Our Newest Cousin...

Over spring break we got to meet the newest member of our family...my new nephew and the kids' newest cousin...and boy were they excited to get to hold him!  These will make great memories for my kids--because pretty soon this little guy will be running around with them!

The girls were thrilled to get to feed him his bottle...especially Mollie!  But she figured that if he was going to have a drink, she might as well too:

Welcome to the family, Baby Oliver!!!

Daddy/Daughter Date Night...

Chick-fil-A hosted a 'Daddy/Daughter Date Night' tonight, and Ellie was really excited to have some alone time with just she and her daddy.  She also gets really excited whenever she gets a chance to ride in his truck!  Here she is by the front door waiting for Matthew to get home from work:

Conversations With Ellie, Part 3....

Ellie:  "Momma, why is my back so itchy?"
Me:  "Because your skin is dry.  Let's put some lotion on it."
Ellie:  "Momma, do you think lice are making my back itchy?"
Me:  "No Ellie, lice like to live in your hair, not on your back."
Ellie:  "I know!  Maybe it's termites! Do you think I have termites?"
Me:  :)

Advent...

Every year at our church, a family is asked to do advent each Sunday in December, where they read scripture about the coming King and light one of the advent candles.  This past Sunday, our family was asked to do the first advent candle for this Christmas season--the prophecy candle.  Mason read the scripture, Isaiah 9:6-7, "For to us a child is born..."

Ellie and I lit the first candle, and then Matthew said a prayer thanking God for the prophets who came to tell us of the coming Messiah: 

For the past few years, I've been trying to be more intentional about incorporating various advent activities at home for my kids during the Christmas season as well.  We've never done the Santa thing with our kids, although we do "play along" as if he's a fun game, and we also try to teach them to be respectful of those who do believe in Santa, so as not to ruin it for other children.  It's not that we think Santa or the Easter bunny are bad.  It's just that these sacred holidays have become so commercialized  that sadly, most kids don't even know that they are really about the birth and death/resurrection of Christ.  I want to make sure my kids grow up knowing, first, what God has done for them through the celebration of these holidays.  I have no doubt that all three of my children would grow up knowing who Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph are, even if I never spoke a word about them in our home--simply because society does such a thorough job of teaching this.  But I'm quite certain that they will never know who Jesus Christ is, and what He has done for them, if Matthew and I never tell them.  This is my main priority as a mother, and there's no better time to emphasize this than during the Christmas season!  Three years ago, we started doing the Jesse Tree.  I've tweaked it over the years to what has now become this:

I made this out of stained dowel rods and wooden craft circles, clip art from the computer, mod podge, and twine.  There are 24 ornaments--a picture on each ornament depicts a story in the Bible of God's promises, from Adam all the way to the birth of Christ.  Through this, we get to hear about how God's ultimate rescue plan for us was fulfilled through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and so on.  In the past, I just used Jesse Tree devotions that were printed online, but they were short, and to be honest, a little boring.  But this year I came across the book The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean.  This is a wonderful book that puts a different spin on the Jesse Tree devotions, by adding a back-story line behind it through a fictional relationship between a curious young boy and a grouchy old man who carves the Jesse Tree symbols in a church.  My kids--and especially Mason, who is able to have a better understanding of it--have really enjoyed going through this book.  Each night they take turns putting an ornament on our Jesse Tree that corresponds with the story we read about that night. 

Another activity I started doing this year is to wrap 24 Christmas books and put them under our Christmas tree.  Again, I try to use mostly books that are centered around Christ.  Some are fictional, some are not, but either way, they teach about the true meaning of Christmas.  Each night the kids take turns opening a book that we read before bed time.  They have loved doing this, because whether it's a book they've heard during previous Christmases or if it's a new one they've never heard before, they really enjoy the 'surprise' factor of not knowing which book it will be until they open it.  Someone more creative than me posted this on Pinterest...I just ran with the idea!  :)

The last advent activity we started doing this year came from my highly creative friend, Julie.  She has so many ideas of how to incorporate Christ into the lives of her kids, and I love to copy borrow her ideas.  I'm thankful that she is open to share her creativity with us less-creative moms, so that even people like me can do fun and meaningful activities with my kids.  Thanks Julie!  This Christmas activity is meant to shift their main focus not on getting for themselves, but giving to Jesus.  Of course, they are kids, and I want them to experience the excitement of surprises and wondering what presents they will have under the tree on Christmas morning.  But I also want them to know that Christmas is also a time for giving to others who have little or none of the wonderful things they have, and I want them to learn to love blessing others this way.  So what does "giving to Jesus" actually look like to them?  "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40.  Where their stockings would typically hang, small burlap sacks hang with their names on them instead. (Their stockings are still hanging in the living room, just not front-and-center on the mantle.)  Then, each time Matthew or I catch them doing something kind for their siblings, being obedient without complaining, helping out around the house without being asked, etc.) we give them a quarter to put in their sack.  It's not a competition as to who earns the most money, but a chance for them to work together to earn money as a team.  Then right before Christmas, we will count all their money, and whatever they have all earned, they will be able to give to someone in need.  (We get a catalog from Samaritan's Purse every year around Christmastime with lots of opportunities to help those who don't even have basic things that we take for granted every day.  More than likely we will pick something from this organization.)  Nonetheless, when they wake up on Christmas morning, they will still have their own stockings full of goodies waiting for them along with their presents, but my hope is that they will have learned a meaningful lesson throughout the Christmas season about what it really means to give their own gifts to Jesus. 

October Birthdays...

At the end of October, we celebrated Ellie's 4th and Mollie's 2nd birthdays.  Though their birthdays are only 5 days apart, they each enjoyed their own celebrations of cake and presents on their respective birthday.  And then over the weekend, our families came to help them celebrate together.  By the time that week was over, I had made 4 different cakes!  Here are a few pictures of our week:

Ellie's Birthday:
This is what happens when Daddy wakes you up really early for breakfast donuts...eyes are still adjusting.

A gift from Mason--plastic glow snakes and a squishy critter she named 'Pokey'.

The dollhouse:

New footy pj's:

Ellie's choice for her birthday lunch--Rosa's: 

Ellie always opts for the big giant cupcake. Can't believe she's already 4. 

Mollie's Birthday:
Mason's gift to her--maracas!

Excited about this little doll and plastic high heels:

Her favorite gift though, was the metal shopping cart.  This thing looks exactly like a real shopping cart, only smaller:

Mollie liked the singing, but she was very nervous about the burning candles:

When we tried to get her to move in close to blow them out she climbed out of her chair and backed away from it.  Mason and Ellie ended up having to blow out her candles for her.  Look closely and you can see her hiding behind the chair:

Love these girls.  They are growing up too fast.

Ellie's 'First' Haircut...

I have to preface this by saying that this was not actually Ellie's "first" haircut, as I've given her several haircuts over the years.  But this was the first time she had it professionally cut.  It was easy for me to do it myself when she was younger, but now that her hair is getting longer and thicker, it was time for someone who actually knows what they're doing to step in and take over.  Ellie has never wanted to go to a salon, and has heavily protested when I've tried to convince her otherwise.  So I tried taking her with me the last couple of times when I got my hair cut.  She enjoyed watching me sit in the chair with the big cape, but never would change her mind about having it done to her.  And if there's one thing I've learned about Ellie, it's that she's not going to let anyone convince her to do something that she doesn't want to do, and when she's ready, she'll decide to do it on her own.  So this week she finally told me that she was ready to visit Miss Wendy at the salon.  Her hair had grown very unevenly and had lots of split ends, so I told Wendy just to give her a little stacked bob.  I knew she wouldn't mind her hair being short.  She seldom will let me put it in a ponytail, and lately she hasn't even wanted as much as a hair clip...she just likes it all down in her face.  So at least now it will have a little shape to it.  Here is her "before" picture.  She is ready to go!

 She hardly paid any attention to the hair cut--she was busy watching "Ice Age". 

The finished product:

A few inches shorter, and looking cute!

It looks uneven here because she has it tucked behind her ear on one side.  It turned out really nice though, and looks much healthier.  She sure is getting to be such a big girl.  

Goooaaalll....

Okay, so Mason didn't score any goals today, but he was so excited to play his first soccer game ever!  The league is through the city, but his coach (and former school teacher) decided to hand-pick all the participants from Mason's school and put them on one team together.  So most of Mason's soccer teammates are also his classmates from school, which makes it lots of fun for him.  He had been hoping to get the chance to be goal-keeper, but he turned out to be a little surprised when his coach actually assigned him this position the first half of the game.  He was really concentrating:

He did a great job!  He stopped quite a few balls, and no one scored on him the whole time he was goal-keeper.

Still young enough to think it's cool to stop and pose for a picture during the game  :)

They ended up losing their first game 2-1.  But he had lots of fun playing, and we're looking forward to the next 2 months of Saturday morning soccer!