Merry Christmas from the Babiaks

Merry Christmas to you!! I hope you are enjoying this season of joy, peace and hope with those you love. We are currently in Texas with Chris's family and enjoying the literal peace and quiet of the country.

December marks 10 months of living in our new condo. And we still love it. It was really fun to decorate and figure out what Christmas looks like in our new space. We still don't have anything on the walls so we had a lot of options! The boys continued in the tradition of going with Dad to pick out our tree. This will most likely be the last year we have Chris's pickup to make the trip easy, so it was a bittersweet outing. We are hoping to sell the truck next month. 

The boys were very excited to unwrap all the ornaments and find their favorites. They weren't at interested in actually putting them on the tree by the time I was ready for them. We had the tree up, the stockings on the wall, garland on the china hutch and a wreath on the door. The final touch was our advent calendar; or rather string of envelopes. We decided to put them above the stair railing. So every time we go up or down our stairs we are reminded of the anticipation of Christmas Day and the stories we've read as we wait.

Once again we are doing the Truth in the Tinsel advent activities. Each morning William opens the envelope for the day and finds the clue (star, shepherd, sheep, Mary, Joseph, etc.) and each day we read a portion of scripture and complete a craft that associates to the story. We did really well until Day 17. Then evenings got taken by other activities and we fell behind. (Trying not to let it get to me.)

I had every intention of doing something festive each week in December. Going ice skating, visiting the gingerbread house, seeing Christmas lights, drinking hot chocolate, etc. But this month was busy with just every day stuff; and Thanksgiving being at the very end of November I felt like was missing a few days to get ready for it all. I was thankful for the Christmas tree and advent crafts to remind me of the season. 

Last week was a bit more festive. On Sunday the kids sang during the church service and Stephen was a little wise man in the nativity scene. They did a great job and were just the cutest kids. You can watch them here (start at minute 16).

William had a Winter Festival Performance at his school on Thursday night. His school doesn't have an auditorium so they had a stage set up outside. Thankfully it wasn't raining! Each class performed a few songs and some even danced. William's class sang Feliz Navidad and Estrellita Donde Estras (Twinkle, Twinkle little Star). He did very well -- and had been singing it non-stop at home all month!

So, while the month feels like it has been too busy to do all the things we wanted to do, it still had plenty of Christmas spirit and focus on Jesus. Chris and I also managed to fit in a date night and I had a few evenings with friends. Those were great bonuses!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you!! I hope you are enjoying this season of joy, peace and hope with those you love. We are currently in Texas with Chris's family and enjoying the literal peace and quiet of the country.

December marks 10 months of living in our new condo. And we still love it. It was really fun to decorate and figure out what Christmas looks like in our new space. We still don't have anything on the walls so we had a lot of options! The boys continued in the tradition of going with Dad to pick out our tree. This will most likely be the last year we have Chris's pickup to make the trip easy, so it was a bittersweet outing. We are hoping to sell the truck next month. 

The boys were very excited to unwrap all the ornaments and find their favorites. They weren't at interested in actually putting them on the tree by the time I was ready for them. We had the tree up, the stockings on the wall, garland on the china hutch and a wreath on the door. The final touch was our advent calendar; or rather string of envelopes. We decided to put them above the stair railing. So every time we go up or down our stairs we are reminded of the anticipation of Christmas Day and the stories we've read as we wait.

Once again we are doing the Truth in the Tinsel advent activities. Each morning William opens the envelope for the day and finds the clue (star, shepherd, sheep, Mary, Joseph, etc.) and each day we read a portion of scripture and complete a craft that associates to the story. We did really well until Day 17. Then evenings got taken by other activities and we fell behind. (Trying not to let it get to me.)

I had every intention of doing something festive each week in December. Going ice skating, visiting the gingerbread house, seeing Christmas lights, drinking hot chocolate, etc. But this month was busy with just every day stuff; and Thanksgiving being at the very end of November I felt like was missing a few days to get ready for it all. I was thankful for the Christmas tree and advent crafts to remind me of the season. 

Last week was a bit more festive. On Sunday the kids sang during the church service and Stephen was a little wise man in the nativity scene. They did a great job and were just the cutest kids. You can watch them here (start at minute 16).

William had a Winter Festival Performance at his school on Thursday night. His school doesn't have an auditorium so they had a stage set up outside. Thankfully it wasn't raining! Each class performed a few songs and some even danced. William's class sang Feliz Navidad and Estrellita Donde Estras (Twinkle, Twinkle little Star). He did very well -- and had been singing it non-stop at home all month!

So, while the month feels like it has been too busy to do all the things we wanted to do, it still had plenty of Christmas spirit and focus on Jesus. Chris and I also managed to fit in a date night and I had a few evenings with friends. Those were great bonuses!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!