Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Memories...

I thought I would share some pictures of our Christmas. We had a really nice Christmas; to me it was the most laid back, stress-free Christmas we have had since having kids! Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and we had some fun family time! Enjoy the pictures!



The boys ready to open presents... they were a little impatient waiting for everyone to gather in the den! They actually did not get up until a little after 7!





I just love the smile on Grandfather's face in this picture! We really enjoyed having him and Aunt Susan here to celebrate with us.




David was very proud of his rain boots! If you look closely you will see they are on the wrong feet!! He and Paul do not quite understand the concept of rain boots. It was raining on Christmas day so we went to the park so they could walk in a few puddles... they ended up soaking wet with standing water in their shoes! They seem to think rain boots are for getting wet, not staying dry! The joy of boys!!




They got several new books for Christmas. Aunt Susan was a great sport and sat and read every book to them!





Paul ready to dig into his stocking!



Our yummy Christmas dinner; we had steaks, green beans with almonds, sweet potato casserole, spinach salad (a new recipe which was excellent!), rolls, and birthday cake for Jesus!




An attempt at a family photo on Christmas Eve!



Grandfather, James, Susan, and David... I was taking the picture and Paul was having a problem being obedient so I took it without him...


I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

More Christmas Traditions...

Here is a rather simple Christmas tradition that we do, but one of my favorites! Every year we send picture Christmas cards and a Christmas letter to all our friends and family. James and I have lots of fun trying to write our letter together. This is something we have done since our first year of marriage, and I am so glad. It is so fun to be able to go back and read the letters that we have sent in the years past, they just make the memories come flooding back.

A couple of years ago we changed the approach we took in composing our letter, and now we have a little "blurb" from each member of our family about the highlights of our year. In the past it has been fun to try to write the boys "blurb" from their perspective... hopefully this year they will really be able to give us some good input! We have not written our letter yet this year, but it will be done soon hopefully.

And I just love going to the mailbox in December! It is so fun when those Christmas cards start filling up your mailbox! My favorite cards are the ones with pictures or the ones with a personal note or letter letting you know a tiny bit of what is happening in their lives.

Have you ever wondered what to do with all of those cute and adorable picture cards you get every year? Well, last year a scrapbooking friend gave me a wonderful idea that I just had to implement. We saved all of the cards with pictures and put them into a scrapbook. Now this was done very simply, much more simply than I do my normal scrapbooks. Since the cards are so nicely decorated you do not need to add lots more stuff to the pages.

We keep this scrapbook on our table in the den and use it during devotions. I have the boys look through the pictures and pick one person to pray for that day. It has been a great way to teach them about the privilege of praying for others, and I just love hearing their sweet and precious prayers (they often pray for their friends to obey and not get any spankings, to not say potty words, typically what they are having a hard time with that day). Now, they do not always pick a person to pray for, often they will pray for the pets included in the pictures, but that is fine with me, they are learning to pray.

And I think it will also be neat to look back over these through the years to see how families change and grow.


So, do any of you have any simple yet meaningful traditions that you do each year? I would love for you to share them!

Wordless Wednesday #39

The boys were almost 2 in these pictures. I did not cut their hair until they were 2, now I look back and wonder why! Paul had been sick the day before but we could not reschedule the pictures until Dec. 23rd or something crazy so we went anyway... Just thought I would share some pictures from past Christmases. (So this is not really a wordless Wednesday is it?)

Christmas Traditions...

I thought I would start off December by sharing some of our Christmas traditions... I plan to share a different one each Monday until Christmas.

At our house we celebrate Jesus' birthday rather than focusing on Santa Claus. We do not "do" Santa Claus... instead we focus on the fact that Jesus' birthday is coming soon and we make preparations for His birthday celebration. You should hear some of the responses we get when we tell others that we do not do Santa. Some people think it is a wonderful idea and others think we are absolutely crazy and our kids are really missing out... well, my kids absolutely love Christmas, and they know what it is about and whose birth we are celebrating, that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yes, they still get presents, we all get presents at Jesus' birthday party, and yes, we still have a Christmas tree. (These are things people have asked me about.) My boys do know about Santa, how could they not, he is everywhere this time of year. They know that he is make believe and not real; and, I am thankful to say that he does not consume their thoughts. They know that the real meaning of Christmas is Jesus Christ our Savior being born here on earth.

We have never had our pictures taken with Santa (think of all the time and the tears we have saved by not having to stand in that long line to see the man in the red suit!) We do take family pictures in front of our Christmas tree and in front of our cross and manager that my husband so lovingly made me to display in our front yard. And we have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas day, complete with candles! We all gather around the cake, read the Christmas story, sometimes acting it out with our nativity scene, and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. It is a precious time and I just love seeing my boys get all excited about singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, it is priceless!


I would love to hear your Christmas traditions! Leave a comment and let me know your favorite!

And on a totally unrelated side note, my kids have never eaten at McDonald's either and people think we are crazy for that... I do not think they are missing a thing...

Our Christmas!

I thought I would fill everyone in on how we celebrated our Christmas. We started by traveling to Gainesville, GA on Saturday the 22nd to visit with James' brother and his family, his sister, and his dad. We had a nice but very busy visit. After arriving and eating lunch, we all headed out to an interactive children's museum (we had opted on skipping nap and putting the boys to bed early, so they would have more time to play with their cousins during the day). Everyone had lots of fun, especially the little ones. Paul & David really enjoyed playing with their cousins, Katie, John, & Timothy. When the museum closed and we were ushered out the door we headed to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner. I was a little concerned about how the boys were going to react to the "cooking show", and even more concerned that I had forgotten food for my picky little eaters!! Well, they enjoyed everything except the BIG fire, and ate absolutely nothing!

After dinner off we went to look at some magnificent Christmas lights. It was getting close to the boys bedtime, but we thought we would be ok since they could just fall asleep in the car while we were driving if they got too tired. Little did we know that these were famous Christmas lights that everyone else in Georgia were also going to see! It took us about 45 minutes to get to the entrance to the lights, and we had already stopped once so the boys could go potty on the side of the road (thank goodness we have boys!!) Just as we get to the entrance David says, "I need to go poo-poo," and this nice aroma filled the car! James quickly gets out of the car and gets David to go find a bathroom, I get in the drivers seat and continue to go with the flow of the traffic, praying fervently that James will make it on time and that I will be able to find them again in all this madness. I call James a few times on his cell phone and he still hasn't found a bathroom, and he is having to carry David, who is barefooted, in the drizzling rain. We finally catch back up with each other after James has walked about a mile and a half, and they get back in car, not yet having found a bathroom. We drive a little further and finally see a sign for the bathroom, and quickly follow it. Well, at this point David was very stressed so he was unable to relax and go potty, so off we went to see the rest of the lights. They were absolutely gorgeous and we all enjoyed them after our ordeal was over. They even had a very nice live nativity that we were all able to enjoy. Paul & David finally fell asleep right as we were leaving the lights.

The next day we went to church with the Bill Schmid's, and then enjoyed a nice brunch buffet at a really nice restaurant. The kids then played all afternoon before we left for home.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent here at our house, my parents and sister came over Christmas Eve to spend the holiday with us. We went to the Christmas Eve communion service at our church and then came back to our house for soup and sandwiches, and just had a nice relaxing evening at home.

Christmas Day Paul & David slept late!! Can you believe it? I woke up at 7:30 and no one was awake yet, so I got up and made some apple cider, then went back to bed for a while. Closer to 8 I decided to get up and go ahead and put the quiche for breakfast in the oven, and not long after that Paul & David decided to get up. While everyone else was still asleep we sat on the couch and read the Christmas story and opened all the flaps on our Advent calendar. After waking everyone else up they were very anxious to have Jesus' birthday party and open all their presents. (We do not do Santa at our house, we just have a big birthday party for Jesus!) Their favorite gifts are their new big boy bicycles, and their big boy "measure" (a tape measure). They love to help their daddy work and now they have their own tape measures so Daddy can use his (thanks Aunt Cristi!).

We just played all morning and prepared lunch. I cooked my first ever standing rib roast and it was very yummy. After lunch we put candles on Jesus' birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, with the boys blowing out the candles. It was a great Christmas and we made lots of good memories. I pray each of you had a wonderful Christmas also!

Wordless Wednesday #6

Merry Christmas!!!

Wordless Wednesday #4

Paul & David Christmas 2006!!

Christmas Cards!!

I started getting Christmas cards today!!!!! One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting Christmas cards in the mail and hearing from people I haven't heard from in a long time. What other time of year can you look forward to getting your mail? I just love it when we have more cards than bills, aren't those just the greatest days! I usually get the mail while the boys are sleeping; so I love it when I get a handful of cards and can just relax in the chair and take them all in.

My favorite cards are the ones with pictures and letters or little notes. We do a Christmas letter every year, a little something we started doing our first Christmas together. It is fun to get together with James and reminisce about our year, picking our favorite and most memorable memories to relay to all who take the time to read our letter.

I think this year we are going to start a new tradition, this is one that I have "stolen" from my creative memories consultant! I am going to take all the cards that we get with pictures and make a simple little scrapbook to sit out on our coffee table year round. Every day or week (haven't decided yet which one) our family will pick another family to pray specifically for. Having the pictures will be nice reminders to us and especially to our boys of who we are praying for. I thought this was a wonderful idea and that it would be a great way to teach our boys the importance of praying for others and not just for our family and ourselves. So if you want us to be praying for you, send us your picture!!

So, what about you? What are some of your favorite things about Christmas, and do you have any traditions you can share with us?

Wordless Wednesday #2

Double Joy!!