Merry Christmas

From our family to yours. We hope you enjoy the true gift of Christmas, always!

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Birthday Party for Jesus

This is the first year that I have kids old enough to start to "get it." So, I really wanted to start some traditions that would celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus Christ is the most precious gift EVER. Therefore, I thought it only appropriate that we begin our celebration on Christmas morning by being intentional about celebrating Him. We have a little birthday party planned. Muffins will substitute as cupcakes. We will sing "happy birthday, Jesus". We will present our gifts to Jesus with prayers of gratitude that we have the resources to give and do for others. Read through the Christmas story. Explain to the children why they are receiving gifts. Then, watch them open gifts...

I ran across this post and love it. Wanted to share it since it has some great ways in teaching Christ and keeping Him in the center of our lives at Christmas and everyday!

3D T.V. and Financial Decisions

Several days ago my husband and I were joking around about spending the money on a new 3D T.V. He posted what we thought would be a funny status update on Facebook. It went something like this:

We have decided to purchase, with a credit card, the huge 3D TV they have at Sam's club. It is not really in line with our financial goals but I really think it will make us happy and give us more together time, on the couch...

Then, we sat back and waited for the funny comments to roll in. I asked him, I wonder who will send us a Dave Ramsey link? {chuckle} We got a few "likes" and one comment that said, "ha ha go for it." We had a couple of people ask us if we had purchased our new T.V. yet. We also had ONE person who was willing to lovingly rebuke our *decision*. (In case you need a good line for a similar rebuke, I think this was PERFECT!) The following Sunday in our SS class a friend went up to Andrew and said (sort of jokingly), "Hey man, Dave Ramsey is mad at you about your new T.V." This comment lead to a funny conversation during which Andrew confessed that we were trying to make a JOKE!

Just to clear things up:

We don't want to be a "slave to our lender" (Prov 22:7b) and we want to honor God with all of our decisions. Debt is not honoring to God because then we are slaves to our lender and not free to do God's will. Therefore, we feel that going into debt for an unnecessary purchase such as a huge 3D TV is not very God honoring.

If that weren't enough, there is always this:

So Much

So much to blog about so little time. I hope to work in some blog time in the near future. For now just some kid cuteness!

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(Un)Forgetful Friday

-Braedon and I were reading a book called Hurray for Heroes. I asked Braedon if he knew what a hero was and we discussed that a little bit. Then I asked him who the best hero of all is to which he replied, "Jesus." YAY :-)
-We were watching Super Why the other day and Kaley was standing next to the TV. Wyatt asked which word was the word "less" out of three words that were displayed on the screen. Kaley points to the word less and turns to me and says "less."
-I wanted to take our family picture for our Christmas card the other day. I have learned that if I talk about something all day with the kids they will respond better when the event comes up. So, all day I was saying, "When daddy comes home we are going to go stand by the Christmas tree and take pictures." So, when daddy came home, Braedon ran to get his toy camera. He went and stood next to the Christmas tree and started *taking* pictures of us (not standing next to the Christmas tree). I guess I should have rephrased it since kids are so literal. :-) It was pretty funny!
-Braedon and I had the neatest conversation about God the other day. We talked about how God is everywhere. Braedon asked if he was hiding. I got to explain that no he is not hiding. We can't see him but we know he is always there and that is called faith. Thank you God for the sweet opprotunity to share you with my kids!
-Braedon grabs Garrett's hand and shakes it while saying, "nice to meet you Garrett."
-Braedon says, "Garrett's a sweet baby" in a high pitched, super-sweet voice. It is almost the cutest thing ever.

Garrett - 4 Months

Look at that smile! Yes, it does completely melt my heart. We go to the doctor for his 4 month check soon but I am pretty sure he is in the 12 lb range. He loves the attention he gets from all of us and especially his brother and sister.