December Daily | 16

Today was Noah's last day at FLC.

{sigh.}

December Daily | 15

Today was Ellie's last day at FLC. Words cannot even express how sad I am, especially since she loves her teachers, Ms. Marilyn and Ms. Jennifer, so very much {and so do I!}. It was also Pajama Day... and Ellie knows how to rock some cute pj's.

Noah, on the other hand, didn't want to wear his pj's. So much so, that we had our first total temper tantrum meltdown before school with Daddy. He was adamant that "you don't wear pj's to school, you wear a shirt and pants!". Tomorrow is his last day at school. He and I both are going to miss his teachers, Ms. Katy and Ms. Carla. Though, after today, I'm glad I don't have to show my face too often after finding out he was kissing on a girl during Christmas program practice! {eek!}

The awesome thing about going to church at the same place the kids go to "school" is that we'll still see them around and when we visit. And I'm sure there will be a little teasing about it. ♥

Today, in addition to all of the above, was also the kid's school Christmas program. They have been practicing during their music classes and we have been listening {over and over and over...} to cds of their music in the car for over a month now. All the classes were divided into two programs and Ellie's class {along with all the other 2 year old and younger classes} was in the first one. We didn't know which side she would be on and, as luck would have it, she ended up on the side of the stage, opposite us and stayed in the back of the group for the majority of the songs. I moved to get a few shots of her, but wasn't able to get any up close video. The theme for her program was about how all the animals reacted to Baby Jesus... and her class were the donkeys.


Her poor teachers - it was all they could do to keep them corralled in their "corral"!

And it was all that I could do to not laugh out loud when my little donkey was the one who needed to smell? taste? the stump.

Noah's class {with all the other 3 and 4 year old classes} was in the second program. Lucky for us, Noah's class was on the same side of the stage that we were and since he's a little shorter than some of his classmates, he was in the front.

He definitely kept us entertained... and giggling.

The video has one clip from Ellie's class {you can barely see her, on the right of your screen} and the rest is from Noah's class. Our favorite moment had to be when instead of jumping up and down during the portion of the song that says, "we jump for joy for Jesus is born", Noah jumped while on his hands and put his feet in the air. {sigh} Only Noah.

December Daily | 13

Now, I know just a couple of days ago I posted that I am having some reservations and concerns about Santa and how he {the fictional character} fits into our true celebration of Christmas. He. is. everywhere. I have no problem at all with the real St. Nick and honestly, I don't mind the fictional version either.

The root of my issue with it is: I don't want him to get the glory.

I'm still just trying to figure out what the balance is for our little family, to make sure that Christmas is what it should be about {Christ's birth} and that a fictional character doesn't get center-stage. That being said, I have no problem with him when he is treated as just a fictional character, so for me, some things, like getting Santa photos taken, are just for fun. Instead of hyping up the kids to ask Santa for what they wanted for Christmas, I just encouraged them to get their photo taken with him... which worked because they know how much their Mommy loves to take photos of them. I didn't point out whether he was real or just dressed up - we just enjoyed the fun of it. We went to Bass Pro since the photos are free and I can take my own as well. Ellie went right to him and was happy to sit with him - especially since he had candy. {Mental note: start talking about Stranger Danger stat.}

Noah was much more reluctant.

Until Santa asked what Noah wanted for Christmas. He perks up when ANYONE asks that. Without fail, he almost ALWAYS replies: "Transformer Legos." Santa pretended he couldn't hear Noah until he was practically on his lap. Evidently this wasn't this Santa's first rodeo. And Ellie, who already had her candy, refused to go back for a photo with Noah.

Afterwards, we wandered around the children's Christmas section for a spell.

And eventually found somewhere that both kids loved. Ellie loved it so much that the big pack of crayons by her elbow almost left with us... until Ben pointed out to me that she was carrying it.

It was a fun little trip and with far fewer tears than Ben was anticipating.

But one of my favorite parts of the day? When Noah tried on the Santa hat that he practically begged Nana to make for him:

December Daily | 11

I'm currently in the middle of reading Noel Piper's book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions. So far, it's a fantastic read. We have several traditions that we've kept from our families and one of my favorites is getting a new ornament. Like last year, we kinda helped "guide" Noah towards ones that we felt really represented where he is at, at age four. This year, his ornament is Batman. Only fitting since he is SO into SuperHeroes lately.

Our little book worm got the "Guess How Much I Love You" ornament - Noah was kinda pushing for Ellie to get a Barbie one, but I figured it's probably my last year to have complete say in her ornament, so I got the one I wanted for her. ♥

Some years Ben and I get a joint ornament and this year was one of those years. None of the other ones really spoke to me like this one, which reads: "Christmas Together, Nothing Better". Yep! After a six month deployment, it's totally true!

And, Happy Birthday Aunt Jessie! We love you bunches!

December Daily | 10

Today, my baby turned four.

{sigh.}

We celebrated with doughnuts, birthday presents, Taco Bueno, bowling, four-year photos, pizza, and ice cream.

Without a doubt, he enjoyed his special day {videos and "Four Year Post" coming shortly}.

Happy Birthday, Dear Noah! We love you so!

After such a busy day and baths, we finally finished decorating the Christmas tree. Noah and Ellie helped Nana while the rest of us mostly watched. It was fun to get to see them hang up ornaments that I received as a child as well.

Now I just need to remember to take some photos of our new ornaments for this year!

Four. | Noah

I know that everyone says it.

I know that it's cliche.

But it's true.

I can hardly believe that my baby is four. Noah, you were worth it all - fertility meds, 10lbs 11oz, 17 days in the NICU and {one - two - three} four phenomenal years with a fantastic little boy.

Things Noah Loves at Four:

• LEGOS.


• Pizza, doughnuts, chicken nuggets, yogurt, and CapriSuns. {Seriously... the boy will barely try anything, but put any of those items out and he'll eat his weight in them. Which, of course, isn't saying much.}


• Helping - anyone with just about anything.


• Playing "heroes". Especially Captain America and Batman.


• Favorite sayings: "I's just kidding."; "I thought I was an adult."; "Huh? Wha'd you say?"; "Why?"


• Reading just about any book with whomever will read it with him.

Noah, Dearest One, we love you. You are smart, funny, and never fail to make us smile. You are so very inquisitive and have a fantastic imagination. You are kind and helpful and even when Ellie is a little bit of a bully towards you, you are not mean back. We simply cannot wait to see the amazing things that God has planned for your life and are so very proud of the young boy and man that we can see you becoming. We'll eat you up, we love you so!

♥

December Daily | 9

Tomorrow my baby turns 4. I can hardly believe it. It has FLOWN by. To celebrate his birthday tomorrow, I made cupcakes for his class and this afternoon, just before dismissal, Ellie and I took them in. He was SO excited to see us and was even more happy to help pass out his Captain America cupcakes to all his friends. But when it came time for them to sing "Happy Birthday" to him, this is the only expression his teachers and I could get out of him:

Until we told him to dig in:


Ellie wasted no time at all.

Every time one of the kids' birthdays rolls around, I always think of that book, "Tonight You are my Baby".

Tonight, Dear Noah, you are my baby - crabby or not!

{And you too, Littlest One... even though you prefer for Papa to read you stories instead of me!}

And look who made it back just in time to celebrate with us tomorrow! ♥

December Daily | 8

After school today, Noah and Ellie got to work on another ornament - Day 8: Sun. The story and concept was similar to Day 1: Light, but a little reinforcement doesn't hurt.

Noah has been asking, fairly often, when we were going to put lights on Papa and Nana's house and tonight the weather was decent enough that Daddy-Man could work a little more on them. Noah {and Ellie, a little bit} helped Nana set up the nativity for the front yard. We've had this little plastic set of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus since we were kids... and I love that they still set it up.

December Daily | 7

Busy and slightly uneventful day today - which also meant I didn't grab the camera. Once. Any of them - even my phone! The kids got to go spend some time with KK while I got a few more of our Christmas packages mailed off and attempted to clean out their room. And, with getting to teach music at AWANAs tonight to the four-year-old class, well... it was a busy one.

December Daily | 6

Earlier this week, we passed by an outside Santa decoration and Noah excitedly yelled from the backseat, "It's Santa!". Ben and I both kinda giggled, exchanged a glance and I asked Noah, "Who is Santa? What does he do?" I was curious because we've never really pushed the whole Santa concept. Don't get me wrong, we've said that presents were from Santa and last year we even got one of those "Elf on the Shelf" books, but it's never been a deliberate thing where we say Santa is coming to our house and he's going to bring you toys if you are good.

And honestly, I'm having issues with Santa this year. Partially with the whole lying to your kids part, partially with the whole "only if you're good part", and mostly with how Santa has become the overarching figure of Christmas. We're still trying to figure out how to find the right balance between the fun and magical of Christmas and still maintaining the truth and real purpose of Christmas. Because, let's be honest, for a child, how can a baby in a manger compete with Santa?

And maybe that's for a whole different post. {Though, this one here does a pretty good job of explaining, to some extent, how I'm feeling about it.}

In any case, for the past few years I've been looking for and trying to implement some different traditions that help point back to the real reason we celebrate Christmas. And every year, I tell myself we're going to do a Jesse Tree... and so far, we haven't. Primarily because I have yet to find a version of the Jesse Tree that I felt like my kids would sit through the Bible reading portion. Yesterday, I found a similar "curriculum" that we're going to do at least some of this year - Truth in the Tinsel.

The kids love it because we make ornaments to go along with the Bible reading and I love it because it is feeding their souls at their level. Because we started it late and I know we're going to have million and one things going on this month, I'm not planning to do one every day. Maybe next year we will be able to, but this year, we're just going to hit the basics and maybe one or two extras. Today we talked about how Christ is the foretold light of the world and about Mary and Elizabeth.

Right now, those are the only ornaments on the tree. ha! We'll likely decorate when Daddy-Ben gets back this weekend.

Tonight, after dinner, Daddy-Man, the kids, and I all got comfy and watched a Charlie Brown Christmas.

Little Linus gets me every time. ♥

December Daily | 5

Daddy-Ben has been home for two weeks as of today. {Yay!} It's been a pretty awesome two weeks, but it's gone by fast. Like lighting fast. And truthfully, it doesn't really feel like we've been able to spend much time together. Which is why it makes the fact that he has to leave to go to work for the week in Abilene a tough pill to swallow.

After a fun lunch out, we came back home and Ben helped me put the kids down for a nap before he left for Abilene.

We already miss him. We're already looking forward to Friday when he gets to come back home to us. We love you Daddy-Ben! ♥

December Daily | 4

Tonight was the Hanging of the Green at our church and the AWANA choirs were singing all the songs. Noah's Cubbie group sang two songs during it, so we made sure we were there tonight. Ellie isn't in AWANAs yet {and likely won't make the cut-off to start in the fall either}, so she got to sit in the pew with us from the very get-go. She didn't mind though - the girl loves to "paint".

We really didn't know which side of the stage Noah was going to be on and unfortunately, he was on the opposite side that we sat on. I {of course!} hopped up and found a seat next to the Cubbies director to snap a few photos of Noah during the performance. Ben did take some video, but since you can't really see him, I'm not planning to upload it.

The 3-year old choir was given two mini-M&M containers to use as shakers during their first song. Noah stared longingly at them at every possible moment.

He did a great job and actually sang during part of the second song {when he wasn't staring at his M&Ms}! So proud of you, Buddy!

And after his group finished their songs, he joined us back at the pew and played games on Aunt Jessie's phone!

December Daily | 3 {Nov/Dec Family Birthday Party}

December is a big month for birthdays in our family. Not only are we celebrating HIS birthday and the joy that His birth brings to the world, but we also celebrate Noah's birthday as well as my sister's, Ben's brother and sister, our SIL, Ben's Grandmother, and even my uncle {though, he's techinically November}. Today we had the November/December Birthday Party for the birthdays on my side of the family.

I can hardly believe that our little superhero is going to be FOUR in just a week. It's unreal.

As soon as he saw the finished cake {he was standing nearby the entire time I was decorating... mostly because I think he wanted some icing}, he exclaimed, "That's the coolest and best cake EVER, Mommy!"


I'm so grateful that little things like a decorated cake still rank up there as "cool". ♥

These two have a special love for their cousin Amanda. They are always SO happy to see her and she is always so willing to play whatever they want to play with them.

{The costume didn't come off the entire party. Or day Or weekend, for that matter.}

Aunt Jessie and Uncle Bud - the other two birthday peeps!

Ellie, who had been walking around the kitchen all day asking for "Take, Mommy. Pease! Take. I'own take, pease." finally got some cake too. ♥