Santa Does Cosplay?

Cosplay = Costume Play

One of my favorite traditions that we're starting this year is to have a box full of wrapped Christmas books. Each day a different child gets to choose and unwrap a 'new' story for me to read to them just before dinner.

A few days ago, Lizzie unwrapped Arthur's Christmas. Remember Arthur the anteater from PBS?

This particular story involves Arthur trying to find a present for Santa. He goes from store to store and keeps seeing Santa in different locations and particularly notices Santa in various restaurants. He eventually gets the idea that Santa obviously LOVES to eat, so he makes a few different dishes which he has cooked himself (with dubious success) to leave out for Santa. The ending of the story has him finding a note left by 'Santa' thanking him for the food, and mentioning his awesome sister, D.W.

I had forgotten how this particular story went and so as I read it I wondered how the kids would handle the idea that there could be more than one Santa.

I'm not a huge fan of perpetuating the myth of Santa although I do love the ideas of St. Nicholas and giving and sharing.

However, my husband and teenagers love the magic of Christmas and the fun that kids can get out of it all.

It's a fine line we walk.

Anyway, back to the story. So, the kids had noticed that the Santas in the story all had slightly different outfits. They wanted to know why the clothes were different. Then when one in particular was quite skinny they wanted to know why.

At the end when 'Santa' leaves a note, Johnny's eyes were big as he asked if Santa had really left the note. We talked about how D.W had been really nice to help out Arthur. But, they weren't ready to give up the idea that Santa had really been in Arthur's house.

When they again brought up the fact that the Santas in the story had worn different clothes I decided to discuss it a bit. I asked the kids if Santa was real or a character from a story. A character from a story they all agreed. (I'm not sure they actually understood what those words meant though)
 Then, I asked, when Peter dressed up like Obi Wan, or Chola dressed up like Batman at Halloween, were they really those people or just wearing a costume? They laughed and agreed they were just dressing up.

So, I said, sometimes people like to dress up in costumes.

Johnny's eyes got huge. I was ready for the penny to drop, and truthfully not sure I wanted it to.

"So, Santa likes to dress up like Santa?!?"

Ummm, yeah......that's it. Story time's over!


Exactly Three Years Ago: A Christmas Card

The Other Side of Christmas Week--part two

For part one of this story, click here.

After the nurse carried Gladys away, I sat back on the bed stunned. I picked up my phone and sent a Blackberry chat message to Debbie. She cried with me and I was so grateful again for God sending her to me at just the right moment.

Then, I had to call Meg. Gladys was more her baby than mine. She didn't answer her phone--later she told me that she saw that the call was coming from me and didn't want to here the words--so I left a voice message and felt sick to my stomach after.

I wondered how the other ladies in the ward were viewing me. In the space of 3 hours, two moms had lost babies but the reactions were very different. I had very little outward show of grief. I shed tears but they were quiet and mostly unseen. The other mother had cried aloud and at length. I voiced this question to Debbie and she reminded me that "we do not grieve as those who have no hope". Very true.

Zambians are also very social people. Part of the outward grieving is to let their family and friends know that they are sad and in need of special comfort. The entire village will gather at the sound of the wailing and wail also to show camaraderie and community.

I wanted to hold out hope for Joseph, but as I looked at him, lying so very still on the stark hospital bed, I wasn't sure. We still didn't know what was attacking his body. He had shown some improvement after some fluids via IV, but once the drip stopped he looked wan and weak again. 

Despite a negative malaria test, the decision was made to start him on quinine injections. Quinine is sa lifesaving, but extremely harsh drug. It can have terrible side effects--one of which is deafness--and is usually reserved for emergency cases. I hated that we had to give that to tiny Joseph, but there was nothing I could do.

He was also started on a second, more powerful antibiotic. His little body was being bombarded and I just hoped that we would see improvement soon.

Later that morning we were moved to a private room. I was so thankful! The room was tiny, but the bed had linens on it, there was a sink in the corner--no running water, but I could bring water in and do dishes--and a couch which turned out to be useless since it had no seat to it. That was OK. Remember my packing list from yesterday's post? One of the things I packed was a folding camp chair. Lifesaver!

I have to say here how grateful I was (and am) for our friends. The hospital was an hour away from home, so impractical for Tom to come back once he'd dropped us off. But, our good friends, Sanjay and Jackie stay there in that town. Three times a day they brought meals. I was so grateful! There was really nowhere else to get food. Jackie was a star--not only bringing a sandwich, but bringing full cooked meals. She even remember napkins and everything! It made such a difference to have that break in my day when meals and some conversation walked through my door.

Meanwhile, Joseph was still quite sick. He was so uncomfortable and seemed to be in pain, but didn't want to be held much or touched. He just lay on his back tossing his head back and forth and whimpering softly. He had no energy to drink so every two hours I had to coax him to take some milk from the bottle and then slowly pour more into his mouth bit by bit. 

There would be times when his eyes would roll around and I couldn’t tell if he was just tired or was dropping into something worse. My nerves were totally shot after caring for Gladys and how that had ended. I searched Joseph’s face endlessly hoping to see a spark of improvement.

The hospital still hadn’t taken any blood to test. The stool sample I’d given them had been corrupted. So, after 3 days, we still had no idea what was wrong.

Then, miraculously, Joseph began to show interest in his food again. He still couldn’t drink much at a time, but he wanted to—and that means all the difference in the world. He also tolerated me holding him again. I was able to pour all my love into him with cuddles and kisses. He even gave me half a smile. Nectar for my soul!

After a third night on an IV drip, he was finally rehydrated. With regular feedings I was able to maintain his fluid levels. It was Christmas Eve and I was hopeful we could go home. With careful instructions on his medications still needed (they could all be given orally) I was confident I could finish is convalescence at home. I just wanted to be at home with my family!

Thankfully, the doctor agreed. I bundled Joseph up, gathered our many survival possessions and his all important medicines and climbed into a taxi for the hour long ride home. As a special gift from God, my taxi driver was playing Christmas music and I sang along and felt a bit of Christmas spirit entering my soul.

Coming home after time away and jumping back into a household is always a challenge. When you’re doing it on the eve of arguably the biggest holiday of the year, when you are completely sleep deprived, well, let’s just say it is a recipe for disaster.

My family had done a wonderful job in my absence, baking some of my favorite cookies and wrapping all the presents for the little kids.

Later that night, as we cleared up from dinner, Jasmine asked me why someone had put away all the cookies but left about six still on the tray. I thought that was weird too, and then it dawned on me—Buzz had struck again! That naughty, rascally dog had eaten a few dozen cookies right off the tray. No more cookies for Christmas Day! Unfortunately, that was the proverbial last straw for me. I began to weep. All the pressure and struggle of an entire week culminated in that moment. We had to have the special Christmas cookies! Or Christmas would be ruined! 

Tom very wisely bundled me off to bed with the sage advice that it would all be better in the morning. And, do you know? He was right. I got up every couple hours to feed Joseph (he was now crying for his food. Hallelujah!) but was still able to wake up early. I stuffed stockings, set out a special breakfast, and wrapped the few presents our family would receive, just in time for my big kids and hubby to wake up. Then, we were able to do our Children's Christmas Party. 

Day by day, Joseph improved. His trademark grins returned. One day he even giggled! He giggled! He was on his way back! Aside from his half shaved head (we really ought to do the other and create a baby Mr. T), you can't even tell he was sick. 

Thank you all for the encouraging comments you've been leaving me. I really appreciate your encouragement. Having a cyber community means the world to me!

The Magic of Christmas

Christmas Day we started the day early by holding a party for the kids at 10:30 in the morning. After all the suspense building through December, we knew the kids couldn't wait any longer.

I started off by reminding the kids what Christmas was all about and how we gave gifts to honor God's greatest gift to us. 

My kids really love the 'magic' and fun that surrounds Santa and they're excited to share that with the little kids.I told the kids that Jesus lets Santa help bring presents to them.A happy compromise? I don't know.....but it worked for us right now.

 

Timmy then told the kids that we had to call Santa to come with the gifts by reading Twas the Night before Christmas. When he got to the part at the end "....and to all a goodnight!" Santa burst through the door carrying a huge sack of presents.

Moriah took off running to the other side of the room in fright, but she was easily calmed and was more than happy to go up to get her gift once she figured out what was going on.

Janet--4 years old

Chola--6 years old

Lizzie--23 months

Ernest--5 years old

Johnny--5 years old

4.

 

 

The kids then dug into their presents, ripping paper off and pulling out their collection of toys. Each child received a Beanie baby or two, and a car or small toy or doll depending on if they were a boy or girl. 

Grace (9 mos.) was more interested in the tag than the toy

After the gifts, out came the party elements: streamers, silly string, party poppers, Christmas crackers, candy and cookies--twenty children all strung out on sugar and Christmas joy is a sight to see. 

I hope you all had as much fun in your holiday parties as we had at ours.

Last Year' s Christmas: Christmas is for Kids
Exactly Two Years Ago: A Message from Baby New Year
 

Secret Santas

Christmas is not a really big deal here in Zambia. It's an official holiday, government offices are closed for a week or two in December, and all the shopping malls and grocery stores are covered in decorations and play Christmas music starting in early November. But, as far as the average person celebrating the reason for the season, it doesn't really happen. 

That doesn't mean that people aren't well acquainted with the commercial side of Christmas. It is common to be greeted with, "Where's my Christmas?". In all the years we've lived in Zambia though, we've never had anyone give us a Christmas gift. Not that I'm really looking for gifts, but it would be nice to have some give along with the take.

To that end, this year I decided to teach my staff what a blessing giving to others can be. I started our weekly meeting one Tuesday with talking about what Christmas means, where the holiday originated, how Santa Claus came to be, etc.

Then, I offered up the suggestion that each of them could draw a name of a coworker and exchange gifts at our next staff meeting. I promised to provide cookies and juice as my gift to all of them. We agreed that the names would be drawn in secret, but then the gifts would be given publicly so that gratefulness and giving thanks could be part of the lesson learning also.

A few days later I had to explain the procedure to an employee that wasn't at the meeting. I explained that there was a price limit of K15,000 (about $3) so that no one went crazy and made others feel badly about their gift. "But," this staff member wanted to know, "what if I spend K15,000, and the one I'm exchanging with only spends K1,000??" We had to hold our laughter in. It was such a cute and human reaction. I spent time talking with him about the joys of giving and how the act itself blesses us.

The day of the party arrived and everyone was so excited. They came clutching their little parcels. We started with one lady and then whoever she gave a gift to would give the next gift to the name she had drawn and on it went. They all did a really good job. The top two gifts? Local cloth and underwear!

After the gift exchange, they performed a song in Bemba (the local language) that they said was a Christmas song. It definitely had the word Bethlehem in it.

Then it was time for the food portion of the party. We served peanut butter cookies, decorated gingerbread cookies and some peanut butter popcorn.

During the original planning meeting I had put spices in a bowl to show the ladies what Christmas smells like. Then at the party I told them that the gingerbread cookies are what Christmas tastes like.

Almost everyone put a portion of their snack into a bag to eat later--whether to make it last, or to share with friends or family, I don't know.

They all seemed to have a good time and are looking forward to next year's part already.

Exactly One Year Ago: Gifts from the Heart

Santa Visits Kazembe

And now for the back story:

Ever since our second Christmas here in Kazembe back in 2008, Tom has been excited about sharing a bit of Christmas fun with the children in the village.

The first year, he put on a Santa hat and walked through the village carrying a pillowcase filled with hard candy. He passed it out to every child he saw. They loved it and he had a really good time.

The second year, the kids were ready for him. They knew he was going to come around on Christmas Eve and they were all determined not to miss out on a chance to get a sweet. Crowds formed around Tom and our two sons almost as soon as they drove down to the village center, parked and began walking down the road. 

Trouble was, it wasn't just a few sweet, innocent children. It was teenagers and even grown people as well. Before long, a near riot had begun. Tom and the boys had to make a run for it, tossing candy far off into the distance to create a diversion. Tom left Timmy behind to toss candy and keep the crowd occupied while he made a break for the car and started the engine. As soon as the car was running, Timmy threw the remaining candy into the crowd and ran for the already moving vehicle and jumped into the back. Tom promised himself he would never do that again!

In 2010, Tom came up with an excellent plan. He would creep through the village in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, scattering candy on the ground near the houses for the children to discover upon awakening on Christmas morning. He would be just like the real Santa Claus.

To avoid problems, Tom let the police know what he was planning and at 2 AM Tom and Timothy headed out into the darkness with 3,000 hard candies ready to cover the ground like modern day manna.

He came home tired but so happy as he thought about how pleased the children would be. He slept in that morning as visions of colored candies danced in his head.

Around noon on Christmas Day Tom got a call from the police department. He was told that all the candies had been gathered up by the villagers and turned in to the police. The villagers were convinced that the candy had been left on the ground by Satanists. When the police explained that it was Tom, they said, "No, he always comes in the daytime!". Nothing would change their minds so the police made out like bandits in the candy department that year.

This year, with a new Santa suit to play with, Tom had a new plan. He would sit outside one of the shops high up on some steps and have the kids come up one by one to get their sweets. Knowing that crowd control can be an issue he hired some young men (along with our teenagers) to help keep the kids in line--literally. To avoid anyone getting candy and then rejoining the line, permanent markers were purchased to draw a line on each child's hand.

The day approached and Tom was so excited! As you can see from the video, he rode a trailer into the village, hoisted his huge sack filled with 10,000 candies onto his back and prepared to make the children of Kazembe very, very happy. 

I wasn't around to witness what came next. So, here is Timmy with the account:

Well, first, I jumped down from the trailer and began pushing my way through the crowd forming a path for Santa Claus. Once I thought there was a bit of order, my dad pulled the bag of candy off the trailer which excited the children and they began to swarm toward him. I pulled kids and pushed them away, allowing Santa Claus to walk up the stairs to the porch where his chair was.

The children's excitement was almost too much too handle as they pushed and shoved trying to climb up the steps. I continued to push them back leaving a clean line for Santa.

This was the first year where we would have an orderly system of passing out the candy so the urchins did not know what to expect.

Santa Claus teased the crowd by lifting up handfuls of candy and allowing them to fall back into the bag. By this time, the crowd had grown to around 7,000 children.

Santa gave the order and I looked into the crowd for the first child that caught my eye. I found a small girl around 7 years old, with torn brown clothes and a shaved head. I held her hand over her head to identify my actions to the crowd. They all observed in noisy amusement as I drew an X onto her palm. I then pulled her up onto the porch and Santa gave her a handful of candy. 

Not a second after that, every child in the crowd realized the key to getting candy and charged toward Christina and I holding out their hands for the 'mark'. That was the trigger that caused the chaos. It became a blur of screaming children. I tossed children right and left trying to protect Santa Claus. The kids began climbing onto each other and it looked like a scene from a mosh pit.

Just when I thought the area was secure and clear of children, I looked behind me and saw 5 children who had climbed up and were scrambling for candy right out of the bag. I ran over and started pulling kids off. For every child I pulled off, two more took his place. I grabbed one very large child and using great force managed to pull him off the candy only to find it was a grown man with a scruffy beard. He said, "Don't worry about me. No, no, don't worry about me!" I let go of him in my surprise and he dove right back into the bag of candy. 

Next thing I knew, my father and his 'bodyguards' started throwing the candy into the crowd where the children scrambled around on the ground picking it up. With the kids distracted, we ran for the car, clutching the empty sack, and drove away grateful that no one had been hurt.

I wonder what plan we'll come up with for next year......

Related post: Christmas Candy Toss (2009)

The Little Elves Were Out in Force

Last week we held a crazy assembly line of Christmas card construction. We bought some handmade Zambian cards with designs made of either banana leaves or African cloth. Some of the paper was even made from recycled elephant poo.

To make the cards even more awesome we had the tiniest kids add a handprint or footprint. 

Not all of them were thrilled with it. Jack had a positively worried look on his face the entire time.

Is this not the cutest thing ever?

Then we wrote a message and the cards were signed by one of the bigger kids. 

We let the preschoolers trace over their names that were pre-written in pencil. 

The kindergarteners could write all by themselves. 

We had a German couple staying with us all week. After putting in some good card-making time, Sabina and Georg would read Christmas stories to the kids. The kids loved all the special attention.

If you sent a donation any time in the past year, you can watch your mailbox for a card anytime in the next month.--Gotta love African mail!

Are you sending out snail mail cards or e-cards this year?

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree

Last Monday we decorated the tree in the dining room. This is a new addition to our holiday decor. I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos. The kids weren't exactly holding still much during this activity. 

Queenie helping to straighten the branches

 We bought an artificial tree from Lusaka--only way to go out here--and a few simple decorations to get it started. We're sure to have plenty of kid-made treasures to fill it up as the years go by.

Elias stretching up to wrap the lights around

Timmy and Christina helped the kids set up the tree and then Timmy supervised the decorating.

Nathan helps tidy the tinsel

He did a really good job of corralling 16 preschoolers and making them all feel a part of the experience.

Beauty and Theresa working together

Janet adding the silver beads

After a child or two  had a turn at stringing a garland 'round the tree, or adding a bobble or bell, Timmy would call for a round of applause.

Even little bitty Lizzie got to add something to the tree.

Putting the star atop the tree was the grand finale. Queenie was chosen for the honor and loved being hoisted all the way up in the air.

**********

Less than one week 'till Christmas. If you are as behind as I am, take a moment from the hustle and bustle to look on the lighter side of life on my side of the world:

Exactly One Year Ago: A Couple Giggles to Brighten Your Weekend

Exactly Two Years Ago: My Tatas are Tired

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Father Christmas made the his first appearance of the season in Mansa yesterday. Not many kids came to the store to see him, but every customer made sure to take a piece of candy. They all left with huge smiles on their faces.

It's summer/rainy season here in Zambia which means very hot and humid. Poor Tom was a puddle of sweat yesterday afternoon. 

Not that that has anything to do with Santa's appearance......

I have it on good authority that this will not be the last time children get to see Jolly Ol' St. Nick. I'll keep you posted when & where it happens next.

Exactly One Year Ago: A Puzzle and a Prize --I'm watching this movie as I write tonight

Exactly Two Years Ago: Happy Birthday to Me! 

More Christmas Hijinks

 This is the last of the Christmas memories. I promise. Then it's onwards and upwards as we face a New Year.

On Christmas Day we had a lovely lunch and invited friends over for a simple meal. I try to avoid as much work as possible on Christmas so I can relax and enjoy the day. Of course, simple food meant I was in the kitchen for 2 hours. Maybe I need to join an anonymous group of some sort...

 Don't be deceived. That looks simple but it was delicious and worth the work. Remember, everything has to be done from scratch here. Yes, that is homemade bread there.

How many of you are familiar with Jan Karon's Mitford books? This is Esther's Orange Marmalade cake. I bless the day Jan decided to share this recipe with the world and doubly bless the day my mom sent me the little gift book it was written in. I've made this cake for the past four Christmases and it is AMAZING!

We made seven different cookies this year (not all shown) and loved all of them! We were introduced to whiskey cookies by our volunteer, Summer, this year and they were fantastic. We did have to do some major substitutions because we didn't have all the ingredients but they will definitely be added to our cookie line-up each year.

A fun 'Christmas' activity this year was playing four-square. Here are the kids wearing the appropriate head gear.

Playing again after lunch. Tom got really competitive. We had to outlaw spikes and holding. And, yes, we have a four-square court drawn on our dining room floor. Doesn't everyone?

 And, finally, the requisite self portrait. The table behind me doesn't usually look like that. It's Christmas mess...I assure you...Let me distract you somehow.....Oh yes! Aren't you jealous that I got to wear a cute sleeveless shirt on Christmas Day?

Have a great New Year, everyone!

I'm playing along with a Friday Blog Hop for the first time. Welcome to any new visitors!

It Came, It Finally Came!!

Name that movie!

Remember when I mentioned that gift exchange yesterday and how I hadn't received my gift or heard back about the one I sent?

Well, just a couple hours after I hit publish, Timmy and Troy walked down the the village center and found a package for me. Hooray!

Tania sent me the cutest hair bow. It made me wish for little girls with blond curls, again.  This is the kind of thing I wish I'd known how to make when my girls were younger. My blond daughter is all grown up now. Here she is modeling the bow.

I think I've found a way to make this work for our house though. Doesn't it look darling on the tree?

I would love to do a gift exchange again next year. It was fun and added some anticipation and surprise to Christmas which doesn't happen often once we enter the world of the 'grown ups'.

Gifts From the Heart

This year we didn't have much money available for Christmas and since we are planning a trip to the U.S in January we decided to wait for then to do anything substantial for our big kids. Not having anything at all under the tree was not really an option for me though. I wanted the kids to be able to open something at least. 

Our current volunteer, Summer, also decided to get a little something for us and enlisted her mom's help in sending out some packages. 

She had a friend paint some T-shirts. My kids got some original ones made but I love mine the best. You have to be a Twilight fan or at least know something about the books to get this saying. I love it!!

I'm also wearing the gift that Jasmine made for me--a beautiful, green, blue and white bead bracelet. She has such a talent for creating art whether it is jewelry or cupcakes.

I wanted to make something special for each of my boys but homemade gifts for boys is hard! I made a bookmark for Timothy, a travel journal for Troy and crossstiched the above picture for Tom (it's a Tetris design--see?) but those were such small gifts. I really wanted to do something more. Then God reminded me of an old blanket that was in my craft room. 

It turned out to the the perfect size to make three scarves. Since we are going to be visiting the U.S in the winter we urgently need warm clothing. This is a good start. 

Another homemade gift I worked on this year was a lovely (if I do say so myself) crossstiched bookmark. I had been working on it in  but didn't know who should be the recipient when I read about a gift exchange possibility. Immediately I signed up and was assigned an address in Utah. Sadly, I haven't heard back from my exchange partner to know if she received my gift. The one she sent was returned to her and I don't know if she resent it. I pray that that bookmark finds its way to a good home.

I have to say that one of my favorite gifts this year came from Judy, a reader of this blog. Her daughter, Raven, used to be in the Peace Corps here in Zambia which is how we got acquainted. 

Judy sent me a beautiful knitted shawl. She sent the sweetest letter along with it describing how she had prayed for me and my family as she knitted it. She was very detailed in her prayers--praying for our provision, our challenges, our marriage, even my weight loss. As she wrote in her letter, the shawl is not endowed with magical powers, but every time I wear that shawl it will be a reminder that I am loved and prayed for. 

I plan to wear it when I have my Bible reading and prayer time in the morning.

Did you receive any homemade gifts that you loved this year?

Of course, not all well-intentioned gifts work out. You can head over to Tom's blog and see how a gift from the heart went wrong. He'd love your input.