Christmas In Our Home

I'm not great at decorating, but the kids' excitement helps me get into it more each year, I think.  Our fireplace is decked out with holiday tins, some of which were my Grandma's.  The nativity we have is a white ceramic music box that was given to us by Jeremy's parents.  The kids collected pinecones from my parents' yard in August.  The bears were from the kids' Great Grandmas Fulk and McEowen.  And, we have quite a nice collection of Christmas and winter books, since the kids each get a new one every year.

Due to the size of one of the gifts someone will be receiving, I have had to make the guest room off limits for the week. ;)  As far as I know, everyone has honored my request.

This year we added PEACE stocking holders to the mantle.  Jeremy and the kids picked them out one Sunday morning before church while I was at practice, and they didn't even know they were the exact holders I've been wanting for a few years.

Most of our other decorations are traditions now, as they have been around a few years.  We all like to comforting feeling of having them around us for the holiday season.

Time with God

I like to be intentional about spending time with God every day.  I know He is with me all the time, but if I start my day out every day intentionally spending time in His word, I am more likely to be in tune with Him throughout the day.  I like to surround myself with as many resources as possible and ways to connect with God wherever I go.  Here are some of my favorite resources I'm currently using...

-YouVersion online Bible and apps - I can access the site from my computer, with the iPad app, and the Android app on my phone.  I love that I can quickly access any version/translation/paraphrase as I am studying God's word.  Currently, I'm enjoying a daily reading plan based on lyrics of Christmas carols.  The app even has an option for me to set a reminder to read at the same time each day.  I'm also continuing on with the Right from the Heart: 1-minute Devotions, which are a great start to my day.  I read them on my phone as soon as I open my eyes, before I even get out of bed.

- Praying the Names of Jesus, by Ann Spangler - I have been working through this book for a while now, and it is wonderful!  I bought it after I finished [and thoroughly enjoyed] Women of The Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture by the same author.

What resources do you use that help keep you connect with God?  I would love to know your favorites!

Christmastime is here

We gathered around the tree with Krampa & Gram this morning to exchange gifts.  What fun!

Uncle Travis, Aunt Erin, and Cousin Tessa sent gifts for us too.  They aren't traveling right now, since Erin is pregnant with twins!  We miss them!

Caeden received some Mighty Beans, something he's wanted for quite some time!  He says he is "really into these beans."

The girls both received Pixos...a very nifty crafting toy!  They've already enjoyed playing with them!

Gram replaced Annah's Mickey Mouse birthstone earrings for her!

The girls received some cross stitch/needlepoint projects!  They will be great to work on over break!

We first watched this movie because some friends said they thought of Sylvia when they saw the little girl playing Matilda.  She does look like her!  Sylvia can't wait to watch it again...and again...and again...

Nothing excites Caeden as much as Skippyjon Jones!

Sylvia received a Play Wonder doll, which is much like an American Girl doll.  She loves it!!

Caeden received an awesome LEGO idea book he has had his eye on for a while!

Annah was so surprised to receive a sewing machine!  What a great gift from the expert, who showed her how to use it!

Grandpa, Jeremy, and Caeden discuss his new Purdue hoodie.

How cool!  A Battleship game!!

There were hugs all around.

Caeden was just a little bit excited about the awesome LEGO space shuttle, which he built in about half an hour.  It is really cool!

More hugs.

Sylvia could not wait to give Gram & Krampa the gifts she made for them.  She made a card with her picture and a gingerbread ornament for them at school.

In art class this year, Sylvia did a project for which she learned to draw birds.  She decided to draw some birds for Gram and Krampa and frame them.  They were touched.

During lunch, Krampa challenged Caeden to a fierce battleship game.  Caeden told him, "It's on!" but he was defeated.

Gram brought a double batch of sugar cookies to roll out, bake, and decorate with the kids.  They had a great time working on them this afternoon!

They look great, and taste just as good!

We had such a fun day together!  We showed Gram how to use the Wii Fit, the kids tried out the new Just Dance Kids game they received, we watched The Santa Claus, and after the kids went to bed we laughed ourselves to sleep watching Christmas Vacation again.  What a lovely day we were blessed to spend together!  Thank you, Mom & Dad, for making the trip, bringing the fun, sharing the moments, creating the memories, and spreading the love.  We love you!

Button Bracelets

Gram & Krampa arrived this afternoon!  They're here to celebrate Christmas with us!  

Gram helped us make button bracelets this evening!  They all turned out pretty cute.  We always enjoy crafting together.  :)

Cousin Eddie's Holiday Work Party

Jeremy's department had a holiday party with an "ugly holiday sweater" theme at work today.  He was ultra festive, dressed as Cousin Eddie from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Here's a clip of Cousin Eddie...

Defining Necessity

Many have seen this photo recently, I'm sure.  It is circulating on Facebook, and all over the Internet.  I myself saw it posted on a friend's Facebook page today, and it definitely gave me cause to think.  I paused several times today as I repeatedly saw it appearing on various friends' pages.  I stopped to think, to assess, to pray, to deal with my heart's conviction.

This afternoon, Sylvia saw the image as she looked over my shoulder at the computer screen, and she asked about it.  Her heart was also given pause to reflect, and we had a wonderful discussion.

Caeden and I have been battling it out lately, dealing with his selfishness in regards to having THINGS.  He wants, wants, wants...every cool toy he sees advertised, begs and whines, and talks constantly about the things he wishes he had.  It has been difficult for me to get through to him how much he already has.  

Last week, I wrote the following in an email to my brother about the situation...

We had a major tear-filled blow-up at breakfast this morning.  Caeden argues with EVERYthing I ask/tell him to do and wants to do the exact opposite, no matter what it is.  He begs constantly, refuses to do simple tasks, and mostly thinks about himself and what he can get.  He was pouting about my not letting him have breakfast at school today and having to have cereal at home instead, and knocked over a full cup of juice into Annah's gym shoes, and all over the table, chair, and floor.  I lost it.  I didn't care about the juice, but the fact that he dumped it because he was being so selfish.  I made him clean it up while I launched into a tirade about how whiny, argumentative, and selfish he is.  All 4 of us [me and the kids] were in tears at some point, but it ended up well...  

I pointed out how we have so much more than we need...We are never hungry, in fact, we indulge too often.  We have warm clothes and blankets and a comfortable home.  We have toys and games and books and gadgets.  And we don't even need so much of what we have!  We have Jesus, and the promise of living in heaven where everything is perfect forever!  We need to share and give more.  Their perspectives changed quickly then!   

I pointed out to Caeden that Santa doesn't buy the gifts; I do. He knew, but was deciding to deny it, and was putting too much hope in Santa.  I decided he was old enough to deal with the truth, especially with the way he was acting.  We all had a good change in perspective, and prayed together right then that Jesus would help us remember Him and remember to be generous and giving through the Christmas season and always.  Whew, it was intense!

Then, this evening, Sylvia asked me to show the above photo to everyone else in the family.  As Caeden looked at it, and I explained what he was looking at, he burst into heart-wrenching tears.  We could literally see the shame and sympathy in his eyes and in his heart.  He felt so guilty, he could barely utter out the words he knew he needed to say, "I've been so selfish."  

All five of us were together in the living room at this time.   All this led to some very difficult, but wonderful family discussion about how blessed we are to have every one of our needs met and so much more, and how God calls us to GIVE of what we are blessed with.  

Somehow, in the midst of this discussion, it came around again that we buy the Christmas gifts, not Santa.  We then discovered that Caeden hadn't "gotten it" about Santa the other day when I told him that we buy the gifts, not Santa.  As he asked us if Santa was real or not, we could not lie to him.  He told us he felt like we tricked him!  (All of us were in tears then!  Although, Caeden did admit that he would rather have had the years of enjoying the fun of Santa than not.)  So there was very tough talk about Santa and where the idea of St. Nicholas came from, how he was working to GIVE in the name of Jesus, and now others carry on that very wonderful tradition.  

Oh, it was difficult discussion, but so good.  To talk as a family about how God has blessed us and provided for us, and how we are to do that for others...that was very good.  We continue to try to keep our eyes and ears and hearts open to ways God wants to use us to give to others and to be His hands and feet to the world.

The kids have recently studied Matthew 6 for Bible Quizzing, and it was beautiful to see them fully understand what this means... 

 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.   So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." 

- Matthew 6:1-4

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:37-40 

World War III

These two play together well, almost all the time.  They rarely argue.  I think it is because they are so close in age.  (People have asked  if they are twins, as they are always very close in height too.)

This evening, Caeden took his "army guys" to keep him occupied during the girls' violin lessons.  He had them all arranged in what he called World War III, and had quite a great time playing for that hour. Several of the music teachers commented on how fun it looked as they passed by between their lessons.  I just love that the kids like creative, imaginary play as much as screen time.

Christmas Trees

We are enjoying decorating for Christmas!  

On December 1, we picked out our live tree at Growing Grounds, since we loved the tree and experience we got there last year.  It didn't take us long to choose one this year; they are all beautiful there!

The kids like to have the artificial tree upstairs with the colored lights on it, so they can see the glow in their rooms while falling asleep at night.  This year, the girls assembled the tree and put the lights on all by themselves!  Then all the kids decorated it with their special ornaments!

It looks great!  It's kind of hard to believe the kids are big enough to assemble and decorate a Christmas tree completely by themselves, but I have to admit, I'm proud of them for doing it.

As a reward for the girls for cleaning their room, I hung some of the extra lights around their windows.  

Our live tree is in our music room in front of the big window facing the street this year.

Cookies & Carols 2011

We enjoyed the annual Cookies & Carols event at church this evening.  It was beautiful, as always...and the cookies were yummy too.

I had the privilege of being in the carolers quartet.  We traveled from table to table singing traditional carols while folks enjoyed their cookies.

Santa visited, and all the children, including Caeden, rushed forward to have a turn on his lap.

 

Sylvia learned about Santa last year, and did not go forward.  Annah told me she didn't feel like she was young enough to sit on Santa's lap. 

We loved spending the evening relaxing and celebrating the season with our church family.

Getting Braces

After lots of worrying, wondering, praying, encouraging...Sylvia had her braces put on today!  

When I picked her up at school at 9:10, she was in the office ready to go, with a little bit of a nervous look on her face.  She told me her class gave her a nice wish...Her teacher said, "1-2-3..." and everyone cheered, "Good luck, Sylvia!"  She thought it was very sweet.

Although she already knew she wanted red and green on her braces, she liked the little colored tags she got to choose from.

Even though we aren't turning the key anymore, she does still have her expander in.  It has made a very deep cut all the way across her tongue.  It is scary to look at, and quite painful for her at times!  Since she doesn't need to widen the expander any further, Dr. B. put some smooth acrylic over the bridge part of it to help it not be so sharp.  She now has to gargle with peroxide and warm water twice a day to heal the cut.

She was very glad her Daddy was there to hold her hand the whole time today.

Sylvia thinks Dr. B. is very nice and very funny "like Daddy."  He is also very precise and quick.  And, he has this cool blue light that dries the glue.

Once everything was on, her first reaction was a smile...

They do look pretty cool!

Sylvia loves her Daddy so much.  As soon as he heard the date of her appointment, he put it on his calendar without her even asking if he could be there.  I am grateful he knows what moments are important to her, and that he has a job that allows him to be there for her!  What blessings!

I'm also thankful that I can be there for appointments and activities too, and the fact that my kids just expect and know that I will because I'm a stay-at-home mommy.  Another blessing.

Cutie face.

We had been warned that pain would kick in pretty quickly.  I had given her acetaminophen before we went into the orthodontist's office.  We ran a couple quick errands until it was lunchtime, and then went to Chili's.  Everyone suggested mashed potatoes for a couple days, but that is one of the few foods Sylvia really doesn't like!  She ordered macaroni and cheese.  She was able to eat about half of it before  the pain started kicking in pretty badly.  I kept her with me, running Christmas shopping errands, until I could give her another dose of pain killer, and then she went back to school.  

She likes hearing about other kids with braces, and from people she knows who have gone through different orthodontic processes.  It helps her a lot.  And, as we keep telling her, she is actually very fortunate to need minimal work for only a short time!  

I made her a little video so she could see what we saw.