The Actor

Christina had been outside playing when she came in, not really crying, but whining that she had fallen on the stairs and hurt her hands and her bottom. She asked if she could have some ice. I told her she could and she was on her way. Then David comes in. He asks, "Can I have some ice?" I was washing dishes and cleaning up, so I told him "Not right now." So, first he thought maybe he could get some by himself, so he dragged over the chair. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't reach the ice and he still wanted some.

So, after some thought, this is how he decided to get his ice. (This is a reenactment.)

"Ow. Ow. Mommy I fell and I need some ice."

Here he is with his prize.

Trying to get the Perfect Christmas Card Picture

It is definitely obvious that the kids are getting older, because we had a lot fewer attempts before we got an acceptable picture. They pretty much can understand "look at the camera" and "smile". The problem is smiling in a way that doesn't look odd. That was what Sam couldn't quite understand. Finally he just got so frustrated he started tearing up and said, "I just can't make my mouth smile." So, while we were "resetting" (we took a break for Sam to recover) I snapped a couple fun ones of the other kids.

Cutest Christmas Captures

Just some of the best pictures from our different celebrations.

As a parent I struggle with what my responsibility is to God and to my kids. Is it my responsibility to give them those wonderful memories of huge, long-anticipated gifts? Or is it my responsibility to be a good steward with my money and bless others and teach my kids thrift and contentment in little? It's probably some of both, but finding the balance is hard for me. It is only partially about money. I have the money to spend, but should I? So I tend to swing too far to one side and then back too far to the other. So last year we had a huge, over-the-top Christmas... bicycles, building forts, Lego set, American Girl accessories, watches. Within 6 months I had given away the fort and I can count on my fingers how many times Sam has ridden his bike. American Girl accessories get lost or left outside. The watches broke or wouldn't keep time. So it's not too much of a stretch to imagine this year was a more simple, laid-back Christmas.

I chose mostly things I knew they would use instead of the items on their wish lists which they were enamored by after seeing TV commercials or nice, glossy catalog layouts. The kids got one craft item (which for David was just a Wall E coloring book and some pens... he's an art snob, he won't color with crayons),

one toy (which for Taryn was just a large comic book... something she had asked for),
one Playmobil figure,

a water bottle,
and a couple small things in their stockings. That was ALL. And I was pleased to see that for the three days we were home after opening gifts, there were very few fights, nobody said they were bored, and nobody complained about not getting enough or not getting what they wanted. We just ate what we had in the house since I hadn't planned ahead and we couldn't go to the store on Christmas. I really was pleased with it, but I know that in 10 or 20 years, this won't be a Christmas they have any memory of. And I have to decide, does that matter? To me? To them? And what really matters for eternity? But really I just meant to show you cute pictures and didn't mean to get all philosophical.

Oh, this was one of my favorite gifts (though I could have done without the pictures of it):

They're dreaming of a white New Year

I mentioned earlier that the kids were faithful about praying for rain every day. So the other night when we were praying before bed this was Rebekah's prayer. "Lord, we need rain. Please send rain." [pause] "or maybe a little snow too."

Merry Christmas from LegoLand

Why of course the Lego minifigures would decorate for Christmas.


A fire roaring in the fireplace.





Wreaths hung on the front door:

Christmas trees:


And of course the big department store. This happens to be Macy's.

Because it just wouldn't be Christmas without a big department store. Thank you advertisers. I think your job is done here.

Influence

There is no hiding it. He is a little boy with sisters. Yesterday as we are leaving in the rain to take Christina to ballet, David finds a rock and picks it up. That is a fine, normal thing for a boy to do. He showed it to me. I gave the appropriately excited response to his discovery. Then, because it was wet, I told him to leave it on the deck and not take it with us in the car. So he puts it down and says in a sing-songy voice, "Goodbye cute, little rock."

Thankful

This morning my intellicast weather email said this:

5-Day Forecast for Clemson, South Carolina
Today: Few Showers, High: 66 F, Low: 54 F
Tomorrow: AM Showers, High: 71 F, Low: 57 F
Friday: Few Showers, High: 69 F, Low: 54 F
Saturday: Showers, High: 67 F, Low: 56 F
Sunday: Showers, High: 62 F, Low: 32 F

And the Newspaper said this last Friday (before the rain we are currently having):

Almost three inches of rain fell across much of the Upstate in the past two
days, soaking the area that has been listed under exceptional drought status and
dropping a month’s worth of precipitation in just two days.

Our whole family has been faithful to pray for rain every day for months. We are so grateful to see God's provision for our needs.

And as the economic outlook continues to look more bleak, we know that we can trust him to meet all our other needs too. (The difficult part might be learning what true needs really are and giving up all those things that really aren't... ouch).

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

She's Very Mature For Her Age

Rebekah, from the time she was born, has always looked older than she actually is. She's big for her age, yes. But it is more than that. It is the way she speaks, the way she carries herself. So, naturally her pretend play consists almost entirely of pretending she's grown up. Tina loves this too. So, they spend a lot of time putting make-up on and painting their nails. (Not exactly sure why they think this is what Moms do, since I put make-up on about once a year for a wedding or some other special occasion, but I'm glad I haven't been too bad an influence on them.) Here is Tina visiting the beauty parlor yesterday.



So, I really can't fight the fact that she wants to be grown up. But, is it just me, or is this really a little too old?
Poor old Rebekah, wrapped in her blankets, feet propped up, and working on her crochet. She even sounded old, thanks to the cold that has settled in her chest. Maybe she does need some better peer socialization?!

Children's Christmas Drama

This morning as the kids were anxiously waiting on me to get ready for church (probably impatiently waiting would be a more accurate description) they were practicing their lines for this morning's production. So, David is a sheep. I walk in and Joseph is just finishing his line, "...which God has told us about."

Then Taryn says, "Okay, David... say your line."

"Baa."

The performance was great. I hope I will get a video of it soon for you. We are just about to leave for our second (and final) performance at the nursing home. Samuel was disappointed Pop-Pop would not be there.

Here are some pictures of the kids getting ready for the performance this morning:

Rest is relative

John stayed home from work the other day because he was not feeling well. This is what resting looks like when you have 6 kids:

Christmas tree farm

Perfect little Christmas ornaments:


Toting the prize:

Here is David standing on the "stomp". Really it makes perfect sense. That is what stumps are for right?

The King's Singers

One of the best benefits of my job is being able to take the kids over to the Brooks Center for the Tri-Arts program. The program allows school age children to attend performances during the school day for free or for $2, depending on the performer. These are the same shows for which adult tickets in the evening cost $10, $20, or $30. Performances are about an hour and geared to a younger audience so they are a lot of fun. Today we were fortunate enough to see the King's Singers from England. They were fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And, oh yeah, the kids kind of liked them too. They will be on a PBS special Christmas Eve as the guests of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, so if you have the opportunity to watch I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Here is my favorite song that they did (it's just the music, not actually the video):

Admiration

Tina is extraordinarily loud for such a little cute thing. She takes great pride in it also. So, if you tell her she's being loud she'll say, "Oh, I know. But I can be much louder. Much, much louder." And she'd be telling the truth. But now she has something new to aspire to. The other day while John was watching football, she happened to hear the referee explaining a penalty on the field. She looked at John with amazement. "WOW", she said, "he is really loud."

"The sucker truck!"

Not to be confused with the soccer truck which is what I thought David said.

(I love the littler 3 all on their tiptoes.)

This truck comes by and vacuums up all the leaves which is wonderful because we don't have to bag them. Of course, we do have to have the leaves all next to the road. They expect so much from us *sigh*.

"We Bonked"

That was what David said and he was right. We praise the Lord we were all safe.

We are officially in the market for a new van.

On the beach

The beach is just as gorgeous in the off-season as it is in summer. Here are some of my favorite beach pictures taken over the weekend.

The girls said, "Can we pretend to be cold?"

Flying kites is a favorite alternative to swimming in the off season. We don't generally do kites in summer since it would likely be hazardous to other beach-goers.

Please notice John's and my relative position to the water. Despite what all the previous pictures might make you think, the water was cold.