Christmas 2011

...the little ones slept in by our standards, with the last one rolling out of bed at 8:00am.  We began our morning by concluding our readings of the Jesse Tree Advent and the Noel Piper Advent Calendars.

Then before digging into stockings and presents we wanted to give some special gifts to those who may not even have food to eat or a warm home on Christmas day.  The kids enjoyed chosing gifts of chickens, blankets and Bibles for people in Asia.  We chose to give through the Gospel for Asia organization and pray that these seemingly small gifts would be an enormous blessing to those in physical and spiritual need.

Presents were opened with sheer delight and we enjoyed watching the faces and reactions on the kids faces.  (Far too many pictures to filter through, as I think there is a photo of each gift they opened.  To family: if you want to see any of them, let me know.)

Luca has a crazy face, I know, but it was the clearest picture that I got of them

We enjoyed our traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls.

Then began lunch preparations.  We had our colleague, Melissa, over for lunch and the remainder of the day.  It was a very relaxing and enjoyable afternoon, but this mamma started to hit a wall by late afternoon.  We also enjoyed a weekend full of skype chats with family around the world.  So thankful for technology and the ability to see our precious family members!  It took several days to kind of catch up, but that is what vacation time is for.  Nothing major went on this week and nothing major is planned for New Years.  We have our fireworks ready and the kids are looking forward to staying up until midnight playing games and watching movies.  We'll see if they last.

Happy New Year everyone!  Thanks for tracking with our family in 2011!

Christmas Eve

A very busy week for us leading up to Christmas.  Just one of those weeks where you find yourself up on your feet from morning 'til night.  But, hey at least I WAS up on my feet with no illness...a huge point of praise!  I made 375 cookies in one day during the middle of the week for the outreach and our neighbors.  As a family we made a visit on Thursday night to one of Jonathan's close friends, who is struggling financially, to deliver a food basket to him.  After that I got my birthday dinner in at a Chinese restaurant.

Saturday we made our annual delivery of cookies and calendars to our neighbors.  Such a simple thing that requires a little advance planning, but that really says so much.  Our neighbors are always taken a back by the gesture.  One elderly woman invited us up for a coffee and we enjoyed our time with her and she more so.  She said she would always remember the gift and act of kindness.  Praying these traditions will also speak greatly to the hearts of our children as well.

We hosted our home group meeting over Christmas Eve dinner.  Then we went out for the first time since living in our fraction of town to visit the live nativity.  It is an annual event that takes place just around the corner.  We wanted to go out last year, but it got cancelled due to rain and I'm pretty sure the years previous we were sick or something.  So glad we made it this year!

It was really a fun walk through Bethlehem with various stalls throughout the street leading up to the parking lot where the kids' school is and local church.  Many of Samuel's classmates were participating in the reinactments so there were many greetings to be made along the route.

Getting a slab of freshly curned butter, that was as thick as the bread.  Loved the free samples!

Samuel and Emma with a schoolmate at the bakery

Wood cutters at the carpenter shop

The stable and manger.  Baby Jesus gets placed in the manger at midnight, followed by Mass.

Our kids and Nathan posing for a photo op

Shepherds were watching over their sheep

They even created a pond with live fish

The desert where the wiseman lived (no camels)

Warming up over the many open fires

I think I forsee a new family Christmas tradition.  Three late nights in a row and hoping the excitement for Christmas morning would not awake anyone too early...

Christmas Outreach

 

Thank you to everyone who receives our newsletters, and who knew to be praying for our recent outreach event.  This was, for us, a late addition to our holiday season of activities.  The initiative was taken by those within our group to request the participation from the children's group, reserve the theater and distribute over 500 flyers at local schools and shops for this event.  We are so thankful for the willingness of the workers and performers from our mother church in Torino to add this second performance to their schedule.  It was afterall the 23rd and the first day of vacation for the children, and yet a full participation was given.

This was a first for us in Caselle, so we really had no idea how this was going to go over or how many to expect.  We did discover that that same night was the live nativity followed by Mass in Caselle.  We had many say they would like to come but that they were going to Mass that night.  Definitely a schedule conflict we want to avoid for next year!  The theater holds 140 and to give a rough estimate, we would say it was about 80% full.  It was a great facility and a place we will keep in mind for future events, considering it was a free rental to us as an association.  Many from the church in Torino were present, however, we were thankful to see a handful of new family faces from the community.  Please continue to pray as we try to faithfully make our evangelical presense know to our community through love, service and sharing of the Good News.

A very much before shot of the atrium area where we had two tables of food and one for gifts for all who attended:  Scripture calendars, candles, balloons, panetone from Compassion and a Manga booklet of the story of the Messiah.  The ladies of our church provided all the food--and there was plenty of it!  I failed to get any during the event shots, as my hands were completely occupied pouring drinks and blowing up balloons to give to very anxious recipients.

Waiting for the program to start and the arrival of more people.

"Jesus-the only Savior"

Jonathan was able to give a 5-minute presentation of the gospel at the end of the program.  He did a great job tying together the pieces from what was presented in the program and making clear the reason and importance of celebrating Christmas.  Again...no picture of him as I got up to catch a new family as they were leaving and then to ready the refreshment tables.  Our kids jumped right in to serve along Mamma and hand out balloons. They did a great job!  By the end of the night they were shot--we all were.  Thankful for the night and most of all for our Savior who gives us His great message of hope, love and peace!

All in a Week

We started off this past week just a wee bit on the tired side, but with the busy week ahead we couldn't afford to dwell on the fact.  Emma was pretty well layed up on the couch all throughout last weekend.  We sent her to school on Monday and she seemed to be hold up great for the morning so sent her back for the afternoon.  She did, however, get sick two separate nights this week.  I had my last class of English for the fall trimester and I am quite looking forward to a little break.  All my students are returning for the winter trimester, so I guess that is a good sign.

After Monday, it was party prep for Jonathan's English students who were coming over to our house on Wednesday.  Between baking and cleaning it was a full couple of days.  All the while I just kept praying no one else would get sick.  My tiredness kept playing tricks on me as waves of uckiness would come and go.  We made it to Wednesday night and it was a lovely evening with 11 of Jonathan's students.  Not all came due to illness.  The kids were quite interactive and chatty and it is always fun to see them in "Italian mode" in our home.  Samuel and Emma even willingly obliged them to a mini piano concert.

I saw this idea and knew it must be made!  My rosemary bush, turning tree, needed a trim anyway.

The students lavishly showered us with an enormous gift basket again this year.  They brought cakes, plants, chocolates and warm embraces.  After 3 years of teaching most of the same students, you can really see the students' respect and appreciation for Jonathan.  I enjoy having my moments of interaction with them as well at least twice a year with these parties in our home.

Loving my gorgeous Bicajoux plant!

Please continue to pray for these friends and that they will come to put their faith in Christ.  We gave them each a scripture calendar to take home and pray they will read them.

After Wednesday, it was recooperate time for me.  Or at least that is what I was hoping for...

...However, Luca came down with the stomach flu on Thursday night.  Unlike Emma he started to get sick at 8:00pm so we had a few hours jump start on the 15 minute rushes to the bathroom.  It still warranted another night of sleeping on the couch so that is where I woke up on my birthday morning.  Samuel, bless his heart, woke up on his own at 6:30am because he wanted to make me breakfast in bed.  He was SO upset I was on the couch when he came down.  I told him he could still make me breakfast and that I would be very happy to eat it on the couch--after 7am!  He seemed to finally understand that it was not my choice to be sleeping on the couch at that moment in time.  When dad woke up, he helped Samuel and Emma fix me my favorite: fresh persimmon, yogurt and granola and a HUGE cup of coffee.

I made the grain free chocolate coconut cake and the kids decorated it.

Obviously, the birthday celebrations have been postponed.  I did enjoy some gifts and cake and lots of phone and skype chats with family.  It was just one of those years and nothing you can do about it.  I still felt special and honored even with the unglamorous job of cleaning up after and caring for a sick child.  God has given me so very much and I am so thankful for each breath of life!

So for the third week in a row I have missed church.  The kids and I worked through Act 2 of the Christmas story for our church time today.

 Shepherd

Angel

Luca is doing much better but still recovering and it is most noticeable in his emotional reactions to his siblings and small intake of food.  When he gets energy he exerts it and then he will just crash.  He wasn't desirous of dressing up today, but maybe we can convince him to be a shepherd with Samuel come next weekend.  He layed down for a nap this afternoon and immediately went to sleep.  Here is to praying that no one else gets this stomach flu one week from now over the Christmas weekend.

Vacation Days

The kids currently have a 4-day weekend due to the celebration of the Emmaculate Conception holiday on December 8th.  I've been trying to keep the kids busy with crafts and giving them special projects to work on.  The kids really want to help wrap Christmas presents, but that is just not an option considering all the gifts on hand are for them.  We found a compromise in which I would wrap the gifts in paper and they could help top them with bows and tags.  Luca and Emma enjoyed making pom-poms.    

I suggested to them a few days ago that they should work together to put on a Christmas play for us.  I told them to read Luke 2 and think of how they could retell the story.  After rest time yesterday I heard them still playing upstairs and moving chairs around.  I went up to investigae and this is what I found.

I could not help but laugh outloud!  They creatively solved the problem of making a manger out of chairs and the Batman-Jesus was just too much.  Samuel had his blanket wrapped around his shoulders declaring he was Caesar.  I just had to join them in the fun, so I stepped in and helped with costume design and this is what we came up with for Act 1.

Caesar Augustus

Mary

Joseph and Mary

Bed sheet, rosemary, scarfs, mamma's dress, dada's undershirt, scraps of fabric, head bands and paint mixing stick pulled off the convincing cast of characters.

That was yesterday and this is today...

Emma woke up at midnight vomitting.  She was running to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes all night.  She and I camped out on the couch with small short intervals of dozing.  At 5:30 Jonathan came to send me back to bed and continued the shift of insomnia.  The 3 of us are completely exhausted today.  The fatigue from lack of sleep is making us feel pretty whoosey.  The intestinal flu has been running it's course through the schools.  I should not be surprised Emma got sick considering two kids threw up in her class on Wednesday and at least one from Samuel's class went home sick too.  If we fall off the radar for a few days you can probably conclude we are enduring a cycle of the flu in our home.  Prayers for added strength and healing would be appreciated!

Family Pictures

Merry Christmas (almost)!

Jonathan was gone for a 3-day conference last week, so to provide some distraction I got the kids dressed to take some Christmas pictures.  They were very enthusiastic on round 1.

Round 2, came today when we included us parents to the mix.  They were way less than enthusiastic with much complaining and tears, but at least there are a few reasonably good shots (all with the self timer).  I guess that was not on their list of "fun" activities to do for their day off of school.  Family pictures are painful!  I keep thinking they will get better as the years progress.  Maybe one day!