The Christmas Story

We saw this video at church with my parent's yesterday....
SO. CUTE! We all know every good party has glow sticks, right?

(I called the New Zealand accent before I saw the credits...justsoyaknow.) :)

In other news, Miss Chloe took her first communion yesterday. December 26, 2010.

In normal Williams fashion this happened a bit spontaneously...as she is generally in the children's ministry during communion...but since she accepted Christ this summer we thought it was the perfect time.

As the plate is being passed I try to explain what communion is in the simplest form...

I encourage her to hold the piece of bread (I held the grape juice for her) and talk to the Lord...thanking Him for loving her and dieing on the cross for her to forgive her sins and be her friend.

I thought I had done a fairly good job of it until she taps me on the arm and whispers,

"But, Mommy, why are we eating Jesus?"

Looks like we have some tough things to talk about...you know...things like "hating your mother and father" and "eating His body and drinking His blood."

Yep. That should be super easy.

You Still Have Time To Do This

We may have started a new family tradition tonight...

While we have always enjoyed driving around town to look at Christmas lights...we have amped up the fun to super fun.

You still have time to do this...

Go to a dollar store find a silly Christmas trinket that can serve as a 'trophy.'
(Or a few...that way everyone can give an award)

Write a little note. Ours said,

"CONGRATULATIONS! You were voted BEST LIGHTS by the Williams Family 2010"

The Prize

Our panel of judges

Drive around town looking for your very favorites.

Mailbox #1

Then leave your trophy in the mailbox for the family to discover the following day!

Mailbox #2

Parting was sweet sorrow for the littles as the trophies were adorable...but oh what fun to think of the family finding their 'trophy' in the morning!

A few words to the wise:

1. Start early...so your judges stay awake.

2. Try to finish before 10 pm...(ahem...#1) and people start turning their lights off at bedtime.

3. Maybe buy a trophy for your judges.

4. Possibly establish categories: Craziest, Prettiest, Best Theme...

HAVE FUN!!

(and let me know if you do it!)

Dear Santa 2010

Dear Santa,

I know it is a lot to ask, but could I have an American Girl Doll, a bunny, a puppy and a kitty?

I love Santa.
Love,
Chloe

This letter writing business (late as it may be) is funny. Particularly with Chloe. At first she says she just wants the bunny, the puppy and the kitty...Kevin 'reminded' her that she wants the American Girl Doll and toys. To which she replies,

"No, I want the animals...aaaand the doll...aaaand toys. Weeelllll, I want all I can get."

Nice.
Obviously we have done a stellar job of communicating the real Reason for the season.


E-man's letter is a little more direct...yet his requests change daily.

Dear Santa,

I want a crab and Buzz. And a hammer too. And cars.

Love,
Eli

*For the record. We have conversed with our eldest that Santa must check first with parents when requests come for live animals. And this year the 'rents have given a firm 'no' on more pets.

Will God Be There?

In the hustle and bustle of getting ready to go to a Christmas party, Eli is creeping slowly down the ladder of the bunk bed...

Me: Let's hurry, buddy, we don't want to be late for the party.
E: Is it your birthday party?
Me: No, we are celebrating Jesus's birthday.
E: Will God be there?
Me: Well, God will be there because God is always with us. He lives inside our hearts.
E: But will I see Him?

At this point the conversation probably gets abstract beyond comprehension for my little man...but such a good question...

And the answer is yes.

Yes, God will be at our celebrations of the Best Gift Ever...He is invited after all...or at least he should be...help us to make His presence known to our littles.

And, yes. Yes we will see Him. As we open our eyes to see Him, we will see Him all around us...

Give us eyes to see.

My Current Favorite

New Life Goal...

...to participate in a Flash Mob dance.

Just because I think it is so. fun.

Am I the only one that gets that urge to happy cry while watching one of those on Youtube?

Watching the crowd's reactions...raw human emotion...gets me every time.

The Elf on a School Shelf...

Sooooo...



We had a little situation at school today...

Somebody touched the elf!!!


Which apparently is waaay against the rules.


Chloe is devastated.

This Elf on the Shelf may be a bit controversial...some think it is a great motivator for good behavior before the holidays. Others may feel it is detrimental to encourage children to behave well because an Elf is watching rather than behave well because...ummm...it's the right thing to do and we want to please Jesus and be more like Him.

It is all in fun, right?

Well, as stated, Chloe's class has an Elf on the Shelf. She has been very excited about it and completely caught up in the world of 'a magic elf watching her' and 'relaying her good behavior to Mr. Ho Ho Ho.'

Until... somebody touched the elf!

...which makes him lose his magic powers and causes him not to return to the classroom.

Again, devastated.

It was the first thing she told me about when she got in the van.
I commiserated to an acceptable level in my opinion...

Once home, her behavior began to deteriorate, so she was sent to her room to reset...which caused her behavior to further deteriorate. (Viscous cycle.)

Once she was ready to 'talk' (instead of scream and melt down) we discovered the Elf was at the root of her poor behavior...she was SO MAD and SO FRUSTRATED that she lost the fun of the elf because of someone else's poor choice.

But it goes even further...

She is sincerely concerned for the Elf's well being.
Because, not only has he lost his magical powers, he has now lost his ability to return to Santa and now he may 'never, ever, EVER get back to Santa!!" (Poor, Elf!)

Which then brings her to the conclusion that Santa will not find out whether she has been naughty or nice and therefore won't bring her anything for Christmas. Cue another melt down.


In my opinion, this Elf on a Shelf thing has backfired.

We try to console her that Santa has other informants...aka Mom and Dad... and that we are confident that she has, indeed, been a very good girl...

It has helped for the moment...

If he does not return to the classroom, should he 'show up' at our house???
Not gonna lie...a little bit tempted to invite the little dude over...
You know...just 'cause it wasn't fair for the whole class to miss out on the fun...

Torn...