Family Pictures

The generation's on Steve's side of the family.

The generations on Brenda's side of the family.

The Rapier gang.

Two cute boys!

Christmas Presents

Christmas Eve

We enjoyed Christmas Eve day quietly together with just the 4 of us. We had a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls and eggs and then opened a few gifts. Nothing fancy or elaborate. We mostly get the boys books, puzzles, and craft things. They each got one toy. It was a rainy, overcast day but we felt so cozy and warm inside. After lunch (chicken enchiladas, yum!) we read the Christmas story, sang some carols and took naps. In the evening we went to the Christmas Eve service and then to Steve & Brenda's to spend 2 days there for the "Rapier Christmas." (Pics of that to come later.)

There is a duck under the tree helping to hand out presents. :-)

Oh, not a duck. A little boy in a duck towel (which he loves!).

You will notice that Jeremiah is in the stage where he makes one certain face when asked to smile for the camera.

Stockings are fun!
Jeremiah's stocking contained lots of "school stuff" for us to start in the new year.

All it takes to make this boy happy is a gigantic Thomas sticker book.

Nathaniel ponders the bath submarine.
He wasn't sure what it was, but that night spent almost an hour in the tub!

Jeremiah plays with Cranky the Crane, the newest addition to the Thomas collection.
Jeremiah is really excited about his new Batman pj's. They even have a little cape on the back. He likes to run around the house and make the cape fly out behind him.

Nathaniel is certain there have to be more presents to open somewhere. He really really liked opening presents. It was hilarious to watch.

Somewhere in the day we got to Skype with Oma and Opa. They asked Jeremiah why he got presents and he promptly replied, "Because papa and mama love me!"
Today we are home and recovering from a fun but hectic week. It feels good to be putting away the Christmas stuff and getting back into a normal routine. Aaron has this week off still so we will enjoy having him at home. Jeremiah misses doing our Advent readings (mostly because of the chocolate I think) so we have been doing short Bible readings every night in bed. He loves singing the Christmas carols he learned this year and will often break out into a loud "gloria in excelcis deo!" It was fun to experience this Chrismas through the wonder and awe of a child's eyes.

Mary Did You Know?

Every Christmas since I have been a mother I find myself reflecting on what Mary must have gone through as she bore her first son, the Son of God, into the world. Something about those reflections help me to realize the reality of Christ's incarnation. Last year my dad played a song in one of his Christmas sermons that I found very powerful. I share it with you hoping that in these final moments of busy preparation you will have a chance to let the reality of Christ's arrival on earth sink into your soul and encourage your spirit.

Story of a picture

The intention this year was to get a friend to do some great family photography for us this fall that we could use for Christmas pictures. For various reasons it never really worked out. So at the last minute we were kind of scrambling for a picture to use for our Christmas cards. It is really hard to get a picture of all 4 of us looking good at the same time! Next year we will try harder to get the professional shots done. I thought this collage of the many attempts at a good family picture was cute and now that I have made it I wish I had printed and sent it as our Christmas picture. (Hey, an idea for next year!)
We ended up choosing the center one as the "official" Christmas picture. Sure, the boys faces are a little funny, but their expressions reflect their personalities. I guess the lesson this year is that this is who we are. Sure, a professional posed picture with us all in matching outfits and perfect smiles would be nice, but these show the reality of who we really are. We are not always perfect, we don't always match, and we don't always smile. But we sure do have a lot of fun!

Cookies

A few nights ago we made and decorated Christmas cookies for the neighbors. It was fun to do with Jeremiah.

Unfortunately the cookies never made it to the neighbors. We went over there about 3 different times over a few days and they were never home. So the cookies got eaten at our house. I am still debating whether to make more or to make a pie. While the decorating was lots of fun, it was also lots of work and mess. :-)
I finally took Jeremiah to the doctor today. He has been coughing a lot at night for the past week or so, but didn't have a fever or wheezing or anything like that. She is not worried but did put him on an antibiotic just because Christmas is around the corner and since the cough hasn't resolved itself she thought we should help it along. Jeremiah always surprises me. At home his behavior over the past few weeks has been challenging. He can be very stubborn, disobedient, and disrespectful. But in the doctors office he was an angel! He was obedient, polite and engaging. He charmed the doctors socks off. :-) It gave me hope that the discipline I (try) to instill at home is in fact bearing fruit. It reminded me to keep the big picture in mind and not let individual trying days dishearten me too much.

Lost pictures

I found these pictures of Nathaniel on a random memory card the other day. I don't know why they never made it to my computer. They are so cute that I couldn't resist posting them. I had forgotten about the little tuft of hair that stood straight up on his head! I had forgotten that he did used to have a little bit of pudge on his legs. What a reminder of how fast they grow.....

Conversations

Here are some more interesting thoughts from Jeremiah. :-)
He is really into hearing stories lately. He loves hearing about the day he was born, the day we got married, etc. One day when we were laying down for naps he asked me why I always wore a ring on my finger. So I explained that papa had given me that ring as a promise that he would love me forever and we would always be together. I explained that I had also given papa a ring with the same promise. One evening a few days later we were sitting at the dinner table and I got a little testy with Aaron (yeah, yeah it happens) and Jeremiah pipes up and says, "Mama, you don't need to get angry with papa, he gave you a ring!"
--
Last week our Advent readings were about angels. Every day we read about an angel (or angels) appearing to a player in the Christmas story. The final night we read a few passages about angels in heaven and angels and the return of Christ. I was explaining to Jeremiah that one day Jesus would come back to the earth and make a new heaven and new earth and we would be able to be with him always in person. Jeremiah looked thoughtful for a minute then said, "I don't want to go, I like it here! I can play and sleep."
--
We are still working on learning the concept of relationships. You know, what is a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, you get the picture. This is obviously confusing territory for a 3 year old. Last night Jeremiah said, "Mama, you are a funny girl. You are my sister!" I of course laughed and gave a brief explanation of what a sister is and that he doesn't have one, he has a brother. Again after a few moments of thoughtful silence Jeremiah exclaims, "Well, I think I need a sister." My response, "You'll have to talk to your father about that."
(Maybe we should start a family adoption fund, anyone want to contribute?) hee hee
--
Nathaniel is starting to mimic words a lot more. His latest additions are "i-ghts" (lights), and "rak-rak" (cracker). He also says papa consistently now. He has started playing with our magnetic Leap Frog Word Whammer and mimicking the sounds of some of the letters. Apparently he does not feel the need to say mama because I am always there. :-)

Little Drummer Boy

I think one of the most fun parts about being a parent is giving your child a gift that truly excites him. I mean, over the top, the world can't get better than this excitement. On Saturday we were able to do that for Jeremiah. We have been considering trying to get him a drum set for a while now. Mostly because he drums and bangs on everything in the house. Really. Everything. But it was hard to justify shelling out the money for a new drum set. On Saturday as I was out doing errands to keep the kids out of Aaron's hair I decided to run by the Goodwill to see if I could find any winter clothing in Jeremiah's size (rabbit trail: the boy has had a growth spurt and all his 3T sized pants are about an inch too short, I was hoping they would make it through the winter....). There in tub by the front door was a complete child sized drum set for a cheap price! I really got so excited I couldn't contain myself. I promptly paid for it and loaded it into the car. I didn't even look for clothes.
This was Jeremiah's reaction:

Can you tell he is excited?

Setting up.

Short tutorial on how not to hit them so hard you break them.

Figuring it all out. It's the first time he has used a base peddle and he got it right away.
I love the stuck out tongue as he concentrates.

I'm going now!

Of course now Nathaniel has to get in on the action. Actually though, Nathaniel likes to hear Jeremiah play and usually giggles and dances when the "music" starts.

"Yay! I got drums!"
Let me just say that this thing is better for keeping him entertained than TV. We have put it in his room where he happily spends hours listening to his Veggie Tales CD's and drumming along.

Old School

(I'm supposed to be finishing an essay right now) On the way back to the school after a field trip to Chattanooga another teacher and I were asked to rap by the students because we have done some rapping in the classroom. All of the rap that I memorized was mostly cheezy christian rap lyrics from way back in the day, of which I now own none. And after doing some searching on the internet, those albums are pretty rare - for whatever reasons. I was looking for the lyrics for a song entitled Lyrical Assassin by T-Bone. (I think Caleb still has this cd) The only thing I can find beside a few cds for sale is this video with A.C. Green (then) with the Phoenix Suns. I haven't finished watching it - it's kinda long, but hopefully I can get the lyrics I need - to memorize and I will be prepared for the next field trip or talent show.

Little Charmer

There are no words to express how much I love this little munchkin! He is a real charmer. He is expressive and funny. I know it sounds crazy but he loves jokes and always laughs when I joke with Jeremiah. Yesterday Jeremiah was pretending to take my picture and said, "Say cheese mama!" I jokingly said, "pizza!" Jeremiah looked at me a little perplexed while Nathaniel dissolved into giggles. Seriously, that is exactly what happened!
Nathaniel still doesn't really talk that much but he is trying to mimic sounds a lot more. Somehow not talking doesn't really hinder his communication. Check out the video, it will make you smile I promise.

Stockings

Steve & Brenda always hang stockings and as the family grows so do the number of stockings. Jeremiah remembers the singing stockings from last year and as was super excited when he saw that they had appeared again at the rail in the loft. Nathaniel was keen to investigate. Aaron snapped some great pictures.

Nathaniel and stairs.
They really are his favorite thing in the world I think.

I just love this one.

Jesus Bday Party 2008

Jeremiah now understands that Linda's house is a fun place to be. Every time we go it is for a party. There is lots of good food, fun toys, and interesting people. So he was very excited about the Jesus Birthday Party this year. Especially when he heard we light candles on a cake and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. If cake is involved you can bet Jeremiah will be there!

What a great picture of Uncle Chad and Jeremiah.

Nathaniel found the stash of cool wooden toys.

Not a great angle, but trust me, Nathaniel is giving me a kiss. He does it at the most random moments. When you say the word kiss he smacks his lips together and makes the sound. Very sweet.

A quintessential Nathaniel face.

An illustration of why we need a new camera. Just seconds before this Nathaniel was resting his head sweetly on his grandfather's shoulders. But moments like that don't last long and our camera is so crazy slow we end up with shots like this.....