Christmas Eve

   

     This Christmas was so much fun I can't fit it all into one post. So, I'll start with Christmas Eve. The day dawned with excitement and business as we prepared for the celebrations to begin. I made iced sugar cookies, like I do every year, while the boys slept then played. Dalton got off of work early..yeah, and was home by lunch.

     I let Cooper open a gift from the Echols that morning and it kept him occupied for most of the morning, except that I had to keep telling him not to take it outside. He wanted so badly to take his new skid steer to the dirt pit, but I don't want these to be outside toys.

     After naps, we rushed to get ready, stopping long enough for a visit from Jan and Michelle to drop off a Merry Christmas wish and a couple of gifts for the boys. Cooper got a John Deere camera that he clicked all evening long. Then we finished getting ready and headed in for church. Dalt was playing during the service so we dropped him off to practice and went to an, oh so busy, United. "What are all these people doing here?" I thought as we rushed through the ailses looking for those few things that I needed for the holiday. So funny how strange it seemed for everyone else to be at the grocery store on the Eve, but not for myself.

     Back at church I found a row midway up and parked myself and the kids next to another family with kids. Because Dalton was on stage I knew I needed reinforcements to make it through the service alone….especially with Cooper, who was dying to get on stage with his dad. I won't say that I got a lot out of the service, but we survived and even managed to sing the songs. Of course I had to sing while giving Cooper looks and telling him to stand up, get down, stay in the row, don't leave the pew, etc. At one point he snuck out of the pew during prayer, but thankfully someone grabbed him and returned him to me before he made it to the mic.

     At one point Cooper and the other kids were sitting next to the mom of the family I sat next to and she handed out skittles to keep them quiet. It wasn't long before one hit the floor and started bouncing away (skittle…not kid). Then a few seconds later we heard another ping. I couldn't help but laugh because it's so funny to be in these situations with kids. If I wouldn't have laughed I would have probably been embarrassed and upset, but what's the use in that. Overall it was an enjoyable service…I can't say the same for those sitting behind me though. I hope they looked on us with grace.

     Once we finished saying our Merry Christmas's there we headed to Mere Mere and Popsey's for a quick visit and dinner. We had yummy enchiladas, which Cooper helped serve. Then it was off to the house to open our gifts. We tried to keep Cooper awake on the way home but it didn't work. We had to revive him a bit once we got in the house but it didn't take long for him to get into the gifts.

     I opened mine first…I think Dalton was more excited about me opening my gift than I was, and for good reason. It was camera!! A really nice camera…woo hoo. I was excited and so thankful. What made me even more thankful was knowing that he used his bonus money to buy the camera for me instead of getting his gun scope or boots that he wanted. What a guy.

    Cooper was excited about opening. He ripped into the paper and wouldn't open the boxes until every last shred of wrapping paper was off the box, no matter how tiny. Then he opened the boxes, looked and smiled and was on to the next one. It didn't matter to him whether they were his presents or not, he was ready to open them all.

    Ace, on the other hand, didn't really like all of the comotion…he was a little tired for all of the excitement. He did like chewing on the paper though and it was a constant battle to keep it away from him.

     Finally the last gift was opened…Dalton got a tent! We are going to be a camping family now, or so he says. I made sure to get a big one so there's plenty of room for us all to roll around and get comfy. I have to admit I'm pretty excited about it too.

      Once we'd put the paper away we talked about why Christmas was important and put Baby Jesus in the stable. Cooper played with them a little, and at one point he was holding Mary looking at Jesus saying "It's going to be ok." Sweet.

     Then we set out cookies for Santa and headed to bed. That night, Santa came…..and I must say Santa had a good time setting out the presents and filling stockings, oh what fun.

"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7-8
   
 

A Day in the Wonderful Life..Pre-Christmas Fun

     We love spending time with family at Christmas time, especially when we get to see family that we don't get to see very often. Justin, Kallie and Karper came to Graham for Christmas we were able to have them out for a 'Day in the life of Dalton..' as Justin likes to call it. While the boys went to Carter Bend to feed cattle and hunt pigs, the women-folk stayed at the house and visited and made supper.

The serious pose

     The cousins got to play together and get to know each other a little more as they played outside until it got too chilly. You know how kids are at that age though, they each played individually but kept an eye on each other in case they found something more fun to do. While they visited, so did the girls, Kallie, Mere Mere, Merann and I.

 Cooper's showing off his dirt

Karper liked dancing with Rizzo the Christmas mouse

      When Popsey, Justin and Dalton got back we ate, visited and enjoyed the relaxing visit before the fun craziness of Christmas started.

Mere Mere showing the boys Santa's sleigh

'My cousin Karper' - taken by Cooper

     After being outside and playing in the dirt all the boys needed a bath, so we put them all in the tub together and let them splash around together for a little bit. Tub pictures are so cute (especially when all the right parts are covered).

     Then on Sunday we had a big Pitcock lunch for all of the Pitcocks, about 50 people were there. It was fun to see all of the cousins with kids, and the food was delicious. They even managed to get a large group picture of all the clan. After that, we headed over to Mere Mere and Popsey's to stay the afternoon/evening and enjoy more family time.

     It was such a joy to relax in my comfies and visit while the kids played. Then it was time to watch It's a Wonderful Life, which I had never seen. I know, it's sad that it took me this long to watch it. With a few interruptions it took all afternoon, but I finally got it watched. It was so good; tear filled, but good! Made me want to be a George Bailey (well, without the wanting to die and being depressed part) and give more to others.

Dalton snapped this in my mid-chew….

     After the movie and pizza, Dalton, Cooper and Merann made holly. We stayed as long as we could, and then headed home to get ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas. I have to say that even though Christmas was really great, that day was my favorite…visiting with everyone and just spending quality time.

Making holly!

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

   

Cinnamon Roll Day

     Chocolate, what chocolate? I haven't seen any chocolate.

     The Christmas spirit was abundant in our house this year, and it couldn't be contained. It was time to spread the joy. I always bake some sort of something to hand out to friends and family around Christmas, but this year I was having trouble deciding what to make. Until I watched last year's Christmas episode of The Pioneer Woman. After watching that episode and resigning myself to the fact that I'm a Pioneer Woman wannabe (you're right Dalt), I decided to copy her idea and make cinnamon rolls, wrap them in a pretty bandana and give them with Christmas cheer.

     Saturday morning dawned and I began the full day of making cinnamon rolls. It takes a little time because of the rising, but with the help of my faithful babysitter and stirrer (def: man who stirs for me when my arm gets tired) I had them hot, gooey and ready to go by that afternoon.

Tickle Fest!

     Of course I couldn't just travel with the cinnamon rolls; I had to make something a little more festive for some folks, so Cooper and I whipped up another batch of peppermint bark and then some rice crispie treat pops dipped in almond bark. They were cute and yummy.

     The roll making process went pretty smooth, except that I felt a bit guilty putting as much butter and sugar in them as the recipe calls for. Oh well, it is the season for decadence, right? I did give a warning as we delivered, just so that I was not responsible for any sugar comas or anything.

What a mess! And look at all that butter…

 Rolling them tight is a very tedious task

Tada!  

     After naps we loaded up the boys, rolls and other goodies and headed into town. We made our deliveries of rolls and joy and looked at Christmas lights as we drove around. It was such a fun evening! Nothing better than being the bearer of good food, especially when they don't expect you.

I found Christmas bandanas at Hobby Lobby, perfect finishing touch.

     I think I might have started my own tradition here, but I might have to have two cinnamon roll days next year because it was so fun handing them out that I want to give them to more people.

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.." Luke 1:46-47

Peanut Butter Balls, Milestones and Talking Back

     It's a busy time in our lives, and not just because Christmas is fast approaching. The boys are growing and changing so fast it's amazing. The best part is getting to experience it all with them, and laugh the whole way through. Cooper provides lots of entertainment, whether he means to or not, and Ace is so active that we have to really work to keep up with him. Here's a few of the milestones and funnies happening at our house.

     I'll begin this little update with a funny Cooper story: It was the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago. Dalton and I were sleeping soundly in our beds and then Cooper appeared at my side, ready to climb in. I heard that he was chewing on something and asked him what it was. "M&M, mommy," he replied. Great, I thought. Now he's not only getting up in the night, getting milk out of the fridge sometimes, but he's helping himself to snacks of the forbidden variety. I had to chuckle though and snuggled back to sleep. 

    Then the next night he was there again, with something else in his mouth. I asked what he had and he said it was a cookie….but really it was a peanut butter ball. He had left his room, opened the fridge, opened the tupperware that they were in, got one out and headed to the bed. About the time I had him in between Dalt and me, I heard Dalton roll around and say "Peanut Butter Ball." I thought to myself "Man, he sure smells well to get a whiff and identify the food," and went to sleep. The next morning Dalton informed me that I needed to wash the sheets.

 "Why?"

 "Because there is chocolate on them from the peanut butter ball." 

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night I rolled over onto a half-eaten peanut butter ball and smushed the chocolate onto the sheets…see, it's sitting right here."

Sure enough, a peanut butter ball with one bite out of it was sitting on the bedside table. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I realized that when he said "peanut butter ball" in the night, it was because he had rolled over on it and had to fish it out from under his back. I guess Cooper had gone to Dalton's side first, but then decided to come see me after planting the boobie trap. So funny and so typical Cooper!

Practicing for church with Daddy

     Milestone: Ace is standing now…I mean really standing. He just started doing it one day and has good balance now. He hasn't made a step yet, but we're hoping he does by Christmas. I'm a big fan of walking instead of crawling…less germs. He's also started clapping. We must clap a lot when he stands by himself because he spent a whole day standing by himself and clapping while he stood. He'll get himself to the upright position and then start slowly clapping for himself, grinning the entire time. I love the slow silent claps of babies when they are first learning to do it.

 As the weather has gotten cooler, Boots has become a master at getting in the house. 

And his buddy Cooper likes to have him inside…Daddy, not so much. 

Chilling with his bottle

     Cooper is learning too….to talk back. Uh oh is right. We'll tell Cooper to do something and he'll respond with "I not going to …." and just keep on trucking. Sometimes he gets the message after we correct him, other times punishment is involved. The funny part is how matter of fact he is about his statements. He's totally confident in what he says. I'm a little disturbed that he is already mastering this disobedience, but on the other hand I'm impressed at his bargaining/reasoning skills. One day, after putting him in time out, he got the timer and came to me and told me to sit down and not to get up until the timer went off, because I was in time out. He may have even pointed and shook a finger at me. Trouble!!

     Our fall garden has just about petered out. The last freeze did it in, but we were able to get a lot of broccoli. I was skeptical at first about the broccoli, mostly because I'd never grown it before, but also because it really stinks when we cooked it. However, when we ate it, it tasted delicious! It's been such nice weather outside and we've tried to make the most of it. It's hard to play outside with a crawler who likes to put everything in his mouth. But I must say he loves being outside. Ace will play and enjoy and as soon as we get to the door to go inside he starts whining and squirming because he wants to stay outside.

 It's fun to tell Cooper to eat his broccoli, and then to remind him that he picked it.

Works a little better.

 Surprise! We had a little snow, bye bye garden.

Not enough for Cooper to want to stay out and play in it. 

     We can't believe that only 7 months ago we were worried that Cooper didn't talk. Now we can't keep him from talking nonstop. He repeats things a lot and sometimes I take advantage of that and teach him silly things that irritate Dalton. I started being silly and saying 'Yo yo, what's up?' and the other day when I say 'Yo yo' Cooper finished with 'what's up' without missing a beat. Dalton rolled his eyes and told me to stop saying stuff like that.

     I think it's a sign that we go to the grocery store too much when Cooper mimics me and says "I think we have everything" or "Do we have everything we need momma?" in the store, or even at home. I guess all those years of talking to myself in the grocery store, and now to them, without thinking are rubbing off.

 Loading water to take to the kitchen

      Cooper also learned something from one of his songs. He loves to say "I have an idea!" now and really gets into it at times and says it over and over, just ask Papa. It's pretty cute to hear him say that and then tell us his idea. Another thing he learned, from Dora, is how to 'swipe, swipe, swipe.' He comes around, starts 'swiping' with his hands and saying "Swipe" and then runs away and says "You'll never find it now." Poor Ace is usually the victim of the swiping.

     Last night as we finished up bath time I let out the water and said "Say bye bye to the water." Cooper responded with "Bye, bye water, we had fun with you." I love that boy, quirky sayings and all.

    I have to take a moment and talk about how proud I am of Cooper for memorizing Bible verses. We have two memorized now and a third is on the way. His current verses are "The Lord is good to all" Psalm 145 verse 9 and "Love one another" 1 John 3:23. The best part is hearing him say the reference part. It's sweet and so cute with his little accent. Not to mention the joy of hearing my son quote scripture.

     Sleep time is getting better for Ace and Cooper. Cooper has been sleeping all night in his bed more, and Ace slept all night last night, which was so nice. I've learned that Ace needs some good waller time before he's ready to go to sleep. He doesn't like being forced to cuddle and be still. Instead, he prefers to  waller around on you until he gets tired and drifts off. And if you want to rub his belly or back in the process, he won't object. He's such a sweet but aggressive little guy; you like to have him close but are still a little tense the whole time because you don't know when he'll pull your hair, grab your nose or attack your face with his two….wait, now 3 teeth.

 What's more fun than a big box and Daddy? 

     I'm loving this life and the blessings that go along with it. Even though I'm exhausted half of the time, it's a great exhaustion and one I wouldn't trade.

Cooper took this picture…pretty good for a 2 year old.

"See, children are a heritage of the Lord." Psalm 127:3

A Craving

     "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God. For 'all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.'" 1 Peter 1:23-25

    I've had a craving lately, but don't worry, it's not of the edible kind. Instead it's a wonderful kind of craving. One that I have been missing for a little while now. It's a craving for the Word and for more relationship and knowledge of the God I follow.

"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish on e another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. " Colossians 3:16

     There have been several times in my life when this craving has come upon me, and those times have always been the sweetest times of growth and closeness with my Savior. But there have also been times when I just couldn't even seem to muster up a little desire to be in the Word. I just didn't 'feel like' studying or learning and that's when I became more prone to sin, self reliance, and just plain ickiness of life. The only way I survived was by prayer and making myself get into the Word.  Studying is like exercise sometimes. You don't want to do it, but once you do you love the results and want to do more to get more results and on and on. All that to say that I know what it's like to be in a blah stage of growth, and to encourage everyone to press on and seek the Lord for the sweetness will come and the craving will be worth it!

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who ask receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

    I'm usually always doing a Bible study of some sort, but this fall I wasn't and I could tell. I was not focused, not productive in many areas (amazing how being out of sorts with the Word makes you out of sorts with other things too) and just generally unhappy with myself spiritually. As the holidays began to rapidly approach I discovered, thanks to a good friend of mine, the podcasts of Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas. She told me that she listened to a sermon every morning as she got ready for work. Well, duh, I thought! I can do that. I may not always have time for in depth studies with my little tikes right now (usually 10 min is the max time alone I gets besides naps…at which time I have to undo the tornado that blows through my house all morning), but I can definitely listen to sermons while I clean.

     So I downloaded a couple and started listening, and man were they good. He really preaches the Gospel and is very engaging. I was hooked and started listening to at least one a day. I introduced him to Dalton on the way to my parents for Thanksgiving and he agreed that he was worth listening to. And thus began my craving….. After Thanksgiving I began a simple Advent study online and it has been such a blessing as well. It gives just enough scripture and insight that makes me want to find more and study more.

"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17

    And then it happened. I discovered my new favorite pastor/teacher. His name is David Platt and he's the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, in Alabama. He's also the author of Radical, which is a GREAT book! His teaching is both academic and understandable, engaging and yet so convicting, passionate and sincere. Most of all, you can tell that he loves Jesus and is desperate for everyone else to too. The only downside to him is that I want to listen with my Bible open to write notes as he preaches, a little hard to do when I'm listening and cleaning the kitchen. Listening to him teach on Matthew has only intensified my craving.

    One of the joys of studying God's word through different avenues and reading it on your own is the wide open door you give the Holy Spirit to connect things together. There are no coincidences with regard to this, as far as I'm concerned.

"For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

   And this has been happening so much lately. Three ideas have been appearing and re-appearing in my studies, readings and sermons.

1. God always fulfills His promises. Trust in His promises.
2. Jesus is the Word and fulfills the Word and all the prophesies
3. Jesus is the Light of the World

    I could go into what I've learned about each of these, but that's another post, or rather 3 other posts. For now what you need to know is that God is able to reveal Himself to you more and more as you seek Him and His Word more and more. It's so exciting. And so my craving is growing more insatiable by the day and I couldn't be more thrilled. Praying God never lets it go away.

"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

   

Christmas is Coming...

     It's finally cold here and our Christmas preparations are under way. Let's see what we've accomplished from the Christmas checklist.

Nativity Scene - check

This year we've left Jesus out of the nativity until Christmas, so that there will be more anticipation for His coming. I love the kids' version because he can play with the pieces all season long, and we can talk about them while he plays.

Tree - check

A little bit of an adventure to get the tree. We were in Walmart on a Saturday afternoon (bad idea) trying to get stuff for a Christmas party (bad idea to take Dalt with me to spend money on party stuff…at least he saved me from spending too much). By the time it was time to get the tree we were all frazzled and the kids were restless. Dalt bought one and we figured we'd pick it out on the way out. Turns out the one he bought was shorter than he was…we needed to go up a price range. So I returned the tree and by the time I got back to the garden center the line was super long. At that point we abandoned Walmart and got a tree at Allsups (gas station), and it's great! We've gotten one there for the past 3 years and they've all been nice. 

Pre-decorating

Decorating it wasn't as peaceful and fun this year. It was more of a race to get the ornaments up before they got busted by an ever bouncing Cooper or eaten by Ace the chewing machine. We did manage to get most of them on the tree, and it looks festive. 

 I was busy with Ace so Dalt snapped a pic of Cooper hanging his ornament. 

Notice lots of white wall, the stand, and no top of the tree.

 So I asked him to try again. He did a little better, but Cooper was cheesing it up instead of smiling normally. Oh well! At least we documented the moment. 

One note on the lights. The only ones we could find were LEDs and instead of the lovely yellow glow that the normal white lights put out, these almost radiate a true white light. I wanted to leave the tree on all night during the season, but after the first few nights I abandoned that idea. When the lights are off and we're in our room the glow looks like a spaceship taking off.


New Christmas PJs - check

It was so nice that we ate outside! 

 Waiting for Ace to open the gift

"Yeah! Christmas Jajamas" Cooper; "Yeah, paper" Ace

This year I started a new tradition. Each Dec 1 the kids will get to open a box. Inside are new Christmas PJs, a Christmas movie and a Christmas book. This year they got matching zip up PJs. Cooper was super excited about his 'jajamas' and they look pretty cute. The book I got is called Song of the Stars, and if you need a great book for Christmas, this is it! It's basically nature celebrating the birth of Christ and I tear up every time I read it. It's just such a sweet reminder that Christ is lord over all things, man and beast, tree and ocean. Love that even though most of the world didn't even know Christ was born, that nature did.

"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." Romans 8: 19-22

With the fall of man came the fall of all creation, and it can only be restored through Jesus and His kingdom.

Watched Rudolph - check

Besides The Santa Clause, which I think is my favorite Christmas movie, Rudolph is my favorite. It's classic, corny and very Christmasy. Cooper enjoyed it, for the most part and now any time he sees the Keebler elves on cookie or cereal packages, he points to them and says 'dentist'.

Presents - partial check

This year I stepped out of the box and did some online ordering. I feel pretty good about those purchases, but it's very disturbing not knowing how much will be on that lovely CC bill in a couple of weeks. It's so easy to just enter numbers and hit buy….The rest of my shopping will get done soon. I'm ready to go to actual stores and pick things out. Love carrying those bags in and sorting through them.

Christmas Baking - working on it; I think I know what I'm going to do, just haven't done it yet.

We did make some peppermint bark and Cooper loved crushing the candy canes. 

Visit to the drive in to watch Muppet Christmas Carol - check

Pizza and a movie!

Yes, Graham is so cool. Our drive in showed this movie last weekend and we decided to give it a try. It was super crowded and the kids didn't make it through the entire movie, but the hour and one half that we were there was so fun!

 Ace even got a little crust.

"And God bless us, everyone"

      Also, in addition to the traditions we already have, we're trying to start some new ones with the kids to keep the focus on Jesus's birth…emphasis on trying.  A couple we're attempting are:

    Ornaments with Jesus's name - we are writing a different name for Jesus (Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Messiah, Good Shepherd, etc) each day of December and putting the ornaments on the tree. Great idea…though we're about 5 days behind already!

    Christmas Card Prayers - each time that we get a new Christmas card in the mail we pray for that family before hanging it up. It's such a sweet way to minister to those that we know and may not think about or see throughout the year. 

    3 gift rule - It's so hard to resist buying the kids everything cool that I see; the Momma in me wants to lavish them with gitfs. So, to help keep my buying in line, and to bring the kids back to Christ, we are giving them 3 gifts, just as the wise men gave Jesus three gifts. Of course Santa will bring them something else, but from us, 3. I think it will work out and will help me to really put some thought into what I give them.

    Happy Birthday Jesus - We're adding stickers to a paper birthday cake to celebrate the countdown to Christmas. On Christmas we'll celebrate with a birthday cake for Jesus.

    Christmas light cruising - We haven't gone yet, but we're going to load up and go looking at Christmas lights. I found a neat idea to do as we cruise around looking. At each house that we find that has a nativity displayed we'll leave a note in the mailbox saying "Thank you for celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus" or something like that. That way the kids get excited looking for Jesus in the lights.

    Jesus stocking - this is an idea that I love but we aren't going to start until next year. You hang a stocking with your stockings and throughout the Christmas season you fill it with money for a cause that your family decides on. Then, at the end of the season you give the money to that cause. What a great way to give back!

   We are in full swing for Christmas. Jesus's birthday is a great thing to celebrate! I love the verses below. The fact that Jesus is the Word..He's fulfilled all of the Bible, over 300 prophecies which is statistically practically impossible. And that He came to dwell with US. Just think on that. Amazing and beautiful.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1: 1, 14