Sunday, December 12, 2010

We finally saw Santa!

Well, we finally visited Santa Claus. It's never been a big deal to either me or Aaron to have our kids visit Santa ... the malls are so commercial and the pictures are outrageously expensive! And I don't want to push Santa at Christmas anyways. Last year, I asked the kids if they wanted to visit Santa and they said "no." This year I asked if they wanted to visit Santa and they said "yes." So we went to the Bucks County Visitor Center, visited Santa, Caleb told Santa he wanted a dragon toy and Ellie said she wanted a Tiana Polly Pocket and Charlotte barbie, we took our own pictures (none of which turned out fabulous, but then, do any candid pictures of young children turn out fabulous?). We then looked at all the Christmas trees on display and had a great time! All in all, I think it turned out nice. The kids got to visit Santa but it was low-key and relaxing. And the trees on display were beautiful!

The kids are in bed, Aaron is having fun with the guys at church watching football (alas to the Metrodome!!! How sad! It's such a part of the Mpls skyline!), and I scrapbooked. A relaxing end to the day. Well, mostly. I really need to clean our room! Off to do that now!


~JG

Monday, December 6, 2010

Kraiz




Just finished Kraiz scrapbook pages. Yeah for Grandpa Dick with a nice camera! Now off to unload the dishwasher. Booooo. Well, ok, Praise God for dishwashers!

~JG

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Kraiz

Yes, today was our Kraiz performance in "big" church! The first time we've gotten to see Caleb sing! Hurrah! I was so excited! And he did great. The entire choir did great - the actors did great. There wasn't any snaffoo - no mics fell off, no one fainted (like last year), everyone remembered their lines ... it was all lovely! Ellie got up with Dylan towards the end to sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" and she actually sang! (I was a bit worried after yesterday's practice where she perfected a petulant and very silent pout during the entire song ... she "wasn't ready" ... but she sang great today! She didn't even flash the audience with her spinny dress.) Alas, we got nothing on camera worthy of America's Funniest Home Video. I guess that $100,000 grand prize will have to wait.

Here are some pictures (thanks to Grandpa Dick's awesome camera!) ...


Caleb singing - very seriously.

Ellie and Dylan singing "Happy Birthday Jesus"

More singing "Happy Birthday Jesus" (and Caleb is Joseph - he only poked Jesus' head once trying to make him comfy in the manger - Caleb and Isabella are both very "Type A" - they were both very responsible parents!)

Afterwards

Wait Caleb and Eric were doing after Kraiz while we cleaned up and put away mics and such ... ahh to be young again ... and able to fit under pews again ...

Now to RELAX!!!

~JG

Friday, December 3, 2010

Charlie Brown Christmas

I read this on Focus on the Family and thought it was so true!



By Jim Daly

I was only four years old on the night of Thursday, December 9, 1965 (45 years ago!), but to this day, I can tell you where I was and what I was doing - watching the debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas on CBS in our southern California home.charliebrown1.jpg

It was an instant hit, much to the surprise of network executives, but surely not to me. (I assumed the whole world was watching!) Creator Charles Schulz argued with the bosses at CBS over a host of issues. At the time of its creation, studio personnel thought it was too religious (Linus quotes Luke 2:8-14) and too amateur (all the voices were of kids, not professional actors). They also believed the theme music was too contemporary for kids’ tastes (Vince Guaraldi’s jazz soundtrack is now a classic and instantly recognizable by all) and that the lack of a laugh track left the production feeling flat and too contemplative, but in an overly simplistic kind of way.

Isn’t it interesting that all the things we like about it are the very things Hollywood didn’t?

Thursday, December 2, 2010

It's a miracle!

Aaron put Ellie to bed tonight and this was their conversation ...

Ellie: I want to listen to the CD about the White Witch and about Aslan the lion ...

Aaron: You mean, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?

Ellie: Yeah. I just can't say Wardrobe.

Aaron: You just said it! You just said wardrobe.

Ellie: (pause) HaHa! It's a MIRACLE! It's a miracle of Jesus!


Gotta love those little unexpected miracles whenever they show up! Ha!

~JG