12 days of Christmas...Christmas lights galore!

Our Christmas festivities are still ongoing, making sure we have down days in between so everyone can regroup.  Most recently we went to tour the Christmas lights, done up as the 12 days of Christmas,  at a local garden.  The weather all day had been iffy and we weren't sure if we would go or not; fortunately the rain held off.  An added bonus of the wet weather all day was it was extremely quiet there as others must have changed their plans.

The kids are in awe of any and all Christmas lights however these ones were spectacular.

 Enjoying the lights and getting out for a walk was a welcome treat from all the sitting and eating that has been happening over the last couple days.  The  favorite part of the night, for most of the kids, was riding the carousel.

And the Best Gingerbread House of the Year is....

Gingerbread houses galore around here.  When the years have come and gone, the moments that make your Christmas memories special are the Christmas traditions.  Quickly forgotten are the bright colored toys and the latest electronic gadgets.  What remains is the special times created through traditions.  Our family has many family traditions that we do at home together each year.  Some of our family traditions take into consideration our limitations as a family limiting the stresses that can be put on people at this time of year.

Each year as a family we have a gingerbread house building competition.  Who ever is available, including adult children and grandchildren, attends and we pair off for a friendly competition.  This year, one daughter participated via Skype as she wasn't finished college for Christmas break yet.  Some of our more creative family members modify the original gingerbread house creating unique master pieces.  The younger less able children have the option of pairing off with an older member of the family or they can decorate and eat gingerbread men.  This year 5 decorated gingerbread men with Mom while the others paired off making houses.

After all the houses are complete we have the judging.  Dad inspects all the houses coming up with a unique description/category that each house wins for.

Best rendition of a house fire

Trailer park house, with truck on blocks and gingerbread man drinking from his red solo cup

Best architectural design

Most traditional gingerbread house

Best candy train

Most realistic Santa and house

House that has traveled the most via Skype

and finally 

the house using the most candy

Crafting away our stresses

Life has been extremely hectic around here with the never ending renovations, Christmas preparations, power outages, flooding basement and the arrival of our adorable but very sick grand daughter.  So the kids and I decided to step away from the stress and spend the day baking, crafting and watching Christmas movies.

Christmas trees and stars made out of popsicle sticks and then decorated with glitter glue and sequins.

Sugar cookies galore, mixing colors of icing seemed like a good idea to some resulting in some unique colors.

Beading on pipe cleaners to make snowflakes and candy canes.  This was excellent for practicing our fine motor skills.

We also used coffee filters to make angels.  The heads were made from cotton balls cover with the coffee filter.

These reindeer were a huge success with hours of imaginative play after they were created.  I don't know if they will survive long enough to make it on the Christmas tree.

Santa Photos.... Christmas traditions or nightmares?

The Christmas season is upon us and soon families will be taking their darling children to get a great photo with Santa.  Every parent feels the same way, they HOPE it will go well, but can never be quite sure. We had those same feelings when we adopted the last 3 of our sibling group of 7 and their birth Mom had one special request "a picture of the 7 with Santa".  It must have been that new adoption excitement because when I look back a photo with 7 young children aged 1-7 all with high special needs, what was I thinking.   Anyway, I naively agreed thinking that doesn't sound too bad and if that's what is important too her we can do it.  

We spent hours making sure they look perfect! Dressing the kids up in their holiday best, making sure their hair was groomed and they were excited, not nervous, about meeting the big man.  We made sure that each child knew what they wanted to ask Santa for, rehearsed it several times.  Then we were off to meet the big man in hopes of capturing the perfect shot.  Maybe, even one for this year’s family Christmas card! Then it was game time….the kids had rehearsed it a million times in their heads, they knew what they want to ask Santa for and were ready for the big meeting, but something snapped, something went wrong and boom – full all out meltdown.  It took us 4 separate visits with multiple pictures each time to get a picture that looked 1/2 way presentable.  All our various attempts gave close families and friends a good laugh with all the photographic evidence, we may even a photo or two to show at the kids future weddings.  

If you try braving your own Santa photo and your child has special needs, I have some suggestions:

Find the right Santa for the job
Not everyone is comfortable with people with special needs and this includes Santa's so talk with your Santa ahead of time.  Children can sense if someone is not comfortable with them and their behaviors can escalate as a result.  Some malls have a special time for people with special needs to visit Santa and some Santa's will come to your home. Ask questions of your Santa:  Are they in a handicap accessible location? Is their a better time to come? Do they have experience with the type of special need your child has?  Another option is purchasing your own Santa suit which is more economical now with the cost of these suits coming down in price.  

Calming Santa fears
Many children are fearful of Santa, so if a Santa picture is important to you work with your child ahead of time.  Read stories, watch Santa from afar, watch videos, play dress up - putting on a beard so your child gets experience with beards and make a social story telling what to expect on their visit. 

What to wear
Have your child wear something they feel comfortable in.  If your child has sensory issues this isn't the time to put them in the frilly dress and/or shirts and ties.  Sitting with Santa is a challenge don't add to it by dressing them in clothing they are uncomfortable with.