Advent!

In all the craziness of the season preschool fell a bit by the wayside, but one thing we did keep up with is our Jesse Tree Advent celebration each night.  It has been so nice to gather together as a family, read scripture and remember the real reason for the season and I am looking forward to continuing these nightly family devotions as we move into the new year!

Being three, R-Man wasn't always all that keen on listening, but he amazed us how even when it seemed like he wasn't paying attention to a word we were saying he would then go and spout something off out of the blue a few days later from our reading, and then of course it would all feel worthwhile!

He thoroughly enjoyed getting to place a star sticker on the hand print Christmas tree we made to count down to Christmas Day!  He also loved adding a peace of straw to Jesus' manger every night and place a new Jesse Tree ornamanent on his special advent tree!

He is, of course, even more excited that today is finally the day and his waiting is over at long last!  He has asked us everyday since the tree went up, "Is it Christmas time?"  To which we always had to reply, "Yes, it is Christmas time, but it's not Christmas day." 

And the torture he has been having to endure since the presents went under the tree has been almost completely unbearable for him!  One day he told me, "Mom, ya know, I could just go ahead and open my presents now."- as if he was doing me a favor!  He is so adorable and I can't wait to see the look on his bright shining face when he gets to run up the stairs and see even more gifts under the tree! 

I hope you all get to experience the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of your children today and remember to keep our Savior and King at the heart of your celebration!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree Hunting!

Weekend before last we went to a Christmas Tree hunting party thrown by one of my old doula clients and it was so much fun!  We didn't actually get a tree because we already had one, but it was a blast anyway!

R-Man loved making new friends and helping them find their trees!  Here he is "helping" one of his new friends with her's!

We borrowed a friend's truck so that we could all ride together out to their property (which R-Man loved) and he got to wear all his snow gear for the first time this year (which he also adored!)!  It was FREEZING cold, but he didn't care!  He got to ride on an ATV with daddy and roast marshmallows over the bon fire- he was one happy guy!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- December 15, 2009

"If you're funky and you know it shake your head!"

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Mama, "When Lion Cub goes to sleep you can paint."
R-Man, "With my feet?"
Mama, "No"
R-Man, "With my knees?"
Mama laughing and shaking her head.
R-Man, "With a paint brush?"
Mama, "Yes!"
R-Man, "OK" with a glum look on his face

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"Mom, I'm going to make your hair pretty!  I'm going to make you like a rockstar!  I'm going to get it in a mohawk!"

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R-Man, "Mom, can we get a dog?"
Mama, "No, honey. Our house is too small."
R-Man, "Can we just get a really teeny, small one?"
Mama, "No bud.  Our house is just too small for pets."
R-Man, "No it's not!  Its really, really big!  It's growing!  It's growing up to the air!"

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He was down stairs having quiet time in my room, looking through books and didn't realize that the monitor was on!  It was so cute, and funny!  He was singing all about the trucks he was looking at, "I want that truck, and that tractor!  I want that bulldozer and "sbament" truck!"

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There were so many other things he said that just cracked me up in the last two weeks- I wish I could remember them all!

God Gave Us... Book Reviews!

We were recently sent God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren to review and I cannot deny that I really like these books!  We have always been a fan of God Gave Us You and these two books are wonderful additions to our God Gave Us collection!

One of my favorite things about God Gave Us Christmas is that it addresses the Santa issue without bluntly ruining a child's wonder in the magic of Christmas.  Instead it simply redirects children's attention to God and His all-important role in the holiday.  The story is tender and loving- a wonderful book to read before bed and may even make you want to set aside a special time for each of your children to have some one-on-one moments with you this season.

God Gave Us Love is equally as wonderful and a true joy to read.  I think this book is especially good for children with younger siblings (or any siblings at all for that matter) as it emphasizes not only God's love for us but the importance of us showing love to others.  I am really looking forward to using this book during the month of February for a study we are planning to do on the Fruits of the Spirit, but it's theme obviously applies to our whole lives!  I think the message this book imparts can be beneficial for the whole family and could also be used during a family devotional time for little ones.

To grab a copy of these books for yourself you can visit the following pages on Random House:

God Gave Us Christmas

God Gave Us Love

This book was provided by the publisher for honest review.

To find out more about reviewing books for Waterbrook Press, you can go here.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

What a weekend!  To start with, you loved going over to Aunt Michelle and Uncle Rick's house for Thanksgiving!  You and J ran around the house like maniacs and had a blast!  You had so much fun, even if you were not a big fan of the dinner (you don't like "batatoes")!  Here are some picture from the day:

Uncle Broth, just loungin'!

Nana on the computer!  In truth, all of the adults spent a little time on the computer checking out the Black Friday sales!

Papa and Lion Cub just snoozin' away!

On Friday we broke out the Christmas music and decorations and started the festivities!  You were especially excited about the little light -up, ceramic houses and fake snow!  Come to find out, you wanted to make a little village for your trucks to drive through, at which point I had to tell you they were only for decoration.  Sorry to burst your bubble!  You still keep getting out the extra snow though and stuffing it in your trucks!

You espeically loved trying on all of our different Christmas hats!

Here are my other favorite pictures of you over the weekend!

Sweet Brothers!

Your little brother being... well, a little brother!  Or should I say bother?

You and your toy truck.  You insisted I take this picture!  Why, I am not sure!

It was a fun weekend and we are looking forward to many more fun adventures this holiday season!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- December 1, 2009

"Mom!!  "Lion Cub" hit me in the face!!" 
...And so it begins!
(Keep in mind, Lion Cub is 5 1/2 months old!)
  
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In our house we like to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and not focus on Santa bringing gifts.  R-Man has been seeing movies, however, and talking to friends about Santa so he told us the other day that Santa would be bringing him gifts.  Daddy explained that he would be receiving his gifts from mommy and daddy instead and that Santa wasn't real. 

In response he looked at me, rolled his eyes and gave me this look like "Wow- he has no idea what he is talking about!"  Ha!!  His innocence is preserved and his belief in childhood wonder cannot be thwarted!  (Don't tell, but I'm kind glad!  What's a little belief in Santa going to hurt for a three year old?!)