Christmas Fun

Christmas Eve Eve was a pretty busy day around the Vincent house and there are still things that I didn't accomplish. It seems like there's just not enough time in the day to get everything done anymore. I told Jacob it was Christmas Eve Eve today and he wanted to know why I hadn't marked it down on the calendar ;) I think we might have to make it a special day from now on. Jacob and I baked cookies for Santa (and Jacob) today, and we FINALLY decorated his gingerbread house...after prayer meeting! We had lots of fun working on it together. Here's a picture of Jacob with our masterpiece...

Here's a close-up view of the house. Note, Jacob made all the "patterns" as he calls them...everything nice and equal...a child after my own heart!!!!

I have also included some pictures of our Christmas trees for this year. I started pretty early putting them up, and do you know, there are still tons of decorations that I managed not to get around to...speaking of...our stockings have yet to be hung up! Guess I better do that tomorrow...well, actually later today! New this year is my gingerbread tree in the kitchen. I started collecting the ornaments last year and I absolutely LOVE this little tree! It's just a 4-footer, but I thought it turned out really cute.

Here's the special little tree that I mentioned in the last post...
An Autism Awareness Tree

This little tree sits on a table in the playroom window. It has clear lights; yellow, blue and red (shatter-proof) balls that have been tied on with autism awareness ribbon. Autism doesn't go away just because it's the holidays...

Here's Jacob's little sports tree. I think it looks SO cute in his sports themed room.

Here's a closer view of his tree...

Jacob's tree is the only one in the house with gifts under it! He is so proud of his purchases that he made at the school's Santa Shop.

I LOVE the boys' first stockings! I have to still display them...
Matthew's is on the left and Jacob's is on the right. I just can't believe so many years have passed by since those stockings were used!

Just for fun, I snapped a picture of a picture of Jacob's first Christmas. He was four months old exactly on Christmas day 2002 and he was SO precious! You wouldn't think a four month old would have a clue about what a gift was, but this little munchkin LOVED opening gifts! He would watch as they handed them out and if it passed him by he would start crying!! I was amazed :)

Here's a picture of Matthew of the same year. He was five years and ten months old...he's so small there!

This is my kitchen window decorations...more gingerbread people :)

Here's a picture of our living room tree. Not a real good photo...and yes, I know our picture is lopsided in that frame - arg! No gifts under there...Matthew opens them all, so we just don't put 'em under there!

Since it is actually Christmas Eve now, I want to send you all best wishes for a safe and Merry Christmas. We have get-togethers today and tomorrow, and I love being with my family. I want to cherish each day and holiday I have with them. You just never know...there will be a funeral today of a young woman who was actually a little younger than myself, but that I knew while we were in school. She leaves behind two little little girls and it is just heartbreaking. Especially to know that those children will always have that memory of the Christmas holiday. I'm sure no one in her family would have thought about last Christmas being the last one she would be in their presence. It seems like I think of and miss a lot of my loved ones this time of year more than ever. I've thought in the last few days of the last Christmases that we had with those special people. Some have been gone for a number of years, but I still miss them dearly.

I'm so thankful that I KNOW the real meaning of Christmas and that, more than anything, is what I want to teach my boys. As teacher of the little children at Sunday School, I spend about three classes studying the birth of Jesus and I try to instill in the kiddos that Jesus really is the reason for the season, and that it really doesn't matter what's under your tree Christmas morning. I'm hoping to start a tradition of reading the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible with my family. I could hear it read a million times over, and it would still touch my heart in a special way...just to know the magnitude of what was set in place so many years ago with the birth of a baby boy. May you all have a blessed and joyous Christmas!