they didn't have a chance to fall down.
Bethlehem Dinner
December was a crazy-busy month with so many things going on, so we decided to do our annual Bethlehem dinner as just a family event. We dressed up as shepherds and sat on the floor and ate with our fingers.
It was a feast beyond the means of most ancient Hebrew shepherds, I would venture to say. Honey-orange chicken roasted in a clay pot, couscous, almonds, grapes, olives, pomegranates, cheese, pita and hummus. And, of course, pasta with alfredo. This last dish might not be so historically authentic, but I'm sure the baby Jesus would have loved it just as much as my kids do.
