All I want for Christmas is my front tooth!

Twas two nights before Christmas, 

and since Christmas day looms,

preparations were ready,

all through the rooms.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

and four kids were all hoping cousins soon would be here.

The Momma was making a dinner ho-hum

while Daddy worked late to avoid Christmas doldrums.  

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, 

but sweet G-Bear declaring,

"Look what's missing in here!"

Her front loosed tooth alas was no more.

And soon came discussion of Toothfairy lore.

Are quarters delivered at Christmastime too?

Worry not, sweet G-Bear, for this special tooth

deserves two shiny quarters at least!

Surprise, the next morning they were there, a relief.

So, may this toothy smile help your spirits be bright,

Merry Christmas, y'all!  To all, a good night.

 Happily Ever,

Queen B

Christmas Cookies with Miss Sara

What better way is there to spend the first day of Christmas break than making Christmas cookies?

This year, we continued our tradition of cookie baking, but we began what I hope will be a new tradition: cooking with our neighbor, Miss S.

Miss S invited us over for the afternoon.  We needed all the help (and space!) we could get.  This year, we made four types of cookies!  The kids were great helpers.  As with years past, one of the keys to our success was the fact that I made my dough the night before.  With the dough prepped and ready, we could set right into rolling, cutting, baking and decorating, which are all jobs that the children enjoy.

 This year, we had to introduce Buddy Bear to my rules of Christmas cookie baking.  

The rules haven't changed over the years, but I find that each year I have a new child to indoctrinate.

Rule #1:

Only Mom does the frosting.

Rule #2:

Only the kids do the decorating 

(unless they give Mom permission or ask for help).

Rule #3:

Have fun making the cookies.

(you would be surprised how difficult this can be at times!

Sometimes the decorations don't turn out they way one might want.  Sometimes one might lick fingers and have to wash hands AGAIN.  Sometimes one might have to be patient while Mom helps someone else.  This is a rule for good reason.)

With rules in place and after hours of hard work, we had a lot of bounty to show for our efforts.  The hardest part of the afternoon was just eating one cookie each!  We put the rest away for Christmas, just two days away.  The Advent wait will be worth it!

 Happily Ever,
Queen B

Great Job, G-Bear!

G-Bear's second grade Christmas music concert wowed us tonight.  E-Bear got to see the show twice, once during school and once with us in the evening.  The second grade Christmas concert is not for the faint of heart.   The gym was so full we had to stand in the back against the wall for the whole performance.  As it turned out, we couldn't have been more fortunate to have a standing-room seat, because we could see the stage and the performers so well.  E-Bear and Buddy Bear were troopers to stand or sit on the floor through the whole concert.

G-Bear was so nervous, but once up on the stage, she was enthusiastic and animated.  One of the evening highlights was watching her play the xylophone as accompaniment for one of the songs!

There's G-Bear, in her Christmas dress from MoMo, playing away on the xylophone.

Well done, G-Bear.  You hard work has made our Advent that much sweeter!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Blessing the Tree

Welcome, Advent!  

Lord, we can't wait for your Coming.

Blessing of the Christmas Tree

Leader: All the earth has seen the saving power of God.

All: Joy to the World, the Lord (will) has come.

Leader: The Lord has made His salvation known.

All: Let earth receive her King.

Leader: Let us pray.

All: Almighty Father, we ask you to bless this tree that we have decorated as a sign and reminder that the coming of your Son brought light and joy to the world.  Help us to be bright lights bringing joy to others.  We ask this through Jesus, your Son.  

Amen.

This year, we let the kids decorate the Christmas tree.

They were doing a great job.  

Of course, most of the ornaments were being hung at a surprisingly uniform level.

After all, one can only reach so high.

G-Bear found a way around the problem.

Obviously, I wasn't watching the whole time.

Clearly, however, someone was watching at this time. 

Ahem?  Are we really okay with this?

I guess T did buy a new tree stand this year.  

We are really putting its sturdiness to the test.

The tree remained standing.  

It really does look lovely, thanks to the Bears.

Happily Ever,
Queen B

Merry Christmas 2013

Wonder is upon us. 

At Christmas, 

the Transcendent became tangible, 

the Infinite became incarnate, 

the Creator became creation.

Joy to the world!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Happily Ever Johnsons

Christmas Cookies 2013

Who doesn't love a good Christmas cookie? 

Here in Happily Ever Johnson land, we love Christmas cookies.

We also love to make and decorate them.

For me, making Christmas cookies with multiple young children is an annual exercise in 

planning, patience and letting go.  I work hard to achieve all three for our brief cookie-making extravaganza each year.  Provided that I do, we all have a wonderful time. 

I have detailed my Christmas cookie philosophy  in previous posts.  I make (or buy) the dough ahead of time, we roll it out together and the kids get to cut out the cookies themselves.  We have some ground rules, but then I try to let the kids do most of the decorating on their own.  

This year, T showed us how to decorate the cookies with sugar sprinkles before baking. He admitted that he likes the unfrosted cookies the best.

Luckily, we had a bag of cinnamon red hots left from Nana's visit last year.

The finished products looked pretty good. 

They tasted even better!

G-Bear wanted to make sure that we were going to save some to share with Santa.

"But not too many," she said.  "We don't want him to get stuck in the chimney!"

E-Bear was especially proud of his cookies and particularly eager to share.

"You can have one of mine, Mom," he offered.

We baked a second batch without sprinkles in order to decorate with frosting later.  The next day we ventured over to GG's house with cookies and sprinkles in tow.  After caroling together in her apartment, we broke out the decorating supplies!  GG loved it.  She even decorated a few cookies herself (and ate both of them!).  By the end of our afternoon, we had a second lovely batch of cookies to share with our family on Christmas.

G-Bear's favorite was her angel.  

"I can't believe we made FOUR trays of cookies!" She said.

Our cookie making days are always a lot of work, but they make for many sweet returns.  The cookies that we enjoy during Christmas are delicious.  The time we spend together and memories that we make along with the cookies are even sweeter.

Happily Ever,
Queen B

Christmas Card Assembly Line

Here I sit at the head of our dining room table.  It is Christmas Card Day in Happily Ever Johnson Land.  But, for the first year ever, I have an army of "elves" by my side.  E-Bear is stuffing envelopes, G-Bear is sticking address labels, Buddy Bear is adding coloring touches to each card.

Who knew Christmas cards could be such a family affair? What a blessing.

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Slowing Advent

Every year, I look for ways to slow down during the Advent season. 

There always seems to be so much to do.  It can be hard to prioritize.

Well this year, our Advent has slowed WAY down.

Thank you very much, stomach flu.

Nothing puts the Christmas craze on hold like the stomach flu.

No one wants to bake Christmas cookies when there is vomit going around.

No one ventures out to shop with all the piles of laundry to be done.

No one notices that the ornaments aren't on the tree yet.

Did I mention that our tree has been up for 2 weeks?

Instead, we've had lots of time for Christmas stories.

We have spent lots of time snuggling.

We've been lighting our Advent candles, 

reading our Jesse Tree stories,

and going to bed early.

We've been praying for each other and praying for others who don't feel well.

When we feel better, we'll really be ready to decorate, celebrate, and take on the season.

Let's just say there is a silver lining to every stormy cloud.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, 

from the 

Happily Ever Johnsons!

May the joy of the Father, the love of the Son, and the peace of the Spirit

be with you and your family this Christmas Season.

Happily Ever,
The Johnsons

The Joys of Our Advent

Happy Fourth Sunday of Advent!  Christmas is almost here!

As we light our fourth Advent candle today, I am tremendously thankful for the past week and all the blessings within it.

Gaudate Sunday

Gaudate Sunday was truly a joyful day for us.  Our dear Buddy Bear was baptized at our new parish!

Buddy Bear did a great job with all the attention he received.  We were so blessed to have all grandparents, Uncle C and Aunty Cindy present, as well as loving godparents praying for him from afar.  His siblings looked on with excitement, especially delighted that he was given a baptism candle like theirs.

Afterwards, MoMo and Papa hosted everyone to brunch to celebrate!  We toasted "our new creation," Nana's arrival and the wonderful Advent season so far.  It was a Gaudate Sunday we'll remember for a long time.

A Visit from Nana

Nana arrived last weekend in time for E-Bear's birthday.  We have been in heaven ever since.  I can't think of a better Christmas gift for our family.

Nana reading to the cousins during our Christmas reunion.

With Nana in town, I have been able to enjoy Mass alone each morning this week (after dropping G-Bear to school, and while the boys enjoy staying home).  The kids have enjoyed prolonged story times and afternoon games of Candy Land and Sequence.

We have gone ice skating, parade-watching, and T and I have even enjoyed a night out together.   Every meal is special, every moment more like Christmas with Nana in our house.

Christmas Cookie Baking Day

On Wednesday, the kids and I continued our annual tradition of baking Christmas cookies!  The traditional rules still applied, which made it sane and manageable for everyone involved.  

The kitchen was filled with fun and laughter as we rolled the dough, cut the shapes, baked the cookies, and finally frosted and decorated them.  Again this year, Smarties made an appearance on a few cookies,

 and if you look carefully you might see a Lightning McQueen cookie shape, although we agreed they were harder to identify once baked. :)  

Truly, this has become one of my favorite Advent afternoons.  The delicious cookie creations are always a nice reward, but the best part is watching the kids work so hard to make them.

Last School Days

E-Bear and G-Bear had a wonderful final week at school.  

G-Bear's class visited our parish's nativity to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus as part of a school Birthday party they hosted in His honor.  

G-Bear with her kinder class, singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.

E-Bears preschool class impressed all the parents at their Christmas program. He and his buddies sang his heart out in renditions of Christmas songs, complete with jingle bell necklaces!  Afterwards, a surprise visitor made a special appearance, and we all enjoyed Christmas cookies.  

What more could we ask for?  We are ready for Christmas!  

May the blessing of these holy days be with you and your family.