I Love Kids

Kids are so much fun.




Isaac asked Gee (my mom) for a doctor's costume for Christmas. He has talked about it since October. He wears it every single day and even wore it to the Dr.'s office the other day (Thanks for being so impressed, Cauly and Robin!). Jay walked in on them "doctoring" Josiah's puppy yesterday. It's so cute to hear all of the medical words that they use. Isaac informed me that he wants to be a dentist when he grows up. I was a little bit surprised but thought it was a great idea. Then he said, "Or maybe I can be a scuba diver." This did not surprise me. I have a fear of sharks, and of course my kid would want to swim with them. But after just a little bit of thought, he said, "But if I'm a scuba diver, I can be a dentist, too." I was a little bit confused but he clarified for me, "On Nemo, the dentist is also a scuba diver." Ahhh! Of course.

If you were to ask my boys their favorite song, they would simultaneously chime in "Mum-Z's music!!!" They listen to Mum-Z's (my brother, Zach) band and pretend to be the band members. Here, Isaac is Kuhrt (the drummer) and Josiah is Shawn (electric guitar). I hope that Mum-Z and his buddies wear clothes. My boys were playing "Tarzan" a few minutes prior.

And then, Olivia. I feel like I am meeting a whole new daughter. Why is it that I believed I could possibly have a calm child?? She is hilarious. She is so much fun. She's our entertainment. She's that apple of every single eye in our house. I can't look at her picture without smiling a huge, goofy grin. She took 2 steps today~~and wanted ALL of us to clap for her before she sat down. We did.

Does this look like Jay to anyone? I've seen this face before.

Sweet 16 Tomorrow (Post II)

Sweet 16 Tomorrow (Post I)

16 months, that is. I can't believe how quickly she is growing and changing. What joy!

Thanks Skeeter and Teresa

Now, if we can just get him to share with the kids. :)

Christmas Day (Post III)

I'm not sure if I liked Christmas as a child more or if I like it more now. The overwhelming excitement as a child was almost more than I could handle. My brothers and I would stay awake and listen as the adults all played games together in the family room. The four of us (3 brothers and I) got along that night more than any other night in the year. We'd all try to think of different excuses for coming out of the room or different ways that we might be able to catch Santa Clause. Then we'd wake up before daylight and wait until we knew our parents would allow us to wake up the aunts and uncles and grandparents. Dad always made us wait outside of the door until he "checked to make sure that Santa had really been there". I get giddy just remembering it all.
Now I have my own kids and it's fun to see them have the same excitement that I experienced. I love the looks on their faces when they open a present that they have been begging me for...like, "Whoa! You listened to me and GOT it for me?? REALLY??"
But I hope that more than anything, they understand the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Presents are fun, anticipation of the presents is even more fun. But the fact that God became man and dwelt among us is something worth celebrating. Without Christ, everything that we do has no meaning. This is part of my prayer for my kids each night:
"God, more than anything, I pray that my kids come to know you at a young age, and give their lives totally and completely to you."
I hope that my kids see a difference in my life. I hope that I am a good example to them. I hope that they realize that they have a purpose for living...not money, things, fun, being good people. My prayer for them is that they live for Christ...that everything they do is for the glory of God.
I'm thankful that God sent his Son to make me complete.
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas!



Isaac...waiting!!!

Josiah RIPPING into a present
Somehow, I missed taking pictures of Olivia on Christmas morning. :(

Jay and Josiah playing with the new pirate ship...Notice: Three generations (Papa is sleeping in the background with a stethoscope for ear plugs, haha.)

Papa, Nana and the kids. Thanks for coming to visit us, Papa and Nana! We love you!!!

Christmas Eve (Post II)

Our church had 3 Christmas Eve services. Isaac's pageant was the first service, then there was a 7:30 service and a 10:30 service. Since Jay's parents were in town, I was able to leave the kids and go to the last service. It was very beautiful and helped to make Christmas more alive.
I thought that some of you might enjoy being able to see inside of our church. This church has been such a blessing to us and such a new, exciting experience.


Jay and the choir

assistant pastor preparing the Table for communion

chalice bearers receiving the wine for distribution

Our senior pastor, Jon, distributing the bread

They Followed The Star

This Christmas, Isaac was in our church's pageant. It was the first Christmas pageant that he has ever participated in, and I think that he made a pretty handsome little shepherd.



The brothers before the pageant.

He still waves at me when he is on stage. How long does that last? I love it!

Visiting baby Jesus

We could pick his sweet voice out of all the kids.

Turning On The Tears

Up until just recently, we believed her. When she cried, we thought she must need us to help her. But now we are on to her little act. She's good at it. But we are experts.

This look is what gave it away. Grandparents, don't get all mushy. Repeat with me, "It's just an act!"

Now this is a bit more convincing. She almost won.

But I held out long enough and she exposed herself.

Even good actresses need water breaks.

She's pretty cute after a hard day's work.

Teething time.

Why does he let her do that?

I've got to keep my eye on these two. They've made an alliance...I just know it.

I'm telling you...

7 Wonderful Years

Jay and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary today. What can I say? I'm so happy to be married to my best friend. We are MFEO (Made For Each Other).

Advent Is Almost Over - Christmas Is Almost Here

A couple of years ago we deliberately began a new tradition in our family - observing the season of Advent. In a word, Advent is derived from the Latin meaning "coming," and is a preparatory season in the life of the church in which we anticipate Christ's second coming in glory and contemplate his first coming in a manger in Bethlehem.
To help us in this 'new' thing, we purchased an Advent wreath consisting of four purple (usually) candles and sometimes a fifth candle in the center of the wreath representing Christ. Now, as many of you know, boys love fire and ours are no exception. So we had no trouble in getting them to buy into this liturgical observance.
Each week we read a scripture pertaining to the theme of the week, prayed a Collect from the Book of Common Prayer and then sang the refrain to the well-known Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Then we light the candle (or candleS in the subsequent weeks).
The symbolism related to the Advent wreath is pretty cool and can get pretty deep if need be. But the most obvious and straightforward symbol is that of the growing light. Each week as another candle is lit, the light in the room grows until by the fourth week in Advent you have all four candles lit. The relationship to Christ is simple. As we await the celebration of his birth at Christmas, the light grows stronger and more distinct, and so too our lives should do the same. As we await the celebration of his first coming at Bethlehem and ultimately his very real and glorious second coming, the light of Christ in our lives is to grow stronger and more distinct. Here is a prayer we prayed this morning at church which alludes to this:
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The point? We like celebrating Advent. Our boys love to light the candle and sing "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel." They love to blow out the candle(s) when dinner is finished. My prayer is that the simple and beautiful parts of this ritual will allow all of our children to grow into the light of Christ as they take his promises for themselves so that Christ finds a mansion prepared for himself in their lives.
Oh, and it makes Christmas that much more special. :)