A New Look for Christmas...

We had such a fun time celebrating our Savior coming with our family. Almost all of my immediate family was able to go to church together on Christmas Eve. (Even Dawn was able to leave in the middle of her work shift, despite the fact that they were over-worked and short-handed her coworkers wanted to release her to be with her family at church! What kindness from God!) Xavier was giddy over the fact that he got to hold a lit candle at the end of the service. My 21 month old nephew, Braden, was pretty excited as well. Through the service he collected as many unlit candles as his little hands could hold from other family members.

Christmas morning Xavier found his last verse in the stocking for this year, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11 Then we finally read over the biblical accounts of Christmas. We had our traditional holiday breakfast of cinnamon rolls, then Xavier and I opened presents together - Thanks Dawn for taking him shopping for me, that was so much fun!.

Later we joined my family for lunch and lots of snuggle time with my niece and nephews. Evening brought more relatives and mountains of presents. We are so blessed to have a large family and all live so close together! Thank you guys for how you love to lavish Xavier with gifts. We're so grateful for your generosity! Hopefully this weekend I'll get around to finding a "home" for all of the new things he received. They're still sitting under our tree waiting to be put away.

Annelise, Braden, Logan & Xavier

I think the highlight of this Christmas for Xavier was the "gift" he got on Christmas Eve. He's had a wiggly tooth for a few weeks now and was finally able to pop it out on Monday. He kept saying, "I can't believe I'm going to lose my tooth on Christmas Eve!!!" When he realized it was pretty close to coming out he became frantic and started saying, "Call the Ruths!" (our landlords) He knew he would see the family in a couple of hours at the church service and wanted to surprise them. But our dear neighbors the Ruths had to know now! As soon as he was able I let him call them and they very kindly received his news with much enthusiasm :-) They are so precious to us!

Sock-it Stuffing

I openly admit to not correcting Xavier when he uses cute names for things instead of proper titles. I was reminded again this Christmas that he hasn't yet caught on to the term "stocking". I think each year he gets it down by the time Christmas actually arrives, but when he finds them in the box of decorations he gets all excited to hang his "sock-it".

We hang them on our bedroom door knobs since we have no fire place. In the past I've done the traditional small gifts in the stocking while he's sleeping on Christmas Eve for him to find in the morning. This time he was so eager he kept asking me the day we hung them (December 1st) if I would put candy in while he slept. I did not. It didn't dampen his enthusiasm in the least. The next morning while I was in the shower he emptied his candy jar into my stocking along with a note that read, "I love you Mommy!" I realize at this point it's a great opportunity to meet his anticipation with a fun and memorable way to lay the gospel before him... but how? I'm not creative and I avoid contexts where I'm expected to be, but God kindly meets me in my weakness and gives me "light bulb moments" any way.

The next day we began a new tradition. I stuff his sock-it every night and when he wakes he finds a "secret message" which is a scripture prophesying the Messiah. He reads it to me and we talk about how Jesus fulfilled it. He then pastes it on a sheet of paper so he has a visual reminder of (just a small portion of ) the ways Christ was proved to be the promised One. In past years we've read through the accounts of Jesus' birth in the Gospels, but this has been so refreshing for me. It's provided times for considering what it was like to wait so eagerly for Immanuel to come. Living this side of the cross can be so comfortable for me. I am able to see God's plan for redemption in a way that his people could not 2000 years ago. In the midst of this season I've been introduced to the song "Hope Has Come" from the Sovereign Grace Christmas CD. I love that song!!! May I never take Christ's arrival for granted! Alleluia! Hope has come!

Look Mommy!

While I was driving Xavier to school this morning he says, "Look Mommy!" I glance over my shoulder and see him staring back at me smiling. I don't get it. But as soon as I look back to the road he says a little more urgently, "No Mommy, look." I tell him that I can't keep looking back while I'm driving and I'm not sure what he wants me to see. He then explains that he is flaring his nostrils to the beat of the music! (Silly me, how could I miss that?)

Who would think of doing that? Yet it seemed to fit our family so well. A few months ago at a family gathering we were all sitting around discussing (and demonstrating) what weird muscles we can move. For example: raising your eyebrows independently, crossing your eyes, wiggling your ears, curling your tongue, flaring your nostrils, etc. I can do pretty many, but flaring my nostrils is not one of them. That's probably not how most family's spend a day together, but hey... they're mine.

New Shoes!

We had the Franks' over this week and they brought bags of outgrown clothes for Xavier. I love "free shopping" and God kindly provides opportunities for me to indulge in it. There was one particular treasure I found in the bundles that I knew Xavier would really enjoy. A pair of cowboy boots! (Forgive me if that's not the 'politcally correct' term) They're still too big so don't expect a public appearance any time soon, but he has fun wearing them around the house and has endearingly named them his "Texas Shoes". I think it's funny that he associates them with Texas. Where do they pick up on this stuff? I think it's official - we're country now. It's crept in over the last year and a half. Can you see me in a pick up truck??? Hmm...

A Busy Day

We had such a nice day today welcoming December. For some reason that last week of November seemed extra long and I found myself eager to turn the page on each of my calendars. Xavier and I woke up early this morning and went back to the pond to watch the sunrise. We had fun exploring things back there until it finally peeked over the mountain. We watched the wind blowing the water, found an old hunting fort up in a tree, and discovered that those green walnuts that fall off the trees in summer sink, but once they turn brown in the winter they float. Xavier tested this several times and we watched a whole fleet of them bob down the creek. We talked about the heavens declaring the glory of God, how the Bible says the sun runs its course with joy in worship to God and that he deserves to be praised from the time it rises until it sets, and sat on the bank singing The Heavens They Preach. Here are some fun shots from our special morning.

When we came in Xavier was pretty cold and asked for Hot Cocoa with breakfast. So he "ate" it from his favorite Toy Soldier mug.

This one is a sunset from last week.

My sister Jill, her boyfriend Andrew and my mom joined us for lunch and then we headed over to the Poinsettia Show at Glick's Greenhouse! That's becoming a new family tradition for us and I really enjoy it. They do such a nice job decorating and drawing a crowd, then displaying the gospel. It's really neat! We got to hear two Mr. Drago's and one Mr. Eder play and visited with some friends from church. Xavier enjoyed farm toys with Nate, Jeremiah, Benny, Rachael and Ashlyn. Then we found the Candy Land room! Xavier said to a boy next to him, "I wish I could eat all of this stuff! Except the paper and wood."

We also tackled some decorating at home. Over the summer we had some water damage in the basement and lost most of our Christmas decorations. I hoped to buy new ones as the time approached, but God has made it clear that's not where my money is to go right now. So my mom brought me a real vintage tree from my Nana's attic. It's at least 40 years old. I was a little skeptical, but we had fun and it looks better than I expected. It is a metallic tree with a "Color Wheel" and spot light that you shine on it rather than stringing lights. I think it's funny, Xavier thinks it's pretty cool. In case you don't get over to see it I thought I'd share the visual effects. Where do people come up with this stuff?