Christmas International House - Day 5 and 6; Christmas

Day 5 – Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve consists of dinner at my sister’s house, followed by a candlelight worship service at Woodforest Presbyterian Church. Our family tradition is to open one gift on Christmas Eve. For our kids, the gift is always pajamas so they have something new to wear on Christmas morning. For Ren Zhe, we give her a soft and fuzzy pair of socks with Shea Butter from Bath & Body Works.

Day 6 – Christmas Day
We spend Christmas Day at my mother’s house and enjoy good food and great company. The kids play games, and as always, Ren Zhe is an enthusiastic participant. She teaches them a card game she plays in China, and they call it "slaps" since Ren Zhe isn't sure the American name.

Today, I am surprised by Ren Zhe's intuitiveness. We play the game, Loaded Questions, and on one of the questions she very easily answers correctly that "too much to do" is one of my worries. I guess I am pretty transparent when it comes to stress.

I also learn that many of the people of Shanghai, China are Buddhist. There are many Buddha, unlike Christianity which has just one God. Taught to live a good life, Buddhist believe what they do in this lifetime determines what they will become in their next life, or rebirth. The worst is to come back as a bull or a horse, since everything is packed on their backs.

In Shanghai, people may get together to celebrate Christmas but it typically only involves dinner and well wishes for a happy Christmas. It has no religious significance. Christmas trees and decorations are not usually used in the homes and most people work, as it is not a major holiday.

Merry Christmas! While I'm not so sure I've done a good job preparing my heart during the Advent season, I am happy to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with my family and loved ones, and with our new friend Ren Zhe, from China.

The REAL Christmas Season

You hear it all the time. People say (me included),

All the stores have their holiday decorations out already - and it isn't even Thanksgiving!

Wouldn't it be nice if we finished one holiday before we started the next?

Christmas trees are up already in the stores, and it's just Halloween!

It's true; it gets earlier and earlier every year. But as quickly as the decorations go up, they also come down. It seems Christmas is over for most folks on December 26.

But wait a minute! Doesn't that just further commercialize Christmas? Are we to buy into the idea that Christmas is simply the days leading up to and including December 25?

During the children's sermon each Sunday during Advent, our Pastor has the children add figures to a nativity scene. It begins with an empty stable, of course, then animals are added each week. Mary and Joseph arrive, and finally on Christmas Eve, the baby Jesus.

But it isn't over yet. The Magi ("Three Kings" or "Three Wise Men") have yet to arrive to visit the baby Jesus. This will occur during our Epiphany worship service. This, to me, better signifies the ending to the Christmas story. We don't have to be in such a hurry to un-decorate, as Christmas is not yet over.

So, Merry Christmas (still)!

As for our household, the decorations did come down today, New Year's Day, as a matter of convenience (we always have this day off) and tradition (well, we always do it then). What about you? Are you still celebrating Christmas?

Wordless Posting - Pics of Live Nativity

Live Nativity - A Holiday Stress Buster

Continuing with the theme of my last post, I offer this as a holiday stress buster. While true this is still something to do, it's meant to result in your taking the time to reflect on the true meaning of this season. And it's fun and free, and the weather looks to be perfect.

Woodforest Presbyterian Church hosts its annual live nativity, tonight, between 6-8pm. It's your chance to dress as a shepherd or angel and participate. The stage is set for the holiest of nights, complete with stable, live animals, Mary, Joseph and the babe. Refreshments are served.

Woodforest Presbyterian Church is located at 15330 Wallisville Road, at the corner of Black Rock and Wallisville in Houston, Texas.

Perhaps one of the best ways to bust the stress of the season is to be intentional. Read this "Holidays or Holy Days" post by our church pastor, and please share your stress busting thoughts in the comments.

Holiday Stress

So recently, I have felt like a rubber band pulled taut to the nearly breaking point. It's so chaotic and busy this time of year, it's hard to find peace and tranquility. While the music sings "silent night" and "all is calm," I'm frantically on my way somewhere to pick up or do something. And it's not just shopping. It's parties, and school events, and work, and cooking, and . . . . I keep telling myself that if I can just make it past this milestone, the course is sure to get easier. But it doesn't. Or at least, it hasn't. I still believe it will.


My blogging has fallen off a little with all the busyness of the season, and I plan to finish the year with a few "favorites" posts. Like favorite books read this year, favorite blogs to read, maybe even favorite holiday activities or traditions, so stay tuned.

Question for you...
How do you cope with the busyness of this season?

Family Fun at the Texas Renaissance Festival

This past weekend my family and I attended the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, TX. According to their website, it is one of the nation's largest and most acclaimed renaissance theme parks. I believe it, although I can only compare it to King Richard's Faire in Carver, MA, as these are the only two renaissance theme parks I have visited. Both are a blast!

Expensive though, the price rivals a Disney park. However, when I asked the kids later which they enjoyed more, the renaissance festival or Disney World, the answer was a resounding, "I don't know."

So, there you have it. The Texas Renaissance Festival offers a fun-filled day of excitement and pretend, royalty and peasants, entertainment and shopping, and more. And it's a day that rivals Disney World in family fun (but not all attractions and shows are necessarily kid-friendly at the festival).

I sure hope we make the Texas Renaissance Festival an annual tradition!

BTW - The crowds were sparse this year compared to prior visits and I wonder if that was due to the weather or the economy?

Hooky Day – A Mother/Daughter Tradition

With less than six weeks left of school, it's time now to start planning my annual Hooky Day with the kids.

"What is Hooky Day?" you ask (everyone does, adults and kids alike).

Hooky Day is an event where I celebrate with each of my children individually their success at school. Taken towards the end of the school year, it is a reward for their hard work and diligence, and for missing minimal classes throughout the year. Both girls are A/B students, complete and turn in their homework on time, take school seriously, and have fun!

Hooky Day started out as a day for mom and daughter to do some summer shopping, have lunch, and bond. The day has catapulted into an exciting, fun-filled, sometimes educational annual event that both mom and daughter excitedly anticipate. This year is no exception.

Older daughter and I plan to attend Edwards Houston Marq*e 23 & IMAX. The date and movie is yet to be determined, but the day will include lunch and shopping. Younger daughter and I plan to go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where we will see the science exhibits, as well as visit the Cockrell Butterfly Center and Wortham IMAX Theatre.

Does Hooky Day work to motivate my kids to do better in school? It's hard to say. But it does reward the girls for their efforts and provide us with quality time together that is just ours and very special. Hooky Day in the Tuttle household has fast become a mother/daughter tradition.

By the way, I didn't come up with Hooky Day on my own. I remember fondly the times my mother kept me home from school for a special day of shopping and lunch in Vincennes, Indiana.

I've heard of parents paying their kids for every A on a report card or taking them out for a special dinner. What are some of the things you've done to reward your kids for a job well done? What works for you and what doesn't? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Traditions of New Year’s

This is a great time of year for reflection and contemplation – reflection on the year in closing, and thoughtful anticipation of the New Year. It's a time for counting your blessings, and making plans for a brighter tomorrow. A time steeped in tradition.

What are some of those traditions? It is tradition for many to spend New Year's Eve in celebration. In New England, revelers partake in First Night Fests that include parades, music, and cultural activities. Everyone knows of the ball drop in New York City. In the Houston suburbs, celebrants bring in the New Year with booming fireworks displays.

For others, the tradition falls mainly on New Year's Day itself. Superstitions abound, and many folks, self-included, feel New Year's Day sets the stage for the incoming year (see my post from last year here). There are traditional foods shared both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, some believed to bring about good luck or good fortune.

Probably the most well known tradition is that of making New Year's resolutions. Almost everyone has made resolutions at some point or another. The desire to make the incoming year better than the one ending is powerful, and people resolve to change many things. To eat better, lose weight, exercise more, spend less, save more, etc. Typically, the resolve is strong in the beginning, but tends to wane over time. That is why you will see a surge of activity at the health club come January, but it fairly quickly dies down.

One way to make your resolve passionate and help you to keep that resolution is to write it down and post it prominently. Not just where you can see it every day, but where the rest of your family can as well, maybe even friends.

In keeping with tradition, I have made a few writerly resolutions that I would like to post here and share. I give everyone full permission to frequently remind me of these resolutions, check in and ask how I'm doing, and otherwise keep me honest and working towards them. I also invite you to share your resolutions, and feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

Sheryl's 2009 Resolutions and Goals

• Rewrite and edit my NaNoWriMo novel into a finished manuscript.
  
• Once finished with the novel, query agents.
  
• Participate in NaNoWriMo again next November.
  
• Post a minimum of one short story each quarter on my blog.
  

Signing off for 2008, I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year!

I Love Traditions

I love traditions. For Halloween, besides carving a pumpkin and baking seeds, one of our newer customs is to make a scarecrow with the kids. We stuff an old pair of pants and shirt with leaves, pine needles, or whatever else we might rake up from the yard, and plant the ole geezer in a comfy lawn chair in front of the house. There he sits to welcome Trick or Treaters on Halloween night.

Perhaps you know this year's scarecrow?

By the way, early voting in Texas ends October 31. Be sure to get out if you can and avoid the Election Day crowds. Tell them Joe the Plumber sent ya!