Merry Christmas!

Caleb had been up most of the night Christmas Eve too excited to sleep. Finally when he did pass out, Joshua came into our room, ready to get up for the day. We insisted he wait a little bit until his brothers woke up, so it was close to 8 am before we finally all ventured downstairs. Above is a picture of the three of them in PJs waiting to come down. First things first, they saw that the cookies and milk were GONE!

Then they saw the presents around the tree!

Ryan wasn't feeling well, so he was a bit cranky. He started by screaming "OVER!" and knocked Daddy over (his absolute favorite game right now). I had to get a picture.

Then we started letting the boys open their gifts. We let Ryan go first, in hopes that it would make him happier. He said "Football! HIKE!"

I love the look on my little boy's face in this picture. Often Joshua seems so grown up to us, but he is still tiny really! Look at those long eyelashes on his sweet face.

Caleb enjoyed opening this color-your-own-rocket ship that we then put together for them to climb in. We've only colored half so far! It's quite the project!

I helped Ryan open another gift, and Grandpa Georgia surprised us by showing up at our door.

Caleb was thrilled with his very own camera! The rest of the day he was taking our pictures. This was just a cheap one, but we know how much he loves to take pictures.

The boys each got new Veggie Tales DVDs and they are enjoying them. :)

After the boys were mostly done, Shawn & I exchanged gifts. I thought this picture was funny of him with his gloves - THREE hands!

Grandpa left after a cup of hot tea and seeing some of the boys gifts. The kids were THRILLED to open their Mario Kart game for the Wii. Luckily we have two other wheels, and we have been playing this a TON since Christmas. The kids love it, and I like it better than some of their games because it's just racing in cars - no killing, no bad guys, etc.

After we opened a majority of our gifts, I took a shower and we made a late breakfast of reindeer pancakes, complete with bacon and fruit. I thought they turned out cute!

Shawn helped make the pancakes while I finished setting the table, and we all enjoyed a nice big breakfast/lunch.

Afterward, Mamaw called and came by to see what the kiddos had gotten from Santa. They were so wound up! They told her about Joshua's transformers, Mario figurines, and Mario & Sonic DS game while Caleb said his favorite was his slinky, and he got 150 crayons in a tower with a sharpener, among other things.

Since we had absolutely nowhere to go or anyplace we had to be, we let the boys hang out in their pajamas. We relaxed and played with toys the whole day.

While we had defrosted our Christmas ham, we decided to eat leftovers for dinner and just enjoy a lazy day. I made our ham the following evening with buttered noodles and corn - but Christmas night we just enjoyed being together.

Eventually that evening, I asked if we could go for a drive and look for Christmas lights - just to get outside a little. Shawn agreed, and it was adorable to listen to Caleb proclaim "CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!" For a kid who's normally very quiet, he was SHOUTING when he saw them out of sheer excitement and glee. We had fun driving around together. The picture below is of the boys starting to color their rocket ship.

And this picture is Ryan enjoying one of his gifts from Santa - TISSUES! He loves to pull them out one at a time, and we decided to give him his own box to sit and enjoy. Sometimes it's the little things in life. :) :) :)

Merry Christmas to all!

'Tis Better to Give Than to Receive

The sermon on Sunday, December 2, was about extending Christmas into the community. After the boys sang in the choir, the pastor gave the sermon about the good news that was for ALL the people and then told the church about a giving project to help the children who were part of the Children & Youth Services in Lancaster County. These are kids who had been abused or neglected and were part of the system now. There were trees with numbers on top of them to let you know how many kids were in that family.

We talked about how many children to buy for (when we hear kids in need, I think we both want to take all the names!) and said wouldn't it be nice to have the boys buy gifts for other children to teach them about giving? By the time Shawn went up (we first said goodbye to our parents and his sister and brother-in-law and then we continued to let the crowds die down) there weren't many names left on the trees. Shawn found a tag of names on the trees with two kids in the family, and one was a boy named Ryan who was 17 and the other was a girl named Maggie who was 16. Since we have a Ryan, he thought it was a good choice.

The instructions said NOT to give money, gift cards, anything used or edible items. I'll be honest and say that I don't have a clue what teenagers would be into that aren't outrageously expensive (like electronics) or aren't gift cards. The suggestions on the instructions included school supplies, warm socks and gloves, etc. But, there were no sizes on our tags, just ages. I struggled at what to get. I really wanted to bless these kids who had nothing with something they wanted. Finally, I decided to call the agency. I didn't want to bother any workers, but I hoped someone could give me at least sizes for these children so I didn't buy an XL for a gal who wore a small or a medium for a boy who might need a 2XL. I wasn't sure they would give out this info, but I thought it was worth asking. The worst they could say was no, right?

It took me a couple times of calling to get through, but I finally was connected with the person who was in charge of the program. She was AMAZINGLY NICE! I was immediately impressed with her desire to help the less fortunate. She didn't know, but she took their names and the ID numbers that were on the cards and told me she would call me back. She talked to their case worker and called me back with the sizes for both children and a short list of ideas that each one would like. She then went on to thank me for taking the time to call and invest in these children's lives, explaining that they were the poorest of the poor.

Shawn & I agreed that we should get everything on each list. I went and purchased an alarm clock for the boy. At first I thought about getting the cheapest one there, but then I decided that that wasn't the spirit of the season and I began to compare and review and got one of the nicest ones they offered. I also thought of back-up batteries and purchased those with it. He also asked for a wallet, which we got him. The girl asked for nice smelling stuff and warm slippers, so I headed to Bath & Body Works and Kohls. We bought them some items from Old Navy and hopefully they will fit and look trendy. Any time the Lord brought them to mind, I would pray for them. And I wrote them both letters from our family, which I wasn't sure if the agency would include or not, but I thought that the time to write a personalized letter of encouragement was hopefully a gift as well.

Shawn's sister Missy doesn't typically go to our church, but she is a very generous person and also picked names and dropped off the bags at our door to take along to church. When we arrived at church that week, we asked where to take the items and we were told that all bags were being put on stage. We weren't allowed to wrap the gifts but instead were asked to put them in trash bags with the ID tags on them so they knew which families the items went to (I'm sure they were probably inspected before the kids got them). The stage was filled with what looked like a whole lot of trash, but it was cool to see the sheer amount of giving that was taking place.

And I have to say that we enjoyed buying the gifts for these kids as much as when we bought the things for our own. We even took a date night where Mamaw watched the boys to finish up shopping for them. I'm truly hoping they enjoyed what we got them. And I know that God answers prayers, so I'm believing they received far more than "stuff" this season.

TRUTH: Day 21-23

Matthew 2:1-12 The Magi Visit the Messiah

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Day 21 was a star pattern that we wove with thread. Like I said before, some of the crafts were a little difficult for the kids, but I was pleasantly surprised that this one was one that that they could easily do once we cut the circle and slits from the thicker cardboard. They enjoyed making their own star patterns!

I let them choose which color embroidery thread they wanted, which I purchased from the "kids crafts" section so it was easy to work with. They unraveled their "rainbow" colors. Then they got to work after I taped the first end to the back and showed them what to do.

 I didn't help either boy with theirs because they immediately got the hang of it.

And I was surprised that Caleb's had more of a "pattern" than Joshua's - Caleb's is on the left (the more blue one) and Joshua's is on the right, with mine in the middle. Most times Joshua's relfects that he's two years older and are that much better. :) When we were done, I hot glued some ribbon to the back rather than trying to use the thread to make a loop at the top.

I asked Ryan if he wanted to hold mine in the pictures. He had no desire that day to get his picture taken.

 Here was Caleb's on the tree, near the top!

 Here were the boys posing with their ornaments before hanging them.

On Day 22, we created wise men based on the same scripture above. This one was one of the more difficult ones - maybe because I think the kids weren't feeling extremely into the craft time that day. They struggled to cut the men out with their crowns, so I ended up helping them.

Caleb did enjoy dumping on the glitter (which was quite the mess!) while Joshua used glitter glue to decorate his.

When we talked about what we had learned, Joshua said that there were three wise men. So, we read the story again and I asked how many the Bible said - the answer is that it didn't say. But, there were three gifts that they gave Jesus out of their treasures. My Bean likes the story of the wise men.

 Here were our finished wise men, drying.

 The red ones below were Caleb's hanging on the tree.

 And of course I got a picture of them holding up their craft!

On Day 23, we read the same verses from above again. Then we talked about the gifts the wise men gave Jesus out of their treasures, the gold and the gifts that smelled really nice. We talked about what gifts we could give to Jesus - things that we have already and that we could use for Him. Ryan immediately responded "PIZZA!" Caleb, Joshua & I cracked up! We talked about how the wise men bowed down and worshiped and agreed the best gifts we could give were worship and honor. We remembered Mary's song and the CD we made, and we talked about how we can sing our praise to God. We said that making good choices in honor of the Lord is another form of worship. It was a good conversation.

Then we began the craft. I mixed up the applesauce and cinnamon. I realized I didn't have quite enough applesauce, and the cinnamon was crumbly. So, I ended up adding a couple teaspoons of water to the ingredients/directions in the book (and again, I would recommend you purchase your copy at www.truthinthetinsel.com - it was great!). It worked out okay. And it made far more than I was expecting! The instructions showed star ornaments. But, I don't have any star cookie cutters. I've also seen this craft done with angels. Nope, no angel cookie cutters in our house either. I dug out the ones we had, which included a gingerbread man and dinosaurs. But, I didn't want to get bogged down by not having one part. I decided to go with what we had, realizing that the idea was them to learn the Scriptures, not to make perfect crafts.

The gingerbread men worked out in talking about the wise men. How I hope these three little boys will seek after God with all their hearts like the wise men and offer them their gifts and treasures for His glory! And, truly, the dinosaurs worked out in talking about gifts. Because my boys LOVE their dinosaurs.

After we had gotten all our patterns cut and the holes created for the ribbon, I baked them and let them cool. The whole house smelled lovely, reminding us of the wonderful smelling treasures the wise men gave baby Jesus, noting that He was the King of the Jews (God's chosen people) and the promised Christ.

When they were done, I added ribbon (running out and using string for the rest).

I let the boys pick out which ones they wanted to put on the tree, and I gave one to Ryan, who promptly threw it on the kitchen floor, smashing it into little pieces. No more for him!

Our tree is full of ornaments. I'm not sure there is a single empty bough to put anything. Thanks again to Cousin Jess for telling us about this book! We enjoyed doing them very much.

Haven't ever heard of gingerbread dinosaurs? Then maybe you don't have boys...

Christmas Eve

The morning of Christmas Eve, we decided to do the things we had hoped to get the last couple of days that we had been too sick to accomplish. First, we ate breakfast and then went to Starbucks where the person in line in front of me paid for my chai. I told the gal that I would pay for the person behind us, and she responded that they had already done that as well. So, I took my drink and wished her a Merry Christmas. :) :) :)

Then we took the boys to the Dollar Tree and gave them money to pick out gifts for each other, their baby brother and for us. I took Joshua first, and then we switched in the front of the store. The clerk realized what we were doing and double-bagged our gifts so we couldn't see. She thought the boys were cute.

When we were leaving, an old lady told us to wait and she had something for our boys. She came back from her car with these little sleigh things that she said are candy bars underneath. She told us how many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren she had (I remember 19 great grandchildren!). She seemed sweet but very strange. Shawn said he didn't think we should let the boys eat the candy that was wrapped under the paper. Funny how we'll let them go trick-or-treating, but I knew what he meant. She was a bit odd, but the boys were happy to receive the gifts.

 Here was the sleigh:

We came home and baked cookies for Santa - Daddy's favorite chocolate chip. We didn't make our typical sugar cookie cut-outs because we didn't want the calories and we didn't really have time. And, truly, Christmas isn't about cookies. We made a single batch and that was good enough. When the cookies were finished baking, we got ready for church.

Ryan was in the nursery, but the older boys were in the service with us. We sang Christmas carols, and the pastor called all the kids up on stage to read to them the story of Christmas from the Bible. Afterward, they passed out candles, and Shawn & I discussed whether the boys were ready for real fire yet. I said we should let them try, explaining the expectation first, and then if they couldn't handle it, we'd blow them out and take them from them. But, both kids did GREAT! They held them upright and were very careful not to touch them or let them touch anything else. We sang "Silent Night" and held the candles up high as they turned out all the lights, so we saw all the candle lights across the room - a representation of the light of this world living in the hearts of each person there. It was very neat! When we got out of the service, we saw that it had started snowing pretty good while we were there. Our car was covered. This is what our house looked like when we got home.

We let the kids watch a movie while we finished wrapping gifts. It wasn't supposed to be so last minute, but sickness set us back a few days. Thankfully Shawn is a much better wrapper than me! We ended up ordering Chinese take-out for dinner so we could get things done. :) :) :) And the boys were excited to see the Polar Express, so it all worked out.

Then after we ate dinner, we did our traditional gift exchange between the kids and stockings, which Joshua was super excited for. In fact, that morning when he came in our room, he prayed that everyone would feel well so that we could open stockings that night and have a good day. It was a sweet prayer, and it was answered (thank you, God!).

Joshua picked Oreos for Caleb, a truck for Ryan, and a ball shooter toy for Daddy while he was with me in the store. Caleb picked a bottle opener with flashlight thing for Shawn when it was his turn to come with me. Caleb got Ryan a Buzz & Woody board book and a Green Lantern superhero activity book for Joshua and highlighters for me. Joshua picked me out a set of necklaces that we all took turns wearing that night.

I love this quiet time together as just our family. Shawn lit the candles in the fireplace so the room would smell good, we plugged in the holly Christmas lights around the fireplace and I turned on the battery operated tea lights in the little snowmen the boys had made so the room was filled with warmth and cheer.

 We thanked the boys for our gifts! Then we gave them their first gift to open from us - new pajamas!

I only got them for Joshua & Caleb - is that bad? I thought I should have bought some for Ryan when I saw how cute the older boys are. I had several pairs of PJs in his size, though, so I hadn't when I was shopping. Ryan knows all the Mario characters, though, and may have enjoyed these. I bought them when we were Black Friday shopping.

 

Then we put the boys on the sofa with their stockings and tried to get a picture before they opened them.

They all had goldfish. Ryan got a new toothbrush, and the older boys got new action figure cups and gold coins (a favorite chocolate snack). I can't remember if there were other little small items in them or not.

Then we set out the cookies and milk for Santa. Shawn suggested one cookie for each person in our family.

Afterward, while Shawn kept wrapping, I took the boys upstairs and watched a Charlie Brown Christmas with them in our bed. They were SO excited, but I reminded them that Santa only comes to little boys who are sleeping. Ryan was asleep and Joshua soon fell asleep in his bed, too, but Caleb kept coming back over to our room (in the meantime, Shawn had finished and was upstairs chatting with me while we waited for Caleb to fall asleep). Finally he did after 10 pm, in a very goofy position like he was fighting falling asleep but just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. This was our tree before the kids went to bed.

 And this was our tree later that night... Santa ate all the cookies and Mrs. Clause drank the skim milk.

At 4 am, I heard a noise in our room. I sat up and discovered Caleb at the foot of our bed, who came in telling me he was just too excited to sleep. I asked him if Santa had come yet, and he said he didn't think so. I told him to snuggle in my bed and we could wait together. I thought he'd fall back to sleep, but an hour and a half later he was still jittery in our bed. I reminded him that Santa only comes when kids are asleep so finally he went back to his room to try to get a little shut eye, which I desperately needed. But, I was happy that he was so excited for Christmas. I love my little men!