The Chirstmas LIGHT turned on...

I decided to take a few days and read the story of Jesus birth to the boys. Today I shared about the 3 wise men coming to give gifts to their king and worship him and Collin said with the most excited voice... "now I know why we celebrate Christmas, I never knew before!!!" He got up from the table leaving his bowl of oatmeal and cereal and began pacing the room... "we give gifts because it is a way to worship Jesus just like the wise men and we sing those songs about the star and the manager and the angels and the three kings because it came from that story!!! And Joseph isn't really Jesus' dad, God is! Joseph is kind of like a super hero because he saved Jesus by listening to the angels in his dreams and running away from king Herod.

He insisted that we put together the baby Jesus puzzle and he retold the story as we put it together... Clay didn't quite understand what Collin was saying but he did start singing a song that he learned in preschool with the tune of Mary had a little lamb "Mary had a baby boy-baby boy -baby boy, Mary had a baby boy and Jesus was his name."

When all the Christmas conversation settled Collin asked where Jesus is now. I love our little boys questions and I love that Jesus Is a LIGHT to reveal God to the nations Luke 2:32
prophecy said by Simeon on the day Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord

Collin starts Kleinkinderbeschaftigungsanstalt

If you can pronounce that I am impressed... the name means "small-child-keep-busy institute." Thank goodness for Friedrich Frobel who created such a word (or place) 175 years ago. Before then children under the age of 7 went to basically day cares and the troublemakers went to a detention institute. At age 7 children started school with the big kids and basically sat on hard benches and listened to lectures. Frobel, a child of the Romantic Era, broke the mold and added to an approach called "natural education" seeing children as seeds in a garden needing to be cultivated. Later while hiking in the mountains he hit on a much catchier name... Kindergarten ("children's garden").

So here is our little seed Collin on his way to be cultivated.

Home from Tennesee

Even though it took some trials getting there we made it. Dave and I and some other family members headed to TN to celebrate mom and dad Garrison's 50th wedding Anniversary. After our Van broke down and catching rides with other family members and then getting lost we finally made it to the celebration. Much like most lasting marriages it takes those trials on the road of marriage to really deepen in love and commitment. This is an exert of the card Dave gave to mom and dad:
Most of all I witnessed two people committed to one another and sticking together no matter how mad you were at each other and no matter what issues came up. This has caused me to view my own marriage with a perspective that many people my age don't have and it has helped me more than you could know. Within your fifty years together know that you have "given" more and "taught" more by your commitment to each other and your "long-suffering" with me than Malissa and our family probably have yet to realize. Thanks for what you have given us. We look forward to our 50th year together.
We love you! - Dave and Family

Tonight at church I was reminded how God's glory is revealed in nature. I was able to capture some of God's glory on a hike in TN with Dave and 7 children. My dear friend Jayne was gracious enough to let me borrow one of her cameras, it was not the mother camera, but it was amazing still. Here are a few that I am proud of.

May is for Growing

COLLIN
I have to start with this boy because today for the first time he rode his bike all by himself. As I have mentioned before, Collin likes thrill so of course after only 10 min of just learning how to stay balanced the boy slams on his brakes to make the bike fish tale... you should have seen his grin. I asked him a little later what he would like to work on expecting an answer like keeping my balance or learning how to turn, but his answer was simply... "I would like to work on jumps" x-games here we come.

Collin graduated Pre-school this month as well. When we got to the parking lot of the church for his little ceremony I started to cry. Collin assured me with these words "Don't worry mom, I'm still a kid" and then he hugged me. I'll post some pics soon but in the meantime check out Jaynes blog http://rofam.blogspot.com/2008/05/graduate-part-ii.html for a story about Collin and his first girlfriend at the graduation.

CLAYTON
Good bye diapers!!! Dave threw the last one away so for the last 5 nights this little guy has slept with his new spidy underwear and is waking up nice and dry. YEAH
Today he learned how to swing by himself chanting what Mrs. Replogle taught him "Reach for the sky Cwayton and pull it down" He still prefers mommy to push him though because I take him closer to the sky.

ALEXIS

Hello Junior High... Alexis is officially now in the 7th grade. Because of a recent move she actually transferred schools before the end of the year but she has already made new friends and is excited about the upcoming year. She loves her new room and the view out her window of the neighborhood.

Good bye snow.

The boys got to enjoy the last snow on sleds and it was a blast. One of our neighbors gave us a sled that looks like a storybook sled... wood with red rails. I am glad to be Jayne the photographers friend because I would not have brought a camera to captured the fun it truly was.

I think Dave and I are raising a future xgame contestant because Collin was fearless the entire time. Tommy and Lou brought a saucer to slide on and that was Collins preference because he could dodge trees and make up heavy metal music chants down the hills to increase his thrill rides. Clay preferred the storybook sled that went down straight and easy (Dave went with the boys and I a few days later and showed us that we could actually steer/turn the sled - oh well).

New baby and Nine years

February had its ups and downs but one thing to celebrate for certain is our new niece Maggie. I took the boys and made a road trip with my parents to meet this sweet little girl. The boys were excited to see their cousins and had a blast playing with them. One of the highlights for Collin was going to a train museum in the historic train town (Altoona, PA )Jamie and Angie are living in right now. As you can see it was not the highlight for Clay... he slept the whole time.

Dave and I celebrated nine years of marriage at home and sick. The details are not really worth recording but... it is nine years and that is something.

It's All a Blurrrr

I really can't remember January at all. I am assuming that it was cold so we just watched a lot of movies therefore damaging brain cells that would help me recall the events of the month. I do remember yelling happy new year with the Replogle's, Joel's toast and the passionate kiss from my husband ( he is still a fantastic kisser after 10 years of happy new year kisses)!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus????

I know this is April but I am determined to get caught up on recording our memories so... here is what I have to say about December. We held our annual Christmas Caroling party which is one of my favorite traditions we have started. Several of our friends except (Neil and Jayne because they were soooooo busy...just kidding hehe) joined us in going around to friends and elders in our neighborhood with the wonderful and loved Christmas songs. This year was particularly special because Collin knew a lot of the songs and sang his little heart out with a great big smile.

I must note Christmas as well. The prized toys were Transformers for Collin, Lightning McQueen for Clay and a "cooler" cell phone for Alexis. Since I am commenting on Christmas 4 months later I can say that the Transformers are still a hit for Collin but Lightning McQueen wins the cherished Christmas present prize. Clay slept with it, put it in his pocket any time we left the house, pretended constantly with it and he shared his secrets with it (I overheard him whispering to Lightning McQueen "I just went peed in my underwear")... and now he is gone. Because of the pocket travels he was left at the Library never to be seen again. Alexis already wants a cooler cell phone... a "slider" she say's.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Remember November

Well, this is my attempt to keep up with our memories. I know that Thanksgiving happened this month so I will start there. The morning started off with Collin walking out of his room with his pre-school made pilgram hat on. His desire was to find matching attire before we left for Grandma and Grandpas Stults' house. It was a challenge but we found some clothes to satisfied Collin enough to move on with the Day (we really had to convince him that pilgrams kind of had pants like jeans).

My mom had asked me to find a story book of Squanto to share with the children that evening after dinner. I searched our library the night before Thankgiving and only found a rather lengthly childrens story book. I started to glance at it and could not put it down... I ended up reading all 115 pages in one sitting. Because the story was so fresh in my mind I shared the story of Squanto with the whole family. It was fun to share such a great part of our history and how God used such a small child to save the lives of our ancestors. I hope to keep the tradition of reading this story each year to our children.