Christmas Continued

 Christmas at grandma and grandpa's was for the most part, just us.  Celebrating the holidays with only my brothers and their families means so much to me.  It's so nice to have the cousins together, running wild (in pajamas this year), tamales for dinner, and a mint and chip pie for dessert.  An Uncle and Aunt came by for a little bit, but for the most part, it was hours upon hours of us celebrating Christ's birth together.  As usual, Grandma went overboard with the presents.  I know she finds joy in giving, but so much stuff just messes with my senses.  I automatically get a little anxiety wondering where everything will go. . .or worse yet, knowing the next couple days will be spent purging unnecessary and outgrown goods.

We celebrated a newly engaged brother with a toast.  I am so happy to see him happy.  It has been quite a year, but as usual, God's plans are so much greater than our own. I might not realize the greater joy in this celebration, had there not been so much distance and quiet to work things out on their own.  

 We had some cool hats to wear for good measure.

We watched the kids open gifts, and then we savored the slower opening of our own.  My mason jars and trays were my favorite gifts by far!
We laughed around the table with a fun game called, Pie Face.

It was definitely a crowd favorite!  But most of the time was just watching kids interact, and conversations among siblings and spouses.  It was easy and quiet, really.  Papa's presence was missed, but felt, I think.  At least it was for me. . .and at the end of the day, all that remained was the newest cousin, our baby niece, Monroe Marie. . .and I could only thank God for the peace she had brought to this gathering on so many levels. Christmas 2015 was in the books, but in many ways it felt like an invitation to live a bigger, simpler life.  How, you ask?  I'm praying over how I might be able to show you.  Peace.

Christmas Festivities

Christmas came and went this year, as it usually does.  As much as I felt it creep up on us, I feel like I savored so many quality moments.  Shopping was scaled back, less expectations of myself meant rejoicing when we accomplished a full day of baking and packaging for neighbors.  It's almost as if we accomplished more when I expected less.  We started gift giving a little early, when Janessa's Nina headed back to Spain for the holidays.

 It was nice to have her local, but we just want her to follow her dreams and be where it feels right for her.  So there were no tears this time when we said good-bye.  We know she will be back so we just keep her safety in our prayers.

And her relationships.  Prayer is all we have to offer when we're on opposite sides of the globe.  But all is well.  It shall remain so.
On another note, Dad took his daughters on an afternoon date to The Nutcracker even after working all through the night.  He is my hero...and such a good daddy!

Christmas Eve was just us this year.  Ernie's family traditions have changed, and now that both of his parents are in homes, it gets a little tricky.  We were able to pick up Pa, attend church together, eat a most delicious prime rib, followed up with R & B Christmas music and puzzle building.

The only evidence I have that we were all together, even if it was only for a little bit.

We read the Night Before Christmas as is our usual tradition and kids fell right to sleep before 10:30 pm.  It was so strangely quiet.  Ernie and I sat in the living room, illuminated by soft white twinkle lights and flickering candles soaking in the simplicity of the holiday.  It was so nice, we reflected on Little stopping by after pulling a 24 hour shift.  It was odd for him not to be here, but he is forging his own traditions with his fiance.  Praying they always keep family first. . .We also got a visit from my brother.  Seeing my niece and holding her in my arms, even for just a few minutes made the night complete.  Everything was oddly peaceful in the most beautiful way.

Christmas morning, kids slept in until about seven and then we were unwrapping their three gifts.  The older they get, the more I absolutely love this tradition of gift giving.  This year we picked "Advent Angels" and the kids had to hand make a thoughtful gift to the sibling/cub (cousin-uncle-brother) they chose.  Watching them watch each other's face as their gifts were unwrapped blessed my mama heart!

Eventually, the mess that remained was beautiful.

Grandparents stopped by for a bowl of menudo.  Uncle Scotty dropped by to drop off gifts too. And then we headed outside to wait for Santa and play with some of our gifts.  I never tire of this tradition.

 Eventually, my brother and his family showed up with exciting news.  And the festivities would continue at grandma and grandpa's house. . .

Traditions

Traditions have found us through the years of parenting littles.  During the holiday season, walking through a living nativity has been a long standing tradition that the kids won't consider missing out on.  This year with the addition of tickets, the wait time was nothing, which made it easy to enjoy.  I'm noticing more and more with a six year old now, that most events are easier now because the "baby" has grown up.  There's no need for strollers, diaper bags, snacks. . .we just go and adventure together.

 Last year we added a Journey Through Bethlehem into our "Things to do" at Christmas time.  It is a reanactment of the town of Bethlehem, the market place.  The kids loved it last year and we were able to bring Ernie with us this year to experience.  I love that Jesus is the focus.  I especially love that the kids still want to do these kids of activities.

 Last minute, grandma decided to make some tamales so I took the girls over to help.  It was further confirmation that Janessa is growing up.  To see her spreading masa and wanting to be helpful was a moment of gratitude for me.

This year, since Jonathan's gift is running, he was the only one who even wanted to do the Penguin Waddle.  He showed up, gave it his all and came in first for ten year olds, and fourth overall with 10-12 year olds.  He ran fast and then needed his inhaler. . .which I forgot!

And Christmas is officially ten days away. . .no idea how that happened so quickly!

So Much Goodness

The weeks leading up to Christmas were slower and more deliberate than usual; however, they still passed way too quickly but were filled with too much goodness not to share.  I always get giddy with excitement at the end of the year as the fruits of my labor here on to blog will soon take shape into our pretty hard bound book full of captured moments and memories from our year.  Hard to believe it is time for that already!

Lene and I headed out for some girl time at Cocoa and Cupcakes, a Christmas celebration that takes place at our friend's church.  As excited as I was originally to go, it happened to be raining and getting there proved more challenging than I thought.  In addition, if I'm being real, Lene and I got into an argument as I was disappointed with her lack of effort into getting ready for our night out together.  It is such a catch 22--I know I am blessed that she is not overly interested in fashion and fitting in with her middle school peers, but sometimes I wish she would take more initiative and not fight me on dressing up from time to time, letting her beautiful curls down, and dare I say, ""be more girly?"  That comment may come back to haunt me int the future, I'm sure, but this particular night was hard.  And then we got there and were so blessed by the speaker, by the message--by the reminder of Christ coming to earth for us.  It turned out to be a great night and I'm glad I didn't let the devil steal my joy.

This little one loved hearing the ringing bells of the Salvation Army and enjoyed putting spare change in their bucket.  Once outside Sam's she was even able to ring the bell herself.

 My book club celebrated Christmas with a potluck brunch and a few of our favorite things. So much fun! And so many cute favorite things!

My Mom's group at church had a beautiful book club discussion followed by a gift exchange, feast, and a beautiful chorus of Happy Birthday to Jesus!  Such a blessing to be a part of!

One Tuesday morning, we followed the third graders across the street down to the church on the corner. They have an annual tradition of making candy canes, and they didn't mind us tagging along and calling it a field trip. It fit right in with our book about the Legend of the Candy Cane!  Nessa was able to see her friend and I was able to reconnect with a mom who moved out of state four years ago, but who is now back/.  I love how the Lord led her back and we were able to catch up.  I look forward to more conversation with her in the future.

Another day, we were able to go to a friend's house for a play date and lunch.  Our visit was long overdue and such soul food for me.  It was the kind of catch up session where there were no lulls or silences because it had been so long and so much goodness is happening between our families.  A joy to be a part of and to see Nessa running around playing and having such a good time.  It was a very special blessing this holiday season for me.

In between all this goodness, we still did school and I just felt completely in love with every detail of my life. All of it.

And one Saturday morning we headed to our church to help pass out Christmas baskets and toys for families going through a difficult time.  We went through the line three times.  I can not believe we had never helped out in this way before.  It was love in action and it gave each of the kids a job to do to bless someone else. Their energy and enthusiasm was contagious and I was so grateful that they really seemed to get it. . .how blessed we are and how it's our job to help others.  I do believe this is something we will definitely be a part of again.

And no year is complete without our annual visit to the Living Nativity.  There were some changes to it this year and we dressed warmly, hot cocoa in hands as we walked through and watched each scene unfold. No matter how many times we've heard it, it never seems to lose it's awe factor.  I love that the kid's feel like this is what the Frank family does. It is part of what makes Christmas...Christmas.

We hadn't been to the candy store to watch them make candy canes for a long time, but we thought Anthony might enjoy it so we went.  And it was packed, so we walked down a main street and checked out the nativity scene too.  Then we headed out to dinner.  It was fun!

The night concluded with us driving around town looking for houses that displayed the nativity scenes in their yards.  The kids had carefully colored a dozen different nativity scenes and had written, "Thank you for remembering Jesus is the reason for the season."  They took turns running their pictures up to the doors and leaving them under mats.  We had Christmas music playing and it was so enjoyable to watch them and to hear them plan aloud that next year they need to color even more!

When I look at all of these activities, it feels like we did a lot, but the reality is it was all very focused on Christ's birth and we tried to keep bringing it back to Jesus,  And it felt like they really get it and that just might be the biggest gift to me.

Christmas Cousins

We gathered for our annual Girls' Cousins Christmas Celebration this weekend.  It was nice to meet some extended family who came from out of the area, while some other cousins were missed.  I get it though.  It's hard to be everywhere all the time.  Besides church, this was all we had on the calendar--a girl day and it was such a blessing for my littlest especially.  She had so much fun singing and dancing with her cousins. That's just how my cousin and I used to spend Christmas Eve, so funny to watch our girls now!

Lene Bean is in the in-between years.  She's too old for the littles play, but not old enough for the adults. She found a good book and read a little bit and enjoyed playing for me in the gift exchange part.

Taking our annual picture was fun. Some of us threw on some festive hats and were messing around taking selfies.  Some others were not being a part of that nonsense.  It was funny! And we wore ugly sweaters again--well, some of us did anyways.  I wore mom's from last year because she had too much fun making a new one.

Sis in loves

At the end of the day, it was nice to squeeze in some girl time because we don't get together nearly enough any more.  I'm so thankful for our monthly family dinners for the simple fact that I get to check in with my brothers and sister and spend some time with my nephews.  If we don't intentionally plan for it, it doesn't happen.  And sometimes priorities are just different for different people.  I'm working on accepting people I love for that very reason and letting go of the bitterness pill I sometimes allow myself to swallow when they choose not to show up.  I get things happen, kids get sick, life happens. . .but it's hard when none of the above are reasons--All I can control are my actions and showing our children the importance of showing up and being able to count on the people we are growing together in this household.  That's all I can do.

For now, this weekend was an enjoyable celebration of girl cousins, catching up on visits that were long over due.  Christmas blessings at their finest.

And it is Good

The Christmas season feels so much more intentional this year.  As I near forty, the pause in the rush and hustle of the holiday season feels liberating.  We've said no to things that we simply don't want to do.  We've pared down our traditions to include those that minister or serve others, more so than for the pure joy we bring to ourselves.  This has included Christmas caroling with our church.  Since finding our Moms group there, I love being a part of this tradition with my kids.  I love that they are not afraid of the old.  I love that best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loudly for all to hear!  I love my mom's energy she brings when she shows up.  We are so different in our outgoing personalities, but the heart is the same.

 Saturday, the kids participated in the annual Penguin Waddle at the Fairplex.  It's a fun race to do.  It's free. And Jonathan came in first place for his division.  Totally impressive and a memory he won't soon forget.

Their biggest cheerleader

6:54 mile

Spending the morning, encouraging the kids to use their God-given gift was fun. It was neat to see Jonathan so pumped up from the win.  I don't think he realizes his God-given talent, so we will just gently continue to encourage him and pray he eventually does.  I was very proud of Anjalene too.  My girl belongs on the stage, not the track; however, she has gotten her mile down to about ten minutes which is a huge improvement for her.  She finished this race well and really gave it her all. Anthony sat this one out but he cheered with me and Janessa.

Later we visited a local church for a walk through Bethlehem.  It was such a neat experience, so hands on, so focused on Christ's birth and the real meaning of Christmas.  We all loved the experience and  the kids said they hope we make it a tradition like the living nativity they look forward to.  That made my mama heart so happy.

Learning to weave

She used her schilling to buy Nina a basket

Keeping the focus on Christ has been difficult in years past as we tried to keep up with all that was going on around us.  Wanting the best experiences for our kids, to create meaningful and lasting memories was in the forefront of our intentions; however, I am coming to realize less is truly MORE.  Our kids do not want for anything that they really need.  And in the season leading up to Christmas, there was mindless bickering and squabbling and I was sincerely sick of it.

Then it hit me.  I am part of the problem.  Every time we rushed from this activity to the next, bought what they wanted from their list, made it more about them than the real meaning of Christmas. . .why was I expecting a different result?  It was a no brainer why our devotion around the advent wreath wasn't going the way I envisioned--we had lost our focus.  And I needed to lead us back to it.  So subtly, and ever so gently, with kindness and love, I'm trying to get us back to perhaps a place we've never really even been...the real meaning of Christmas.  We went to a penance service at church.  Just me and the bigs and we needed it.  We needed the car ride there, the priest's words, the time together in the pew.  We needed it to reconnect, to remember, to renew our hearts and minds to be who God intends us to be.  And it is good.

This season may only come once a year,  but it's for that very reason that we can't afford to miss it!  We need to fight for the joy.  We need to bring it back to what it is really all about. . .His birth.  We need to surround our days with plenty of empty white space to feel His presence and to spread His joy.  We do not need to go along with the crowd, when the crowd has it all wrong.  Jesus was born in a stable. Surrounded by his mother and father and a bunch of barnyard animals.  We do not need to be a part of the crowd to celebrate Christmas.  The noise, clutter, and frenzy might just blur your vision so you are missing out on the clear view of God's love for us that he sent us His only son.  Find your place.  Find your peace. Start today.