Christmas 2007

I have been absent from blogging because we have been enjoying our time off around here. Although, we didn't really take a break from school. We are trying to get in as many days before the baby is born in Feb. Bill has been home from work since December 22nd. I have to say it has been so nice to have him around. :) We have had some fun family times. I have even been able to get out to go shopping a few times without the kids...LOVE Gymboree's Red Balloon sale (got a few outfits for baby girl there). And, we have gotten a lot of little projects done around the house. We cleaned out the basement, cleaned out the office to make room for baby. We moved the kids rooms around. Anna has her own room now and the boys are sharing. James moved into a big boy bed a few days before Christmas. I was a little sad to make that transition, but he has done so good. He loves sleeping across from Ryan. We are really starting to see a bond form between brothers. The boys will sit in their room and play Pirates for a long time. I love it. I love to see my guys forming friendships with each other. Anna is loving her own room and the new desk she got for Christmas. I will have to post pics of their new rooms once we are done decorating them.

We had a busy but very enjoyable Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with Bill's parents and sister, Christmas morning as just our family of 5, and then in the afternoon at Bill's Grandparents. Watching the kids Christmas morning was so much fun. I loved Christmas as a kid, but I love it even more as a mom now.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas.

Celebrating Christ's birth

Tonight we decided to start our Christmas celebration by reading about Christ's birth from the Read-N-Grow Picture Bible. This was actually my book as a kid. I love the illustrations in it. It's very colorful, and we thought it would help to hold especially Ryan's attention.

After we read about Jesus' birth we decided to let the kids open up one gift. Every year we get them each an ornament. That was a tradition my parents did with us, and one I wanted to pass on to my little ones. This year we bought them each an ornament with a different name of Christ. Ryan's said, Jesus. Anna's said Emmanuel. James' said Messiah. We talked about what each of those names mean and then we let them hang them on the tree.

We ended our evening with playing with the manger set and dancing to some Christmas music. What a fun (and hopefully memorable for the kids) way to start our celebration.

Merry Christmas

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

The real reason we celebrate.

May your hearts overflow with the Joy of Christ!

Merry Christmas!

Baby bump

A couple people have asked for pictures of my belly! :) So here they are. Anna took these today. I am 31 weeks as of today...scary how fast it's going.

Not going to stress about it :)

I have been trying to avoid the Christmas rush. I decided not to over do it this year. However, I am still working on a few things that need to be finished TODAY. I have to run to the store for a few last minute things to put finishing touches on stuff. I have to finish frosting cookies, cleaning my house, laundry, school, wrap gifts, mail stuff, and deliver a few gifts. I also told a friend that I would watch her kids for a few hours so she could finish her shopping! And now 2 out of my 3 kids are crying, and one is saying he has an ear infection. I am sitting here in my robe (because the kiddos got up earlier then normal and I haven't been able to get in the shower), wondering if I am going to get it all done? Oh well, I guess whatever doesn't get done doesn't matter. :) I think it might just be one of those mornings, and I need to focus on taking care of my babies.

Well, I'm off to take care of my little ones...and have a cup of coffee.

My boy is growing up

On Friday I got together with my friend Amy. Anna was spending the day with grandma (they spent the whole day shopping...lucky girl!) so I took the boy's over to play with Amy's kids. We had such a fun time. We made Christmas cookies while we visited. It was so nice to spend time hanging out, it had been awhile since we had gotten together.

When it was almost time to go, Amy asked if Ryan would like to spend the night. The boys were having such a great time. I talked to Ryan and he was so excited to stay. I was a little unsure of how he would do...this being his first sleepover. How is he even old enough to have sleepovers? :)

No phone call came in the middle of the night. In fact when I went Saturday afternoon to pick him up he cried because he had to leave. I guess I was missed. :) What a big boy he is becoming. I can hardly believe he is almost 5!!! I'm not sure my heart can take my little ones growing up so fast.

Ryan and his friend Quaid

The beauty of imperfection

This may sound silly but I almost considered not posting a picture of our tree. I suddenly felt self conscience about our humble little tree. I have looked at many people's homes and decorations and thought, mine cannot compare. It's so small. It kind of leans to one side. There are bare spots in some places. I have no fancy decorations. There is really nothing that appears to be special about our tree.

However, when I look at it, I am flooded with memories...memories that span years. The sentiment that is tucked beneath it's branches brings forth a lot of emotions. The fact that it is imperfect is another thing that makes it special to me. It really just portrays real life...a tree worn from years of use...worn from loving hands placing old and new ornaments upon it's branches.

My friend Janel introduced me to book called, "Why Christmas Trees Aren't perfect" by Richard Schneider, a few days ago. It's the story of an evergreen forest, and how many years ago all the trees used to be perfect. The story focus on one little evergreen. The little tree had listened to all the older trees on how to stay perfect...keeping it's branches beautiful and untouched so that when the Queen came to get her tree for Christmas she might consider using him. But, staying perfect meant closing his heart or branches to helping someone in need. The little tree decides to open his heart and shelter a small bird from the cold, help a poor hungry fawn, and a few others. All the other trees look away in disgust as the little tree becomes less and less perfect. By the time the the Queen comes to cut her "perfect" tree, the little tree is quite worn. At first the Queen looks at the little tree with disdain...but suddenly she sees something no one else seems to see, and she tells the perplexed woodsman that this is the one.

"For in looking at its drooping, nibbled branches, they saw the protecting arm of their father or the comforting lap of a mother. and some, like the wise Queen, say the love of Christ expressed on earth.

So if you walk among evergreens today, you will find, along with rabbits, birds, and other happy living things, many trees like Small Pine. You will see a drooping limb, which gives cover, a gap offering a warm resting place, or branches ragged form feeding hungry animals.

For, as have many of us, the trees have learned that living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful in the eyes of God."

Isn't that beautiful?!

If you want to read the book in it's entirety you can go here, Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect This is a book that I would like to purchase. I think we will use this as another tradition...reading every year when we set the tree up (thanks Janel for the idea). Our desire is to teach our children lessons about what Christmas is all about.

Who knew a tree could be used to teach humility and servant hood. I truly love this time of year and all the symbols we can use to teach our children about Christ's love.

Oh, the beauty of imperfection...

Looking a lot like Christmas

Well, this morning we got hit with a pretty big storm. We already had quite a bit of snow. But this is what it looked like a few hours ago, with about 6 more inches added to the ground. This is looking out to the backyard. My Moms group was canceled this morning so we stayed home and enjoyed the snow from the inside. :) After we finished school I decided to work on a few Christmas projects. The kids helped frost Christmas cookies and we put their hand prints on the tree skirt (a tradition we are starting this year)...I just need to get James' hand prints on it. I wonder how well that will go!

We put our tree up a few weeks ago. It's not very fancy and it's not perfect, but we enjoy it. I let the kiddos decorate it. They have so much fun. I love setting the tree up as a family. I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season!

Homemade Christmas gifts

I love making and receiving homemade gifts. I have started working on the gifts that I need to make. There are quite a few, but I feel like I have a good handle on time so far...although I'm sure I will still be rushing last minute to finish something. :)

I found a cool website that has lots of homemade ideas. I thought I'd share, in case there are others out there who like to get crafty on occasion. Go here to Craft Bits.

Remember the sock monkey? I found this pattern I thought it was kinda cute. Maybe I'll make one for James as he is obsessed with monkeys. I bet he would love it! Although I think I would use more boy looking colors for his. :)

Well, I'm off to work on my gifts while the kiddos are in bed.

Happy Friday!

Motherhood

I love this, Christ the ultimate example for motherhood...

"In the daily moments of eating, sleeping, and meeting the essentials of life with His disciples, Jesus taught, healed, fed, trained, loved, laughed, and instructed. Not only did the disciples hear the spiritual admonitions of Scripture, but they felt His devotion to them, demonstrated in reality as they felt His touch, heard His voice, and received the love of God incarnate. It's a picture of what we want to happen in our homes with our children."

Sally Clarkson, quoted in "Homeschooling Today"

Picture Perfect

When my dad was here over Thanksgiving he tried to get a good shot of our family. I thought if one of them turned out I would use it as our Christmas card. Taking pictures with the kids never goes how I think it should! :) Oh well, maybe when we try it again (with our Christmas outfits) it will turn out better? Ha! Then again, this totally portrays real life in our house...so maybe we should just stick to this one! A few more takes that didn't "take"Picture perfect is such a myth...at least for us! :)