Reminder of the Reason

As we are raising our 4 guys, we are trying to be very intentional about what we do at Christmas.  I've realize that so much we do is based on tradition, but can easily be done without any meaning.  Our goal is to make sure the real Reason for Christmas is what we celebrate in our home, impressing the awesomeness and significance on our children's hearts.  It's not something that just happens in a culture that commercializes Christmas, that feeds the indulgences of humanity, with a passing glance at Jesus in a Christmas carol or two.  As those who have already accepted that Gift, our Christmas ought to be different.  It ought to mean so much more.  So, we are looking for ways to celebrate Jesus on His birthday, in real, tangible, memorable ways. 

A few years ago, I started making a white chocolate candy cane cheesecake (yum!) for Christmas Day, and we put candles on it, and sing "Happy Birthday to Jesus."  The boys love doing it, and it's become a tradition that I hope will last throughout the future of our family.  We pray that that simple way of recognizing Jesus' birthday makes an impression on the hearts of our children.  Children love birthdays, even if it's not their own, and we want to encourage them to celebrate Jesus joyfully.

My Dad always read us the account of Christ's birth from the Bible, before we opened our tree.  (My Mom's from Vermont, and that's the phrase they used for opening their gifts.  We don't actually open up the tree!)  We were never allowed to just climb under the tree and open up our gifts, like you see on commercials. We sat and watched each other as we took turns opening our gifts one by one.  Now, I do the same thing with my family.  I think my parents were intentional about guarding against selfishness and mateialism.  (Mom also wanted to see us open everything, and take pictures, and I am the same way....I don't want to miss the joy of watching my gifts be received!)  I want my boys to view gifts as acts of love, not as things they are entitled to receive.  I'm reminded that the Gift of baby Jesus in that stable was not something I am entitled to.  It is given out of love, completely undeserved and unearned.  God wasn't obligated by cultural norms to give me that Gift.  He sacrificed His only Son because He loved me beyond measure.  I hope my boys will understand more and more each Christmas what love that was, that Jesus was born to die.

"From His throne Jesus came, laid aside Heaven's fame in exchange for the cross of Calvary; for my gain suffered loss, for my sin He bore the cross - He was wounded and I was set free." (Ron Hamilton)

I was inspired this past year to make birthday banners for my boys' birthdays, and they have been a hit.  They boys all loved them, and they were so much fun to create, using the colors and patterns to coordinate wth their birthday themes.  The boys and I thought we should have one for Jesus this year, too.  Being right in our dining area of our kitchen, we see it mutlitudes of times a day, a visual reminder of the real purpose we are celebrating a holiday.

I love these patterns!

Owen wanted a picture with the "Jesus banner" as he calls it.  Isn't that smile precious?  I loved how excited he was to see it finished and hanging there.

I needed an extra square on the second row to make it symmetrical.  So, I made a little gift out of my paper and used the ribbon that is holding the squares together to make a bow for the gift.  I thought that was really fitting to be next to Jesus' name, the Gift that was given to all mankind.

I hope each year we can find more ways to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

Back to School



Our homeschool is back in session!

Looking forward to a great year!

End of Summer Camp-In

Another thing on our end of summer to do list was to camp out in our backyard.  It didn't work out, so we decided to camp in.  The boys thought it was great, and want to do it again.!

We made s'mores in our fireplace, the boys ate supper on the "ground", we watched a movie, and pitched our tent in the living room.  The boys spent the night in the tent and Mom and Dad slept on an airmattress.  We slept in the next morning (well, if you can call what you do on an airbed sleeping).  

It turned out to be a fun alternative to camping out.

Just one of the ways we were trying to make every last minute of summer vacation matter!

Goodbye Summer

We sensed our summer vacation coming to a close quickly, so we made a list of things we wanted to do before summer vacation was over.  One of the things on our list was to go to "the beach".  We live near a beautiful state park, and for a total of $8 we were able to enter the park, play on the playgrounds, have a picnic lunch, and enjoy the beach.   It was 93 degrees that day, so the water felt really good! It was just me and the boys, since it was a weekday and Daddy was working. The boys did really well, and they had so much fun.  I'm so glad we got that trip in before summer ended!

This photo collage personalized with Smilebox

Soccer Camp 2010

Last week was soccer camp, hosted by a local church.  This year, Derek and Carter were old enough to join Evan in the fun.

Good kick, Derek!

Owen wasn't old enough yet, but he had fun playing on the sidelines and making friends with the sweetest black lab puppy.  He's now decided that's the kind of puppy he wants.

Run, Evan! actually I think he was running for water break here :)

Owen passing the ball with Daddy.  One of the days was my birthday, and since Ben took my birthday off of work (love him!), he also got to enjoy watching his boys at soccer camp that day.

Evan loves soccer.

He did so much better this year. 

Derek

Evan in action.

Cutie-pa-tootie

Carter missed a day because he was sick, but he had a great time.

Running

On the last day, the church puts on a Victory Night. 

The boys were thrilled with their tshirts, trophies, and water bottles.

Derek and Carter

Evan

Little D collapsed on the ground after chasing some girls around the church lawn.

The boys have been looking forward to those 3 days of soccer camp all year!  It's nice to have something that's good for their development, physically and socially, and that is free, and is hosted by people you trust. 

One of the ways we've made our summer vacation moments matter.   Only a week until summer vacation comes to a close, so we're trying to make the most of it!  What fun frugal activities do you do with your kids?  I'm always looking for new ideas!

Goodbye 2s!

Well, I'm a little late getting to blogging about it, (because I have been having technological difficulties), but my baby boy said goodbye to the 2s recently.

I know I say it with every boy every year, but I just can't believe he is 3 ALREADY!

Honestly, I feel like it was just like last week that I first laid eyes on the little fella.

Now he's a walkin', talkin', laughin', runnin', smilin', chattin', cruisin', bruisin' little wonder of a boy.

O-Man picked out a dinosaur themed birthday, specifically Dinosaur Train.  So, I used brown and green and found some cute dinosaur paper for his birthday banner.

Worked out pretty good since we were planning on taking him on a train ride!

Giving his ticket to the "ductor".

Watching the view go by on our 4 hour trip.

my 4 very cool dudes

We had a stop at a ranch where we looked for horses (unfortunately, it was lunch hour and all the ranch hands weren't around, and the horses were all out of sight), but we had a nice little picnic lunch on the banks of the Hudson River and got to stretch our legs a bit. 

Owen's a funny little boy.  For some reason, though he LOVES things sugary and sweet, he does NOT like cake.  I discovered that last year after I went to great pains to make him a Wonder Pets Fly Boat cake, and he didn't eat any of it!  So, I had to be creative this year.  He likes ice cream, so I decided to make an ice cream cake, though it did limit me.  

I put a layer of chocolate chip ice cream in a pan (one container), refroze it, and then added another layer of mint chip, and froze again.  I flipped it out onto a bigger, shallower pan and then decorated it.  I used baking cocoa whipped into Cool Whip for frosting.  I made a rock formation by piling coconut marshmallows on the cake and then covering with more frosting.  I found the cute Dinosaur Train at ToysRUs, as well as a couple extra dinos from the show.  I used green piped frosting to make a track, write the birthday wishes, and surround the cake.  And we had a couple little trees from a train set already, and added them onto the cake.  Oh, and behind the cake is a pond, made of blue sprinkles.  It was not a fancy cake, but he loved it.  But not enough to eat any of it.  :(  New idea next year, I guess.  The rest of us enjoyed it though!  Yum.

O-Man's favorite gift was his new Hot Wheels motorcycle bike from his Grampa and Gramma.  His little legs are just long enough for his feet to touch the pedals, so I guess he'll be able to use it for a long time.

We ended the birthday with fireworks.  Aren't I just the coolest mom?  Hahahaha....ok, I didn't arrange for the fireworks.  But, we did go down to the village at the Yacht Basin and enjoy the fireworks display that our town puts on every Wednesday night during the summer.  I realized then that it was the first fireworks display any of our boys have ever seen in person, (other than peering to see them out of their bedroom windows).  The first blast took O-man by surprise, but he loved them. 

It was a fitting way to end his day.  Owen has been a firecracker in our family.  His entrance into this world was as surprising to us as that first blast was to him.  But, like him, we loved it! And each day his little fireworks display his personality and charm, and we love it.  It is hard to think 3 whole years have gone by since we first held him in our arms,

and brought him home to his brothers.

But at the same time, it's hard to remember life without him, because like a firecracker leaves it's mark in the darkness, Owen leaves his mark daily on our family, and we love it!

We had a wonderful day being together as a family, that's how we made O-Man's birthday moments matter.

Take a Lesson From My Boy

I know I'm a tad bit partial, but I think my first born is amazing!  And I think we all can learn a lesson or two from him today.

Today, I had the rare experience of clothes shopping with all my boys.  It is something I generally don't do, because well, if you have ever tried shopping with 4 active little boys you can imagine why.  :-)

Next week, my husband and I will celebrate our anniversary.  After 13 years of marriage, and getting ready to turn 34, I decided to branch out a bit, and I bought an outfit (awesome clearance sales!) that is something my husband probably would never think I'd wear.  But at this point, I think it's ok to be daring, right?  (Don't worry...it's modest, just not my normal style.)  Evan wanted to know why I was looking for clothes.  I told him I wanted to look beautiful for Daddy on our date.  As sincere as his little heart could be, he said, "You don't need to buy new clothes to make you beautiful, you're beautiful just the way you are!"

I told my husband about it at supper and he congratulated Evan on always coming up with the right thing to say, and said, "I think I need to take lessons from you, Evan!"  Evan grinned from ear to ear.  I told him to remember to say these things to his wife someday!



And I'm about bursting with pride because my first born has also pretty well mastered riding a bike today.  We worked on it some off and on in recent months, but he really hadn't gotten it down so that he could stay on the bike for any length of time or get himself started.  This afternoon, we had a brief period of time after we got back from a road trip and before we had to take my mom to an appointment.  Instead of rushing inside to try to use that time to do laundry and all the other things I hadn't gotten done while being gone all day, I moved the van and let the boys ride their bikes and have some fun.  Evan was trying and getting frustrated and wanted to quit.  I told him I wasn't going to let him quit, that he'd get it if he just tried and tried and tried.  Within minutes he was doing so much better.  After supper he took his Dad outside to show him what he could do, and it was like a whole different child on that bike.  He can get on, get started by himself,  keep his balance, and even make turns around the driveway!  I'm so proud of him, and he is so proud of himself.  Mastering a difficult challenge is so rewarding, even for a child.

That gets me to thinking, how often am I like he was this afternoon, facing a difficult task or situation and just wanting to quit.  Too often, I'm afraid.  But watching him today make so much progress in such a short amount of time, was an encouragement to me.  Don't be a quitter.  Finish what you start.  Persevere despite challenges.  Look past obstacles.  And ignore that voice that says, "Quit!"

How did I make my moments matter today?  I spent just a few of them helping my son learn to ride a bike....mostly instilling my confidence in him into him.  Once he knew that I knew that he could do it, and once he knew I wasn't going to sit by and watch him quit, he was determined to keep trying.  We all have that too, don't we?  Even if no one on earth thinks I can do the task, I have a Father in heaven who has all confidence in me....not because I'm so great....but because His strength can do it through me.