Christmas 2008

We had a great break and got back into our school routine today, but I wanted to post a few pictures from our Christmas! Santa surprised Beckett with a "Didj" handheld gaming system. He was pumped! Mom likes the Didj because it is an interactive learning game! Way to go, Santa! Helen was excited that Santa brought her everything on her list; Mickey Mouse, a pig, a Strawberry Shortcake doll and a stroller!

Helen with her Mickey Mouse!
I have always called Beckett "Chia Head" because of the way his hair grows straight up and never lays down. So I had to get him his own Chia Head! It is so cool and is really growing "hair"! I'll get him to do a post on his blog about it very soon!
After we did Christmas at our home, we went to Nana and Papa's house for breakfast. Connor and Lillie got a Wii from Santa and they brought it to play with! (Little did Beckett and Helen know that they were getting one only a few hours later from Granbob and Grankaki!) Here are Beckett and Connor "boxing"!

Beckett got an electric guitar from Nana and Papa!

They gave Helen her first bicycle!

We came home in the afternoon and Helen LOVED riding her new bike!

UNTIL.......

She had her first accident!

Grankaki and Granbob gave Beckett and Helen a Wii game system and we have all had a great time playing it! Auntie Mame and Uncle Ron came over on Friday for brunch. Here is a picture of Auntie Mame and Beckett bowling!

Aunt Susi couldn't make it for Christmas this year, but she sent a game for the Wii called "Outdoor Challenge"! It has been a lot of fun!

Thanks everyone for a wonderful Christmas!

Happy New Year!

We hope that you all had a safe and happy New Year celebration! We had a couple of opportunities to hang out with friends, but after a long day, we ended up staying at home! Sean and Beckett left around 2:00 and went to fish at Watt's Bar for "shellcrackers" (whatever those are!) and they didn't get home till almost 8 PM. They were cold and tired and we just decided to stay home. We heated up a frozen pizza and I made a carrot cake and we celebrated well past mid-night! Beckett was especially excited to stay up late because he was pumped about watching that crazy boy, Robbie Maddison, jump his motorcycle over the replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas on ESPN. It was nuts! Check out "The Slam" to see the jump!

Happy New Year's Eve! I hope that you are all happy and healthy this December 31st, 2008! May God richly bless you all in this coming new year! I'm adding a new song to my playlist because it has really spoken to me recently about looking around me for those who are in need; whether it be physically, emotionally or spiritually. I want to have God's eyes and heart for all of humanity so that I don't just walk through life unaware of the hurt and need of those who cross my path. I want to see everyone the way that our Heavenly Father does; with a heart full of love for His children!

That is my prayer for 2009!

God Bless and Happy New Year!

Give Me Your Eyes

(words to the chorus of the song by Brandon Heath)

Give me Your eyes for just one second,

Give me Your eyes so I can see,

Everything that I keep missing,

Give Your love for humanity.

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted,

The ones that are far beyond my reach.

Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.

Give me Your eyes so I can see.

The Children Were Nestled All Snug In Their Beds......

This is a picture of the kids after they put out some milk and cookies for Santa. We tracked Santa all evening on the Norad web site and when we saw that he was close to North America, we headed off to bed! We hope that you all have a blessed Christmas day! I'm adding my favorite Christmas song to my playlist. I hope that it speaks to you about the true meaning of the season and that you have welcomed the Holy Child into your hearts!

Welcome To Our World~by Chris Rice
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child~Welcome Holy Child
Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home~Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world~Welcome to our world
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born~Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God~Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Christmas Presents at "Build a Bear"!

Our good friend Marilyn had a special treat for Beckett and Helen on Monday! She took them to the Build A Bear Workshop in the mall and let them each create their own stuffed animal! They were so surprised and had so much fun! We have never done this before and since we hardly ever go to the mall, I don't think that they even really knew that this place existed! Marilyn's daughter, Elyse and her boyfriend, Joe joined us and we had a great time. We went to lunch at Salsarita's afterwards! To see many more pictures of Beckett and Helen creating their stuffed animals check out Marilyn's blog! She has some really great pictures of the day! Thanks again to Marilyn, Elyse and Joe for making such a special memory for Beckett and Helen!

SANTA!

A sweet little elf told me where our favorite Santa would be this past weekend, so we made a special trip on Friday afternoon to see him! We usually get to see Santa every year at Sean's work Christmas party, but we had to miss it this year. I love "our" Santa and the kids have always had their picture made with him, so I was happy that we were able to see "our" Santa even though we missed the party! He had three of his reindeer with him and Helen and Beckett each had plenty of time to talk with him. It was a great day!

Helen telling the big man what she wants!
Now Beckett has Santa's ear!
Merry Christmas!

Edible Nativity Scenes!

On Monday morning, several families from our Homeschool Family Connection group got together at our church to let the kids create these nativity scenes out of food! The stable is made with graham crackers and icing, Mary and Joseph are Keebler Elf cookies, baby Jesus is a teddy graham lying in a graham cracker manger with shredded wheat for hay and of course the animals are animal crackers! (And the angel is a pretzel with a marshmallow head!) Everyone had a good time and it was fun to see how they all turned out! Everyone enjoyed listening to the story of the birth of Jesus and the importance of keeping Him at the center of all that we do this Christmas season!

We worked around the huge island in our church kitchen!

Beckett, Matt and Luke working on their nativity scenes. There was a lot of tasting and finger licking going on! Yum! Holly, Abbey and Nathan

Helen missed the event because she was at Mother's Day Out, so when I picked her up we invited Carson and Carly to come over to our house and make their own nativity scenes too!
Beckett was a pro by now, so he helped Helen put hers together!
Here is Helen's final product!

To see Beckett's nativity scene and to check out his thoughts on the day, please check out his blog, "The Slam"!