A Recap of Advent and Christmas

I can honestly say that our Christmas was wonderful. And, I can honestly say that I am SO grateful to be done eating rice and beans for dinner every night. I like rice and beans. I do. But, after eating them for a month straight, the beans started to make my stomach churn a little. For some reason, it was harder for me this year than it was last year. The kids were amazing with it again though - not one single complaint out of them. They loved going through the World Vision catalogs each night as they ate their rice and beans. That was such a great addition this year and definitely one that we will continue. It made the "giving presents to Jesus" even more tangible, since they were literally getting to pick out their own presents for Jesus. Every night as we sat eating our rice and beans, they would explore the catalog, deciding what they thought would be best to spend the money on. They each had their own ideas and took their decisions very seriously. They loved it. On Christmas morning, I placed pictures of the things they had chosen around the manger. I was hoping to have them open the World Vision cards that were supposed to come, explaining the significance of each gift they had chosen, but those didn't arrive in time. It will still be fun for them to receive those cards in the mail though.

Another great addition this year was our advent candle wreath. I love that Jay made it for us, and I loved adding a candle to it each night. It made such a perfect centerpiece and was a beautiful way to count down the days until Christmas. I loved that it was a little brighter each night as we anticipated celebrating the coming of our Saviour. Jay spent hours and hours making some extra ones to give away as gifts, and I hope that those we gave it to will enjoy it next year!

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with most of my family, and the kids had a great time. My parents had bought each of the kids some sort of costume, so Jake spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as a pirate, and Addi alternated between being a renaissance princess and wearing the new outfit that matches her new doll from my parents. She also spent some time in the new pink and black tutu from our neighbors. We were never sure which of the outfits she would come out in next.

Here they are with our neighbors, before heading to my parents house. This is Addi in the new outfit that she got as a present from them.

Jay's parents arrived Christmas Eve, and we were able to spend a little time with them that night as well. We then spent the rest of the night (until the wee hours of the morning) putting finishing touches on our Christmas Day plans - sanding candle-holders, preparing casseroles, decorating, getting the treasure hunt ready, etc.

Christmas morning went like this. It started with our treasure hunt, following the star to find Baby Jesus. The kids then got to open the presents that they had bought for each other, which was sooo cute. Addi had picked out a couple of coloring pictures for Jake and a whoopee cushion. The whoopee cushion was a huge hit and did not get old ALL DAY for them. Jake had chosen a little wooden car for Addi that she can put together (with Daddy's help) and paint. They were so excited to give their gifts to each other that they had picked out and purchased with their own money.

At breakfast, we finished up the final day stories for our Jesse Tree and advent calendar Christmas story.

We then did our Christmas morning ding-dong-ditch deliveries. This mostly included some cinnamon rolls to a couple of neighbors and a couple of advent wreaths that we lit and left on doorsteps. The ding-dong-ditch deliveries are a highlight of Christmas for us. It's such a fun way to surprise people on Christmas morning, and the kids love it. It's just fun to leave something for people and then try to run away and not get caught. I wish I had some video of it, but it's too hard to try to video, and run, and hide, all at the same time.






Jay's parents then met us back at the house for the rest of the day's activities, and the kids had a great time with them. When we got back, we gave each of the kids their present from us. Jake got an erector set, which is definitely JAY's favorite toy ever, and Addi got some Polly Pockets. Jake is REALLY into Legos and is amazing at following the directions and putting the sets together, so we thought that he might be ready to take it up a notch and try an erector set. He loves the idea of it, and is so excited to build things with motors, but unfortunately, they're not kidding about that age 8+ on the box. Those things are really hard to put together, even for Jay, who can put anything together. I thought that if there was any 6 year old out there who could do it, it would be Jake, but he will definitely need some assistance with it. He and Jay spent much of the day working on that together and Addi spent much of the day changing outfits and playing with her new Polly Pockets with Nana.




Jake did take a break to put together his awesome new Lego set from Nana and Papa which he, of course, loves. Once he started that, he didn't stop for anything until it was finished. Addi got some clothes from Nana and Papa, so she can add that to her rotation! We played out in the hood for a bit, having some marshmallow shooter wars and watching neighborhood kids fly by in their new go-carts. Yes, we live in Orange County, and children here receive as presents go-carts that go 35 mph...and had to be picked up in Las Vegas because apparently they are not "street legal" here in California.

So, that's it for now. We had a great time with the kids, a great time with our family, and a great time celebrating the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merely a Flesh Wound

I posted recently about the unfortunate rug burn I received crawling across a floor. At the risk of sounding like a complete baby, IT IS PAINFUL! It happened over a week ago, and here is what still remains of the injury today...

I know you were all dying to see a close-up shot of my foot. I used to be a foot model, so I should be getting paid for that shot. (Well, I could have been, right?)

Seriously though, can you believe that was caused just be dragging my foot on the carpet? I really cannot believe how sore and painful it is if even the slightest thing touches it.

So, I guess the only moral of the story is this: Don't wear flip flops to your child's performance if there are bells involved and if you plan on sitting on the floor to take pictures and might have to crawl across the stage in order to try to get said bells to your child before a major meltdown occurs because your child was overlooked in the passing of the bells.

Or the better moral might be: Don't even try, because you won't make it in time.

Playtime with Daddy

If the kids were given their first choice of who they wanted to be with, they would pick Jay every time. Hands down. No brainer. Every. single. time. They prefer being with him over any other person in the world. And it's really not very hard to see why...

Exhibit A: Horsey Rides

Exhibit B: Jam Session

Exhibit C: Pillow Fight

It doesn't matter that he is not perfect all the time or that it's not playtime all the time (although I chose not to include videos portraying that life is anything other than a party around here!). They don't care. They would follow him anywhere. They simply love to be with him.

Meal Packaging with Children of the Nations

This week, the kids and I participated in meal packaging for an organization called Children of the Nations (COTN). It was a great way to allow the kids to be hands-on in doing something to care for others in need. The event was organized by a local homeschool group and prior to this, I had not heard of COTN. Basically, the way it worked was that our group packaged the number of meals that we raised money for. As a group, $2500 was raised, and each meal costs about 25 cents. So, we were able to package roughly 10,000 meals, box them, and get them ready to be shipped. Each meal consists of lentils, spice, chicken (dried powder form), and rice, and is fortified with vitamins and nutrients. Any size group can organize the same thing, but they encourage each group to raise enough to package at least $500 worth of meals. The kids enjoyed doing it, and so I was thinking that it could be a good birthday party idea. Kids could donate toward the meals being packaged, rather than giving gifts, and then work together to package the meals. Like I said, it was great for the kids to be able to be hands-on and see a little bit of the impact that they can have. Children of the Nations states that its goal is to "raise children who transform nations." They provide holistic care to children in various parts of Africa and the Dominican Republic through educational programs, health care, children's homes, etc. You can check them out at http://www.cotni.org/.

The Christmas Program and the Drama of the Bells

This morning the kids performed their Christmas songs for all the parents at our CBS Bible study. They have been practicing the songs for the last several weeks, and I was so excited to see them in their first little performance. My little Addi is always a performer around the house, but performing for the general public is an entirely different story. She does not like to put on a show for others. (However, she always has a flare for the dramatic!) She informed me this morning that she didn't think that she could go to CBS and sing for the parents because she was sick. Needless to say, she is not sick. I assured her that she would do great and told her not to worry about it.

As the kids were walking up to the stage, she stopped to hug me, and I was concerned for a minute that she was not going to let go. But, again I assured her that she was going to do great. And she did do great, wonderfully, in fact...until the bell incident. For the first few songs, she was up there doing the motions and singing the words and even seemed to be enjoying herself. She would smile and wave at us and keep going. Then, the time came for the grand finale of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." The teachers passed bells out to the kids and they were supposed to ring the bells as they sang. Well, Addi got skipped and did not receive her bells, and I knew exactly what was going to happen. I could see the whole thing unfold before it ever did.

I was sitting on the floor in the front trying to record the performance, and as soon as I realized that she did not have bells, I knew I had to take action. I saw her face fall and that she was trying to be brave at first and shake some non-existent bells. But, I knew it wouldn't last long. I frantically started crawling across the floor to reach one of the teachers who was holding some bells. (The top of my foot is literally now raw from the rug burn I received as a result of the frantic crawling.) I grabbed the bells and tried to reach them up to Addi on the stage...but I was too late. Before I could get to her, she had already lost it - face covered in her hands, crying inconsolably, devastated and embarassed that she did not have the necessary prop for the song. To make matters worse, another human being outside of Jay or myself tried to console her, at which point the crying turned to a full-on scream. So much for wishing everyone a merry Christmas!

The culmination of the nerves, the embarassment, the lack of bells that she was supposed to be ringing, and the fact that her halo had also just fallen off her head, was just too much to handle for my little 4-year-old angel, with a flare for the dramatic. Here she is trying to be brave and shake her pretend bells. She's in the second row in the black dress. When the camera stops is when I had assessed the situation and had sprung into action. If only I could have crawled a little faster.

And here, in happier times... (The little girl and little boy in front have taken the teacher's instructions to use loud voices very seriously. The little girl is the daughter of our very close friends, and she is every bit as funny in person as she is on stage. She also apparently has a flare for the dramtic!)

And, I'm adding one more just so that I can try to get one on here that shows Jake as well. He's in the back in the black shirt. I moved around a couple of times trying to get him in the video, but he always seemed to be blocked. The real entertainment in this one is Audrey (the little girl in the red).

I'm sure that the most entertaining video, however, is the one that all the other parents now have in which a grown woman is crawling across the floor from one side of the stage to the other, providing a great butt shot for all those cameras, in an effort to obtain bells and then fling them up to her now inconsolable child. I'm hoping that those videos won't make it onto to any blogs!

Safe Families at ROCKHARBOR

In a recent post, I shared a little bit about our experience with Safe Families. I mentioned that our church is getting involved with this organization and that our pastor had asked us to briefly share with everyone a little bit about our experience. The hope is that others will be encouraged to get involved when they hear stories of those who have done so. So, this past Sunday we stood up front and spoke for a few minutes. My husband is a great public speaker but I, on the other hand, thought I was going to throw up. Fortunately, I did not. I did have to pass the microphone off to him at one point though when I started blubbering and couldn't go on! The woman who is interviewing us, Wendy McMahon, along with her husband Tim, is going to be heading up the Safe Families ministry at Rock Harbor, and they are amazing. They are the resident experts in foster care (she used to work for Olive Crest) and they have adopted two children themselves.

Someone recorded the interview and put it on YouTube, so I thought I would post it here so that you could also see a bit of our story and maybe be encouraged to get involved as well.