Sunday

We had a beautiful service at church today!  All the Christmas decorations were up -- greenery, candles, etc., outside was all snowy, and everyone was still feeling festive!  Instead of the homily we had guest musicians, Little Windows (that is the name of the "group", which is actually a husband & wife who sing together).  The husband is the son of a woman in the congregation, and they have sung at the church before and are really good.  At least if you like celtic bluegrass, which I do.

A Facebook friend linked this Dave Barry article from the Washington Post and it made me laugh and laugh, so I'm sharing.

Also this, which Andrew Campbell (another Facebook friend but not a relative) linked.  I thought it was really neat and so did Travis.

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

Another perfect Christmas!  I wouldn't have changed a single thing.  The kids woke up around 8ish.  They were thrilled with all the things Santa put in their stockings.  The sweet rolls hadn't overflowed their pans in the night, and they baked up deliciously so that we could have our traditional breakfast before the Opening of the Presents.  (Katie doesn't even really like cinnamon rolls, but she's been reminding me all month that I needed to make them for this morning's breakfast.  'Cause that's how we do it!  She's mine all right.)
(Ed took the picture above.  He never remembers to put up the flash, but I thought the picture captured the excitement of the stockings nicely!)

Santa brought a screaming monkey for each of them. Plus a thunder can thingie for Travis (for sound effects for his movies!).  With luck, Ed and I will have many peaceful Christmas mornings once the children are grown.  I'm enjoying the noise while we have it.

Katie got a new game for her DS which Travis was eager to give her tips on.

A Three Musketeers Barbie from Auntie Diane.  When this one takes off her ballgown, she has Wonderwoman shorts and go go boots underneath.  Amazing!  Katie named her "Jane."

These are so good!

A look of intense concentration as he aims the screaming monkey down the hall...

and it hurtles through the air, screaming bloody murder!  This sort of thing is why we are missing so many crystals on our chandelier.

Ed, with his new trucky bank.

Katie with her new Build-a-Bear (the pink one).  Mary, the beary.

Ed in his new jacket!

Katie loves her new sweatshirt!  She never did change out of her nightie, but she wore the sweatshirt over it, so that is kind of like getting dressed, isn't it?

My college roommate, Darcy, and her husband gave the children these wonderful remote-control jousting knights!  What a hit!

They smash together and go flying off their horses, while their lances go hurtling off in another direction.  Most satisfactory!

History comes to life, right in our kitchen!

Harry is the only one who isn't so crazy about them...

Rush Hour is my new toy, but Travis and Katie each had to prove they could trounce me.  And they can.  What a great game, though!

I even had time to read one of my new books and nibble macadamias.  Life is good!

Travis got Mario Kart.  Ed has been wanting a race car game for ages, and the kids finally wanted one so I couldn't pass it up!

And this is one of my very favorites -- the Brock Magiscope.  I got the package from Rainbow Resources with the extra lens, so it has 50X magnification.  Boy, is it sharp & clear!  I got some prepared slides to go with it from American Science & Surplus , and we had a great time looking at the fruit fly, plant louse, honey bee leg, hair of hare, etc.!  I'm not sure I'll be able to wait until Katie's birthday to get the 10X eyepiece so we can see things at 100X magnification!  Travis got so excited about looking at the prepared slides that he cut off a chunk of his hair to look at.  Ed has once again hidden the scissors.

It was a good, good day!  And to top it all off, dinner was delicious!  A wonderful, perfect Christmas.

And these pictures are from earlier in the week.  Travis went to the orthodontist on Wednesday and I broke out the magnetic poetry words I'd gotten from American Science and Surplus ($1 -- how could I resist?) to take her mind off missing her big brother.

Don't you love it when you build the perfect line of poetry?

"the frog is scarey at Halloween!" 

You can stick them on the fridge, and they glow in the dark!  Travis thought she got the better part of the deal.

Christmas Eve

With icy rain forecast for tonight, we didn't even seriously consider driving up to church tonight.  But we had a lovely evening together, and the kids are so excited about tomorrow morning!

This was in the Daily Office reading today and I liked it....

"Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God.
Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;
for God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven.
For God will give you evermore the name,
‘Righteous Peace, Godly Glory’.

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;
look towards the east,
and see your children gathered from west and east
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that God has remembered them.
For they went out from you on foot,
led away by their enemies;
but God will bring them back to you,
carried in glory, as on a royal throne.

For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,
so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.
The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God’s command.
For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him."

(Baruch 5: 1-9)

Have a joyous Christmas!

No Church Today, But We Played in the ...

Yup.  The snow.  Snow is lovely, and I would be pleased to have some more for Christmas, and maybe even on New Year's.  But then I think that will be enough.  As a novelty it is wonderful, but as a regular thing it would be a drag.  Our van and our dog share my opinion (except that they don't appreciate it even as a novelty).


Above is a view from the park across the street, where the kids and I played today.

They slid individually and together, and crashed most satisfactorily every which way.

It is just inevitable.

But they seem to enjoy the crashing as much as the sliding.

Travis said, "Look Mom!  Brain freeze!" 

They even talked me into sliding.  Turns out, it's fun!  Much faster than I expected, too.

Sliding individually, they still managed to wind up in a heap.

Bumper sleds!  See, Daddy!  It's not just for kayaks!

Just look at the wind streaming through Katie's hair!  Like lightning she is!

The kids were disappointed about the pageant, but it was a good day anyway.

And We've Still Got Snow!

This morning the kids got out of bed and eagerly checked to see if the snow was still there.  It was, and more had shown up in the night.  Katie could hardly wait to go out and build her snowman.  Travis was a little slower starting, but he eventually pitched in and helped.

That is Ed, not Travis.  He has previous snowman experience and helped Katie get started.

There he is.  Travis believes in taking Saturday mornings slowly.

Harry, looking disapproving.  Actually, Harry and I spent quite a while this afternoon sitting in the dining room and looking out at the birds.  I put out stale bread spread with peanut butter as well as the sunflower seeds and we had quite a gathering of squirrels and birds -- even two crows. 

Be has been very unhappy about the snow.  He thinks that if it touches his tummy it is excessive. 

There is my snow covered fence.

And here is Eeyore Bo and Mr. Snowman.

He is a very loveable snowman.

This afternoon we braved the roads to go into town to Belks to buy Ed something for Christmas.  Now all the shopping is done, as well as the baking and mailing.  Which just leaves cleaning (maybe!) to do, cinnamon rolls to bake, reading together and listening to music, and happy puttering. 

The only downside of all this lovely snow is that our church Christmas pageant has been cancelled.  Actually, church is completely cancelled tomorrow, because the priest can't get there and they (the people who decide these things) are afraid that the roads will be really dangerous up there tomorrow morning and they don't want members of the congregation trying to get in to a special service and getting smashed up (it is a very small congregation -- we need to keep everyone we have!).  So I will never know whether is would have been a rousing success or an unparalleled disaster.  Or something in between, I suppose.  I am inclined to think it would have gone well.

No presents under the tree yet (they are on the hearth for now), but I found a fat sleeping Harry there this evening. 

Our First Snow Storm!

For the last few days we've been seeing weather predictions about a coming snow storm and feeling just a bit skeptical.  Each of our winters here we've had snow, but never very much.  A Snow Storm sounds so Dramatic.  I picture Pa Ingalls clinging to the rope strung from the house to the barn, unable to see his hand in front of his face.  Well, Pa could definitely see his hands in our snow storm, not to mention the barn, house, and trees, but there is quite a satisfactory quantity of snow coming down.

(This is what it looks like now.  Only not quite so blurry.)

(See!  Pa could even just see the distant beacon of light from the corner store window, in case he thought it would be more fun to buy MoonPies and Dr. Pepper than milk those everlasting cows.  Again.) 

And a tour of our snowy yard would be incomplete without this... the birdy hot tub!  Bird seed has been going fast here all day, but the real draw is the water, still liquid despite the chilly air, which is heated with a special little heater given to us a couple years ago by my old college roommate, Darcy (Dr. Darcy now!).  It really does beat the socks off prying out a big chunk of ice and traipsing in and out of the house slopping water from the pitcher all over the place.

So, we have snow.  Of course, the kids didn't believe it would last more than a couple hours and couldn't wait to go out and slide around.  Their normally razor sharp focus on learning was, in fact, so dulled by the thought of snow that I gave up and let them go early.

There wasn't much snow when they first went out.  Not enough to make a snow man, but the perfect amount to make a snow demon.  (You can't see in the picture, but its eyes are red -- quite terrifying!)

Then they collected enough snow to fill the wheel barrow.  The rake is to get down all the snow off the garage roof so it can be put in with the rest of the collection.  I don't explain, I just report.

Then they found the snow shovel that Ed bought today.  The man at the hardware store told him that he had not sold any shovels for four or five years, but he sold four today.  I told Ed to save the receipt, but I guess it is too late now.  Travis scraped the snow off the top of the van with the shovel until I saw him and explained that that wasn't a good idea.  Then Katie clonked Travis on the head with it, probably accidentally.  Winter fun.

Then Ed took the kids across the street to slide down the (small) hill.  I claimed the "I did it last year" exemption, but Ed is smart.  He drove over and sat in the car while the kids played.  Which meant that they stayed out long enough to turn red as lobsters and were satisfied (and chilled) enough not to want to go out again today.

And then we got them dried and defrosted and gave them hot cocoa.  We didn't check off all our assignments today (though I make no promises that we won't tomorrow!), but it was still very good.

And have I mentioned that Katie has become a reader of romances? 

She has been reading These Happy Golden Years, and comes to read the most exciting, romantic bits aloud to me.  I love being read to!

Too Much Cuteness

Two videos for you today, one from Amy Welborn at Charlotte Was Both, and the other from my aunt (who is blogless).

Katie and I watched this one quite a few times, ooohing and aaahing each time (Travis wasn't so impressed).

Travis says this one is "waaay better than the baby video!" I'll let you judge...