Sposato Family Christmas

This years Christmas started off super busy. During the month of December we had several outreach opportunities at church which where so much fun! We had the ladies annual Christmas Tea which was called the Cozy Cottage Christmas Tea. I shared my testimony and helped with the decorating. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time. Much needed adult time for me!

We then went caroling around Comins the Wednesday before Christmas. That too was super fun. Wyatt pulled the wagon full of "goodies" that we gave to each house. Surprisingly he lasted the whole way with no complaints! Then we had the DHS gift pick up the next day where I helped prepare/prep the food we served. Both days were busy and exhausting, but I enjoyed it immensely!

The morning of Christmas Eve Wyatt woke up first and went out to plug the lights in on the tree. We heard him inhale sharply followed by squeals of joy. He had noticed two small packages under the tree. He danced around singing, "I love Christmas, I love Christmas! It's Jesus' birthday, it's Jesus' birthday! I love giving, giving, giving!" He was thrilled over two little presents under the tree. It made me think. Children don't need a ton of gifts to be happy. His first guess of what it was? A blanket. He would have been happy with a blanket! Sure puts things in perspective. 

We went to Christmas Eve service that night in Comins. It didn't take too long and we were all at the back of the church enjoying what we could between shushing the kids. We had company which made it less painful. I wish I could say I really enjoyed myself, but honestly I am not sure I actually heard much of the messages in between singing carols. Someday our children will be older and capable of sitting still and quietly... Hopefully.

We  came home after service and had the kids open their small gifts {jammies} before they went to bed. Unfortunately it did not go how I envisioned it. Wyatt of course was stoked. Josie screamed from the time she was awakened getting out of her car seat, through me opening her gift of jammies and putting them on, until I laid her down in her crib. Yeah, that went well!

Nick and I then finished re-picking up the house, since everything I did the day before so I wouldn't have to Christmas Eve was undid. Then, we put the gifts under the tree and went to bed.

We were waken just a little after 7am to Wyatt and Josie up and ready to go. Christmas Day had officially begun!

We had gotten Josie a shopping cart, but couldn't wrap it. So, of course that was the first thing she saw. She started pushing it all around the house and was loving it. She was loving it so much, she didn't want to stop to open anything else. When we tried giving her a present to open she would push it away. She didn't want to stop pushing her cart! Finally little by little she started coming around to the idea of opening presents. She really wasn't that into it.

Wyatt got a nice plush Batman robe! 

 Josie liked her new slippers. Hopefully the dog will leave these ones alone...

After we were done opening gifts, I made breakfast. Cinnamon Bun Pancakes! Yum! They were so delicious!

After breakfast we started to call family that we wouldn't be seeing. Then my family came to celebrate the rest of the day about 10:30 am. We had a great time. Wyatt and Josephine played all sorts of games. We had lasagna  for a late lunch. And of course we had to play a game of Monopoly,which Wayland won. Again.

By the end of the day Josie finally got the whole gift opening process. {Yes, we still have a pumpkin...}

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What a fun day celebrating Jesus' birthday! It was really great!

Love and hugs!

Merry Christmas Friends!

May the Lord's light brighten your day, 

and may His love fill your heart with joy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Mantle

I got ambitious today. I had put away the chalk board to create some "blank" space to help sell our house, but we have taken our house off the market for the winter and thus brought back the chalk board. It now has a new location above our fireplace...barely.

I had measured it before I began, but after I had finished and went to put it up there I noticed the heavy, big, awkward chalkboard wouldn't fit like I had first thought. However, it will tilted at a somewhat forced angle. Ahhhh... but, it still looks nice.


Happy, happy, happy Christmas!

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Today was a busy day. I wasn't anticipating it being that way, but one thing led to another and here we are. Started off picking up the house, then decided to do school during Josie's first nap instead in the afternoon. It went really well. In fact I was blown away! When he puts his mind to it and does his best, he amazes me. We learned to write the letter "R" today. And below is his cursive capital and little "r". 

Nick and Wyatt made pipe cleaner creations the day before. Let me introduce to you, Prince Wyatt!

We were watching Rudolf earlier and Wyatt put together his chairs, added his bed pillow, and they both sat next to each other watching the show. It was a brief moment of brother sister love. A few minutes later Wyatt decided he didn't like Josie sitting on his blanket and well, she ended up on the floor...

I had this crazy idea that we would put up our Christmas Tree. We opted for the big one this year. Wyatt was a super helper with decorating. Josie sure got excited when she found the stockings. She drug them around the house on her tippie toes squealing with excitement. Oh, and yeah, we do fake here.

We have some training to do. Josie wanted to pull the bead strands and pull off some of the ornaments.

Love, love, LOVE this time of year!

The Truth About Santa

Late this last summer my husband and I started a discussion about Christmas. We had some concerns relating from the previous Christmas that weighed on us. That Christmas our son and only child then, believed in Santa. It was his first year he "believed." We did reindeer food, cookies on the plate, and discussed how Santa would visit homes without fireplaces. Santa, of course, left the "cool" gift as well. It was fun and exciting for him.

Then we asked him, "What is Christmas about?" His response was not what we wanted to hear, "Santa Claus!" Our hearts sank. In our house we try our very best to keep Christ in the center, everyday. And when Christmas, the holiday set aside to celebrate our Saviors birth, becomes more about someone else instead of who it is really for, we have a problem.

Our solution: The truth about Santa.

There were other reasons we had for not doing Santa besides keeping Christmas about Jesus. Another, and a big one, was truth. Here we were as Christians, lying to our child. We teach our kids that lying is wrong, yet here we are telling a whopper! With truth comes integrity and crediblity. I want my kids to be able to come to me with anything and know that I will be upfront and truthful with them everytime.

I have to say, the truth has set us free! No more keeping Santa gifts separate from ours, no more keeping track of which wrapping paper is Santa paper, and no more using Santa as a way to get our kids to behave! We have the same expectations on behavior at Christmas as well as the rest of the year. It is a lot of work keeping up the charade!

Not only that, Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, are all fictional characters that we tell our kids are real. Yet, we still want them to believe in God, who they can not see or touch. Once they find out the truth, we have successfully instilled doubt into their little minds. What else has mom and dad told me that isn't true? If Santa isn't real, then God must be made up too!

We never did the Easter Bunny. So that was never an issue for us. We do Resurrection Eggs, and make Resurrection Rolls. We watch movies and read  books that tell the story of Jesus' resurrection. Why it was so easy to eliminate the Easter Bunny, but never thinking about Santa, I don't know, but I am glad we finally did before our kids got too old. Better late than never, I suppose.

Many may think we totally deflated the Christmas spirit in our kids. Not at all! If anything, I think we we made it better! Christ's birth is made the focal point, we learn the true story of Saint Nicholas, we make giving more important than getting and our son enjoyed this Christmas just as much as he did last year. When asked what Christmas was about this year, he answered, "Jesus' birthday!"

We still let him watch the Polar Express and other movies that include Santa, but he thinks of Santa no differently than Sleeping Beauty, or any other Disney movie. He knows that Santa is a tradition based on a real man named Nicholas who was honored as a Saint because he gave generously to those in need. Do we take him to see "Santa", no. That is another subject to be left for another time.

When we told Wyatt the truth, he took it very well. He wasn't heartbroken by what he heard at all. We also told him that other kids still believe and it isn't our place to tell them so, we told him not to bring the matter up, but if he was asked if he believed he should not lie. Most of the time it is the adults that bring up Santa, not the kids.

I am very happy with our decision and am finding a lot of other families have already or will be taking the same approach. It is something worth considering and I hope more families do.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas seemed to creep up on me all at once. There was a million things I wanted to do this year with Wyatt that I didn't get to and decorations I didn't even get a chance to get up. Nick was a little disappointed with only having the small tree up this year instead of the big one, but it was all we could do in our small space. With having a baby our living space has shrunk. We have her bouncer, exersaucer, play gym, and basket of toys. There was no room for the big tree!

I have to admit I am still adjusting to life with two kiddos. I think if they were closer in age it would be a bit easier. Wyatt being almost five doesn't nap every day, and our dear little Josie doesn't seem to want to nap at all. So, that puts a damper on my to do list each day.

This year, since we had Josie, I wanted to take Christmas pictures of the kids. I am very pleased how they turned out. Who needs to pay tons of money on a photo shoot when you can do it yourself?! For the most part, my kids are very cooperative when doing pictures.



This was Josie's first Christmas, of course, and she was fun. She liked playing with the paper. She would tug at it, but needed help to really unwrap anything. Needless to say Wyatt enjoyed being a helper.

Christmas Eve we went to Candle Light service at our church. Then had Christmas morning with Wyatt and Josie. They woke up about 8am. We opened gifts, then we read the story of Jesus' birth out of Wyatts new Bible. Nick made french toast for breakfast as I preped the turkey to bake. Then my family came over and we had dinner together and exchanged gifts afterwards. It was a great day spending time with everyone.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!