The Great Christmas Update "Bog"

I recently got an email from one of my faithful readers that he enjoyed reading my "bog." I don't know if that was just a typo or a subtle statement about how he gets "stuck" in the middle of my entries, with no way to get out. If it was the latter, then he will really enjoy this one.

I haven't taken much time to write this week, so here goes with the update, starting with Uncle Jim's 90th Birthday party!

Below are pictures from the party. We had a great many people from the family there. Most exciting for us was that Geoffrey and Callie were able to attend. Geoffrey's wife, Jill, is expecting twins in January and we waited until the last minute to see if he could come. The doctor let them know that it was OK on Thursday and we all piled into our minivan on Friday for the 7 hour drive. If you haven't ever made a trip with a 2-, 3-, and 4-year old, you are missing out on something fun!

Here is a picture of all in attendance:

And one of the birthday boy. Doesn't he look young!

One bonus of the trip was that we were super close to the beach. We snuck away on Saturday evening for a few minutes in the sand. It was chilly, with the sea breeze. See the surfer in the background? Just looking at them made me really cold. We had a great time playing, until Scooter got a little too close to the surf and ended up soaking wet. It abruptly ended our play time!

We came home on Sunday and had some time to recover and get ready for Christmas. One bummer of the holiday, was that Roo had a fever and both boys shared a cold. Scooter, Derrick and I went to the 4:00 service at church, while Nana & Pop stayed at home with Roo. After dinner, the boys opened one gift -- their Christmas Jammies! Here they are sporting their new bedtime duds.

I just realized that we didn't get many good pictures on Christmas morning. Roo was so sick that he never actually opened many gifts. It was wonderful and relaxing to be in our own home. We've enjoyed catching up on sleep this week, watching movies, and doing some "spring" cleaning. The boys are both back at 100% now.

Merry Christmas!

I was supposed to post this blog on Christmas Eve, and now is the first time that I've taken to sit down at the computer. We have had such a blessed Christmas. It has been relaxing and delightful to have Daddy at home all day!

For the past several years, my favorite Christmas song has been "Mary Did you Know?" The song asks Mary if she knew that the sleeping child before her was the great I Am? It wonders if she knew His destiny when he was such a little baby.

As I listen to that song during the Christmas season, I pause and wonder what great plans God has for my children. I don't think that Mary knew any better than I do the plans that the Lord had in store for her little baby. But, as I go through the daily trials of raising my kids, I cling to the promises that God has given me - he knew Scooter and Roo before they were even born (Psalm 139) and he has plans and purposes for them to give them a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). I wonder if Mary clung to these same promises as she was raising Jesus and her other children.

Last night, I was reading a book that a friend gave me for Christmas, and I love this quote: "When God entrusted a child to us, in an instant that baby became so intimately a part of us that we couldn't picture life without him - ever. I couldn't imagine what my chubby child would be when he grew up. But what I yearned for had little to do with his adult career. I longed that he be part of us forever - that he be God's forever."

As this Christmas season comes to a close and we go back to our normal life, I pray for my family and yours that we will yearn to become closer to the great I Am and seek the plan that He has for our lives.

Twas the week before Christmas...

...and all through the house,
not a creature was sleeping
(well, we don't have a mouse.)

The stockings are hung
Mommy put them up there,
The presents are under the tree
The boys...they don't seem to care.

In fact, they haven't even noticed
That the gifts are in place
Running up and down the halls
All they seem to do is race.

For their bodies are filled
with sugar delights
From curly head to tiny toe
They ask from mornings to nights.

The candy monsters understand
that sugar is only given
After good days and long naps
And when all outbursts are forgiven

But they seem to forget
When the day is so new
Asking for cookies and candy
Even little Roo.

So imagine my delight
When Daddy walks in today
Carrying loads of goodies
Like Santa's big sleigh.

His students bless him
With things in wraps and jars
My favorite so far
Are the caramel bars.


...OK, I'm out of rhymes tonight. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends during the holiday. We leave tomorrow to celebrate my Great Uncle Jim's 90th birthday on Saturday! It will be fun to see aunts, uncles and cousins while there.

For the first time ever, we are spending Christmas Eve and Day in Athens. We hope Santa knows where to find us!

milestone

Well, we had a milestone this weekend for Scooter. He attended his first birthday party where he was the invited guest, not the whole family. In other words, this was the first birthday party where it was not family or one of our friends. The birthday child was a little girl from his Sunday School class.

Scooter chose Derrick to attend it with him. It was at a gymnastics school and he had a BLAST! He is already quite a monkey, and this had all kinds of equipment for him to climb on and play with. He can't wait to go back. I think that hosting birthday parties must be great publicity for this place. After all, each birthday party brings 15 or so kids that may have never been there and their parents. And the kids all clammor to go back.

My faithful husband took some pictures, so I could also "enjoy" the party.

Roo and I had a great morning together. It was a special treat for us to be able to spend time alone together. We went to the post office to mail some Christmas packages. While we stood in the long line, Roo entertained everyone (and they entertained him). It worked out well for everyone.

exploding vocabulary

Little Roo just recently turned 21 months and, boy, is his vocabulary expanding! He loves to get right in your face and say "hi mommy." I watched Nana's (my mom) heart melt last time we were in Atlanta when he said "Hi Nana".

Just yesterday, he said "howdy" to Derrick. For those of you who aren't familiar with Texas A&M traditions, that's what you say when you are on campus. "Howdy Ag" is the preferred way of greeting people. We have no idea where he learned to say "howdy", but it was so funny to hear it come out of his mouth. Now Derrick has taken it upon himself to teach him every Aggie phrase - "Howdy Ag", "Gig 'Em Ag", and occasionally he'll throw in a "go Tarheels" just to make me happy. I think Scooter has the right idea when he says "Howdy Dawgs." After all, that's all we'll be able to afford!

July in Christmas

Some people celebrate Christmas in July, but we are currently celebrating "July in Christmas". With the temperatures in the upper 70's this week, it certainly has felt like summer. I think we'll see winter come again tomorrow, so we spent all morning playing outside. We spent most of the time in the sandbox. I think I mentioned that they are laying new water pipes on our street. Well, we also laid pipes in the sandbox. We used sticks as pipes and had to dig up the "road" to get to the pipes. I hope the contractors do a better job than we did. Somehow, we kept having to dig up our pipes again and re-lay them.

As you can see from the picture, our sandbox looks like a Tonka commercial. We have a Tonka dumptruck, Tonka crane, Tonka front loader and a Tonka Jr. dumptruck. With all those, plus our shovels and hoes, there almost wasn't room for the boys. The real problem came when Scooter decided to bring a real pipe into the sandbox. It was quite funny to watch them manuver through all that stuff.

Of course, one advantage to it not being July is there is no humidity and there are no mosquitoes. Plus, when do you get to play in a big pile of leaves in July? That was the other big activity of the day around here. We threw all the leaves in the air and watched them fall again. Sorry Daddy -- you'll have to rake your piles again! :)

Just to prove that it really is December, here is a picture of the boys visiting with Santa Claus. Santa visits our local library each year. It is the best thing in the world because the crowds are small, and I can take as many pictures as I want with my own camera. Plus, "free" is much better than paying Mall prices. The boys are wearing their jammies because it is part of the library's monthly "pajamarama" evening storytime series.

Who is sick?

Have you ever had one of those doctor's visits where you felt like a really out-of-touch Mom? Well, that was me today. :)

Roo has been really cranky recently. I attributed it to the fact that he is trying to bring in his eye teeth and some molars and the fact that his second birthday is just around the corner... he knows what he wants and wants to get or do it by himself. Otherwise, there is a huge meltdown.

But, even with this, I thought it would be a good investment of $20 just to make sure that his ears weren't infected. So, I piled the kids in the car and headed over to the doctor's office. Scooter was really excited about going because they give lollipops at the checkout counter. On the way, he mentioned something about his ear hurting also. It was the first he had mentioned of it, and I thought it was just jealous brother wanting some attention.

Well, you can see where this story is heading. Guess who had the ear infection and whose ears were perfectly clear? I was glad that I asked her to check Scooter's ears as an afterthought. Oh, when will I ever learn?

Updates & Photos

I've gotten behind this week, so I thought I would post some pictures and share stories to go along with them.

Below is the promised picture of me "fluffing" the artificial tree. I have enjoyed the lights and ambiance, but miss the yummy smell of frasier fur. Last Friday, we had a wonderful evening decorating the house and enjoying our first fire of the season. I tried to capture the fire in the photo, but the light wasn't quite right. Scooter had the honor of putting our (very small) angel on top (with Daddy's help, of course.)

Roo is in the stage of imitation. While Derrick and Scooter were setting up the "big" train around the base of the tree, Roo toddled over to his little, wooden train set and started putting it together and playing with it.

Also, we have construction on our street right now. They are laying new water pipes. This week, they have been working across the street, with a great view out of our big window. We set up our little picnic table in front of the window, so the boys can eat and watch construction at the same time. All was quiet yesterday as Scooter and I washed dishes...which always leads me to worry about what Roo is into. I walked around the corner and he was sitting at the table watching the bobcat level the dirt across the street. In his hand was a small, toy bulldozer that he was pushing across the table, "leveling" the tabletop. I didn't take pictures of this, but it was a cute moment.

This next picture is of our "cooking decorating" party that we had yesterday. Let me tell you...when you mix 5 kids, icing and sprinkles, you end up with a great big mess! And, kids who are wired on sugar. Playing outside was much needed! But, we made some beautiful (and yummy) cookies. I especially love the picture of the littlest guys -- after just one cookie, they both thought that eating was more fun than decorating. One of our friends arrived with her little apron, so Scooter announced that he needed to put on his apron -- it is a "workshop apron" that we got at Lowe's when we were attending one of their Saturday workshops.