we partied like a partridge in a pear tree

on the 12th day of christmas, my true love gave to me....

12 drummers drumming,

11 pipers piping,

10 lords a leaping,

9 ladies dancing,

(yes...these people have small children.  yes...they remember their college days fondly.)

8 maids a milking,

(imagine allen bradford milking a cow...i don't know why i didn't get a picture!)

7 swans a swimming,

6 geese a laying,

(imagine miss wanda laying an egg!  sorry...i missed this one too!)

5 golden rings,

(please notice embarrassed child in the background...priceless!)


4 calling birds,

3 french hens,

2 turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

church program

last week, we had our annual christmas program at church.  i was in charge of the 2s and 3s and getting the shepherds dressed, so i didn't get to see the entire program.  but what i did see was precious.

wes got a little upset that he didn't get to stand directly in front of william like he did in the dress rehearsal, but i was right there to tell him that it was fine.  tears were avoided, and he sang like a champ.

as a side note, the kid standing beside him (in the same sweater!) belongs to the valedictorian of my high school class.  he used to try to cheat off of me in calculus.  just kidding, west!!  they recently moved to town, and how fun is it that our kids get to grow up together?!?

william isn't really much for singing in front of people.  but he got into it at one point.

and then he and all his shepherd homies just chilled while waiting on their turn to walk to bethlehem.

we also had a very cute mary and joseph.

along with the angels.

and for the record...i only lost one 2 year old.  but, i found him just before the program started.  so, the show went on.  baby jesus was born.  angels sang.  shepherds worshipped.

success.

inclement weather day

school was called off today.  unfortunately, i found this out 5 minutes after i woke all my people up at 630. i will now be checking the wtva website every morning at 620 from now until april.  live and learn.

school was called off today because of this.

well not because there was ice on my bird feeder (which apparently needs bird seed and a good cleaning).  there was ice on the roads.  or bridges.  or something.  i never saw it, but that's what they said.
therefore, we spent the day in this position watching "moobies."  it was a very productive snow day.

ok, in all fairness, i did actually accomplish a few things.  see this?

it might not look like much to the untrained eye.  however, i did not tie those shoes!!  can you hear the hallelujah chorus??  yes...i have a kid that can tie his shoes!

double knots, no less!

so that, along with the 100 cookies i spent the day baking for all the church and school functions we have over the next 3 days is how i spent this snow day.  while it was nice to be out of the routine for a bit, i'm hoping for less "moobies" and more snow on our next "snow" day!

the wishes have been made!

william and wes sat down last week and penned their letters to santa.  much thought went into it.

well, not really.  wes has been saying for months that all he wants for christmas is a snake (that he will name joey) and a watch.  and that's what he asked santa for.  all that william wrote down on his list was "buzz."

really??  i can handle a snake and a watch, but buzz?  we have a buzz.  we have several buzzes.  but this is a different buzz.  this buzz has "a blue belt that lights up."  and wouldn't you know that both wal-marts are out of special space ranger buzz?!  and this mama is not about to brave toys r us in mid-december.  so thank you to my friend, the internet, for helping santa out this year!!

after they folded their letters perfectly and got the outside of the envelope just right, they left their letters with eddie to take back to santa when he flew to the north pole.  this was a welcome surprise.  last year, william only trusted mr. danny at the post office with his letter to santa.  but since mr. danny retired last month, i guess eddie was the next best thing!

and chase and i have had to make a list of what else to give them since all they want are 3 things.  i keep asking them to tell me some other things, and chase keeps telling me to hush.  he likes the fact that they don't ask for much and says that in a few years they'll be asking for hundreds of dollars of electronics.  so, we need to enjoy the buzz and the snake named joey years!  fair enough.  as long as amazon delivers that buzz to my door on time!

he liked the strawberries

but he loved the whipped cream!!

what we say

i'm in no way taking credit for this.  this is from a blog that chase follows.  and it's hilarious.  the writer gives examples of "church lingo" and how people "on the street" must think we christians are crazy!!  enjoy!

We Gotta Stop Saying These Things

Written by Mark Altrogge

Topics: Humor

Ever notice how Christians tend to develop their own lingo?
We who are in Sovereign Grace Churches have done that over the years, and thankfully, some of our old terminology has been relegated to the church lingo junk yard.  I can’t believe some of the language we used in the early years of our church. Visitors must have wondered what planet we came from.

For example, in the early 80’s in our church we called our worship team “The Music Unit.” What were we thinking?  Sounds like a name Frank Zappa would have come up with (he named his daughter Moon Unit). Maybe we should have had Styx come in to lead us in singing “Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.” “Music Unit” also sounds like some kind of Swat Team.  I can hear Jack Bauer calling CTU saying, “I need you to get me the Music Unit over here NOW!”  Suddenly, a helicopter appears over the church building and black-clad commandos descend on ropes, bust through the sanctuary doors, storm the stage, and begin to lead us in a rousing chorus of “We’re Gonna Take Back What the Devil Stole From Us.”

Another name for worship teams that some of our churches used was “The Minstrels.” I am glad to say I never used that term.  What were we – medieval kings?  “Let the Minstrels come forth!”  Suddenly singers come out in tights and jester hats playing their lutes.  What were guests thinking?  “When does the jousting begin?”  What were guests who’d been to the Genesis concert the night before thinking?  “Last night I saw a super band; this morning I’m being entertained by minstrels.”

This may have been limited to our church, but back in the early 80’s we had “pot faith” meals, because there is no such thing as “luck” for a Christian. Of course, no one would tell anyone else what they were bringing, we would just be in “faith” the Holy Spirit would lead each of us in what to bring.  I don’t know how we explained it when everyone showed up with macaroni and cheese.

As weird as we were back then, we still have things we have to quit saying. We have got to stop saying “Released,” as in “Those of you serving in Children’s Ministry may be released now.”  What?  Do we have them in cages?  “Run free Children’s Workers!  Run home to your burrows.”  Or, “Thank your wife for releasing you to come and speak at our church this morning.”  “Ok, I’ll do that.  I’ll thank her for unlocking those manacles on my wrists and ankles.”  What do visitors think when we say, “For all our guests this morning, please be released from giving any currency in the oblation when the ushers come hither from yon ushers’ chambers.”

I know I’ll get flack for this one, but can we stop calling the Communion bread and juice “the elements?” What are we taking this morning – Chromium and Manganese?

And we’ve got to stop saying, “So if you’re here this morning” as in, “So if you’re here this morning and you’re depressed…” Of course they’re here.  Where else are they?  “So if you’re not here this morning and you’re depressed…”

And I think it’s time for guys to stop calling other guys, “Bro.” That was cool at one time but we’ve got to ditch it.  Along with overuse of the word “serve.”  “Bro, it really wouldn’t serve my wife, Bro, for me to help you move your piano this weekend.  And Bro, it wouldn’t serve me either, Bro.  And Bro, I’d love to serve you by sharing an observation with you, Bro.  Be released from asking me to serve you in the future, Bro.”

And can we all stop saying, “At the end of the day” and “It is what it is?”  Can we, Bro?
Now it’s your turn.  What other lingo do we just need to stop using?

if you hear muffled laughter next sunday morning....don't even turn around!  it's me!!  thankfully, we partook of chromium and manganese last sunday, so i'll at least have a few weeks to prepare for that one!  :) 

click here to go to the blog.  there are some pretty funny comments as well!

parading

we woke up today and had a lazy morning while slowly getting ready for the christmas parade at 10am.  everybody was excited.  especially mama since it wasn't 19 degrees like it was last year!  william was whiny and progressively got more whiny as the morning went on.  as we were about to leave, he starts crying and holding his belly because it hurt.  the stomach bug is going around, and y'all all know we are master stomach buggers over here.  so we handed him a bucket and told him to get in the car.

he couldn't walk to the car.  it hurt too bad.  big tears coming down now.

he got in the car, but couldn't get buckled up.  it hurt too bad.  more tears.

as chase drove down the curb in the driveway, he started SCREAMING because the bump "MAKES IT WORSER!!!"  whole lot of tears.

and then he just screamed and screamed.  and instead of driving to the parade, we drove to the peds clinic.  which was about to close in 10 minutes.  good thing all the police cars were at the parade instead of on the road with us!  you have to be really sick for either of us to even take you to the doctor, and let's just say that chase was not going the speed limit.  we were slightly worried.

as i carried him into the clinic, chase was trying to figure out which guy he was going to call to operate on his kid.  but as we sat in the room waiting on the doctor, he quit crying and started making his transformer stickers shoot each other and fly all over the room.  after about 15 minutes of him acting perfectly normal, i asked him if it hurt anymore.  he said it was better, and it only hurt if you pushed your hand "all the way in there all the way to my back."  i figured that yes, that would indeed hurt even if you didn't have any issues going on.  he let chase "massage" his belly and bounce the heck out of him, and he did nothing but laugh.  so we left.  but i made sure i told the nurses on the way out that we weren't crazy!  no idea what all that was about.

and then we made it to the parade.  late.  but we were there.  and excited.

this was our crew.

these two make me laugh.  you'd think he'd be all sweet and loving up on such a cute girl, but he treats her just like a sister.  maybe by the time high school rolls around, he'll change his tune! :)

wes would sit on the curb and watch cars and trucks all day.  and the fact that they threw candy made it that much better.

reed was mesmerized.  he didn't miss a thing, and he waved at every single float, truck, horse and person that came by!

pointing out santa in the distance.

and not too long after we got there, this guy signaled the end of the parade!

so...a 2 hour parade ended up being a 30 minute parade for us!  even so, the little people's pockets are overflowing with candy.

maybe next year we can avoid the side trip on the way and at least get to see a good 45 minutes of it!!