Christmas is always an exciting time of year around my house, but we were slightly worried about how we were going to fit some of our traditions – like a Christmas tree and tons of Christmas cookies into our new, compact house. There was no need to worry however, and every tradition went off without a glitch.
We purchased a 3 foot artificial Christmas tree, which fit perfectly on top of our living room table. Each year, the boys get a new ornament for Christmas. Every one of their ornaments, plus a few from my childhood and some bows and beads, fit perfectly onto our tree. The stockings were hung from the cabinet behind the tree.
My oven is a bit on the small side, with only one cookie sheet fitting in at a time. So, the boys and I spread out our cookie and candy making with one or two projects a day for most of the month of December. We chose not to do any structured homeschooling lessons during December, allowing us to have plenty of time for daily baking – and all of the unplanned math, science and history discussions that came up. We even created our own cookie recipes on Christmas Eve. (Find the details of this cookie project on our sister site – Raki’s Rad Resources.)
Family is a huge part of the holidays for our family. We are currently parked only twenty minutes from some of my family, so we had Christmas dinner at my Grandma’s house. Additionally, my dad flew in and spent two weeks with us. It was great to see the boys spending quality time with their Papa!
On Christmas Eve, we went out for Mexican and then returned home to watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas and snuggle up for ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Then the boys set a plate of cookies and a mug of milk on the very small kitchen counter and headed off to bed. My 7 year old was ready for bed at 7:30 – unfortunately he didn’t fall asleep until 11:30! Oh the excitement of being a kid waiting for Santa.
Christmas morning was a huge success, with the boys receiving presents that could be used and stored easily – headphones, bike accessories, goggles, binoculars, pocket knives (for the older two), a journal, a sketch book and a water bottle. There were also some nerf guns provided by Papa, but we won’t talk about that!
Thanks to technology, I was able to share all of these pictures out on Instagram – aka my new technology addiction. If you’re on Instagram, find us at rakisradresources!
Here’s hoping your holidays were as happy as ours. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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