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So much to Celebrate!

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Today we celebrate something amazing!
10 years of marriage.
Today we celebrate each one of them.
Its not so much the number of years that amazes me, but all that the years have held.

Today we celebrate that there was an evening, ten years ago, when we committed to walk the adventure of life together.  Not just two people walking side-by-side but two people walking as one.  It was one of the very best nights of my life.  We were surrounded by friends and family, my parents and others had worked to create a magical evening, and the whole affair was covered in the sweet presence of the Lord.  My heart still races just looking at pictures of the day that my best friend became my husband.

And today we celebrate that to that union of two the Lord has added four more.
On our tenth anniversary we celebrate this little team.  So perfectly designed.  We are so blessed.

Today we celebrate ten years of “richer or poorer and in sickness and health”.  We have weathered some of each in ten years, but we stand today celebrating a time of miraculously good health, and riches beyond measure- including great financial contentment and the ability to share with others.

We made a promise, ten years ago, to work to grow closer to the Lord together.  While that journey has been full of ups and downs, we celebrate today that HIS love never failed.  Our sweet Lord sought us and continues to redeem the rough days.  When we faced a challenge this year in our marriage that we could not face alone, the Lord was sweet to draw us close to himself, to provide long before we could ask and to surround us with community that displayed His abundant love.  We celebrate that today our relationship has an even deeper appreciation of its reliance on the Lord than ever before.

Ten years ago, we made a promise to have fun growing old together.  So TODAY WE CELEBRATE!!

RRL, I love you more than I can say.  Standing at the end of this 10th year, one neither of us could have imagined, and one harder than any other- I’m so incredibly thankful to have walked through it with you.  This 10th year, and each of the 9 before it have only increased that amazing feeling I have each time I look back at pictures from that first evening as your wife.  I have no idea what the road ahead of us holds, but I know that it will be sweeter walked with you!

ABL

The end of the Countdown to Christmas

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This is it, the final installment of our family countdown to Christmas.  I am anxious to have this done.  The fun memories we created were definitely worth documenting.  However, I’m also in my self-imposed year-end crunch to have the blog year wrapped up before the annual New Year’s Eve year-in-review.  (Translation: I’ve got a lot of blogging to do this week and I’m ready to move on from this particular topic)

Here are links to the first 3 installments in case you missed them:
Days 1-7
Days 8-14
Days 15-19

And for the grand finale…or at least the finale…
Days 20-24
and the final ornaments on our Countdown Tree

 Day 20 (5 sleeps until Christmas)
Read Luke 2 and do a puppet show about the story
We only took video this night so I don’t have any pictures.  We were in the throws of packing and about to leave for Christmas travels.  Plus it was way past bedtime.  But I loved reading the Christmas story to the kids, the Message version in Luke 1 and 2 is awesome.  My favorite part is reading about the reactions to the news: 19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

The kids were wild and antsy with excitement of going to Nonna and Papa J’s house and because it was so late, but they participated in the story telling after I read.  And I love that each time we go through it again there are new details that they have retained.

Day 21 (4 sleeps until Christmas)
Take turns hiding and finding a Christmas ornament
We were FINALLY at Nonna and Papa J’s house so we got to do our last few activities there.  When we took turns hiding and finding an ornament we chose a “safe” one off of their tree, that wouldn’t break.  The kids had so much fun finding creative places to hide the ornaments.  Then we all paraded around together looking for them.  Best hiding place was under Papa J, which of course required three rascals to climb all over him. Tips: 1-we made sure an adult always knew where the ornament was and 2-The kids needed some help with the whole are we hot/cold concept.

Day 22 (3 Sleeps until Christmas)
Find pictures online of Christmas in other Countries
I wish we had put more time into this ahead of time, but we still found some cool pictures of famous Christmas trees and traditions in countries around the world.

Day 23 (2 sleeps until Christmas)
Share a peppermint shake at ChickFilA
So maybe I put this one in the mix for my own personal enjoyment.  Every day I hoped it would be the day for this ornament…so of course it did not come around until the second to last day.  Of course.  It was a fun treat and made for some great pictures.

Day 24 (the very last sleep before Christmas)
Make an acrostic using “Christmas”. 
We did help the kids a little with this, but for the most part let them do it on their own.  This is another one I really hope we do every year because I think it will be neat to compare the years as they grow-up.  This time, it was sweet…but a little random.  Like T for Teague.  I mean, I’m as excited about our sweet little one as anyone, but I definitely did not expect his middle name to make our Christmas acrostic.  He is one of our Christmas blessings we are thankful for, though, so I let it roll.  The only one I nixed completely was when I said “R rrrrrr, what starts with R?”  And Cbug exclaimed proudly “RUM”.  We found out later he meant “rum as in a car goes rummmm, rummmm” but regardless, rum was not added to our acrostic for the year.
C is for Cookies, H is for Hay in the manger, R is for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I is for Ice, S is for the Star, T is for Teague, M is for the Manger, A is for Angels, and S is for Shepherds and their Sheep.
THE END…
well, the end of the countdown.  Still to come, Christmas itself.  We had fun celebrations with family, extended family and more good food than one week should be allowed to hold!

ABL

Part 3 of 4: Christmas Countdown

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Of course the last of the packages has long since been opened, and much of our Christmas hub-ub is over.  
 But we need to finish what we started.
I’ve started documenting our Christmas countdown:
Check out Days 1-7 for a pink playdough baby Jesus
and Days 8-14, including our sweet Cbug as the star of the nativity scene.
AND NOW…
Days 15-19

Day 15 (10 Sleeps until Christmas)
Make a handprint Santa
This is one of the ideas I found online.  Here is the link to the original project.  I adapted a couple of things slightly so that I would not have to do any prep ahead of time and we could just use what we had on hand.
The steps (left to right, top then bottom) were 1st: make a white handprint, 2nd: use thumbprints and fingerprints for the nose and rosey cheeks, 3rd: Glue on some eyes cut out of paper, 4th: Cut out Santa’s red hat and attach, 5th: add cotton balls to the hat and 6th: draw a black nose.

 And then TAH-DAH Santas…

Day 16 (9 sleeps until Christmas)
Mail a Christmas card to someone
While there were some days that we waited until the next afternoon to finish our projects, this was the only day that never got completed at all.  I personally mailed our Christmas cards to friends and family, but the kids never actually mailed a card to anyone.  No excuse either because I intentionally made the Santa handprints (Day 15) on a folded piece of paper so we could use those as the cards.  We just never mailed them.
Hey, one out of 24 ain’t too bad…and I feel better after that confession of imperfection.

Day 17 (8 sleeps until Christmas)
Buy a Christmas present for someone in our family
This was such a fun way to let the kids buy and give Christmas presents to each other.  We drew names, all went to the store together, let the kids take turns shopping, then came home and let them trade their purchases.
KJ drew Cbug

 
Cbug drew Lou
and Lou drew KJ
Day 18 (7 sleeps until Christmas)
Make Fudge.  Keep some. Give some.
Lou missed much of this one because we were doing it in the afternoon and my idea to let her skip her nap ended up being a terrible idea…she went to bed while we finished.  This recipe is super duper easy and delicious.  So easy, kids can help and it is done before their attention was lost (no small feat).  There may or not have been some taste testing along the way, though…I’ll let you examine the evidence and decide for yourself.
Then the next day (because this fudge is much easier to cut if you let it cool in the fridge for 24 hours) we packaged it in a few small Christmas tins and made some fun deliveries.
Day 19 (6 more sleeps until Christmas)
Go Christmas caroling.
I mean, I’m not one to brag…but this memory was born from pure-parenting-genius.  That spark of incredible intelligence may or may not have been born from sheer laziness, but that doesn’t diminish the result.  So, I realize that I am the one that came up with the list of activities.  I knew well ahead of time what they all were.  But for some reason when the kids picked the ornament that said “Go Christmas caroling” I had a moment of “WHAT WAS I THINKING???”.  My original notion that it would be adorable for our three angels to sing on the doorstep of a few friends was quickly replaced by the reality that it would be incredibly awkward when they likely chickened-out and left RRL and I standing there squawking out some Christmas tunes (I squawk, he can actually sing…but still).  PLUS it was cold.  And rainy.  So no, I didn’t want to go Christmas caroling.  Bah-Humbug.  But the ornament was chosen, and read aloud…and then in a moment of good fortune, KJ asked “What is caroling?”  This is where my amazing-mom-reflexes kicked in and in flash of quick thinking I hurried through an explanation about singing with your friends for other people, but since it was cold…WOULDN’T IT BE FUN to sing to our stuffed animals instead.  Even RRL, who sometimes laughs at these sorts of silly ideas, agreed that singing to stuffed animals in our warm living room was quite possibly my best idea ever.  It SAVED us.  and actually ended up being a lot of fun.  Yes, I have video.  No, it will not be posted here.
We let each child create a “house” of their animals.
And then we traveled around the “neighborhood” hand-in-hand, knocking on doors and singing their favorite Christmas songs.  It was so much fun.  And warm.
One more post coming, don’t miss Days 20-24.
ABL

Merry Christmas!

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We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!

Luke 2: 13-20 (the Message)
13-14At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

15-18As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

Whether your day is filled with “letting loose” Shepherd style, or the deep reflection of Mary, may today be full of glorifying and praising God for all He has done for us through His Son.  And just as Jesus was visited by many who celebrated his arrival, may you be surrounded by those you love!  REJOICE.

Merry Christmas!
ABL

The words of Christmas Eve

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Anticipation
Tonight as we tucked our three angels in bed, their squirms and giggles made their anticipation evident.  They were filled with questions about what morning would hold, some they asked aloud, some they kept to themselves, maybe because they feared speaking it aloud would break the magic of the moment.
Can’t you just picture the anticipation of the first Christmas eve.  The angels must have been full of eager energy, maybe they even had questions about what was about to happen.  No doubt they sat on the edge of their seats waiting to see how this miracle of miracles would play out.  A baby was about to be born, and they knew he would be The CHRIST, the SAVIOR.  Can you IMAGINE knowing that was about to happen? Oh, the anticipation.

Wonder
I sat during the candlelight service tonight… wrestling children, reminding them to sit quietly during prayers, and squirming trying to get my bump of a belly comfortable in the pew.  Then in an instant, the candles were lit and everyone was still.  The song was one of their favorites, Silent Night, so they were all three singing along while mesmerized by the flame in front of them.  And for just a moment, as I looked at their sweet faces, as I was surrounded by my little family, my parents and brothers, I was filled with WONDER.  What wonder that the Lord would bless me so richly and then create moments like this one to increase my appreciation and amazement at it all.
Can’t you just imagine moments like that for Mary?   She struggled through the pain of labor IN A BARN, after long hours of travel ON A DONKEY, and then finally got her crying newborn baby boy settled in a manger. AND THEN.  oh, then…I can just picture a moment, a brief break in the chaos of it all, when she would have been filled with wonder.  She might have sat just staring at her sleeping child.  On top of just being overwhelmed that the Lord would bless her with a gift of a baby, she knew that He would save THE WORLD.  Oh, what WONDER that must have been.

Joy
I watched tonight as my kids continued traditions that I remember from childhood.  Reading the Night Before Christmas with their Nonna before bed, hearing the story of Christ’s birth and being reminded of the reason we celebrate, and leaving cookies and milk for Santa.  They are traditions that I hope my children will one day continue with their own families.  I was filled with great joy in those moments.
Can’t you just imagine God’s great Joy at knowing His Son was beginning a journey that would save His people?  He knew it would come at great cost, but even before Jesus was born, God was so aware that His son would continue on what He had started.  His Son was carrying a legacy that would be continued for thousands of years.  What great Joy there is in that!

As you go to sleep tonight (hopefully many of you are are long since there), may you be filled with the anticipation, wonder and joy of the night.  And as you remember the WONDER of that first Christmas Eve, may you be filled with GREAT JOY as you ANTICIPATE what is to come through the sweet gift of a Savior that was given.

Goodnight!!
ABL

Christmas Countdown: Days 8-14

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If you missed yesterday’s post, I am doing a recap of our new family Christmas tradition. (Can you call it a tradition in the first year of its existence?) Let the COUNTDOWN continue with our nightly family activities…
(Speaking of “activities,” KJ is a little confused by our constant talk of “activities” and “nativity” and calls what we do each night our “Christmas activity scenes”.  Without intending to, he actually has dubbed it quite descriptively.  Activities. Check. Scenes…oh wow, most definitely!)

Days 8-14 of Christmas time fun

Day 8 (17 sleeps until Christmas)
Drink hot chocolate before bed
This worked out perfectly because it was the night of the preschool Christmas show.  We already have a tradition of going to get a treat after the kids’ shows so we just got hot chocolate before we headed home.  Mostly just did not want to give you the false impression that our Christmas countdown was a formal affair.  The attire for this evening greatly exceeded our normal wardrobe of pajamas and/or sweats.

 Day 9 (16 Sleeps until Christmas)
Photo Scavenger Hunt
This was another of our very favorites.  So much fun that I think we would still do this again even if the whole “Countdown to Christmas” never resurfaces.  I gave the kids a list of 5 things…a snowman, Santa, reindeer, an angel, and a Christmas tree and we drove around to find them.  This slight variation on just “looking at Christmas lights” was a much bigger success.  We would take turns jumping out of the car, running into a stranger’s yard and snapping a picture.  The kids loved 1) being “sneaky” (even though we usually stood at or near the curb) and 2) getting to sometimes be the one to take the picture. 
As a random aside…
Anyone recognize the jacket that I am sporting?  Only about 3 of my facebook friends might fully appreciate its significance but knowing that it is from junior high should leave all of you impressed that I a) still have it and b) still wear it.

Day 10 (15 Sleeps until Christmas)
Have a Christmas music dance party
So much fun.  Blast the Christmas music and dance away.  I especially loved watching the brothers dance together. And the dancing that required all of my children to stack on top of each other.  Oh, and most definitely the random but synchronized “snow-angel-dance move”.

 Day 11 (14 Sleeps Until Christmas)

Go shopping for the food pantry. 
Ok, parents.  This is the BEST activity for busy little ones.  Seriously, my kids L-O-V-E it and this is not the first time we have done it.  We go buy food at the grocery store.  They love helping me check items off of a list, put things in the basket, and line up the food on the conveyor belt.
 
Then we deliver it to our church’s foodbank.  We fill up a cart with our groceries and stock the shelves.  They LOVE the sorting and matching, the assembly line passing, and driving the cart.
Day 12 (13 Sleeps Until Christmas)
Go on a family outing in your pajamas.
Ok, gotta admit.  This one was TOTALLY rigged.  The actual ornament originally said “Go for a family walk”.  But KJ drew that ornament three different times and each time asked if he could put it back.  Ok, so maybe I got a little lame with some of the activities….but hey, I needed 24.  SO, after the third time he put it back, I decided to put it to a different use.  We already had plans to go to GWL for story-time in our pajamas one evening with friends, so I made sure that ornament got picked that night and doctored it to read something that conveniently lead to our already planned activity…
We stayed at GWL last month and had a blast…pictures coming soon.  But one thing we heard then was that during the nightly story-time in December it would snow inside the hotel.  WE COULD NOT miss it.  This was so much fun…of course, you know where your kids are from when they get THIS excited about seeing fake snow coming from a snow-blower on a balcony.  And we had so much fun with these sweet friends, too.
And we got a cute family picture out of the deal…nothing like kiddos in their Christmas PJs, right?

 Day 13 (12 sleeps until Christmas)
Talk about the story of Jesus’ birth and dress up like a nativity scene.
Yeah, totally didn’t see this one going quite the way it did.  I mean who could have foreseen that when choosing roles, Cbug would say “I wanna be the Baby?”  I just thought it might be a fun and easy way to help our kids remember the Christmas story.  And it was memorable alright.  Nothing like seeing your 40 pound “middlest” dressed in “swaddling clothes” to help you NEVER forget the nativity scene. Oh wow. Even the pictures are a little blurry because I was laughing so hard I couldn’t hold the camera still.
Introducing our cast of Characters…KJ and Joseph, Lou as Mary, and Cbug as sweet baby Jesus in a manger (aka the car seat box that fortuitously arrived the day before).

 Day 14 (11 sleeps until Christmas)
Choose a toy to deliver to the toy drop at the Firestation
We took the kids shopping, let them pick out a toy they would like to give and then we all delivered them to the firestation.  RRL has a friend that was coordinating one of the toy drives at firestations in our city.  He called him earlier this day to see if it mattered when we took toys by and was told that since there are firemen there 24-7, it really didn’t matter.  But maybe 8:30 at night was not what he had in mind.  It was just one of those days and we didn’t get there nearly as early as we thought.  When we rang the “press here for help” bell outside, three firemen came quickly to the door, probably anticipating an emergency…not these three blond cuties eagerly holding up their treasures.  Kinda threw ’em for a loop.  But they were super sweet about it and even let KJ ask his very important question “How do you decide who gets to go to sleep and who stays awake to wait for fires?”  The answer: “We ALL try to sleep”.  KJ was quite satisfied.
Hope you are enjoying our countdown.  Its been so much fun…
More fun still to come!
ABL

A new tradition: Christmas Countdown

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When I was little we had the coolest advent calendars.  There were two that we used every year. One was Santa’s workshop to which someone got to add a (paper) toy each night until the 24th night when you added a Christmas tree to the very top.  And the other was the Nativity story, in which you opened a flap to reveal an additional piece of the story each night…”Long ago in the city of Nazareth/there lived a young woman named Mary/One day an angel appeared to Mary…” (yeah, pretty much still have the whole thing memorized.)  We did these same two advent calendars for as long as I can remember.  (Technically, I believe at some point there were three, but one was very forgettable…a consolation prize so that each child in our family could have something to do each night.)
So, when RRL and I had children, I was anxious to start some sort of every-night tradition with them as well during the Christmas holiday season.  In similar fashion to our two calendars growing up, I wanted it to be meaningful and fun, creative and different, simple yet memorable.  Not much pressure, right?  I scoured the Internet and DIY books.  I asked others about their traditions.  I found lots of things I like and some things I did not like at all…but definitely nothing I loved.  I liked something we could do as a family.  I did not like things that required getting a present/food each night.  I liked something that reminded us about the meaning of the season.  I did not like things that were above my children’s learning levels.
And I’m sorry to all of you “Elf-on-a-Shelf” lovers…but that thing is CREEPY.  WATCHING US?  WHAT????  I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it, I am just saying he/she/it creeps me out personally.  Yes, I know it is not real…no, I did not say that my creeped-out-ness was reasonable.  But regardless…sorry, kids, Mom is out on that one.
SO…In the end, this year I finally decided to make my own “Count-down to Christmas”.  We put up a big paper Christmas tree and each night we add an ornament to the tree.  Each ornament has an activity for our family to do together.  They range in difficulty from easy to super-easy.  Most require little to no preparation ahead of time, all require complete family participation.  Very few required spending much money, and most of the time when they did require spending money it was spending on someone else.  Each night the kids take turns being the one to choose an ornament and add it to the tree, so for the most part the order of the activities was completely random (I’ll admit to cheating a couple of times). 
Let me just say  I AM NOT CREATIVE.  I think I’ve mentioned that once (or a thousand times) before.  But what I can do is RESEARCH.  So this idea is really the combination of many people’s ideas smushed together in a way that worked for our family.  And woked it has indeed.  This has been SO.MUCH.FUN.
There have been moments, like anything you do for TWENTY-FOUR-NIGHTS-IN-A-ROW that were not so fun.  But those moments have been quickly forgotten. 
I’m going to try to just share the highlights.  I’ll break it up into a few posts since there are a lot of days to share.  I think I’ve managed to get at least one picture from almost every night so far, maybe missing 3 or 4.
Without further ado…
Count down with us…”24 Sleeps Until Christmas” style.
(EVERYSINGLENIGHT KJ says, “including this one”.  Our mini-accountant has to be sure we remember that 24 sleeps includes the sleep we are about to enjoy.  Important clarification, Bud, but I think we got it after about 5 nights…we are now on 20 and still being reminded)
First, we had to make our count-down tree (aka “the green Taj Mahal”) and color the ornaments that we would use for the countdown. 
Then we got busy counting down.  Here are “ornaments” 1 through 7….
Day 1 (24 sleeps until Christmas):
Watch a Christmas movie or show
Our kids chose “Rudolph”…claymation style of course.

Day 2 (23 sleeps until Christmas)
Color or create a Christmas picture
RRL and I were at a wedding this night so the kids got to do this activity with Grammy and I only got an “after” picture.

Day 3 (22 Sleeps until Christmas)
Choose a Christmas book to read before bed

Day 4 (21 Sleeps until Christmas)
Make Christmas things out of play dough
Ok, this one might qualify us for this website of worst nativity scenes.  A yellow manger, filled with orange-snake-hay atop which lay the pink peanut of a baby Jesus, surrounded by snowmen, angels, candy cane, reindeer…and a ZIPPER.  Yeah, we are working on the story.  I didn’t really give the kids any direction, just got out the play-dough some Christmas cookie cutters and said “Lets make Christmas things”.  We all 5 participated.  RRL made the amazing reindeer.  I made a manger.  And Cbug added the orange snakes/hay.  We were all busy working away and Lou reached out her hand with a little wad of peanut-shaped pink play dough.  “And he-uh” she said “Is da baby Jesus”.  I was torn between thinking it was so sweet in the midst of all of us laughing and playing that she had been working away at making sure we had Jesus.  AND trying not to crack up at how serious she was about her little peanut shaped Baby.  Love her heart and her creativity.

Day 5 (20 Sleeps until Christmas)
Bake Christmas cookies
In another post will have to share some “before and after” pictures of this process.  Making cookies with all three of them was a bit I-N-S-A-N-E.  We employed my favorite short-cut of making sugar cookies from pre-packaged dough.
Day 6
(19 Sleeps until Christmas)
Deliver Christmas sticker and treats to a friend
This was one of of the kids very favorite activities.  We took them to the store, let them choose a small basket full of goodies and then pick a friend to deliver them to.  They loved running to the door, putting the package on the doorstep and sneaking away.  Turns out the sneaking was so necessary because the recipients were not home…but they loved it anyway.  Sure wish I had taken pictures of their sweet faces getting to surprise someone else.
Day 7
(18 Sleeps until Christmas)

Go look at Christmas lights
This was kind of a bust.  I thought it would be fun, but the fun faded fast and everyone wanted to go home.  I think because we do this all the time when we are driving along, it was not really something special.  Or maybe it was just the night.  Who knows.  But definitely did not take pictures of the five of us driving along, kids asking if we could go home and Mom and Dad repeating “no, we can’t go home yet.  We.Are.Having.Fun”  Nope, no pictures of that.
Can’t wait to share Days 8-15. and 16-20.  Stay tuned.  The images of Cbug dressed as baby Jesus and our whole family Christmas caroling to stuffed animals will be totally worth your while.  Promise.
ABL

Christmas Part I: Team L version

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Because we were travelling for Christmas we decided to do our own little family Christmas early.  It ended up being a perfect idea.  We got to just enjoy the morning together and take delight in watching our kids be so thrilled with opening presents.  We kept it pretty small this year.  We did one big gift for them all to share.
THEY LOVE THIS JEEP.
But Lou loved it more when it didn’t have the battery in it.  She loves just sitting in it with her babies and reading or listening to “music” on the radio.  Oh, and she also likes to “check under the hood”.
The boys, on the other hand, LOVE taking it for a ride.  When the battery was ready, they were already dressed for Sunday church, but had to take it out for a spin.  Their wardrobe that day has lead to many-a-comment about their resemblance to a certain group of door-to-door evangelists.
Other than the jeep, the kids loved books, clothes, and toys.  I loved watching their genuine joy in the little things. 
 Lou, especially, told everyone that her favorite part of “Christmas” was the stocking.  She took each item out one at a time. And immediately went to find a place for it in her room before moving on to the next item. 
They relished each detail.

And I relished sharing these moments with my little family. 
I can hardly imagine what it will be like next year with a 8-month-old in the  mix!
After our family celebrations were completed, Cbug and Lou were anxious to move on to the next Christmas stop…
and promptly “packed-up” for Nonna and Papa J’s house.

At 5mps, over the course of more than 700 miles and multiple stops for battery recharging this trip would make our ride in the minivan seem like it passed at warp-speed.  I’m glad they opted to ride with the rest of us, instead.
ABL

Preschool Christmas

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Christmas time at the little preschool our kids attend is so much fun. 
We loved getting to visit them for their Christmas parties
(both RRL and I were at KJ’s party, too, not sure how we didn’t get a picture)
Their teachers are AMAZING.  Seriously, anyone who would INTENTIONALLY provide my 5 and 3 year-old boys (and a classroom full of their equally zealous friends) sprinkles and let them use them at will is to be commended.
 Lou’s favorite part of the party was that her Daddy came.  In fact, when he got up to leave and go back to work, BEFORE she had finished every.single.bite of her snacks she proclaimed ‘But Daddy, I’m not finished yet”.  And he sat back down.  Oh, these two together are trouble I tell ya. 

We also LOVED the sweet Christmas shows they each participated in.  Someone wised up after last year and there were no 4-year-old shepherds as the background this year, just a completely controllable screen for a background.  I feel like we have left our mark on school programs for years to come.  I’m quite sure they appreciate that.

Lou’s class sang “Ring the bells” with jingle bells.  Sweet Lou still sings this song with all her might on a regular basis.  She rings her jingle bells (whether she actually has any in her hand or not) like her life depends on it.  Poor girl, never expressive at all.

Cbug’s class sang Away in a Manger and Praise ye the Lord.  I loved how sweetly he does the motions for the sleeping baby Jesus and our family has REALLY enjoyed that we regularly get divided into “groups” to sing “Praise ye the Lord” answered by “Hallelujah”.
 
KJ’s class sang several songs and also took turns telling parts of the Christmas story.  KJ got his line in November to start practicing.  We worked on it every night at dinner (he took his job very seriously), which might have been a bit overkill because at the end even Lou could recite  “Mary and Joseph’s journey ended in a stable filled with hay.  It was there that Mary gave birth to our King on this day”.  KJ definitely knew his line when time came…in fact he knew exactly what order all 10 of his friends would speak and could recite nearly ALL of their lines as well.

 The kids were THRILLED to have this amazing crew of “fans” (and Uncle J) for their performances

 and they loved getting to share the fun with some of their favorite friends.

What fun memories we are making.  We continue to be so thankful for this little school that loves our kids and helps them celebrate JESUS all year.
ABL

Thanksgiving 2011

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Just some Thanksgiving highlights…

We are thankful for…
We counted down to Thanksgiving throughout the month of November by writing our blessings on leaves and turkeys.  I had grand plans for putting these on the wall in our dining room, like we did with our leaves last year, but truth be told…they never made it out of the basket.  I even cut out “We are thankful for…” with the”…” included to put as fun header over it.  Yep, the letters stayed in the basket, too.  Ah well.  I’m savin’ em for next year!

I ABSOLUTELY did love the list, though, once it was completed and having this fun part of our dinner-time conversation throughout the month.  We had some super sweet moments like Lou being thankful that “God made me”, Cbug being thankful for Heaven and KJ being thankful for “Our awesome God”.  And also some super random moments like Lou being thankful for “pink”, Cbug being thankful for “chickens” and KJ being thankful for “teeth”.  After we finished the month, both this year and last year, I went back and wrote the “thankfuls” from the leaves/turkeys into a journal.  I think someday the kids will love reading back over these.  I already do.

Just a little morning jog
On Thanksgiving morning, RRL and I got up super early to go run a half marathon.  I was so thankful that I changed my methods to employ a 8minutes/2minutes run and walk routine.  It made it a much better experience than my long-runs leading up to this point.  At 18 weeks pregnant, I was pretty proud of our 2:14 time, even with those walk breaks.  It was an awesome run along the river, perfect weather and not very many people…PLUS we got these awesome turkey trophies.  Thrilling!

Fun at Grammy’s house
I was just a teensy bit sore after running (read, I didn’t move much without moaning), thanks to a round ligament along the right side of my abdomen that I didn’t even know existed until this pregnancy.  But we all still really enjoyed our time at Grammy’s house.  Fun times helping in the kitchen, snuggling and story time, playing cars, celebrating Aunt B’s birthday, putting up her Christmas tree, spending the night, enjoying cereal for lunch the next day and just enjoying being with some of the people we are most thankful for!

In fact we were so busy just relaxing and enjoying being together that I did not take many pictures.  I love that we spent the day, and really the whole month, just being reminded of how very VERY blessed we are. 
I hope that spirit of Thanksgiving is one we carry with us all year long.
ABL
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