Christmas in August

As I've mentioned before, my new church calling is Enrichment Committee Member. The first activity I helped plan was Christmas in August. It took place the day before Adam and I went to Ohio. There were four classes: How to make gingerbread/houses, How to get your kids involved with crafts, How to make homemade gifts, and How to keep Christ centered in Christmas/Christmas Traditions. I ended up teaching the last class with the help of my fabulous sister-in-law Amy. I was pretty nervous about it (naturally), but she had so many great ideas to put me at ease. The ladies who came could pick two of four classes, so we had to teach it twice. The first go-round was a little rocky for me. I pretty much just read straight from the outline. Amy had some good discussions going on about service, so I felt more at ease toward the end of the class. The second go-round went very well. Anywho, here are some great ideas on how to keep Christ centered in Christmas and some great Christmas Traditions.

Bear with me, for this is quite a long post. I just hope you all find it helpful!

Here is a great FHE (Family Home Evening) idea you can use throughout the month of December. Family Home Evening Helps: Five True Gifts was something I found on lds.about.com. It came from the December 2004 Ensign. If you click on the link, it's the idea at the very bottom of the page. The five true gifts of Christmas are peace, love, service, self, and faith. Focus each FHE in December on one of those gifts. The website goes into more detail on how to do so. You then wrap some gifts. I took five boxes and wrapped them with paper grocery bags. I decorated them with ribbon and made tags with those words and attached them to the gifts. I think they turned out really cute. I'm really excited about doing it this Christmas, and I'm hoping to keep this going every year after.

I also made apple ornaments for Enrichment Night. Adam and I had some sticky fun. You can either cut the apples vertically (to make apple shapes) or horizontally (to make round shapes with stars in the middle). We did some of both. Just follow the recipe below to make your own. It's a fun thing to do with your family at Christmastime. You would have to cut the apples, of course, and your kids could dip the apples and poke holes in them with a straw.

Apple Ornaments

What you need: 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice, 1/2 cup water, 1 Tbsp salt, 5 red delicious apples, a plastic straw, newspaper, wire racks, ground cinnamon, and string or very narrow ribbon.

1. Stir the lemon juice, water, and salt in a bowl until salt dissolves.

2. Slice unpeeled apples to 1/4" (either vertically or horizontally).

3. Using a plastic straw, poke a hole below the top of each slice.

4. Cover work area with newspaper and put wire racks on top.

5. Soak apples a few slices at a time in lemon juice for 5 min. and stir well.

6. Gently shake off mixture and place on racks to drain.

7. Sprinkle both sides with cinnamon.

8. Place wire racks with apples in the oven at 200 deg. for 2-3 hrs., turning occasionally until they are dry and leathery. You can also use your dehydrator.

9. Thread string or ribbon through hole and tie.

Voila!

Here are some ideas of traditions others have found to bring the spirit of Christmas into their homes:

*Have FHE centered around Christ and his ministry
*Visit the Temple
*Attend a live manger scene
*Caroling (maybe even host a caroling party)
*Place a manger under your tree
*Send out annual Valentine cards instead of Christmas ones
*Take the kids on a Christmas lights tour while playing Christmas carols
*Let all the kids have a slumber party in one of their rooms or under the Christmas tree
*On Christmas day pop some popcorn, string it, hang it on the trees outside and watch the birds
*Place the baby in the manger on Christmas eve and read the story of Christ’s birth
*Have a traditional gift (favorite cereal, Christmas pajamas, crazy socks, a special ornament, etc)
*For smaller children, have an advent basket with Christmas books and music; every evening before bed they can pick one out.
*Make a Happy birthday Jesus cake
*Celebrate St Nicholas Day on the 6th , have the children leave out their shoes and give them a craft that they can work on a gift to give someone at Christmas
*Make your own ornaments as a family
*Invite a lonely person to join you for Christmas Dinner and other celebrations
*Let paper chains, straws in the manger, or other ornaments represent the good deeds of family members
*Exchange Gifts of service rather than store bought presents

Of course the list goes on and on...

Here are a couple of links to cute things you can print out for your kids. It will help them to better understand what Christmas is all about!

Nativity Cards (Go Fish)

LDS Advent Calendar

There are also a variety of service projects you can do with your family. A few websites are listed below, but I imagine your local church/ward knows of some service you can do around your city.

SOS Children's Villages - have one-on-one relationships with children and orphans usually from refugee situations (begun in 1949 after WWII)

Women for Women International - have a one-on-one relationship with a woman in Afghanistan, Columbia, Bosnia-Herz., Lebanon, Iraq, and Sudan

The Box Project - adopt radically poor families in the US

PBS Kids - Zoom - scroll to the bottom to download the family booklet for volunteering

Below are pictures of our decorated classroom. I really love what Amy did with the box wood (last photo). Maybe I'll have a natural and organic Christmas this year, too!

For those of you who made this far, I hope you enjoyed it!