The TRUE meaning of Christmas....

...Okay, I could pretend that it is ME doing the teaching and my KIDS doing the learning, but today I realized for sure that it is the other way around! I don't know what happened that made me look at my Nativity Set a little differently today, but what a great lesson I learned!

First, lets look closely at this picture. If you can't see for sure, I'll point some things out:
1. We are missing the angel--it was dropped last year and broken to a million little pieces. We replaced it with the star thing.
2. The donkeys ear is missing (and the one that is still there is super-glued on).
3. You may notice that the manger is quite small compared to everything else--that is because it is the manger that belongs to the cheap $5 nativity set that I bought for the kids to play with last year. When the real manger was broken to a million pieces, we replaced it with this extra small one.
4. And the best for last--Baby Jesus is also of a much smaller scale (because yes, the real Baby Jesus was broken into a million pieces as well, and replaced by the cheap $5 set's Baby Jesus).....also take note that even this Baby Jesus is missing both arms and is hanging upside down off of Mary's lap.

So you might have guessed that my purchase of the little $5 Nativity Set didn't work. My little kiddos cannot keep their hands off of my beautiful, hand-painted Nativity Set. Perfect example: look at the sheep (the larger one came with my nice set, and the small one from the $5 set). Joseph and one of the Wise Men are holding the sheep so that they can see Baby Jesus better. Another good example: it's hard to tell in the picture, but despite all of the extra room on my front table, every figure is as close to Baby Jesus as is physically possible. He is usually completely surrounded on all sides but I moved a couple of people to take this picture.

I am sad to say that I didn't realize how "cute" this is until today.......it really hasn't seemed cute at all. Honestly, every time I walk by my front table and see the all of the figures re-arranged AGAIN, I think "Aaugh! Why can't my kids play with their little set and leave mine alone????!" Then I re-arrange it the way I like it and I say "You guys PLEASE stop playing with my Nativity set!" Does that sound like the TRUE spirit of Christmas or what?

So today, the girls were at school, Isaac was having an extra long nap, I was getting lots of things done and feeling un-hurried for the first time in a few days! And when I walked by my front table and noticed the scrunched up, re-arranged Nativity Set, I actually paused for a second and just looked....and realized:
1. Being un-hurried allows for some very important realizations.
2. I'm going to miss this someday.
3. Material things don't matter. Nice expensive, hand-painted set = cheap $5 set in a child's eyes. They go together perfectly and the more the merrier!
4. Physical appearance doesn't matter. It's okay if the donkey only has one ear, and even if Baby Jesus is missing both arms, He is still just as special!
5. The closer to Jesus, the better. That is the TRUE meaning of Christmas!

Thank you my sweet little kiddos for teaching me what this season is really about! I just love your little mischievious hands so much and I'll try to remember that every day!

Happy Birthday to Isaac!

Isaac officially turned TWO years old! November 15th was the big day.....the family came over and we celebrated with a little "dirt" cake and ice cream. Actually I made some pumpkin dessert for the adults and filled the tractor full of chocolate cake crumbles and some gummy worms for the kids. The pumpkin dessert wasn't my most successful attempt ever--I think we all would have opted for the dirt and gummy worms if we'd had enough. It was a hit with Isaac, for sure. He goes to sleep each night with a truck in his death-grip, so this was right up his alley.


Like I mentioned, he likes trucks a lot. This is all he did all night long (below). The first present he opened had this little skidster being pulled by a truck and a trailer. He threw the truck and trailer in the corner and wouldn't even touch his other two presents. So Madison and Emma opened them while Isaac put cake and ice cream in the skidster and dumped it various places. Great company for the guests, Isaac!

I'm sure the flame had him fascinated more than anything, but I had to wonder what kind of wishes might go through his cute little two-year-old mind....

Isaac and Grady are so cute together. Sometimes Isaac has a hard time SHARING.....but they had fun playing trucks together as long as Isaac got to keep his precious skidster.

Since my last post about Isaac's vocabulary, he has quadrupled his word list. He has also quadrupled his use of the word "mine" only it sounds like "MY! MY! MY!" over and over again all day long. He really believes he owns everything in his sight. He likes to show off for people by running around like crazy, screaming his little high-pitched scream and trying a summer-sault or two. He LOVES to read, and always has to be sitting in someone's lap while reading. He cannot share your lap, either, we have learned. He especially likes his little animal book--he gets so excited when he turns the page to see a "NEIGH! NEIGH!" (aka horse). Isaac's favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. I've tried to get him to eat vegetables and he is the worst in our family so far. But if you give him a big pile of sour cream to dip stuff in, he'll eat just about anything! In fact, he usually ends up just spooning the sour cream straight into his mouth--forget about the dippping. He is ALWAYS happy, always has a smile on his face. And definately ALL boy--spending most of the day with three females does not rub off on him at all.....his world is dirt and toilets, trucks, mischief, bothering his sisters, anything BOY. Except that he does favor a little pink and purple blanket more than any of the others. And I did mention that he won't go to sleep without a truck in his hands. He's just a really cute, funny, interesting, unique, and happy little boy! I don't know what we would do without him! Happy birthday to our little Isaac--we love you so much!

My Cute Little Boy....

.....Is growing up way too fast. I've been trying so hard to take in every moment lately, but time is still passing way too fast. He will turn two next month! Lately he is just SOOO CUTE and I want to remember these little things!


This is how he sleeps most of the time. I love his little feet sticking out underneath. And you can see the bottle in the background....yes, he is almost two and still has a bottle at bedtime. We got rid of his binky, but still haven't quite dealt with the bottle yet. He is my baby, and the only time he'll let me hold him anymore is when he drinks his bottle!

Isaac loves to go places--mostly because driving means passing a lot of really cool vehicles.....particularly "GUCKS"......which means "Trucks" in Isaac language. That is all we hear when we are in the car--he doesn't just say it, he SCREAMS "guck!!!....."guck!!!" every 5 seconds. Except of course, when he sees a really extra super cool truck--maybe one with a huge trailer attached or something.....then he whispers "wow, guck....wow, guck" with such respect. So cute. I know what I'm getting him for Christmas for sure.

Speaking of Isaac language, here are a few of his favorite words:

"Goook" = cookie

"Da Gog" = all gone

"Wa da?!" = what's that?!

"woof woof woof" = dog

"roar" = any other kind of animal

......well, of course "No!" is right at the top of the vocabulary, and then mama and daddy....and that is about it! I know he's a little slower with the whole talking thing, because he has two sisters who say everything for him! But every day he jabbers more and more with so much expression. I love the sound of jabbering!

Isaac still loves to "cook," still unloads all of my pots and pans and lids out of the cupboard and fills them with a whole bag of cereal or dirt or garbage or whatever he can find to "stir". Every morning when I get him out of his crib, he runs to the kitchen and goes straight to the waffle iron or the pancake griddle. So basically I make a lot of waffles and pancakes because I'm a sucker. And at 6:30 in the morning, it's usually just Isaac and I....so he does all the stirring and we have our little bonding time.

Madison and Emma taught Isaac how to catch a bug by trapping it underneath a little tupperware bowl....the other day while the girls were at school, I came down the hall and found a few little tupperware bowls upside down on the carpet. When I picked them up, each one had a little dead box elder bug underneath. I thought it was so cute!

And yes, the toilet is still his friend. Every once in awhile he decides he needs some water to "stir" into his pots so he goes to the toilet to get it. Today he walked out with a bottle full of water and a straw inside. He was drinking the water through the straw and so proud that he got his own bottle! Yep, the toilet had signs all around it of Isaac's recent visit. I know that is SOOO gross! I try not to let that happen, but every once in awhile.....maybe a little toilet water here and there will build his immune system.

So anyway, there are a few of my favorite Isaac things lately. Just tonight before bed Emma said to Madison, "I'm so glad we got our little Isaac boy," and Madison said, "Yeah, he sure is a funny little guy." We're all so glad to have him!