Wow...Narnia!

I have been reading The Chronicles of Narnia to my kids. It was recommended at my church to read the book before seeing it at the movies. I wondered why the church so supported the book...now I know. I don't even know how to write down the feelings that are in my heart from having finished this book tonight...reading it to Madison, Patrick and Carter. I knew early in the book that the Queen of Narnia depicted Satan. As we read the last few chapters tonight, I saw the story of Christ played out in the character of Aslan. It was so wonderfully written and so tore at my heart that my throat tightened as I fought tears to get through it. I didn't see Aslan as I read, I saw Christ being bound and beaten. I didn't see the character of Edmond, but myself, a sinner in need of salvation. The writer had me inside every character, as much as I could possibly have been.The greatest thing happened when Madison stopped me and said, "Mama, this sounds like the story of Christ." I was not going to point it out to them. I wanted it to be revealed to them....I needed them to see the correlation and they did. She and Patrick really got it. I am totally in awe at what C.S. Lewis created in The Chronicles of Narnia. I know that many will read it and only see the surface of what is there, but it is so much deeper than what the words say.
We are taking the kids to see the movie Saturday, and I so hope that it does the book justice. If not, I will be all the more glad that I read it to them first.

Christmas 2005

We have had a wonderful Christmas! Jeff is off of work this week, so we are enjoying some family time together.
We went to my dad's on Christmas Eve to spend time with my family. All of my sisters were there with their families as well as my brother and his girlfriend. There were about 20 of us there...a full house!
Christmas morning was as magical as it always is with the kids. Madison got up a couple of times in the night, but didn't wake us. They all stayed in their rooms and waited until we got them up at 6:00. It was fun.
We went to Jeff's parent's for lunch with his family. We ate and exchanged gifts and then came back home for the evening.
I just love Christmas and the week after so much. I love playing with the kids and spending time with Jeff. I thank God for them as well as all of our extended family. If ever there is a time that I realized how fortunate I am, it is now.

Christmas Fun

We enjoyed some Christmas fun today with our neighbor, Josh. They were so excited to get to open their first Christmas gifts. Josh's mom knew just what we all love....games!
I made cupcakes for the kids and let them spray them with the cool spray paint we found for cakes. It was very messy, as you can imagine, so we did them out on the deck. They weren't interested in eating the cupcakes afterwards. The fun was in painting them!
Tonight, we had our Frosty night. We have special "Frosty treats" that we make on this night. We have the Frosty DVD, so we watched Frosty and Frosty Returns. It has always been their favorite Christmas show. We are all looking forward to Christmas. The kids make it so fun!

13 Years

Here we are 13 years ago!
Jeff and I are celebrating our anniversary today.
He came to me this morning before he left...he had to sing this morning.....and told me that he had been looking at the kids in their sleep thinking about what we had made together in the last 13 years. It is true. It’s not just about them, but through them we have grown closer and learned alot about ourselves. They are a product of us and our lives together.
I feel very blessed!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Today is Jeff's 36th birthday. He woke me up this morning with breakfast made...shouldn't I have been cooking breakfast for him?!? We stayed home all day and just relaxed with the kids. Jeff's mom and dad offered to keep the kids so we could go out, but we just wanted to stay home. If we choose to go out alone, it would be tomorrow night...our anniversary. Yep, December is a very busy month for us.
Happy birthday Jeff!!! I hope you had a good day!

Creativity

Today we studied insects in Science. I put out poster board, crayons, pipecleaners, and all sorts of other craft materials and had them come up with a make believe insect. I told them that they had to give it a special feature, just as all insects have a special something that make them unique.
I was so pleased with what they came up with. Carter drew a Pogo Stick Insect that is able to jump very far and fast to get away from predators.
Patrick came up with a Hypnotic Hyperturbo Vampire Bug that is able to hypnotize its prey and suck its blood.
Madison made a big, pretty bug that she named the Beautiful Bug that lures its prey in with its beauty.
They all did so good at coming up with the insects on their own and explaining them so well. I was proud of them.
Last night, we made a robot out of toilet paper rolls. Madison has been saving them to make something out of, and we found a precious robot design. I think it turned out pretty good....for toilet paper rolls :).

The Chronicles of Narnia

We received a wonderful handout today at church concerning "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. There are discussion questions that you can use to see how much of the movie your children comprehended and how each one perceived it.
There is a link to the recipe for Turkish Delight, a treat that plays a significant role in the story. The handout recommends that you read the book with your children before going to see the movie. I had mixed feelings about this. While I don't want to ruin the element of surprise that having never seen the movie can bring, I also know that after reading a book that it is very exciting to think of watching it played out before your eyes.
We decided to get the book. We bought it at our church's bookstore today. Jeff was worried that I wouldn't be able to read it all to them while the movie was still out. He should know me better than that :). There are 17 chapters. I sat down with the kids to read a few of them tonight and didn't stop until we had finished chapter 8. Even then, the kids begged me to read more. The book is very well written and keeps you wanting to read more. I hope the movie does the same. I'm sure we will finish the book tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to make the Turkish Delight.

Christmas Parties

We had the kids' home school group Christmas party at the skating rink today. We baked little cookies with Christmas trees and made chocolate snowmen to take. The kids had a great time, and I enjoyed seeing all of our new friends again.
This evening, Jeff and I went to his work Christmas party. I missed it last year, so it was good to see everyone again. It always makes me appreciate Jeff more to be around the people he works with. It makes me realize all over again that, while I am fortunate enough to be home with the kids each day, that he is out working so that I can.
It was nice to get out with him alone. We did a little shopping afterwards and just enjoyed the time together. His mom had the kids so we knew that they were having a good time. Now that the parties are over, we can just concentrate on our time together. We are still trying to decide what ornaments to make for this year. I think picking them out is about as much fun as making them :).
We are looking forward to a day at home tomorrow. I so need to do some shopping for Christmas, but I think that I will put it off a little longer!

The Tree Is Up!

Now it feels like Christmas!
I hope that I am always surrounded by children at Christmastime. They just make everything funner.
Jeff and I took the kids to eat at Cracker Barrel Sunday afternoon and then spent the rest of the day putting up our tree and decorating the living room. We just took our time and enjoyed it.
I am so amazed at how many homemade ornaments that we have. We took them out first and put them on the tree and hardly had room for the others. Before long, we will have to leave the others out. I'm excited to pick out the ones that we will make this year.
Like every year, the kids slept on the floor in the living room last night so they could be close to the tree. They watched Christmas shows until they fell asleep.
I loved letting them sleep in. It has been 2 months since we started home schooling, and I still feel blessed every morning not to have to wake them up and rush them out the door. Every other year they have counted down the days until the two week Christmas break. Now, it doesn't matter so much. They are already home!

Happy Birthday Carter

We had a great day! We spent the morning relaxing and playing. This afternoon, we ate lunch at the mall, and then the kids climbed the big rock. Carter was so excited to finally reach the top of side two! By the time he reached the top, he had a small crowd cheering him on. Afterwards, we played with the toys in Radio Shack and then bought lots of candy at the candy store.
Tonight we had the grandparents over for cake and gifts. Jeff and I got Carter a guitar. He was so excited about his "real" guitar. Jeff is going to start giving him lessons. Carter is so fun to buy for. He gets so excited over the smallest things.
It has been a wonderful day. Just to think that if they were still in school, Carter would have been sitting in a classroom all day instead of climbing rocks at the mall on his birthday!

Crazy Week

It seems like something has happened every day this week to stop us from having a normal school day.
Monday, my sister had an outpatient procedure done. Thank God that she is okay and the news was good.
Wednesday, I had to go to the dr. with a bladder infection that I have suffered with for a week. I have never had one, and I never want another.
We did most of the kids' school stuff in the afternoon on the two days that we weren't able to do it that morning. That worked out pretty good, but they are most attentive in the morning.
Today is Carter's birthday!! My baby is 7 today...that is so hard to believe. We will not have school today. I have always hated sending the kids to school on their birthday and now I don't have to. I am able to be with them and make the day fun! What a blessing to be able to do that!