Christmas Scenes

12 days until Christmas book/movie advent calendar



letters to Santa




I love Conner's hand writing and that he wrote a list for Caleb



good behavior candy canes on the tree



homemade baby mangers



Christmas surprise package from grandma and the suspense is driving the boys crazy!
I love little traditions like this that are passed from generation to generation



neighborhood Christmas party complete with horse-and-carriage ride







and letters from our Christmas elves - Lenny and Wayne




11 days.
4 hours.
and 56 minutes.

Blast You to the Moon Smiles

There is a club of retired individuals that regularly fly remote controlled airplanes at the park next to my parent's house - every morning.


And almost every morning - when we were living with my parents - the boys and I would take a little walk around the corner to watch the airplanes fly.


So... Much... Fun.


Watching the airplanes fly was magical for my little boys.
And I knew the we needed to do something about their new passion for flying.


So we made our very own jet pack rockets with plans to launch our bodies and dreams into outer space. We emptied cereal boxes and stole some plastic cups from grandma and started glue-gunning away.


Once the glue was dry, we took our first flight.
Definite smile material for everyone.











Chieko Okazaki once spoke on the importance of smiling. Smiles have power to encourage, love, and create happiness. She made the point that there is never a short supply of smiles. Smiles should not be saved for those you wish to impress, rather smiles should be shared more readily with the ones we love.


Making homemade jet packs with my kids makes me smile.
And I love these smiles...

But sometimes the important smiles occur spontaneously and effortlessly during the small and simple moments. Moments of holding your child's hand to feel them spontaneously do the three-squeezes-means-I-love-you-pattern or kissing your husband as he walks in the door from a long day at school/work.

These smiles and the happiness they create blast my heart to the moon with joy.
I am so grateful for the magical moments smiles create.

Oh, and by the way, I still can not find the box that is hiding my adobe lightroom photo-editing software... and it is driving me nuts to post pictures unedited. Anyone have experience with Photoshop? If so, do you love it?

The Gift of Love

As Colton lovingly holds his Elmo in one hand and builds Lego towers with the other, he randomly stops to embrace his red stuffed friend. While running around the house in a game of tag, he runs with his mouth puckered into a kiss against Mickey's nose. And when wrestle-with-dad-time occurs, he body slams with a Curious George held firmly in one hand.


Colton has a lot of love to share. And as I watch him express his love, I silently pray that his life will be a life that is packed-to-the-brim with unconditional love. A life that is no stranger to the peace, comfort, and joy of love. A life that is full of moments to express and receive love.





And as I silently plead with God to bless this boy - and all my boys - with love, I realize that God has already answered my prayer. The manger that cradled the infant body of the Savior is proof of God's great love for all mankind. God's gift of His son altered the Heavens and Earth with unconditional love. The suffering, atoning, and self-less love of the Savior granted us the ability to stand a little taller and cleaner.


In a world that is broken with sadness, grief, and sorrow the Savior anxiously wants to share His love with those who will believe... because He knows we need it. He stands ready, willing, and able to heal our heart, souls, and minds. All we have to do is ask.


Colton's stuffed friends will one day fade and fall apart. But the love from the Savior will never ever fade and disappear. His love is the one true source that has withstood time, pain, and long suffering. In the words of Jeffery R. Holland, "Christ's love never fails us. Not now, not ever. No, not ever."


And I am so grateful.

A Marker Lid Christmas

Christmas is here, and we are so very excited. The day after thanksgiving we opened all of our Christmas boxes and greeted our Holiday friends. Stuffed animals that tell stories, favorite Elmo ornaments, and comfortable Christmas blankets are all unpacked and being enjoyed - and I love it.

Christmas time is so fun.

But as we set the tree up and assembled all of the ornaments, something was missing.
I could not figure out what it was.
So I thought and I thought and I thought about it.

Nothing came to mind.

Then one day I was unpacking the 2 toddler bin of clothes for Colton (the eighteen month clothes are now too small) and while I was folding some khaki church pants I felt something bumpy in one of the pockets.

I opened the pocket to find...




I am not kidding.
Do you remember Caleb's obsession with marker lids?

Do you remember that he wanted to carry these superhero marker lid friends with him everywhere so we had to make a car and recycle our socks and altoid containers to hold them?

And do you remember how they evolved into bunnies and men with funky hair?



Well.
We decided that our Christmas tree was definitely needing some marker lid love.
So we hot glued some pipe cleaners to the top of the marker lids,





and we hung them on our tree.






And now my friends, Christmas is complete.
Santa can come and the reindeer can fly.