TV Terror

Last week, we rented a new type of movie for the boys to watch. Jonathan had been begging to watch "Monster House", and we were afraid it may be a little too scary until it came highly recommended by one of my aunts, who will remain anonymous. Needless to say we rented it one evening.

Please keep in mind, the scariest movie ever watched by our boys had been Scooby Doo. Jonathan and Aaron did OK with "Monster House", but Caleb had a rough time. When asked if he wanted to watch a little less stressful movie in his room, he refused the offer. He conquered his fears and managed to make it through "Monster House." He kept his position behind the couch during the entire course of the movie, peeking over the top to avoid missing important parts.

Big Brother

This past week has been one of sickness and boredom. The boys have been cooped up for 5 days straight. Jonathan started running fever last Wednesday with a head cold. He missed school through Friday.

Saturday, we thought we would try to go to the zoo. We woke up early, got dressed, and were heading out the door when we noticed Aaron was a little flushed. Of course, our plans changed because he was running fever. We spent a couple sleepless nights as his fever finally dissipated, only to wake up to find Caleb suffering with the same symptoms for a couple more days.

Though our week has been a little rough, we have spent some quality time together as a family. I have tried to be "mother hen" to the boys, feeding, comforting, dispensing medicine, providing a lap to lay on and a blanket to cover up with.

This past Saturday, it really hit me just how much the boys learn how to care for one another by watching me. Jonathan, having recovered from his illness, situated Aaron in our bed with a blanket and a bottle of water. I discovered all three boys piled up in our bedroom. Jonathan was reading a story to Caleb and Aaron. What joy that precious moment brought to my heart!

Super Kitty!

For Family Night this week, we watched Superman Returns. The boys loved it and this was the result: Super Kitty!, created by Aaron and Caleb.

Directly after the movie, they went to their room, found their little beanie baby cat and a Pirates of the Caribbean bandanna, and created this Super Kitty! character.

I must say, they have quite the imagination! Just one more thought I have: When will they begin writing the screenplay for the movie?

12...11...10...9...8

Here are more pics of our Christmas Countdown!

December 13: Caleb was a little disappointed with his pick, Christmas Mice! because he was anticipating opening a Thomas the Train book. He liked it OK anyway!

December 14: Aaron excitedly tore into Froggy's Best Christmas. Froggy is one of our favorite literary characters.

December 15: Jonathan thought it was funny whenever he opened the book he knew Caleb wanted, Thomas Gets a Snowplow.

December 16: The Littlest Christmas Tree was Caleb's selection for the night.

December 17: And finally, we wrapped up our weekend by reading Aaron's book, Max's Christmas.

Thin Ice!

Like most parts of the country, it got cold here last week. In fact, it was cold enough to cover most of the pond behind our apartment with ice. This pond is the main reason we decided to move into these apartments. We love looking at the fish and feeding the ducks right out our back door; however, the ice presented a new challenge.

The first thing that flew out of Jonathan's mouth that morning was "ice-skating!" Not good. I explained in detail the dangers of stepping out on the ice. Don't do it! Wouldn't you know that he just had to try. You can see him in the picture wearing the black coat getting as close as possible. Then, without any warning, I looked up to find him walking out on it! Needless to say, my reaction matched my fear. He got off quickly.

He didn't think it was any big deal, though. He said, "Look, I didn't fall in." Well, I got the bright idea to show him how thin it really was. I eased over to the edge so I could break the ice with my foot. To my surprise, I realized it was quite thick. I began pounding on it with my foot. Suddenly, I broke through. To my great dismay, and the glorious pleasure of my boys, my momentum kept going and my foot plunged beneath the icy surface of the pond. Yep, it was cold! I yelled, they laughed. Hum, maybe it was a lesson I needed to learn.

Thanx!

This Was A First!

Last Saturday we were invited to go skating with some of our new friends Wendy Grissom and her son, Tyler. We met Wendy a few months ago; and she and Tyler starting coming to our small group. Since then, we have all become great friends. As you can see below, we had a great time!




We ate pizza, skated, played arcade games, and won great prizes! One thing I can say for sure, these guys learned to fall with style!

BTW, if you were wondering, Kacey did skate, as you can see; but I opted to be the photographer.

Thanx!

CHEESEburger

Need a good laugh? We caught some of Caleb's crazy antics on camera, and thought we could share them. For the video, just click on the big arrow to catch a small glimpse of Caleb clowning around. Hope you enjoy!


These are some of our favorite shots of him that crack us up, too! He has certainly got a personality of his own!

He is precious when he's goofing around (which is most of the time), pouting, and even sleeping. And yes, he regularly sleeps inside his pillowcase with his pillow!

Still Counting

We are still counting down to Christmas! Here are the latest stories:


December 8: Aaron is great at picking out Christmas song books. This time, he unlocked the magic of Frosty the Snowman.


December 9: Jonathan's unwrapping revealed The Legend of the Christmas Tree.


December 10: Caleb was happy to read Olive, the Other Reindeer, a humorous story about a puppy who thought being a reindeer was her purpose in life.

December 11: Aaron chose another song book to unwrap. One Baby Jesus is a book set to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

December 12: Jonathan's choice is one of my absolute favorites, A Story of Three Trees. This tale perfectly portrays the story of Jesus Christ's birth as the most precious treasure on Earth, His life as the greatest King on Earth, and His death and resurrection as the most excellent witness of God's power on Earth.

Favorite Moments

We wanted to share some of our favorite family moments as of late. These boys are crazy, and keep us laughing. You never know what face or antic you may capture on camera. Check these out!

We love to feed the ducks on the pond right out our back door. Obviously, the ducks like it too!

Another great adventure is camping out in the living room. We don't quite have enough room for our tent, but who needs a tent when you have a great, fluffy pallet to sleep on?

Boys will always be boys. Wrestling is a standard commodity around this house!

Of course, Dad had to join in on that fun. Just wait 'til they get bigger!

This was the result of one night of pumpkins, paint, and probably too much sugar! This was our non-Halloween, Halloween activity.

Every good family night must include food. That is the American way! This is one of our favorite eateries in the Southaven area. It's called Moe's. It's Mexican food! The boys love the salsa, chips, Cherry Coke, and Quesadillas.

Eventually our family nights turn to competitive and friendly gaming. Although we have tremendous amounts of fun and laughs, someone is always bound to get unnerved.

Jonathan was the mighty victor of our Uno challenge.

Aaron smashed us all with the intensity of his decisive victory in Skipbo.

And bringing up the back of the pack is Caleb. Although a formidable foe, he couldn't quite hang with the power of his two older brothers.


As you can see, he was really concerned with this defeat!

17 Days 'Til Christmas!

The boys are having a blast reading all these Christmas books! I think we all look forward to the countdown each night. It's really thrilling to see our boys' eyes light up as they discover each new title. These books may seem to be a pretty small thing, but it is awesome to see the excitement they have in such a small thing as this. They anticipate each night knowing that it holds meaningful time together.

We are now down to 17 more days until Christmas day, but each night is one of celebration for us.

If you are considering starting a new tradition with your own family, we highly recommend this one. We have been having the time of our lives!


December 7: Caleb's pick for the night, Counting Christmas.

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Last night, December 6, Jonathan opened one of our favorite Christmas books, The Legend of the Candy Cane. As we read this book, we learned that the candy cane is a great symbol of the story of Jesus Christ in many ways.

First, turned upside-down, it is shaped like the letter "J", for Jesus' name. Second, it is shaped like a shepherd's staff, for the Great Shepherd. The stripes on a candy cane represent the stripes inflicted upon Jesus for our healing (see Isaiah 53). The red stripes remind us of the blood Jesus shed on the cross; and the white stripes signify the washing away of our sins through His blood, leaving us white with purity.

This book helped to remind us to share "the miracle of Christ's birth, the misery of his death, and the mercy of his love."