This morning Jude came over for our Tuesday morning play date.  Jude carried Princess Belle around with him all morning.  He also found a new place to hide. Peek-a-boo, I see you! 
 Tonight we were sad to find that Princess was dead. I just cleaned her bowl this afternoon and she seemed fine. I am wondering if I messed up cleaning the bowl and accidentally killed her. Did I leave soap in the bowl? Or was the water too hot?  Needless to say, Madison was VERY upset over the loss of her close friend Princess. Madison called Princess her "Snuggle Buddy" even though Madison was never able to snuggle the fish. We gave Princess a proper fish funeral by water burial.
Clay and I get to teach the 4-5 year old Children's Ministry class this month at church. Today's lesson was on Jacob's Lie. We had a lot of fun with the lesson. We played:
********** Fun with Fur! We played Isaac and Jacob. One child came up and pretended to be blind like Isaac, and then another child came up and got covered in a fur blanket, just like Jacob. They had to try to guess which classmate was hiding under the blanket without looking.
********** Feely Bag Snack! Since Isaac was blind and couldn't see what he was eating, I put ten snacks in a brown paper bag. The kids closed their eyes and tried to use their sense of touch to figure out what the snacks were. Once they guessed, they could take it out of the bag and check to see if they were right and of course EAT it!
********** Smell Jars! Jacob wore Esau's clothes, so that he would smell like Esau when he went to see Isaac. We used our sense of smell to figure out what was inside the Smell Jars. They liked smelling the cinnamon, orange, and vanilla, but they didn't like the onions, grapefruit or lemons.
********** Find-it Balls! I hid three small items inside a ball of Play Dough. The kids closed their eyes and found the three small items hiding inside. They found a penny, button, and an eyeball. They had trouble figuring out the eyeball without looking.
********** Feely Socks! I filled several clean socks with items from around the house. The kids felt the outside of the sock and tried to figure out what was hiding inside. If they needed to, they could put their hand inside the sock to feel the item. Once they guessed, they traded socks with a friend and played again. ********** The last few days have been spent playground hopping. Clay got home early Friday afternoon, so we headed to Hurlburt Field to play at the pirate ship playground. Then we stopped by the arcade at the mall for some more Family Fun.  Saturday morning I took the girls to Cherokee Park to play with some of the other doctor's wives and kids while the dads were golfing.  I can't wait to see what playground we end up at next!
Mrs. Hunter finally emailed me the pictures from the Cotton Ball Santa Look Alike Contest at school. Here is our little winning Santa:   
This morning we took the girls Goofy Golfing for the first time. It was an adventure to say the least. Luckily, it was not busy, so we could take our time.  Jocelyn had her own unique way of swinging her club. She took several strokes and then would give up and just pick up her ball and toss it into the hole.  Jocelyn did not follow the rules of golfing. She threw her club and used it as a weapon. It might be awhile before she goes golfing again.  Madison was trying to line up her shot.  Madison enjoyed her first golfing experience, but was very sad that she didn't get to take her red golf ball home.
 Clay and I are blessed to be celebrating our 7 th Anniversary today. My parents are still in town, so they are watching the girls so that Clay and I can go out this evening to celebrate with dinner at The Melting Pot.
Today we went to Rosemary Beach for the day. Grandaddy wanted to go there in order to see all of the architecture. While he walked around and looked at the homes, the girls, Grandma, and I played in a grassy area. We had a nice day outside playing together and exploring Rosemary Beach. Here is a video of the girls singing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus and blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.
We had a wonderful quiet Christmas at home as a family with Grandma and Grandaddy. Although we missed being with all of our family, it was nice to have a relaxing day at home together. Here is a video of the girls opening their big gift from Clay and I.
We had a nice quiet Christmas Eve at home. Clay slept all day because he is working nights. The rest of us stayed in our pajamas until 3:00 in the afternoon. We let the girls open a gift every two hours or so. After dinner we headed out to look at the Christmas lights. We stopped at Uptown Station to let the girls play on the playground and to look at the little Christmas village that they have set up.  XYZ marks the end of the alphabet, and we've now arrived at the end of our Christmas journey. Of course, the letters X, Y, and Z all have a connection to Christmas, just like the rest of the alphabet: Early Christians used X as a symbol for Christ. That's why you sometimes see Xmas used as a shorter way of writing Christmas.
Y is the first letter in Yahweh (Yah-way), the Hebrew word for God. When people like Abraham, David, and Moses prayed to God they called him Yahweh. As for the letter Z, Jesus referred to himself as "the A and the Z," the beginning and the ending (Revelation 1:8). This means that Jesus was present when the world was formed and that he'll rule over everything forever!
 When Jesus was born, a shiny star appeared in the sky. Far away, some wise men who studied the stars saw this signal and left their homes to find Jesus. They had read that a special star would appear to signal the birth f a great king. So they followed the star, and it led them to the house where Jesus was staying after he was born (Matthew 2:9-11). Imagine the wise men's wonder when they found the baby king. They knew this was no ordinary baby, so they bowed down and worshipped him. And they gave him the famous gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. By the way, we hear a lot about the three wise men, but the Bible doesn't say how many wise men visited Jesus. There were at least two, but there could have been five, ten, or even more! What do you think?
 Jesus' birth was a great victory for all of us. By coming to earth and becoming one of us, Jesus showed us how to live a sinless life. He showed us how to beat the temptation to do wrong things. Later, when he died for our sins, he made a way for us to live in heaven with him forever. All we have to do is trust in him.
The girls got a big Christmas surprise from Nana and Pop tonight after dinner.
As you can see they LOVE their trampoline.  Madison's crazy trampoline hair!
 So much FUN!
Thank you so much Nana and Pop for a wonderful early Christmas. This morning Nana and Pop came over to celebrate an early Christmas with us. We ate a light breakfast and then opened gifts.  Jocelyn was very excited to find a dollar bill inside her new sequins Christmas purse from Nana and Pop.  Madison loved all of the books, clothes, and movies that Nana and Pop got for them.  The girls are chilling in their new pink chairs from Nana and Pop.  The girls are telling Nana who is who in the Family Tree that we made for her.  The girls got a big bucket of Play Dough from Uncle Guy, Aunt Nelda, Mia, and Blayke.  The girls got a cute ladybug tent from Mimi.  The girls got to see Santa when we went to the Officer's Club for Brunch.
 Jesus' birth is a unique event in human history. Christmas marks the first time that God came to earth in human form. Can you picture Jesus' tiny hands-hands that had carved out mountain ranges and formed the oceans-clinging to Mary's finger? Can you imagine the ruler of the Universe crying in hunger or shivering from the cold?
Jesus could have come to earth as a full-grown, powerful man. He could have been like a superhero. But he chose a harder, more humble beginning-not the kind of choice you'd expect from a king. That's why Christmas (and Christ) is unique.
 In the days before Jesus was born, all the people in the Roman world were told to return to the town of their ancestors and sign their names to a huge list. The great emperor Caesar Augustus wanted to know exactly how many people he ruled over so that he could make them pay taxes (Luke 2:1-3).
So, Mary and Joseph had to travel for three long days from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. Imagine Joseph, walking for miles and miles, with Mary riding beside him on a donkey. Mary is nine months pregnant, and the long, dusty, bumpy ride makes her whole body ache. At last, the exhausted couple arrives at Bethlehem. They are so weary that sleeping in a smelly stable actually sounds pretty good.
This morning the girls and I picked up the boys and headed to the Niceville Playground.  Madison was afraid to go across the bridge, so Tristen held her hand and helped her across. What a gentleman!  Tristen showed me how he can do the monkey bars all by himself now.  Jeren and Jocelyn were busy driving the firetruck.  Tristen climbed to the top of the rock wall.  Madison likes playing peek-a-boo through the holes in the rock wall.  They all made it to the top with a little help.  YEAH, BUBBLES!  TA-DA!  Just enough seats for everyone.  Is it time to go yet? Needless to say we left the Niceville Playground and went to pick up a pizza for lunch.  We went to Cherokee Park to eat our pizza and to...  SWING!  Then we went across the street to Sonic for $1.00 sundaes.  Jeren wins the award for the BIGGEST bite! After our desserts we took the car through the car wash.  Jeren couldn't believe what was happening. Tristen loved it and wanted to do it again!
 After learning that she would give birth to God's son, Mary was so happy that she composed a song (Luke 1:46-55). It begins, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me-holy is his name." This season, as you sing Christmas songs about our Lord, sing them with all your heart, the way Mary did.
 This morning Madison's school had a Pep Rally. They asked the Pre-K class for volunteers to be in a Santa Look Alike Contest. Madison was the only girl to volunteer. She was in the contest with three other boys in her class. They took the kids on stage and put Vaseline all over their chins. Then they dipped their faces into a big bowl of cotton balls. When they raised their faces out of the cotton balls they had Santa beards. They put Santa hats on the kids and had all of the kids cheer for their favorite. Madison WON! Unfortunately, I was working in the Christmas Shop, so I missed the whole thing. Mrs. Hunter took pictures and promised to email them to me. As soon as I have pictures of my little cotton ball Santa, I will post them. Madison and I decided that we should do it as a family when Nana and Pop and Grandma and Grandaddy get here for Christmas.
 It's easy to get the wrong idea about Christmas. Whether you're at the mall or just watching TV or surfing the Web, you see lots of stuff about Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, big sales, and new toys. That's why it's important to remember the real hero of Christmas. If Christ hadn't been born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, we wouldn't be celebrating now. Let's not ever forget the person who gives Christmas its name. |
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