Amazing Big A

Husband got his grades today. Drumroll............he got all A's!

And he does the dishes in an apron!

He is amazing!

For Your Entertainment

What Child is This? by: Caroline B. Cooney is a moving story set at Christmas. It is a book I found in the young adult section of the library. If your library has it, read it, you will enjoy it. This is the story of two foster children and what happens to them. I am always moved by stories that involve children who need a home.

Aaron and I rented The Visitor from Blockbuster. This is an excellent movie that made me look at the plight of immigrants in a different way.


We checked out Hotel Rwanda from the library. This is one of the best movies I have seen. The whole movie is edge of your seat action. And it is based on a true story. It is so moving to see what a difference one person can make. It is also so frightening to see the evil that people can commit against their fellow man. If you have not seen this movie, you need to! This movie is disturbing in that the world (America included) did not come to the rescue of the people of Rwanda. Over 800,000 people were murdered. In the movie there are clips of Bill Clinton and Janet Reno talking about Rwanda and saying that what was happening there was not genocide. I know that America can not police the world and come to every countries rescue, but I sometimes think we must. America has been given so much. Surely we can do better.

Who's that girl?

Who's that girl in the middle in the pink shirt?

Is she a lover of animals?

Is she a rescuer of small kitties, even in the rain?

Is she ready help anyone who might be in danger or trouble?

Is she a sailor on the high seas to distant islands (well, Galveston)?

Is she a fun lover, ready to try anything?

Is she kind to all the little cousins?

Is she the life of the party when the grandkids get together?

Is she a master fisherman?

Is she one of the coolest kids I know?

The answer to all of these questions is yes. And that girl is Camryn! Happy Birthday Camryn! We love you!

I love Christmas! :)

I love celebrating Christmas with these two special boys! :)

I love finding super deals! :) Aaron and I had decided not to exchange presents unless we had extra money. Well I had a little bit of money to work with. Aaron needed a wallet and backpack. The backpack he has been using for school is a free one his company gave to him and it was starting to fall apart. I went to Kohl's tonight and found one backpack in the entire store. The tag on it said $50. I knew it had to be on sale a little bit. I walked over to the scanner and I was praying, "God please help me get a good deal on this backpack." It scanned for only $5. I couldn't believe it! It is a Nike Air backpack. The straps have special air pockets to give your shoulders support. I found a nice wallet for him for $15. So two nice gifts (and he needed them both) for $20.

I love receiving yummy gifts! :) One of the families at Co-op gave me Cocoa Chips. What are Cocoa Chips? Milk chocolate covered potato chips. You would not think these would be good, but they are delicious!

I love my new comforter! :) My mother-in-law gave me money for Christmas and she wanted to give it to me early to catch the sales. I found this comforter set at Target that I love! We call it our luxury bed. My grandmother also gave me money for Christmas and with it I bought a microfiber sheet set, which is so soft and warm. (Also from Target, on clearance.)

I love this picture! :) Luke's preschool class dressed up and took pictures. None of them look too excited to be doing this, but it is still cute. Luke was Joseph. When I took a picture of it the flash made a light right where baby Jesus is. Jesus is the light of the world, right?

I love Christmas decorations! :) Here are a few of our decorations.

I love this carousel! :) I was thrift shopping with my Mom and sister, one of our favorite activities, and we found this carousel. It works and plays Christmas music. My mom got it for me, I don't think she paid more than $10 for it. I think the carousel is really neat, but also it makes me think of special times with Julie and Mom.

The boys like to put their Lego guys on for a spin.

In case you have not noticed, I also like to use smiley faces. :) :) :)

Christmas Books

The following books are some of mine and the boys favorite Christmas books. They really are the boys favorites. I just enjoy reading them too!


Christmas by: Peter Spier is a delightful book. It has no words only pictures. The pictures depict a family's Christmas. After looking at this book, you will understand why I would like my Christmas to look like this.





Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by: Robert Barry. This is an old book originally published in 1963. The boys want to read this one over and over again. Mr. Willowby trims the top of his Christmas tree and you won't believe what happens to the part that he trimmed off.





Stephen's Feast by: Jean Richardson. This book is based on the Christmas carol, King Wenceslas. A young boy accompanies the king on a mission of goodwill. Such a wonderful story.



Look-Alikes Christmas by: Joan Steiner. The more you look, the more you see! The author uses everyday objects to make Christmas scenes. The boys want to look at this book just about every day.





A Houseful of Christmas by: Barbara Joosse. Granny has a full house for Christmas. This story is coming to real life soon. :)






Room for a Little One, A Christmas Tale by: Martin Waddell. Lukey loves this book with all of the animals. The little one is baby Jesus.







Away in a Manger by: Thomas Kinkade. This book is filled with illustrations of the first Christmas and Christmas in present time. All to the words of Away in a Manger.






Visit Catherine's blog for more great Christmas books.

The Nutcracker

On Friday, the boys and I got to attend a school performance of The Nutcracker. (Tickets to the weekend shows were $10 and $15, we got to attend the school performance for $2.) Almost every year my mom would take me and my sister to see The Nutcracker. I always enjoyed it as a child. I think I appreciate it even more now as an adult. The performance we went to was beautiful. The boys most favorite part was the battle between the nutcracker and the mouse king. The Nutcracker is fast becoming one of our traditions. At first Caleb was not too excited to go, but afterwards he kept saying how great the show was.

Snow

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland- snow! Snow is extremely unusual in Southeast Texas. People who have lived here for their entire life can't remember a time that we have had snow like this.

Aaron was like a kid with the snow. He never saw it when he was a boy, so snow is a big deal to him. When he saw the snow he woke up Caleb and Luke and they bundled up and went outside to play.

Caleb has been talking about snow lately and we kept telling him, "Sorry Caleb, it doesn't snow here." Aaron says the snow today reminded him how anything is possible.

The snow today was the perfect kind. Great for snowmen and snowballs. Caleb did hit Luke in the face with a snowball. That is why Luke has tears.

After the fun in the snow we came inside and read books about snow and made paper snowflakes.

What a wonderful surprise, to have our own snowy day!