In a Manger He Lay

Several nights ago as we were decorating for Christmas, the children had a wonderful time putting out all of our nativity sets.  Each year they enjoy playing with them which has been a great hands on tool for them learning the Christmas story.  

This year, Benjamin and Catherine even worked together to build a stable.  As Benjamin nailed the roof on and realized one side hung over further than the other, he begged Brian to pull out the saw so he could trim it down.  I reminded him they didn't have saws way back then, that his stable looked great just the way it was.  Not for Benjamin, my child who has to have things perfectly equal.  He quickly replied that today we do have saws, and he wanted to make it just right!

A few days later as Mary Scott was playing with her Little People Nativity set, she had baby Jesus in one hand (better known according to her as baby Anna) and a wise man in the other (her friend, Isabelle).  I asked her what the wise man was bringing to Jesus in the jar he was holding (keep in mind I've been reviewing gold, frankincense & myrrh nearly daily with her), and she quickly replied, "oatmeal!"

And just a couple days ago as Benjamin was playing with his double barreled, suction cup bullet gun he bought at Target with one of his birthday gift cards, I found him shooting the wise men in the very same nativity set.  At first thought I was appalled, but then began to laugh.  Of course any little boy would find a little wise man sitting on the table the perfect "target", right?

I'm sure these are just the start of many memorable tales to remember in regard to Christmas this year.  I'll keep you posted...

A Birthday party for Benjamin

We had fun celebrating with Benjamin last weekend.  We invited several friends over for an afternoon of football, just what Benjamin desired for his birthday party.  In all, there were 8 boys who split up into 2 teams...ACC against SEC (imagine that!).  Brian was the referee, yellow flag and all.  The boys had a great time playing football, from the moment they arrived until the party was over.  I had snacks and an ice cream cake - not a single snack or piece of cake was eaten by one of the boys.  All they wanted was to play football!  And that's exactly what they did.  Fun was had by all. 

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Our firstborn, a son, came to us on November 29th, 1999.  Forever our lives were changed in such a wonderful, powerful way.  The amazing love that overwhelmed my heart as I held our precious Benjamin for the first time - I can't even describe it.  

It's hard for me to believe Benjamin just celebrated his 9th birthday.  Where have the years gone? It seems it was just yesterday he was learning to walk as Brian and I clapped for joy in amazement of his accomplishment.  Then when he was 4 he asked Jesus into his heart, and I wept tears of joy to the Lord thanking Him for answering our prayers for Benjamin's salvation.  And now we're clapping and cheering for him as he goes for a goal in soccer, dribbles down the court in basketball, swings with all his might at a baseball or runs for a touchdown in flag football.  Indeed, the years have gone by so quickly.

Benjamin is a wonderful son - passionate, full of energy, fast thinker, natural leader, bright, great reader, good athlete, determined.  I celebrate the 9 years he and I have grown together, me as a mother, him a son, brother, friend.  I pray the Lord will cause his heart to be tender to HIS ways and full of compassion for others, all the days of his life.

Benjamin, I am so proud of you and the young man you are becoming.  I love the way you embrace life with every ounce of  your being.  The Lord loves a heart passionate for HIM.  I am excited to see how HE will use you in mighty ways to accomplish much for HIS kingdom.  I LOVE YOU, BUDDY!

Anna Rolled Over

For the books:  Anna rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time on Thursday, December 4th (5 months and 1 week old).  She has done it several times since and gets this sweet little smile like she is so proud of herself.  Unfortunately she also has her first ear infection (not a first I'm excited to mention).  She's been on antibiotics since Monday so I'm hoping she'll be back to chipper within the next day or so and will start sleeping better at night once her ears aren't hurting.

Mary Scott Said Farewell to Her "Pappy"

This one is worth documenting... Mary Scott has been passy free since Tuesday, November 25th.  Originally, the plan had been to take away "pappy" the day after Mary Scott's third birthday (January 26th).  Benjamin and Catherine both said good-bye to theirs at that time so we planned to follow suit.  But Mary Scott had gotten really bad eczema on her face, especially around her mouth, so we told her she had to give her mouth a break from "pappy" so her face could heal.  Amazingly, she was very willing.  So after 3 days of healing and her asking only a few times for it, Brian and I decided we shouldn't allow her to have it anymore.  I told him I felt like we needed to be honest with her and let her know she wouldn't be getting it back.  We laughed at the thought of her being 5 and us still saying, "Your mouth is still healing so you can't have pappy."  We gently informed her that she had done great without her passy so she was clearly a big girl who didn't need it any more.  And we asked her if she would like to give them to baby Anna.  Lo and behold, she said she would.  Then to top it all off, when we arrived home from our Thanksgiving travels, she found her bag and began digging through it.  I asked her what she was doing and she responded, "I'm getting out my pappies so I can give them to Anna."  I was astonished.  She has since allowed Anna to suck them and not once has she tried to put it back in her own mouth.  AMAZING!

As I see her in her panties, no passy in her mouth and her vocabulary and conversations growing by the day, I'm reminded of how quickly my precious Mary Scott is growing up into a beautiful little girl still full of life and laughter.

GEORGIA TECH BEATS GEORGIA!

The Yellow Jackets proved victorious over the Bulldogs in their battle the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It had been several years since GT had beaten UGA in their annual rival game.  It was a fun game to watch.  Although Brian was recovering from a stomach virus which kept him up most of Friday night (graciously passed from Benjamin who was sick Thanksgiving day), he mustered up the energy to cheer on his alma-mater.  We had a great time watching the game with my cousin, Jana, and her husband, Shamus.  Shamus also graduated from GT so it was exciting to have another fan in the room.  Usually  Brian has to battle a bunch of UGA fans the whole time being his brother, Mark, and sister, Katie Beth, both graduated from Georgia.  To top it all off, most of my family graduated from UGA.  And let's just say Georgia fans can be a little over the top (lol).  But it was the year for the Jackets.  Final score... 45 to 42.  A great game and great fellowship... great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

The Day after Thanksgiving 2008

We hit the road by mid-morning the day after Thanksgiving not to go hang with the crazy shoppers but to go visit my Grandma (Dad's mom).  It was another chance to visit with family and thankfully get to see my dad and Tonia.  We had a nice day catching up on the latest happenings of our individual lives.  Unfortunately we don't get to see one another often so there's always a lot of catching up to do.  Grandma had had surgery a few days before so a lot of the day we all gathered in her bedroom so she could be comfortable.  It proved to be a nice quiet place to talk.  And of course we did some eating.  It seems when it comes to my family, some of our best memories happened as we gathered around the table at meal time.  

THANKSGIVING DAY 2008

My mind is overwhelmed at the thought of counting the things in my life for which I'm thankful.  Sometimes I find myself asking the Lord... "why have you blessed me so?"  Then my mind is quickly filled with thoughts from Him, especially the simple yet complex truth that HE LOVES ME.  And that alone causes the Lord to desire good for me.  Sometimes I think we find it easy to praise God and feel blessed as long as no challenges or hardships are staring us in the face.  Yet I'm realizing that I'm blessed, richly blessed, in spite of these challenges.  Food to eat, a home in which to sleep and stay warm, safety, 4 beautiful and healthy children, an amazing husband, clothes on my back, precious friends, a loving family and the list goes on... all of these are things for which I'm very grateful.  Yet, my richest blessing is that my Lord sent his only son, Jesus, that I, upon believing on him and his truth, may have life forever.  Yes these things on this earth for which I'm truly thankful will one day pass a way.  But this eternal life that I have through the provision of my heavenly father, for that is my richest blessing and the thing for which I'm most thankful.  And I pray that not a single day goes by that I don't praise my precious Lord for the salvation He provided for me... and for you if you choose.

We travelled down to my hometown of Millen for Thanksgiving this year.  We stayed at Nanny's (my mom's mother) as the remodeling is not quite finished on my mom's house.  My brother, Casey, and sister-in-law, Sarah, and their two youngest boys were there, too.  We enjoyed reuniting with our family and enjoyed a great big Thanksgiving meal for lunch.  The day started early for Brian, Benjamin and Casey as they went deer hunting.  Although Benjamin has only been hunting a couple times, he loves it and gets so excited about the chance to go.  He got to go twice Thanksgiving day, deer hunting in the morning and dove hunting in the afternoon.  I appreciated my brother taking him and appreciated Brian going with them, too.  Brian's never been a hunter but is sweet to go with Benjamin since it's something he enjoys.  I think for Benjamin it is the fact you get to take a gun.  He has this amazing infatuation with guns.  Although not while hunting, he got the chance to shoot a rifle while we were there, and it was surely the high light of his day.  It's that boy thing rising up in him... the way God wired him.  So I'm really glad he had the opportunity.