Happy Birthday C!!!!

C turned 6 last week, but the grand celebrations have spanned the last two weeks.  Who said having a birthday so close to Christmas puts you at a disadvantage?!? :)

We kicked off the festivities the Friday before his birthday when J, G, and I surprised C at school for lunch and bearing yummy Krispy Kreme glazed donuts for their class dessert!  Normally, we would have planned this for closer to his actual birth date, but that was the last week of school before break and proved too difficult to schedule.  Not to worry, my boy doesn't mind getting his pre-celebration on :)

Like I mentioned here, my parents came up the night before C's actual birthday to attend his Christmas Program for school.  After the performance, we all went to one of C's favorite restaurants to celebrate.  C was SUPER excited to find out that he was going to skip the last day of school and head back to spend the weekend with my folks!  

When C returned from my parents house, we had a little Lego birthday party with some close friends.  

Nothing too fancy, we played "Guess how many Legos in the jar" and had a tower building race.  But I think the kids most enjoyed just playing Legos and making "creations." :)

The requested birthday "cake" was actually a Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie!

Happy Birthday, C!!!!

Pre-Christmas Stuff

This Christmas season has proven to be the most exciting and most exhausting one to date :)  The kids are both eagerly anticipating and fully participating in all of the standard pre-Christmas activities!

Here are a few pictures from the night we procured the Christmas Tree... 

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the decorating process because I was up to my elbows in two 1/2 working strands of lights.  The tips of my  right index finger and thumb are just now regaining feeling from the zillions of light-bulbs that I tested.  In the end, I was able to restore one strand to fully functioning.  The other strand...well, I just used the 1/2 that worked on the very top part of the tree left needing lights and balled up the 1/2 non-working end and threw them behind the tree.  Not my best moment :)

Here are two of my new favorite ornaments - both made by C this year at school.

The first is supposed to be a Celtic Cross

This one is a butterfly

Last Thursday, my parents came up and we went to see C's Christmas Program.  Here is the big boy before his big performance.

G all dolled up for the big performance in her typical stance (hands on hips)....no idea where she gets THAT from :)

SUCH a goof-ball!

Dad and G waiting to leave

 

C in his costume all ready to sing (with his class) "Silent Night" and " Away in a Manger."  Cutest goat EVER!

It was a cute program with a great message of how Jesus' birth fulfilled all the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah.  I have pictures of the actual program, but didn't feel right about posting pictures of other people's kids without their permission.

After the performance, we went out to eat to celebrate C's 6th birthday (the following day), and then the kids went back home with my parents so that J and I could attend his work Christmas party out of town Friday night.  I was feeling pretty crummy about not seeing C on his birthday, but when he found out that he was going to miss the last day of school AND spend the weekend with Papa and Grandma, he was ecstatic!  I think he thought it was part of his birthday present :)

J and I enjoyed our time away.  It was kinda fun getting all dressed up :)

And can I just say that I have a rather unhealthy affection for the shoes I bought for this event.  Not only these brand-new designer shoes SUPER cool (so much so that I was uncertain if I could pull them off :), but I scored them for $9.00 at a local consignment store.  LOVE! :)

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

Last night G and I joined some friends from church for caroling at our local nursing home. [J and C were unable to attend because C is recovering from a cold + ear infection.] This is our second year joining the caroling group.  I can’t express just how AWESOME this is!  As part of a younger generation, it is easy to dismiss this tradition as corny, but that is not the sentiment of the wiser among us. More than a few of our older friends came to their doors (walkers and wheelchairs in tow) to sing with us, grinning from ear to ear. A few with tears in their eyes as they sung of the Savior's birth.  

Toni and a new friend that came out to sing with us.

The Ekey boys on a mission - handing out Christmas Cards made by the kids at church last Sunday.

The band of carolers

The smallest among us didn't know most of the words, but were GREAT at handing out Christmas Cards, "Merry Christmas" wishes, and a few sweet hugs!

Our fearless leaders :)

This is among the top 2 or 3 of my very favorite Christmas traditions! I urge you to do this with your friends and family and see for yourself...you WILL be blessed! A big thanks to Toni and Jack for rocking it out with us [read: covering up my B-A-D singing with their mad musical skillz :]

BTW - if you are looking for a Christmas song to make you smile - check this one out by TobyMac it makes me dance no matter where I am:  the house, the Silver Bullet, even on the treadmill...which probably isn't going to work out too well for me considering my propensity toward clumsiness...guess I'd better start using that magnet clippy thing that stops the treadmill if you pull the magnet off :)

Lost In Translation: No Honor For Auggie

This morning the kids and I were reading about the events leading up to Jesus' birth in their children's Story Bible.  Included in our chapter was the part where Caesar Augustus decreed that everyone go to their own town to be registered.  The chapter concluded with this statement:

"While Caesar, the king of the Roman world, was showing everyone how great he was by counting all of his people.  God, the king of the universe, was showing the world how great he was by sending his Son into the world as one of his people." (The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm)

After reading this passage, I stopped and asked C if he noticed any differences between how Caesar was acting and how God was acting and what that might mean for how we should/should not act.  [I know, not the most eloquent phrasing on my part, but I think he got the gist :]

His response:

"Caesar Disgustus was bragging and God was not."

HA!  That's funny stuff!  

And lest you think that we make a habit of poking fun at Bible bad guys as a family pastime...fear not...we don't.  No, I'm pretty sure this little slip was solely influenced by C's INTENSE hatred of all things "salad" related :)

And after a little chuckle, I did remind him of the correct pronunciation.

For Posterity's Sake

Look at the cool quilt that Mrs. Brenda made C for his birthday!

The front of the quilt is "pieced" with fabric swatches she salvaged from J's childhood clothes mixed with new swatches she bought that expresses C's interests.  I love the orange lion in the middle - it is the applique from J's baptism outfit...AWWWW! :) And where else are you going to see a California Raisin (3rd square from the right on the top row) AND a functional pocket off a pair of authentic old-school "JAMS" shorts (middle of top row)?!?  LOVE it!

The back is one big railroad track picture!

C is one VERY happy boy!

Thank you, Grandma Brenda!

Helping Hands

I had a little help with the Thanksgiving Cornbread Dressing this year...

She took her job very seriously and did a REALLY good job...I'd hazard to guess there have never been more uniformly torn, carefully measured bread crumbs to go into a dressing recipe... EVER :)

Give Thanks

Over the last 6 weeks or so C's class has been memorizing a verse or two at a time of Psalm 136.  They worked all the way up to Psalm 136:1-9! You might think this would be a difficult task for a 5 year old...apparently that's not the case :)  I think they practiced at school some - not sure of the exact details since getting C to tell me what he does at school is like pulling teeth - he SUCH a boy! :)  Outside of school, we just reviewed the verses a couple of minutes each morning in the Silver Bullet on our way to school.  And wha-la - the kid has it memorized.  (Oddly enough, the same can't be said for me.  I still have to "cheat" and look at the paper...I guess that's the difference between a fresh 5 year old brain and my much less fresh 33 year old brain :)

Oh well...despite my inability to keep up with C's mad memorization skillz, I have REALLY enjoyed started each week-day for the last 6 weeks with this reminder to "give thanks." 

Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

2Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

3Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

4to him who alone does great wonders,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

5to him who by understanding made the heavens,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

6to him who spread out the earth above the waters,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

7to him who made the great lights,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

8the sun to rule over the day,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

9the moon and stars to rule over the night,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

Yesterday, all the kindergartner's recited what they had memorized together for the parents and then sang/signed "Give Thanks" in front of the other Lower School Students at chapel.  Very moving!

Give Thanks

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

I'm so proud of C!  He did very well and even managed to resist the temptation to cut-up with a little friend sitting right next to him (not an easy task for a fun-loving, playful kid :)  

Happy Thanksgiving!