One of my favorite holidays down, and one to go!
Thanksgiving turned out to be quite possibly my favorite one since I've moved to Canada. Remember all my belly aching on how unhistorical and blase the Canadian version is? And how I always wanted to show my kids how great a US one could be? Days after posting this, I got a call from a fellow American friend here in Canada. Here was her proposition: if she made the entire dinner for our families, would I be willing to have some activities for the kids? She had me at "cooking the entire meal".
We enjoyed hours at her home, the kids in a mad frenzy bolting here and there and everywhere while the adults talked about this and that and everything. The hours there created a new Thanksgiving memory for us while deepening a precious friendship. I'm free next year, too, Rachel! ;)
Next up, Christmas. This is our first year doing an advent calendar and I think I'm more excited than the kids about this one! Here's a few of our daily activities, wrapped up in tiny bundles of paper:
1. breakfast in bed, served by mom and dad
2. Christmas lites in bedroom
3. pedicure night (when the boys are away)
5. shop for canned goods for food bank
6. fireside reading night
7. ice-skating on outdoor rink
8. brunch with extended family
9. visit housebound friends
10. nighttime drive to look @ epic Christmas displays
11. Sinterklaas
12. go see Voyage of the Dawn Treader
13. talk a walk @ night with lanterns
14. gingerbread house with Debbie Auntie
Tonight we also begin doing our Jesse Tree, an incredibly beautiful one we downloaded here.
Though Jesus never emphasized the rememberance of His birth as He did his death, it's a precious privilege to remember that He had humble beginnings and lived a life of service. In a society where ambition and position are revered, we can contemplate the journey of One who lived very differently and Who may be beckoning us to follow in His footsteps.
Hark, the holiday is upon us!
