December's Activities

December is always a busy month and this year was no exception. We managed to get the Christmas decorations up AND make a sizable dent in the cleanup of our household shipment, so we're feeling pretty proud of ourselves. Our last Christmas season was more hectic than usual (with the evacuation), so we especially enjoyed being able to stay close to home this year. We went downtown to see the Christmas lights in Madrid, made a gingerbread house, and the boys participated in Christmas plays at school and church (James was a shepherd and Simon was a lamb).

James successfully avoided sitting on Santa's lap even though we attended 2 parties where he was in attendance. (Such a weird tradition...) There is no point in perpetuating the Santa myth at our house, because our boys find him creepy. Oh well... That just means we don't have to tell our kids any fibs, which is probably the best scenario anyway. It also simpifies differentiating between the real and fake meanings of Christmas. If you ask James, he'd probably tell you that Christmas is a birthday party for Jesus and Papa supplies the presents.  So...still a bit fuzzy on the details, but fortunately, we've got more time to work on it.