This was just sent to me in an e-mail. I think it's beautiful.
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not share the true meaning of Christmas, I'm just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not demonstrate kindness to strangers, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Spend the Night Parties
Anna Beth's birthday is tomorrow, so we decided to have a little spend the night party. We sent Billy and the little kids to my mom's to spend the night. We live in a small house, and also this gave AB time alone with her friends without having brothers and sisters bugging them.
3rd grade girls can be quite loud and obnoxious! It has been a fun night. We made ice cream sundaes, decorated pillowcases, and watched a movie. It's funny how spend-the-night traditions pass from generation to generation - I just heard mention of Truth or Dare. They are winding down now, and I think I am about to make them go to sleep (I know party pooper.)
3rd grade girls can be quite loud and obnoxious! It has been a fun night. We made ice cream sundaes, decorated pillowcases, and watched a movie. It's funny how spend-the-night traditions pass from generation to generation - I just heard mention of Truth or Dare. They are winding down now, and I think I am about to make them go to sleep (I know party pooper.)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Santa Update
My sister-in-law works in the tower (office part) of the Galleria. Santa has an office there and they have been less than impressed with him as well. On their lunch break, they caught this...
Santa asleep on the job!
Santa asleep on the job!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
24 days of December
***I found the website!***
In an effort to make the holidays more relational, we are trying to do something "special" every day until Christmas. I got the idea from a new blog I found. I can't remember the URL, so I'll post it later. She did an advent calendar of sorts with an activity for each day. Some are fun, some are service, and some are religious. Being that I did not get my act together to actually make something, I am just flying by the seat of my pants this year!
Last night the Shrek Christmas special was on TV, so we watched it as a family.
Today this little guy showed up. AB has been asking for him, you know, she's the only 3rd grader who doesn't have one. We'll see how it goes. We named him Lightning Dart. Dart is what we will call him, but Ben thought lightening was cool - and we do like double names around here.
Tonight we went to see Santa. I was less than impressed. I don't want to dampen my holiday mood further, but I was looking more for the whole Santa experience and less for the picture. This Santa was not all about hugging and conversating with my kids, he was all about saying cheese and sending us on our merry way.
Ok, so I am going to rant about Santa. First of all, I normally wait until the last week before Christmas to go see him, which in turn leads to a 2 hour wait, but it has always been a great experience where Santa actually talks to my kids. That said only to let you know that there were about 5 other people in line. The family before us was done and waiting for their pictures - Santa's lap was empty and Ben walked up to him. Apparently you need to be called before approaching the throne of the great St. Nick at the Galleria Mall. Ben got reprimanded by the fat man himself and sent back to the holding area. We turn in our picture thing and she tells me I can only take 2 pictures with my camera. (I am a rule follower. I expect my kids to follow rules, so I do too.) I am paying $17 for 1 5x7, and there are no lines - can't I take pictures with my own camera? So, anyway, rather than gathering the kids up to find out what they want for Christmas, whether they have been good or bad, etc. He poses them for the picture!!!
After the picture was taken, he did ask the kids what they wanted (or I think they may have just told him), but no jovial small talk - no ho, ho, ho -not even a Merry Christmas. It was so commercial, so posed, so staged, so (as much as I hate to say it) Xmas.
In one week I have been reminded twice of the way we have turned this beautiful holiday about celebrating Emmanuel - God with us - into craziness. (I'll have to post about my experience in the electronics line in Target where I almost witnessed a fight in the wee hours of the morning last Friday). The whole basis for my quest toward more relational, family time this Christmas was to be reminded of why we celebrate in the first place. Jesus was born, lived and died to be in relation with us.
Oh and by the way, the inner rebel in me took 5 pictures!
In an effort to make the holidays more relational, we are trying to do something "special" every day until Christmas. I got the idea from a new blog I found. I can't remember the URL, so I'll post it later. She did an advent calendar of sorts with an activity for each day. Some are fun, some are service, and some are religious. Being that I did not get my act together to actually make something, I am just flying by the seat of my pants this year!
Last night the Shrek Christmas special was on TV, so we watched it as a family.
Today this little guy showed up. AB has been asking for him, you know, she's the only 3rd grader who doesn't have one. We'll see how it goes. We named him Lightning Dart. Dart is what we will call him, but Ben thought lightening was cool - and we do like double names around here.
Tonight we went to see Santa. I was less than impressed. I don't want to dampen my holiday mood further, but I was looking more for the whole Santa experience and less for the picture. This Santa was not all about hugging and conversating with my kids, he was all about saying cheese and sending us on our merry way.
Ok, so I am going to rant about Santa. First of all, I normally wait until the last week before Christmas to go see him, which in turn leads to a 2 hour wait, but it has always been a great experience where Santa actually talks to my kids. That said only to let you know that there were about 5 other people in line. The family before us was done and waiting for their pictures - Santa's lap was empty and Ben walked up to him. Apparently you need to be called before approaching the throne of the great St. Nick at the Galleria Mall. Ben got reprimanded by the fat man himself and sent back to the holding area. We turn in our picture thing and she tells me I can only take 2 pictures with my camera. (I am a rule follower. I expect my kids to follow rules, so I do too.) I am paying $17 for 1 5x7, and there are no lines - can't I take pictures with my own camera? So, anyway, rather than gathering the kids up to find out what they want for Christmas, whether they have been good or bad, etc. He poses them for the picture!!!
After the picture was taken, he did ask the kids what they wanted (or I think they may have just told him), but no jovial small talk - no ho, ho, ho -not even a Merry Christmas. It was so commercial, so posed, so staged, so (as much as I hate to say it) Xmas.
In one week I have been reminded twice of the way we have turned this beautiful holiday about celebrating Emmanuel - God with us - into craziness. (I'll have to post about my experience in the electronics line in Target where I almost witnessed a fight in the wee hours of the morning last Friday). The whole basis for my quest toward more relational, family time this Christmas was to be reminded of why we celebrate in the first place. Jesus was born, lived and died to be in relation with us.
Oh and by the way, the inner rebel in me took 5 pictures!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Fun trip to the ER...
Last night, Billy took pictures of all of our super-heroes. The older 3 got dressed up in Ben's dress-up clothes and played in a "fort" daddy made hanging sheets from the bunk beds. After the fun was over, we got a light and read books inside the fort.
Our kids slept until 8 this morning. I got up, got the baby out of the crib, put biscuits in the oven and started cooking sausage. By 8:05 Ben was in his hulk attire. At 8:13 Ben was screaming that he had hit his head. I comforted him, and asked how. This was the response "I was trying to do a flip in the air and hit my head." This is when I saw the blood and knew. I carefully removed his hair from the bleeding area and found a nasty gash. At this point Ben had calmed down and I was trying not to laugh (I'm not heartless, innappropriate laughter is my coping mechanism and I couldn't get the picture of him trying to flip out of my head) then HE saw it. His hands had blood on them. Anyone with children knows that a scratch is a scratch -or in this case a gash is a gash - unless it bleeds. Blood makes the pain-o-meter go through the roof. I finally calmed him down and called our doctors office.
Our doctors office told us to go to the ER to get it stitched up - I'm not happy. Our co-pay just went up $70 and I was not pleased at the thought of the wait. FYI - Wednesday mornings at 9 am are a great time to go to the ER - we had their undivided attention.
Ben was timid when the triage nurse took his vitals. We were immediately put into a room and Ben chose to continue watching Sportscenter on TV instead of changing it to kid shows. Our nurse and resident came in to assess him. The nurse shakes his hand and says "Hi, my name is Evan." Ben replies, "I have a cousin named Evan." Ben relays his incredible hulk flipping in the air story and the doctor confirms that he needs a stitch. The two leave the room, but not before the nurse puts up the railing on Ben's hospital bed. This is when I wish I was my friend Kristi J. who ALWAYS has her camera with her. The railings on the hospital bed made for a perfect pretend gun. Ben has a wild imagination and began shooting spiders (no, there were not any real spiders in the ER at children's) then deer, then...Rudolph. At this point the nurse, and two doctors came in. Guess what? My son shot them too - and they played along. They pulled the privacy curtain and to Ben's shooting-crazed amazement it was decorated with animals - aka more targets. By this point we were all cracking up.
Ben was a trooper and layed still while they put one stitch in his head. I talked to the doctor (the resident actually did all the work) and we laughed about how I could have dropped him off, signed the papers, and had him call me to come pick him up. He left with one stitch, and the two syringes they irrigated his wound with, which happen to be the best water guns a $100 co-pay can buy.
The wound - post stitch.
I did learn that the attempted flip didn't happen, because he hit the corner of the wall first. I'm very thankful for a stitch, who knows what injury a flip would have caused! Ben said he "forgot" that he could only do flips in the air on trampolines.
Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Our kids slept until 8 this morning. I got up, got the baby out of the crib, put biscuits in the oven and started cooking sausage. By 8:05 Ben was in his hulk attire. At 8:13 Ben was screaming that he had hit his head. I comforted him, and asked how. This was the response "I was trying to do a flip in the air and hit my head." This is when I saw the blood and knew. I carefully removed his hair from the bleeding area and found a nasty gash. At this point Ben had calmed down and I was trying not to laugh (I'm not heartless, innappropriate laughter is my coping mechanism and I couldn't get the picture of him trying to flip out of my head) then HE saw it. His hands had blood on them. Anyone with children knows that a scratch is a scratch -or in this case a gash is a gash - unless it bleeds. Blood makes the pain-o-meter go through the roof. I finally calmed him down and called our doctors office.
Our doctors office told us to go to the ER to get it stitched up - I'm not happy. Our co-pay just went up $70 and I was not pleased at the thought of the wait. FYI - Wednesday mornings at 9 am are a great time to go to the ER - we had their undivided attention.
Ben was timid when the triage nurse took his vitals. We were immediately put into a room and Ben chose to continue watching Sportscenter on TV instead of changing it to kid shows. Our nurse and resident came in to assess him. The nurse shakes his hand and says "Hi, my name is Evan." Ben replies, "I have a cousin named Evan." Ben relays his incredible hulk flipping in the air story and the doctor confirms that he needs a stitch. The two leave the room, but not before the nurse puts up the railing on Ben's hospital bed. This is when I wish I was my friend Kristi J. who ALWAYS has her camera with her. The railings on the hospital bed made for a perfect pretend gun. Ben has a wild imagination and began shooting spiders (no, there were not any real spiders in the ER at children's) then deer, then...Rudolph. At this point the nurse, and two doctors came in. Guess what? My son shot them too - and they played along. They pulled the privacy curtain and to Ben's shooting-crazed amazement it was decorated with animals - aka more targets. By this point we were all cracking up.
Ben was a trooper and layed still while they put one stitch in his head. I talked to the doctor (the resident actually did all the work) and we laughed about how I could have dropped him off, signed the papers, and had him call me to come pick him up. He left with one stitch, and the two syringes they irrigated his wound with, which happen to be the best water guns a $100 co-pay can buy.
The wound - post stitch.
I did learn that the attempted flip didn't happen, because he hit the corner of the wall first. I'm very thankful for a stitch, who knows what injury a flip would have caused! Ben said he "forgot" that he could only do flips in the air on trampolines.
Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!
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