Glimpses of Christmas 2011

We did not travel over Christmas this year.  This statement is huge because I can't remember ever having "Christmas morning" at our house on Christmas Day.  So, this year I have no dramatic stories to tell of how we spent 48 hours stranded at a faraway airport on Christmas Eve through Christmas Day. I have no interesting tales of how we camped out at an airport two hours from home all afternoon on two different days with the hope that our flight would finally depart (snow kept cancelling flights). We finally gave up and drove 22-24 hours each way to visit my husband's family.  We did not get snowed in at the in-laws this year.  There were no blizzards.  In fact, temperatures reached the low 70s over Christmas.  I have no wild and crazy adventures that have made for great blog fodder in the past.  Let me just say that I loved not having to travel this Christmas.

This was our first year in over 10 years of marriage to actually  see what our city of residence had to offer during Christmas because we were actually here!  We saw The Christmas Carol musical, and we went caroling.  We viewed The Nutcracker  ballet and Christmas lights.  We attended Christmas parties and cookie exchanges.  Christmas was wonderfully relaxing and uneventful except for an unexpected trip to the Urgent Care.

Our son was so eager to place a gift he had bought for his sister (with his own money) into her stocking, that he forgot our warning not to touch the stockings.  Down came the stocking holder, and it bumped his head....hard!  The nurses debated whether to give him stitches or just use Dermabond.  He kept saying, "But I'm too young for stitches!" and asking "Do stitches hurt worse than cavities?", so he was relieved when they decided to try the glue instead.   We soon learned that another friend's daughter did the same thing and had the same injury that same day.  Last Christmas, another friends' boy ended up with stitches after a stocking holder fell on his head. 

Public service advisory to all parents, guardians, and those hosting children during Christmas:  

Skip the pretty stocking holders, and just use duct tape!

We let the kids open one gift each on Christmas Eve morning.  Then that evening after we concluded our advent reading, we were ready to open the matching Christmas pajamas that Grandma gives every member of the family each year.  Since most of the family went to Disney World together this past fall, she went with a Mickey Mouse theme this year.  The outfits were not identical, but they were all Mickey Mouse themed and were carefully chosen for each person.  For example, my husband was formerly an officer in the Navy, and pictured on his shirt was Mickey at the bridge of a ship navigating the boat.  All the girls in the family received Mickey Mouse ears with Christmas sequin bling.   We also opened the Christmas gifts that my husband's family had shipped us that night.

Either our kids are growing or our tree is shrinking

Christmas Day began bright and early, because my husband had deacon duty at 8:30.  We got up around 6am which is about three hours earlier than I normally wake up during Christmas vacation.  My husband made cinnamon rolls for breakfast to keep his mother's Christmas Day tradition.  He used her recipe and took special care to let the dough rise by the fire the night before.   They were so tasty!

Church was extra special that morning with a family worship and sharing format.  I enjoyed having our children participate in that worship service with us, and it just seemed so appropriate to be worshiping Christ in church on Christmas morning.

After lunch at "Chez Le Père" as our son now calls meals eaten at home, we drove 75 minutes to my parents' house.  It was a nice day outside, so we enjoyed playing a Duck Hunter game my MIL sent to our family.  I had so much fun with that gun that I think I'll add skeet shooting to my list of extracurricular activities in 2012.

We exchanged gifts with Mom and Dad and my brother's family, laughed, watched the kids having a blast with their cousins, welcomed more family who came later, exchanged more gifts, and feasted on breakfast foods for dinner as is our custom.

It's always interesting to discover which gifts our kids liked best.  One of our daughter's favorite gifts was a personalized spiral notebook.  Something so simple was so meaningful to her because she filled the pages with comic strips she drew and wrote herself.   She is so proud of those comics and has been asking us to start a blog for her where she can keep posting her comics.  When the comics are actually funny, I'll publish a blog for her.

Some of the kids' other favorite gifts are shown below.

I was thrilled to see our kids enjoying the electrical circuit kit so much.  The have built over 100 different circuits already.  A mama always likes to see her kids following in her footsteps, but when it comes to showing interest in running, they take after their daddy.

The magic rock set was just an inexpensive last minute add-on gift. Since it was for ages 10 and up, I figured we would just store it away for future use when the kids were old enough to be interested.  Our daughter began growing rocks before we left for church on Christmas morning, and completed the entire growing process when we returned from visiting my family that night.

The kids have thoroughly enjoyed the Marble Mania Galaxy Grandma sent, but my husband grew weary during the assembly.  It has over 480 parts and the assembly instructions included 79 different steps. It glows in the dark, so in addition to providing hours of fun, it also serves as a fancy night light in our playroom.

While the kids certainly do enjoy making gifts for others, shopping for gifts for others, and receiving gifts from others, a day didn't go by this season when they did not express thanksgiving for God's greatest gift to man, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Christmas Lights

Since over half of the fun of a big trip or fun event is the anticipation of it, I don't plan too many surprises for the children.  There are certainly perfect times for surprises, like the big surprise birthday bash for my mother's 70th birthday, but we haven't overdone surprises because we love watching the children's anticipation grow over the weeks and months before the big event.  However, they were so excited about our trip to Disney World that they could hardly sleep the last few days before we left, so maybe we should have surprised them a little.  Now I wish Christmas wasn't on a set date on the calendar so we could surprise them instead and thereby avoid the crazy amount of hyperactivity that has been bouncing around our home this past week.

I did plan a few small surprises for the kids this week.  The horseback riding surprise went over really well with our daughter.  While I can't remember ever watching the entire movie, The Polar Express, I thought it would be fun to also surprise the kids with a little Polar Express style journey to view Christmas lights.

I found some "Christmas Express" tickets online which I printed.  We were going to put the tickets under their pillows, but my husband suggested placing them inside the kids' advent drawer.  (Maybe he just wanted the candy in those drawers, so he replaced the candy with tickets.)  The kids did not understand what the tickets meant until they heard a "choo-choo" sound, and my husband transformed himself into a train conductor and stood by the door ready to punch their tickets.  I was dressed in yoga pants and workout top while the others were wearing pajamas.  We assumed we would be in our vehicle the entire time. Little did we know that the light display I had chosen for us to view not far from our house would be much too large and the traffic too congested to view from a car.  Friends tell us we live in the boonies (some call it "Egypt"), but these country people from the boonies sure know how to put on a light display.  Next year, these neighbors are moving the light show downtown since the display has outgrown their neighborhood.

The show began with a patriotic tribute to our armed forces.

Over 250,000 lights were included in this display, and set up took seven weeks.  All of the music and light scenes were Christ centered, and the emcee repeatedly reminded viewers that Jesus is the reason for this season. The music blared from outdoor speakers and was broadcast over the radio for those watching from their cars.  A fire pit kept people warm, and Santa's sleigh made a great photo spot.  The kids were embarrassed at first to be outside in their pajamas, but once the lights and music began, they forgot all about being embarrassed. During the upbeat songs, they enjoyed jamming and dancing with their mama.

My husband video taped parts of two songs as a sample.  We stayed for at least 5 different songs and wanted to stay longer, but the kids desperately needed a potty break.  Next year we will be better prepared.

A Perfect Day

Our daughter gets 11 school days off for Christmas break. On the first day of her break (and all weekend before), she complained about how much she misses school, school friends, and even math.  So, instead of working through the unopened  $100 math curriculum supplement I purchased for her to use this year in our homeschool, she's been getting her math fix by solving Sudoku puzzles.  She also decided that she would tutor her brother to help home feel like school.  After teaching him about the Civil War, the human body's reflexes, earth's sister planet, and a lesson in his math book, she lost her only student because he was tired of being her pupil.

I planned a few surprises for Tuesday that week to help bring her out of her Christmas break doldrums.  It was cloudy day with pleasantly mild temperatures.  I took the kids downtown where we met lots of friends from their homeschool co-op group.  Even though the kids don't get to see their co-op friends very often now that our daughter attends school, they still consider their co-op friends to be their very best friends. 

The kids love their Spanish teacher and sneaked up behind her to give her big hugs as shown in the lower left & middle photos above.

We all had assigned tickets to see "The Nutcracker" ballet.   The kids were thrilled to discover that our assigned seats were right next to their BFFs' seats.

After a quick lunch, I took the kids on a hour-long drive out into the country where we arrived at a nice little horse farm.  I surprised our daughter with a horseback riding lesson as one of her Christmas gifts.  Her passion for horses runs deep into her soul, so she was on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

She spent the next few minutes meeting the horses, grooming a 34-year old horse named Newbie, and setting the blanket, saddle, bit, bridle, and reins.  She was quite comfortable in the saddle as always.  She and Newbie quickly went from walking to trotting and cantering to begging for more lessons (which I had already purchased and still remains a secret).  That right-brained child thinks so differently than I do, but when it comes to having a great love for horses, we are kindred spirits.

While she had her lesson, the farm owner's herd dog, Happy, kept bringing us slobbery pine cones.  He would drop them at our feet and look up at us with beggers' eyes.  Happy pleaded with my 5-year old first each time, but my boy would have nothing to do with that nasty pine cone.  So I kept throwing it high and far for Happy to fetch.  Happy seemed especially proud of himself when he would leap high into the air to catch the pine cone in mid-air.  We kept playing this game until the pine cone had fallen into 5 tiny bits which Happy happily coughed down and spit back up again.  Then he went searching for another pine cone to use in our game.

I had a leadership dinner to attend with dear friends from our co-op after our daughter's lesson.  (Perhaps one selfish reason for wanting to continue homeschooling at least one child might be so that I can remain a part of this awesome group of ladies!) So we met my husband at the restaurant, so he could then take our kids to Chick-Fil-A for dinner.  Santa Cow was there giving presents to kids, and since it was family night, CFA hosted special activities for kids.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day for our not quite perfect kids.

O Christmas Tree

 

Recently, I was surprised to find Lego men and matchbox cars scattered throughout the greenery in my planter on the 3rd floor.  Apparently our large overly ornamented Christmas tree and two smaller Christmas trees on the first floor aren't enough for our 5-year old this Christmas, so he put "ornaments" on this "tree" as well.

Life Class Christmas Party

From the time of our engagement until less than two years ago, my husband and I have been actively involved in a fabulous Sunday School class (aka Life Class).  This group began as nearly/newly-weds and then became the Young Married I (YM1) class and then YM2  and then YM3.   When my husband took over the teaching/administrative roles for the class during the last few years, we finally admitted that we no longer qualified as "Young Married", so we became a class of married couples with young children.  Eventually, various different ministry callings pulled our class in many different directions so that we could no longer continue as a life class.  This class had been our family away from home.  We had done life together for at least eight years, and while our friendships remained, we missed the regular weekly meetings.

God eventually led us to a new life class where I discovered many friends from college and from various other seasons of life.  I love how committed these families are to following Christ wholeheartedly.  The class is quite missions minded and the members have hearts of gold.

This new class is quite large, so members are broken up into smaller community groups that meet more often outside of the regular weekly large group meetings.  We did not know how we could possibly fit one more regular meeting into our crazy busy schedule and then find childcare during those meetings.  It has not been easy to find a common opening in all our many busy schedules, but all the scheduling/rescheduling efforts have been so worth it.  This group is so much fun, and I feel so blessed to be doing life with them.  One of the couples in our initial group recently moved out of state, and we miss them terribly but are so grateful for the short time we had together.

Top right corner:  Life Class teachers & dear friends, Top middle:  Party hosts, Other pics:  Our community group

We recently enjoyed a fabulous Christmas party with our new life class.  The entire evening was so similar to the many Christmas parties we attended in the past with our previous life class that I felt at home again.

Before the party, we went out to eat at a delicious seafood restaurant with our community group.  We share both joys and sorrows together, pray for one another, and reach out together to the community, but I must admit that we probably share more laughter than anything else.  I sure do love these people!

Students Share Christmas Cheer

Since our daughter left the homeschool nest this year to attend private school, she got to participate in her first school Christmas program.  The kids in her class, grades 3 through 6, wrote a humorous poem in the style of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and presented the poem as a skit.  It was very cute and clearly pointed out God's hand in the miraculous establishment of this unique school.  I tried to video tape the play, but I failed at getting decent video with my new camera.

The younger grades enjoyed ringing Christmas bells as they recited poetry and sang Christmas songs.  The older grades wrote and presented a fabulous skit that presented the Christmas story in a way our modern, high tech society could really appreciate.  They also presented songs with sign language.

The program also included prayer and corporate praise and worship (one of the perks of a Christ centered school) followed by a time of fellowship and feasting.

One of the highlights of the evening for me personally doesn't have much to do with Christmas or the program itself.  I most enjoyed meeting all of our daughter's school friends.

Soapbox Moment
For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed meeting people who are different from me or who are set apart from the crowd.  When I enter a large group of people, I am immediately drawn to those who are shortest, tallest, youngest, oldest, or from any country other than America. I value diversity and love meeting people from all walks of life.

Some of my most valuable life experiences have come through my most unique relationships.  The homeless people we served food to at the shelter downtown and the homeless man who camped out in the woods at my workplace taught me that hard knocks come in life despite our best efforts, but God will never forsake us and will meet our needs, so be grateful in all circumstances. 

Touring manufacturing plants in Japan at age 17 confirmed my thoughts of majoring in engineering in college.  Geeky engineers inspired a desire to become an efficient problem solver balanced with light-hearted humor.  High profile businessmen gave me confidence to pursue my dreams while reminding to me to focus on long term goals without getting distracted by short-term, narrow-minded opportunities.  Superiors at work advised me to pursue business mentoring opportunities which aligns with the Paul/Timothy discipleship model in Scriptures.

Japanese student leaders helped me appreciate the innovation and freedom of thought, expression, and vocational pursuits that characterize America without all the pressure to perform found in some countries. Japanese, Turkish, and Indian friends introduced me to a whole new meaning of hospitality and respect for others. 

Studying abroad at Oxford and the European travel that preceded that semester taught me to be flexible and to enjoy trying new sports, foreign foods, and unusual adventures.  I gained new respect for ancient architecture, world history, and the arts that summer.  I learned how to survive on much less and worshiped God more passionately after beholding so many beautiful landscapes that summer.  Father Henry, the monk and headmaster of the school where we resided, taught me to take the road less traveled as he took two other friends and me running at 5:00 am each morning across fields/pastures, over fences, across the Thames River, through forests, across valleys, along narrow cobbled streets and around winding paths.  

Recovering drug addicts and teens in crisis pregnancy situations taught me the importance of providing a loving, nurturing, Christ-centered home environment for our children where a nurturing, engaged father is also attentive to the kids' heart needs.  Drag racers, Harley Davidson motorcyclists, and aviators from church/work gave me a greater appreciation for mechanics, speed racing, and the transportation industry.  Mission trips taught me to be grateful for everything and that Christ's grace extends to all people without limit.  Each unique relationship has widened my perspective of life and changed me.

As a homeschooling parent, I was concerned that our children were not exposed to enough diversity, although our homeschooling co-op is blessed to have so many international members.  I did not expect that sending our daughter to a private Christian school would increase her diversity exposure, either.  However, this school's motto is "Out of the Box" and an unorthodox educational approach will attract a variety of individuals.

What pleased me so much at this Christmas program was seeing great diversity among our daughter's friends.  Each student comes from a different background and has unique gifts and talents. This school is filled with diverse people, but the students are all united in their love for the Lord, so they really are more like a family than most cliques comprised of people who look exactly the same. 

The following day, some of the students from our daughter's school took a field trip to a long term care facility in another community.  The students greeted the residents, sang Christmas carols and hymns, and distributed small gifts.  I helped "chaperone" and brought my 5-year old along.

 The residents' faces were filled with joy as they joined us in singing.  During the sacred hymns, several residents raised their hands in heart felt worship to the Lord.  They are ready to meet Jesus, but until then, meeting young people sure does put a smile on their faces.  The kind lady in purple pictured below offered to babysit both our of children every Friday night at no charge so that my husband and I can go on dates!  Too bad we do not receive similar offers from people who are physically able.

Mr. Matt, the school's praise and worship instructor, wore his Santa shirt and hat.  We were amused when one of the residents had on the same shirt. 

One of the young students, who I will call Johnny, extended friendship to my young son who was shy and apprehensive when we first met the residents.  Johnny led our son from room to room as they gave gifts to the residents.  Johnny helped "Joey" overcome his shyness.  Note the before and after pictures shown in the bottom middle and right corner of the layout above.

1st Week of Pre-Christmas Cheer

The Christmas season may be busy, but it is indeed the "most wonderful time of the year".  These homeowners in Queen Creek, AZ certainly seem to think so.



We kicked off the season with a Hanging of the Greens service at a traditional country church. Our daughter's singing group, Shine, sang a contemporary version of "Go, Tell It on the Mountain" at the service.  I wondered how the traditionalists would respond but was pleased to see people of all ages tapping their feet and bobbing their heads to the music.  I guess denomination or custom don't really matter because when the Spirit of God is alive within a believer, traditionalism cannot bind a heart of praise.  I wish I had photos from that service, but just imagine a beautiful chapel lined with stained glass windows, a hundred poinsettias, lush green garlands, softly lit candlelight, and pews packed with dear saints donning gaudy ornate Christmas sweaters.

As an early Christmas present, we received four tickets to this season's opening performance of Ira David Wood's hilarious rendition of The Christmas Carol.  The seats were awesome, too!  The show was especially touching this year since last year at this time, Ira David Wood was undergoing heart surgery that saved his life.  His valve surgeon was at the show that night, and multiple expressions of gratitude were made throughout the performance.

Our kids behaved so well during the show which ran well past their bedtimes that the couple seated behind us asked us to mentor them in parenting their own children.  They should probably see the kids on a bad day before they officially enlist our assistance!   The show was so entertaining that most any child could sit still and remain mesmerized by it.  I appreciated the fact that the gospel message was presented, albeit subtly, but there were still a few short segments that I felt were inappropriate for young children.  Overall, the evening made a wonderful memory for our family, and I would love to make it a yearly family tradition.

Cell phone photo before the show

Justin Bieber and the New Dos

Our son needs a haircut.  He has basically had the same traditional hairstyle since he was born.

My husband suggested the hairstyle Justin Bieber made popular.  Being totally clueless about this young star, I googled his image to check out this style my husband referenced.  That's when I noticed that our son looks like a younger version of Justin Bieber with lighter eyes.  Does anyone else see any resemblance?  Which hairstyle best suits our boy?

 

I have also been needing a new hairdo.  While I love how keratin treatments have tamed my frizzy hair so that styling only takes a minute or two each day, I do not liked what keratin has done to my hair color.  I've tried several different formulations, but the safer, organic keratin treatments always turn my blond highlights into an orange hue that does not pair well with my warm complexion.  At least that's what those more right-brained stylists tell me. 

So, to correct the problem, I spent over four hours with a hair colorist in an effort to get the color back to my natural darker color.  Then we applied keratin the next day.  The keratin added warm highlights, but the orange is mostly gone now, and my mini me is just thrilled that my hair color matches hers now.

Before  and after returning to my roots

What doesn't belong?

Just like a woman's purse, our right-brained child's backpack tends to collect a lot of miscellaneous items.  After once finding some rotten fruit in her backpack, I have tried to make sure her backpack gets cleaned out at least every weekend.

Her backpack was so heavy this Wednesday morning that she could barely lift it out of the car. So, we emptied it out that evening and discovered why it was so heavy.

Let's use this photo to play a game.  If you are detail oriented and left-brained like me, list all the items that do not belong in her backpack.  If you are more right-brained like our dear daughter, please suggest creative reasons why she might need to keep these items in her school backpack. I am especially curious about the rubber duck.

Since the quality of this photograph is so poor, I have listed the contents of her backpack below:

• Two 3-ring binders filled with school work
• 4 bottles of water
• 2 file folders filled with school work
• Gift bag filled with holiday candy, notebooks, pencils, and craft
• Fake money in a Ziplock bag
• Rubber ducky ??
• Wishing star from Disney World
• Minnie Mouse ears
• Pink princess sash from Bippity Boppity Boutique
• Lanyard with Disney pins
• Headband
• Large rock
• 2 mini composition books
• Scrap paper
• Markers, pens, pencils
• Notes from friends (there is a rule in class about not passing notes)
• Napoleon poster
• String
• Paper with random measurements written on it
• "What it means to be a Christian" scribbled on another piece of paper
• Doodles
• Index cards with educational notes written on each one and stored in a Ziplock bag

Now I think I'll go check the contents of my purse!

Over 20 years

One of the highlights of this past year was my 20-year high school reunion. It's amazing to me just how significant those four years of high school are in a person's life.  It's been over 25 years since I first walked the halls of that old stately school, yet as soon as my fellow classmates and I gathered together that weekend, it was as if graduation had occurred only yesterday. I felt like an energetic, hyper teenager all weekend long.  Staying in my old room at my parents' house and having them take care of the kids (and me) that weekend helped too.

I'm sorry I missed the Friday events which included attending a game at our old football stadium followed by more socializing at Mellow Mushroom. A photographer was hired to take pictures at all the events, so based on the photos from the pro's CD, Friday night was a blast.

We got into town on Saturday just in time for the family picnic at city park. Our kids loved the carousel.  I remember when that antique carousel was restored way back during my middle (?) school years.  The mother of a close friend (pictured below the in bottom left corner with her baby and me) directed that project and invested countless hours of labor into the carousel restoration.

This park is located across the street from our high school, and the wooded section of the park provided a great location for our high school cross country course.  So, revisiting this park brought back memories of the year when I went from running cross country only to qualify for a scholarship because my guidance counselor made me do it to developing a life long passion for running.

This park also offers a fun little train ride through the woods and around the park. I remember taking my husband on train rides at this park when we first met back in 1992.  Our kids loved the train, too.  Our daughter treated one of my best friends from middle school (a high profile jetsetter residing in NYC) to a train ride, and I enjoyed watching my daughter chat with her much like I did back in middle school. 

After the picnic, several current student leaders at our old high school gave us a tour of the old school.  It hasn't changed much at all in 25 years.  It still smells musty and rank.  The paint is still peeling off the walls.  The lockers are still grungy but go mostly unused now.  The cafeteria got a major facelift, however, and now looks like a 50s diner with a modern twist.  Plasma screens keep the students entertained while also providing menu options.  Booth seating and chrome abound.  Soda machines have been replaced with much healthier water bottle dispensers.  Our high school principal, who moved on to bigger and better career opportunities after both of his sons and our class graduated from this school, sent us a message of remembrance from our years at the school. Having his message read to us before the tour was a nice touch!

Photos at top left and in the middle row provided by "Moments Captured"

The photo at the top left corner of my daughter raising her shirt in the air amuses me. Our hippy daughter is crazy about tie dye clothing, and I begged her not to bring that shirt, but alas, she did and the shirt showed up on the pro's photo CD.

A dinner party was held that evening with music, dancing, door prizes, and lots of talking and laughing!

My husband and I do not do enough much dancing, but I cannot resist some of the popular line dances from the 80s and 90s.  So, when I heard the words, "It's electric", I pulled my respectable husband out to the dance floor for the Electric Slide.  He was the only guy out there, and other gals were giving me high fives and saying "Woot!" because I brought him to the dance floor.  God bless this wonderful man for putting up with me and all these reunion festivities and for always being such a great sport.  Thankfully, the photographer captured his good "sportsmanship" with her camera (see photo at bottom right below).

Photos on bottom row of check-in and dancing by "Moments Captured"

For those who read our "love story" series, "Curly" is pictured in the top photo above (far left) with his beautiful wife who is expecting their third child.  Were it not for our student body president, "Curly", I would have never met my beloved husband.

The photographer brought some fun props for photos.  We especially enjoyed the boxing gloves since I've always thought my husband is a "knockout".  The photos on the CD of my classmates all dressed up in some of her gear are hysterical.  We had such a fun class. Thanks for all the wonderful memories, Class of '91.

Photos by Moments Captured

Curly and I would occasionally visit rest homes during our high school days.  I would play the piano while he led the residents in singing hymns, Christmas carols, or whatever classics from the early 1900s they would request.  We would also perform touching songs for them.  I remember presenting Michael W. Smith's song, "Friends" a number of times.  That song seems like a perfect ending to this blog post about reuniting with some forever friends.

It all depends upon your perspective

After finally deciding to pull our house off the market and stay here, we actually had a flurry of real estate activity in our neighborhood.  Homes that had been listed for along time, like ours had, suddenly sold. We are excited to have new neighbors, but one of the new residents keeps two drag race cars with flame stripes down the sides parked in the driveway at the front entrance of our neighborhood.  I have no problem with drag racing. I even have hearing loss and reduced nasal lining as evidence of my past attendance at a drag race during my years as a professional in the automotive industry.  However, our golf community is generally very conservative in look and feel, so those two cars really stand out as people drive in and out of our neighborhood.  As I drove past the cars recently and winced, my son said, "Mom, those cars are my favorite cars in the neighborhood.  I really like them because they look like my hot wheels cars." 

Beauty is all in the eye of the beholder, I guess.
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While putting ornaments on our Christmas tree, our 7-year old said to me, "I think everyone needs to be on Santa's naughty list."

Similar looks, different perspectives

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

She replied, "Because Romans 3:23 says that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.'"

God often gives me fresh perspective through the lips of my children.

Matthew 21:16
“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’ ?

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Japanese terms are difficult for our daughter.  While working through a Japanese history lesson with me, she referred to the Samurai as "the Sushi" and called Sumo wrestling "tsunami" wrestling.  

(Now that is an interesting perspective!)

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While driving all over town with the kids trying to see doctors and get antibiotic prescriptions filled the day before Thanksgiving, I listened to a sermon by my childhood pastor on CD. When the CD ended, I asked the kids which of their fun kid friendly CDs they wanted to listed to next, and they both said, "We want to hear another CD with that same guy teaching!"

Those kids know a good sermon when they hear one.  Interestingly, when our son had listened to another sermon by this same pastor earlier this year, he told me the speaker was losing his temper.  (More on that story can be found here.)

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We have tried to teach our kids to be modest.  They now know that they should go to a private place where no one can see them when they need to change clothes.  So, I guess I should not  have been surprised when I took my 5-year old in for his yearly check-up, and he made me stand outside while he changed from his street clothes to just underwear and a paper robe. The pediatrician got a good chuckle when he saw me knocking on the door asking, "Can I come back in now?"

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When I was in grade school, I relished snow days. I would keep my nose pressed to the window until late at night hoping to see a few snowflakes since that's all it took for schools to close the next day.  I loved it when Mom would stay home from work on snow days, and I loved having the break from school work.  Christmas breaks, teacher workdays, and spring break were also long anticipated events to celebrate. 

We sent our daughter to school this year expecting her to finally realize that all students have to work hard and study, not just homeschooled kids.  I expected her to find the days long and tiring compared to the much shorter days required in a homeschool environment.  We chose a very unique private school for her this year, however, where kids are allowed to be goofy, play fun games, work at their own pace, enjoy interacting with kids of all ages, and grow in their love of learning.  School is only required four days a week, and their school year is considerably shorter than that required by public schools and most other private schools.  She already gets plenty of time off as it is and really misses her school friends when she's home even if not being at school means traveling to Disney World or other exciting places.  So, when the school announced this week that they would be extending their Christmas break by an additional three days, she was not elated as one might expect.  In fact, she was quite disappointed.  I have a lot of fun activities planned for her, but sometimes I feel like she would rather be at school that at home. :(

Homeschooling parents told me that the best way to help her appreciate homeschooling is to send her to school for a year.  While homeschooling is going swimmingly with our son who wants to continue homeschooling again next year, I guess it isn't the right fit for my right-brained first born.  I'm just thrilled to see her thriving and so happy at school.

Presenting at a school praise assembly