Merry Christmas 2006!!!!


 

I've been working with the kids on being thankful for what they have every day and for what Christ did for them. I decided a few days ago to start keeping a Thankfulness Journal with them, and record what they say (every word is theirs). Check out what they've said so far...

Kids Just Don't Get Sarcasm...
Last night we all went to a Christmas party where instead of a white elephant gift exchange there was a $10 gift certificate exchange. You can imagine his delight when Jon walked away with a Hooter's gift card (insert sarcasm here). All last night we were joking that he could take our CPA or Jonah there sometime (or our Pastor! haha).
So today my sister April calls and wants to take Ava and Jonah out for lunch. While Ava's screaming and jumping up and down with elation, I asked Jonah where he wants to go, and he said . . . you guessed it: "Hooters!"

OK, so I just noticed Ava was pulling on her ear.
Momma: "Ava, does your ear hurt?" and I kissed her ear.
Ava: "No, I hurt my tongue."
Momma: "Oh, well, I'm not kissing your tongue, it would be all wet and slimy."
Ava: "I'm pulling on my ear because I hurt my tongue."
Momma (laughing): "Oh, like when you bite your tongue?" This is a little thing we made up to help the kids cope when they bite their tongues, which is nearly every night at dinner.
Ava: "STOP LAUGHING ABOUT MY LIFE, PLEASE!"

Our kids come from a long line of sleep talkers. For example, a young Auntie JoAnna murmured in her sleep one night and when Auntie April (Bepo) asked her what she said JoAnna declared, "I'm meeting my future husband!"
Our kids don't talk in their sleep every night, but last night Ava did. As I walked in to kiss her before heading to bed (it was almost midnight) she rolled over and mumbled something. I said, "What, Avie?" She then said loudly, "Mim dim I not dream in my room!"
I kind of like these little night-time surprise sayings; they are one of those fun secrets that (usually) only family knows about (unless you post them on your blog for the world to see) and bond us together...

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Jon and the kiddos in front of the newly decorated tree.













Elisabeth with said kiddos and said tree.













Advent wreath (it looks like the middle candle is lit, but it's not)











Our Tree! 

Alternate titles for this post:
--"Jon raking the leaves...Wait! Are those kidlets in there?!" or
--"Jonah: I want to be buried by leaves. You can even cover my face!" or
--"Our heater broke and this is how we are trying to stay warm. Leaves are great insulators, you know." or
--"Mom, this isn't funny anymore. Let me out of these nasty leaves, please! Why do you always make us post for pictures for the blog?!"

 

This past weekend my sister Jamie and her daughter Grace came to visit. We had a great time but forgot to take pictures until the last day. We could have changed our clothes to make it look like the pics were taken over the entire weekend, but that's just too much work.
Wanna see all our pics?

April in a prego sandwich. E is 5 1/2 months along and Jamie is 7.

Gracie with Auntie Elisabeth

Uncle Jon with Grace--she chose him to snuggle with for about 30 minutes last night.

Gracie!

Last night Jonah and Ava came down after getting ready for bed, both with wet heads! "We washed our hair!" They used a water bottle and the hand soap. Nice. At least they try!

Silly Jonah

Ava with her wet head "I wanted to make it pretty and smelliful!"