Hannah has become the keeper of the Christmas traditions. Or the rememberer of the Christmas traditions. This is good for me, because I remember certain things, but I don’t remember everything, such as Swedish fish in the stockings EVERY YEAR, and Hannah reminds me. Which means that there are fewer disappointments from lost traditions that I didn’t even realize were traditions, such as Swedish fish in stockings.
She’s not so traditional that she can’t let go of some things, though. This year she announced that we had too many ornaments and need to sort through as we took them down so that we could get rid of some. I didn’t tell her that she has an aunt who got a second tree in order to fit all the ornaments. Nor did I tell her that I’m somewhat behind on the yearly photo ornaments for the kids. Nor did I tell her that I’m not sure it’s very likely that I’ll get rid of very many ornaments.
Despite lamenting the plethora of ornaments, she was most happy to take a lead role in decorating the tree, reminding the others to hang the breakable ones up high so that little hands couldn’t reach and destroy. Tess mostly liked the stroller ornament, anyway, but we do have other toddler visitors during the Christmas season, so it’s probably just as well.
It’s crazy to me how big Hannah is getting! This year she had enormously ambitious plans for making Christmas gifts. About two weeks before Christmas she was outlining her 73 separate projects (maybe it wasn’t exactly 73, but it was a LOT), and telling me how she was going to get them all done.
She ended up needing to pare down a bit, but she still got a lot of crafting in, and was SO excited about the things she’d made to give away. It was really fun to see her getting into the joy of giving this year. (She also had the joy of getting, of course!)
Her plans being extremely ambitious, she didn’t quite finish the matching pillowcase to this one, but she’s working on it. She embroidered it herself, then washed and ironed it herself. It’s fun having a very competent 10-year-old around!
Her gift for Naomi and Simeon, a kitchen playset made from cardboard boxes, had been in the works for a couple of months. She spent many quiet times working on it, and was constantly on the lookout for empty containers to use for the kitchen. It was in her closet, and she even put a little gift note on the door for them. They were pretty excited about it, too.
I think this was the first year that Hannah wasn’t the first one up – Simeon took that honor. But she didn’t waste much time once she was up.
She was just as excited about the roller blades as Naomi. She’d wanted some for a while, but when we lived on a hill, with hilly sidewalks all around, it wasn’t too practical for her to get roller blades. Now, with a flat driveway with lots of room, she’s having a great time.
She’s already decided that for NEXT year’s Christmas she’s going to start earlier with her crafts so that she can get more done. And I imagine she will.
