Journey to Bethlehem

We had the really cool experience to walk through a live nativity.  A local church does it for one weekend every two years, and this was the first time we went.  It was so much more than a nativity though.  At the entrance they gave everyone coins to pay their taxes once they reached Bethlehem.  Along the way there they narrated each scene of Joseph and Mary, and they even had live animals.  Standing there looking at the little donkey at 8 1/2 months pregnant, sure made me grateful for Mary and what she went through to bring Christ into the world.  She must have been so miserable.  I wonder if she complained.  Probably not.  I do an awful lot of complaining and have a lot of anxiety about the upcoming delivery, but I have the comforts of a warm hospital and plenty of nurses and doctors to care for me and the baby.  She had none of that.  And while I'll drive 15 minutes in my comfortable car to the hospital, she had a long trip on the back of a donkey only to arrive and have to deliver in a stable, surrounded by animals.  Did her feet drag on the ground?  Her whole body must have been killing her.  She must have been an incredible woman.  I can't begin to imagine.

 

So once we reached Bethlehem we paid our taxes and walked through a big marketplace.  All the actors were really into it, and the kids just loved seeing all the cool booths, and they even had a well and the whole ground was covered in straw.  We were really impressed.  Anyway, we passed by the angels and the wise men, who gave us gifts to give to the baby Jesus, and then we reached the stable.  The story of the Savior's birth is just incredible to me.  What a beautiful scene.

The kids really loved it too.  They asked to go through it again, and we would have if it hadn't been so late.  It's cool to see Jayden really begin to understand more, and to be excited about things like this.  He kept commenting how it was different than he imagined it would be, and way better than he had expected.



Sidney's 4th Birthday

Sidney turned 4 a couple of days ago.  She wanted to go to Chuck-e-Cheese, have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and have a Cinderella cake.  We had a lot of fun at Chuck-e-Cheese, and she even helped me make her cake.  Ever since she turned 4 she wants to try everything, because she's 4 now, so what she couldn't do on her own at 3, she can suddenly do now.  She is so much fun to have around.  She is like a little woman sometimes.  She is super picky about her clothes, loves shoes, if she asks your opinion about something, she'll do the opposite, and when she's really, really mad about something, she slams her bedroom door and locks it.  It's hard not to laugh sometimes.  We're excited to see how she'll be as a big sister.

 

It is so fun to watch her open her presents.  She is so grateful for everything, and no matter what she opened, she said over and over again how beautiful everything was.  Love this little girl!

Sidneyisms

The kids were asking questions on the way home from church about Satan.  One of our answers was that Satan doesn't have a body like we do.  Sidney responded, "So, he just has a head?"  Well that's frightening.  Makes me wonder what other things she processes with her small storage of knowledge.

Turkey Time

My kids have been singing a "Turkey Time" song and it's stuck in my head.  We try to keep our traditions alive as best we can during the holidays, but we have a lot of traditions we have broken over the years due to our many moves.  I think the one tradition we have kept has been going strong for 12 years now.  We spent our first Thanksgiving together while we were dating, and ever since then we have not spent a single one with the same people.  We have spent it with random family members (it's been 7 years since we had it with any family), various friends, alone, and at restaurants.  Let's see how long we can keep it going.

 

We've had a great weekend so far.  I think every week should have 4 day weekends.  We've gotten a lot done around the house and managed to have fun.  Something we started last year was this tree.  Throughout the month we added things we are thankful for.

The kids have been dying to rake up the leaves with Josh.  They spent hours raking and playing in the enormous pile.  We get a lot of leaves from our neighbor's trees.

 Their favorite part was burying Josh and watching him burst out of the pile.

 

We broke out the Christmas decorations and went to cut down our tree.  We can't figure out if Josh isn't allergic to any of the tree types, so we just got the same as last year and put it in a different room.  We don't get to see it as much, it's not by the fire, and it overpowers the room it's in, but he's not suffering like last year, so we'll make do.  Maybe we'll go back to a fake one someday.  We also went to the movies, our tradtion since I was pregnant with Sidney.

 This year Jayden got to help chop it down.

 Josh helped put on the lights and then stood back to watch me and my little helpers.  Poor guy and those dang allergies!

 

Hoping to Adopt

Josh's brother, Jake, and his wife, Lana have recently been approved for adoption.  Like so many couples who are trying to adopt they have been through so much to get to this point.  They are truly an amazing couple and will one day make great parents.  I would trust them with my own kids with no question.  Lana is one of my very best friends.  I never thought I would ever be this close to a sister-in-law, but what would I do without her?  She's the best.  And Jake is pretty great, I can't help but love him too!  He and Josh are very close, they are so much alike.

 

So I'm trying to spread the word as best I can.  Below is a link to their profile.  I know they'll appreciate any help in getting the word out, so if you know anyone who is placing a baby for adoption, or anything at all, please share this link. 

 

 https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/27571174/photoAlbum.jsf

 



Muddy Buddies

They say Christmas comes a little earlier each year, and isn't that the truth for me!  I have been counting down until Christmas for 34 weeks, so the Christmas decor hasn't appeared soon enough in the stores.  When Josh got home from work tonight the kids and I had just finished making muddy buddies and were listening to Christmas music.  I don't care- I'm a little anxious and excited.  And aren't we supposed to have the Christmas spirit in our hearts year round?  I'm totally ok with Christmas music in July too.  Anyway, we had a fun little evening together.  Our nights lately haven't always been that pleasant.  I'm usually tired and just done with the day by the time bedtime hits and the kids are too.  Mostly it's me, I'll admit.  But tonight we were all in really good moods so we made one of our favorite treats.  Yummy!

And you're welcome for this picture.  Jayden asked me why I had chocolate on my shirt.  I had no idea, I can't see down there.  I keep underestimating how big I am and can't stop bumping into everything.  Everything!  It is driving me insane, I swear I have bruises on my belly.  What's also scary is how huge I must appear to my kids from their point of view.



Family Pictures

We had our pictures done by my friend, Katie again this year.  Here are a few of my favorites, I'm trying to limit myself to how many I put up here.