A Bibliophile's Yuletide

Many years ago a friend told me that one of their Christmas traditions was to keep all their Christmas books packed away for eleven months of the year. Then, at the beginning of December, they would pull out all the books and wrap them individually. Each night over the course of the month they would unwrap the books as a family and read one. It was a literary advent calendar.

I thought reading the books together sounded sweet, but the thought of keeping all those books in book jail for so long made my heart sad. I like having access to all my books all the time. So I quickly pushed aside the possibility of adding this particular tradition to our repertoire.

This year the kids were complaining that they didn't feel Christmas-y enough, even after we had put up all the decorations. I had been playing Christmas music, but that didn't seem to be helping them get into the spirit of the holiday. Christmas movies weren't doing the trick either. We had talked about the Savior's birth as we set up our many Nativities, but even that didn't help. What could we do to help us feel the beauty and magic of this special time of year?

That's when I remembered the Christmas book tradition. At the end of November Sophie helped me gather all our Christmas books. We had more than the required twenty-four books, so I sorted through and picked which ones I wanted to read together. Then, instead of wrapping them up, I plunked them into a basket near the Christmas tree, so we could read any of them at any time if we wanted to. I told Bryan my plan to read one of those books each night as a family, then introduced the idea to the kids.

Some of the books are funny and about Santa Claus. Some of the books are about the Savior and require me to pause repeatedly so I don't cry while I'm reading aloud. Some nights we've had to skip reading because things got too busy, so we've doubled up on other nights. Some nights have been crazy chaotic since Topher has a hard time being still (or at least quiet) so close to bedtime.

Even with all of that, I've really enjoyed adding this Christmas countdown to our season. The daily reminder has helped me be more excited for Christmas and more focused on the Savior.

This is what we'll be reading tonight for Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas!

Playing Catch-Up: Sophie's Birthdays

The last few years have been...rough. I'm sure that's true for many people. One way I've responded is by cutting back on what I'm required to do. I just discovered one of the things I cut back on was writing about the kids birthdays.

Oops.

So, instead of just writing about Sophie turning the magical age of 8, I'm going to go back in time a bit.

In 2018, Sophie turned five. She celebrated by eating sparkly, pink pancakes for breakfast, having a birthday snack with friends at preschool, making her Belle dreams come true, eating mac and cheese for dinner, and getting what may be the fanciest cake Bryan has ever made.

In 2019, Sophie turned six. She had a much simpler cake (because Mom decorated it), wore a fancy dress to school, was surprised when I showed up in her Kindergarten classroom to be the mystery reader, discovered that pink pudding and a fashion designer kit were her dream gifts, wore multiple crowns, and enjoyed the simple but still tasty cake.

In 2020, she turned seven. She again wore a fancy dress, posed in front of the birthday tree, shifted her favorite princess to Ariel, played a fun pin-the-horn-on-the-unicorn game that Phoebe made, went on a treasure hunt to find a tiny pink crown piñata, asked for a watermelon cake, and was sung to by Bryan's mom's side of the family during a Zoom Christmas party.

And, finally bringing us into the present, in 2021 Sophie turned eight. She had chocolate donuts and egg nog for breakfast, attended her classes as a unicorn, went on another treasure hunt and found a tiny unicorn piñata on the deck in the backyard, got a book that she's repeatedly asked for, decided Elsa is really her favorite, played with new toys since she had worked ahead and finished all her schoolwork for the day on Saturday, assembled gingerbread houses with her siblings, requested steak and mac and cheese and broccoli and a tiered rainbow cake with sky blue frosting, discovered throwing a piñata on the floor is way more fun than hitting it with a stick, and had a grand day!

Glow Up

Bryan found a good deal (because that's one of his superpowers) on additional Christmas lights, so now it's a little more merry and bright outside our house!

The Littlest Baker

"Topher, should we make cookies?"

Photo Ready

This is what the girls did when they realized I was taking their picture during church on Sunday.

This is what the boys did.

Boys and girls are not the same.

Away In a Manger

Last week Sophie decided she wanted us to act out the Nativity as a family. I know many people do this on Christmas Eve, but it's not a usual activity for us. We do tell the story of Jesus' birth, we read Luke 2 and the other scriptural accounts throughout the month of December, and we have several Nativities throughout the house to remind us why we celebrate Christmas. But acting it out was new for our bunch.

Inexperience didn't deter Sophie. She gathered costumes and handed out roles. I was Mary, Bryan was Joseph, and a baby doll stood in for baby Jesus. Bryan announced that the couch would play the part of the donkey, which Sophie accepted without argument. Cooper was the lone shepherd, Peter, Phoebe, and Topher were the Wise Men. And Sophie played the angel and the director.

After we were all costumed, Bryan read the account from Luke 2 while the rest of us pantomimed our parts. The older kids thought it was fun and were a little silly, but Topher was really reverent. When it was his turn to hand his gift to the baby, he was so solemn. The whole thing didn't take long at all, I'm so glad Sophie encouraged us to do it.

Sophie had originally wanted to have this activity earlier in the week and had started looking for costumes then. Topher was a shepherd originally, then asked for a cape instead. Seeing the costume change, I asked, "Oh, are you going to be a wise man?"

"No," he replied very seriously, "I'm going to be a superhero."

As we were getting ready to start our reenactment, I shared that story with the whole family. When Peter heard it, he said, "Well there was a superhero." And he pointed to the doll that represented Jesus.

Peter is right. Jesus really is the superhero, of all our stories.

Hiding Spot

Topher calls this particular cupboard his doghouse. It happens to house most of the craft supplies and the box of music toys on loan from the Primary. The blue egg shaker is his favorite, but he'll happily shake the jingle bells as well.

BRIGHT, Again!

Sophie has a wonderful teacher this year. He's funny and energetic and connects well with the kids. And, bonus, he recognizes how wonderful Sophie is. He named her as the November BRIGHT student for their class. If you recall, Phoebe and Sophie both were given this honor last year as well. This is our school's version of Student of the Month. 

Sophie's teacher said she's a "rock star" and has so much enthusiasm and willingness to participate in lessons that she helps the other kids in her class come out of their shells. He called her a wizard at reading and math and said she had worked hard and deserved being the BRIGHT student.

Sophie absolutely beamed when she found out.

Well done, Sophie!

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