Kiss-kiss time

So it's Christmas here on the equator, which means I'm sweating as I write this and listening to a garbled version of "Deck the Halls" coming through the window. Christmas 12,000 miles from family and traditions is full of contradictions.... We go all out decorating and having parties and celebrating to combat homesickness. We relish the non-materialistic culture that we currently live in (thought I have spent hours scouring GREAT deals online!) but are going a tad crazy with the non-stop music and firecrackers that disturb any sense of "Peace on Earth." We love getting to create our own traditions and set the tempo of our family's celebrations, but we miss our family and the busyness of the holiday season in America and finding gifts for our kids is really hard (and requires a lot of creativity!)

You can't really get a full grasp of our December without the blaring music in the background, so sorry, just use your imagination. (Or you could find the worst old cassette you own, put it in an old cheap boom box and take it out to the garage and turn it up as LOUD as you can possibly make it.) Wait until you get a headache then you'll get the full experience. :) Sorry, not trying to complain, but the music has been really bad here in our new house and we're all going a bit crazy.

There was a break in the music this morning and Ezra turned to me and said "Where the horses?" When I asked him what horses he was talking about he said "The horses in the church make the music."

Elijah used to think kangaroos made the music in the mosques. :)

So a visual of our life lately....

There has been ornament painting....


(And I was shocked at how good a job they could do! Caleb especially, could stay in the lines on each little ornament.)

There has been tree decorating....


Two guesses on which kid this is.... Brant and I did a double take; we both were sure it was Caleb. But it's Ezra. He's been going around saying "Merry Kiss-kiss tree" all week. My baby is growing up way too fast.

The finished tree.... the boys are really looking forward to getting a BIG tree next year. :)

Because of the poverty and non-gift giving emphasis on Christmas, we never put out presents before Christmas. On our previous island when we had house help come daily, we put out the gifts late on Christmas Eve and then had to have them all cleaned up and put away before she showed up the day after Christmas! Here, my house helper only comes once a week and so we have a few extra days. :)

And there has been lots and lots of cookie baking, decorating and eating. :) My friends and I here in town are swapping cookies - the thought being that we each have to make one type of cookie all season, but we end up with lots of different types. Yeah, really I've been baking kinda non-stop. :) But the more the merrier, and I haven't heard one boy (or man) in this house complain. :)



Our favorite little project so far was putting together this gingerbread house. Last year Brant's aunt brought a "real" gingerbread house ("real" meaning that in theory you could eat all the pieces that came in the cardboard box from Walmart) :) This year we had a foam house - simple to put together and the boys love it. I think the ants and geckos won't like this one as much though!



Part of our dilemma this year has been whether or not to teach the kids about Santa or not.... They actually think it's hilarious that we celebrate Jesus's birthday with images of him being a little baby because "He grew up a long time ago." :) So that part is perplexing enough without throwing in the whole Santa thing. Today Caleb came in and we had the following conversation:

Caleb: "Mom, is Santa real?"
Me: (trying to be very neutral) "What do you think?"
Elijah: "He is real."
Caleb: "Dad says he's not real."
Elijah: "If he's not real, then where do we get presents from?"
Caleb: "We get them from all the people who love us so much."
Elijah: "Well, who do you think gives them the presents in the first place?"
Me: "Well, Christmas is more about celebrating baby Jesus's birthday, not really about Santa or presents."
Elijah: "Mom, baby Jesus grew up a long time ago. He's not a baby anymore."

So that's our week before Christmas. I'm thankful for the fun with the little boys and tired of the music and missing home and a little bit sick from so many cookies. :)

Merry Christmas!