Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Pictures Galore!

We let the boys open one gift from us on Christmas Eve, a tradition of getting new jammies to wear on Christmas morning. They also opened a gift from Nonna, who had a Lightning McQueen book and Dinosaur book personalized with the boys names. The boys think this is amazing, to have their names in the story of a book.

Then on Christmas morning we all sat on the couch and read the story of the birth of Jesus from the Bible and hung the final two ornaments on our Advent tree. Burrito hung the baby Jesus ornament and Noodle hung the star. Doesn't it look great? This was a huge blessing to do as a family this year and we will most definitely do it again next year. Noodle still asks us, even now after Christmas, "Do I get to hang the ornament tonight?"

We also started the tradition of giving 3 gifts to the boys for Christmas on Christmas morning. This is just another way to remind us of the Bible story in which the wise men brought Jesus 3 gifts. This is the first Christmas that both boys really understand Christmas and gifts and giving so I thought it was a good time to start this tradition. We gave them both a new movie (Hermie!), new books and then a fun toy (Burrito got new Hotwheels and a Hotwheels set and Noodle got a Geo Trax set). I think the boys liked it.

The boys then opened their stockings to find a new coloring book, a Diego ball and in their opinion, the best thing on earth......gum!

Uncle Daniel came over for breakfast and the boys opened their gift from him....a new movie, Kung Fu Panda!

Then we all headed to Mimi and Poppy's for Christmas Day. We let the boys wear their new jammies over there to maximize toy playing time, instead of pulling them away to get dressed. They of course, received a ton of presents, and the theme this year was games. The boys are old enough now to really enjoy playing games as a family and we got all the good ones! John and I relived a little piece of our childhood as we played Toss Across, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Rhino Rampage, an electronic fishing game, a Little Einsteins game and maybe some others I've forgotten.

It was a beautiful, warm day outside, we had good Mexican food for lunch and good company in family. We made some good memories! And we haven't stopped playing since!

Merry Christmas (A Day Late)

Yesterday was full of good things....so many good things that I did not get a chance to post our LAST Advent reading. And in my haste to pack up Christmas decorations today, I forgot to leave out our Advent book to note the reading and symbol for Christmas Day. Oh well....it was something like this:

Scripture reading: Luke 2:1-21 -- The Birth of Jesus

Symbol: Jesus in the manger and the star, of course!

We have a picture of the completed Advent tree and lots of pictures from Christmas Day to share....I just haven't loaded them on the computer yet. Maybe tomorrow....I've been busy organizing and reorganizing and playing lots of games today! :)

Advent Reading Day 24 and Our Christmas Eve Adventure

Scripture reading: Luke 2:1-5 -- The Journey to Bethlehem

Symbol: A scroll, representing Caesar's proclamation

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We took the boys to their first movie theater experience today to see Bolt. John and I have not been to the movies since before Burrito was born so it was a treat for us as well. The boys totally loved it! We went to the Movie Tavern where you can actually order a meal and eat while you watch the movie. Though we only ordered popcorn, it was really fun to watch a movie together in the theater on Christmas Eve. We may make this a tradition! And it was a 3D movie where we had to wear the 3D glasses so that made it fun too. I think the boys were amazed at the size of the screen and the loudness of the sound. There were several times where they jumped in reaction to the sound. And Bolt was a great, cute, family friendly movie that we would recommend!

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And yesterday the Rutherford men all went for a haircut. They all go to the salon that I have been going to for 10 years now. All of the women there think the boys are so cute and a couple of the ladies getting haircuts commented on how well behaved they were. Hooray! They all looked so handsome afterwards that I couldn't resist taking their picture in front of their Christmas tree!

Advent Reading Day 23

Scripture reading: Matthew 1:18-25 -- The Annunciation to Joseph

Symbol: A carpenter's square, representing both Joseph's trade and the uprightness of his life

Advent Reading Day 22 and The Story Behind St. Nicholas

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38 -- Mary and the Angel

Symbol: The angel Gabriel

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The Story Behind St. Nicholas

Santa Clause is the North American version of Saint Nicholas, a 4th century bishop who lived in Turkey. Oral tradition holds that St. Nicholas was revered for his generous, anonymous giving to the poor. The most well known account is of Nicholas' midnight ascent upon the roof of a poor family who was soon to have to sell the three daughters into slavery because there was no money for their dowry. Nicholas secretly dropped gold coins down the chimney, which landed in the girls' stockings, which were hanging by the fire to dry. This money ransomed the girls from slavery and possible death.

St. Nicholas is a "type" of Christ and portrays Jesus in 3 ways:
1. He gave to those who were undeserving
2. He gave to those who could not repay
3. His gift rescued them from slavery and death.
Hmmmmm......so I've been wondering what "to do" with the whole Santa thing this year. It's never been that much of an issue before. Over the past couple of years, Burrito would see a picture of Santa in the stores and call him Noah from the Bible. John and I would just crack up over that one! But now that Burrito is in school, he's been asking a lot of questions about if Santa is real and is quite fascinated with the story of him coming down the chimney on Christmas Eve to deliver presents. Part of me likes the idea of believing in Santa because it's fun and it's what I believed as a child, with the understanding of course, that Christ is the most important thing about Christmas and it is His birth that is the greatest gift.
I think we've done a good job of emphasizing that with our boys this year. At a party last night, a friend asked Burrito if he was excited that Christmas is almost here and of course, he replied yes. When asked why he was excited about Christmas, John and I held our breath in anticipation of his reply. We were so proud when he said, "Because we celebrate Jesus' birthday!" Hooray, *high five*! Maybe he is listening to all of these Advent readings! Thank you Lord for teaching his heart the Truth.
So, all that to say, obviously the historical St. Nicholas is not a bad thing, but unfortunately culture has skewed Santa into a symbol of consumerism and greed, which are not values I want to teach my boys. Instead, I am trying to instill in them the attitude that it really is better to give than to receive. Lord help me to believe this and be an example of this to my boys, to my family and to others.

Advent Reading Day 21

Scripture reading: Luke 1:5-17, Matthew 3:1-6 -- John the Baptizer

Symbol: A scallop shell, a traditional symbol for baptism

Around the Town and Advent Reading Day 20

We are quite blessed to live in an area where there are LOTS of fun, Christmas-y things to do and see. Last night we took advantage of the super nice weather (temps were in the 60s-70s) and went to our favorite locale nearby. It is really quite breathtaking and the pics do not do it justice. If you are not in the Christmas spirit when you show up, you surely are when you leave. It is so fun to see all of the people and families enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas. And I think we even got the picture for our belated Christmas card so I won't post that one here! :)

And you know you're kids are getting older when you ask them to take a picture of you!

Here's Burrito's picture.

And here's Noodles's picture.

Not too bad!

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It was also the day for Burrito's Christmas party at school, which Noodle and I attended.

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And last but certainly not least, Advent Day 20!

Scripture reading: Malachi 3:1-5, 4:1-6 -- The Sun of Righteousness

Symbol: The sun of righteousness that will rise with healing in its wings.