Parol Making Websites/Philippines Christmas

Here are some websites we found helpful when researching Filipino Christmas traditions:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Parol---Filipino-Christmas-Lantern-

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/philippine_christmas.htm#Sino%20si%20Santa%20Klaus?

http://www.myparol.com/myparol/parolkit.html

http://cdn.dickblick.com/lessonplans/filipino-parol/filipino-parol-parol-stars.pdf

http://filipino.biz.ph/tourism/pasko.html

They were all filled with great information!!! If anyone knows of any other great websites, let me know!!!
Sorry....haven't had much time to be on the computer let alone blog! I love Christmas but it's a busy time at work and home! I'll post some Christmas pictures soon!

Finalization!!!!

We had our court date, today, Tuesday, December 15th for the finalization of Jay-R's adoption. He wore his barong to mark the importance of the day of going to tourt (as he called it). It was short, sweet, and final. He has been our little boy since we first laid eyes on his picture September 2, 2008, but now he is legally ours, legally an Allison, and legally a US citizen. Or, as he told me, "Mom, don't forget the A." Okay, legally a USA citizen! We celebrated with ice cream. What a sweet Christmas present. And, for all of you bloggy friends waiting, I am praying for you!

Sleep Success!

Finally, Jay-R is going to sleep in his bedroom at night by himself without panicking that no one is upstairs. There is the initial, "I want someone upstairs with me." Then, I reassure him he is fine and we are all downstairs if he needs anything. Then there is the hug and kiss, then another, the "I love yous" and then I flip the light off. Then, minutes later, a sleeping little boy. I think we owe Ate Ashleigh a big thank for the teddy bear Christmas lights she strung in his room. These have been a huge incentive to encouraging him to go to sleep. Also, a little bribery that he can have a small piece of candy after he eats breakfast doesn't hurt either. I know, candy in the morning is awful, but the incentive is working, he brushes his teeth well, and we are all getting sleep! Life is good! :)

Happy Birthday Ashleigh!

Ashleigh turned 12 today...where has the time gone? She is growing up so fast!

I love this picture of her....I took it at the sand dunes a few months ago (obviously by the way she is dressed) but she just looks so grown up!

We had the youth group Christmas party tonight, and she was embarrassed by the group singing to her and another girl whose birthday is tomorrow. She'll celebrate with a few school friends this weekend and some alone time with mom and dad while Jay-R goes to his church children's practice.

Happy Birthday Ashleigh!!!!

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!"

It's beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas in the Allison household. Sunday, we made our first parol, the traditional Filipino Christmas decoration. It represents the star of Bethlehem. After much research on the internet for the perfect directions and a trip to Hobby Lobby for bamboo from the Philippines and Japanese rice paper, we were ready to begin! The whole project took about 2 hours and was a family effort. We were pleased with the end results and plan to make one each year to help weave Jay-R's Filipino traditions into our traditions at Christmas.

The kids were happy with the finished parol. Jay-R told me, "Thank you Mommy for making my star."

I let the kids go crazy with glitter. I know it's a mess, but I love glitter and I love to see my kids getting along, working together on something.

The star frame for our parol.

My not so crafy husband hard at work cutting the bamboo into strips. He is not a crafty person but he did enjoy this project.

Ashleigh had her first band concert, a Christmas concert tonight. Afterwards, Jay-R decided to do some conducting of his own. Look at the serious expression on his face.

In her band shirt...growing up so fast...

Our annual family photo with the dancing/singing Santa at Kory's parents house. As you can see from the next picture, Jay-R loved him!

Dancing and singing with Santa

Jay-R's first visit with Santa Claus in the US. Santa visited White Cross in the Philippines, too, so Jay-R knows who Santa is. He was a little nervous about sitting on Santa's lap, but did tell Santa he wanted a car for Christmas.

Hiding under the tree...our puppy's favorite spot, too. Right now, if we can't find something, we look under the tree and Franklin has probably dragged it there!

A family photo by the Christmas tree

Trimming the tree

Jay-R with Daddy Santa

Ashleigh at my Mom & Dad's on Thanksgiving with their puppy

Jay-R and Daddy at Kory's parents on Thanksgiving

Ashleigh and Mom at Kory's parents on Thanksgiving

Ashleigh and her cousin Kelsey...I remember when these two were babies playing together...doesn't seem that long ago!

Jay-R dressed up for the Thanksgiving play the cousins performed for us

All smiles...doesn't like mashed potatoes, stuffing, or pumpkin pie, but Scotcheroos....now that's a Thanksgiving treat worth smiling about!

Jay-R's Thanksgiving Feast

Jay-R was looking rather thoughtful on our car ride to his grandparents' house on Thanksgiving Day. He had talked about Thanksgiving at school, we had talked to him about it, and we had read books. Still, we think he was trying to process what it was all about. He was excited about eating turkey and pumpkin pie. At our first Thanksgiving dinner....Jay-R's Thanksgiving feast consisted of: turkey, a roll, and a banana. For dessert, he sampled pumpkin pie only to find that he strongly disliked it. (I don't blame him!) At the second Thanksgiving feast at the other grandparents' house, his feast consisted of: turkey, grapes, corn, and blue corn chips. He did have a blast playing with all his cousins, though, even if he didn't get excited about stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pie. Friday night, we attended the parade of lights at a local town and he loved all the floats with lights. His favorite was the port-a-potty that a local rental company put over a zero radius mower. It was zipping all over the place and got quite the laugh from Jay-R! We are looking forward to one more day of Thanksgiving vacation before we all head back to work and school. I promise to post pictures from this weekend soon!

Birthday Pics

Our little man turned 6 on Friday, November 6th. Kory and I went to school and ate lunch with him. We brought McDonald's for a special treat.

Always being silly with Daddy!

The night of his birthday. My family joined us for a night of Filipino food to my best ability!!! Kory's family was sick that night but had planned on joining, too. He wanted something with chocolate and peanutbutter so I made choco-PB brownies.

While in the Philippines, we bought small items to give to him for each birthday. He picked a lot of it out but of course he doesn't remember! That shopping trip was quite the experience! He loves this little coin purse.

Gifts from his Ate Ashleigh.

The basketball hoop from Mommy and Daddy. Daddy promises nothing will be broken when they play inside. Jay-R is playing Upward basketball this winter so he'll be practicing with Daddy a lot!

That sweet smile...

The day of the big birthday party! We rented an indoor play area at a local church. Since Ashleigh's birthday is in December, we celebrated both kids b-days with family. Jay-R had friends come, too. Ashleigh is planning a sleepover with school friends closer to her b-day.

Ashleigh and Jay-R

Jay-R's cute cake that my friend Lory made. He went with a Diego theme.

Ashleigh growing up so fast!

Modeling his new robe